Winter Vegetable Stew Baked in a Clay Pot, Savory p. 134
French bread
Pecan-Coffee Tart, Savory p. 368
Ben: The inaugural dish using the Romertopf (Roman Clay Pot) that I got for my birthday turned out superbly: the veggies had a nice roasted flavor and the gravy prepared from the veggie liquid was superb.
Ben: This was a very tasty recipe -- no cheese, just carmelized onions, niçoise olives and capers (substituting for anchovies) along with some spices, of which fennel was the most prominent in the result. And, as it turns out, this was the swan song for our old Tappan range, which had a carbon monoxide problem that we hadn't noticed until getting insulation blown into the outside walls. Our new range (and microwave and refrigerator) are on order, but in the meantime we can use only the stove.
Monday:
Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe, The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen p. 112
Tuesday:
Egyptian-Style Lentil Soup, The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen p. 53
French Bread
Wednesday:
Leftovers!
Thursday:
Indian night!
Friday:
Indian Vegetable Burgers, The Vegetarian Table: India p. 118
Ben: This recipe took awhile to prepare, but was worth the effort. As promised, and despite various estimated amounts, omissions and substitutions, it made 24 burgers on the button, of which only 5 were consumed tonight. The rest are in the freezer to provision future dinners (possibly future burger nights), but these we prepared with the suggested Indian accompaniments: gingered tomato sauce and wilted greens. The result was spicy, but -- unlike most of my forays into Indian cooking -- not too hot.
Ben: I realized that we'd made a version of the mescu-iuà from one of Deborah Madison's cookbooks in the last few months, but this variation was more satisfying I think. It had a very earthy, elemental flavor and seemed like a very sustaining meal.
Monday:
Once-Baked Goat Cheese Soufflé, Suppers p. 133
Wine-Braised Lentils with Spinach, Suppers p. 195
Ben: The soufflé turned out very well -- light and flavorful -- and matched well with the rich lentils.
Tuesday:
Ben: We ate something, I'm sure of that, but didn't write it down, so of course by now I've forgotten.
Wednesday:
Four Cheese Risotto, Silver Spoon p. 337
Ben: Perhaps treating this recipe as a "stone soup" (or stone risotto) to use up the odds and ends of cheese and the last bits of various bags of rice (mostly not arborio) wasn't such a grand plan: the results were disappointing, though I think it had more to do with the quality of ingredients than with the recipe itself.
Thursday: Event - Thanksgiving with Anne and Bruno
Our Contributions
Three Sisters Casserole, Vegetarian Times Nov/Dec 2006 p. 61
Celery Root and Apple Salad w/Mustard Vinaigrette, Deborah's Everyone, p. 156
Apple-Port-Cheese Pie, Broccoli p. 246
Friday:
Red Sweet Potato Curry with Tofu, Bok Choy & Carmelized Shallots, Suppers p. 104
Brussels Sprouts with Almonds, Silver Spoon p. 448
Ben: The gratin was rich and flavorful, though it was more like comfort food than culinary adventure. The brussels sprouts dish was a lot of work for something that in the end didn't really come together: it tasted fine, but I don't know that I'd go to the trouble again.
Sunday: Event - Bettye LaVette at the Dakota
Garbanzo Bean and Spinach Soup, Silver Spoon p. 230
French Bread
Ben: This was an easy, tasty soup -- even got an unprompted compliment from Nathan! And Betty LaVette totally rocked.
Monday:
Eggs over Smoky Potatoes, Suppers p. 122
Salad
Ben: This one had promise, but I'd want to experiment with some alternative techniques when making this again. We tried prepping the potatoes on the stove top, then adding the eggs on top and baking, which worked OK, but I thought the eggs came out a bit dry (while looking undercooked, a strange combo). Next time, I'd try the stove top method for the egg step as well.
Tuesday:
Pasta and Chickpeas with plenty of parsley and garlic, Suppers p. 67
Broccoli
Wednesday:
Green Rice with Chiles and Leeks and Avocado slices, Suppers p. 152
Ben: Very tasty -- just the right amount of zing from the anaheim chiles.
Thursday:
Mashed Potatoes and Turnips with Onions and Greens, Suppers p. 141
Friday:
Tofu and Edamame in Lemongrass Broth, Suppers p. 102
Ben: Very flavorful sauce, though perhaps more veggies and less tofu next time.
Saturday: Event - Overnight in Madison to visit Emily
Dinner at the Vientiane Restaurant (Thai)
Ben: Nice, but not exceptional, though the loop of Thai pop music videos projected on the back wall was a nice touch.
Sunday:
Minestrone Soup (inspired by the Marcella Hazan recipe in Classic Italian Cookbook)
French Bread
Carrie: Fabuloso! I had leftovers of this soup just about every day this week and didn't get tired of it.
Monday:
Burritos
Corn
Tuesday: Event - Ben in Boston
Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce
Green Beans
Wednesday: Event - Ben stuck in Detroit!
Frozen pizza
Edamame
Carrie: Since it was just me this night :( I decided to finally make the small frozen pizza that had been in the freezer for half a year. I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up one of my favorites to accompany it: edamame! Yum! Also, this meal christened our new toaster oven. A Krups model that has fantastically fast and hot heating elements. We said goodbye to the old Russell Hobbs brand, but I'm quite inclined to call the new one Russell as well.
Thursday:
Jalepeno and cheese tamales
Spinach
Ben: This was a store-bought meal, so the only cooking excitement was the inauguration of our new pressure cooker, which we used to cook the frozen spinach: not a bold culinary adventure, but actually a task that we'd never used our old cooker for. With our microwave barely functional, this may be the best way to quickly thaw and cook frozen veggies.
Friday:
Stir-fry Noodles with Seitan, Ginger, and Scallions, Sass p. 168
Ben: Used soba noodles instead of the udon called for in the recipe, and also added snow peas and sprouts. Very tasty.
