Day 251 - Guacamole, Chili-Chocolate Mole, Seitan in Mole Sauce, andStrawberry-Plum Crisp

Guacamole

This may be the easiest, clearest, most customizable guac recipe I've ever made. I like how I&T start with the most basic, mandatory ingredients and list the other items as add ins. Of course, Ryan is here, so there will be no cilantro. Instead, I went with jalapeño, diced tomato, cumin, and garlic, i.e. everything else.

It's interestingly light in color... maybe because it's so fresh?

SFO: 10

Chili-Chocolate Mole

Mole is one of those things I'm not sure I understand. People speak of it with a kind of reverence, but I suspect that even if I were in the presence of a spectacular mole, I might not have the ability to know why. I remember hearing on some food program that a mole sauce should taste like its own flavor, i.e. not like any one of its ingredients, which is definitely not the case here. This mole really tastes like peanut butter to me. But I'm not complaining - I love peanut butter!

What an interesting ingredient list: crushed tortilla chips, almonds, sesame seeds, anise seeds, chile powders, cinnamon, marjoram, allspice, cumin, tomatoes, chocolate, of course garlic and onions, and the aforementioned peanut butter. I couldn't wait to see what this would taste like...

And it tasted great! A lot of those strong flavors did disappear, most notably the anise seeds, chocolate, and surprisingly the tomatoes, but the peanut butter definitely held court. And again, I found this to be undersalted. But when all is said and done, I'm very happy to eat this!

SFO: 10

Seitan in Mole Sauce

I'm even happier to eat this over some homemade seitan. This seitan/mole comba makes for a nice, chunky stew! This would be a perfect, wintry comfort-food dinner! I served it over a plain white rice, which tasted great! Again, the peanut butter ruled, but hey, I'm the one always ordering things in peanut sauce at Thai restaurants so I'm in!

SFO: 9
This all hinges on your acceptance of seitan as a protein. So I took a point off for potential seitan-a-phobia.

Strawberry-Plum Crisp

This is almost a great, quick, easy dessert recipe to throw together for a homemade summer dinner! 

As I&T speculate, yes, plums and strawberries make great buddies here. The end product features a nice gluey red shlar filling, and I mean that in the best way possible. 

As far as I'm concerned, a crisp's top can't be crispy enough, and this one wasn't quite fulfilling on its promise. I think it could've used more topping, and it might've helped to bake it a little longer.

Also, not sure why, but this crisp had an overall off taste. Was my oil not quite good? Or was it the cloves in the filling? Something was just... off.
 
SFO: 8
Points off for a subpar version of something that should've been nailing it.

Day 173 - Spaghetti Squash Mexicana with Tropical Avocado Salsa Frescaand Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

It's Tony® Night, and I've got some peeps over to watch, i.e. guinea pigs for my latest vegan adventures! That's David and Trey and Trey's friend Rachel with the Spaghetti Squash, and Tracy with the Bread Pudding.

Spaghetti Squash Mexicana with Tropical Avocado Salsa Fresca

I love spaghetti squash. It's such a freak of nature, that it can do that stringy thing. But I never know what to do with it. Here's a great solution. Combine it with a mixture of corn and beans and the flavors of Mexico, and cover it with a fruity avocado salsa!

There's quite a bit of spice in the bean mixture, but don't be scared: there's also so much squash that by the time you've blended it all together, the spice level is perfect. And the salsa is nicely refreshing. I love fruit in savory dishes!! Although I will say (again!), the salsa needs salt.

My only complaint here is that the dish is ultimately on the dry side, even with the topping of salsa. But the flavors are so good that the dryness is forgiven. Viva spaghetti squash!
 
SFO: 9

Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

OMG, there is nothing lacking in this vegan bread pudding. Hard to imagine bread pudding landing without lots of eggs and dairy, but this one does, no problem!

The pound of bread called for in this recipe seems like it's going to be way too much, but it's actually the perfect amount for the 9x5 loaf pan. It will, however, require a lot more soy milk than the recipe calls for to saturate all the bread.

I daresay this recipe is a lot lighter than your average bread pudding, so my suggestion is that we all just use this when we're looking for a dose of naughty. It's completely delicious and satisfying!

