Enchilada Casserole Deluxe

MAKING ENCHILADA SAUCE was probably one of the best things I did this year. I have been eating up the enchilada sauce at a much quicker rate than the marinara sauce, truth be told. This weekend, I am off in the Sierras at the cabin of friends of a friend - and the two of us are relaxing, skiing and cooking up a storm (well, at least I am). I helped my friend Eric at his cooking class at Millennium last weekend - and being that I hate to see anything go to waste, I ended up bringing home a pint of fantastic hominy, a pint of shredded parboiled brussels sprouts and a pint of pepper puree (not too spicy). I didn't quite know what I'd do with it til I realized I was feeling too lazy to make pappardelle for chanterelle stroganoff after a post-skiing first time session making chipotle caramels (which came out awesome, btw).

One of my favorite dishes is chilaquiles - which is basically diced tomatoes, with onions, garlic & green bell peppers, maybe a minced jalapeno - all simmered, made into a casserole with fried up strips of stale tortillas, covered with crema fresca and cheese. I've heard chilaquiles referred to as an "artery clogger" or "heart attack on a plate." In San Francisco, they are usually made with scrambled eggs... making a heart attack more eminent.

Being that I was feeling completely lazy after the skiing/caramels activities - I decided first to make enchiladas, and then decided to layer it - like lasagna. The result was essentially a roasted peppers based chilaquiles casserole - without the dietary cholesterol associated with the traditional recipe:

Step 1:
2 cups large white hominy
1/2 cup chile paste (dried chiles soaked in hot water & pureed)
1 cup water

Simmer hominy, chile paste & water til substantially reduced.

Step 2:
3 Tb olive oil
1/2 minced onion
2 cups shredded parboiled brussels sprouts (or some other green veggie - kale or mustard greens would work)

Sautee onions & brussels sprouts til onions are soft. Once hominy/chile mixture has cooked down, add to the pan. Add:

1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3 Tb cumin
salt & pepper to taste
16 oz silken tofu (mash into pan or puree in blender first)
2-3 Tb tomato paste (optional)
1/3 c finely chopped cilantro (optional)

Cook this down til it reduces substantially.

Meanwhile - warm up your tortillas - you want to dry out a package of about 12 tortillas just a bit. Drizzle the bottom of the casserole dish with olive oil and then cover the bottom one layer of corn tortillas. You'll put down the filling and cover with the rest of the tortillas before putting the enchilada sauce on top.

Warm up 1 pint of Red Enchilada sauce - add about 1 Tb of powdered toasted chipotle pepper. Once the filling has reduced - spread it into the casserole pan, cover with a layer of tortillas, then spread all the enchilada sauce on top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove - spread the enchilada sauce smooth across the top with the back of a spoon or spatula, pour on 1 cup of cashew cream (or unsweetened Mimic Cream), sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds & crushed tortilla chips, Let sit for a few minutes to cool (it makes serving easier!) - use a nice sharp metal spatula to heft out a chunk of delicious casserole to your plate and enjoy!

Chipotle Soft Caramels

One thing that I have most missed in my vegan diet is caramel - I have always loved caramel and caramel & chocolate is truly an awesome treat. After looking over many many recipes for vegan caramels - many from a Daring Bakers challenge - I realized - it's a lot of guess work. Despite the fact that the top of my candy thermometer (no, not granddad's candy thermometer, mom!) busted off after arriving at the cabin this weekend - it still worked well enough for me to use in my first experiment with vegan caramels.

A major discrepancy was in the amount of invert syrup/agave to sugar, and the temperatures required. The bottom line is this - for soft caramels, you really want somewhere between soft and firm ball - you don't want more because you'll end up with something that will pull out fillings and crowns.

Here's my recipe - your mileage may vary, you should definitely experiment!

2 cups sucanat
1 cup Golden Syrup
1/4 cup maple syrup

Mix together well, and while it is working up to 275 degrees, mix together:

1 cup coconut milk (from a can - shake well!)
1 cup cashew cream (I used Mimic Creme this time)
1 chipotle pepper, toasted and ground in the spice mill
1 vanilla bean (slit the pod, scrape into pan, add pod)

Let the cream mixture warm up - ok if it simmers a bit, just add more coconut or cashew cream.

Keep a brush and water handy - when you stir the sugars, keep in mind, this reduces the temperature so don't stir too often. Use the brush dipped in water to wash down the sides of the pan after you stir. Once it gets to 275, pull it off the burner and add 2 Tb of coconut butter.

Next, add in the cream mixture while stirring - take out the pod piece - and then let it heat up to about 245.

