Spinach pancakes

I have a toddler who LOVES pancakes! He does not eat veggies. I attempted to use this to my advantage tonight, with some success - I made savory spinach pancakes:

-Make pancake batter from mix (1 cup mix, 1 cup water according to the box I have)
-Put batter and 1 cup of cooked spinach (nuke for 2" in water) in a blender and blend until smooth
-Fry pancakes in EVOO

Meanwhile (optional):
-Cook thinly sliced apples in walnut oil

Pair pancakes with apples, or, if your child starts yelling "MORE RAISINS!!!!!", pair them with raisins. I liked them a LOT, and he liked them some.

Rye bread

I tried out this rye bread recipe - it was a great success!

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/caraway-rye-bread-recipe

Mild and moist.  I would recommend using the full 2T of caraway seeds. I substituted ricotta for the sour cream, because I didn't have sour cream - worked great. Made it in the bread machine under the whole wheat setting.

Try it with butter, sliced radishes, and salt!

Banana Bread

We had three ripe bananas and a baby who prefers to feed himself.  Reeves does little pork-and-cream- cheese-on-toast canapes for him.  I decided to do banana bread.  I started with a recipe from the NYT cooking app (free!) and altered it with the goal of adding some tartness to smooth out the banana taste and making it a little more healthy.  I did almost all of the mixing in the blender.
First, I ground up 1/4 c. salted roasted pecans and 1/4 c. raisins.  Then I added and mixed until smooth the non-dry recipe ingredients:  the 3 bananas, an egg, 1/4 c. roasted almond oil, 1/4 c. yogurt, 1 1/2 t. vanilla, 1/3 c honey. Separately I mixed 1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour and 2 t. baking powder, then I stirred that into the blender.  I poured the mixture into a pan with parchment paper lining and baked it for 45 min. at a 350 oven.  Our taster had several slices, some plain and some with almond butter.  He jumped up and down, shouted, learned the word "Mmmm!!!", and smiled widely.  I can't imagine a more enthusiastic reception.

LENTIL-CARROT-WINTER SQUASH STEW

A year and a half since our last post!  Some VARIATIONS ON ORANGE for an October night.  This stew works with lots of substitutions, and need no attention for the last hour before serving.

1. dice and saute 1 med onion.  Cook for 5 min (med heat)
   
2. mince 3 garlic cloves and add to pan (turn to low heat)
3. slice 2 carrots and add to pan.  Can cook some more.
4. dice 1/2 of a winter squash.   Maybe you just don't feel like peeling the rest of it, so 1/2 is ok.  Or use two yams. Add dice to pan.  Dice one tomato and add to pan. Or use 2T of tomato paste.  Suzanne even added potatoes.
   
5. add 1 t. cumin.  Can also add coriander and bay leaf and sprinkle in cayenne or hot sauce.
   
6. mince 2 t. ginger and add
   
7.   Add 1 1/2 c lentils (use orange if you are going with the theme).  Add enough veg stock to cover but not too much - - can add more later
8. Bring to a boil but then reduce and cook on low maybe 1/2 - 1 hour

Miso dressing

 

I made a delicious salad topped with miso dressing inspired by this 101 cookbooks post. I started with a bowl of baby spinach leaves topped with steamed cauliflower, sliced spring onions, cilantro, and toasted walnuts. Then threw fried thinly sliced tempeh - over medium-high heat in canola oil, finished with a splash of soy sauce - on top. Finally, the dressing: whisk together 2T miso (I used white miso), 1/2t mustard (I used dijon), 2T brown sugar, 1/4c apple cider vinegar, 1/4c walnut oil. The original recipe uses rice wine vinegar, which I bet would be great, if you have it. This would probably also make a great dip for crudite. Enjoy!

Marinated flank steak
M got flank steak, from the Farmers' Almanac recipe that I cut out of the Post at least 30 years ago.  The marinade is 1/3 c. brown sugar, 1/3 cup soy sauce (I used Tamari this time, an upgrade), 1/3 cup bourbon (Old Crow, probably also 30 years in the liquor cabinet and not an upgrade), 1 T. worcestershire sauce and juice of 1 lemon.  I score it lightly on both sides to prevent it from curling too much.  It broiled to medium rare in about 11 min, and then to medium in about 13.  I used 3/4 lb for the 3 of us.  It came from the Organic Butcher in McLean and was really juicy.  I added a little cornstarch to the marinade and reduced it to make a sauce for the meat and the rice.  Reeves was eager to slice it - - it had been a long time since he sliced any beef.  And here we are, having it again at our celebration of Suzanne's 30th. 

Butternut squash, red onion & tahini casserole

Thanksgiving, 2015

If ever a Chez Toby needed a picture!  This dish has a minimal number of ingredients and a knockout appearance and taste.  The key is to cut the onions the way the recipe says to, because the onion sections (each an eighth of a globe, the south pole or root portion of each eighth remaining intact to secure all of the layers) fan out beautifully and can be arranged atop the squash, violet floral motifs on deep orange.  Here are leftovers to give an idea: 

Ingredients for maybe 8 servings:

• 4 large red onions
• 2 pounds butternut squash (can increase and just mound up for more servings)
• 1/3 c or more pine nuts or shelled green pistachio nuts
• tahini sauce (1/4 c. tahini paste, 2 T. lemon juice, 1 clove minced garlic (or smash bulb and use immersion blender to make sauce), 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 c. water, 1T olive oil or more lemon juice if desired)
• 1/2 c. oil, salt, pepper

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 475 degrees. Lightly coat two large baking sheets with olive oil or use parchment.
2. Peel onions, leaving root ends intact. (Just leave the solid, connected part of the root end; it's OK to cut off any root portion protruding from globe.)  Cut each onion in half from stem to root. Cut each half into 4 wedges, leaving the root intact so that each wedge holds together. Spread on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil.
3. Peel squashes and likewise cut them into vertical wedges, 1/2" wide at outer side - - or around 8 wedges per typical squash.  Put the squash in a large mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and about 1/4 teaspoon pepper; toss to coat. Spread on a baking sheet.
4. Place both pans in oven and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables have taken on some color and are cooked through. Keep an eye on the onions, as they may cook faster than the squash and need to be removed earlier.
5. If using nuts, pour 1 tablespoon oil into a small frying pan and place over medium-low heat. Add nuts and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often, until the nuts are golden brown and smell toasty. Immediately remove from the heat and dump onto a cutting board to stop the cooking. If using pistachios, chop coarsely when cool enough to handle.
6. To make tahini sauce, place tahini in a bowl. Add lemon juice, 1/4 cup water, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk until sauce is the consistency of honey, adding more water or a tablespoon of olive oil if necessary.
7. When the vegetables are cooked, set aside until ready to serve. (The vegetables should be served the same day they are made. They can be served at warm room temperature, or reheated just before serving.)
8. To serve, combine vegetables on a large serving platter. If using tahini sauce, drizzle on top. Sprinkle any garnish, if using (eg cilantro, parsley) and nuts on top and serve.