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The Kitchen Recessionista

So, here we are, in a recession. Let's eat!

Crock-Pot Monday: Shortcut “Sausage”-Corn Chowder.

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shortcut-chowder

Wait a second, I can hear you saying, index finger raised in the air to accentuate the point. Today isn’t Crock-Pot Monday. It’s not even Monday.

You’re right. And I offer only three words in response: Family is visiting.

We did in fact enjoy a Crock-Pot creation last night, and I am in fact blogging about it now, a full day after the blessed event occurred. Because after dinner (and my tai chi class) last night, we all had such a fun time touring the Alexandria waterfront and then catching up on the rest of the day’s at their hotel that by the time I came home at the ripe old time of 11 o’clock, I simply collapsed into bed.

So. Here we are. Shortcut vegetarian sausage-corn chowder!

I’ve made the regular recipe for this chowder a hundred times, and blogged about it fairly often, I know. But yesterday, time was certainly at a premium, and I had only a few minutes to throw something into the slow cooker before dashing off to work! Hence the shortcuts – which worked just perfectly, I’ve gotta say.

As usual, I added a batch of sliced breakfast soy-sausage links to the Crock-Pot along with two cans of corn (one kernel, one creamed) and a hearty dose of basil, salt, and pepper. But where I’d usually add hand-diced onion and potatoes, I went the shortcut route instead and replaced those ingredients with dried minced onion and two cans of sliced new potatoes. Then I topped the whole thing with two cups of water, as usual, and cooked the chowder for about nine hours.

Once I got home from work, I added a can of evaporated milk to the slow cooker, stirred it around, and waited for the chowder to heat through. Then LeeLee and I dug in – and we were thrilled by how the shortcut turned out!

The potatoes held up just perfectly – no mushiness at all, which I admit I was slightly nervous about. And though we missed the texture of the diced onion, the dried minced onion added a nice flavor in its place. The rest of the chowder was perfectly on par with previous renditions, so we had nothing at all to complain about there!

Will I always employ the shortcut method for my sausage-corn chowder from now on? No way. I love the process – and the end result – of dicing vegetables and taking the extra time to do it by hand. But when days are packed and time is short, this shortcut chowder fits the bill in a jiffy. I love when a kitchen experiment pans out in the end!

:)

Sunday Dessert: Pecan Pie.

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pecan-pies

First of all, I recognize that this point in the week is typically a Sunday Cookout day, not a Dessert day. But our usual Sunday cookout was preempted this week by visiting family – and, I should add, visiting family who treated LeeLee and me to dinner – so I don’t have much to report on that front. What I do have to report on is the double dose of pecan pie that has given the house a wonderful aroma and has led me to show amazing self-restraint (if I do say so) by not digging in to one of them by the fistful as they cool on the counter.

I can’t believe I haven’t brought you this pecan pie recipe before. It comes from LeeLee’s grandmother Hazel, and it’s by far one of the best dessert recipes in my arsenal. And it’s so very easy to make – a bonus when you’re short on time but have promised to deliver two pies to church tomorrow!

The detailed recipe is below, but the crux of the matter is thusly: Put butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, and then cream them together until they’re fluffy. Then add a bottle of Karo syrup, a pinch of salt, six eggs, and two cups of pecans – letting everything blend together nicely before adding the nuts – and then pour the wonderful results into two pie crusts. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so, and you’re golden!

Whenever I make this pecan pie recipe, I picture Grandma Hazel whipping up the same dessert in her kitchen. Now, I never knew Hazel – she passed away about two decades ago, long before LeeLee and I met – but through this recipe I have such a strong mental image of how she talked, moved, cooked. Though I’ve never heard her voice, I imagine it to be sturdy, authoritative, yet kind, with a North Carolina lilt to it. And her pecan pies? Well. I imagine them to be fantastic: silky smooth, teeming with flavor, just the right amount of sweet and salty.

Isn’t it funny how all it takes is a recipe to feel closer to someone you’ve never met? C’mon, we all do it, whether it’s an affinity for the Pioneer Woman or a kinship with a long-lost relative. Just reading recipes written in Hazel’s longhand makes me feel like I know her, like we would’ve been friends. Perhaps, through her pecan pie, we already are friends. Isn’t that a lovely thought?

