Golden Gazpacho

Our tomato plants were not so prolific this summer, but the best of the bunch has been the golden girl variety.  Today I clung for dear life to the waning summer and made one last batch of gazpacho, golden style.

6 golden girl toms (or other yellow tomato)
2 yellow bell peppers
1 whole cucumber, peeled and seeded
2 small or 1 large yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
crust of bread, soaked in water and wrung out
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
salt to taste

1. Roughly chop the veggies.
2. Toss everything into the blender with the toms or the cucumber on the bottom to get things turning easily!  My blender won't hold all this so I did two batches.
3. Strain the gaz to remove bits of skin and tomato seeds.
4. Chill... = summer in a glass!

Bourbon Peaches

The Great Sustainable Food Project of 2012 has begun.  Clearly, when the zombie apocalypse hits this winter I will be in need of staples.  Staples like, um, bourbon infused peaches.  Kate gifted me a jar of these a few years back.  They possess that super special something that leaves you wanting more.  What's it called again? Oh yeah, liquor.



Ingredients
6 lbs ripe peaches
6 cups water
6 cups sugar
1 small bottle bourbon

1. Cut shallow Xs into the bottoms of the peaches and blanch them for one minute.  After they've bobbed around in the ice bath for a minute, quarter, pit, and peel them.
2. Boil the water and add sugar until dissolved.  Add the peaches until tender.
3. Ladle the peaches into your pre-sanitized canning jars (1 pt each) 3/4 full.  Use a butter knife to release air bubbles.
4. Top off the jars with the bourbon leaving 1/4 in head space.
5. Wipe off the rims and put on lids/bands.
6. Boil in water bath under a couple inches of water for 20 minutes.
7. Remove the lid for 5 minutes.
8. Remove jars and let sit, undisturbed, for at least 4 hours.

Ethiopian Collard Greens

Let's say you don't have any niter kebbeh, you could make it in the moment, like so. But since I already had some, I skipped right to the end...

Ingredients
1 tbsp niter kebbeh
2 bunches of collard greens
1 cup chopped onion
salt and pep
white wine vinegar

Set the onion to saute in the butter while you chop the collards into a rough dice. Add the collards when the onions are translucent and cook until your desired tenderness. Salt. Pep. Splash of vinegar.

If you prefer to make it spicy you could add a minced chili pepper, but I think it's nice to have some mild dishes on the injera, for variety's sake.

Ethiopian Beet and Potato Salad

Hot or cold. Sure to stain your hands.

Ingredients
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
5 red potatoes
5 large beets


I worked off this recipe, but instead of cooking then peeling and slicing, I opted to...
Peel and dice the potatoes and beets into 1 inch chunks while you bring a large pot of water to boil. Boil the beets for 5- 10 minutes first, as they take longer to cook, then add the potatoes and boil until tender. While they're cooking, mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Drain the potatoes and beets and toss in the dressing.

I cooked the roots until they were soft and smushed a little upon tossing. This would be an amazing mayonnaise-free summer potato salad if they were a bit more al dente and some fresh chopped dill.

Atakilt Wat (Ethiopian Cabbage and Carrots)

I first fell in love with the cabbage in North Carolina when I discovered that it was amazing just sauteed in butter and salted. Then, I realized that I could add caraway seeds and the dish was elevated to near god-like status. But on injera? I think not. It just wouldn't be...orange enough. The carrots here make the overall flavor a little sweet, and it's quite* gingery. If you're not into that, cut back a bit.

*dammit, Tiana.
Ingredients
1/4 cup niter kibbeh
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 inch fresh ginger, grated or minced
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 head of green cabbage, sliced into 1 inch chunks
5 carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks (really however many you want- the more carrots, the sweeter the dish)
salt to taste

1. Saute the onion in the niter kebbeh until translucent then add the garlic and ginger.
   
2. Add all the remaining ingredients, cover, lower heat, and cook until the thick vegetables have become tender. Stir every so often to prevent sticking and burning.
   

Easy peasy.