Pour it into a pan lined with parchment paper - moisten with coconut butter if you want to feel safe - and let cool. If it's 40 degrees outside, by all means, set it out on the porch like I did (just pray the racoons and bears aren't around looking for dessert).

This came out super killer yum. Once I dip it in chocolate, I'll try to remember to take some pictures. I promise.

Lemon Chutney - 2009 (redux)!

LEMON CHUTNEY:  You won't believe this but... the last two batches of lemon chutney spontaneously combusted.  *poof* gone.  Just like that.  Tasted really good, though.  So, I am making two more batches of lemon chutney.


Directions for 32-36 large lemons:

1. Lemons, pt 1: 
• Microplane or zest lemons (finely mince zest if necessary)
  
• Supreme and section, reserving the seeds and discarding all pith and membrane.
2. Combine zest with lemon pulp into glass or earthenware container (my grandmother's Hull beanpot works great for this, you might use a tagine or Pyrex covered dish) with 8 T of sea salt. Let sit overnight or several hours The lemon pulp will release plenty of juice!
   
4. The next day, strain the salty lemon pulp and zest, reserving the liquid. Divide evenly by weight using a kitchen scale (this was 4#  of pulp and zest in my case, with 2 c of juice), and put into two separate pots. 
5. Divide reserved juice evenly by volume into the two pots.  Squeeze enough lemons to bring you up to 2 cups of lemon juice, if necessary (don't forget to zest the lemons, first and chuck that in as well.
   
   
   
   

   Sweet(er) 2 lb lemon zest & pulp 1 c fresh lemon juice 1 c cider vinegar 3 T finely minced fresh ginger 2 oz minced garlic   1 c raisins 8 oz chopped sweet red pepper .5 large white or yellow onion, chopped 1/2 - 3/4 c chopped dried apricots 2 c unrefined sugar (without molasses) 2 c sucanat or brown sugar Grind in spice grinder & add to pot 1 tsp each: hulled green cardamom, coriander, whole clove, whole allspice, fenugreek seed, yellow mustard seed

   Lemon & Sweet Red Pepper 2 lb lemon zest & pulp 1 c fresh lemon juice 1 c cider vinegar 3 T finely minced fresh ginger 2.5 oz minced garlic 1 c raisins 16 oz chopped sweet red pepper 1.5 large white or yellow onion, chopped 1 lb sucanat (about 3 c) 2 t cayenne pepper flakes Grind in spice grinder & add to pot 1 tsp each: hulled green cardamom, white pepper, coriander, fenugreek, black mustard

   
   
   
   
6. Put seeds into cheesecloth if there were a significant amount - otherwise, don't worry - it's a chutney and you don't need a ton of pectin to set it like a jam or jelly.
7. Cook everything for 60 minutes or so until it reaches the right consistency.
8. Remove cheesecloth with lemon seeds. Let sit overnight. Taste, adjust seasonings or ingredients (additional lemon juice, more ginger or chili, for example).
   
9. Heat up, taste again, when satisfied, put into clean, hot mason jars and hot water bath can.
   
   

Yield: TBD

SWEET & FRUITY LEMON CHUTNEY
8 - 4 oz jars sweet lemon chutney
3 - 8 oz jars sweet lemon chutney

LEMON & SWEET RED PEPPER CHUTNEY
9 - 4 oz jars lemon & sweet red pepper chutney
4 - 8 oz jars lemon & sweet red pepper chutney

Mushrooming - December 19

Another December mushrooming trip with Scott!

 

Using my new gloves for the first time - I feel so prepared! No more blackberry thorns in my fingers! No more mud under my nails!

 

 Traversing a very steep hillside!

  

Lemon Chutney - 2009!

LEMON CHUTNEY: Despite using a microplane, I was still up til 2:30 zesting and supreming lemons.  Refinements on last recipes, below.


Directions for 32-36 large lemons:

1. Lemons, pt 1: 
• Microplane or zest lemons (finely mince zest if necessary)
  
• Supreme and section, reserving the seeds and discarding all pith and membrane.
2. Combine zest with lemon pulp into glass or earthenware container (my grandmother's Hull beanpot works great for this, you might use a tagine or Pyrex covered dish) with 8 T of sea salt. Let sit overnight. The lemon pulp will release plenty of juice!
   
