Pupusas!

I recently made pupusas from a Vegetarian Times recipe. They were so delicious and easy to make!

I first discovered pupusas when I lived in Los Angeles and visited the Eagle Rock Farmers Market. At the Farmers Market, a vendor made perfectly fried pupasas with various fillings to order. Pupusas have the same base as tamales and fresh torillas, masa harina, and I would love to make those sometime too.

Dough ready to be filled. 

 

 

Frying the pupusas.

Top the fried pupusa with curtido!

I veered slightly from the recipe and filled all of the pupusas with both beans and cheese. Pupusas are best served hot, so you may want to freeze some of the filled dough and fry them up later.

Pupusas with Curtido

Serves 8

 

Curtido

• 4 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 medium carrot, coarsely grated
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
• 1/2 jalapeño chile, finely diced, optional
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. dried oregano

Pupusas

• 4 cups masa harina, such as Maseca
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup vegetarian refried black beans
• 1/2 cup crumbled Cotija cheese
• 8 tsp. vegetable oil

1. To make Curtido: Pour 4 cups boiling water over cabbage, carrot, onion, and jalapeño in bowl. Steep 5 minutes; drain.

2. Bring vinegar, 1/2 cup water, salt, sugar, and oregano to a boil in saucepan. Pour over cabbage mixture. Cover, and cool.

3. To make Pupusas: Combine masa harina, cumin, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Stir in 3 cups warm water, adding more, if needed, to form soft dough. Cover, and let stand 30 minutes.

4. Line baking sheet with wax paper. Roll dough into 16 balls. Make indentation in centers; fill 8 balls with 1 Tbs. refried beans; fill remaining 8 balls with 1 Tbs. cheese. Fold edges over fillings, and roll into balls once more. Press into 4-inch disks. Place on prepared baking sheet.

5. Heat 2 tsp. oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 Pupusas at a time to skillet; cook 5 to 6 minutes, turning once. Serve with Curtido.

 

Noodle Salad with Napa Cabbage

I found a great napa cabbage salad recipe from Vegetarian Times when I was looking for a creative way to use the napa cabbage I received in my CSA box. I love this salad because it has a peanut dressing (and I love anything that involves peanut butter). I like that the water for cooking the noodles serves two purposes in this recipe--to cook the noodles and steam the cabbage. The recipe could use a little more pepper, so you might want to add a little more red pepper flakes or chili sauce. A word of caution: this salad is best eaten within a day because the cabbage releases water over time and will water down the dressing.

Rice noodles and cabbage. (Sorry, a little out of focus)

Sesame Noodles with Napa Cabbage

Vegetarian Times Issue: February 1, 2007 

Ingredients 

Serves 4

• 3 Tbs. reduced-fat peanut butter
• 2 Tbs. roasted sesame oil
• 2 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tbs. sherry or mirin     (rice wine)
• 1 Tbs. rice vinegar
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes or 1/2 tsp. chile sauce
• 10 oz. long noodles, such as udon or spaghetti
• 1/2 lb. napa cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Whisk together peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, sherry, vinegar, sugar and red pepper flakes in saucepan.
2. Cook noodles according to package directions.
3. Meanwhile, place cabbage in colander over sink. Warm sauce over medium-low heat.
4. Drain noodles over cabbage in colander to wilt cabbage. Transfer noodles and cabbage to serving bowl, add sauce, and toss until combined.
5. Sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.

 

Seasonal Pasta Salad

 

Here is a long overdue update on some delicious and fresh pasta salads I made a while back.

The first (pictured above) was made with fennel, apple, a little bit of mayonnaise, and salt and pepper. For the second (below) I cooked green garlic, fava beans, and cremini mushrooms with sake and olive oil, and then I tossed the ingredient with some leftover dressing (nutritional yeast, garlic, truffle oil, ground ginger). I used whole wheat macaroni for both salads.

Bread pudding!

Since December I've been making sourdough bread from my own sourdough culture. I used the guidelines in D.I.Y. Delicious to create the sourdough "starter" (basically flour and water), and followed the recipe for half whole wheat sourdough bread to use my culture to create delicious bread! I've also used my sourdough culture to make sourdough pancakes (recipe also in D.I.Y. Delicious).