SFO: 10

Day 148 - Dijonaisse, Apricot BBQ Sauce, Baked BBQ Tofu, and Chocolate Chip Walnut Pound Cake

Dijonaisse

After my second experience making the Silken Mayo, I thought I had unlocked the key to the magic of the recipe, i.e. maple syrup vs. agave nectar. Alas, this batch was on the sweet side again. I think I'll just cut back a little on the syrup next time, as I have a lot of variations on this recipe yet to do....

I love mustard and I was hopeful for this, but it was only OK and languished in my fridge unused.

SFO: 4

Apricot BBQ Sauce

I love a fruity sauce. And I love apricots. This should have been a hole-in-one for me, but it ended up being only OK. I think I know why.

First of all, it was probably too early in the season to be cooking with apricots. They just didn't have that great apricot-ty flavor yet.

Second, I think there's something up with my liquid smoke. The flavor is just too overwhelming. I either need to cut back on the amount or change brands.

When it was time for tasting this sauce and adjusting the seasonings, I found I needed more maple syrup and more salt - it just seemed, I don't know, blah.

In the end, it was fine, but not the fruity wonder I was expecting.

SFO: 9

Baked BBQ Tofu

Hmm. Again, another recipe that should've been a winner but just didn't register.

First you bake slices of pressed tofu in oil and soy sauce. The tofu gets somewhat leathery, but not really fried. And then with all that oil in the baking pan, you pour the BBQ sauce on and keep cooking it. I couldn't help thinking that this dish would have benefited from removing the oil before adding the sauce.

It's possible that my results were skewed because I cooked this in a smaller pan than directed; the pieces seemed cramped during the first stage of cooking. (Who has a 9x18 baking pan anyway?)

Here's Alysha with some tofu on her plate, and the other picture is the baking pan with the tofu covered with BBQ sauce.
 
SFO: 3
Chocolate Chip Walnut Pound Cake

Definitely my favorite pound cake variation in the book so far!

I went out of my way not to overmix this, and the results were much better. So I'm going to declare a typo. Do not mix the pound cakes "with electric beaters for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until a very thick batter forms." This is a recipe for a disastrous lump of uncooked batter at the bottom of your pound cake. Mix just until combined, maybe 30 seconds. The end.

If your oven is like mine, you can probably expect to cook the cake for 70 minutes or more. 

Otherwise... yum!

SFO: 10

Day 129 - Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Seed Rice Paper Rolls and MangoPear Pandowdy

Today I'm so happy to be entertaining Celia, who is one of the most fun and sparkly people I know. And she is so game in the food department! No restrictions - bring it on!

Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Seed Rice Paper Rolls

Here's one of those recipes that requires some intense early action, but once you have all the components prepared, it goes pretty quickly. But one of the components is a mother. One pound of butternut squash diced into 1/4 inch cubes. Think about it. You have to peel that thing, then slice it, then dice it into teeny tiny little cubes. We're talking roughly aspirin sized cubes. Endless. Oh, and then you have to roast them. Not easy, right?

The rest of the components are a breeze though: rice vermicelli, which cooks in minutes. Fresh cilantro. Roasted pepitas. And a sauce that is easily assembled, although beware the hot chile oil measurement. One tablespoon, as listed in the recipe, will set your hair on fire. I used a third of that, and it was plenty! (NB: I may be a wimp, but Celia also agreed.)

One tricky part of this recipe is the 'juicing' of the rice paper wrappers. First off, I recommend doing the rice paper rolling on a lint-free kitchen towel. Next, you want to figure out the perfect amount of time for the wrapper to be in the water so that it's malleable but not tearing at your touch. For me, that magical time is 30 seconds. It still seems like it's going to be too stiff to roll, but by the time you fill it, the residual water has softened it to a perfect consistency. 

Meanwhile, getting these stuffed and wrapped tightly is another challenge. Mine were a little loose and saggy. Workable, but not the snazzy, tight, tight rolls you see in Vietnamese restaurants.

Flavor-wise, these are really nice. A little sweet, a little crunchy, a little herby, with a perfect sauce accompaniment. We made a meal out of them, and it was yummy and filling.

SFO: 9
One point off for "Where's the beef?" concerns.

