Modified Focaccia

Every summer we make grilled veggie sandwiches at least a few times. Typically I buy a loaf of ciabatta to use; this time around, however, I was bound and determined to make something myself. Alas, I had very little time and ciabatta takes a couple of days to make, as you have to make a biga first, which I understand is some kind of yeasty something or other. Instead I made a quick focaccia, following this recipe:

Quick Focaccia

I made a half-batch, or one loaf, for us; I also changed up the recipe a little bit by not adding more oil to the top of the bread at the end, and skipping the rosemary. If I were making a real foccaccia, I would have added those things; but this sandwich doesn’t really need those things, and dryer bread helped soak up its juices.

The sandwich itself is pretty simple. Take various veggies–I used, this time, eggplant, zucchini, portabella, and onion–slice, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and put on a medium grill, checking every few minutes and pulling veg off as they are done. Eggplant take the longest, onion the shortest. We have a grill tray that covers the wide-spaced bars, so we don’t lose anything. I also sliced up a roasted red pepper from a jar–much cheaper than buying a fresh one, in this case.

In the meantime, mix up a couple T of mayo with a couple t of lemon juice and some minced garlic. You’ll be eating this raw, so add as much or as little as you’d like. This is a basic aioli.

When veg are about done, take your focacia and slice into sandwich-appropriate size pieces. Slice these in half horizontally. On the cut side of one half of each, add a little mayo and some feta (again, to taste). Pop on the grill a minute or two (cut side up!) to warm up. Top with veg and other side of bread, and there you have it. Minimal dishes with maximum taste!

Easy (and cheap!) Chocolate Cake

Sometimes you want a little something sweet but don’t really want to put much effort into it. If that sounds like you, you must make this recipe. It’s fast, easy, uses few dishes, and is made of pantry staples.

My recipe is adapted from one on recipezaar.

In an ungreased 9 x 13″ pan, mix:

1 1/2 c sugar
2 c flour
1/2 c cocoa
1 1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t salt.

Add to these ingredients:
1/2 c canola oil
1 1/2 c water
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 1/2 t vinegar
Remains of your coffee pot (I had a couple of tablespoons of joe in there–coffee gives greater depth of flavor to chocolate, but I wasn’t about to put much effort into that!)

Stir until mixed, but don’t overdo it. Pop into the oven. 25 minutes later, cake. This is a very moist cake–you won’t be getting it out of the pan whole, so it’s not necessarily suitable for tiers or a lot of frosting. But it’s pretty yummy on its own, and makes a whole lot of cake. Depending on how hungry you are, I’d say you’ll get 15 servings out of this pan.

A little granola

I read this recipe online someplace recently–someone said it was the best granola they’d ever had–and now I can’t remember at all where that was. This happens to me a lot. My life is mainly a series of post-it notes to not forget things. Matter of fact, I wrote this recipe down on a post-it note. Seriously. That’s just how it is.

I’m not much of a granola maker. Mr. Pea used to have it for breakfast a lot and the one time I made it, he wasn’t crazy over it, so that was that. But I thought it was high time to try again, and with that rave review from whoever it was, and the fact that I ran out of cereal the other day, now seemed good.

Now I know whoever cited this recipe led me to Orangette, who had posted it first some time ago. At any rate, this is some of the tastiest granola I’ve ever had. I had to put it in the bowl you see there because I kept eating it off the cookie sheet and at the rate I was going, there wouldn’t be much left for breakfast. This recipe seems like a good base recipe, too–something you can endlessly play with, to make different variations. The recipe I’m giving you is actually a variation on that original one. It’s also half the size, thus the weird measurements.

Turn your oven on to 300 degrees.

In a bowl, mix:
2.5 c oats
1 c nuts (I used walnuts–they were cheaper than pecans or almonds at the store. I measured a cup, then chopped them a bit)
1/4 c + 2 T sesame seeds
1/2 c sunflower seeds
1/4 c + 2 T light brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t salt

Add:
1/4 c + 2 T unsweetened applesauce (little containers are just right for this)
2.5 T maple syrup
2 T honey
1 T canola oil

Mix, mix, mix. Spread onto a baking sheet. Pop into the oven. Bake 35-40 minutes, stirring every ten or so. It’s going to come out of the oven soft, but will crisp up as it cools. Tasty.

Remains of a Salad

As part of my cook-through-the-weekend plan (which fell apart on Sunday, incidentally, darn it), I made a nice, summery meal on Friday night. It’s been pretty warm and sunny here for the long weekend, which was fantastic. Friday night featured this orzo salad, plus turkey burgers and gin and tonics.