3. Lemons, pt 2: Zest, halve and juice enough lemons to get 2 cups of lemon juice
   
4. The next day, strain the salty lemon pulp and zest, reserving the liquid. Divide evenly by weight using a kitchen scale (this was 3# 13 oz of pulp and zest in my case, with 2 c of juice), and put into two separate pots. Divide reserved juice evenly by volume into the two pots, as well as any  reserved extra zest.
5. Mise-en-place for two batches of chutney as follows:
   
   
   
   

   Sweet(er) 1.75 lb lemon zest &  pulp, prepared as above 1 c fresh lemon juice 1 c cider vinegar 3 T finely minced fresh ginger 1 c raisins 1/2 - 3/4 c chopped dried apricots 1/2 c currants 2 c unrefined sugar (without molasses) 1 c organic brown sugar 1 t cayenne pepper flakes 1 Tb salt Grind in spice grinder & add to pot 1 tsp each: hulled green cardamom, coriander, whole clove, whole allspice, fenugreek seed, yellow mustard seed

   Lemon & Sweet Red Pepper 1.75 lb lemon zest &  pulp, prepared as above 1 c fresh lemon juice 1 c cider vinegar 3 T finely minced fresh ginger 2 oz minced garlic 1 c raisins 4 oz chopped sweet red pepper 1 large white or yellow onion, chopped (about 8 oz) 1 lb succanat (about 3 c) 2 t cayenne pepper flakes 1 Tb salt Grind in spice grinder & add to pot 1 tsp each: hulled green cardamom, white pepper, coriander, fenugreek, black mustard

   
   
   
   
6. Put seeds into cheesecloth if there were a significant amount - otherwise, don't worry - it's a chutney and you don't need a ton of pectin to set it like a jam or jelly.
7. Cook everything for 60 minutes or so until it reaches the right consistency.
8. Remove cheesecloth with lemon seeds. Let sit overnight. Taste, adjust seasonings or ingredients (additional lemon juice, more ginger or chili, for example).
   
9. Heat up, taste again, when satisfied, put into clean, hot mason jars and hot water bath can.
   
   

Yield: TBD

SWEET & FRUITY CHUTNEY


LEMON & SWEET RED PEPPER CHUTNEY

Elbow-Deep in Mushrooms

ONE DAY of hard rain seemed to be a blessing.  Scotty and I explored an area of steep uphill above a creek in a nice canyon and found saucer sized oysters and piles of chanterelles.  The forest claimed my pocket knife - but we came home with 2.75# of oyster mushrooms, and 7.25# of chanterelles.  Some of our recent "favorite" spots seem to have suffered some trampling and cutting down of branches by local authorities.  We also suspect in one area that it is a bit cooler due to the direction the hillside faces - cutting down on the blooms of the chanterelles.

Meanwhile, I'm still cleaning chanterelles and haven't started on cutting lemons for chutney - woe is me!!

December Projects

MUSHROOMS! More rain this week - but also a bit of chill.  Heading out shortly to collect more chanterelles - put up a mere 2# in the freezer (done by dry sautee of thinly sliced mushrooms, reserving the juice they release to freeze, too). 


LEMONS are still in my kitchen, slowly getting juiced, frozen and even turned into lemonade & lemon drops.  I'm going to make up a couple batches of lemon chutney, but probably will create variations on my last two versions for sweet & savory lemon chutney -- of course I still have Hachiyas, but also still have some sweet red peppers and plenty of homemade cayenne pepper flakes.  I also plan to make up a batch of marmalade and some candied lemon peel.

DESSERT!  On Monday, I made a pair of apple pies - apple rum raisin with allspice (and somehow I'm out of allspice?) and apple strawberry with ginger.  I also still have key lime juice and plan to experiment with variations on a key lime pie recipe that I found in a thread on the Post Punk Kitchen forum that doesn't use tofu or packaged pudding, and am going to sub almond milk and coconut milk to make a key lime pie to bring along to my birthday tomorrow.

BIRTHDAY party is tomorrow at Encuentro, kicking off a weekend of good food and soaking in hot water.  At last weekend's 40th annual Fungus Fair, Scott & I splurged on a white truffle and a couple  winter black truffles at from the lovely wife of Todd, the King of Mushrooms.  I'm bringing the marble rolling pin, semolina flour and a hand crank pasta machine to make some pasta to go with those mushrooms on this weekend's get away, along with leftover birthday pie, chanterelles, homemade marinara sauce and a candy thermometer so I can make vegan caramels (why not?).

Mushrooming - December 9

Growing in a stump!

This one is very round!

Some nice fawn colored oyster mushrooms

And some pearl grey oysters growing on a rotting log:

Corcorra-ish but not...

More oysters:

Scotty finds some chanterelles

More chanterelles!

