"La Dolce Vegan" winner and a closing "Gourmet" recipe

First and foremost, let me tell you about the incredibly scientific method I used when I decided who would win my cookbook giveaway. I had two takers, so I grabbed a quarter out of our ginormous change jar and had Red call it in the air.

So, congratulations, RIVER - THE CRAFTY KOOK! You are now one Sarah Kramer cookbook richer. Email your address to reclusekate@yahoo.com, and I shall send it out by the end of the week. And thanks again to every who's ridden along with me thus far. You guys are so great, and so generous with your time. I wish I could bake everyone of you a caramel apple pie.

I don't really have anything else to record, but I will delay closing this post in order to add a picture of my last Gourmet recipe. Cheddar Corn Muffins are featured in the final issue of the magazine (November 2009), so it seems fitting that I end with these. I wish that I could pile them with praise, but these were just too rich for me - even after I made all the usual substitutions and cut the cheese content by a third. Still too much, and I'm a girl who likes over the top just fine. I won't bother posting the adjusted recipe, but anyone who wants to give this a try can find the original right here.


So while I'll certainly continue cooking out of my back issues, that's it for my Gourmet November. I wish that I'd been able to do more with a wider array of my back issues. But it's time to move on. December is right around the corner, with its potlucks and entertaining. I'll be back in a few days with a new theme.

Thanks again, everyone. Hope I can keep you all interested through another hundred posts.

Macaroni a la Soufflee and a Celebratory Giveaway!

What? A celebratory giveaway, you ask? What's the celebration, Kate?

Well, gang, today is my 99th post on The Reclusive Housewife, and I'm just terribly impressed with myself. So I decided that I needed to do something fun centenary submission. Thus, the giveaway:

I have a copy of Sarah Kramer's La Dolce Vegan that is nearly brand-new. It's a surplus copy that I bought at an outrageous discount from eBay - and I've barely used it. You know how some cookbook authors seem to share all of your tastes, and you suspect them of hiding in your pantry and spying because they always deliver just the recipe you need? Well, unfortunately Sarah and I don't have that kind of relationship. I really like her as a person and an activist, but I'm just not into the cookbook.

But maybe you might be! So if you don't mind a hand-me-down, you can enter to win my copy. Just leave me a comment to tell me if you're interested. If you're outside the U.S., please feel free to play; I'll be glad to ship internationally (if you don't mind the wait, for I shall send it cheapie parcel-post). If I have more than one taker, I'll do some kind of random selection, and I will announce the winner in my 100th post. This is my thank you to all you folks who have so kindly read along with me - and an attempt to get what I'm sure is a great cookbook into better hands :) Tune back in on Monday, November 30 to see who's going to be one cookbook richer.

*******

Now, on to the food. I wanted to do a Thanksgiving recap in today's post, but darned if I didn't forget to take pictures of everything at the table yesterday night. So it was kind of lucky that my featured recipe, a pumpkin mousse, turned out watery and bland. Maybe next year, Mr. Mousse.

So I'm moving on to another Gourmet recipe tonight. The October 2008 issued featured a lot of lovely things, but one of the most arresting in my opinion was short piece on the late great food columnist Clementine Paddleford. I hear and read a lot of arguments about why each and every forgotten American food maven deserves a shrine right next to Julia Child, Martha Stewart, and Rachel Ray - but I have to admit that Clementine seems special to me. Maybe it's her wonderfully old-fashioned name. Maybe it was the charmingly artless shot of Ms. Paddleford that accompanied the Gourmet article (shown to the left). Or maybe it was Kelly Alexander's descriptions of her quest to chronicle and catalog great regional down-home cooking of the mid-twentieth century. After all, for a lover of biscuits, gravy, casseroles, and country-fried everything, nothing rings more true than Ms. Paddleford's assertion that "We all have hometown appetites."

