Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Creole Christmas in Canada

Every year, my girlfriends and I try to get together to catch up over the holidays.  A few years ago we decided to stop buying Christmas gifts for each other and instead spend a nice meal together.  After all, what's better than the gift of time, friendship, and food?

It was easier when we were younger, but now with everyone living in different cities, provinces, states and countries, these annual get-togethers get even more important.  With added significant others, the faces have changed but the dynamic remains the same - lots of laughs, tons of food, and great stories to share.

This year, we headed up to Toronto, Canada for our annual Christmas get-together.  Because we last got together to celebrate our milestone birthdays in New Orleans, LA, we decided to attempt a Creole Christmas this year.

We started with a couple of cocktails because nothing else reminds us of both the holidays and New Orleans!  We made the appropriately-named and festive-colored French Quarter Champinis.  We mixed up 1.5 oz Chambord, 0.5 oz Grand Marnier, 0.5 oz lime juice, 0.5 oz cranberry juice per glass with ice.  After pouring the mix in the glass, we topped it off with about 6 oz of sparkling wine.

Hurricanes were next as we remembered our warm summer's evening enjoying these drinks at Pat O'Briens.  Though we did not have the famous Pat O'Briens hurricane mix, we made a very similar drink.  We mixed together 3 oz rum, 3 oz orange juice, 3 oz pineapple juice, and 0.5 oz grenadine syrup and poured the drinks into tumblers over ice.

Our hostess made these delicious mini vegetarian muffaleta sandwiches as a reminder of our huge vegetarian muffaleta sandwich from Central Grocery:

We laughed when we remembered our initial shock at the size of the original sandwich (and were glad that we opted to share it)  We loved our hostess' version of the sandwich as it was rich in flavor from the olive spread and vegetables.  Its smaller size was also much easier to eat!

On this cold winter's day, the vegetarian gumbo with biscuit topper was a comforting dish.  The hardest part was finding the file powder for the gumbo - which in Toronto is found at Kensington Market (and in New York at Indian spice market Kalustyan's).  Though we had the meaty gumbo at Acme Oyster House, this homemade version was so flavorful and substantial (due to the rice), we didn't really miss the meat.  (And it gave our vegetarian friend a chance to have the gumbo she missed out in New Orleans!)

Our favorite place during the entire trip was Cafe du Monde (as evidenced by our daily trips during our stay).  We all smiled as we remembered our various treks for coffee and beignets - morning, noon, or night.  We found the coffee in the most unusual of places - Chinatown!  In both Toronto and New York, Cafe du Monde coffee can be found in various Chinese stores due to its popularity for Vietnamese Iced Coffee.  We learned that when Vietnamese immigrants went to New Orleans, they loved the chicory coffee so much that they used it for their iced coffees.

We were all so full from the delicious food, dessert was a simple bowl of Pralines n' Cream ice cream topped with Grand Marnier.

We all seemed to have sucre in mind when we made shared our edible gifts.  Bourbon balls covered in festive sugar and sprinkles were rich and reminded us of the truffles we had seen.  The cookies shaped like purses were similar to the fun packaging sucre uses for its chocolates (and the champagne represented our birthday toast at Restaurant August).  And finally, chocolate-covered apples with nuts wrapped in a Fleur de Lils ribbon (New Orleans symbol) to thank our friends for their southern hospitality...all the way up north! 

We all had a wonderful time re-living our New Orleans trip and catching up like old times (while the husbands chatted about that night's big game between Dallas and, coincidentally, New Orleans).  After all, good food and better company is what the holidays are all about!

Recipes:

Mini Vegetarian Muffulettas:

Ingredients:

1 cup giardiniera (pickled cauliflower and carrot salad)
1 cup olives
1 cup marinated mushrooms
6 rolls

1 cup roasted sweet red peppers
1 cup spinach leaves (or arugula)

0.5 lb sliced provolone cheese

0.5 lb sliced part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 cup thinly sliced tomatoes


Directions:

1. In a food processor, chop giardiniera, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and olives along with liquid from the jars.

2. Hollow out tops and bottoms of rolls, leaving 3/4 inch shells (discard bread or save for future use)

3. Spread veggie mixture over tops and bottoms of rolls

4. Layer provolone cheese, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and spinach.

5. Replace tops.

6. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, secure with toothpicks.

