Caramelized Mushrooms and Dumplings

makes 9 biscuits and 1 8×8-inch dish

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For the Mushroom Mixture:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 pound small cremini mushrooms, cleaned and cut into bite size chunks

1 medium purple onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 medium carrots, sliced

2 cups diced sweet potatoes

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups mushroom, vegetable, or chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce

dash of balsamic vinegar (optional)

For the Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1/2 to 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (depending on how spicy you like your biscuits)

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

1 large egg

3/4 cup buttermilk, cold

To make the biscuits:

Start by making the biscuits.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, black pepper, and chopped chives.

Add butter to the dry ingredients.  Use your fingers to quickly incorporate the fat into the flour.  Break up the butter with your fingers until some of the fat is the size of oat flakes and some of the fat is the size of small pebbles.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg and buttermilk.

Make a small well in the center of the fat and flour mixture.  Add the buttermilk mixture.  Using a fork, combine the wet and dry ingredients.  Try to moisten all of the flour bits with the liquid.  Dump the shaggy biscuit dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  Knead together until dough forms a disk about 1 1/2 inches thick.

Use a round, 1 1/2-inch biscuit cutter to cut biscuits.  Gather the dough scraps, knead for a few turns, and cut out more biscuits until no dough remains.  Place biscuits on a small cookie sheet and place in the fridge until ready to bake.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

The make the mushroom filling:

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter into olive oil.  Add mushrooms in a single layer in the pan and allow to cook, without disturbing, for about 4 minutes.  Add a hearty pinch of salt and black pepper.  Toss mushrooms every once in a while until softened and golden brown.  Remove mushrooms from the pan.

Add a touch more olive oil and sautee onions until softened and transluscent.  Add garlic and toss for one minute.  Add carrots and sweet potatoes and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, softened the potatoes slightly.  Add thyme.  Return the mushrooms to the pan.  Turn heat to low and add flour.  Toss together.  Slowly add the broth, stirring constantly until thickened.  Add peas.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in Worchestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar.

Pour mushroom mixture into 8×8-inch pan.  Remove mushrooms from the refrigerator and place 9 biscuits over the filling.  Bake for 20-23 minutes, until biscuits are golden brown and cooked through.

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.  Mushrooms and dumplings will last for up to 4 days, well wrapped, in the refrigerator.

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup with Cashew Cream

Makes about 6 cups

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For the Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1 tablespoons soy sauce (I used Bragg’s Amino Acids)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (vegan please)

about 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

3 cups vegetable broth

salt to taste

For the Cashew Cream:

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/2 cup water

*Substitute Cashew Cream with 3/4 cup half and half or 8 ounces of silken tofu

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions to hot oil and saute until translucent and slightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, stir, and cook for 1 minute more.  Add the mushrooms, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and cook until mushrooms are cooked and broken down, about 5 minutes.  Stir occasionally.  Add cracked pepper and  vegetable stock and cook at a simmer until mushrooms are completely soft.  This took me about 10 to 15 minutes.

While the soup simmers, prepare the cashew cream.  In a blender, combine raw cashews and water.  Blend on high until smooth.  Pour into a measuring cup and set aside.  Don’t worry about washing the blender… we’re going to use it to blend the soup.

When mushrooms are cooked through, add about one third of the soup to the blender.  Hot soup rises high in the blender so definitely be careful how high you fill the blender.  Blend soup on low, increasing the speed to high, until no large mushroom chunks remain.  Pour blended soup into a clean pot or large bowl.  Blend the remaining soup in batches.  *If using silken tofu instead of cashew cream.  Blend the silken tofu in with the mushrooms and broth.

Add the cashew cream to the blended soup and stir to incorporate.

Place a fine mesh strainer over the pot that you cooked the soup in.  In batches, pour the blended soup into the fine mesh strainer and work the soup through the strainer with a rubber spatula.  Don’t use a wooden spoon… you could get splinters in your soup… seriously.  Heat and serve the strained soup.  Or place in a freezer safe container for a few weeks down the road.

Not So Vegan Herb Bread

1 fresh baguette

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste.

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

On a clean cutting board, use a fork to mash together softened butter, garlic, and chopped parsley.  Once incorporated, drizzle the olive oil over the butter mixture and work in the olive oil.  Add the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and incorporate with the fork.

Slice baguette into thick slices, not slicing all the way through the loaf, but keeping the slices connected.  Spread parsley butter in between bread slices.  Wrap baguette in foil and bake for 10 minutes, or until butter is melted and fragrant.

Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Butter Roasted Cauliflower

from smittenkitchen and gourmet

serves one (if you’re me) or two

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1 1/2  pound cauliflower florets

2 tablespoons capers, coarsely chopped

3 large garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.  In a roasting dish, toss together cauliflower with capers, garlic, oil and about 1/8 teaspoon salt.  Top with butter cubes and red pepper flakes.  Roast, stirring occasionally, until browned and delicious, about 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and toss hot cauliflower with lemon and fresh parsley.  Enjoy immediately with crusty bread to sop up the butter juices.  Seriously.

Spicy Vegetarian Chili

makes a big pot, serves eight

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3 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 zucchini, diced

3 small cloves of garlic, diced

1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and diced

1 cup beer (or vegetable stock if you like)

3 heaping tablespoons steak seasoning

2 heaping tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1/3 cup barbecue sauce

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed

1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

2 or 3 cups vegetable stock, depending on how soupy you want it.

1 cup corn kernels, frozen

In a large pan over medium flame, heat olive oil.  Add onions and saute until translucent and slightly browned.  Add the bell peppers and zucchini and cook for four or five minutes, until they begin to soften.  Add garlic, jalapeno and all of the spices into the cooking vegetables.  Cook for two minutes.

Deglaze the pan by adding one cup of beer to the hot pan and scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan.  There’s lots of flavor there.  Once the beer has stopped sizzling, add the barbecue sauce, beans, diced tomatoes and vegetable stock.  Bring to a low boil and cook for about 15 minutes.  Add the frozen corn and cook for another 5 minutes.  Serve warm topped with pepper jack cheese.  This chili is delicious the next day… and the day after that too.  Lasts up to six days.

Kale and Sweet Potato Soup

inspired by Food and Wine

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2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

2 teaspoons fresh ginger, chopped fine

3/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon crushed red peppers

3/4 pound kale, tough stems removed  and roughly chopped

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and diced into 3/4-inch cubes

1 1/2 quart chicken or vegetable broth

1 teaspoon salt

fresh ground pepper, to taste

1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

2 cups cooked brown rice

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook down until tender and translucent, about five minutes.  Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric and crushed red pepper flakes.  Cook, stirring, for about 1 minutes.

Add the sweet potato chunks and stir.

Add the chicken or vegetable broth and bring to a simmer.

Add the kale once the broth is simmering and submerge all of the leaves, helping them to cook down.

Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes have become tender.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Lastly, stir in coconut milk, heat through and serve over a bed of brown rice.

Pear Spice Cake with Walnut Praline Topping

adapted from Gourmet, December 1992

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• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1  cups buttermilk
• 3 pears, peeled, cored and diced into roughly 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 to 1 1/4 cups of fruit)
• 1 cup walnuts (3 ounces), toasted , cooled, and finely chopped