Cmac’s Crispy Tofu Bites
Posted by Cmac in Appetizers, Food, Main Course, Tofu on August 20, 2010
….Two words – Writers Block. My recent days in the kitchen have been full of new ideas and creations unfortunately I have been unable to motivate myself to one: Take a good picture and two: take it from a sticky note to a blog post. My life is still full of multiple distractions from cooking, and yet I have still managed to come up with 3-4 new creations waiting to be posted here. So bare with me as I try and knock off some blog posts. For now here is a simple creation I made with limited time, that actually turned out way better than I expected.
Duo Colored Pasta, a Tutorial.
Posted by Cmac in Food, Main Course, Pasta & Grains, Tips & Tricks on August 6, 2010
…..It was my wife and my 4 year wedding anniversary, and as for most special occasions I like to get a little crazy with food production (The Big Birthday Cake). I decided since I have recently mastered my new pasta maker it was time to take it up a notch and make duo colored pasta, and after a lot of googling the only methods I found seemed way to complicated. So I experimented with my own, and the result — Perfect. For the filling in the ravioli I decided to go with a mango, fresh mint, and ricotta combination, as for the measurements it was about a 2:1 ratio 2 Ricotta, and 1 of pureed mango, with a tablespooon of fresh chopped mint, as you will notice the pasta is egg free. Enjoy.
Paneer Butter Masala with a side of Cmac’s Indian Style Cabbage
Posted by Cmac in Uncategorized on August 5, 2010
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…..Once again I have been slacking on posts, offline life has recently been taking up most of my time. Anyways I finally found a local Indian grocer, and was able to replenish the spices I had to leave behind in the move so It was time to make some Indian food. The cabbage recipe is all my own writing down and adding things as I went along whereas the Paneer Masala recipe original came from the Edible Garden with only a few minor modifications based on what I had on hand. Enjoy.
Homemade Sweet Potato and Ricotta Ravioli
Posted by Cmac in Food, Main Course, Pasta & Grains on July 21, 2010
This recipe is my second attempt at using the new pasta maker. From this experience I discovered my wife and I make a good Pasta production team. The original filling recipe came from the Vegetarian Comfort food cook book, and the ravioli recipe can be found here. I didn’t stray to much from the originals as they did a wonderful job as they were. Enjoy.
Vegan Zucchini Fritters
Posted by Cmac in Food, Main Course, Tofu on July 19, 2010
I have a bad habit, when i’m at the farmers market I almost always leave with 2 or 3 zucchini. I just can’t seem to resist buying them. The problem with this is the day before the next market I always find last weeks zucchini sitting in the bottom of the crisper waiting to be used. I usually end up just marinating and grilling the zucchini but this week I wanted a change. I found the original recipe for these fritters on Ruhlman’s blog, with some variations in herbs and a Veganization we have the final vegan zucchini fritter. This is a pretty simple recipe that requires little advance planning and pairs well with a Mango Slaw (recipe to follow). In the end I was pleasantly pleased, in fact I think this is a great reason to buy more zucchini. Enjoy.
Vegetarian Won-Tons
Posted by Cmac in Appetizers, Pasta & Grains, Tofu on July 12, 2010
….As a test for my new pasta maker and an upcoming potluck with an Asian theme I decided to have a go at making won-tons. They were originally planned to be gluten free but the gluten free pastry dough was a failure. During this experience I learned that one its worth the investment in buying a $7 press, and two these were more like dumplings than won-tons. I am still going to call them won-tons since all the ingredients were won-ton based, and i’m sure if i call them dumplings someone else will have another name for them. Most important point of all this is that they tasted great, and I would definitely make them again. The pasta maker I purchased after a lot of research, I was originally going to get the kitchen aid attachment for my stand mixer but I have read many mixed reviews. Finally I decided on the CucinaPro 150 which is actually made in Italy so I figured I couldn’t go wrong and has many great attachments available. Anyways on to the recipe.
