Confit Byaldi {Remy's Ratatouille}

Since we became vegetarians 3 weeks ago, this was our first Thanksgiving without a turkey! I used to think that the idea of Thanksgiving without a turkey was not much of a Thanksgiving at all, but keeping my priorities in order, I thankfully washed all of the vegetables and proceeded to make our Thanksgiving dinner: confit byaldi, Remy's take on Ratatouille.



His looks a lot better than mine.


But ours tasted absolutely amazing and left us wanting more!





Confit Byaldi

INGREDIENTS
FOR PIPERADE
1/2 red pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 yellow pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 orange pepper, seeds and ribs removed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
3 tomatoes (about 12oz. total weight), peeled, seeded, and finely diced, juices reserved
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig flat-leaf parsley
1/2 a bay leaf
Kosher salt


Piperade:



FOR VEGETABLES
1 zucchini (4 to 5 ounces) sliced in 1/16-inch rounds
1 Japanese eggplant, (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds
1 yellow squash (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds
4 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/16-inch rounds
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper




FOR VINAIGRETTE
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Assorted fresh herbs (thyme flowers, chervil, thyme)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

DIRECTIONS
1. For piperade, heat oven to 450 degrees. Place pepper halves on a foil-lined sheet, cut side down. Roast until skin loosens, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel and chop finely.

2. Combine oil, garlic, and onion in medium skillet over low heat until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, their juices, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Simmer over low heat until very soft and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes, do not brown; add peppers and simmer to soften them. Season to taste with salt, and discard herbs. Reserve tablespoon of mixture and spread remainder in bottom of an 8-inch skillet.

3. For vegetables, heat oven to 275 degrees. Down center of pan, arrange a strip of 8 alternating slices of vegetables over piperade, overlapping so that 1/4 inch of each slice is exposed. Around the center strip, overlap vegetables in a close spiral that lets slices mound slightly toward center. Repeat until pan is filled; all vegetables may not be needed.

4. Mix garlic, oil, and thyme leaves in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle over vegetables. Cover pan with foil and crimp edges to seal well. Bake until vegetables are tender when tested with a paring knife, about 2 hours. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. (Lightly cover with foil if it starts to brown.) If there is excess liquid in pan, place over medium heat on stove until reduced. (At this point it may be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Serve cold or reheat in 350-degree oven until warm.)

5. For vinaigrette, combine reserved piperade, oil, vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.

6. To serve, heat broiler and place byaldi underneath until lightly browned. Slice in quarters and very carefully lift onto plate with offset spatula. Turn spatula 90 degrees, guiding byaldi into fan shape. Drizzle vinaigrette around plate. Serve hot.

Yield: 4 servings

Stout Portabello Stew

I am a lucky girl, that much is for sure!

Yesterday, I went to the mall to shop for some jeans, and to see New Moon (more on New Moon later) and I came home with a few extra things from Aero due to some awesome deals and a 30% off coupon, of course.

When I got home, this delicious stew was waiting for me, along with my two favorite people in the world. I made some Irish soda bread and we had a delicious dinner together.



Recipe by my husband David

combine:
1 brown onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
3 Tbs olive oil
in a skillet over medium high heat. saute until onion is soft.

then add:
16 oz baby portabello mushrooms, sliced thick
1 bottle stout beer (we used Samuel Adams Cream Stout)
6 red potatoes, diced
and water to cover potatoes + 1 inch or so.
simmer until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

add:
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp peppercorn pepper
1/2 tsp soy sauce

In a separate pot over low heat, melt 6 Tbs butter. Add 1 1/2 C milk, 1/2 C flour and stir. Quickly add up to 2 cups of broth from soup pot, and stir until smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. Transfer back to the soup and allow to simmer until well blended.

Makes 8 servings.

Serve with White Irish Soda Bread

Give Thanks and Enjoy!!

Vegan Split Pea Soup

We recently tried Amy's Organic soups and were highly impressed with the quality and flavor, but at $2.15 a can (1 serving per can), I was determined to make my own organic soup at a much lower cost.
I found this recipe on one of my new favorite websites for environmentally friendly living called The Daily Green and found it to be easy pea-sy! ;)
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family did!