What recipes bring out those sorts of feelings for you? Spill the beans in the comments.

Meantime, here’s the recipe!

GRANDMA HAZEL’S PECAN PIE
Makes two pies

What you’ll need:

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 bottle Karo or other dark corn syrup
1 pinch salt
6 eggs
2 cups pecan halves
2 pie shells

Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer or large bowl until fluffy. Then, with the mixer on a low speed, add in the bottle of corn syrup and a pinch of salt until combined. Next, add the eggs, one a time, ensuring each one is fully integrated into the batter as you go.

Add the pecan halves and stir gently to combine. Then pour the batter evenly into two pie shells and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (start watching the pies at 40 minutes and don’t let them go past about 50!). The pecan pie filling will usually rise pretty high and still be a little moist, but no matter. Take them out of the oven to cool and they’ll sink down and firm up in no time.

Slice into the pie and enjoy! And lift a fork to Hazel when you do.

:)

Recessionista on the Road: Vegan Picnic Wrap!

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vegan-picnic-wrap

Yesterday, I took a little road trip for work, and before I even woke up in the morning my heart was already singing with joy for one particular reason:

Road trip = Picnic!

Oh, how I do love a picnic. For special occasions (July 4, a performance in the park) or for just regular old run-of-the-mill occasions (a pretty summertime Friday night, some national park adventures close to home), it doesn’t take much for me to pack up a picnic basket and get moving. Yesterday, since I was the sole adventurer, I didn’t go all-out as I do when we’ve got guests to feed. Instead, I focused my efforts on making the best dang veggie wrap in the history of veggie wraps. And friends, I think I succeeded.

Veggie wraps are one of my go-to picnic staples, it’s true. But never have I mastered it quite like I did yesterday. I don’t say this out of arrogance, but out of wonderment. What’s usually a nice, filling main course became a culinary masterwork, a symphony of fresh flavors! And it didn’t take but a few minutes of prep time to put together. Here’s how I did it.

First, I laid out a large flour tortilla (think burrito size) atop a sheet of aluminum foil. Then I added a generous dollop of Just Mayo in a strip down the center. Next, I laid five Tofurky deli slices (I used the peppered kind this time around) atop the mayo, and then added two slices of Daiya Swiss. Then it was time for the veggies! In order, I placed a large handful of spinach leaves, half a diced peeled cucumber, seven or eight cherry tomatoes, and half a sliced avocado right on top of the Tofurky and cheese.

Then came the difficult bit: Wrapping it up! Carefully, carefully, I began wrapping both the tortilla and the foil to keep everything in place, and then picked up speed to ensure no veggies snuck out in the process. I secured the wrap with one more sheet of foil, tucked it into an insulated lunch bag, and voila! It stayed fresh and cool until lunchtime, at which point I enjoyed it from the comfort of my car (because the temperature was 38 degrees outside!) at a lovely overlook in Pennsylvania. Chips were served alongside to round out the luncheon.

Now that spring is supposedly on its way, I foresee plenty more picnics in my future! Perhaps LeeLee and I will sneak over to view the cherry blossoms in a few weeks, dinner in tow? Time will tell!

:)

Baked Penne With Vegan “Beef” Sauce.

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baked-penne-with-vegan-beef

Now, before we get down to business, a disclosure. LeeLee and I enjoyed this meal last night, but I got so caught up in the evening’s events (namely, cleaning the house in advance of family coming this weekend!) that I neglected to blog. I’m sorry about that. But here I am, albeit a day late and a pasta short. Hee.

Every quarter or so – though, honestly, it feels like more frequently than that! – I whip up a batch of baked penne, ziti, or rotini. It’s such an easy dish to put together, and it lasts in the fridge for days and days after the fact; a true budget-stretcher and time-saver! And last night, I was in need of some time savings, that’s for sure. As I mentioned above, some of our relatives are coming to visit this weekend, and who has the time to toil away in the kitchen for hours on end when I’ve got to clean it right back up afterward to make it look like upstanding, presentable people live in our home? (Pro tip: They do not, in fact. But don’t tell my mother-in-law, OK?)