A sweet little recipe for Souffleed Macaroni and Cheese came along with said article, and I've been dying to try it for more than a year now. This past Tuesday became my night. It was great meal for the week leading up to a holiday; simplicity to make, yet so comfy and filling. Breadcrumbs and hot milk stand in for the usual bechamel sauce, and the whole thing bakes up with a spongey, sort of fluffy texture in the oven. There's no crust, but the top does get nicely caramelized. With broccoli, it makes a fine dinner.

I partially veg*nized the original recipe by replacing the eggs with tofu and the dairy milk with the almond variety. But I didn't use any substitutes for the cheese, since I had a plethora of cheddar and not a hint of uncheez at the ready. If you can find something that's mildy melty, though, it would probably work well here. The cheese is more a flavoring than the main event in this preparation. I think that maybe Ogran egg replacer might work instead of the tofu in the preparation; I might try this next time, since the soy gave me slight headache later on that evening.

So here's my lift of the fork to Clementine Paddleford. If you'd like to see what's she's all about, the still operating Gourmet website has a few archived articles of hers. Kelly Alexandar has also co-authored a Paddleford biography cum cookbook, aptly entitled Hometown Appetites (available at Amazon and half.com). And, of course, her easy-peasy pasta recipe is right here.

*******

Souffleed Macaroni and Cheese
Makes 2 generous servings
Adapted from Gourmet magazine, October 2008 (original recipe here)

1/2 C tubular or spiral pasta
3/4 C very hot milk (of your choice)
1/2 C soft fresh breadcrumbs
3/4 C grated cheddar cheese
1/4 C + 2 TB silken tofu (enough to replace 1 1/2 eggs)
3 TB finely chopped onion
1/2 TS dried parsley, crumbled
1/4 - 1/2 TS salt
Dash pepper
1 1/2 TB melted butter or Earth Balance

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan and cook pasta until almost al dente, about 5-6 minutes. Drain when done and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, pour milk over breadcrumbs and cheese in a large bowl. Stir. Cover with a plate and let stand until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes.

3. While the cheese is melting, whizz the silken tofu in a blender until very soft (you can add a tablespoon or two of the hot milk if needed).

4. Take the drained pasta and add to the milk mixture. Toss to combine, then add the blended tofu, onion, parsely, salt, pepper, and butter or margarine. Stir thoroughly but gently.

5. Pour the mixture into a small greased casserole dish (about 2-3 cup capacity, if you have one). You can also use a Pyrex pie plate. Bake for about 30 minutes. Casserole will be gently puffed and golden when done.

Roast Pumpkin with Cheese "Fondue"

I don't often make pretty food. That's why you rarely see a breathtaking shot of an entire dish on this blog. Usually it's a slap of this, a dash of that on a plate, or a close-up of the side of a bowl. My offerings are tasty, but they do not deserve a close-up on The Food Network.

But I make an exception today:


I couldn't believe how well my Roast Pumpkin turned out. It wasn't a twin of the one in the magazine, but it was a darned attractive cousin. I had to place them side-by-side for a comparison shot. Pretty nice, huh?

This is probably the richest thing that every happened to a squash. Bread, Gruyere cheese, vegetable stock, and cream are layered inside a seasoned baking pumpkin. The whole works is roasted until the flesh is tender and the insides meld into this cream of cheese bread pudding soup. So delicious, but so lethal. I gave all three of us small portions, but Red and Bean could only peck at theirs. And no, I could not think of a single way to veg*nize this one. I'm sure it could be done, but that lies beyond my meager skills.

If you can ethically (or physically) eat such a thing, I'd give this recipe a try. Just remember - it doesn't have that many ingredients, so you can taste every bit of every one. Now is the time for organic cream, gourmet veggie broth, and the finest Swiss cheese you can afford. This is not a cheap dish - it's a yummy splurge. What else would you expect from the stellar November 2008 issue of Gourmet (which has already yielded a great cabbage recipe for this month)? You can also find the recipe at epicurious.com. In fact, follow this link into it's roasty, creamy embrace.

