Spinach & mushroom enchiladas with sour cream tomatillo sauce

Tomatillo Salsa:
1.75 lbs tomatillos
1/2 medium yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno
1 anaheim chile
juice of half a lime
1/2 Tbl honey
1/2 tsp cumin
handful of cilantro
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a large cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Peel and clean the tomatillos. Slice the onion into 1/4" thick slices. Peel the garlic. Chop the stems off the jalapeno and anaheim, slice them in half and de-seed (leave seeds in the jalapeno for a hotter salsa. Place on the cookie sheet so that nothing is touching. Roast for 15-20 minutes until the tomatillos are soft. Put the cooked vegetables and the rest of the ingredients into a food processor. Blend until desired consistency.

Enchilada filling:
olive oil
1/2 onion finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Poblano/Pasilla pepper diced
3/4 lb brown mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 large bowl of spinach (washed, spun dry and roughly chopped)
ancho chile powder
cumin powder
smoked paprika
salt and pepper

Film the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil. Over medium heat, sweat the onion, garlic, and poblano with a pinch of salt. Turn the heat to medium high and add the mushrooms, sauteeing until onions are slightly caramelized and the mushrooms have given off their water and started to dry again. Add the spinach in big handfuls and stir until wilted. Continue adding and wilting the spinach until it's all incorporated. Cook over medium heat until the mixture there's no more liquid in the pan (there will still be some moisture clinging to the spinach & mushrooms).


Assembling the enchiladas:
additional ingredients: 1 c sour cream or greek-style yoghurt, 10-12 corn tortillas, 2 c. shredded jack cheese

Stir together 1 cup of sour cream (or greek-style yoghurt) and 1 cup of the tomatillo salsa. Spray a large 9x12ish baking dish with non-stick spray. Add enough of the sour cream/tomatillo sauce to the bottom of the dish to just barely cover--spreading to the edges. In a skillet over medium low heat, warm a tortilla until it's soft and pliable, put the tortilla on a small plate, add a 1/4c or so of the filling in the center of the tortilla, sprinkle with a bit of cheese. Roll the enchilada and put seam-side down in the baking dish. Continue with the rest of the tortillas until the filling is used up. (Once you get it going, you can heat one tortilla while assembling another enchilada.) After you've filled the baking dish (and hopefully used up all the filling), cover with the remaining sour cream/tomatillo sauce, spreading around to make sure all the enchiladas are covered. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Broil briefly (no more than 2 minutes) to brown some of the cheese.

Let sit for 1-2 minutes before serving.

Crust for pot pie

I made Alton Brown's Curried Pot Pie this evening. Gearl decided he wanted a real crust, so I adapted Alton's pie crust to be higher in fiber (to at least try to maintain some semblance of WeightWatchers sensibility!)... Because of the vodka, you won't get as much gluten and the crust will remain quite flaky. With all of the bran and whole wheat, don't skimp on the moisture or the crust will turn out a bit too dry.


6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 ounces vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 tablespoons vodka
2-4 tablespoons broth
9 ounces whole wheat flour (by weight)
1.5 ounces oat bran (by weight)
1.5 ounces wheat bran (by weight)
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Place the butter, shortening and vodka into the refrigerator (vodka into the freezer) for 1 hour.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, brans, salt and pepper by pulsing 3 to 4 times. Add the butter and pulse 5 to 6 times until the texture looks mealy. Add the shortening and pulse another 3 to 4 times until incorporated.

Remove the lid of the food processor and sprinkle in 5 tablespoons of the vodka. Replace the lid and pulse 5 times. Add broth as needed, and pulse again until the mixture holds together when squeezed. Weigh the dough and divide in half. Shape each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Great dip for fresh, sweet strawberries

Got some amazingly sweet strawberries and wanted a nice way to serve them as a simple dessert...

1/3 c. greek yogurt
1 Tbl. honey
1 tsp. sugar
small pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Heat the honey in a microwave safe bowl until just slightly liquid. Stir in rest of ingredients until thoroughly combined. Dip strawberries and enjoy!

Raspberry BBQ sauce

This morning for breakfast I made a raspberry/blackberry puree/reduction (berries, water, sugar, pinch of salt cooked on the stovetop, then pureed and passed through a sieve). I made a bit more than what I needed to top the morning's steel-cut oatmeal. I wanted to use it up, so this evening I made BBQ sauce out of it, which we put on tofu (for me) and chicken (for Gearl) during grilling. I didn't measure, but here's the general idea:

equal parts:
berry puree and ketchup

then (to taste):
veggie Worcestershire sauce
chipotle Tabasco
orange marmalade
salt/pepper

Microwave briefly to soften the marmalade then mix thoroughly. It's slightly spicy, slightly sweet, and nicely tangy.