Mango Pear Pandowdy

Here's another dice-a-palooza. Two mangoes, and two pounds of pears, all cut into 1/2 inch dice. Not as bad as the squash above, but time-consuming.

A piece of advice: mix the filling ingredients together in a bowl. It's too crowded in the pie plate to properly toss everything to get it mixed well.

Now it's time to put yesterday's busted crust to the test!

I have to confess, I didn't know what a pandowdy was until reading this recipe. Midway through the baking process, you cut the crust into squares and mash it into the filling. The idea is to have some browned crust pieces and some mushy, soggy crust pieces. The cutting and mashing feels so strange and violent and sacrilegious, but it was kind of fun! Here are before and after shots.



Now, I don't know if it's because I overworked my dough so horribly, but this crust wouldn't brown/cook! I left the thing in the oven for about 20 minutes longer than it was meant to be in there, and the crust was barely brown in spots. Even though it seemed that I could/should cook it longer, the filling was bubbling over badly by that point, and I thought, enough already!

Unfortunately, my crust was pretty much a bust. I mean, it was edible, but it was so dense, not flaky at all, and there was NO magic to it. The filling, though, was fantastic. Mango and pear is not a combo I would have thought of, but this is a terrific pairing! 

Side note: When I ate this as leftovers, I reheated it in the toaster oven and let it go until the crust got good and brown, and it was delicious. I think with a better crust and longer cooking time, this could be a home run.

SFO: 10
Just needs a better crust.

Day 128 - Basic Single Pastry Crust

Basic Single Pastry Crust

Boy, did I botch this!

And I should know better. I've made a few pie crusts in my day. But this was the first time not doing it in the food processor. I wanted to go by the book, and I+T wanted me to use a pastry cutter to blend the flour and shortening, and I own one, so I tried it.

Oy.

I don't know what I was thinking. I cut it way too fine. And then, the part where you gather the dough into a ball, I kept on thinking that my dough was wet enough to hold, but it wasn't, and I ended up kneading it, and then adding some water, and then kneading it some more, and then adding more water, etc. By the end, I'm sure I had melted all the shortening and started causing some major gluten development, exactly what you DON'T want in a pie crust.

But I thought, maybe somehow it'll magically be OK for tomorrow's Mango and Pear Pandowdy....

FYI, a tip for rolling it out: you can keep the plastic wrap you wrapped your dough in and use it on top of the dough as you're rolling it out. With the plastic on top and the parchment on the bottom, it makes rolling a no-brainer.

SFO: 10

Day 125 - Caraway-Parsley-Carrot Dip, Broc Mac Daddy, and Tea-Poached Pears in Chocolate Sauce

The "kids" are over again! (i.e. Alysha, David, and Trey)

Caraway-Parsley-Carrot Dip

Thank god I made this, because I was running so late with my Broc Mac Daddy and the kids were starving, so this went fast! David thought it was hummusy, which it is vaguely in texture and appearance, but flavor-wise, not at all. In fact, flavor-wise, it's somewhat blank. Carroty, yes, but the caraway and parsley don't do much to bring it alive.

Before starting this project, I tried the curried version of this recipe, and it was a lot more flavorful. I look forward to making that again....

SFO: 10


Broc Mac Daddy

This is my second Mac Daddy, the first one being the "original recipe." Now I'm moving on to the variations. 

I have to say, this one was a lot better than the first, which is not to say the first was bad, but the big difference is the vegetable broth! The first time, I used Trader Joe's Low Sodium Veggie Broth, which has a strong flavor with a big tomato presence, and it really affected the color and flavor of the dish. This time, I used Whole Foods Vegetable Broth, which has a much lighter flavor and color, and the results were one million times improved.

The broccoli was a nice addition, didn't make or break, but it did give us the illusion we weren't being super naughty. 

But wait, we weren't being super naughty. The naughtiest thing about this dish is that it's mostly pasta. And it's salty. Otherwise, it's a lot of nutritional yeast, and some tofu. Comfort food that won't harden your arteries! Yay!!

SFO: 7
We all really liked this, but I can see how this might be upsetting for a closed-minded omnivore.