More oysters

Corcorra!

Our chanterelle harvest for Decemember 9, 2009:

Mushrooming - December 5

Some interesting mushrooms in the woods today!

Encuentro Oakland - Opening Night Review

There was nothing "soft" about last night's opening of Encuentro (http://www.encuentrooakland.com) - as soon as they opened the doors, the Jack London Square neighborhood restaurant was packed and stayed packed all night long, steaming up the elegant glass front of the restaurant. 

Eric Tucker, founding chef of the highly regarded (even famous!) Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco, along with partners Lacey Sher and Linda Braz picked a quiet corner on the ground floor of a building of lofts at 2nd and Jackson adjacent to the Amtrak Station in an area which transitions from wholesale grocers to residential lofts within just a few blocks off Broadway.

The krispy kale chips were positively addicting - olive oil and sea salt roasted kale chips served in a mound on the plate with our first glasses of wine - a Philo Ridge chardonnay and Wellington Vineyard zine/cab/grenache blend. 

My friend found the chardonnay to complement the Uncle Eddie’s Wild Hen Devilled Eggs very well, while the red wine I ordered was perfect with the Truffled Mushroom Pecan Pate (vegan) which was served with grain mustard, fig onion marmalade, caper berries.  The pate was so rich and delicious - I have honestly never tasted anything like it and will do my best to find out how to make it!

My friend and I both ordered the same sandwich - Peppered Portobello mushrooms with caramelized fennel/onions - he had the
smoked goat cheddar and I had the smoked pecan cheese (vegan) with caper aioli. 

This was probably one of the best sandwiches I have ever had - and now I now what Eric means when I asked him about cooking baby fennel - his response was "You cook the $hit out of it" - the fennel and onions were so tenderly caramelized that the flavors of both came through in each bite without being mushy or dissolved into one big roasted mess. 

The velvety texture of the mushroom was countered by the thick lightly toasted rustic bread - toasted just enough to provide a crunch without falling to crumbs when I bit down.  The smoked pecan cheese was unlike anything that I have had yet - and I can't wait to go back and order the vegan cheese plate trio of Smoked Pecan / Brazilnut / Herbed Cashew and Pumpkin Seed cheeses. 

The Nuevo Mundo Cab/Carmenere  went really well with the sandwich, by the way.  The printed wine menu in the restaurant includes some of the most apt & mouth watering 2-4 word descriptions of the wines - "tobacco/dirty blackberry" and "chocolate/tobacco/new wood/blueberry" and such.

I can't wait to go back - the Encuentro team has put together an outstanding menu and the space is gorgeous.  Though the restaurant is not large and the ceilings are a bit high - at no point did I feel like I would lose my hearing and I was able to converse easily with my friend and with the two folks seated near us.  I hope they get to use the broad sidewalk for outdoor seating in warm weather (please Oakland! we need more seats at this amazing restaurant!).

Mushrooms & Lemons

MUSHROOMS: Yesterday I went out for another quick golden chanterelle harvest, returning home with two large, very mature, coccora (aka amanita lanei or amanita calyptoderma) and about 3# of golden chanterelles.  Since I held onto the coccora to show to my friend Eric in person for positive ID - they went mushy and I couldn't eat these "poor man's matszutake"

 

Don't forget - the Fungus Fair is this weekend - the 40th Annual Fungus Fair will be happening at Lawrence Hall of Science this year due to some work at the Oakland Museum.

LEMONS: After months of neglect, I went to my neighbors' backyard to harvest lemons from their very large, productive lemon tree.  There were softball size lemons - some of the juiciest lemons I know in the area - and tons of smaller green lemons.  As I picked, lemons were just jumping off the tree at me!  Fortunately, I only had to walk a block home with 95# of lemons in a backpack and two grocery bags.  I still have tons of limoncello from last year - but I guess it's time to make lemon marmelade, and soon, since I am going to be going out of town next weekend for my birthday and lemons won't keep indefinitely!

Look forward to some lemony goodness soon!

Mushrooming - December 2

Corcorra!

 

A few oysters and a pile of chanterelles!

Persimmon Rose Preserves

Today, I decided to put away the rest of my persimmon pulp in the freezer, in 2 cup batches, for future use in salad dressing.  The last 6 cups, unpureed pulp, became an other batch of preserves - with a hint of rose - it came out absolutely fantastic:

Ingredients:

• 6 c persimmon pulp
• 2.5 c sugar
• 1/4 rose water
• pectin per instructions

YIELD:
6 - 8 oz jars
6 - 4 oz jars