Angelica Kitchen

We ate twice at Angelica Kitchen this trip to New York. It specializes in organic, vegan cuisine. We ate the Daily Specials both visits. I wish I had written down the names and descriptions of them, as they were clever. Above is a salad which highlights purslane and is garnished with toasted sea vegetable. There is also roasted cauliflower, marinated tofu, red rice, green beans and a creamy cashew sauce. It was outstanding!

Above is a Moroccan-inspired dish that was cooked in a tagine. It was a stew with chickpeas, tomatoes, and other vegetables and spices. There was an apricot chutney, steamed broccoli, and a cucumber mint salad accompanying the stew. The grain was a mixture of teff and quinoa. It was excellent!

For dessert, we couldn't resist sharing a Strawberry Kanten Parfait. It had a nice oatmeal crumb topping. There were layers of strawberry and cashew cream and it was sweetened very moderately, which I really appreciated. We learned how to make a similar dish at the Conscious Gourmet cooking class I took last year. For the recipe, visit my friend Madelyn's blog, Karma-Free Cooking.

Here is the exterior of Angelica Kitchen. It is located on E 12th Street between First and Second Avenues. I found that the food there really helped balance me. When traveling, I find that I eat so many things I normally don't eat, and then I start to react to the food. I had a very negative reaction after eating too much sugar one day, which I am not used to eating at all anymore. So, Angelica Kitchen was a welcomed haven. Maybe for most people, the food there is what they normally wouldn't eat, but for me, it was comforting and familiar.

Chelsea Market

Hello everyone! Sorry there was such a long gap since my last post. We have been away quite a lot the last month or so. As a matter of fact, just yesterday we returned from a trip to New York. We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary there. I will share a few of our favorite food highlights of this visit.

Chelsea Market. Wow, this place is wonderful! The first photo is a scene in the interior. Directly above is the exterior of the building. Inside there are many bakeries, restaurants, coffee, groceries and cooking and food-related stores. Almost everything I purchased during my visit to New York, I bought here. We even made a quick last-minute stop here on our way to the airport to load up on travel food and bread.

Speaking of which, Amy's Bread is one of the bakeries at Chelsea Market. There are other locations of Amy's as well. Amy's is a fantastic bakery. We loved everything we tried there. If this says anything, our freezer is now filled with several varieties of their bread. DH is going to have fun trying to make similar breads at home. We especially loved their Semolina with Golden Raisin and Fennel. We did a little star spotting there as well. Bob Tuschman stopped in while we were eating breakfast there Thursday. No that's not him in the photo! If you know who he is, you'll know that's definitely not him!! The Food Network films some of its shows here, so it makes sense why we spotted him.

A great feature at the Chelsea Market is that there are large windows where you can watch the process of bread baking.

Above are stacks of bannetons, which are baskets used for shaping loaves of bread. That is an absolute fortune's worth of baskets! Bannetons of this quality generally retail for about $40 each. That's how much they were charging for them at the Bowery Kitchen Supply located within the Market.

Caramelized Onion and Fennel

If you have never tried fennel before, I highly recommend this as a recipe to start with. The results are very rich and sweet! Fennel tastes like anise.

This is wonderful on top of polenta. To lower the fat and calories of the recipe I shared for Polenta with Gorgonzola and Almonds, you could omit the Gorgonzola and top it with this instead. It will give the dish a surprisingly similar flavor and you won't miss the Gorgonzola. It is also wonderful on pizza with Parmesan cheese... Really it would be great with many dishes.

Caramelized Onion and Fennel

1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 or 2 bulbs of fennel, trimmed and sliced in similar sized pieces as the onion
2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil or a combo of butter and oil
salt and pepper

Heat oil/butter in a large heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and fennel slices. Stir occasionally. When the onions and fennel start making a lot of noise and the oil is diminishing, add some salt. Lower heat if needed, it will depend on your pan. Continue simmering the onions and fennel, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes, until very golden. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Flavored Water

So very simple. Pour water in a glass pitcher along with a few slices of fruit or cucumber. Voila! The water has flavor! It's remarkably delicious. Experiment to find your favorite.

Birthday Meal

This is what I got for my birthday: a pasta maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer! Looking at the photo, it sure looks like the color of my mixer is pasta dough yellow... In any event, the way we celebrated my birthday was to spend the entire day cooking everything that we could from scratch.