I made a savory bread pudding from one of my last loaves. I based the recipe off of a savory bread pudding recipe from Bon Appetit magazine I made last Thanksgiving. The recipe was inspired by a craving for the corn chowder that was served in sourdough bread bowls at my college.

Savory Bread Pudding
A small baguette or loaf of fresh bread (about 4 cups once torn)
3 eggs
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1 cup heavy cream
A heaping handful of spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sake or white wine
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
3 Tablespoons chopped red onion
1 cup grated cheese (Gruyere and Cheddar work well)

Tear the bread into bite-size pieces. Use a whisk to beat the eggs in a bowl. Whisk in the heavy cream, sake or wine, mustard, and salt. Add the bread pieces to the egg mixture, and let the bread soak for 30 minutes. Butter a 9 inch pie dish (or other medium-sized dish suitable for baking.) Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the corn and onion in a bowl. Use a slotted spoon to transfer a third of the bread pieces to the baking dish.  Cover the bread with all of the spinach and half of the cheese. Add half of the corn and onion mixture. Add another layer of bread, followed by the corn and onions, then sprinkle more cheese on top. Add the remaining bread to the dish. Pour the egg mixture over the dish, and sprinkle on the remaining cheese. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the top has browned.

Assembled and ready for the oven!

Curry Hot Pocket

I love to cook and thus I love reading cookbooks. I recently got a new cookbook, Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book. I'm not allergic to gluten, but the cookbook looked really good and another shopper recommended the cookbook, especially for the frosting recipes.The recipes are from Flying Apron Bakery of Seattle.

In addition to cookie, pie, and other sweet recipes, the cookbook also includes a savory foods section. I made the Indian Curry Apron Pockets and they were excellent! I love curry and bread, so why not combine the two into a meal you can hold in your hand!

First, make the gluten-free dough. Flying Apron's recipes often replace wheat flour with brown rice flour and garbanzo bean flour. Xanthan gum is often also called for because it makes the dough more viscous. The different flours and the xanthan gum are all made by Bob's Red Mill and can generally be found in health food stores.

Once the dough has been kneaded, begin making the curry filling.

Once all the curry ingredient are in the pan, divide the dough into about eight or ten pieces. Roll out the pieces into individual circles. Fill half of each circle, then fold the other half of the dough over the filling and crimp the edges closed with your fingers (like making perogi!). Try not to put too much filling on each dough circle, you don't want too much of it to spill out during baking.

The recipes from Jennifer Katzinger's cookbook are below:

Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are wonderful vegan cookies. Occasionally, if I offer a vegan baked good to someone who is not vegan I avoid mentioning that the item is vegan. Many people have preconceived notions about vegan food, and I would rather people focus on taste rather than how a food is different.

This recipe comes from Vegetarian Times magazine, which has a very useful website. I like to use the recipe search feature to find recipes to use up a particular ingredient, such as almond milk.

The recipe suggests either chopped bittersweet chocolate bars or chocolate chips. I used chocolate chips, but 1 cup of chocolate chips is plenty (the recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of chips).

The recipe requires a food processor or similar electric chopper for creating ground walnuts the consistency of peanut butter. I've found that my small food processor is one of the most useful appliances I have in my kitchen.

My cookies were more lumpy than those pictured on Vegetarian Times, but still delicious.

Walnut butter

  The Heart-Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 30 cookies

• 3 Tbs. canola oil
• 2 cups walnuts
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1½ cups oat flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3 3.5-oz. bars bittersweet vegan chocolate, chopped, or 1½ (1 cup is plenty) cups vegan chocolate chips (12 oz.)
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper.
  2. Blend walnuts in food processor 30 seconds, or until ground into a fine meal. Add canola oil, and blend 2 to 3 minutes more, or until mixture has the consistency of natural peanut butter, scraping down sides of food processor occasionally. Transfer to bowl.
  3. Whisk together brown sugar and ½ cup water in small saucepan, and bring mixture to a boil. Pour brown sugar mixture over ground walnut butter, add vanilla extract, and stir until no lumps remain.
  4. Whisk together oat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in separate bowl. Stir oat flour mixture into walnut mixture. Cool 10 minutes. Fold in oats, then chocolate chips.
  5. Shape cookie dough into 2-inch balls, and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Flatten cookies with bottom of drinking glass dipped in water. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until cookies begin to brown and tops look dry. Cool 3 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
  

Perogi Party!