Tea-Poached Pears in Chocolate Sauce

I+T are really funny. They make exactly the right joke about this dish, i.e. it feels like you should have a butler to serve it. It is more lah-di-dah than most of the recipes in here. Plus it involves tea, which is so British, i.e. butlery.

I think there's a mistake here in the ingredients: "8 ounces chocolate, chopped (1/2 cup or so)"

These two numbers, 8 ounces, and 1/2 cup, are so far off that one has to be wrong. I sided with the 8 ounces, and I ended up with a chocolate sauce that had a proper consistency, however it did obliterate any tea flavor.

In fact, we were hard-pressed to find any tea flavor at all, even in the pears.

That said, it's a very pretty dessert, and it's delicious. Some of us licked our plates clean. (see picture)

Others of us licked our plates and then ate all the leftover sauce out of the saucepan with a spoon. (no picture to protect the binge eater who may or may not also be the writer of this blog)

SFO: 10

Day 100 - BBQ Black-Eyed Pea-Collard Rolls, Vanilla-Yogurt Pound Cake, Vanilla Ice Cream, and The Classic

BBQ Black-Eyed Pea-Collard Rolls

Now, who'da thunk that you could use collard green leaves to roll things up just like you use cabbage, lettuce and grape leaves? I always assumed collard would be too tough, too assertive-tasting, but the truth is, these leaves are perfect for stuffing! I+T have you boil them covered for six minutes, and once cooled and drained, they are wonderful, huge, pliable (though somewhat delicate) foundations for a roll.

This recipe uses yesterdays Backyard BBQ Sauce as the binder for a filling that also includes black-eyed peas, mushrooms, and chopped collard greens.

Following the directions exactly yielded me twelve beautiful rolls, which tasted great with the chive-y mashed potatoes I made.

My ex-neighbor and friend, Darcy, loved the BBQ sauce and the rolls (and brought me those amazing lilies you see in the background)!

SFO: 8

(As much as we loved these, I think they might be a little scary for your average omnivore. It's a lot of green up front, and then nothing too familiar inside. Maybe for a Southern omnivore, I'd up this to a 9.)


Vanilla-Yogurt Pound Cake

My second try at Veganomicon pound cake!

The first one, with rosewater flavoring, was relatively successful, although there was that lump of undercooked batter at the bottom...

This one also had an undercooked lump, although a much smaller one. I admit, I kept that sucker in the oven until the skewer came out absolutely clean, but I guess I could have left it in another few minutes.

My guess is that this is a result of what I consider to be an unusual instruction in the recipe: "beat with electric beaters for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until a very thick batter forms. Don't overmix."

I have to say, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes in my book is already way overmixed. Typically in a recipe like this, the instruction would be to mix just until combined, which in my experience is maybe 30 seconds. Next time I make this, I'm going to try that....

That said, it's a pretty loaf, and a tasty one.

SFO: 10


Vanilla Ice Cream

Back to the ice creams...

I still haven't been able to achieve a great texture since the peanut butter ice cream, but this certainly gets the job done. Flavor is fine, and as a filling for an ice cream sandwich, the texture issues slide by unnoticed.

SFO:7
(People are tough on off-texture ice creams...)


The Classic 

What could be bad? Wheat-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies filled with Vanilla Ice Cream and rolled in chocolate shavings!

Actually, I was a little concerned that these delicate, not-quite-crispy, not-quite-chewy cookies might not be able to withstand being the bread for an ice cream sandwich, but they performed quite well! In fact, they were unusually light and made for a dainty frozen dessert. I really liked this one!

SFO: 10
(I realize I gave this ice cream a 7 for texture issues, but in this context, they don't bother me.)

Day 46 - Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls, Creamy Asian Pear and Tempeh Salad with Wasabi Dressing, Pear and Tempeh Roll, Elephant Roll, "Yamroom" Roll, Spinach Sesame Roll, and Rosewater Pound Cake

Sushi Fest 2013!

David and Trey and Alysha are here for my Sushipalooza. I figured since I was getting out the bamboo mat, I might as well just make every roll in the book at once!

First, though, let’s discuss this salad, since it deserves some special attention.

