Rosemary Buttermilk Biscuits

Today I realized that somehow, despite snow and freezing temperatures over the last few months, my rosemary plant from last summer is not only still alive, but thriving. I was already planning on making soup for dinner tonight, so I started searching through my cookbooks for a simple biscuit recipe that would use up some of the rosemary. These biscuits were fantastic, and I have a feeling I will be making them often in the future.

Ingredients:

2 ½ T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t ground black pepper
1-2 T diced fresh rosemary (use half as much if dried)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
½ t salt
½ t baking soda
2 T cold butter
¾ cup buttermilk*

*If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can substitute milk and vinegar at the ratio of 1 cup milk to 1 tablespoon white vinegar. For this recipe, I combined ¾ cup milk with ¾ teaspoon of white vinegar.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add garlic, pepper, and rosemary and sauté for a few minutes, stirring often and being careful not to burn the garlic. Remove from heat.

I wish I could somehow post the smell of this fragrant home-grown rosemary.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Stir with a fork until mixed well so that you do not end up with chunks of nasty baking soda surprise in your baked goods (something my grandma was known for, unfortunately). Cut in cold butter using a pastry cutter or a fork. This is easier if you cut the butter into small cubes first. Add oil and spices from pan and mix well, again using pastry cutter or a fork.

Add buttermilk and mix well until dough forms a ball. Move dough to a lightly floured surface and slice into 8 equal pieces with a sharp knife. Form each piece into a rough ball and arrange on a non-stick baking sheet. Brush tops with olive oil.

Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until brown on top. These biscuits go well with my Herbed Carrot Soup.

References:
The Moosewood Collective. “Biscuits à la Focaccia.” Moosewood Restaurant New Classics. New York: Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2001. 392. Print.

Herbed Carrot Soup

This recipe originally came from The Moosewood Cookbook, a cookbook that was my introduction to vegetarian cooking. My older siblings brought home this cookbook when I was in elementary school, and we all immediately fell in love with these flavorful recipes from the Moosewood Restaurant, a vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca, New York. Since then, Moosewood has released several more cookbooks and the entire collection remains a family favorite.

This particular recipe has been altered slightly from the original and is something I make at least once a month. It is a very simple recipe to make, especially since I recently bought an awesome new Ninja blender that can puree this entire recipe at once.

Ingredients:

6 cups vegetable broth
2 lbs carrots
1 T butter or oil
1 cup diced onion
1 ½ t salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ t thyme
½ t marjoram
1 t basil
1 T lemon juice
1 ½ cups coconut milk

Bring vegetable broth and carrots to a boil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Simmer for 20-30 minutes to soften carrots. When carrots are close to being done, heat oil in a frying pan and sauté onions for 5 minutes. Add garlic and herbs and cook for a few more minutes. Stir in lemon juice and remove from heat.

Combine carrots and herb-onion mixture in a blender or food processor with some broth and blend until smooth, working in small batches as your blender allows. Repeat until all ingredients have been blended. I find it is easiest to use a slotted spoon to make sure all carrots have been removed to the blender.

Return blended mixture to pan. Add coconut milk and continue to heat on low for a few minutes, stirring often to avoid burning. This recipe makes at least six servings and goes well with my rosemary buttermilk biscuits.

References:
Katzen, Mollie. “Herbed Carrot Soup.” The New Moosewood Cookbook. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press, 2000. 23. Print.

Pumpkin Soup

Two things take over my taste buds this time of year - the desire for a warm, comforting bowl of soup, and the desire for PUMPKIN-FLAVORED EVERYTHING. Today I combined those two desires in this delicious pumpkin soup. This recipe is non-dairy, but real milk or half-and-half could easily be substituted for the coconut milk that I used. I do, however, think the coconut milk added a flavor that would be missed if you used cow's milk.

Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 15-oz can pumpkin
1 can (1 3/4 cups) coconut milk
1 t cinnamon
1 t ginger
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 bay leaf

2 cups water
Fresh sage for garnish

Combine broth, carrots, pumpkin, coconut milk, carrots and spices (except sage) in large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour, stirring often to prevent burning. If you are using regular milk, save it and wait until close to the end of cooking to add it.

After an hour has passed, remove the bay leaf and discard. DO NOT FORGET TO REMOVE THE BAY LEAF. You do not want it blended in with your soup. Strain carrots from soup and add carrots to blender with 2 cups of water. Blend until smooth. Add carrot mixture back to the rest of the soup. If you are using regular milk, this is a good time to add the milk. Heat until just bubbling, then remove from heat. 