By the way, while it would be an ornament for any other meal, I don't think I'd make this for Thanksgiving dinner. You might not want - or be able - to eat anything else.

Bulgur veggie burgers with a delightful surprise...

Does the world really need another veggie burger recipe?

Fuzzy, badly focused photography can't disguise a pretty good burger...

I guess not... but I tried this one from the June 2008 Gourmet anyway. It's interesting that two early summer issues only a year apart can be so different. The June 2009 edition offered me maybe two recipes; this one is riddled with folded pages and post-its. Funny what a difference twelve months can make.

Anyway, back to the burgers. If you have a food processor, making this veggie burger is snap. The base is beans and bulgur, and you whizz these together with some herbs and aromatics to make a grainy mess that's ready for stardom as a patty. A quick chill and a brush of oil, and they're ready for the grill (or broiler, or hot cast-iron skillet). I patted them out quite a bit leaner than the original recipe demanded, so I had double the burgers in the end. They were pretty darned tasty, and I'd probably do them again on a busy night. Especially since you really don't need to both making the accompanying lime mayonaise; these were great smeared with the fancy agave ketchup of yesterday's post.

The best thing about these, however, was not the end result. The process was the eye-opener for me. I now think I have the formula for replicating Amy's soy-free breakfast sausages, those heart-breaking little magic discs that were abruptly discontinued earlier this year. I made a batch with the leftover bulgur from these burgers, and while I still need to tinker with the seasonings a little, the texture is almost perfect. Keep an eye out, guys - I should have the Sausage Code cracked by the beginning of 2010.

In the meantime, you might want to give those bulgur burgers a try. You can find the recipe, courtesy of the lovely epicurious.com come, right here.

Agave "Ketchup" a la Gourmet

[That title has way too many quotation marks for a single sentence, but as long as Blogger refuses to let me italicize within titles, I shall do as I must...]

I took my brother out to eat way back in July. It was a celebratory meal commemorating his 26th birthday, and he chose to honor it with a steak dinner. Naturally, I abstained, and Bean and I feasted on fries and salad.

This occasion was noteworthy because this was the night that Uncle J. introduced Bean to his own personal culinary secret lover: Ketchup.

Since Bean is crazy about her uncle, she wanted to be just like him. So after our server brought a veritable soup bowl full of Heinz, and she saw Uncle J. dip his potatoes into those viscous crimson depths, she had to do the same. She ended dinner with crushed tomatoes up to her elbows and abiding love for ketchup. Uncle J. is still very proud.

This fondness makes life very easy for me, since most of the time I can get Bean to eat anything so long as I provide an appropriate dip. However, since ketchup is mainly corn syrup, I decided to cast about for a substitute for her beloved white-labeled classic.

In came Gourmet's June 2009 issue. This magazine had been read and tossed aside almost six months ago because it mainly focused on summer grilling (of meat, meat, and more meat). However, I had dogeared a certain page that included homemade condiment recipes. Ketchup was the third one featured on the page.

I doctored up Gourmet's recipe with agave nectar in place of the brown sugar and set a pot to simmer on a breezy afternoon last week. It turned out nice, though the flavor isn't really anywhere close to commercial brands. The flavor is deeper and more complex, thanks to the spicing, and the texture is much thicker (this after I blended in a little extra water). Even though I photographed this with some Alexia waffle fries, I actually prefer it smeared on a veggie burger with a little mayo and spicy mustard. It was also really good on a seitan "chicken" sandwich with fresh veggies and Swiss style cheese.

So I'm still looking for my Heinz replacement. But I've gained a mighty fine a sandwich spread and a fancy tomato dip in the process.