Gluten Free Sourdough Starter
Next week I am having friends stop over on the way to Australia and one of them is Gluten intolerant, Lactose intolerant, and can’t eat soy products, sounds like a challenge. I’ve always wanted to attempt a gluten free sourdough loaf, and there couldn’t be a better time or place to get this under way. I followed a recipe for the starter I found on the Fresh Loaf the only change I made was adding the skin of a fresh plum that fell from my tree being nicely coated with some local San Francisco wild yeast. I won’t know if it works until at least 3 days but will definitely keep you posted on its progress, or failure. As for the menu i’m planning for the guests, I am thinking Gluten free sourdough bruschetta, Mexican style corn on the BBQ coated with my vegan mayonnaise only subbing rice milk for soy, and finally a load of marinated and grilled veggies served with seasoned quinoa.
The Starter ingredients:
100g Bob’s red mill gluten free flour
150 ml spring water
peel of fresh plum
Day 1: Mix all ingridients in mason jar cover with double layered cheese cloth and mason ring, let stand at room temp for 24 hours.
Day 2: Add 100g of flour, and 150 ml of spring water, mix and cover again then let stand for 12 hours at room temp.
Day 3: add 100g more flour, and enough water to return to original consistency, cover and sit for another 12-24 hours.
Will let you know how it goes.
Zesty Mexican Style Bean, Zucchini, and Cous Cous Casserole
Posted by Cmac in Beans, Food, Main Course, Pasta & Grains on July 6, 2010
.....I have been MIA for quite a while, busy with multiple emergency room visits for my daughter and a 3 day hospital stay to get her started on the Ketogenic Diet. When I wasn’t busy I had no motivation to be creative in the kitchen. I’m back, still with no motivation, instead I have decided to go through my binder of recipe ideas I’ve wanted to attempt but never gotten around to it. This dish was inspired by a recipe for Zesty Mexican Zucchini Casserole, with about 15% of the recipe being from the original the other 95% came from the ingredients I had on hand, and a little bit of this and that as I felt the need to add it. Enjoy.
Sweet Quinoa with Garbanzo and peppers
Posted by Cmac in Food, Main Course, Pasta & Grains on June 17, 2010
I think I am feeling my long lost creative spark in the kitchen once again, suddenly I am thinking of more recipes ideas than I have the time to actually create. The inspiration for this dish amazingly came from something I smelled at the doctors office (yes the doctors office). On the counter next to the check-in desk they had large foil containers with steaming hot food ready for lunch — this is where my inspiration came from, the smell instantly triggered the watering of my mouth and a rumbling in my stomach. I had no idea what was in these containers that was making me so hungry, all I knew was that it smelled delicious and I had to go home and create something like that. In the end I had a delicious dish probably nothing like the inspiration but it filled the craving that I had for whatever was in that container at the doctors office. I think next time I make this I will add fresh pineapple chunks, for some reason as I was eating it that was all I could think about.
Pane Siciliano – Bread Bakers Apprentice
This is the third recipe I’ve made from The Bread Bakers Apprentice and i’d have to say the best so far. I followed the recipe and directions to the T with no problems at all (Aside from not having the best supply of steam). For future bakes of this bread I think I will just try different methods for producing steam aside from that I don’t think I could make this loaf much better.
Baking Notes:
- While the oven was preheating to 500 degrees Fahrenheit I had the base of a broiler pan on the very top shelf of the oven, then upon placing the loafs in the oven (middle rack) I added 1 cup of simmering water to the broiler pan.
- After 30 seconds I misted the sides and back of the oven with a small spray bottle of water, then repeated at 30 second intervals twice more, then reduced temperature to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and followed the recipes instructions.
Oven Profile:
- Jenn-Air electric convection oven
Miscellaneous notes:
- I made and used the pâte fermentée on the same day instead of placing in the fridge overnight I proofed at room temperature for 2 hours before making the bread dough.
For the full recipe you will have to pick up a copy of The Bread Bakers Apprentice, you won’t be let down.
Artisan Batard Bread
Sundried Tomato and Garlic Confit