Oyamel Restaurant - Jose Andres yet again

We couldn't get a reservation Monday night at Cafe Atlantico, so Reeves booked us at nearby Oyamel (thinking it was a restaurant we'd taken the Taylors to a few years back). It's cocina Mexicana, with a lot of exotica: sauteed grasshoppers (we skipped that), pollo mole poblano, wahoo ceviche, fruit soup, and on and on. Jose's website (http://www.josemadeinspain.com/recipes.htm) didn't give any mole recipes. But he does give his take on the tomato/eggplant/pepper/onion roast which I do in what Suzanne has renamed "puree": he tears the roasted vegetables into large shreds and douses them with sherry vinegar, which is the ingredient so central to his Moorish stew.

Homemade pierogi and tomato dill sauce

Remember how we used to always make Mrs. T's pierogis? Carolyn over at 'Chefski Digest posted this recipe for homemade pierogis. I tried them out this week and they turned out really well! I would use 3 potatoes next time rather than four, as I ended up with plenty of extra filling (though the filling stands on its own as tasty mashed potatoes.) I them with white pepper. Also, I made a tasty sauce by heating minced garlic, 1 can tomato sauce, a big spoonful of sour cream, and plenty of chopped dill on the stove. These took quite a mile to make, so I don't think they'll make it into the regular rotation, but maybe for a Russian/Eastern European-themed dinner sometime in the future??

Thanks for the inspiration, Carolyn!

Jazzed up broccoli

I usually microwave my broccoli, but today I wanted something better. I came home after working for 16 hours, covering dawn and dusk, and felt I deserved something tasty. But it needed to be fast. The dish tastes vaguely Asian, and would probably be great (and even more Asian-tasting) with peanuts and tofu.

Saute medium broccoli florets and garlic slices in EVOO on medium. Add a splash of red wine when they are almost finished cooking. Season with red pepper flakes.

Scarf down ravenously with a veggie burger and a beer.

Pasta w/ chard & "sausage" sauce

I wasn't originally going to post this b/c the recipe is very simple and by no means ground breaking. It was just so tasty, though, that I felt I ought to share it!

Boil water and add salt and whole wheat pasta (I used penne, but I bet soba noodles would taste good, too).

Saute 1/2 onion (chopt), 1 lg clove garlic (sliced), 1 veggie chorizo sausage (sliced) in EVOO. When the sausage is browned and the onions are soft, add a bunch of chopt chard. When the chard has cooked down some, add 1/2 can chopt tomatoes and some balsamic vinegar. Season with oregano, rosemary, basil, and red pepper flakes (I added dried oregano and rosemary to the pan and put chiffonaded basil on top of the completed dish). Allow the sauce to simmer while the pasta cooks. This was >10 min for me. I initially wanted the sauce to be relatively raw, with barely softened onions and nearly fresh chard, but I think the long simmering time allowed the flavors to mature and mingle.

Top with crumbled feta cheese. Possibly for the first time in my life, I do not recommend hot sauce. Eat while watching TV alone and then promptly fall asleep.

Vindaloo Veggies

I've tried making all kinds of Indian dishes this year. Surprisingly, this one adapted from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, a non-Indian book, has been the best! I think it would be really easy to adapt to the stovetop--just simmer on the stovetop ~30 min rather than using the slow cooker. The vindaloo sauce could really be used with any combination of veggies or, dare I saw it, meat, as well.

Stir together 1T oil, 1T minced ginger, 3 cloves garlic minced, 1t lt brown sugar, 1t ground coriander, 1/2t ground cumin, squirt of mustard (or 1/2t dry mustard), 3/4t cayenne, 1/2t turmeric, 1T white vinegar.

Heat 1T oil in skillet over med hi heat. Add 1 lg yellow onion chopt and 2 thinly sliced small carrots and cover. Cook until veggies are soft.

Transfer onions and carrots to slow cooker and turn it on lo. Add spice paste & cook, stirring, ~1 min.

Add ~2 handfuls pepper slices (or 1 sliced pepper), ~2c cauliflower florets (~1/2 cauliflower), 2 partially cooked diced potatoes (~5 min in microwave), 1.5c kidney beans (.5c dry or 1 15.5 oz can), 1/2c green peas, 1 lg can tomato sauce (~1.75c). Season w/ salt 'n' pepper.

Cook 6h on low.

I ate it with a rice pilaf similar to the one I described in my recent post about California--onion, raisin, diced tomatoes, cumin, cinnamon, (just a dash) of white pepper, and salt. I made a cauliflower, tofu, and green bean curry the night before, so I've been having the three dishes together all week. Mmmmmmm.

Serendipitous asparagus

I was making Jody's sweet potato recipe last night, working on the island right next to the tough ends of asparagus that I'd left there in the morning, when I remembered that we had eaten roasted or broiled asparagus at JoLe in Calistoga. I threw the asparagus onto the tray and dressed them with the oil/garlic/jalapeno/paprika/pepper/salt mix. They cooked up soft and delicious on the inside, and the spicy dressing was delicious!