Creamy Asian Pear and Tempeh Salad with Wasabi Dressing

Stellar and simple. This is a fabulous recipe! I made a batch of the Silken Mayo Dressing for it. The first time I made the mayo, I used agave nectar, and it was overly sweet. This time, I used maple syrup, and the mayo was ON POINT! I mean, perfect doppelganger! I love when the vegan alternative is not only equally tasty but also way healthier.

Putting this salad together couldn’t be easier. A little dicing, a little steaming, stir and toss, voilà! The flavors/ingredients are amazing together – sweet, earthy, spicy, creamy, crunchy, oniony, green-y, toothy. What a great salad! And what a great idea to stick it in a sushi roll!

Note: I had to use extra wasabi powder. This is something you have to taste test.

SFO: 8

(I still think tempeh could be a stopper for some folks.)

Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls

The boilerplate sushi recipe is terrific. Since David and Trey are still doing that “Get Snatched” thing, i.e. counting every calorie, I used brown sushi rice. I was making a guess about how much extra water to use, and I didn’t guess well. I went for a 1:2 ratio, rice to water. (The white rice ratio is 1:1.25, so I figured it would take more time and water.) If I were doing it again, I’d probably shoot more in the 1:1.66 range, as my rice was overly wet, sticky, and starchy. Definitely usable, but not ideal.

Since that night, I’ve made more sushi using white rice, and the recipe instructions are perfect. My rice needed a little more time than 10-15 minutes to cool down, though. About 20m was perfect.

Here are my thoughts about rolling sushi:

• It’s so easy! Why aren’t we all doing this all the time?
• Having wet hands is important. Otherwise, the rice will stick to your hands in a big bad way.
• I cut the rolls with a chef’s knife (i.e. not serrated), and it worked perfectly.

David likes "original recipe"

This filling is delicious!! It’s like spicy tuna without the tuna. FYI, I had to use more than the suggested ½-1 teaspoon chile sesame oil to get that spicy flavor in there, and I’m a spice wimp.

There’s a direction missing from the recipe, which lists sesame seeds in the ingredients but never tells you when to add them. I sprinkled them over the rice just before rolling.

All in all, this sushi makes a big impression, and it requires surprisingly little effort. What a great appetizer for parties or really any occasion!

SFO: 10

(People who are adventurous enough to want sushi are adventurous enough to deal with tempeh. Besides which, it’s so embedded in the roll, you’d be hard pressed to identify it, even if you were familiar with the flavor.)

Now for the variations!

Pear and Tempeh Roll

How cute is Trey?

Surprisingly, the amazing Tempeh and Asian Pear salad doesn’t shine as much as a sushi ingredient as it does on its own. That said, it tastes great. Not only did I serve this roll to David, Trey, and Alysha, I also made some for my book club a few nights later with the leftover salad. They were convinced that they were tasting fish in there, but I think what they were tasting is the “sea” in the seaweed. In any event, they loved it!

SFO: 10

Alysha is serving up yamroom realness

“Yamroom” Roll

This flavor combo really plays up a sweet/salty combination, which I love. I used fresh shiitakes, which I simmered in the water and soy liquid for a good half hour, until they were super tender. This roll is very easy to make and has a nice colorful appearance!

SFO: 10

Spinach Sesame Roll

This was the least popular of all the rolls I served, maybe because they were the “healthiest.” Steamed spinach is mixed with sesame seeds and oil and rice vinegar for light flavoring. I understand that all the sushi fillings have little or no salt because these rolls are about to get dunked in soy sauce, but this one tasted particularly unseasoned.

SFO: 10

Elephant Roll

Peanuts and avocado!? Who woulda thunk? This was the other most popular roll of the night. So easy to assemble, probably the easiest in that nothing other than the rice needs to be cooked. Just slice up some avocado and dump some peanuts in there! Or maybe it was the salt on the peanuts that everyone liked so much.

SFO: 10

The sushi event was a huge hit and a great reminder of the magic and ease of home sushi creation. I’ve made sushi twice since then, and I’m excited to think about what else I can stuff in future rolls!

Rosewater Pound Cake 

I have to confess, I'm a little scared of rosewater. I mean, it's water of roses, not meant for consumption. Not even meant for smellation. Roses should smell like roses, but should anything else smell like roses? I say no.