Vegan Split Pea Soup

SERVINGS
4 to 6

INGREDIENTS
2 cups (450 g) green split peas
6 to 7 cups (1410 to 1645 ml) water or vegetable stock
1 medium-size yellow onion, diced
2 creamy yellow potatoes (such as Yukon gold or fingerlings), diced
2 or 3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke, optional
Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Rinse split peas, checking for any impurities, such as stones or residue. Place all ingredients except salt and pepper in a soup pot, and bring to a simmer. Cover loosely and cook until peas are tender, 1 hour or longer. Check occasionally to make sure water has not completely evaporated. Heat should be low-medium.

The resulting soup should be thick and creamy, with the split peas quite broken down and mushy. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS AND VARIATIONS
For creamier soup, puree in a food processor or blender. This is also a great soup for a slow cooker; add all ingredients, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

COMPASSIONATE COOKS' TIP
The liquid smoke (found near the barbecue sauce in your local grocery store) takes the place of the ham (!) that people have been known to add to their soup. Because it's the smoky and salty flavor that we desire (not pig!), the liquid smoke does the job perfectly! (Yes, I needed to use that many exclamation points.)


This soup was delicious! I used almost all organic ingredients, and it still cost less than $4 for 6 servings! We'll be enjoying leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Did you know that this soup is also great for your heart? It tastes good and it's good for you! Dried peas are packed with fiber, B vitamins, protein, manganese, potassium and molybdenum, a trace mineral that has detoxifying properties.

For more information on the health benefits of split peas, visit The World's Healthiest Foods.

White Irish Soda Bread

This bread is soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. It goes well with some butter and agave syrup or honey! We all love it!



Ingredients: (the loaf in the picture above was made by halving this recipe- perfect size for our little family)

4 cups of all purpose flour (we used half whole wheat and half white)
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
14 oz of buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, mix 2 T vinegar/lemon juice with milk)


Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees. Lightly crease and flour a cake pan.

In a large bowl sieve and combine all the dry ingredients.

Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape)

Shape into a round flat shape in a round cake pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough.

Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes (this simulates the bastible pot). Or just use a glass baking dish with a lid. Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped so show it is done.

Cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep the bread moist.





Source of Recipe

Easy Bread Bowls

I made Parmesan Bread Bowls last night and it was so easy to do! These are not your traditional baked loaf of bread with the top cut out bread bowls, but they were perfect as a last minute idea to accompany our clam chowder.

I made a few substitutions...

1 package regular or quick active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shortening (I used 1/4 cup salted sweet cream butter)
1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 T lemon juice and filled the rest of the one cup with milk)


1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in small bowl. Stir in sugar; set aside.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and cheese in large bowl. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knives, until mixture look like fine crumbs. Stir in yeast mixture and just enough buttermilk so dough leaves side of bowl and forms a ball.
3. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead about 1 minute or until smooth. Cover and let rise in warm place 10 minutes.
4. Heat oven to 375ºF (the heat limit for our oven safe bowls is *350, so I baked at that temp for about 20 minutes or so-until golden brown). Grease outsides of six 10-ounce custard cups. (I used our Corelle bowls) Place cups upside down in ungreased jelly roll pan, 15 1/2x10 1/2x1 inch. Divide dough into 6 equal parts. Pat or roll each part into 7-inch circle. Shape dough circles over outsides of custard cups. (Do not allow to curl under edges of cups.)
5. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Carefully lift bread bowls from custard cups--custard cups and bread will be hot. Cool bread bowls upright on wire rack.

Perfect on a cold night with a Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale!


I have some extra dough because I only baked two bowls, so I just put them in baggies in the fridge and I plan to make more when I make Bethany's Double Thick Potato Cheese Soup. Talk about comfort food!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter cookies are (I THINK) my favorite kind of cookie. Snickerdoodle, Cowboy and Chocolate Chip Cookies run a close 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. =]



Up until this recipe, the way I made peanut butter cookies would gross David out. It was a recipe my best friend and I made after ballet when we were starving and impatient teenagers. My how some things (don't) change. =]

Regardless, the way she taught me to make them was this

1 egg
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of peanut butter

and bake.

I think this recipe grossed my oldest sister out as well, right Sissy? ;)

Anyways. The other night, I was craaving peanut butter cookies, and I didn't have any butter, but I wanted a legitimate honest to goodness made with flour cookie and I wanted peanut butter to be in the cookie. So I went to Google and found this recipe. These remind me of Grandma's packaged cookies (and to me, that is a good thing!).