*******

Agave "Ketchup"

Makes about 1 1/3 cups
Time: 10-15 minutes active time, 25-30 minutes simmering, plus overnight to chill
Adapted from Gourmet magazine, June 2009 (original recipe here)

1 (14.5 ounce) can of whole tomatoes in juice
1 small onion (bigger than a golf ball) chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 TB vegetable oil,
Dash salt
1/2 TS chili powder
1/4 TS paprika
1/8 TS cinnamon
1/8 TS ground allspice
Dash pepper
1/2 TB tomato paste
1/4 C cider vinegar
3-4 TB dark agave nectar
1/4 C water

1. Puree the tomatoes and their juice in a blender until smooth.

2. In a heavy 2 quart or larger saucepan heat the vegetable oil over a medium burner. Cook the onion until golden, stirring occasionally (this will take 5-7 minutes). Add the garlic and the dash of salt and cook, stirring, another minute. Next, add all the spices through pepper and cook, stirring constantly, 1 more minute. Add the tomato puree, tomato paste, vinegar, and agave nectar (to taste - add at least 3 TB, and put in the final one if you like your ketchup really sweet). Simmer it, uncovered. Stir it, first occasionally and then more and more frequently as the mixture thickens; when it's ready it will be somewhat pasty and give your spoon some resistance. This will take somewhere between 25 and 30 minutes.

3. Puree the ketchup in the same blender until smooth (be sure to use due caution, as the stuff will still be hot and dying to explode). If you need to, thin it with the 1/4 C water until it reaches a good consistency (I had to add about 2 TB). Chill overnight before serving to allow the flavors to develop.

[Note: Epicurious.com has a couple of other ketchup recipes that look worthwhile, too. One is a more traditional ketchup, which I will adapt after we run out this fancy stuff; the other is a cranberry ketchup that might be an intriguing Thanksgiving experiment or a great way to chase off the in-laws. I'm also intrigued by the roasted red pepper ketchup. So many condiments, so few fries...]

Maple Baked Sweet Potatoes and Acorn Squash

Sorry about my abrupt disappearance from the ol' blogosphere, folks. We here in Reclusetopia were recently struck down with a rather disgusting stomach virus that Bean carried home from playgroup. I spent much of last week either babying her and Red or trying to comfort myself. It was gross.

Consequentially, I didn't want to cook food, eat food, or write about food for the last week. But I'm back in working order now, and I have a timely Thanksgiving treat to share from that lovely final issue of Gourmet magazine (November 2009).

This is so simple that it really doesn't need a recipe, but I want to throw it out there for all those kids who need a good acorn squash recipe. And this is good; everything becomes both crisp and tneder, and the squash skin softens so much that you can eat it along with the flesh. A side dish that would do well to gace any Thanksgiving table, this simple roasted dish of veggies went very well with a gravy drenched seitan steak and some steamed green beans. Mmmm...that was a great dinner.

This is also a good way to use up a leftover acorn squash half, if such a thing ever turns up in your kitchen.

I'll be back soon with some more original Gourmet fare. Until then - gentlemen (and ladies), start your ovens.

* * * * *

Maple Baked Sweet Potatoes and Acorn Squash
Serves 2-4
Adapted from Gourmet magazine, November 2009 (original recipe here)

[Note: The orignal recipe calls for butter and brown sugar. I substituted maple syrup and Soy-Free Earth Balance for a vegan autumnal treat. By all means, try it any way you like it.]

1 large sweet potato (about 1 lb total), peeled and sliced crosswise into 1/2 inch rounds
1 small acorn squash (1 1/2 pounds) halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch thick semicircles [can also use half a large squash]
1 1/2 TB Earth Balance, melted
1/2 TS salt
dash pepper
3 TB maple syrup
nutmeg for grating

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper for easier clean up.

2. Toss sweet potatoes and squash with Earth Balance, salt, and pepper. Spread in a single layer on the baking sheet. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and turn vegetable slices. Drizzle as evenly as possible with maple syrup. Lightly grate nutmeg over the slices as well. Return to oven and bake until golden and tender, about another 30 minutes.

Cottage cheese english muffins are here!

I finally updated that post from September! I was actually ready to do it much earlier, but I wanted to refrain from posting about dairy products during MoFo.

But now it's ready. Check this out if you're often the proud owner of half a carton of cottage cheese that's spiraling towards oblivion (like me).

