pie

my mom was in town for her birthday so i baked her a pie. she wanted multi-berry pie, and frozen berries were on sale at the supermarket, so i used raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. i also bought cherries but didn't use them, so i guess i've got another pie to cook.

i got my friend's mother-in-law's lard and butter-free pie crust recipe awhile back and i haven't used anything since. (of course, she uses white flour and vegetable oil and i use whole wheat and olive.) the key, i think, is to roll out the dough between wax or parchment paper, otherwise the dough gets too dry.

here it is:

1 3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour (plus more if needed)

1 scant teaspoon sea salt

1/2 c olive oil

3 T ice water

mix, form into a ball, break in half, roll out 1/2 between wax paper, take off top sheet of paper, put pie plate over, and flip it, make sure it's all in, and then remove the other piece of wax paper and trim the edges. roll out the other half of dough so it's ready when you need it.

in the same bowl (so you do less dishes) combine 2/3 c each of:

raspberries

blueberries

blackberries

strawberries

i use frozen berries, and i don't thaw them out.

mix with 2 T cornstarch and 5 T sugar. (the berries kind of have a powdery coating.)

pour mixture into the pie plate. take one sheet of the wax paper off, and really quickly and as smoothly as possible invert it on top of the pie. press into the edges before removing wax paper, then trim and press the edges in.

bake in a 350 oven for about 40 minutes or until edges start to brown and the pie's definitely done its bubbling thing.

oh, and the pictures are of the half blueberry half strawberry pie i made. these pictures are sad because the fruit flies got to that pie before i was finished eating it!

i'm going to make a cherry pie soon.

beet risotto

i found this picture. it's pretty. from madison' book - how to cook everything vegetarian. i remember being very proud of myself for remembering every ingredient at the grocery store. yum.

pasta isn't soup? but it was served in a bowl...

the last time i was at my parents house i only got into one fight with my mom. she was trying to do something for me that i would rather do for myself - i can't even remember what. anyway, i was annoyed, and proclaimed, "I know what I want, and I take care of myself." I keep rethinking this sentence - it's so true.

yesterday I made some pasta. i used to make pasta sauce by browning tofurkey vegan bratwurst with fennel seed (and onion and peppers and whatever else), and then adding a can of tomato paste or sauce (and other spices)... but i didn't want to use anything canned (although i did buy some italian-style sausages - i did *not* feel like making sausage from scratch). i ended up just walking around the produce section picking out cheap things i like. i got some cherry tomatoes (on sale - i love august), a red onion, parsley, and 2 peppers - one green and one red (50 cents each) - and then got some black olives. last night i chopped things fairly uniformly and cooked them together(ish) and it was good... but i kept thinking to myself, "hmmm... i like this vegetable cooked this other way..."

so today i did it that way.

i roasted a whole red pepper and half a green pepper in the oven, peeled them and chopped them up. (i think i will only eat peppers that are roasted from now on.)

i cut the cherry tomatoes in half and roasted them in the same oven with the peppers. (like for the tortilla soup recipe! which were delicious.)

i caramelized half a red onion in some earth balance and olive oil, then added some whole garlic to soften it a bit before chopping it up.

i cut some pitted kalamata olives in half.

and i cut the sausage in quarters and browned it on each of three sides in my cast iron grill pan leaving pretty grill marks (and drying out the edges the way i like).

i cooked some fennel and herbes de provence and basil and cayenne in the oil after the onion was done cooking, and drizzled the pasta with hot-pepper-infused olive oil before mixing everything together.

i bought some expensive parmesan yesterday, but realized yesterday that i don't like combining tofu or seitan with cheese - there's something about it i can't get behind. so i left it out today.

and it was everything i liked, cooked how i liked it, and it was delicious.

oh, there was parsley too. and i sprinkled it with pepper. i don't think i've forgotten anything...

brocolli cheddar soup

cheddar has always been my favorite cheese. so, when i was visiting my sister and her husband in san francisco, and we stopped at costco, and they sent me to make a cheese decision, i chose the 3 yr old cheddar. which was a really really good choice. and ever since then, i've been buying cheddar, in small quantities, pretty much every time i go to the grocery store.

i probably didn't need to buy cheddar for this soup today, since i have some in my fridge already. in fact, i had 2 kinds of cheddar in my fridge - a boring kind i bought at the good-produce-no-fancy-cheese grocery store, and then some fancier stuff i bought at trader joe's. but today i also bought an $8 small brick of 2 yr old cheddar - not as good as the costco one, and not as cheap.

my philosophy on cheese in soup is that you need the one with the best flavor - when cheese is an ingredient in a larger dish, you want to have the most flavorful so that you can use less of it. and heidi only uses 2/3 cup, so i wanted to make sure it was really, really delicious.