Lucky for me, I have a certain friend named Alysha who's obsessed with all things rose, so she's going to be the lucky recipient of all the rose-acious recipes in this book.

I'm happy to report that the proportions of this recipe are perfect, at least in the flavor department. This cake has a very delicate floral essence, not overwhelming at all. I actually liked it!

However, you will note in the picture that there was a doughy layer of uncookedness at the bottom of this cake, which stayed in the oven for over 75 minutes, 10 minutes more than the high end of the recommended baking time. The toothpick came out dry, but it didn't reach down to the bottom, clearly. I find the doughy layer disturbing, but it makes Alysha happy, so fine.

SFO: 10

Day 31 - Not-Tella

Not-Tella

In anticipation of my god-daughter Samantha's arrival (!), I thought I'd give this recipe a shot, as she has a mild (oh, who are we kidding?) extreme obsession with the "real" thing, Nutella. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my hands on soy milk powder so I made the dark chocolate version. 

Survey says: good, but NOTHING like Nutella. 

First of all, I&T instruct us to only pulse the food processor, but I'm here to tell you, this recipe requires the food processor to go constantly, and for a while, and even then, you end up with a gritty texture. That's the big difference here, the texture, which is nothing like the creaminess of Nutella. It's more like a paste.

Samantha got in late last night, and I made her taste it. She likened it to the texture of the red bean filling in Chinese and Japanese dessert items. Very astute. And accurate.

Even though we agree that it's not very Nutellian, I'm thinking we're going to have to try it in a crepe while she's here....

SFO: 9

(It's safe for anyone. Just don't sell it as Nutella. Bill it as chocolate hazelnut paste.)

Day 6 - Corn and Edamame-Sesame Salad, Roasted Portobellos, and Lower-Fat Deep Chocolate Bundt Cake

Christmas Eve with the Saines! What a treat to spend the afternoon and evening in Westchester with my dear college friend and entertainment industry mogul, Emily! First, we sneaked away to see an afternoon showing of This Is 40 (four thumbs up!). Then she brought me to Fairway Pelham (deluxe!) where we shopped for dinner. Even though the Saines are decidedly un-vegan, they were very gracious about letting me insert my vegan agenda into their dinner (as long as there was one non-vegan dish too). They are the perfect people to weigh in on SFO ratings! In attendance: Emily, husband Andy, and sons Max and Dashiell.

Corn and Edamame-Sesame Salad

I'm starting to realize that I&T are very good at quick and easy dishes that are surprisingly delicious and satisfying. This is a prime example. Six ingredients total, give some frozen vegetables a quick boil, toast some sesame seeds, throw it all together, chill, and serve. Yum! Frankly, I'm a sucker for toasted sesame oil, no matter what it's on, but this combo really does taste great. And everybody ate it! (Except for Dashiell, who had already eaten. That's him pictured with Emily.)

SFO: 10


Roasted Portobellos (Take One)

I think I'm going to have to do this one over again. We think there might have been something amiss with the temperature calibration of their oven, because these didn't cook in the way I suspect they will when I try them again. Edible? Absolutely. But the texture was weird, spongy, they didn't seem quite done. I'm going to hold off on an SFO until Take Two. Incidentally, we all ate them happily. (That's Emily again, with Dashiell on the left and Max on the right.)

Note: there is no cooking time listed for this recipe in the book, which I'm guessing it's an oversight/misprint. For the record, I would call it 65 minutes.


Lower-Fat Deep Chocolate Bundt Cake

My second foray in the vegan baking realm, and a major success! Again, I&T offer flour options, so I did my usual half all-purpose, half whole-wheat-pastry blend. And instead of using my mixer, I decided to do this one by hand, just to see how it would go. The answer is, very smoothly! It's essentially a one-bowl cake. Other than the pot you dirty to heat the coffee and the cocoa, it all happens in one big bowl. And, of course, a Bundt pan.

I looked at this recipe side by side with the Cook's Illustrated Light Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe to see how they compared. CI's recipe has more sugar, more cocoa powder (and chocolate, which I&T eschew), and more fat (more oil, plus two eggs). I&T use more flour (and they add some cornstarch), more water (in the form of coffee), and applesauce to compensate for the missing fat.  
Once again, they nailed it! This cake really works! Everyone was very impressed with the texture and the flavor. There is nothing to distinguish this cake from the naughty, full-animal-fat version. I have to confess, I did think there might have been an off smell to it, and a little bit of an aftertaste, but I was the only one. Still, small complaints for a cake that is so thoroughly satisfying. (That's Andy with the cake.)

