Month: December 2017

Vegetarian Tater Tot Hot Dish or as I like to call it “Careful, your Midwest is showing”

Tater Tot Breakfast Hot Dish
Tater Tot Breakfast Hot Dish

I blame Pinterest for this one, and the short days, and just feeling a little homesick after the move. Not that this dish would be found anywhere near Cambridge, MA, but it would be found in Wisconsin where I’m originally from. All I can think when I look at this is “careful, your midwest is showing.”  That being said it is everything a midwest dish should be; homey, salty, comforting, easy, cheesy, serves a crowd, and topped with tater tots. It is truly perfect for New Year’s Day because you can make it ahead of time, and just hang out drinking coffee while it bakes in the morning. You can start your New Years resolution eating at lunch.

This is a perfect dish for when you have overnight guests as it feeds a crowd with minimal effort, and will make most anyone happy if they are ok with tater tots for breakfast. And if they aren’t, well, you might want to decide if you need that kind of negativity in your life. If you really want to make it minimal effort in the morning just sauté your vegetables the night before and assemble the morning of.

Happy Midwestern Breakfast to you. I hope you’re holidays are merry and bright.

Breakfast Tater Tot Hot Dish

Ingredients

  • Oil for cooking
  • 2 cups chopped kale or mixture of vegetables -spinach, chard, broccoli, mushrooms, whatever
  • 1 leek, sliced lengthwise, rinsed, and thinly sliced into half moods if you don’t have a leek onion will be fine in a small dice.
  • salt and pepper for seasoning
  • 1/4 package soyrizo or 2 vegetarian breakfast sausages that have been warmed and chopped (optional)
  • 6 eggs
  • 3/4 cup milk or non-dairy milk
  • 1 cup shredded cheese – I like goat cheddar, but most anything will be good here
  • 1/2 LB frozen tater tots

Instructions

  1. Butter a 9×9 square baking pan.
  2. Preheat oven to 375 – if you’re prepping this a day ahead obviously do not preheat the oven. Wait until the morning are planning to cook please.
  3. Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat.
  4. Add oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan.
  5. Add kale and leek and cook stirring frequently until softened, 5-7 minutes.
  6. Season kale and leeks with salt and pepper, then stir in soyrizo or breakfast sausage and remove from heat.
  7. Spread the cooked vegetables and fake meat into the bottom of the buttered baking pan.
  8. Top with cheese.- At this point you can cover everything tightly and refrigerate until the next morning.- If you’re making it all the day of just continue on my friend.
  9. In the morning whisk together the eggs and milk and pour the egg mixture over the top of the vegetables.
  10. Place the still frozen tater tots in the egg mixture in a single layer and put the whole thing in the preheated oven.
  11. Cook until the tater tots are golden brown and crispy and the egg is set in the middle, about 30-35 minutes.
  12. Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so before cutting and devouring.

Vegan Crème de Menthe Squares

Vegan Crème de Menthe Squares
Vegan Crème de Menthe Squares

Christmas is coming, and so are the cookies! My problem is I really like to make cookies, but know that I really shouldn’t keep that many of them in the house. They are just too easy to eat. So, I try to limit my cooking making and share whenever possible. I do end up making these almost every year. Chocolate and mint is the one flavor combination I usually like. Most often I’m a chocolate purest and just want my chocolate to be chocolate, but in the winter mint is allowed to make an appearance every now and again.

This is a recipe from my childhood where I made a few switches to make it vegan. I also cut the recipe in half so I wouldn’t have so many cookies on hand. If you’re doing a cookie exchange or just have a lot of company coming this one is easily doubled.

Crème de Menthe Squares

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup + 2 TBL Cup earth balance or refined coconut oil (divided)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 3/4 cups sifted powdered sugar (divided)
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 cup finely crushed vegan graham crackers
  • 1/3 cup crème de menthe
  • 3/4 Cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips.

Instructions

  1. In a heavy saucepan combine 1/4 cup butter and cocoa powder. Cook & stir over low heat till butter is melted.
  2. Remove from heat.
  3. Stir in 1/4 Cup powdered sugar, & vanilla.
  4. Add graham crackers; stir till combined.
  5. Press mixture onto bottom of Ungreased 9x9x2” pan.
  6. Melt 1/4 Cup butter.
  7. In mixing bowl combine this and crème de menthe.
  8. Gradually add remaining powdered sugar beating with mixer till smooth.
  9. Spread over chocolate layer.
  10. Chill in fridge 1 hour.
  11. In heavy small saucepan combine 2 TBL cup butter and chocolate chips. Cook and stir till melted.
  12. Spread over mint layer.
  13. Cover and chill 1-2 hours or till firm.
  14. Cut into small squares.
  15. Store in the refrigerator

My Favorite Cookbooks – A holiday gift giving guide

My favorite cookbooks - a gift giving guide
My favorite cookbooks – a gift giving guide

Life has been a bit odd lately with moving across the country and figuring out our new schedule. With all the changes my cooking and recipe development are a bit off, or maybe I’m just building up to the next round of creation. I have been cooking from recipes a lot lately! Totally crazy, I know! I’ve been having a lot of fun and learning a lot, but haven’t been focusing on my own recipes. I had a whole plan for recipes I wanted to get to you for the Holidays, but alas, it is not going as planned.  Instead, I’ll let you know what I have been doing, and give a few recommendations for gifts for yourself or others who love to cook!

My favorite is The Food Lab

This is an essential for everyone who loves to cook, but also loves to know why a recipe works or doesn’t work. The beauty in this book is not only the recipes, but also the vast amount of knowledge that gives you the information you need to make your favorite recipe better, or more consistent, or just reaffirms that yours is the best.

My newest and quickly becoming my favorite is Bravetart 

This is a baking lovers dream. Similar to The Food Lab it has some science on why baking works the way it does. It also adds some history about the recipes and how they became what they are today. This is for the person who is a die hard “from scratch” baker. There is even a recipe for homemade sprinkles!

Also a new one for me is A Recipe For Cooking by the same author, and another favorite is Twelve Recipes

Twelve Recipes is the book that pushed me over the edge into trying new things and various flavor combinations that I had previously avoided. These two books are a must for any cook, and will truly delight. Cal Peternell is an amazing writer and the books can be enjoyed simply for the pleasure of reading them and have the added bonus of completely mind blowing recipes broken down in an approachable manner. I often laugh out loud while reading these cookbooks.

Finally; Eat Your Drink: Culinary Cocktails 

This is for the diehard who already has every cookbook known to man, or the person in your life who is hard to buy for an enjoys the finer things in life. I honestly haven’t tried to make any of the drinks in this book but I have read it from cover to cover.

Any and all of these would make lovely gifts for the food lover in your life. If you’re really stuck and they already have these books then check out the equipment recommendations that the authors give. I’m sure there is a gadget or high quality piece of equipment there that would make a fantastic gift.