(tortilla) soup

So, I really thought I had corn tortillas in the fridge, but probably should've checked before i left. i probably would've forgotten to buy them anyway since i forgot my grocery list.

anyway, i made tortilla soup sans tortilla. there's a story about tortilla soup. one of my favorite lunches to buy near my office is what qdoba calls "mexican gumbo" - basically a naked burrito (rice and beans in a bowl with) doused in their tortilla soup. their tortilla soup is the saltiest soup i've ever tasted. also, it tastes more canned than i'd like to admit. so. in the words of grandma sylvia "i could make better at home".

i've been intrigued by heidi's tortilla soup since i first saw it not too long ago. i followed the recipe with these basic changes:

1. i added two jalapeno peppers, chopped, with the garlic and onions. i like spice, and i love it to come from the produce and not the spice cabinet.

2. the canned tomatoes i used were the fire-roasted kind, and 1/2 of the sun-dried tomatoes i used were smoked. i thought this would add a depth of flavor, and i was right. sometimes as a vegetarian "smoked" flavored things turn me off. but this is delicious.

3. i added 2 cups of cooked brown rice and one can of black beans, to replicate the "gumbo" idea i love so much, after i blended the soup. excellent complimentary protein!

4. i didn't eat it with tortillas. it now occurs to me that i actually *do* have masa, so i could make tortillas, but standing over a hot cast iron griddle just doesn't appeal to me right now.

and, because today's the big cooking day, i have to go cook another pot of soup now!

pancakes or eggs?

i hate breakfast. i hate oatmeal. i hate cereal. i hate granola. actually, most of these things are ok, just not in the morning. i don't like anything in the morning. except espresso and soy milk.

tofu is actually something i've found i can handle in the morning. i can handle it always. tofu is one of my favorite foods because my stomach loves it. in the past, i've munched on baked tofu for breakfast - delicious, but somehow it felt wrong. not a breakfast food.

so mark bittman's recipe for tofu pancakes got me real excited. the first time i made them was a few weeks ago at my parents house. they were ok. not delicious, but ok. at the time, i kept thinking about isa/terry's recipe for revolutionary spanish omelet - my favorite of their recipes. it's basically an amazing saffrony egg-free omelet. it's delicious. and because it's mostly tofu, my stomach loves it. anyway, i combined the best of both, and made saffron tofu pancakes this morning.

1.5 lbs silken tofu (the kind that i normally thing is gross, but i keep a couple of the non-perishable packs around in case i make spanish omelet.)

1/2 c unsweetened soy milk

1/4 t saffron, crushed

big dash of cayenne pepper (mine was more like a teaspoon, which was an accident and also delicious)

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour

olive oil

heat the soy milk and add the saffron, letting it rest for awhile. i love saffron. i let it rest for at least a half hour. blend everything except the olive oil in a blender or food processor. i used a hand blender. it's just easier that way. i added the flour last and stirred it in by hand.

heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat, and coat with a thin layer of olive oil. cook the pancakes for about for minutes on each side.

on a related note, i've finally discovered the secret of pancakes. it's patience. which i do not agree is a virtue. but, you've got to have it once in awhile.

i made home fries as well, first, in the same pan. the pan was a little hotter than it should've been for both, so i've finally realized that "medium" is actually a 3 on my little stove, not a four, as i'd previously thought. i was burning oil. it was not good. also, i used more oil than usual because the saffron omelet uses a ton of oil and is super delicious. i didn't flavor the tofu batter with olive oil, as isa/terry do, but i might the next time. and i'm pretty sure there'll be a next time.

pictures are coming.

ok, kristin, i'll keep up my stupid blog.

this blog only has one reader. but she's a hell of a devoted fan. so. safe travels. i'll do better this time, i promise.