SFO: an easy 10

Day 3 - Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions and Spiced Pita Crisps, Sautéed Spinach and Tomatoes, Peanut-Ginger-Sesame Cookies, Peanut Butter Ice Cream, and Open Sesame Ice Cream Sandwiches

Knowing I was going to have a couple of new veggie friends, Uli and Joe, over for dinner tonight, I thought I'd try out one or two recipes on them. But then I realized that I had miscounted the total recipes in the book. I originally thought there were 309, but today I caught my mistake, which revealed the true total as 333. Yikes! That means I'll have to average almost one a day this year! So I decided to go to town and knock out six recipes in one day, buying myself some time off further on down the line....


Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions and Spiced Pita Crisps

The good: 

• This dish can be served at room temperature, so it has good make-ahead potential, something I look for in a dinner party recipe, so I'm not spending the whole party at the stove.

• The rice and lentils component of this dish is very straight-forward and labor-light: boil water, add rice and spices, cover and simmer for 15m, add lentils, cover and simmer for 45m, let sit for 10m, fluff, fold in onions, done. 

• The spices are really fragrant and yummy.

The bad:

• The caramelization of the onions took waaaaaay longer than suggested. I&T say it's a 20-30 minute job at 400°. But hand to heart, it took me one hour and 30 minutes to go from 

this

  
to this.

• How do I say this delicately? This is not a cute dish, not even a little. All those pretty li'l red lentils lose their color, and what you end up with is a clumpy beige-a-palooza.

• There is not a grain of salt in this recipe, which strikes me as strange. I tasted it after adding the onions, and I couldn't bring myself to serve it without at least a little bit of salt, so I gave it a quick sprinkle. But honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a savory recipe with NO salt in it! (I love salt.) 

• At room temperature, the consistency is not terribly inviting. It's neither wet nor dry, neither creamy nor fluffy, nor smooth and mash-like. Let's just say, it's a unique animal....

That said, the spice combo delivers, and the onions taste amazing, which almost compensates for the lack of salt in the dish. Personally, I think a generous adding of salt would really elevate it, but that's just saltaholic me.

Visually, a little bit of color would have gone a long way here. I can't remember if it was Joe or Uli, but someone suggested green peas. Not a bad idea...

SFO: 2
(Most non-vegans will think there's no "there" there. Plus, the appearance doesn't help.)  


Spiced Pita Crisps

This is a fun way to bring some sparkle to the average pita. I tried both the garam masala version and the garlic powder, cumin, cayenne, and salt version. I think my theory about salt holds up, as the latter flavor was universally preferred. My guess is that if I'd salted the garam masala version, the two flavors would have been neck and neck.

SFO: 10
 

Sautéed Spinach and Tomatoes

I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like this one, because I'm generally not a fan of tomatoes and ginger together. But I have to confess, this is a super recipe. Lots of bold flavor in a really attractive, easy to make package. 

This is the kind of dish you make just before serving, so I had prepped ahead all the ingredients (diced tomatoes, chopped onion, grated ginger, minced garlic), and at cooking time, it came together in a flash, literally in about five minutes! I used baby spinach from one of those 16 ounce containers, which I'm mentioning because even though it's way more than six cups, you should go ahead and throw the whole thing in there. I used about 3/4 of the container, but you know spinach. It wilts down to nothing, and another 33% wouldn't have upset the proportions of the dish, in fact, it would have been perfect.

For the record, I did not have peanut oil on hand, so I used grapeseed. I know I&T don't pick their oils randomly, so I can only assume it would have been even more delicious with peanut oil, but it tasted wonderful with grapeseed.

I will definitely make this again...

SFO: 10
(Neither Joe nor Uli believe in perfect 10s, but they loved this, so they gave it a 9.8. I'm rounding it up, so there.)  
 

Peanut-Ginger-Sesame Cookies

This was my first vegan baking experience! No butter? No eggs? Can it possibly work?? Yes it can!!!