Click here for picture and recipe.

Thanks :)

Surprising Zucchini Kofte

When you read a food magazine, do you ever decide to make something from just the picture?

I'm a visual type, so I'm very guilty of that particular crime. I usually skim titles, drool over any accompanying photos, and then very quickly look at the recipe to calculate the time involved. This sometimes leads to surprises when I get the recipe underway ("Wait - I'm supposed to use shallots in this thing?") or to annoyed substitutions ("Oh, hell, I'll just use onions and garlic. Martha Stewart will just have to live with it.")

Because of this slap-dash school of menu planning, zucchini kofte came as somewhat of a surprise to me. A Quick Kitchen find from Gourmet's October 2008 edition, this recipe came with a beautiful half-page photograph and a mouth-watering premise. Since I didn't read the recipe very closely, I didn't know at first what bound the zucchini together. I was expecting to have to replace mountains of breadcrumbs and an army of eggs. The secret ingredient, as it turned out, was a modest amount of smashed chickpeas. I made a quick shopping trip to procure the legumes, and then made kitchen magic.


These taste a lot like falafel, but they also have a fresh flavor and chewy texture from the zucchini. The mediterranean spices are delicious with the accompanying yogurt sauce. Yum. Oh, and I didn't make the red beet-bulghur pilaf accompaniament, because beets upset my stomach. It did go awfully well with greek salad and pita, though.

I had originally planned to oven-fry these puppies, but my oil mister chose that evening to loose its seal. So I ended up having to fat- fry them in a wok of olive oil. Next time I'm going to try the less messy and lower fat method - but I have to say that the other way was delicious.

The kofte and bulghur are naturally vegan, and the sauce only needs to have the yogurt substituted. It halves pretty easily if you're feeding less than four. My only caution is that this would be a time-consuming recipe if you don't have a food processor.

Intrigued? The recipe is here. Enjoy.

Cabbage rolls without the pain

"It's called sarma," Red's mom said, dishing out a little package of meat. It sat pleasantly on my gold flowered plate, a little edible present neatly wrapped in a pale green leaf.

"Try it," she urged.

I did. And I must say, I liked that little ball of beef, pork, and rice very much. The tomato sauce that surrounded it was sweet and tangy, and the cabbage wrapper was impossibly tender. How did she do it, and could I reproduce the results at home?

As it turns out, the way Red's mom did it was the traditional Croatian route: with lots annoying prep work and hours spent tending a bubbling cauldron. Yes, I could do this at home - but why, being of sound mind, would I? My laziness later earned some gravitas when I decided to go veg. No pounds upon pounds of ground beef for me! Red would have to wait until he went to Illinois to enjoy that traditional Yugoslavian delight.

Then the November 2008 issue of Gourmet came into my life. This is truly a fantastic piece of food magazinery. In addition to all the usual great recipes and tips it features a truly luxurious vegetarian Thanksgiving spread, a fun essay by Florida crime caper author Carl Hiaasen, and a groovy foodie's travelouge of Portland, OR. And nestled in the Quick Kitchen section was a recipe for deconstructed cabbage rolls.

These puppies are awesome. Not only do they grandly dispose of about a day of prep work, but they also taste yummy and pretty much triple your veggie serving over the original rolls. Veg*nizing this recipe was a snap: I merely substited lentils for the meat and vegetable stock for the chicken broth. I had dinner on the table in under an hour, and boy was it good.

* * *

Unstuffed Sweet-and-Sour Cabbaged, Veg*nized

Makes 2 generous servings
Takes about 45 minutes, start to finish
Adapted from Gourmet magazine, November 2008

[Two quick notes: The orignal recipes calls for dried cranberries to be added to the tomato topping. I'm not much of a dried fruit in my savory dishes kinda gal, but add 1/4 cup of them if you like. Also, they suggested serving it over rice to complete the whole cabbage roll experience. I chose mashed potatoes instead, and I do not regret that decision.]