Serve garnished with diced fresh sage and with fresh, crusty bread on the side. I found beer bread went perfectly with this recipe. I only wish I had some pumpkin beer for making the beer bread, but alas, we drank it all recently during a particularly bad Browns game.

References:
http://www.againstallgrain.com/2011/11/01/paleo-and-scd-pumpkin-soup/

Dairy-Free Berry Gelato

This recipe has been a favorite of mine the last few weeks. I always crave ice cream when I don't feel well (I'm sure some of you can relate), but since we think dairy might be causing my migraines, ice cream is an unfortunate no-no. I started munching on frozen berries as an alternative, and eventually this recipe was born.

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen berries (I prefer raspberries)
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1 T flaxseed oil

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Eat immediately. I must admit, I've been known to remove the blade and eat this directly from the food processor (unplugged, of course).

You can leave out the flaxseed oil if you don't have it, but I find it adds something to the flavor that definitely wasn't there when I was just using berries and almond milk. I think it adds that creamy, fatty flavor that real ice cream has.

Almond Milk

I haven't been blogging lately due to some health issues. I went on a pretty strict diet for a few weeks to try to identify what was causing my headaches. Initially, I thought this meant no fun food at all, but of course I eventually found ways to be creative in the kitchen despite my new-found dietary restrictions. Look for an abundance of healthier and/or dairy-free recipes to follow.

My first fun dairy-free foray was to make my own almond milk. The store-bought brands are chock full of ingredients I can't pronounce, and I'm trying to avoid processed foods like that right now. A little internet research helped me realize that almond milk is insanely easy to make. After a few weeks of trials, I have perfected this recipe as a safe, yummy, easy alternative to cow's milk.

No, the cookie isn't dairy-free... but at least it was homemade!

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted almonds*
3 cups water
1/4 cup honey**
1 t vanilla

* I know almonds can be expensive. I found the bulk trail-mix section at Whole Foods to be the cheapest option for almonds in my neighborhood.
** I am lucky enough to have a brother with bees who provides me with awesome honey. For those of who aren't that lucky, I recommend finding a local honey at a farmer's market or higher-end grocery store. It's worth the extra money.

Soak almonds overnight in enough water that they are covered.

After soaking overnight, drain and rinse almonds. In a blender, combine almonds, honey, vanilla, and 3 cups of water, and blend for a few minutes until there are no large chunks of almonds left.

Use a strainer or cheesecloth to separate the liquid from the almond meal. I pour the milk into a strainer over a bowl and let it sit for a few minutes to drain. Store in a quart jar in the refrigerator. Use within 48 to 72 hours (never a problem in my house; I drink it all within 24 hours!).

The leftover almond meal can be used for other recipes. Apparently there are also special cheesecloth bags made specifically for making your own nut milk, but I haven't taken time to look for these yet.

References: 
http://www.choosingraw.com/raw-101-homemade-almond-milk/
http://thisiswhatwemade.blogspot.ca/2012/03/almond-milk-vanilla-almond-milk.html
http://naturesnurtureblog.com/2012/06/08/homemade-almond-milk-almond-meal/

Shrimp and Red Pepper Bisque

My cousin Rebecca sent me a recipe for roasted red pepper soup and asked me to give it a try. I thought it sounded a little bland (sorry Rebecca!), so I spiced it up a little and ended up with this flavorful dish. I knew it was a success when James went back for seconds.

This recipe could easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the shrimp.

Ingredients: 

5 red bell peppers
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 lb cheese or spinach tortellini
1 t sugar
1 t smoked paprika
3/4 cup half and half
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1 cup basil, loosely chopped
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 T Cajun spice mix
1 lb shrimp, peeled and veined

The most difficult part of this recipe is roasting the red peppers. The goal is to roast the peppers on a grill or under the broiler until they are partially blackened on all sides. In my stove, this took about three minutes per side, turning the peppers with tongs every three minutes until all sides were blackened and wrinkly.

Immediately place the blackened peppers in a paper grocery bag, clamping the bag shut and leaving to steam for 10 to 15 minutes. I used a pair of hemostats to clamp it shut (you'd be amazed how much these come in handy in the kitchen), but I suppose a clothespin would do if you don't have access to hemostats.

