Vegetarian lentil stew with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

This is a stew I usually make with chicken. This time I wanted to make a vegetarian version for my daughter. This version is made with dry lentils (soaked overnight) cooked in vegetable stock. Rice or barley, carrots, spinach and green beans are added after the lentils have just begun to soften. Tomato sauce and seasonings are added at the end.



These are the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies we always love.

Bison holiday meal

For a family holiday meal when another turkey is too much, try bison steaks. Above is the winter punch my kids enjoy, and we enjoy more with a shot of rum. Simply mix some spiced apple cider with some orange juice and a peppery ginger ale. It can be served warm or cold.

This is an appetizer tray. The hit was the brie covered with a layer of plum jelly then topped with sliced almonds before baking it in the oven for a delicious cracker topper.

The salad was romaine with chopped pears, dried cherries and a grapefruit vinaigrette.

Baked potatoes were served with shredded cheddar, butter, sour cream and chopped scallions.

The stack of bison steaks fresh off the grill.




We finished off the meal with a blackberry apple pie served with a cinnamon whipped cream.

The Chocolate Viennese Filled Cookies

Most of my cooking and baking have a bit of a healthy twist. This is one exception. The only healthy thing about these is that they are made with all organic ingredients.

I usually do a lot of baking around the holidays. There are a couple delicacies that win the popular vote. The one baked item I get asked for more than any other is the viennese cookies. I have no idea why they are called viennese cookies and don't know if the recipe comes from Vienna. I do know that they are delicious. I do know they are addictive. I do know that I licked my fingers and the bowl and the broken ones so much that I woke up with a sugar hangover.

The recipe starts with a chocolate shortbread type cookie that is piped out and baked.

Dark chocolate is melted so that one edge of each cookie can be dipped.


The filling is flavored with espresso which gives such a nice coffee balance to the dark chocolate and the sweetness of the cream filling.

Now they're ready for gifting and for munching. They freeze well too!

If you want the recipe, post a comment requesting it, and I will gladly post it.

Vegetable Lasagna

This is such a great standby for us. I find it pretty easy to put together and everyone always loves it!

I start by mixing the cheese layer in a bowl. I use two containers of organic ricotta, a bag of frozen chopped spinach, 2 eggs and 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese.

I start layering the lasagna with a jarred organic spagetti sauce ladled on the bottom of a glass casserole dish. I place a layer of noodles next. I use rice lasagna noodles, but only Tinkyada brand. Any others I've tried are mushy and have a horrendous texture. I place the noodles on the sauce without precooking them - as simple as possible.

Then I spoon 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles and spread evenly. I pulled whatever veggies I could find in the fridge to chop and add on top of the ricotta layer (carrots, green beans and mustard greens), then more sauce, another layer of noodles, the rest of the ricotta mixture, more sauce, the last layer of noodles, topped with sauce and some parmesan sprinkled on top.

Bake at 400 for about 50 minutes or until the noodles are cooked through.

Collards and cornmeal

My dad grew up on a farm. Years ago he told me about how his mother used to prepare greens with cornmeal dumplings. The thought of this dish has been festering in the back of my mind ever since. Tonight I decided to tackle the yearning I've had for that meal. I had an abundance of collards and mustard greens from my csa.

I used this recipe from epicurious.com:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Simmered-Greens-with-Cornmeal-Dumplings-241202

I substituted turkey bacon for the regular bacon, changed the cornmeal to flour ratio so that it was mostly cornmeal and substituted agave for sugar.

It was sooooo so good.






I also made some roasted butternut squash, also from my csa, and some field peas and beans to round out the southern meal reminiscent of days gone by.

Thanksgiving

Since this public blog is meant to act as a personal reminder of things to cook, I will take the opportunity to remember also this Thanksgiving.

Cheddar and green onion scones for breakfast along with the grapefruit, orange and pomegranate fruit salad . . . 

Add in the cinnamon rolls for breakfast while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and ragging on the ones that mess up their steps or drop their batons or wear costumes that shouldn't see the light of day . . . 

If I serve a salad on Thanksgiving, everyone actually eats it, so I always do.  This one is organic romaine tossed with organic field lettuce from the csa and pomegranate seeds from the breakfast and a grapefruit vinaigrette also made from the juice of the fruit salad.

Organic potatoes mashed with the skins and a stick of butter made a day ahead, stored in my chambra pot, topped with chopped parsley and green onions.  Yes, they are still good reheated the next day, really . . .  I promise!

Just some green beans, because we have to.

 Cornbread dressing made with cornbread, of course and sauteed onions, celery, fresh parsley, fresh rosemary, fresh lemon thyme, dried sage because it doesn't ever do well in my garden, then moistened with broth. 

 Sweet potato souffle from my GrandFoy's recipe.  A large bowl full of organic mashed sweet potato (~10?), 4 organic eggs, a stick of organic butter, a generous splash of sherry, a pinch of salt, ~1/2 c. agave, 1/4 c. maple syrup (GFoy's recipe called for 2 cups of sugar!!!! That would make my teeth hurt.)  After whipping it all together, put it in a baking dish and top with a nut crumb topping.  I used butter, sucanat, oat flour and pecans.  Bake until bubbly on the bottom and crunchy on the top.  It looks a little burned, maybe so but still completely yummy!

Turkey isn't the main attraction for us, but can you really have a traditional Tgiving without?We didn't get a picture of the whole turkey, so this one of sliced turkey will have to do.

The cranberry sauce is in the previous post and has a starring role, since Matthias made it.

For dessert . . . Sydney made an organic pumpkin pie and added a sweet potato because we heard that makes it better.  She got creative and folded the crust into the pie, which gave it a sort of tort look.

And an apple blackberry pie that was much better the second day.  We put vodka in the crusts because you're supposed to?  I tossed the peeled and sliced organic apple assortment with sucanat, organic blackberries and a tablespoon of tapioca powder as a thickener.

                                              Matthias plays a song for us after our meal.

                                                            Teddy's too full to stand up.

                                                 Sydney practices her spiral off the ice . . . 

                                                    Matthias is suddenly camera shy . . . 

                             

         I have to call the other relatives to say Happy Thanksgiving.

                                      Who forgot to put water in the cat's bowl again?

                                                             Mom enjoys sitting outside.

                                           Paula and Sydney took most of the photos

                             spoiled with our beautiful lake and the unbelievable weather!

Organic Cranberry Raspberry Sauce

Matthias made this with a little help.  He dumped 2 bags of fresh organic cranberries into a small pot.  He picked through those berries before adding a bag of organic frozen raspberries.  He then squeezed three tangerines through a strainer into a measuring cup.  He added some organic apple juice to make the liquid equal ~1 1/4 cups.  He added the juice along with 3/4 cups agave.  He simmered the mixture with a stick of cinnamon.  We had to sweeten a little to get it right, but then we couldn't keep the spoons out of it.