Yield: 4 servings
My love affair with parsnips continues with this kicked up version. The gremolata is such a tasty accompaniment, you might want to double the recipe!
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My cousin, Earl, always sends a box of those beautiful Harry & David pears to my parents and sister at Christmas. They’re as pretty as a box of chocolates–I love the one foil-wrapped pear in the set–or, truthfully, even more so.
This year, when I arrived at my family’s house for our annual holiday visit, I noticed that the pears were ripening quickly, so I decided to poach them.
I opted for a savory, rather than a sweet, dish. Poaching the pears in burgundy wine with lemon, garlic slices, cinnamon sticks and salt and pepper, and topping them with sauteed rosemary-scented onions proved to be the perfect combination: as beautiful and healthful as it is tasty and festive.
Pears poach in markedly different amounts of time depending on their size and degree of ripeness. Start with about 7 minutes on each side, but be prepared to poach them for twice that long if they are very firm.
Yield: approximately 4 servings
After a beautiful family-style pan-Asian meal at China Grill–much of which I couldn’t eat– over New Year’s weekend in South Beach, I was craving foods inspired by their creations, especially something with their spiced cashews that I picked off of their version of a Caesar salad. Here’s what I came up with and I have found it so satisfying as leftovers all week. Measurements of vegetables are approximate. Use what you have and it will still be wonderful.
Vegetable-Coconut Milk Rice Pilaf:
1 generous tablespoon vegetable oil (you may mix in a little sesame oil)
1 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup baby carrots, halved lengthwise
1/2 of a yellow or red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (shitakes are especially good)
2 cups vegetable stock
1 can (about 1 1/2 cups) coconut milk (I used the “lite” variety)
1 cup Jasmine rice (I recommend not substitute because the fragrance can’t be duplicated)
1 cup of trimmed broccoli florets
optional: coarse kosher or sea salt
Garnish: chopped fresh cilantro and spiced cashews or peanuts (see recipe below)
In a wok or large saute pan over medium-high, heat oil to shimmering. Add green onions and stir fry for a minute to flavor oil. Add baby carrots and stir fry for another minute, followed by bell pepper and mushrooms, stir frying for a minute after each addition. Stir in vegetable stock, coconut milk and rice. Cover (use foil if you don’t have a lid to fit your wok) and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to insure that rice isn’t sticking. Lower heat if necessary. Stir in broccoli, cover, and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until rice is tender, most of moisture is absorbed and broccoli is tender but still bright green. Check for salt and add if necessary. Garnish with cilantro and spiced nuts. Serve warm.
Vegan Five Spice and Lime Roasted Cashews or Peanuts:
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice and zest of 1/2 of a lime
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar (start with smaller amount and add more if desired)
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea or kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) five spice powder
1/8 teaspoon (or to taste) cayenne pepper
12 ounces lightly salted cashew halves and pieces or peanuts (reserve can)
Line a baking sheet with a brown paper bag, waxed paper or parchment paper. In a wok or large saucepan over medium high, heat olive oil to shimmering. Meanwhile, combine all remaining ingredients except peanuts. Stir into hot oil, being careful not to splatter, followed immediately by peanuts. Roast and stir for about 7 minutes, lowering heat if necessary, or until exterior is caramelized and peanuts taste slightly roasted. Avoid scorching or you will have to throw out the whole batch. Pour immediately onto prepared baking sheet to cool completely. Store in the reserved peanut can.
Yield: appetizer servings for approximately 6-8
When our close friends Randy and Yvette Hetrick lived here, we enjoyed many fantastic meals together. My favorites were at their house after a long walk with our dogs in the state park behind their house. Sometimes Yvette did all the honors and sometimes we pooled our resources. She is in the top .5% of home cooks I know.
One of my favorite appetizers that she made in many wonderful variations was what I referred to as “Yvette’s Spiral Bread.” It’s a simple dough–I use my go-to pizza dough which is very similar to what she used–filled with whatever your heart desires, as long as it’s not so moist that it makes the dough soggy.
She and I have created so many permutations that it would be difficult to recall them all. My favorites have at least two, even three, very thin layers with the ingredients chopped small or thinly sliced. If you overstuff the bread or leave pieces of the filling ingredients too large–which is easy to want to do–the bread is difficult to slice and falls apart. So avoid the temptation.
I made the version depicted above when I was at my family’s home for the holidays (and presented it on my favorite serving platter: a gorgeous pink ceramic one that belonged to my my mother’s mother). Mama had three jars of unopened savory condiments that she’d picked up a long time ago thinking they looked too good to pass up, but not having anything specific to do with them: olive tapenade, caramelized onions and fennel, and roasted yellow and red Italian peppers. I knew exactly what to do with them! And they made a spectacular version of Spiral Bread.
