Flashback to Tofurkey Day

One upon a time, when I was an angsty teenager, Thanksgiving was my not my cup of tea. A whole day dedicated to two of my least favorite things (football and poultry)? No thanks. Over time, however, two major factors dramatically changed my point of view.

First, during and just after college, I elected to spend the national holiday with friends and boyfriends and their families. Through these experiences, I realized that this time the grass was not greener on the other side. My family, it turned out, was actually kind of awesome and it felt as if no other family had such a fun and traditional holiday. Similarly, I really began to miss seeing my family. While so many take this for granted, living almost 2,000 miles away for almost 10 years really changes things. Especially when my adorable and tiny niece and nephew, and three (originally 5) feisty grandparents are thrown into the mix.

The second major change in my approach to Thanksgiving is, big surprise!, my foodie ways. You probably know by now that I'm mostly self-taught in the kitchen. So back during those teenage years of aforementioned angst, it just hadn't quite yet occurred to me to make Thanksgiving my own. But now that I am a little too comfy in the kitchen and utterly obsessed with fall flavors (cinnamon, nutmeg, pecans, anything pumpkin) I understand better than ever that Thanksgiving has more foodie potential than just about any other holiday I know. And my family's turkey? No match for my favorite tofurkey. (Just because no one I know agrees with this, doesn't mean it's not true!)

When cooking and baking throughout the year, it's usually just me and my pan. Sometimes I'll bake for Baked from the Heart with one of the talented Js, but more often than not cooking is a solitary affair. Thanksgiving, however, is a whole other crock pot. Unless your time in the kitchen is after everyone else is asleep, which I did a few times this year--I won't lie, it's pretty much impossible to work alone. Almost every dish on our Thanksgiving table this year was a collaborative effort. There's something really lovely about that--even if some people like the heat more than others. Here is the spread from our Turkey day buffet (A special thanks to my sister for providing the photos!) :

From left to right, top to bottom: Our Shabbat candles were an important part of the spread because we actually had our feast on Friday night (all the men in the family spent Thursday at a football game). No Thanksgiving is complete without a Corn Casserole--my absolute favorite dish!--and a Green Bean Casserole, which we made from scratch this year. Naturally, my non-veggie family has a kosher turkey on the table--my beloved tofurkey had the honor of a special place on the actual table next to my plate. This year, I added to the spread a savory squash. If you look closely, you'll notice that I carved Butternut Squash Leaves from the thick trunk of the gourd. We also made an Orange-Cinnamon Cranberry Sauce, a recipe that my mom and I created last year. After years of hearing from the rest of the family all about her incredible Apple-Cranberry Sweet Potatoes (below), I was really excited to try it out this year in place of the old standard, marshmallow-topped dessert, er, I mean casserole (which obviously I adore).

I wouldn't dream of posting about Thanksgiving without a pie montage! This year, I made a Classic Pumpkin Pie with Leaves of Crust. This recipe was actually a challenge because I was not so sure how to make the pie parve (non-dairy). As it turns out, you can just replace the condensed milk from any recipe (including that one from the back of an orange can) with the same amount of parve soy milk.


Meanwhile, my Grandma Sylvia made an Apple Pie with a nice melted brown sugar topping and my sister created the classic Jello Chocolate Pudding Pie.

You didn't actually think I'd deprive you of some recipes, did you?

Corn Casserole

1 can creamed corn
1 can regular corn, rinsed and drained
4 T corn meal
1 c milk (or ½ c soy milk)
½ c butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
3 T sugar
dash salt

Butter a 9x13 casserole dish and preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together every ingredient thoroughly. Pour into casserole dish and bake for 1.5 hours, or until set.


Green Bean Casserole

1 - 2 cups fried onions
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
14.5 ounces mushroom or veggie broth
1 cup soy milk

Pinch salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Parboil green beans until just tender, about 5 minutes. Soak in cold water, drain and dry. In a large saucepan, melt margarine over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sautee until soft. Sprinkle salt, pepper and flour. Stirring constantly, cook for 1 minute then pour in soy milk and broth. Whisk until smooth. Simmer for 5 minutes, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Fold in the green beans and pour into a 9x13 casserole dish. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbling around the edges. Top off with fried onions in any pattern you choose and enjoy! This recipe is an adaptation.

Butternut Squash with Leaves (low calorie!)