Check out the recipe (including nutrition information) here. I didn't add the extra peanuts and I only added the chocolate to a few of the cookies. I hope you like them as much as I did!

Apple Fritter Holes

I made this recipe a few days ago after craving a Starbucks apple fritter. Believe it or not, there is only one Starbucks in all of Minot, and they stopped carrying apple fritters a while ago. Boo!
Oh well, I suppose we'll survive. David especially loves apple fritters though and I'm not the type to refuse fried dough- or fried anything for that matter- so I decided to try making my own. They came out nothing like the Starbucks ones, they were much more like doughnut holes to me, but they were still quite good.

Next time I will probably use an apple (or pumpkin!) puree to avoid the strange texture the chunks of apple add. And now I could really go for a Krispy Kreme Pumpkin Spice Cake Doughnut. Soon! :) James actually loved these too!



Apple Fritters

Fritter:

* 1 cup all purpose flour
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/3 cup milk
* 1 egg
* 1 cup chopped apple

Glaze:

* 2 cups powdered sugar
* 1 1/2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon. Stir in milk and egg until just combined. Fold in apple. Pour oil into skillet so that it is approximately 1 1/2 deep. Heat oil on high. Oil is ready when dough floats to top. Carefully add dough to oil in heaping teaspoons. Cook until brown, about 2 minutes, then flip. Cook another 1-2 minutes, until both sides are browned. Transfer briefly to paper towels to absorb excess oil, then transfer to cooling rack. Make glaze by stirring milk and powdered sugar together in a small bowl. Drizzle over apple fritters. Wait approximately 3 minutes for glaze to harden, then flip fritters and drizzle glaze over the other side. Best served warm.


Recipe credit: The Picky Apple

Coffee & a Very Berry Coffee Cake

This morning I went to Starbucks to re-stock our supply of coffee, espresso and vanilla syrup. We have an espresso machine and not many days go by that I don't make myself an iced caramel machiatto. yes, I'm spoiled, but the espresso maker was a house warming present to ourselves a few years ago and making our own is way better than paying $4 for a Venti at Starbucks every day. David enjoys them on occasion, but he prefers regular coffee on most days. I chose the Red blend again, it's so good and for every 1 lb bag of (STARBUCKS)RED whole bean coffee sold in the United States and Canada, Starbucks will contribute $1 to the Global Fund to help people living with AIDS in Africa. Cool huh!?


I also love their Very Berry Coffee Cake, except that it's usually kind of dense, cold and a bit over-priced. So I went home and looked up some recipes online hoping to find a secret Starbucks version. No such luck, but I found several yummy sounding ones and ended up combining them and making my own. It turned out tasting "better than Starbucks" (according to David) and it is much healthier for you too! (scroll to the bottom for a nutritional comparison)
I hope you like it! You can rate this recipe on Allrecipes by clicking here. Don't be shy! (if you're a Vegan, make this version- it might actually be better!)



batter:


mix together these ingredients in medium sized bowl:

3/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 Tbs cinnamon






then mix together these ingredients, and add to the dry mixture and mix well.

1 egg
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup country crock (or butter), melted
1/2 cup milk
3/4 tsp vanilla extract


pre-heat oven to *375



struesel topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3 Tbs white flour
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup quick oats (or whole oats partially ground)
1/8 cup coconut
3 Tbs country crock (or butter), soft

mix in a bowl and use a fork to make crumbly. my mixture turned into a paste because my margarine was melted, but it worked out fine, I just had to work harder to spread it on the top.

filling:

2 cups of mixed berries (I used 1 cup of chopped strawberries and one cup of blueberries- frozen is fine as long as you thaw them first)

OR

2 apples (I used one granny smith and one gala)

Core, quarter and slice. Do two layers, one of each apple.

OR

2 cups of canned peaches, drained


grease a 9x9 baking pan. spoon half of the dough into the pan. cover with fruit. scoop remaining dough on top of the fruit. spread as evenly as possible. top with streusel and bake for 40-45 minutes. check center with toothpick.

enjoy!



PS. Don't forget to review this recipe on Allrecipes by clicking here!