Yemiser W'et (Ethiopian Spicy Lentils)

This dish did not come out spicy, even a little. Next time around I'd throw in a minced chili or more berbere. Still, it was flavorful and a beautiful orangey-red...dare I say, burnt sienna?

Ingredients
1 cup red lentils
1 cup onions, chopped
1 clove gar1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup niter kebbeh
1 tbsp berbere
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp sweet paprika (as tempting as I find it to use smoked paprika for everything)
2 cups tomatoes, chopped or crushed
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup veggie stock
salt and pep

1. Bring the lentils to a boil in 3 cups of water and simmer for 30 minutes or until fully cooked. They start to fall apart on their own, especially if they are the smaller variety.
   
2. Saute the onions and garlic in the niter kebbeh until translucent.
3. Add the spices and sauté a few minutes more, stirring to prevent burning.
4. Mix in both tomatoes and tom paste and simmer for a few minutes before adding the broth. Keep this pot simmering until the lentils are ready.
   
5. Add the cup of vegetable stock or water and continue simmering.
6. Drain excess liquid off the lentils and add them to the mix. Continue to simmer until the stew is reduced to a thick consistency. Salt to taste! Spice to taste!

Niter Kibbeh (Ethiopian Spiced Clarified Butter)

I almost didn't make this and wouldn't that have been a massive fail. This spiced butter was in every dish I made for the Great Ethiopian Food Project of 2012 in which I attempted to recreate the vegetarian combos from my favorite Ethiopian restaurants. It was easy, keeps for a couple months, made the house smell amazing, though I suspected the kitchen air was clogging my pores. Rather than post a photo of this bright yellow butter (thank you, turmeric, and your powerful tint), consider instead all the amazing dishes you can make with it.

Ingredients

1 lb unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 inches of fresh gingerroot, peeled in thin slices
3 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
1 tsp fenugreek seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add everything else and simmer on the lowest possible heat for an hour.
   
2. Straing the clear golden liquid off, leaving all the solids in the pan.
   

A chef I met last night recommended using the remaining solids to make a brown butter, but I had already tossed mine out. Next time...

Atar Allecha (Yellow Split Peas)

Adapted, with very few changes, from kitteekake.

Ingredients
1/3 cup onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons niter kebbeh
1 cup dry yellow split peas
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3 teaspoons green chili, seeded and finely chopped
Salt to taste

1. Soak the split peas for one hour in three cups of water then bring them to a boil until fully cooked, smushy, even. Drain any excess water and smush the beans (always a gratifying procedure.)
   
2. Saute the onion and garlic briefly in a dry pan on a low heat then add the niter kebbeh and saute until translucent.
3. Add the mashed peas, turmeric, salt and green chili to the onion mixture and cook to reduce the mixture.
4. Puree until smooth with an immersion blender.
   

When I set this aside to begin the other dishes it dried out but this was easily remedied by heating it up and adding water.

Paella vegetariana

I'm pretty sure my mom gave me this recipe given that it's a computer print out with nutritional information at the bottom (that I duly ignore(ed)), but I associate it with Tiana dinner dates. Clearly it is joy inducing, but is also one of those recipes that gives you time to prepare the next step while the previous is cooking. As a paella, the vegetables can be whatever is on hand. This is what I do:

1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp saffron threads
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 can of artichoke hearts, quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups medium-grain rice
3 cups vegetable stock
2 cups kale, in ribbons
1 cup chopped tomatoes fresh or canned
1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1 can's worth of cannellini or other small white bean
1/2 cup peas
1/3 cup cured black olives, chopped

Boil the water and add the saffron- put it aside for ten minutes.
Heat the olive oil and saute the bell pepper and onion until golden.
Add the artichokes and garlic and saute another five minutes then reduce the heat to low.
Add the rice and swirl it to coat it in the oil.
Pour in the stock, kale, and tomatoes and bring it all to a boil.
Add the saffron water, paprika, and salt, and reduce the heat again. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
Mix in the beans and peas and cook covered until all the liquid has been absorbed.
Add the olives prior to serving or use as a garnish on each portion

Mom's Make 'em Ahead of Time and Stick 'em in the Freezer Stuffed Shells

My mom was pretty much a genius about making homemade food ahead of time and loading up the freezer so that when she got home from work all we had to do was pop something in the oven and-- voila! This is just one of those dishes...