1 whole butternut squash
cooking spray
chili powder
garlic powder
salt
pepper
dried oregano

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut squash trunk into several 1/4 inch round slices. Peel bulb, scoop out seeds and chop into small chunks. Place in a greased baking dish. Coat squash with cooking spray and set aside. Use a small leaf-shaped cookie cutter or a pairing knife to cut the squash into leaves. Make small lines with a knife to create veins and coat with cooking spray. Place leaves on greased cookie sheet. Lightly sprinkle a desired amount of spices over the tops of the squash leaves and chunks. Bake until squash is soft and can just be pierced with a dull fork. Form a wreath with the leaves around squash chunks in the dish.

Orange-Cinnamon Cranberry Sauce

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
12 ounces fresh cranberries
2 t cinnamon
zest of one half orange

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Toss in the cranberries and return to a boil. Toss in the zest and cinnamon. Stir and let boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside until cool. Refrigerate for an hour and serve cold.

Apple-Cranberry Sweet Potatoes
Recipe TK!

Classic Pumpkin Pie with Leaves of Crust

pie filling:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t ground nutmeg
2 eggs
15 oz pumpkin puree
12 oz soy milk

pie crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup ice water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Combine with butter and ice water. Knead on a floured surface and cut in half. Refrigerate for 30 minutes – 1 hour. Roll out into 2 large circles or 10 small circles. Place one circle in pie pan and trim edges to fit. Pinch the edges to make a decorative trim, if desired. In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients and mix thoroughly; pour into pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Use tinfoil or silicon cover to cover the crust of the pie to prevent burning. Decrease heat to 350 degrees and bake for 40 -50 minutes, or until set. Meanwhile, use a leaf-shaped cookie cutter and make several leaves. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until golden. Place decorative leaves on pie as desired.

Halloween Dinner Party

I am a HUGE Halloween nut. As a kid, I loved trick-or-treating and eating from my huge bucket of candy every day after school, all year long. But it wasn't until I went to college that I started craving a fun, sophisticated Halloween experience. You see, I went to a small university where the students just weren't interested in the spooky holiday. I almost went trick-or-treating for UNICEF once, but I sprained my ankle and was sidelined indefinitely. When I moved to New York, I was so excited to watch the annual village parade and attend parties thrown by friends and acquaintances, and I had a great time doing so. Just over two years ago, though, after being a devoted Martha fan for a few years, I began to crave a slightly different Halloween experience: the dinner party. This year was our third annual Halloween party and I think I have finally come up with a magic formula. To throw a successful, but still small, bash you need:

• A spooky but sophisticated ambiance

• Several courses of tricky treats

• A grand dessert finale

• And of course, required costumes!

Before delving into recipes, I'd like to say a little something about the meaning of the holiday. Although the day has roots in several cultures and religions (Roman Parentalia and feast of Pomona, Celtic Calan Gaeaf, Mexico's Day of the Dead, and All Saint's Day, amongst others), I believe that it's current meaning is more secular and philosphical.

You see, I hate all things scary. Horror movies, frightening practical jokes, any potentially dangerous situation, and above all, the dreaded nightmare. I prefer to be safe, secure, and away from all that stuff. So, why then, do I love this spooky and scary day? I finally get the chance to mock and tease all of the things that I am afraid of! I find it really empowering. I'll admit that I still tend to focus on fictional frights (goblins, ghosts, vampires and zombies) rather than the grotesque and possible (psych units gone awry and anything slasher), but I still feel satisfied and relieved by the end of the frightful night.

This year, I opted to place a menu with silly, spooky names at each place setting. This was a huge hit at the party and guests loved to look back and forth between their plates and the menu in order to figure out which tricky dish they were eating at the time. My favorite recipes from our 2010 Halloween Dinner Party:

Eyes of Newt Salad with Cockroaches Combine fresh baby spinach leaves with cubed apples or pears, and candied pecans. Top the salad off with peeled concord grapes. Served with my signature Spiced Sesame Salad Dressing.

Sauteed Broken Bones with wild fungus in a garlic creme sauce. This recipe was adapted from a ricotta gnocci from The New York Times. I sauteed an assortment of mushrooms in olive oil with fresh sage and tossed with the "broken bones" before serving. I can't wait to make this again, and maybe with a butternut squash sage sauce (for semi homemade recipe, cartoned soup would work nicely).