Veggie interpretation of a southern meal

Tonight's dinner was chicken fried tofu and spicy sweet potato oven fries. YUM!

First the oven fries:

1 sweet potato, cut into fry-sized sticks
salt
pepper
cinnamon
1 chipotle finely minced (from a can, in adobo sauce)
peanut oil

Preheat the oven to 450F. Put the sweet potato sticks into a microwave safe bowl and cover with water. Microwave on high for 6-10 minutes, until the sweet potato is cooked, but firm. Drain thoroughly and allow to cool on a rack. While cooling, sprinkle liberally with salt and black pepper, sprinkle very lightly with cinnamon. After cooling, put into a bowl and add the chipotle, gently tossing with your fingers until thoroughly spread out on the fries. Pour enough oil to lightly cover the fries and again toss with your fingers until covered. Put the rack into a cookie sheet and spread the fries out onto the rack again. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until crisp.


Chicken Fried Tofu Steak

1 block of Extra Firm Tofu
soy
rice vinegar
veggie worchestershire sauce
flour
salt
pepper
cayenne
egg, beaten

Cut the tofu into steaks, about 1/2" thick. Layer the tofu in a very absorbent tea towel and weight it down to remove the moisture--let stand for about 45-60 minutes. Mix 2-3 Tbls soy, 1 Tbl vinegar and 1 tsp worchestershire sauce. Put the prepared tofu steaks in this mixture for about 10 minutes, turning every minute or two so that all surfaces get soaked. Remove from the soy mixture and pat dry with a paper towel. Season the flour with salt, pepper, and cayenne and mix thoroughly. Put the flour into a wide dish. Put the egg in a second wide dish. Heat about 1/4" oil in a heavy bottom frying pan to between 350-375F. Dredge the tofu into the flour and gently shake off the excess. Dip the tofu into the egg mixture, coating throughly. Dredge the egg-covered tofu through the flour again and gently place into the hot oil. Fry on one side until golden brown, approximately 3-4 minutes. Gently flip and fry on the other side until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel to drain. (Repeat with other tofu steaks. You can do 2-3 at a time depending upon the size of your frying pan.)

Veggie Meatloaf

Shamelessly adapted from Alton Brown's recipe, to make it veggie, lower-fat, and high-fiber.

Ingredients:
6 oz garlic flavored whole-wheat bread crumbs (by weight)
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried thyme
1 Tbl dried onion flakes
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 c TVP granules
1 1/2 c veggie broth
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl flaxseed meal
1/4 c. egg substitute

Glaze:
1/2 c catsup
1 tsp ground cumin
dash soy sauce
1 tsp adobo sauce + (finely chopped) chipotle pepper to taste
1 Tbl honey


Pre-heat oven to 325F. Heat the broth to just below the boiling point, add the olive oil, and reconstitute the TVP with the mixture, letting stand for at least 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the egg substitute to the bowl of a food processor and blend until the carrot and garlic are finely chopped. Mix the TVP and dry ingredients together with the egg and form into a loaf pan. Line a small baking pan with parchment paper, and lightly spray with cooking spray. Turn the loaf onto the parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes. Make the glaze by stirring together all of the glaze ingredients and adjust for taste.

After 10 minutes, remove from the oven and coat with the glaze. Return to oven and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the glaze is starting to darken and caramelize.


Notes: I think I could've easily added some celery to give it some bulk as well. A touch (maybe 1/2 tsp) of mexican oregano would've been nice too.

Easy Spaetzle Casserole

Box of spaetzle, cooked according to the directions (reserve about 1 c of the boiling liquid)
mixed vegetables, I used 8-10 brussel sprouts (halved), 10-12 large brown mushrooms (cut into chunks), 1/2 c each of frozen corn and peas, and ~2 cups frozen broccoli florets
3 cloves garlic, minced (more or less to taste)
1 pkg cream cheese (I used non-fat)
1 pkg italian blend cheese (again, I used reduced fat cheese)
1 egg + 1/4 c eggbeaters
salt, pepper, oregano, thyme

Preheat oven to 350F. Sautee the mushrooms with a small bit of olive oil. As they start to give up their juice add about 2/3 of the garlic and continue cooking for another minute. Pour off any remaining mushroom liquid and save. Remove mushrooms from the pan, add a small amount more of oil and crank up the heat. Sautee the sprouts until they start to just caramelize, pour about 1/4 c water or broth over them and cook until all the liquid is gone. Turn off the heat and add the mushrooms back to the pan. Thaw the frozen veggies and add them to the pan. Add the spices to taste--make this a bit strong tasting, because no spices are added to the cheese mixture.

