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.