have i shared this yet? my new favorite food/recipe blog:

http://www.101cookbooks.com

the recipes are mostly if not entirely veggie, and the site layout is just so aesthetically pleasing, with stunningly beautiful photography. if the food wasn’t so darn healthy i’d call it full-blown foodPorn. but i think to really qualify as foodPorn the recipes need to feature unrestrained quantities of things like cream, bacon, cheese, butter, refined sugar and white flour. right? okay, i’m still working on this theory.

anyway, blessed with a embarrassment of zucchini from my CSA, i turned to 101 cookbooks for help and in the past two days have made zucchini bread laced with candied ginger and curry powder and quinoa and roasted zucchini salad with goat cheese and pine nuts. both were awesome. i am a new convert to the cause that is quinoa. who knew you could make it in the rice cooker in under 15 minutes? and it’s so full of protein (for a grain, that is) and amino acids that it qualifies as a superFood. if i could figure out how to make something snazzy with quinoa and broccoli, i’d be unstoppable.

so i’ve been on a quest this summer to assemble the perfect fruit crisp recipe (it’s rough for my friends and family, i know, having to eat all these summer desserts). after H provided me with links to a number of good recipes this past week i had an opportunity to try my next iteration of the Perfect Summer Fruit Crisp recipe out at the Keenans’ bbq this past weekend. after tinkering with this, this and this, here’s what i assembled:

peach blackberry crisp

topping:
3/4 c brown sugar
2/3 c unbleached flour
1/2 c polenta
1/2 c quick-cooking oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh-ground nutmeg
8 Tbs salted butter
1/2 c chopped walnuts

filling:
6 small peaches
1 pint black berries
1/2 pint blue berries (optional – i just filled out w/ blueberries because blackberries were so expensive)
juice of two small lemons
1/3 c sugar
1 tbs corn starch

to serve:
vanilla ice cream

to prepare:

preheat oven to 350.

whisk together lemon juice, cornstarch and sugar together till mixture is smooth.
peel and slice peaches, wash berries.
toss together with lemon juice mixture.

roast walnuts on a hot frying pan for 3-4 minutes, till they smell warm.
mix dry ingredients for topping together except walnuts.
with a pastry cutter or food processor, cut in butter into small crumbles.
add walnuts to mixture.

place fruit in a ceramic baking dish, top with the crumble topping.
bake 30 min, till top is browned and fruit seems soft (especially if you’re using under-ripe peaches like i was).

serve warm (let cool 10-15 minutes) with ice cream.

post-mortem:

this is getting closer to the perfect crisp recipe that i have in my head. some adjustments & notes for next time:

-more cornstarch – the fruit released too much juice
-less sugar in the fruit mix – ripe summer fruit didn’t need much
-the extra lemon was great
-higher brown sugar:flour ration in the topping. check what the ratio was in the coffee cake my mom used to make when i was a kid – that was perfect, whatever it was.
-try it maybe w/out the oats? nice flavor but too many texture things going on with the polenta as well
-polenta lent an interesting crunch/texture. not everyone was a fan, (once i said the word polenta people reacted in a less positive fashion than they did when the didn’t know what they were eating) but no one was dead set against it, and i did like how it stayed crunchy.

success!

our previous attemps to make vegetarian chili have ended in tomato-bean-soup pots of disappointment, but tonight we found success at last with the classic red chili recipe in our new favorite cookbook: Passionate Vegetarian, by (i’m not making this up) Crescent Dragonwagon. it has about 1000 receipes, all veggie and most with vegan options.

even our meat-eating friends, who expressed great anxiety about the use of ground tofu in place of beef concluded that it was excellent. beany, but with good fake meat texture, nice and thick, and most importantly, spiced correctly. this first round required a $25 investment in new spices, but in the future it can be made for the cost of a couple of cans of beans and tomatoes and a few fresh veggies. topped with cheese, onions, cilatro, and sour cream and served with cornbread, it was an excellent way to hide indoors from the record-breaking cold (eight below! my car wouldn’t start this morning!)

The Best Veggie Chili

(adapted from Neo-Classic Red Chili in The Passionate Vegetarian, by Crescent Dragonwagon)

3 cans beans (I like to get a variety, like 1 each of black, pinto and kidney)
1 16-oz can chopped tomatoes in juice (i think i used a larger-than-16 oz can last time, and it was nice and tomato-y, but had to cook down longer)
1/4 cup tomato paste
2-3 quarts veggie stock
2 large onions, chopped
2-3 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 ancho chili
1 jalapeno chili
1 10-oz package fake ground meat (I usually get Smart Ground)

1-4 TBS olive oil
cooking spray
fresh ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 TBS cumin seeds
1 TBS hot chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
cayenne pepper to taste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tablespoons Pickapeppa sauce (it’s sort of like spicy A-1)
1.5 tsp soy sauce
salt to taste

Toppers:
Grated cheddar and jack cheese
Diced green onion
Sour cream
Chopped cilantro
Tabasco sauce
Corn chips or cornbread

Directions:
Measure out and combine the following spices: cumin seeds, chili powder, ground cumin, coriander, paprika, oregano, and cayenne.

Place beans, bay leaves, ancho, jalapeno, and lots of black pepper into a large stew pot. Add enough veggie stock to cover the beans by 1.5 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for a few minutes.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add onions and saute 3-4 minutes. Stir in bell peppers and saute another 2 minutes. Add the spice mixture you made earlier, cook for 2 more minutes, stirring to coat evenly. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Remove from heat and scrape into the simmering beans. Deglaze the pan with a bit of the cooking liquid and scrape it back into the stewpot.

Add the tomatos, tomato paste, pickapeppa, soy sauce, and salt (it will need quite a bit). Simmer at least 30 minutes.

Just before serving pick out the bay leaves. Mash a few ladles-full of beans against the side of the pot to help thicken.