In a food processor, blend the cream cheese, 2/3 of the cheese blend, the remaining garlic and the eggs. While the blade is spinning, add in the reserved mushroom liquor (so that you don't accidentally cook the egg if the liquor is still too hot). If the mixture looks too solid, add a bit of the reserved cooking liquid.

In a large bowl (or even the pot you boiled the spaetzle in) combine the veggies and the noodles, stirring gently. Pour the cheese sauce over the mixture and stir gently to completely combine. Pour into a 9x13" baking dish, prepared with a non-stick cooking spray. Top with remaining Italian cheese blend. Bake 20-30 minutes until the cheese just starts to brown on top.

Quick Brussel Sprout leftovers!

After a few meals, I had some random bits left over--1/2 cup of thick homemade tomato sauce, 1/4 cup rough chopped red onion, 1/2 cup veggie broth, and brussel sprouts (15-20ish?).


Prepare the sprouts by cutting off the stem end and cutting in half, removing any loose or damaged leaves. In a medium-sized skillet, heat about a teaspoon of peanut oil over medium-high until just shimmering. Add the brussel sprouts and onions and stir to coat in the oil. Crank the heat up to high, and sautee until the sprouts start to just brown. Add the garlic and sautee until more of the sprouts have caramelized, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium, add the broth, cover, and steam for 1 minute. Remove the lid, turn up heat to medium-high and reduce the broth to where it just barely covers the bottom of the skillet. Add about 1 Tbl of balsamic and reduce, season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat, add tomato sauce and stir to incorporate. Serve with a bit of grated Parmesan on top.

America's Test Kitchen, No Knead Bread

Ok, first off, the recipe isn't no-knead.. they should call it minimal knead. Unfortunately the crust of their recipe doesn't live up to the original, however handling their dough is much easier.

Their exact recipe:

15 oz flour
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
7 oz water
3 oz beer (lager/light beer)
1 Tbl white vinegar

Mix dry, mix wet. Pour wet onto dry. Mix and cover, let sit 8-18 hours.

Spread out some bench flour, knead 10-15 turns, and form into a round loaf.

Place the loaf on a piece of Pam'd parchment paper in a skillet, spray top of bread with Pam and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise for 60 minutes or so.

During the last 30 minutes of the rise, heat a dutchoven in a 500 degree oven.

Remove the plastic wrap, slice roughly 1/2" deep "X" or square into the top and use the parchment paper sling to transfer bread into dutch oven.

Bake at 425 for 30 mins with lid on, then 20-30 mins without lid

Let cool for at least 1 hr on rack before cutting.


The bread had a great texture and good taste. The crust was a little lacking. I think next time I'll spray it with a bit of water as well as spraying down the sides of the dutch oven. This bread would be wonderful with some rye or buckwheat flour--or maybe even some cooked whole grains. Next time I think I'm going to try sprinkling some large salt flakes on top before baking.

Black Cherry Manhattan

While at the Encore Casino/Hotel this past weekend, I had a drink at one of the bars called a Smoked Cherry Manhattan. It was yummy enough to make me recreate it at home...

3 parts Red Stag Black Cherry Bourbon
3/4 part Antica Vermouth
healthy dash Black Qi

Shake vigorously and pour into a martini glass. Garnish with sour cherries.

Veggie Gratin

I decided yesterday to try a variation on potatoes au gratin. I had some extra mixed fingerlings, some sour cream and some left-over evaporated milk I needed to use up. I got some additional veggies and tried an experiment. The taste was awesome, the texture a bit underdone, and haven't figured out why it was so watery yet...

Veggie Gratin
2 lb of mixed potatoes
2 medium carrots, peeled
2 large portabellos
1 lb white mushrooms
stalk of one large head of broccoli
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 c. sour cream
1/4 c. veggie broth
1 c. evaporated milk
parmesan
shredded swiss cheese
1 tsp oregano
salt/pepper


