Tag Archives: entrees

baking, Eating, recipes

Dinner and a show

Phoebe, Genia and I spent most of the evening making dinner: Veggie stir-fry with sesame noodles and baked crab rangoon followed by carrot cake. It was well worth the effort.

Baked Crab Rangoon
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
6 ounces krab meat, minced
1 green onion, including top, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 package (48 count) won ton skins
vegetable spray coating 
In medium bowl, combine all ingredients except won ton skins and spray coating; mix until well blended. (To prevent won ton skins from drying out, prepare one or two rangoon at a time.) Place 1 teaspoon filling in center of each won ton skin. Pull bottom corners down and overlap slightly; moisten one corner and press to seal.

Lightly spray baking sheet with vegetable coating. Arrange rangoon on sheet and lightly spray to coat. Bake in 425-degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot with sweet-sour sauce or mustard sauce.

Makes 48 appetizers.

Tom’s birthday was this week, so we tried to find a birthday candle for the cake. We didn’t have one, though, so we took a cue from the sign language interpreter at Rockford’s graduation (fab.u.lous interpretive dance-esque version of “The Star-Spangled Banner, lady. We salute you.) and made like candles as Tom was led to the cake. Trust me, it was a hoot.

The Ultimate Veggie Times Carrot Cake
(with Phoebe’s alterations)


2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/4 cups apple sauce
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
4 ounce carrot baby food
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
3 cups coarsely grated carrots (about 6 carrots)
20-ounce can crushed pineapple, well-drained
Creamy Brown Sugar Frosting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 8-inch round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment or wax paper. Butter paper and dust with flour.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. Beat oil, both sugars, baby food, ginger and vanilla extract until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each. Add flour mixture in two additions. Add carrots, pineapple and nuts; beat just until blended. Divide batter between cake pans and bake 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool cakes in pan on racks 10 minutes. Cut around the edges to loosen with a small knife. Invert cakes onto rack, remove paper and cool completely.

Frost, and enjoy.

Creamy Brown Sugar Frosting
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Beat cream until soft peaks form; set aside. Combine cream cheese, lemon juice, vanilla and salt; beat until smooth and creamy, 3 to 5 minutes. Fold in whipped cream in three additions. Refrigerate.

As was the follow-up to dinner: A spin through our iTunes collection. Complete with vocalization, hand-holding and, yes, interpretive dance. It was just like the pioneer days. Except we were gathered around the laptop listening to Glen Campbell and the Talking Heads. (Not together, of course. Although that would be awesome.)

Eating, recipes

Cheesy, breezy, beautiful

I discovered Amy’s frozen meals a while back, after a long search for frozen dinners that didn’t include suspicious meat-like substances. One of my favorites is their Mattar Paneer, an Indian dish featuring peas and cheese in a slightly spicy sauce. I thought it would be a nice dish to add to our at-home repertoire, but I couldn’t find a place to buy paneer (the cheese).

A few weeks ago, I borrowed a vegetarian cookbook from a friend, and there it was! Muttar Paneer! I didn’t use a deep enough pot in the paneer-making process. I had no idea how quickly boiling milk would turn into a all-over-the-stove cloud of froth. In case you don’t know, either: very, very quickly. I recommend a very large pot. I had to improvise on the cheesecloth; I used two of Poppy’s burp clothes (clean, thank you very much), and they worked beautifully. I tied the cheese up in a nice little bundle and suspended it from the faucet to drain.

Muttar Paneer
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 cups frozen peas
8-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup vegetable stock
salt and pepper
Paneer, cut into small cubes (recipe follows)
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the paneer and fry until golden on all sides. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.

Pour off some of the oil, leaving about 4 tablespoons in the pan. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and fry gently, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.

Add the peas, tomatoes and stock and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer, stirring occassionally, for 10 minutes, until the onion is tender.

Add the fried paneer cubes and cook for another 5 minutes.

Taste and adust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve immediately.

Paneer
10 cups pasteurized whole milk
5 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
Bring the milk to a rolling boil in a large soup pot. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Return to the heat for about a minute until the curds and whey separate. Remove from the heat and add the garlic. Line a strainer with a double thickness of cheesecloth, and pour the mixture through. Squeeze all the liquid from the curds and leave to drain.

Transfer to a dish, cover with a plate and a heavy weight, and refrigerate overnight.

Recipes adapted from “Ultimate Vegetarian.” This makes a ton of food.

Eating, recipes

More pie!

The beauty of pie is that it’s good for any meal. I used some leftover pot roast on Monday to make a Pot Roast Pot Pie. I’ve tried the following recipe using chicken, turkey and roast. I’m sure you could make a veggie pot pie, too, if you were so inclined. So far, I haven’t been.

Pot Pie
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons Wondra flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup milk
1 cup warm broth
2-3 cups cooked meat
1 1/2 cups cooked peas and carrots
Pillsbury pie crust (for a two-crust pie)
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Line pie plate with crust. Place ingredients in crust.
Melt butter in a saucepan; whisk in Wondra, salt and pepper. Slowly stir in warm broth until smooth. Slowly stir in milk. Stir over low heat until thickened and smooth.
Pour gravy over ingredients in crust.
Cover with top crust; cut away excess and crimp edges. Cut vents in top of crust.
Place pie plate on a cooking sheet (to catch drips) in the oven. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 30 to 40 minutes longer.