I find it a bit ironic that I set out to make this soup for one of the guys in my band, who was sick, and I am now the one sniffling as I type. Oh well, I'm just glad that it turned out so delicious. It all started with my craving for mole enchiladas and spiraled into a hearty vegan triumph. The spicy sweet hot flavors of roasted corn, mole and peppers were just what the doctor ordered.
I am definitely making this again.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
chopped red onion 1 zucchini chopped 1 bag of frozen roasted corn (or a can of white corn) 1 bag of sliced frozen roasted peppers (or fresh) 2 cloves of garlic chopped 1 can of black beans 2 cups of crushed tomatoes 1 small can of enchilada sauce 1/4 cup of mole paste 1tbs vegetarian bouillon dash of cumin 2tbs of brown sugar 4 blue corn tortillas a few tablespoons of veg oil for frying salt y pepper to taste
Saute the onions, garlic and zucchini until the onions are translucent. Add the frozen corn, peppers, black beans, tomatoes, enchilada sauce and 4-6 cups of water. Give that pot a stir then add the enchilada sauce, bouillon, mole, brown sugar and cumin. Let it boil for a bit to let the veggies soften and the tomato flavor to mellow out. About 30-45min
Meanwhile, heat up a frying pan with some oil. Cut your tortillas into strips and fry up in the oil. Drain and set aside.
Give the soup a taste. If it needs salt add that. You might need to add a bit of water if it is too thick. It's all about preference. Serve and garnish with the tortilla strips and some chopped green onions or, if you eat dairy, a dollop of sour cream.
NOTE: I think this would be great in a crock pot. Just add all of the ingredients, set it and forget it.
I find it amazing how the holidays manage to still have me off my game. Here it is, February and I'm just now posting a new episode. Episode 8. Good times. This sucker is a bit different from the others. For one, it's baking. I am not a baker. Sure I enjoy making a tart but that is usually using store bought filo. The only real baking I am good, and quite possibly obsessed with is, banana bread. But banana bread is a quick bread. That is to say, it's a bread that does not use yeast as leavening. I decided to try and tackle that immensely popular pastry, the red velvet cupcake.
I'm not going to go into the history of the danged things since it seems like the web is full of theories. But, in my research I did come across a tid bit that spoke to me, little miss hippie-pants. Back in the depression and WWII bakers couldn't get their hands on artificial food dye and resorted to using beets to color the cakes. Did someone say beets? So, you can guess right now that I jumped at the opportunity to use beets in cake.
The first part of this mega episode includes my friend Miguel, an avid baker, and my best friend Brooke, a Georgia girl who loves red velvet so much that she had an armadillo groom's cake at her rehearsal dinner. For those of you who don't know about armadillo cake, it was featured in Steel Magnolias.
Part 2: Tristan, Brooke's husband, and I get down to the business of beet red velvet and Miguel and Brooke return to make cream cheese frosting. The beet cupcakes were very surprising. Dense and moist with a bit of the earthy beet flavors. Like a cross between a red velvet and carrot cake. I brought in a batch to work and they were a big hit. People didn't seem to mind that they weren't the traditional red velvet. Many commented on how moist and not overly sweet they were. So, I'd say it was a success. After we shot the show I took all of our creations down to the Cookies Without Borders Bake Sale for Haiti. Which I found out raised over $5400 for the Doctors without Borders Emergency Relief Fund.
Part 2: Tristan, Brooke's husband, and I get down to the business of beet red velvet and Miguel and Brooke return to make cream cheese frosting. The beet cupcakes were very surprising. Dense and moist with a bit of the earthy beet flavors. Like a cross between a red velvet and carrot cake. I brought in a batch to work and they were a big hit. People didn't seem to mind that they weren't the traditional red velvet. Many commented on how moist and not overly sweet they were. So, I'd say it was a success. After we shot the show I took all of our creations down to the Cookies Without Borders Bake Sale for Haiti. Which I found out raised over $5400 for the Doctors without Borders Emergency Relief Fund.
Now for the recipes
Brooke's Red Velvet was from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sara-moulton/southern-red-velvet-cake-recipe/index.html
and Miguel's was Mrs. Paula Deen http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/red-velvet-sandwich-cookies-recipe/index.html
The result? Well, I'm still working on it but so far it is this.