Goblin Claws Roasted artichokes, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with breadcrumbs. Roast at 425 degrees until the outer leaves are golden and fanning outward, while the bottom of the stem is easily pierced with a fork.

Jack O'Lantern Brulee I combined Emeril Lagasse's pumpkin custard with Martha Stewart's candied pumpkin. This was one of the biggest hits of the whole night and I hope to be able to make it again for Thanksgiving! Guests loved being able to eat the shell.

Throughout this post, you've found a few photos from this year's bash. I'd also like to show you some of my favorite photos from Halloweens past:

Red Velvet Skull with marshmallow fluff icing

Red Velvet Zombie
with Cranberry Sauce, Twizzlers and White Chocolate Covered Figs

Pear Skull Pops with butterscotch and white & milk chocolate
Meringue Bones dusted with cocoa powder Witches Fingers

Homemade Candy Corn Boozy Chocolate Fig PumpkinsHard-Boiled Eyeballs with guacamole
I hope you had a happy Halloween!

All the Sweet Stuff: Cinnamon Babka

When I think of babka, I think of two things: the way my Dad's face lights up at any mention of the yeasty, sugary pastry and the classic Seinfeld episode, below. Babka is like a hybrid of challah and gooey cinnamon rolls. It typically comes in two flavors: chocolate and cinnamon. Though some people feel very strongly about their preferences (my dad doesn't understand why anyone would waste their time with a babka that isn't cinnamon) I personally love both flavors so much, I can't choose.

Seinfeld -) The Babka - The best video clips are right here

A few weeks ago, I was obsessed with another classic NYC/Jewish treat: rugelach. I just couldn't get the recipe right. One night I decided to play with a basic rugelach recipe by adding yeast. After doing lots of online research and kitchen experiments, I came up with a dough that's a hybrid between a buttery biscuit and a croissant. I found myself with some extra dough and decided to roll it in chocolate chips and braid it like a challah. Though it didn't taste a thing like challah, it was incredible and reminded me and Doni of babka. I told myself that as soon as I had the opportunity, babka I would make.

I mentioned a pot-luck picnic in my last post. I thought saying goodbye to J, A, and cutie-pie N would be the perfect time to try out my recipe. It was such a crowd-pleaser! Soft, gooey, sweet and full of cinnamon goodness. Next time, I plan on doubling the fillings (which I did in the recipe you'll find below) because the dough absorbs some of it while baking. The recipe makes 1 extra large babka or 2 small babkas. I plan on making this again and again and bringing it to all sorts of holidays and family events.

Cinnamon Babka
dairy, parve or vegan

3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
dash tsp salt
2 sticks butter
2 packets yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick cold butter
1 Tbs melted butter
dash cinnamon

Directions. Pour the water over both packets of yeast and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes, or until the yeast is frothy, bubbly, and twice its size. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. The following can be done by hand or in a food processor: Add the butter in small pieces (or margarine) and knead together until the entire mixture is crumbly.

In a small bowl, beat together the vanilla and both eggs. Pour into the flour mixture and combine. Next, mix in the sour cream (or parve alternative). Lastly, knead in the yeast until the dough is firm. Place in a greased bowl and let rise, covered with a towel, for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 340 degrees. Roll out the dough in a large rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the cold butter (or margarine) into small pieces. In a small bowl, coat the pieces of butter (or margarine) in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Evenly cover the rectangle of dough with the cinnamon mixture, including the edges. Roll dough like a cinnamon roll--from one long side of the rectangle to the other. Close the seam by brushing melted butter on top and pinching together the dough. Form the tube of dough into a large circle, closing the ends together just as above.

Twist the circle of dough into a double helix and place in a loaf pan, prepared with parchment paper. Brush the remaining melted butter over the top of the babka and sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon, if desired. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and, when wiggled, the babka no longer jiggles in its pan.

Vegan Note: I was actually out of eggs when I made this at home, so I used Ener-G egg replacer and it turned out beautifully. If you also use margarine, as I did, this becomes an easy, delicious VEGAN treat! Who knew?

All the Sweet Stuff: Root Beer's Birthday!

It turns out that yesterday was the birthday of the modern root beer float! I hate to admit how long it's been since I've indulged in one. Granny--my mom's mom--used to make them for us on long, hot summer days in Dallas when I was a child. The frothy, sweet and cold beverage (or is it a dessert?) has such a unique flavor--it's like Proustian madeleine transporting me back to Granny's table.