7. Refrigerate overnight.

Vegetarian Gumbo

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup toasted sesame oil

3/4 cup flour

1 large onion, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

6 ribs celery with leaves, chopped

2 tsp thyme

3 cloves garlic, minced

6 cups vegetable broth

3 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes

1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped

2 bay leaves

2 Tbsp Tamari soy sauce

1 tsp hot sauce (add more for extra kick!)

1 tsp paprika

salt to taste

8 cups cooked rice

file powder to taste

Directions:
1. Heat oil over low heat in a big soup pot or Dutch oven.  When it's hot, add flour.  Cook over low heat for about 10-15 minutes until the color is similar to a coppery penny.

2. Add onion, peppers, celery, thyme, and garlic.  Cook over low heat for about 30-45 mins.  Stir frequently - add oil only if necessary.

3. Add stock, tomatoes, parsley, bay leaves, tamari, hot sauce, paprika, and salt.

4. Let it come to a boil, then turn down and let simmer 2-3 hours.  The key to this recipe is low heat and almost constant stirring for 45 minutes.  After an hour or so, taste and add more salt or cayenne.

5. Serve in cups and top with file powder and biscuit.

Decorated cookies recipe - click here

Candied apples recipe - click here

Spicy Red Lentil Dal

For our weekly meatless meal, we decided to try cooking with red lentils. 

We had gone to Indian specialty store, Dual in NYC, and being curious about all the colorful products around us, quickly filled up our basket with various lentils, beans, grains, and spices.  

Of course, we had never cooked any of these items before, so when we came home we were a little overwhelmed.  Our knowledgeable vegetarian friend told us that red lentils were easier than other lentils because they easily break down when cooked and don't need to be soaked overnight.

A few quick online searches brought us an easy recipe for Spicy Red Lentil Dal from Cooking Light. We adapted the recipe and found ourselves with a very hearty, immensely flavorful dish.  It makes a great appetizer or snack.

We adapted the recipe from Cooking Light  to adjust to our preferences and ingredients we had on hand (as noted below). 

Ingredients:

2 cups vegetable broth (the recipe called for chicken broth, but we wanted the dish to be vegetarian)

1 cup dried small red lentils

1 Tbsp canola oil (did not have vegetable oil)

1 1/2 cups chopped onion (roughly 1 medium and 1 small onion)

1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

Lots of crushed red pepper (the recipe only called for 1/2 tsp but we wanted to taste the spice)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground coriander (we had whole coriander seeds and crushed them for more flavor)

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp tomato paste (we needed more tomato paste for a richer color and sweet flavor since we omitted the coconut milk)

1/2 cup sour cream (we unfortunately did not have coconut milk on hand)

1/2 tsp salt

sour cream (to garnish)

Preparation

1. Combine broth and lentils in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover, and simmer 10 minutes or until lentils are tender. Remove from heat; cover and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, mustard seeds, and red pepper, and cook 5 minutes or until onions are tender and seeds begin to pop, stirring constantly. Add cumin, turmeric, coriander, and black pepper; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add tomato paste, and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add lentils, sour cream, and salt; cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.

3.  Serve with a dallop of sour cream.  Since we didn't have pita on hand, we used this as a dip with crackers.

Cauliflower Disguised in Two-Ways: "Mashed Potatoes" and "Popcorn"

After our recent turkey fest, we decided to add a few more vegetarian dishes to our dinner.  After going to the Greenmarket and buying a cauliflower the size of our head, we searched our favorite websites for inspiration.  We landed on two ideas:  Cauliflower Popcorn and Mashed Cauliflower (like Mashed Potatoes) - both very creative ways to make cauliflower more fun and appetizing to kids (and meat-loving husbands).

The biggest cauliflower we have ever purchased!

 

We got the idea for Mashed Cauliflower from fellow food bloggers The Duo Dishes and Mardi of eatlivetravelwrite.  We have also been doing a Holiday recipe email exchange and so coincidentally received another recipe for this dish.  Our version was inspired by all of these sources and makes for a great low-carb alternative to mashed potatoes.    