I went to the farmer's market on Friday and bought what was the most fresh looking. I knew I was going to make some sort of pasta to try out my new attachment, but I didn't decide to make lasagna until about mid-day Saturday. The produce I had on hand worked out well for it. The menu evolved as the day progressed. The lasagna noodles are the first pasta I have made from scratch. It took a few tries to get used to how to use the attachment, but once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy!

Semolina Egg Pasta ingredients:

4 large eggs, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 3 1/3 cups semolina pasta flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

I used some Florida tomatoes to make the marinara sauce for the lasagna. I started by boiling them to soften the skin. Then I peeled them and the simmered them with low heat for many hours with olive oil, onions, bay leaves, etc.

I made homemade ricotta cheese which I mixed with fresh (but blanched) spinach, parsley, an egg, and salt and pepper.

I also made a white sauce (a bechamel with Fontina and Parmesan cheeses melted into it), and I roasted some red peppers, portobello mushrooms, and zucchini with olive oil and Italian herbs.

All of these went into the layers of the lasagna. Above I am assembling the lasagna. Yes, I used my hands to spread the ricotta layer. I like getting my hands dirty!

Here is a slice of the lasagna. It is the best we have ever had! Yes, I am biased! I must not forget to mention that we also ate homemade bread (sampling all day long, as the different kinds of loaves were coming out of the oven).

For dessert we made Crespella Cream Pie, topped with homemade Chocolate Sauce and filled with homemade Vanilla Pastry Cream and slices of bananas and strawberries. To top it off, we also made homemade Strawberry Ice Cream. Everything was outstanding!

I was able to get Florida strawberries at the farmer's market, something I hadn't seen in many weeks, at least a month. I couldn't resist buying an entire flat of them, as they were only $6. There were 12 pints, about 24 cups, of strawberries in my flat. I would say that 25 cents per cup of berries is pretty cheap!! There was a line of people eagerly waiting to buy them, so I was lucky I was able to get a flat before they were all gone. That's the way the farmer's market is here. A random truck of freshly picked produce arrives, and sometimes it will all gone within an hour. If you don't happen to be there during that hour, you miss out!

Anyway, it was a fabulous way to spend the day. We ate very very well!

Birthday Breads

DH made many loaves of bread in celebration of my birthday Saturday. Here are a few photos. If only you could taste them! Above and below are Pane Siciliano, an Italian bread. It contains some semolina flour, which gives it a sweet flavor. It is soft but also has a crispiness. Really this bread tastes like no other bread I have ever had. I will be requesting it again!

Below are some Pain a l'Ancienne, a French bread. DH formed the dough into long breadsticks. They are crunchy on the outside and light and airy with lots of holes in the inside. They have a surprisingly complex flavor (that's a good thing!!)

Below is the only thing I did to contribute to making the bread. I braided the dough of the Whole Wheat Brioche with Chocolate Chips. Mmm. Can't wait to use it for French Toast in a few days.

DH also made a double batch of Whole Wheat Pizza Crust, which we froze into ten balls, to use for ten future individual pizzas. What a privilege to have such a talented baker as a husband! The recipes all came from Peter Reinhart bread baking books.

Creamy Nutty Oatmeal

When I haven't been to the market in a while, and we are out of fresh fruit, this is what I will typically make for breakfast. It is welcomed and enjoyed though, so nobody is the wiser that it is a fallback pantry meal.

Creamy Nutty Oatmeal
serves 2

1 cup thick rolled oats (not quick)
2 cups milk or soymilk (or 1 cup water and 1 cup milk)
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
2 tablespoons nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew, or your favorite)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 dried apricots, diced or an appropriate amount for 2 servings of other dried fruit
to garnish: freshly grated nutmeg and slices of fresh bananas or strawberries or other fruit (optional)

In a saucepan, bring milk with salt to a boil. Add the nut butter and stir to dissolve. Then add the maple syrup, oats and dried fuit. Simmer, stirring occassionally for about 10 to 20 minutes, until the oats are tender and it is the consistency desired. Serve with freshly grated nutmeg and optionally with slices of fresh fruit.

Peanut Butter Oat Bars

When I saw these bars on Tastespotting, I knew I would try them. Can't beat the combination of oats and peanut butter, unless you do what I did and add some chocolate! It wasn't a part of the recipe, but I highly recommend it. I added a 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips.

Also, I made them whole grain by using spelt and barley flour in place of all-purpose, and I sweetened them with less than a cup of maple sugar. They still turned out lovely and were terrific with coffee. Many thanks to Maria, of the Goddess's Kitchen for posting this Peanut Butter Oat Bar recipe.