With great respect for the classic soda shop treat, Doni and I had a taste test tonight. We used diet root beer, hoping it would cancel out the ice cream calories. That was a bad idea--it tasted like a root beer float, sure, but it wasn't rich enough and it didn't invoke the magic memories that the right flavor should. So I highly recommend ditching the diet and doing it right.

We also sampled plain vanilla ice cream and chocolate chip vanilla, both Edys Slow Churned. Doni preferred vanilla, but I loved the chocolate chip. I like the texture that it added to the ice cream and the way it just barely dissolved into the soda and left a slight chocolate after-taste. Here's a photo of my chocolate chip root beer float:


Any other interesting root beer float flavors out there?

Family Dinner: Veggie Chili with Roasted Okra and Polenta

I met up with my close friend, Tracy, today for some computer help--thanks, T! We ended up using free wifi at one of the Starbuckses (Starbucksi?) bordering Union Square. Because Wednesdays are one of the four days a week that Greenmarket hits the square, I thought it'd be a shame to head home without some fresh produce--and maybe a cookie or two.

After my initial walk-through, one thing was clear: this week is all about okra. Now, I haven't been to Greenmarket in a few weeks, so maybe last week and the one before that were all about okra too. All I knew was that I had to bring some home to play with. After my subway ride home, I Googled "okra" to get some recipe ideas. I love it fried--who doesn't--but I just didn't want the calories or cholesterol. I also love it pickled, but I needed some okra in my belly tonight, so we'll have to revisit that idea later. The biggest challenge most cooks have with okra is its natural slime. Doni loves excellent texture as much as I love a good flavor and slime just won't make for a good family dinner.

I searched online to find a less gooey recipe ("okra without goo" doesn't show up any results, in case you were wondering). I found a post on All Recipes that had 1,291 excellent reviews. The method? Roasting! Roasting is actually my favorite way to eat veggies (asparagus, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, edamame, you name it, I've roasted it), so I knew I had a winner. Because the farmer's market also had some incredible fresh garlic, I thinly sliced two cloves and added them to the mix.


The results? I think that it could have been roasted a bit longer. The okra took a while to brown--about 25 minutes--and even then, it wasn't quite enough. On the bright side: no slime at all--but Doni still wasn't so enthused and I ended up inhaling the whole bowl myself. (What? I like okra.) I think we'll have to try again soon with pickled okra and see if I can bring D around.


Roasted Okra with Garlic
Parve & Vegan

1/2 lb fresh okra
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper, as desired
olive oil

Directions. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut okra into 1/2 inch slices. Thinly slice garlic and mix with okra. Drizzle or spray olive oil to lightly coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Serves 2.

Because you can't eat a whole meal of okra (unless it's pickled! mmmm...), I put up an easy veggie chili, loosely based on Jessica Seinfeld's awesome book, Deceptively Delicious. I recently picked one up for $5 at Kohls as part of Kohls Cares for Kids (score!) and you'll definitely be reading a lot more about it on this blog in the future. Her recipe centers around ground turkey. I used ground seitan. She uses chicken broth and I'm all about the vegetable broth. I also added a wide array of beans: black, cannelli, pinto, soy, some bacon bits for a bit of smoke, and because I like to use what I already have accessible: a whole brick of pureed, frozen winter squash. I also thinly sliced up some pre-made polenta (the stuff in a tube) and roasted it along with the okra to use in place of tortilla chips. I made a large portion so that I can freeze half of it for another family dinner in the future.


Four Bean Veggie Chili
Parve & Vegan

3 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can pinto beans, rinsed
1 can white beans, rinsed
1 can of corn
1 8oz can tomato sauce
12 oz pureed winter squash
8 oz vegetable broth
1 cup shelled edamame
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp chipotle powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili pepper
salt, as desired
black pepper, as desired
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz ground seitan
1/4 c bacon bits

Directions. Put a large pot on medium heat. When warm, add olive oil, celery, onion, and red pepper. Stir occasionally. When onions are transluscent, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add seitan and bacon bits. Cook for 2 -3 minutes. Add spices and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add beans, corn and edamame, stirring to combine. Pour in the vegetable broth and stir with a wooden or silicon spoon, scraping the bottom of the pot. Mix in the tomato sauce and squash puree until smooth and well-incorporated. Bring the chili to a boil on high heat. Serve with tortilla chips or polenta. Serves 8 - 10.