1/2 head of green cabbage, cut into two wedges and cored (about 1 lb all together)
1/4 C vegetable stock/broth
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced, divided
1 TS olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 TS salt, divided
1/4 TS pepper
1 (14.5 oz) can of tomatoes in juice (I used Muir Glen Fire Roasted)
1 1/2 TB red-wine vinegar
1 TS dark agave nectar (can use 1 1/2 TS sugar instead)
2/3 C cooked green (French) lentils*
1 TB chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish (optional)

1. Place the cabbage in a deep heavy skillet with enough room to accomodate both wedges. Add the broth, 1 sliced garlic clove, and 1/4 TS of salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then cover and cook. Turn the cabbage occasionally as it simmers. You will leave it on the heat until it's tender enough for your liking - this happened after about 30 minutes for me.

2. While the cabbage simmers, heat another pan/pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil and the onion and cook until turns golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute. Season with the remaining salt and the pepper, then stir in the canned tomatoes, red wine vinegar, and agave nectar. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally and smashing the tomatoes with a spoon, until the sauce is slightly thickened. This should take about 15-20 minutes. Stir in the lentils.

3. Plate the cabbage wedges and pour half the sauce over each one. Garnish with the chopped parsley if desired.

*If lentils aren't your bag, you can use any kind of beef style veggie crumbles. I've made this with Quorn crumbles, and it was quite good; I bet any kind of soy ground round or even tempeh would be nice, too.

"Gourmet" Treats

Hey, everybody! We survived MoFo! Let's take a break and pat ourselves on the back.

[Pat, pat, pat]

Alrighty then, let's move on...

I'm changing things up on the old blog-a-roo this month in honor of one of my favorite magazines to ever go defunct. As most everyone (in the U.S. at least) already knows, Gourmet magazine published their last issue this month. Most of the foodie world is still reeling from the shock. I know that I am. After I picked up my November issue last week, I spent a good ten minutes merely stroking the cover and asking Red how this could really be the last one ever.

(Red, in typical fashion, replied "Because they've gone bust," but I digress...)

Anyway, I'm going to hold a tribute to one of the best magazines ever by cooking through my back issues this month. I'm not holding myself to any particular schedule, and I won't even pretend that I'll finish every dog-eared recipe in every wrinkled old copy. But gosh darn it, I'll try. It's the least I can do for you, Gourmet, after all you've done for me.

I'll warn everyone right now that not everything I have planned is vegan... or good for you, for that matter. But I'll try to keep things as light and animal-friendly as I can, and I promise that it will all be delicious.

So let the good times roll! As my friend Inky and I often do when we eat out, we'll start off with dessert:



I saw the Dark Gingerbread Pear Cake in the October 2008 issue and knew that one day, the two of us would meet. What I didn't know was that I would also fatally screw around with the recipe and render the darned thing pretty close to inedible.

I have a feeling that if I'd left it alone, the cake would have turned out beautifully. Therefore, I'll link to the original recipe at Epicurious.com. And I'll tell you my mistakes so that you can avoid said problems should you try it. My concept was to reduce the cake-to-pear ratio, so I reduced the batter recipe by two-thirds. I also replaced some of the butter with apple sauce and used ground ginger in place of fresh. I still baked it in a 9-inch cake pan, because I wanted a nice thin cake. This I got, but it was also weirdly gloppy (no matter how long I baked it).

I did, however, score with the cranberry compote I made for the topping. This was a reduced sugar version of the one in the November 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living. It's simple, so I'll break it down for you quickly here:

• Combine 1 C cranberries, 3 TB dark agave nectar, 3 TB brandy, and 3 TB water in a medium saucepan. Simmer uncovered on medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture has gotten syrupy. Remove it from the heat, and let it sit for another 10 minutes. Cover and keep warm until you are ready to serve.

There you go - one good thing to eat, even if it wasn't from Gourmet. But never fear - I have an entree on tap next, and I have every confidence that it will be a success. Stay tuned...