Chestnut Pancakes (Gluten Free)

DH and I were in Orlando for the day recently and on our way out of the city, we stopped at a natural foods store, Chamberlain's. There we found a few items we have a hard time finding in other places in Florida, such as blue corn meal, maple sugar and other things. DH also put in our cart this bag of chestnut flour:

We have never used it before but have heard that it is delicious. So we decided to try it, even though it is quite pricey. We found online this recipe for gluten-free chestnut pancakes published by the manufacturer of the flour. It only uses a 1/3 cup of the chestnut flour, so if we keep using recipes like this, our small bag of flour should last a little while. We hope so, as we are loving it! The flour itself even smells wonderful! It adds a deep, sweet and nutty flavor. The pancakes are not as light and fluffy as more traditional pancakes, but they are packed with flavor and are very satisfying.

We topped this batch of chestnut pancakes with some caramelized bananas. We have found they are also good with apples or a bit of maple syrup.

Polenta with Gorgonzola and Almonds

Oh my, this is the most luscious polenta we have eaten in a while. We could have eaten the whole pot if not careful. It is so creamy and sweet, with a nice crunch from the almonds. Really it so richly flavored that we would even happily eat it as a dessert. We ate the polenta along with tofu baked in a honey-Dijon sauce and some green beans sauteed with garlic and extra virgin olive oil.

The recipe is very easy and quite quick, taking only minutes to prepare. The trick is that the recipe calls for quick cooking polenta, so instead of stirring the pot of polenta for a long time, it only takes 5 minutes of stirring. However, the polenta that I purchased was super quick cooking polenta, and only needed one minute of stirring. A gourmet meal in one minute!

The brand I used was de la Estancia Organic Polenta. It is not an instant product even though it only needs a minute to cook. The package says that it is not pre-cooked nor processed, and that the reason it is naturally quick-cooking is because it has a low starch content and a super fine grind. Since I used this polenta, I did need to alter the amount of liquid ingredients in the recipe. The recipe calls for 5 cups total of liquids, but I reduced that to 3 cups total per the package recommendation. I would read the package directions to be sure of the cooking time and liquid amounts required for the particular brand.

Polenta with Gorgonzola and Almonds
Gourmet Magazine April 2008

3 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups milk
salt (around 1 1/2 teaspoons total, divided)
1 cup quick-cooking polenta
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces Gorgonzola dolce
1/3 cup unsalted roasted almonds, chopped or sliced
freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring water, milk and 3/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a large heavy bottomed sauce pan. Sprinkle in the polenta and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 5 minutes (or per package directions).
2. Remove from heat and whisk in Parmesan and butter. Serve sprinkled with Gorgonzola, almonds and freshly ground black pepper.

Tempeh Milanese with Creamy Caper and Lemon Sauce

I found a new way to use the recipe for the Cornmeal-Crusted Tempeh that I posted previously. It actually works great as a vegetarian substitute for Giada de Laurentiis' recipe on the Food Network website for Pork Milanese with Creamy Caper and Lemon Sauce. I combined the ideas of the two recipes.

In Giada's recipe, she dips the cutlets into flour, eggs, and then breadcrumbs before frying. Instead of doing that, I dipped my cooked/marinated tempeh into buttermilk and then the cornmeal mixture from the tempeh recipe I posted from the Candle Cafe Cookbook. The coating stuck very well to the tempeh and became crispy once fried. I have no idea why I dipped them into buttermilk before the cornmeal mixture, it's not a part of either recipe, but it worked out nicely. It is optional.

The tempeh was delicious dipped into the Creamy Caper and Lemon Sauce. I was supposed to add parsely to the sauce, but I didn't have any.

We ate the tempeh with roasted cauliflower, sweet potatoes and red onions along with some garlicky kale. The bowl of Creamy Caper and Lemon Sauce is not visible in the above photo, but we found that everything tasted great dipped into it, not just the tempeh.