For someone who prowls for recipes as much as I do, it’s funny how often I cook without one. None of these dishes were made with a whole lot of guiding information. This is mostly a result of making these kinds of things so often I don’t bother with a recipe anymore. That said, a recipe for the drinks would have been handy, since I overdid the gin a little. Oh well, there are certainly worse things in the world!

For this salad, start by cooking up 1/2 a pound (give or take–I eyeballed it) of orzo. This stuff cooks up pretty quickly. Drain, rinse with lots of cold water, and set aside.

Chop up a cucumber, small shallot (or red onion) and whatever else you’ve got on hand. I had some grape tomatoes which I sliced in half, but if you’ve got red pepper, green pepper, blanched asparagus spears, a little zucchini, go ahead and use them. Dump into a large bowl with your orzo.

Now for the dressing. You can go right ahead and use a bottled Italian dressing, but I like to do it myself. I took a bowl and added a few swirls of extra-virgin olive oil–maybe three tablespoons? And then a few glugs of red wine vinegar–maybe two or three tablespoons? I do this by taste–I add some, taste some, add some, taste some, until I have the proportion I liked. Then I added probably 1/4-1/2 t of dried oregano and some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Whisk together and toss with your stuff in the bowl. Then you add a couple handfuls of feta. I love feta, so there was probably at least 1/4 c in there. You can adjust to your liking, or even use a different cheese altogether, like diced mozzerella.

Serve immediately. I hate how as a pasta salad sits it absorbs the dressing, weakening the vinegar’s flavor, so I always add a little more when I eat it again the next day. And the next. And so on.

In case you are curious about our turkey burger recipe, it’s based on one in the Boston Globe many years ago that Mr. Pea found and copied at work. You take a pound of ground turkey and add 1 T barbecue sauce, 1/2 to 1 T worcestershire, and a teaspoon or so of cajun seasoning, along with a few diced button mushrooms and half an onion, finely chopped. These are some of the tastiest turkey burgers I’ve ever had, as so often they’re unseasoned and kind of unflavorful. This time I made them with a third of a portabella, chopped. It was a nice way to start off the summer.

Kung Pao Tofu

Last night I made Kung Pao tofu, based on a recipe over at Everybody Loves Sandwiches, which was based on a recipe on another food blog I can’t recall now. It’s full of crisp veggies, a spicy, peanutty sauce, and yummy tofu. It did take a fair number of pans, though, so be warned!

I started by making a batch of brown rice; since brown rice takes about 45 minutes to cook, you want to get it rolling first. Then I pressed my tofu. I buy firm light tofu. It’s pretty solid, for tofu, but you can get a lot of water out of it by placing it in a shallow bowl, putting a plate on top, and putting something heavy on that plate for 15 minutes or so. Drain and you’re good to go. I used a whole block of tofu for this.

Anyway, while your rice is simmering and your tofu pressing, chop:
1/2 onion
2-4 cloves of garlic
1 small head broccoli
2-3 carrots
1 stalk celery

and make your sauce. For that you’ll need:
1/4 c OJ
1/4 c soy sauce
1 T minced ginger
1 T cider vinegar (though I’d bet you could use rice vinegar, if you’ve got it)
1 T Sriracha (asian hot sauce)
1 T brown sugar
1 T peanut butter
1 T cornstarch

I started this with the peanut butter, putting in the microwave to loosen it up. We use all-natural peanut butter which stays in the fridge, so it can be pretty firm. Then I added everything else, whisking away with a fork.

When your rice is about halfway done, cube your tofu. Take a nonstick skillet, heat it up to med-high, add a teaspoon of canola oil, and add tofu. Brown, turning over, until it reaches your desired color. This can take 10-20 minutes, depending on how watery your tofu is, how hot your skillet is, etc.

In another giant skillet or wok, add 1 T canola oil and a little bit of sesame oil. Add onion and garlic, stirring constantly, a minute or so. Add other veg, and stir-fry about 5 minutes or so, until crisp-tender. Add sauce. Stir, stir. Add tofu. Stir, stir. At the end, add some peanuts if you’ve got them. I forgot. Oh well.

Serve with rice! We got four meals out of this–two dinners, two lunches–so it’s a pretty good bang-for-your-buck kind of meal.

News!

Today I’ve added an index to all the recipes I’ve made in the blog, excepting those that were just links to other places.  I was pleasantly surprised at how few pizza recipes there were.  Seems to me we eat much more of that than I mention.