Andy's Beet Velvet Cupcakes
2 cups of organic flour 1 tsp Salt 3 Tbs cocoa powder (natural) 1 3/4 cups of sugar 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 cup of earthbound butter or 2/3 cup of crisco 1 cup of sour milk (aka 1 cup milk with 1tbs of vinegar or lemon added) 3 eggs 2 tsp vanilla 2 Tbs red wine vinegar 1 cup of pureed boiled beets
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, and sugar.
Then in another bowl mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, beets, butter and vinegar. It's going to look pretty gross but don't worry it will all mix together in the end.
In three batches add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing well but not over doing it. If you mix for too long it will start the baking soda too early and also will mess with the gluten chains in your flour.
Unlike most cupcakes, where you fill to 3/4 full, these cupcakes can be filled to almost the top. Bake them for about 20 min or until a toothpick test is clean.
These little gems have some more testing and adjusting for sure. I'd love to hear any changes you may make and the results.
Wow, what a ride this has been. Can't wait to tackle 2010 like an NFL defensive lineman. Booya!! So, here it is, the last episode of 2010. Thai Night in the Orange Kitchen
NOTES:
Yet again I attempted to make something I love to eat but would never have thought that I could make, Vegetarian Thai food. Here in Los Angeles there are great vegan thai restaurants with amazing appetizers. My two favorites are summer rolls with that delicious hoisin sauce and satay. What I like about this satay is that it is still relatively healthy. It's not fried and dripping in oil. Instead the marinate soaks into the tofu and browns nicely under the broiler.
RECIPES:
Tofu Satay
Ingredients: 1 White Onion 2 Cloves of garlic The juice of 2 Limes 2 small bunch of cilantro 1TB chili sauce 2TB Rice wine vinegar 2TB Agave syrup or 1TB sugar 1/4 cup Soy 1 TB freshly grated ginger 2TBS Sesame Oil
Blend the ingredients in your processor and season with salt to taste. If it is too hot, add more sugar and lime. If it is too sweet, add lime and chile and if it's too sour add sugar and chile. Yup its all a balancing act of sweet, salty, sour and hot.
Cut 1 package of extra firm tofu into little rectangular slabs, a bit like a deck of cards but a tad smaller. Marinate the tofu slabs for a half of an hour.
Preheat your broiler.
Skewer each tofu slab and place on a baking sheet. Add a bit more marinate to coat the tops and cook until golden brown. Flip the skewers and add more marinade to the exposed tops. Broil until brown and remove.
Summer Rolls
Ingredients: 1 large cucumber cut into matchsticks 2 carrots cut into matchsticks or thinly sliced 1 bunch of mint 1 bunch of sweet basil 1 package of rice paper sheets 1 package of rice or mung bean noodles Hoisin sauce rice vinegar ground roasted peanuts
Marinate the carrots in rice vinegar, sugar or agave, and water for at least an hour. This will season them.
Boil your rice noodles and drain. Toss in 2 tbs of rice vinegar.
In a bowl full of tepid water, add two sheets of rice paper. When the rice paper begins to feel soft, drain and place on your work surface. Carefully spread the sheet. Add 3 to 4 mint leaves face down on the sheet. Then place the cucumber sticks, carrots, basil leaves and rice noodles. Squeeze a line of hoisin sauce and sprinkle some peanuts. over.
Wrap the bottom over the ingredients, then pull in the sides. Roll like a tight burrito and cut in half.
Peanut Sauce
Ingredients: 1 cup of creamy peanut butter 2 cloves of chopped garlic 1 tsp chile sauce 2 tsp Agave syrup 1 tsp rice wine vinegar juice of 1/2 lemon 2 tbs cilantro leaves 2tbs sesame oil 1/3 cup of soy sauce 1/2 cup of water
Mix the ingredients together until creamy. If it seems to thick add more water. Cook on the stove over a low heat until the sauce becomes smooth and aromatic. Once the sauce cools it will become thicker.
ENJOY!!
I had a great year and my sincerest thanks for all of your support. I raise my glass of wine to you all and hope that you get into the kitchen and start cooking those vegetables!!
PHEW. That's right people! I've got the 4th installment in "Watch Andie cook like a lunatic and make delicious food." It took some serious work to transfer the dang mini DVDs, but a few glasses of brandy, a little perseverance, and BLAMO! you've got an 11 minute masterpiece. Yup. I tried my darnedest to make it 10 minutes to fit YouTube's requirements, but going from 20min to 10 is no easy task. We had a blast making it and can't wait to shoot the next.
The real recipe for this is to follow. I just need to test out the alterations I have made to make sure that it is up to snuff. 'Till then, enjoy the episode that we had a blast making.
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