Anyway, as per usual, I boiled up a pot of penne and in a lasagna pan mixed the drained pasta with a can of sliced mushrooms, a package of Lightlife Smart Ground “beef,” and a large jar of prepared sauce. (You could also make your own tomato sauce, as I do for lasagna and other occasions, but again, time and patience were both short for us last night.) Then I topped the entire pan with a generous helping of Daiya mozzarella shreds and baked the whole kit and caboodle for 20 minutes at 375. Everything’s cooked by this point; you just want to heat the sauce and “beef” through and melt the cheese on top.

After that, we feasted like royalty! We both adore this meal and were only too happy to polish off more than we should have. LeeLee even snuck back into the kitchen later in the evening for a little penne snack! A true sign of a successful dinner, that.

And, of course, we’ve got plenty of pasta left for lunches (and perhaps the occasional dinner) this week! I can’t wait.

:)

Crock-Pot Monday: Vegan Tequila Sundown Chili.

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vegan-tequila-sunset-chili

Here we are once again, enjoying another Crock-Pot Monday! But this one comes with a special kick: It’s also a March Madness Monday, wherein my beloved Florida State Seminoles women’s basketball team earned a berth to the Sweet 16!

Normally, I polish off a bowl of our Crock-Pot creation du jour, then hustle out the door to my tai chi class, leaving LeeLee with the dishes. But this morning, I dashed off a note to my instructor to inform her that I’d be spending the evening watching the Seminoles instead. As she, too, spent the weekend following her college team, she understood fully, to my relief. I ask you, how often does one have the opportunity to watch one’s basketball team advance in the NCAA tournament? (Don’t answer that, UConn.)

And so it came to pass that tonight I lingered over my bowl of piping-hot Tequila Sundown Chili, made fresh from Robin Robertson’s One-Dish Vegan cookbook, as I waited for FSU to take the court. This time it was LeeLee’s turn to dine and dash instead; he had an evening meeting to head off to. So the cat and I cheered on the home team all by ourselves, and judging by the final score, we must’ve done OK.

Now, on to the dish at hand. This chili is one unlike any other I’ve made so far in my life! First of all, it calls for pinto beans instead of kidney, which threw me for a loop initially. Secondly, it has no faux meat product of any kind, which is also an ingredient I’m accustomed to adding to my chili. And, finally, it contains tequila. Which I can absolutely get behind when the rubber meets the road!

Before work this morning, I added every ingredient except for the orange juice and lime juice to the slow cooker, flicked the switch to Low, and headed out for the day. By the time I got home, the chili was piping-hot and had thinned out just a tad, which was to be expected. (I also added a 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes instead of the 14.5-ounce version, primarily because the Safeway didn’t have any smaller cans and I like crushed tomatoes so who cares.) Then I added the orange juice and lime juice, gave the wheel a final spin (as they say on Wheel of Fortune), and waited about 10 minutes for the flavors to mingle.

As is customary on Monday nights, LeeLee and I busted out our TV trays for our meal and feasted while watching a mix of news and The Golden Girls. We both were immediately smitten by the taste and texture of this chili! We loved the light, tomato-sauce base blended with the creaminess of the pinto beans. And the tang of the tequila and juices really added a wonderful second layer of flavor that made the dish much more complex. Topped with some vegan cheese and sour cream, and served with tortilla chips on the side, it would have easily fortified me for tai chi, but it also gave me the stamina to cheer loudly for two halves of the basketball game! And, ideally, it has given LeeLee the energy to endure what’s sure to be a boring meeting (sorry, LeeLee).

So once again, Robin Robertson hit it out of the park with this one. Why am I not surprised? This cookbook (and recipe) is just amazingly good. I can’t wait for our next culinary adventure together!

:)

Sunday Cookout: Smoked Vegan Meatball Subs With Eggplant and Tater Tots.

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smoked-meatball-sub

You know, I’ve been barbecuing with our charcoal smoker for years now – ever since we brought it home from its resting place on the curb in advance of trash day many moons ago – and never once have I thought to use it for veggie meatballs! But what better food to grill on a smoker than a thick, hearty meatball, a protein that is so versatile, so downright malleable that smoking it for a couple of hours would seem to be the perfect cooking method?