Remove stems, seeds, and skins from peppers. I found it was easiest to pull a chair up next to the trash can for this. The stems pulled off easily, and the seeds and skin are easily scraped and pulled off if you cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Slice one of the peppers into thin strips and set aside. The other four peppers will be used for the main content of the soup.

Bring broth to a bowl in a large pot. Add the four unsliced peppers and cook for five minutes. While peppers are cooking, combine shrimp, one thinly sliced pepper, olive oil, and Cajun spices in a bowl and mix well. Heat a frying pan to medium-high heat and add this mixture to frying pan to sauté, stirring occasionally, while you work on the rest of the soup.

Not the most appetizing step in the meal - raw shrimp isn't pretty.

When peppers have cooked in broth for five minutes, remove peppers and some of the broth to a blender and puree until smooth. Repeat this until soup is one uniform texture and no chunks of pepper remain. Return pureed red peppers to soup pot and bring to a boil. Add sugar and paprika and mix well. Add tortellini and cook for 10 minutes, or until tortellini is soft.

When tortellini is cooked, add grated Romano cheese and stir until melted. Add half and half and basil, stir until mixed, and remove from heat. When shrimp is cooked through (opaque and easily cut), add shrimp mixture to the rest of soup and stir until mixed.

Serve hot with a dry white wine. Serves four to six people... or two if you live with a guy who just got home from the gym.

References:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Red-Bell-Pepper-Bisque-with-Shrimp-and-Romano-Cheese-103119
http://www.foodrepublic.com/2011/11/04/how-make-roasted-red-peppers

Pancetta Gnocchi

This is a twist on an old family recipe. Gnocchi was a favorite meal of my grandpa, Walter Rozanski, who is pictured below making it. His daughter, my aunt Rita, requested that I figure out how to make bacon gnocchi, and this recipe was born.

(On an unrelated note, I just discovered where my nose comes from!)

Gnocchi ingredients:

2 medium potatoes
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 pound pancetta (Italian bacon)

Alfredo sauce ingredients:

Fat from cooking pancetta
1 T butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 T flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup grated asiago cheese
1 t black pepper

Peel, cut, and boil potatoes until soft and easily mashed. On my stove, this took 25 minutes from the start with hot water. Drain water and mash potatoes until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese. Set bowl in refrigerator until cool.

While potatoes are cooling, dice pancetta and sauté on medium-high heat until crispy. Remove pancetta, reserving juice/fat in pan. Set this aside for sauce. Let cooked pancetta cool for a few minutes, then mince/crush until there are no large chunks of meat.

Remove potatoes from refrigerator. Add egg, mixing well with a spoon. Add flour and mix well. Add pancetta last, mixing well.

Fill a large pan half full with water and a few dashes of salt and put on the stove to boil at this point.

Spread some flour on a table or cutting board to prevent dough from sticking. Knead gnocchi minimally until it is a uniform ball of dough. Cut this ball into four pieces. Take one quarter of the dough at a time and roll into a long snake of dough. Using a sharp knife, slice dough into pieces 1 inch wide or less. Take each piece individually and roll on a fork so the sides are grooved. Place gnocchi on a plate to rest while making remaining gnocchi.

When your plate is full and water is boiling, drop the plateful of gnocchi into boiling water and set a timer for five minutes. More gnocchi can be rolled out and sliced while the first batch is cooking. After five minutes, remove gnocchi from water with a slotted spoon and leave to drain in a colander.

Continue above steps until all dough is used and all gnocchi is cooked. Drain water and use the same pan for the sauce. Use a rubber spatula to drain the fat from cooking the pancetta from the frying pan into the larger pan. Heat this fat and one tablespoon butter on medium heat. When butter is melted, add minced garlic and saute for a few minutes, stirring often to prevent burning. After a few minutes, add wine and cook for a few more minutes, again stirring often. Add flour and use a wire whisk to mix well, making a rue. Cook only for a minute or two, stirring almost constantly to prevent burning.

Add milk, again using wire whisk to mix well. Continue cooking and stirring often until sauce starts to thicken. Add cheese about 1/3 cup at a time, mixing until melted. Add pepper last. Stir in cooked gnocchi to coat with sauce. If gnocchi has cooled, cook until warm.

This recipe serves four to six people and goes well with pinot grigio. I think this is one of the tastiest recipes I've ever made, and I plan to make it often in the future.