I suppose this can be the featured Meal of the Week #5. Here is the summary of the meal:

• Protein: Tempeh (the main source) plus whole grains and dairy
• Dairy: Mascarpone cheese and milks
• Whole grain: Cornmeal, Barley Flour and Potatoes
• Fruits/Vegetables: Kale, Cauliflower, Onion, Sweet Potatoes
• Fats/Sugars: Olive oil on all of the vegetables, grapeseed oil for frying tempeh, whole milk/cheese, a bit of maple syrup in the tempeh marinade

Agave Nectar or Miel de Maguey

When we were in Mexico in February, we picked up this jar of Miel de Maguey, which is agave nectar. We really wish we had bought more, as it is superb! It is so delicious, with a much deeper and more fruity agave flavor than any we have bought in the US, and I have tried every one I have seen. This jar we are savoring and are using it on dishes where we will be able to taste and appreciate the special flavor.

It was interesting to note while we were there that many Mexicans use agave nectar as a medicinal supplement rather than as a sweetener. When we were talking about how popular agave nectar is here in the States as sugar substitute, it was interesting to find out that in some parts of Mexico it is more commonly just eaten by the spoonful like a dose of medicine. So, I had to explain how to use it as a sweetener. That was a little surprising to me, since besides honey, agave is a sweetener native to Mexico. The nectar from the agave plant has been extracted and used for food since pre-Columbian times. Sugar cane was brought to Mexico in more recent history. Perhaps it was because I was talking to people in Yucatan, and agave is not a crop grown there. In Yucatan, bee honey is a big industry and has always been used there as a sweetener.

For those who are curious, here is a translation of the health claims written on this jar of agave nectar: "rich in fiber, dietetic oligosaccharide, aids digestion and promotes the development of intestinal flora. Natural source of protein, calcium, potassium, vitamin C and antioxidants. More than a sweetener." Now in contrast, here are the health claims written on a some of the bottles of agave nectar that I have found in the US which are marketed to Americans: "a new natural sweetener... low glycemic index that is beneficial for many... diabetic friendly..."

I personally ignore health claims written on food products. I don't trust them. And there is good reason to be skeptical. Agave nectar sold in the US is not without controversy, as apparently some brands that say they're 100 percent pure, really aren't, the glycemic index differs greatly between brands, etc.

I use agave nectar because I like how it tastes, how it dissolves so easily into liquids and because it works well in many of my recipes. I use it sparingly when I do use it.

Crespella Part Deux

A few days ago I posted the recipe for Oven Crespella with Chocolate Sauce from Gourmet Magazine. Well, DH and I have been talking a lot about it over the last week, and we collaborated a new way to use the recipe. So, yesterday DH made this new version of Crespella as a celebratory cake to mark our one year anniversary of healthy eating. OK, so maybe eating a cake is not exactly most logical way to celebrate healthy eating. But, this cake has no refined ingredients, barely any sweetener, etc because of the modifications we made. Yes it is still high in calories and fat, but we are sharing it with friends, and we are not feeling guilty eating it.

We call the cake Crespella Cream Pie. To assemble, make two crespellas and some of Dorie Greenspan's Vanilla Pastry Cream and your favorite recipe for chocolate sauce, frosting or ganache. A note on the pastry cream recipe: I personally don't feel it needs so much sweetener. The whole milk and vanilla bean already give it a rich flavor, so I usually just use two tablespoons of maple sugar or agave nectar to sweeten it.

To assemble:

1. Place one of the crespellas on a cake plate.
2. Spread the pastry cream on top.
3. Arrange slices of banana over the pastry cream.
4. Spread some of the chocolate sauce onto the bottom of the other crespella and lay it on top of the bananas. That will help glue the bananas in place once it sets in the refrigerator.
5. Then either frost the cake with the rest of the chocolate sauce immediately or after the cake has set in the refrigerator. In Florida where I live, it is sometimes so humid that refrigerating first helps the cake keep its shape while frosting. Then store the cake in the refrigerator.

Either serve cold or at room temperature.

Meal of the Week #4

A crew of painters we met through friends has been painting the exterior of our house this week. They have actually done other work on our house in the past, so we've come to know them pretty well by now. I have been getting great practice with my Spanish, and I really cannot believe how much easier it comes to me these days. Anyway, DH and I decided to offer them a buffet style lunch, as they are finishing everything today. (They did work on our kitchen when it was being remodeled too, so the gesture was also in recognition and appreciation of how much we have been enjoying our kitchen). So, this is the Meal of the Week.

In approximately the order shown in the photo, from top to bottom:

• Roasted vegetables, salsa de chiltomate, refried black beans, chopped hard boiled eggs.
• Whole wheat empanadas filled with varying combinations of cheese, veggies and beans.
• Wedges of limes, pickled red onions, avocado and tomato salad
• Corn tortillas (under the cloth) and cantaloupe.