One thing I love to do is cook with friends. A couple of weeks ago I got together with two of my pals and we made my friend erock's family perogi recipe. Perogi (also spelled pierogi) are Central and Eastern European dumplings. They may be filled with sauerkraut, meat, fruit, or in erocks family's case, potatoes.You can actually buy peroigi in the refrigerated section of many grocery stores, though I have yet to try them.

Perogi are great to make with friends (or family) because they can be quite laborious, especially if you want to make a lot to share with friends.

First boil potatoes.

While you are boiling the potatoes, finely chop lots of white onion.

Then prepare the dumpling dough.

Then prepare the filling: onions, cheese, and potatoes.

Roll out the dough so that it is very thin. Cut circles (we used the open end of a glass). Spoon filling onto a dough circle, fold the dough over and crimp the edges with your fingers. 

In small batches, boil the perogi until they come to the surface. Some may split open, but that's ok. 

Drain the boiled perogi.

If you won't be frying them until later, let them continue to cool on lightly floured wax paper and then refrigerate.

erock's family recipe for perogi:

Dumpling:
8 cups all purpose flour
1 egg yolk
2 Tablespoons oil
Enough warm water to blend
Pinch of salt

In a large bowl, add the yolk and oil to the flour. Mix together and add a little bit of warm water until the dough comes together. Knead the dough into a ball, and cover the bowl with a towel until ready. Let the dough rest while you make the filling. 

Filling:
1 large onion
2 large potatoes (we used Russet)
8 oz cream cheese
Salt and pepper

Peel, boil, and mash the potatoes. Finely chop the onion. Fry the onion in butter. In a large bowl, combine the onions, mashed potatoes and cream cheese. Add lots of salt and pepper. (In erock's experience, the filling should taste overly peppered and salted so that the cooked dumplings have enough flavor. Also, cream cheese is used because the Polish cheese erock would use is unavailable in the U.S. and cream cheese comes close to its consistency and flavor.)

Roll out the dough on a floured work surface. It should be very thin so that the cooked perogi don't taste too doughy. Use the open end of a glass or a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into small circles. Spoon a small amount of filling onto half of a dough circle. (About two tablespoons.) You don't want too much or else you won't be able to keep the filling within the dough. Fold the side of the dough untouched by filling toward the side with filling. Bring the dough edges together. Crimp the edges with your fingers to keep the filling contained within the dough.

Simmer the perogi, about five at a time, in boiling water until they float to the top. Use a slotted spoon to remove the perogi from the water and transfer them to a cooling rack placed inside of a cookie sheet so they can drip dry. Fry in butter in small batches. Eat hot!

Make your own granola!

Why buy granola when you can make your own? I made my own granola using a recipe from the Whole Foods website and mobile app, but one can modify it by adding different rolled grains, spices, sweeteners, nuts, and dried fruit.

 

Be careful, stir the granola often while it is baking; it can burn easily. Wait to add any dried fruit until after you have removed the granola from the oven. I enjoy my homemade granola with plain yogurt. 

A new cookbook of mine, D.I.Y. Delicious, also features a granola template with information on how one can include various ingredients. 

The recipe from Whole Foods I used is below.

Serves 6 to 8

All manner of dried fruits are delicious in this recipe. Try adding a handful of sliced dried apricots, dried cranberries or raisins to this filling morning mix. It's equally good eaten out-of-hand as a snack.

Ingredients

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3 tablespoons oat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup slivered, blanched almonds
1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey
1/3 cup sunflower oil or canola oil
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Method

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Toss together oats, flour and almonds in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together maple syrup or honey, oil, almond extract, nutmeg and salt. Add to the oat mixture, stirring well to coat.

Spread mixture on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake, stirring occasionally to break up lumps, until deep golden brown, fragrant and just dry to the touch, 30 to 40 minutes. Allow granola to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 3oz/84g-wt.): 370 calories (160 from fat), 18g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 45mg sodium, 43g total carbohydrate (5g dietary fiber, 15g sugar), 9g protein