I&T suggest any one or combination of three kinds of flour, so I opted for half all-purpose and half whole-wheat pastry, and I was very happy the results. In fact, I was completely unaware of a whole wheat presence.

I&T describe this cookie as "shortbreadlike." I don't necessarily agree with that... the candied ginger is such a strong textural presence, so the dominant experience is chewiness, versus a shortbreadlike crumb. Speaking of which, finely dicing five ounces of candied ginger is a more complicated job than it sounds (sticky knife!) so I suggest planning some time for that.

It's interesting, I've become accustomed to following recipes by Martha and Cooks Illustrated, which are very detailed, even fussy and exacting sometimes. I&T are so laid back. In fact, at least once in each recipe, you'll probably find a multiple choice option (i.e. swap in any flour/herb/vegetable you want) and an overall, very relaxed way of putting it together. I thought I would be frustrated by this, but instead I'm finding it very liberating and fun. And creative! I'm getting to help write the recipe!

In addition to the design-your-own-flour option, this recipe also encourages you to choose your own sesame seed color or combo. I opted for segregation. All black cookies and all white cookies. (Don't worry, I integrate later....)

You also get to choose the consistency of the cookies based on how long you leave them in the oven, 10-11m for chewy, 14m for firm and crunchier. I went for right in the middle, because I knew I was going to be using these for ice cream sandwiches, and I wanted them to have equal parts give and structure. Success!

I should mention, I made this recipe using the electric mixer with the paddle attachment. I creamed the shortening on high, then added the first set of ingredients and beat on high again, then switched it to low and added the flour and ginger. What a breeze! Also, instead of greasing the baking sheets, I covered them with parchment, which works just as well.

This is a really interesting cookie, very sweet, with a complicated blend of flavors that TOTALLY work together. I'm a believer!

SFO: 10
(absolutely no whiff of vegan here)   


Peanut Butter Ice Cream

So easy! Dump a bunch of ingredients in the blender, mix, and voilà, ice cream batter. No custard, no tempering, no straining, no ice bath. I'm going to like doing these ice creams!

Meanwhile, I'm wondering if I got the coconut milk thing right. I&T said to put a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight, then carefully open it and scoop 1/2 cup of coconut "cream" off the top. I definitely scooped 1/2 cup off the top, but I was expecting the "cream" to be the most solid part, like cream is to milk. But when I emptied the rest of the can of coconut milk (to freeze, just like I&T told me to do... I'm such a teacher's pet), what was left in the can was the denser, more solid part of the coconut milk. Did I do this wrong? Anyone?

Flavorwise, the ice cream is spot on. Like the cookie, very sweet, but appropriately so. And the texture is totally convincing, quite dairy-like. I&T, how did you figure all this stuff out?? I'm so impressed...


SFO: 10


Open Sesame Ice Cream Sandwiches

The Open Sesame is one of I&T's custom ice cream sandwich creations, bringing together both of today's sweet treats into one hyper-dessert.

I've never tried to make an ice cream sandwich before, and what I learned is there's basically one minute when the ice cream is firm enough to be pressed in between two cookies and not so melty that it starts disintegrating. This is when I was glad I had gone for a more structured cookie. When I was pressing down on the hard-ish ice cream, it was nice to not have to worry about the cookie crumbling from over- or under-cooking.

I was supposed to roll the edges of these sandwiches in toasted sesame seeds, like a tire across the plate, but since I hadn't been precise about mushing the ice cream beyond the edge of the cookies, I had to figure out another option, i.e. manually sprinkling the seeds on the exposed ice cream. As you can see it worked out OK. Also, here's where I integrated the black and white seeds.

Uli (pictured here) and Joe were very excited about this dessert! When I described it earlier in the evening, Joe was sure he was going to hate it, but in fact, he couldn't have loved it more. For me, the combination of sweet cookie with sweet ice cream was a little overwhelming because I'm not a sweet freak, but I'm sure I'm in the minority here. 

What was notable was how beautifully both the ice cream and the cookies behaved in sandwich form, defrosting together at a perfect rate and staying glued together perfectly. Texturally, this just really, really worked. Well done, I&T!

SFO: 10