Preheat oven to 350. Slice all the veggies with a mandoline or v-slicer to about 1/8" thickness. Sautee the white mushrooms in a bit of olive oil adding the garlic after the mushrooms have just started to soften. Once the mushrooms have started to release their juice, drain them and set aside to cool. Reduce the mushroom liquor to a thick syrup. Combine the sour cream, evaporated milk, broth, mushroom liquor, and oregano, mixing to combine. Season with salt and pepper, slightly undersalting. (Given how liquid this blend turned out, I might be tempted to add some corn starch or flour to this mixture). Grease a high-sided 9x13 casserole pan. Layer some potatoes (1/3), top with all the carrots, then the portabello slices. Grate some parmesan, add a handful of swiss cheese, add a bit of salt & pepper. Layer another 1/3 of the potato slices, followed by the broccoli stems, and the sauteed mushroom/garlic mixture. Again, top with some parmesan, swiss, and lightly salt/pepper. Layer the final 1/3 of the potatoes. Press down firmly on the potatoes to push out any pockets. Stir the sour cream mixture to combine, pour evenly over the layered mixture. Season with a bit of salt on top. Put into the oven for 50 minutes. Remove from oven, add parmesan and a generous amount of the swiss cheese. Return to the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the cheese is beginning to lightly brown on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Veggie Chili

On a cold night, a warm bowl of chili is a great thing... Serve this one with a good margarita or beer and plenty of Beano!


1 pkg 15 bean soup dried beans
2 Tbl dried onion flakes
2 bay leaves
1/2 c. dried shitake mushrooms (diced)

1 c. tvp granules
1 c. veggie broth
5 cloves garlic (minced)
dash of veggie worcesteshire sauce
3 Tbls oil

3 chipotles in adobo (minced)
7oz can diced chiles
35oz can diced tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
3+ tsp cumin
3-5 Tbls chile powder (used a mixture of standard with ancho powder)
1+ Tbls mexican oregano
1 Tbls paprika
1/2 Tbls smoked paprika
6-8 drops liquid smoke
1.5 Tbls sugar
healthy dash apple cider vinegar
salt/pepper to taste

1/4 c masa harina
1/4 c veggie broth

Soak the beans in water overnight. The next morning discard the liquid and add fresh water to barely cover the beans. Add the dried onion, bay leaves, and dried mushrooms. Put on lowest heat and let slow cook through the day until just barely done, adding water as necessary to keep the beans just covered.

Bring the broth to a boil and reconstitute the TVP in it. Let stand at least 10 minutes. In a saute pan, heat the oil on medium low heat. Add half the garlic and cook until lightly tan and very fragrant. Add remaining garlic and stir to coat in the oil. Add TVP and saute until just beginning to brown. Remove from pan and deglaze with a bit of water or additional broth, adding deglazing liquid to the TVP.

Add the tomatoes, chiles, and spices to the beans. Stir and cook until the tomato paste is incorporated (10-15 minutes). Add TVP. Check for flavor and adjust spices as necessary. Finish cooking until beans are done. Make a slurry of the masa harina & broth. Add 1/2-2/3 to the chili and cook 2 more minutes. If still watery, add the remaining slurry and cook an additional 2 minutes.

Top with cheese and/or sour cream. Serve with tortillas or cornbread.

Winter Warmer

Way too long between postings, but the holidays intervened....

While living in Germany in college, I was introduced to a wonderfully warming beverage to combat bitter Winter chill--Glühwein.  Glühwein is the German version of mulled wine.  I first encountered it at the Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market) in Regensburg.  My memory of the first experience with it clouds over after the first two cups.  Fortunately, I sampled this wonderful concoction many other places and times.  When I returned to the US, I found a German store in Colorado Springs (I think long since out of business) that sold the spices in a teabag.

In the intervening years, I've taken the basics and made the recipe my own...

Rob's Glühwein
1 large jug of cheap red wine (1.5 l)
1 orange (sliced)
1 lime (sliced)
1 lemon (sliced)
1 cup orange juice
5-6 peppercorns
4-5 whole cloves
6" of cinnamon stick (roughly 2 sticks) broken into 1" pieces
5-6 allspice berries
3 teabags of fruit tea (I recommend herbal blackberry or strawberry)
1.5+ cups sugar (to taste)**
3 cups spiced rum (or more to alcoholic preference!)

Pour the wine into a large pot (with a tight fitting lid) and add everything except the sugar and rum.  Cover the pot.  On low heat, warm the mixture until just below simmer.  This should take at least 60 minutes, for the flavors to properly infuse the wine.  Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved.  Cover and maintain temperature for another 10 minutes.  Taste to make sure that the concoction is neither too sweet nor too bitter/tannic.  Add the rum and stir thoroughly.  Serve immediately (being careful to not ladle out the spices) in coffee mugs, adding one slice of citrus to each mug.

**For 1/3 of the quantity of the sugar, I usually add sugar that has been "aged" with a vanilla bean for at least 2 weeks.