Ingredients:

Half of that massive head of cauliflower

1/2 stick of butter

1 clove garlic, pressed

low-sodium vegetable broth

rosemary

kosher salt

ground black pepper

shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Bring water to a boil

2. Boil pieces for 10-15 mins until tender

3. Use potato masher to mash cauliflower

4. Add butter and desired amount of salt, pepper, cheese, and broth to create desired consistency.  Mash all ingredietns together.

5. Optional:  We put the mashed cauliflower in a casserole dish to brown in the oven.

That's it!  It was a really easy dish to create. 

The second recipe comes from Heidi Swanson's wonderful website 101 Cookbooks.  We liked the idea of Cauliflower Popcorn since it was easy and we love chili pepper flakes in most of our foods.

Ingredients:
Half huge cauliflower head, broken off into small pieces
Extra virgin olive oil
Chili pepper flakes
Salt
Day-old bread (anything hard)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. Completely cover cauliflower pieces with olive oil (Note:  Make sure your cauliflower is as dry as possible after washing and before you cover it in oil.  It will be easier to brown). Sprinkle with salt to taste.

3. Lay a single layer of cauliflower on your baking sheet.

 

4. Bake for 20 mins or until brown on bottom

5. Crumble bread into small pieces (breadcrumbs) and mix in bowl with leftover olive oil, and as much chili pepper flakes and salt as you'd like.

6. Take out cauliflower, turn over, and add bread crumb mixture.

7. Bake until cauliflower is browned (approx 15 mins)

8. Serve immediately

This snack/side dish was so good - crunchy, spicy, and incredibly addictive!  

We had fun making these two side-dishes from one very large cauliflower.  It made us wonder...what dishes do you create to "hide" healthy ingredients?

HanGawi: Voted Best Korean Food in NYC...and it's Vegetarian!

We recently met up with friends for a leisurely lunch.  We wanted to go somewhere new and since one of our friends was a vegetarian, we decided to find a place where she could order more than a side dish.  So we ventured out to HanGawi, a Korean vegetarian restaurant in midtown that has been voted 2009 Zagat's Best Vegetarian and Best Korean Food restaurants in NYC.

Upon arrival, we removed our shoes, sat down at low tables (with carpet), and enjoyed a relaxing meal in an almost spa-like environment.

We opted for the Mini Emperor's 4 course lunch ($20).  Our first two starter courses included the vermicelli delight and a choice of pumpkin or corn spinach porridge.  The vermicelli came wrapped up and filled with vegetables like enoki mushrooms, onions, and peppers.  It was very light, while the porridge was thick.  We really liked the pumpkin porridge - maybe it's the seasonality of the dish, but it was wonderfully comforting.

Our vegetarian friend (who remarked she usually never has so many options when she dines out for nice meals) opted to go a la carte and ordered this appetizer:  Stuffed Shiitake Mushrooms ($10).  These were rich and meaty (which seems like a weird adjective to use in a vegetarian restaurant!).

Our friend got a rice stone bowl dish (we think it was the tofu stone bowl rice with sesame leaves) with a flavorful miso soup.  She really enjoyed her meal - especially the soup which had more layers of flavor than others.

Vegetarian Stone Bowl Rice:  This was our entree from the fixed price meal.  We loved all of the colorful vegetables - it was like eating a garden!  The rice was nicely seasoned and the whole dish was incredibly satisfying.

...which included a side of kimchi.  We received both mild kimchi (i.e. plain cabbage) and spicy kimchi (i.e. regular fermented cabbage that was not too spicy).

Cinnamon in Cold Sweet broth with fresh fruit:  Our final meal of the fixed price lunch was a plain, light dessert.  This was essentially a fruity soup to cleanse our palette after a nice long meal.

This was a wonderful and interesting experience.  We are accustomed to meat dishes in Asian meals so dining at a restaurant with so many vegetarian and vegan options was pleasantly eye-opening for us.  We were surprisingly full after the meal. Without the fixed price lunch menu, it would have seemed more pricey than it was.  We look forward to sharing this meal with more vegan and vegetarian friends.

HanGawi is located at 12 E 32nd St (btwn 5th and Madison Aves) in NYC.