Well, tonight I took matters into my own hands and whipped up a dozen or so meatballs, forming them from a tube of Lightlife Gimme Lean and basting them with pizza sauce. Then I fired up the smoker, let it heat up for half an hour or so, and placed the meatballs on the bottom grate, brushing each meatball with extra pizza sauce before putting the dome back on and leaving the smoker to its own devices.

meatballs-on-smoker

As the meatballs cooked, I prepared some marinated eggplant to augment the subs. I peeled a hefty purple eggplant and then sliced it into half-inch-thick rounds, then sliced some of the larger rounds in half lengthwise to form little half-rounds. (I wanted them to be able to fit nicely atop a steak roll, you see.) Then I put the eggplant slices in a zip-top bag, added salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, and marinated them for half an hour or so before adding them, too, to the grill.

eggplant-on-smoker

In all, the meatballs cooked for about an hour and a half; the eggplant cooked for an hour. Near the end of their cooking time, I heated up a baking sheet of tater tots in the oven and, with just a couple of minutes left before dinnertime, I toasted two steak rolls until their open faces were crispy. I also heated up a small saucepan of pizza sauce on the stovetop for extra flavor on the subs.

Next, it was time to put everything together! On our subs, we first laid down a layer of smoked eggplant, and then added three meatballs. Then we spooned some additional pizza sauce atop the meatballs and added some vegan mozzarella to the equation. Then we replaced the top of the roll, added some tater tots to the side, and dug in!

And boy, did we love the result. The meatballs absorbed the smoky flavor of the grill perfectly, in just the right amount – it wasn’t too heavy, as I’d sort of feared it might be, and it certainly wasn’t too faint – and the initial marinade of pizza sauce brought a sweet tang that tied everything together quite nicely. The eggplant soaked up the extra sauce, which melded amazingly well with the balsamic marinade. And, finally, the tater tots were the perfect side item, adding some carbs and starch to the protein-rich subs.

It comes as quite a relief to us both that we’ve got plenty of meatballs and eggplant left for tomorrow’s lunch! I’m ready for a reprisal of tonight’s dinner, that’s for sure, and I know LeeLee is too. Having enough meatballs for us both means we can keep a harmonious home – always a bonus on a Monday morning!

:)

Pantry Cleanout: Minestrone in a Jar.

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vegan-minestrone

This is turning out to be a pantry cleanout kind of week! But I certainly don’t mind. And on a night like tonight, when I once again turn to a premade meal-in-a-jar, I’m downright thankful.

Remember how I made a rendition of Five-Bean Soup last week, which was in actuality the direct result of a batch of Christmas gifts I made for family? Well, along with that recipe I also made a batch of vegan minestrone, which – if I do say so – opened to rave reviews with my relatives down South. I figured if they liked it, I would too, so I kept a jar for myself. As with the five-bean soup, I only wish I’d kept a jar or two more! Having a full meal mixed together and ready to roll at a moment’s notice is invaluable – and tasty, too.

Before the holidays rolled around, I pulled this recipe out of the archives and retrieved some unused mason jars from the cabinet. The preparation was simple: Just layer the ingredients into each jar (I prepared them assembly-line-style for efficiency’s sake), put the lid on, print out the instructions, and voila! Instant Christmas gifts that are hearty, healthy, and fun. I paired this soup with the five-bean variety, plus a few jars of preserves and jellies, in decorative baskets, and Santa was on his way!

Tonight, I added the contents of the jar to my trusty Le Creuset and then tossed in a few sliced baby carrots, some celery, half a head of chopped cabbage (left over from St. Patrick’s Day!), and a can of diced tomatoes, plus a quart and a half of water. I brought everything to a boil, then covered the French oven and let it simmer for an hour or so. A few minutes before we sat down to eat, I warmed up some garlic bread to go alongside the meal, and before we knew it, dinner was ready!

And boy, did we love the results. This minestrone is certainly heartier than some of the others you’ll find out and about; I have another recipe that is much heavier on the broth and tomatoes and lighter on the filling, that’s for sure. But we loved all the flavors and textures of this soup and found it difficult to compare the different styles of minestrone on a level playing field. The barley, split peas, pasta, and more all added up to a wonderful, flavorful, comforting soup that stretches forever!

Despite our best efforts to the contrary, we’ve got plenty of minestrone left for lunch tomorrow (and Saturday). It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

:)