In other news, as of today, Sweet Pea Handcrafts is closed.  I thought I’d be sad, but I’m not.  I’m actually kind of relieved.  There’s enough going on to not have to worry about that right now.

To that end, I ought to go back to cleaning out our pantry.  Here we have a large pantry with drawers, shelves and cubbies.  In the new place, the kitchen itself is much larger, but that’s because it hasn’t a pantry at all.  Rats.  It’s a good chance to weed out a lot of stuff, though.  Yard sale, coming soon!

So long, vacation.

Well Mr. Pea and I just returned (at 2:30 this morning) to our humble abode after several days in Vancouver, Canada. This here is the view from our hotel window. Vancouver, as promised by pretty much everyone I mentioned our trip to, was a beautiful city. It’s really different from the city I live in–it’s well-planned, with a nice grid system (Boston is based on cowpaths and nothing goes where you think it well), a really useful bus system, and lots of really friendly people.

We stayed in Davie Village, in Vancouver’s West End. This is pretty much a residential area, but because Vancouver’s square mileage (the small city center, not the whole shebang) is relatively small, we could walk to most sites. The real perk of staying in a residential neighborhood is seeing where the locals eat. These places, those with regular followings, that is, tend to be much better than places that cater to tourists. We ate most nights within a mile or so of our hotel.

Early in our stay we went to Bin 941, a tapas bar unlike any I’ve ever been to. The food clearly reflects the area–we had some cremini risotto (to die for), some grilled asparagus (being, relatively speaking, close to California, this was really fresh and yummy), and the main dish–flank steak with a chipotle and maple syrup glaze. It was insanely delicious.

The last night of our stay we went to one of Vancouver’s reported finest establishments, the Raincity Grill. This place features a sustainable menu–everything you eat is grown within a hundred or so miles, and all the wine is from British Columbia, California, Washington or Oregon. The menu rotates frequently, and you sit with a view of English Bay. I had some of the lightest, fluffiest gnocchi I’ve ever had, sauteed in a brown butter sauce with fresh sage, butternut squash, and chives. Yum.

Now we’re back, and I’m planning on cooking all weekend to make up for all of our spendy days abroad. The best deal we got, incidentally, was at a hole in the wall Japanese restaurant on Davie Street called Samurai–for $7.50, I got what had to be at least two chicken thighs cooked teriyaki-style, rice, a mountain of bean sprouts and cabbage, and sauteed veg. Crikey.

The Sweet Pea Bakery! II

See that? That’s oven spring. That 1 1/2″ rise the dough (sometimes) gets in the oven when you’ve popped it in to bake. You can see it between the edge of the lower loaf and the top crust. I don’t typically get very much, but I’ve had some luck with a new recipe I’ve been using. Sweet!

You can find the recipe here:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2453/plain-ol-wheat-sandwich-bread

Back to the vintage cookbook!

This recipe’s not so much scary as kind of funny.  The recipe is for Beef Mexicana.  Check and see if you can find what makes this Mexican in the ingredient list…

1 lb hamburg

2 8-oz cans tomato sauce

1 box frozen corn niblets (or a can)

1/2 c chopped onion

salt and pepper to taste

Ummm, the corn?  I guess that must be it.  Not even a smidge of cumin.  And I imagine that this was probably what was the international food highlight here.  I’m sure it’s fine, there’s no cream-of-anything soup in it, but it’s kind of funny.  The submitter says to serve it with rice and corn bread.  They also note an optional green pepper or chili pepper could be added.  Viva Mexicana!

The Sweet Pea Bakery! I

I have been doing a fair amount of baking in these parts lately. Part of this stems from lack of bread, and the other part stems from lack of sweets. I can only watch Mr. Pea sojourn to 7-11 so many times for Hostess cupcakes before I cave and make something. Last weekend, I made some brownies. These are pretty standard brownies from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. They’re not super fudgy, but not cakey, and this is fine with me. I’m not a fan of cakey brownies. I like ‘em sticky.

Part of the reason why they weren’t super fudgy was because I lacked regular sugar and used some turbanido sugar instead, which, because it’s rather chunky, gave the brownies a sort of crystally texture in spots. You wouldn’t notice it unless you knew, but lesson learned.

1/2 c (one stick) butter
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2/3 c flour
1/4 t baking soda

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat and allow to cool.

Grease an 8×8 or 9×9 pan.

Stir sugar into chocolate mixture; add eggs and vanilla, stir stir stir. Add dry ingredients and stir until everything is just combined. Spread in pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, depending on pan size.