{Easy Recipes} DIY Airplane Food (Bulgur Salad and other parts of our Mile-High Picnic)

My husband's not a fan of long flights - he can't sleep and easily gets bored.  So, in addition to the TV, Internet (we're writing this post up in the air as we speak!), and countless magazines, I always plan on bringing a nice homemade meal when we're flying.  (Especially when we're flying on a commercial domestic airline for 6 hours that's only providing us with a free beverage - maybe two).  Check out our travel tips and our picnic in the sky. We'd love to know your thoughts and your travels tips too!

We never leave home without our empty water bottle - after paying $3 for a small bottle of water, we're all about the free water fountain after security checks.

And I love my travel pillow for comfort.

Onto the food! This bulgur salad is easy to make (you can also substitute the bulgur for couscous), very light, and nutritious.  The dish is filled with vegetables and bulgur itself is a healthy whole grain.  Fill up your favorite lunch container (or Chinese take-out box) and you're good to go!  The recipe is at the end of this post (note that the photo above includes roasted squash leftovers that is not in the original recipe).

Salad to go! For this trip, I brought cucumbers, grape tomatoes, pea shoots, and our favorite:  organic celery sticks (though we don't always buy organic fruits and vegetables, we make an effort to buy organic celery after reading about the most contaminated produce, aka "Dirty Dozen").  Because we get dehydrated when flying, we love celery sticks because they're like portable sticks of water.  They also make great garnishes for our complimentary tomato juice!

Lastly, I brought prosciutto, cheese, and whole wheat bread sticks in separate containers (if you put the breadsticks with the cheese and prosciutto, they'll get soggy).  I wrapped the breadsticks with prosciutto while on the plane, and our mile-high picnic is complete!

What are your travel tips and tricks for a party in the sky?

Easy Recipe:

Bulgur Salad (serves 4)

Ingredients

1 cup bulgur

2 cups vegetable broth

1-2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

1 English cucumber, chopped

1 shallot, thinly sliced

2 T extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

freshly squeezed juice from half a lemon

Directions

1. Boil vegetable broth in pot with lid.

2. Add bulgur (no need to soak or rinse the cracked bulgur) to the boiling broth. Close the lid, turn off the stove, and let the bulgur completely soak the broth.

3. Combine the vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, shallots) in a bowl with oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.  I didn't have fresh parsley on hand, but those herbs would make a great addition to the salad.

4. Let cool and fill a portable container (Chinese take-out box or any other lunch box).

5. Enjoy on the plane!

{Travel Tuesday}: Cooking with Banana Blossoms in Vietnam

Banana Blossom (photo credit:  Ruestz)

We're currently packing our bags to San Francisco for the annual Foodbuzz Festival.  Our friend Rogelio has kindly provided this guest post on his recent honeymoon trip to Vietnam.  While on vacation, they took a cooking class (so jealous!), which provided the recipe below.  We can't wait to find the ingredients and make this for an International Party at home. Enjoy!

One of the main reasons we honeymooned in Vietnam and Cambodia was the food. We really enjoy the combination of spicy, salty, sweet and sour found in countries close to the Tropic of Cancer. We were so excited about the food that we decided to take a cooking class in Hoi An, Vietnam where we had an unusual, yet delicious salad. It was so different in fact, that I decided to write a guest post for my favorite blog (HLFD) and was happy that they liked my idea!

Found primarily throughout Asia, Banana Blossoms (also known as banana flower) grow on the end of the stem holding a cluster of bananas. They have a deep crimson color and consist of tightly packed leaves. The outer leaves are the female part while the inner, edible leaves, are the male part of the flower. It is the inner pale colored bracts that are used for food dishes.

Banana blossoms and leaves sold at the market (photo credit: Takeaway)

Banana Blossom Salad with Shrimp

Ingredients 

1 Banana Blossom (can be found in Asian/Indian markets in the US)

200 grams finely shredded carrots

50 grams peanuts

150 grams celery greens (the top part of celery that most people throw away)

3/8 cup fish sauce

1/3 c rice vinegar

hot chili peppers (adjust to taste)

1 T minced garlic 

2.5 T sugar

½ T salt

2 T roasted seasame seeds.

50 grams of Fried Shallots 

200 grams precooked Shrimp, thinly sliced

The dish! (photo credit: Rogelio Pier Martinez)

Directions:

1.  Remove many outer, colorful leaves of a Banana Blossom until you get to the yellow, softer center bracts. Chop the blossom very finely, into rings and separate into a container with water to rinse, soften and remove some of the sticky residue.

