Grand Marnier poached peaches

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This was an impromptu addition to a dinner hosted by a couple of good friends, using what they had on hand. Oh my goodness with the tasty. It’s surprisingly simple once you get all the stuff in the pot, and amazing over vanilla bean ice cream or coconut sorbet.

 

To make it: 
  • 2 large peaches, sliced rather thick
  • 3 tbsp butter (you can also use coconut oil if you want to make it vegan; just add a pinch of kosher salt if you do)
  • 1/3 cup grand marnier
  • 1 shot of good single-malt scotch (I used Balvenie Double-Wood)
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp rosemary, crushed with your fingers
  • a good blast of fresh-ground pepper (the 5-peppercorn blend is best)

melt butter in a large saucepan and add peaches. Cook over low-medium heat until the butter goes just a bit brown. Take off the heat, add Grand Marnier, scotch and vanilla and return to heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and continue cooking on low-medium heat for about 10 minutes until fumes start to disappear. Your house should be smelling REALLY GOOD by now. Take off heat and allow to cool for about 20 minutes before serving over vanilla ice cream or coconut sorbet.

Warm cinnamon-lentil veggie soup

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This is the perfect soup for a cold late-fall evening. The cinnamon and turmeric add a nice warm feeling, while the lentils add terrific body to it, and the red cabbage lends a bit of sweetness. This’ll make about 6 good-size servings.

To make it: 

Ingredients:

  • 3 celery stalks, chopped roughly
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped roughly
  • 1 onion, chopped roughly
  • 3 carrots, chopped roughly
  • 1 cup red cabbage, shredded
  • 1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced into 1/4″ pieces
  • 1 cup lentils
  • 2 15-oz cans stewed tomatoes
  • 1 quart veggie stock
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp natural peanut butter (natural is important - it should be just peanuts and salt)
  • kosher salt and pepper to taste

In a largish stock pot, heat olive oil and add mustard seeds. Cook over medium heat until seeds start to pop, then add onions, garlic, carrots and celery. Sauté over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, until onions begin to soften. Add red cabbage, turmeric, cinnamon and thyme and sauté for another 5-10 minutes just until cabbage starts to wilt. Add lentils, tomatoes, stock, salt and pepper and stir to incorporate. Cover, reduce heat to low-medium, and continue cooking for about another 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once lentils are tender (this actually happens quicker than I always expect it to), add zucchini and peanut butter, stir to dissolve peanut butter and continue heating until zucchini is just heated through (you want it a bit soft, but not dissolved). Add a bit of water if the soup starts looking a bit dry.

Crazy Good rice and beans

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There is SO little that is tastier than this dish. It has a lot of ingredients, but once you get everything cut up, it’s remarkably easy to put together. This’ll easily serve 4-6 (more if you eat a lot, but it’s absurdly filling) and will keep really well as leftovers. This is really easy to make vegan as well - just omit the butter and bit of cheese (but they’re both really nice touches).

To make it: 

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 medium (2 large) cloves garlic, chopped roughly
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 can kidney beans, drained (or 1/2 cup dried, pre-boiled for about 45 minutes, then drained and rinsed)
  • 1 can corn, drained (or 1 cup frozen kernals)
  • 1 cup chopped arugula (or spinach)
  • 1 cup chopped olives (kalamata or large green)
  • 1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced in 1/4″ slices
  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 can stewed or diced tomatoes (stewed is better)
  • 2 tbsp peanut or olive oil
  • 2 tbsp butter (optional - if vegan, sub olive oil)
  • a bit of cheese or sour cream for topping (optional, but really nice)
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp celery seed (ground)
  • 1/2 tsp smoked hot paprika
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • kosher salt/pepper to taste
  • 3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

In a large stockpot, heat 2 tbsp peanut or olive oil over medium heat and add onions, garlic and pepper, along with spices, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until onions start to soften. Salt and pepper to taste. Add corn, beans and rice and cook for another 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and crush them up a bit with your spatula to break them up (this is especially important with stewed tomatoes), then add stock and stir to incorporate everything. Cover, and simmer over low heat, stirring every 10 minutes, for about 40-50 minutes. During the last 20 minutes or so, stir more frequently (about every 2-3 minutes or so), as the stock will start to absorb into the rice and beans. When the liquid is almost absorbed, add the arugula, zucchini and parsley and stir to incorporate. When the zucchini is tender, turn off the heat, add butter, and stir until it melts into the rice and beans. Serve immediately with a bit of cheese or sour cream (optional).

Killer Holiday Shortbread

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This is one of the regulars (pretty much the only regular) on my holiday cookie list. The combination of oat flour and whole wheat pastry flour offers a whole-grain kick and a bit more body to the cookies while still being a bit light; although you can buy oat flour in the supermarket, I make my own oat flour by grinding rolled oats in a coffee grinder. It comes out exactly the same, it’s significantly cheaper (about 50%, at least), and I use oat flour in pretty much all of my baking, so I just make a bunch at a time and keep it handy.

To make it: 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups butter, softened
  • 1 2/3 cups raw sugar (if you don’t like your cookies super-sweet, use 1/3 cup less sugar)
  • 1-2 tsp fresh orange zest (about half of a large orange)
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped candied ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry flour
  • 2 cups oat flour
  • 1 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • sugar for sprinkling.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In medium-sized bowl, sift flour and cornstarch together with cinnamon and orange zest and set aside. In larger bowl, cream butter with sugar and candied ginger until fluffy. Slowly add dry ingredients (about a half-cup to a cup at a time), and mix until all the ingredients are incorporated (electric beaters work wonderfully for this, as would a KitchenAid mixer if my boyfriend is giving me what I think I’m getting for Christmas…). The batter should be thick and kind of dry. Bring dough to the parchment-lined baking sheet and use your hands to spread it out (should be about 1/2 inch thick by the end) to the ends of the sheet. Bake for 30 minutes until the cookies have just started to get golden brown. Remove from heat and sprinkle with raw sugar while it’s still warm. Let cool 5 minutes, then cut shortbread into rectangles about 1″ by 3″ - these are super-rich, so you don’t really need them to be bigger than this.

Harissa

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I got this recipe fromThe Vegetarian Table: Franceby Georganne Brennan, and I swear to you, it’s brilliant. Harissa is a spicy chili-garlic paste that’s North African in origin, but apparently popular in France. This version is modified slightly based on what I had available (couldn’t find dried Anaheim chilis, and I added a couple of things), but it’s really good.

You don’t need much of this to make your food good and spicy, but it typically goes with couscous, and even went well with the Endive Au Gratin that I made for tonight’s dinner.

To make it: 

Ingredients:

  • 3-4 dried Chipotle peppers
  • 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
  • 8 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp good olive oil
  • 1/4 cup vegetable broth

Start by removing the stems and seeds from the Chipotles. Cut into smallish pieces and grind along with mustard seeds in a coffee/spice grinder.

In a small chopper, add garlic, spices and turmeric and pulse until garlic is well-chopped. Add oil and continue pulsing until combined - then add broth and do the same.

This will store in a tightly covered container in your refrigerator for up to 5 days. Use it on couscous, in tomato dishes, and soups. Be warned, it’s spicy - so you don’t need a lot unless you really like your food hot. It’s also great in hummus.