For your iterations, let your imagination run wild. In addition to tapenades, caramelized onion/root veggies, and roasted peppers, consider vegan cheeses, sauteed mushrooms (with most of the moisture evaporated), olive and other pastes, finely chopped and drained artichoke hearts, vegan pestos, chutneys, sundried tomatoes, flavored hummus and more.
No, this isn’t a new reality T.V. show. (Ouch!)
Rather, it’s my mom’s “old school” recipe for what most folks now call “Chex Mix.” She makes it every year at Christmas and stores it in the big plastic bin that you see pictured. I have to ration myself daily or I would eat the whole thing. And I’d be in good company. I tell myself it’s healthy; after all it’s made from nuts and cereals fortified with vitamins and minerals. There is the small issue of all the (vegan) butter, but…
Nowadays, what people think is the original recipe isn’t, but it’s the only one they’ve known. If you’ve searched for Chex Mix recipes in recent years–even on the Chex website–you’ve likely turned up versions with all kinds of ingredients that weren’t in the original: cheese crackers, chocolate chips and more. I’m hardly ever dogmatic about recipes–I love iterations and permutations–but this one is an exception. I only like it the way my mama prepares it. And I hope you will too.
16 ounces Wheat Chex
12 ounces Rice Chex
10 ounces Cheerios
10 ounces pretzels (sticks are best or the small ones)
10 ounces (or a little more!) mixed nuts
10 ounces peanuts
12 ounces vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
1/4 cup Amino Acids or vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon onion salt
1 tablespoon celery salt
Melt vegan butter in small sauce pan; stir in Amino Acids or vegan Worchestershire sauce and seasoning salts. Let stand. Meanwhile in two roasting pans, divide the nuts, cereals and pretzels. Divide vegan butter mixture between both pans, pouring over cereal and mixing lightly. Bake uncovered at 225 degrees for 2 hours stirring gently every 20 minutes. Spread out on brown paper or paper towel-lined baking sheets to cool. Store in air tight container. Will keep for a long time.
Though, regrettably, this is too late for the winter holiday season just past, I still wanted to share my mom’s annual Christmas confection. (I had to wait until after it was made to photograph it. So, be sure to bookmark it for next year…but, come to think of it, it’s good any time of year.)
For as long as I can remember, Mama has stayed up late making candy the night before I leave my family’s home to return to my own after Christmas. She always tucks a canister of it into my carry on luggage for me to eat and share on the plane–there are frequently passengers I know–or when I arrive at my destination.
In 2004, after she had been making it for many, many years, it mysteriously flopped. (In those days, I was vegetarian, but not vegan, so she was using all of the ingredients she had always used and the same recipe.) I think she made it at least twice–maybe three times–and each time the sugar crystallized. We were both baffled. She ended up scrapping it all, but several days later, I received a “kit” in the mail that included a sheet of toffee that had worked reasonably well, though it was still grainy, some chocolate to melt and some nuts for sprinkling. Not perfect, it was still fun to assemble and eat.
The next year, thinking the failed attempts were a fluke, I was writing a feature about Mama’s toffee for our newspaper’s food section and the same thing happened to me. With a pan of it in thrown into the woods beside our house and a photo shoot the next day, I turned to the most scientific foodie I know of: Alton Brown. In an online recipe, he recommended combining two types of sugar–regular granulated sugar and a little corn syrup–to prevent crystallization. It worked beautifully and that’s how we’ve been making it ever since.
Now we also substitute Earth Balance for real butter. The only difference is that, as the candy hardens, some of the oil seems to separate, so we just blot it up with a paper towel before layering on the chocolate and nuts.
I hope you enjoy this holiday tradition as much as we do. Happy New Year everyone and thanks, Mama!
1 pound vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
6 tablespoons warm water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 cups granulated sugar
8 ounces vegan semi-sweet or vegan bittersweet chocolate
1 cup sliced almonds (or substitute coarsely chopped slivered almonds, pecans, macadamias or hazelnuts)
Butter a baking sheet and an offset spatula. Set pans on wire racks. Clip candy thermometer to a heavy 3 quart saucepan, preventing it from touching the bottom of the pan. In saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Meanwhile, mix together warm water and corn syrup. Stir sugar into melted butter, raise heat to medium or medium-high (about a 7 or 8 on a dial) and bring to a gentle boil. Stir in water-corn syrup mixture and cook, stirring constantly until thermometer reaches 300 degrees Fahrenheit (the “hard crack” stage) or until golden brown, approximately 10-12 minutes. Note: temperature may reach as high as 350 degrees before candy reaches the desired caramel color, but it scorches easily, so be careful. Pour mixture onto baking sheet and, if necessary, use the offset spatula to coax candy to edges of the pan. Cool. Heat chocolate in microwave on 50 percent power or in the top of a double boiler until completely melted, stirring occasionally. Spread over slightly cooled toffee and sprinkle with almonds. Cool completely and refrigerate. Break into irregular pieces. Layer between waxed paper in an airtight container and store in a cool dry place.
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