2.  Let sit for 5 minutes and drain before mixing in finely shredded carrots, peanuts, and celery greens in a bowl.

3.  Mix in a traditional Vietnamese dressing:  combine fish sauce, rice vinegar, hot chili peppers, minced garlic,  sugar, salt, and roasted sesame seeds.

4.  Add fried shallots and shrimp over the top. (skip this last step for the vegetarian version.)

Cooking with Beer: Vegetarian Chili

Though our website might suggest otherwise, we actually cook and eat at home for most of the week.

Like most of you, we'd love to make haute cuisine meals, but usually only have time to make quick, simple meals.

Since we saw this recipe demonstrated at a recent event, it has become one of our new favorites because it uses beer as an ingredient, gives us a hearty and flavorful meatless option, and only takes a few minutes to prep and less than 15 mins to cook. 

 

Brew and Bean Chili (adapted from the Big Green Cookbook)

Ingredients (most available in our pantry, makes 4 servings):

2 Tbsp canola oil (we did not have the peanut oil used in the original recipe)

1 red onion, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced (we used all of the seeds because we love very spicy foods, but you can make it milder by using some or none of the seeds)

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 cup canned crushed tomatoes

3/4 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup beer

1 1/2 Tbpn chili powder

1/4 tspn ground cinnamon

1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained

1/2 tspn sea salt

1/2 can corn (we added this ingredient to the recipe because it adds sweetness and crunch - you can omit it if you like)

1/2 bunch chopped fresh cilantro (or flat-leaf parsley leaves)

shredded sharp Cheddar cheese to top

Directions:

1. Heat oil in pot over medium heat.

2. Add onion and jalapeno.  Saute until onions are softened (approx 6 mins)

3. Add garlic and saute for approx 30 sec.

4. Stir in tomatoes, broth, beer, chili powder, cinnamon and increase heat to high.

5. Bring to full boil and boil for 1 min.

6. Stir in beans and salt.  Return to boil.

7. Cover with lid and turn off heat.

8. Keep lid on for about 5 mins, allowing the steam to "cook" the flavors together.

9. Add corn and cilantro, then mix together.

10. Serve and top with cheese.

 

Since we used all of the jalapeno seeds in the chili, we definitely needed the Cheddar cheese to cut the spice!  We loved all of the flavors - sweetness from the corn and cinnamon, spice from the jalapeno and chili powder, and acidity from the tomatoes.

 

Even meat-loving people like us thoroughly enjoyed this comforting dish!

{Product Review} Happy Pho Vietnamese Brown Rice Noodle Soup

 I've been feeling under the weather, so when a package of Happy Pho Shiitake Mushroom arrived at my doorstep, I was grateful for the means to a quick, nourishing dinner.  The noodles were sent to me from Thao and Karen - the 2 woman team behind Star Anise Foods.  Thao was inspired by her grandparents' 80 year-old recipe developed in their small kitchen near Hanoi.  And lucky for me, there's nothing like a grandmother's touch to help me feel better!

What I liked about the product was the list of simple, natural ingredients.  The spice packet contained organic star anise, organic Saigon cinnamon, Shiitake mushrooms, spring onions, black cardamom, and ginger.  The brown rice noodles, which are also gluten free, was made out of 100% brown rice flour, water, organic green tea, and salt.

The package only contains gluten-free pho noodles and the spice packet.  The spice packet was derived from Thao's grandparents' pho broth.  And the box itself (100% recycled paperboard, soy-based ink) reflects the duo's commitment to the environment. 

And they also encourage you to cook, as opposed to just heating up these noodles.  So I followed the recipe on the box and boiled 4 cups of Organic Vegetable broth, and later adding cubed firm organic tofu.

I added the noodles to the broth and tofu, along with sliced Shiitake Mushrooms, sliced Oyster Mushrooms, Cilantro, Spring Onion, Spinach, and ground Black Pepper.

Overall, my husband and I both enjoyed the fragrant broth (the cinnamon is noticeable, but we like that spice) as well as the soft noodles.  The Happy Pho Shiitake Mushroom is a good base for an easy weekday dinner.  The other flavors Star Anise Foods makes are Garlic Goodness and Zesty Ginger.  They also sell just the brown noodles.