2 cups shredded mozz
4 cups ricotta
handful of chopped parsley or basil
a couple cloves crushed garlic
2 eggs
salt & pep to taste
1 box jumbo shells

Cook the shells and run cold water over them in a strainer. When the filling is all mixed up and smooth stuff the shells without overfilling them. Lay them out on cookie sheets and put them in the freezer. When frozen solid the shells can be popped off the tray and stored in a zip-lock bag until you want to eat them.

Oh, is it that time? Lay your shells into a casserole dish and smother them in marinara sauce. Bake for 20 min at 350 degrees or until bubbling. Voila!

Celina's No Cook Tomato Dip

Perfect with olive or rosemary bread. Celina brought this dip to Cypress Salon's last book club meeting (topic of conversation, Beauty Queens by Libba Bray) and we basically inhaled it. She was nice enough to share the recipe.

18 oz tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1/3 cup delicious olive oil (it's not for cooking so a flavorful oil for raw eating works best)
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pep to taste
1/2 tbsp oregano
1/2 tbsp basil
1/2 tsp rosemary, crushed mortar and pestle style

Whisk the tomato paste, water, and olive oil together well. Add all the spices and let stand a couple hours for flavors to blend.

Sunchoke and Roasted Mushroom Bisque

What? More sunchokes? I'm sorry, were you under the impression that one can have too many sunchokes? You were dead wrong.

A heaping handful of red or fingerling potatoes, diced
5 big knobby sunchokes, at least, sliced not too thin
3 big handfuls of crimini mushies, sliced
1 large onion, diced
olive oil
butter or "butter"
6-7 sage leaves, minced
sea salt
8 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup "milk"

Toss the potatoes and sunchokes in olive oil and salt and roast in the oven at 425 for about 20 min. Toss the mushies in some oil and throw them in the oven too for about 20 minutes. Sit down and read or call someone from Pittsburgh. You have some time to kill. When those guys are almost stick-a-fork-in-me-I'm-done, saute the onion in the butter until it's soft and translucent. Add the tubers, mushies, broth, sage, salt, and simmah dahn nah for another 20 minutes or so. I went ahead and blended with my immersion blender, but it left the soup someone chunky. If you're not into that I'd let it cool and put it in a "real" blender. (Quotation marks are so-as not to offend immersion blenders.) Add the "milk" at the end for additional creaminess.

I ate it with a side of roasted beets, pots, carrots, and sunchokes, because guess what- you can't have too many sunchokes.

Beetroot Sunchoke Black Bean Burgers with Onion Fennel Chutney

New Year's Eve extravaganza dinner with Annemarie and Molly! This recipe was ad libbed based on a combination of various recipes and all measurements should be taken with a grain of salt (pun intended).

Burger Ingredients:
4 smallish beets, shredded
1 large knobby sunchoke, shredded
1/2 large fennel bulb, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
1 cup cooked black beans
2 eggs (if any vegan friends can tell me how to adequately bind a burger sans egg, I will be eternally grateful!)
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tbsp garlic powder
smoked paprika and salt to taste

I blended all the ingredients together by hand and added more bread crumbs as necessary so the patties wouldn't be too wet. We baked some patties on a greased baking sheet for about 1/2 hour at 375 degrees. Others we fried in olive oil until slightly charred. Despite what you might expect, it is humanly possible for something baked to taste better than fried! The nutty, almost smoky flavor of the sunchokes was brought out in the oven, not the stove top.

Onion Fennel Chutney Ingredients:

3 cups onions, sliced

1 cup thinly sliced fennel bulb

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

Water, as needed

This recipe, borrowed from Morningstar was a great condiment for the burgers. You saute everything on med-high for a couple minutes, then cover and simmer for 45-55 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so until everything is a nice, dark brown. I had to add more water and vinegar when I accidentally left the top off and it dried out too much.

We ate our burgers on toasted fennel rye bread with a smear of veganaise. Bam! Happy New Year!