Dairy options: Garnish with cheddar cheese or sour cream and chives, if desired.


The resulting chili is great--smokey, spicy and "meat"y. Very very hearty. My only edit for the future is pre-cooking some of the firmer ingredients like edamame. It just didn't melt into the chili as nicely as we would have liked. The best part of it all was the salted polenta chips. D and I have a tendency to stuff ourselves with delicious food like there's no tomorrow. The polenta chips provided a nice stopping point for us. "No more polenta? Well I am a little full now that you mention it..." So 1 tube is just perfect for 2 people. It also had a fun, hors d'oevre kind of look that could work well for a party. Next time I might use my mandoline (not the musical instrument, people!) to make the slices even thinner and crisper.

Overall, I'd say the Greenmarket trip was well worth my while, even if I did eat up all the okra myself. I stayed strong and magically avoided their cookies, so it looks like this little chef gets an extra big snow cone tonight. More on that later...

Part of a Complete Breakfast

When I woke up this (late) morning, I was looking at the world through blurry eyes. I don't have coffee every day, but some mornings I crave it. It's not that I love the taste of coffee, but I love the idea of it. Steamy and black, aromatic and nostalgic--when I think about a cup of coffee, I imagine all the generations before me of avid coffee drinkers. I think of myself as a little kid sitting around my grandparents breakfast table with Ritz crackers and cream cheese (my late grandfather, Sol's, favorite 10am snack), smelling the aroma and breathing in the magic of morning. Sometimes I imagine 50s housewives, like Lucy and Ethel, spending the morning gossiping and scheming.


Now, I won't deny that there's all sorts of evil out there in coffee industry, but that's not something I'm dwelling on this morning--or is it actually afternoon by now? A couple years ago, for Hanukkah, Doni and I gave my parents a new, fancy coffee maker as a gift. It's one of those cup-at-a-time wonders with fancy single servings of various flavors. My dad, Evan, loves playing with it and even began to create his own flavor: plain coffee with a light sprinkle of cinnamon and a scant dash of vanilla extract.


I've never tried his creation--mostly because he likes very weak coffee and I like it on the stronger side--but I woke up this morning nostalgic for the smell of roasting coffee and intrigued by his recipe. I'll be honest here--I assumed it would be terrible! I planned to call this post "Don't Try This at Home". But just as your parents prove to be right more often the older you get, my dad knows what he's doing. It's delicious! Who knew? I always need sugar/stevia in my coffee and this morning I have no desire to tinker with the taste. It's just great the way it is and wonderful combined with my breakfast of the day: toast with fat free cream cheese, a sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar, and fresh blueberries. Try it out for yourself!

It's about time!

Hi. My name is Stephanie and I'm a procrastinator. I've been talking about creating this blog for well over a year and I am so happy that it's finally here! Because I cook and bake so often, usually adapting recipes on the spot, I've never been able to accurately record my best and worst efforts. I needed a place to keep track of myself--record my experiments right alongside my thoughts, memories and photos. I think that blogs are becoming the modern recipe box and I'm excited to finally join the bandwagon.

About me: I'm a vegetarian--so the closest thing to meat you'll see on this site is facon (fake bacon--love the stuff!). Also, I keep a kosher kitchen. So while I may post about a wonderful vegetarian meal I had at a regular restaurant, the recipes that I make at home are always kosher. I may designate recipes as "dairy" or non-dairy "parve". I may also label some recipes as "vegan"--which means meatless, dairy-free, egg-free and honey-free.

Though I live in NYC with my husband, Doni, I'm originally from Texas and that definitely affects my palate. I have a penchant for spicy foods, anything Tex-Mex, and love (LOVE) snowcones. In fact, I'm eating one right now--Bahama Mama flavor! I also like to take photos. So you'll see a lot of those. Here's one of a cupcake fight with Doni:


I plan to write about food in five different tracks. Something like:
Family Dinner: The stuff I scrounge together for dinner with Doni.
Shabbat This Week: Dishes I make for bigger meals, usually involving friends and family.
All the Sweet Stuff: No explanation needed here!
Adaptations: My take on recipes.
Out and About: My favorite vegetarian finds in restaurants.

I'm sure I'll come up with a few more ideas along the way, procrastination notwithstanding. Thanks for reading and Enjoy!