We also put out (after the photo was taken) some Mexican crema and some crumbled Mexican queso fresco. Also not shown was a pitcher of homemade Jamaica, which is iced tea made from the dried leaves of the hibiscus flower. Jamaica is a very common thing to drink in Mexico.

Every one of our guests commented about how healthy the meal was. Everyone ate everything on their plates, even after second and third helpings. From the smiles, easy going laughter and camaraderie at the table, we could tell they were all very happy. And then they all got straight back to work. So, it was a success.

Summary of Meal

Protein: Black beans, eggs, whole grains, cheeses
Dairy: Cheese, cream
Whole grains: Whole wheat and spelt empanadas, corn tortillas
Fruits/Vegetables: Cantaloupe, Limes, Avocado, Tomatoes, Onions, Asparagus, Zucchini, Summer Squash, Peppers
Fats/Sugars: Sweetener for Jamaica, cheeses, olive oil in roasted veggies

Oven Crespella with Chocolate Sauce

I guess it has been a while since I posted! Not to worry! I am returning with this tasty treat which was featured in the new issue of Gourmet (April 2008). DH made it, as he couldn't keep his eyes off the photo in the magazine. But, I think DH's turned out even nicer. He added his own touches. The original recipe calls for Nutella. Don't get me wrong. Nutella is awesome. It's just not something we keep in the house, especially since we did away with sugar. So, DH made his own chocolate sauce. Plus, he decided to soften some dried figs in some honey-butter for an extra special touch.

We had never had a crespella before, so we don't know how it is supposed to turn out. But we were intrigued to try it because, from the recipe, it seems basically to be a baked pancake. And, as you know, we Love pancakes. It was pretty simple. DH made the batter, poured it in a pan, and then after it baked, he flipped it out of the pan and onto a serving plate. The recipe didn't say to present it like that, but we think it turned out lovely.

The recipe didn't say to do this either, but look how pretty it turned out. DH spread his chocolate sauce and figs on the top, as if it were a cake. [Added April 14, 2008, see this posting for yet another version of Crespella: Crespella Cream Pie].

So, in the end, was it still a crespella? We say, who cares, it was incredibly delicious! The edges were crispy but inside it was soft with an almost custard-like layer. And it even tasted great cold after being stored in the refrigerator.

Oven Crespella with Nutella Sauce
adapted from Gourmet Magazine, April 2008

serves 4 to 6, active time 15 mins, 40 mins start to finish

3/4 cup flour (or a mixture of whole grain flours)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar (DH used a small amount of agave nectar as substitute)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons whole milk, divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup Nutella, chocolate hazelnut spread (or chocolate sauce)
optional garnishes: confectioners sugar

accompaniment: chopped berries (figs or bananas are great with it too)

1. Heat an oven-proof skillet in the oven as it is preheating to 450 degrees.
2. Whisk to combine the flour, eggs, sweetener, vanilla, salt and 1 1/2 cups of the milk. Take skillet out of oven (careful it is hot). Place the butter in the skillet and return it to the oven. Leave it there for about a minute, so the butter gets golden. Remove the skillet from the oven.
3. Pour the batter into the skillet and then bake until puffed, set, and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk the Nutella with the remaining milk until smooth. Thin with more milk if necessary. (Or make your favorite recipe for chocolate sauce).
5. Cool pancake in skillet on a rack for 5 minutes. (It will sink). Dust with confectioners sugar (if desired) and drizzle with the sauce. Serve with berries or fruit of choice.

Meal of the Week #3

Last week I shared breakfast for my meal of the week, so this week I am presenting a dinner. We actually ate this dinner last week, but I am feeling motivated to show this taco meal after last evening's episode of Top Chef. On the show the guest judge, Chef Rick Bayless, challenged everyone to make upscale tacos. Several of the contestants were not happy about it, one whined loudly saying that Mexican food is not gourmet. I'm not claiming that my tacos are upscale or gourmet, I'm just saying that tacos can be made with anything, so to me the challenge was really not a stretch.

We have been on an habanero kick since returning from Yucatan. Asparagus is not ordinarily eaten with habanero. In fact, my Mexican mother-in-law had the first asparagus of her life only a few weeks ago. But, that didn't stop us from pairing the two. A lot of the tacos that DH and I eat are not what the typical American or even a typical Yucatecan would eat as a taco. Tacos work very well with fusions of many different cuisines.

I roasted asparagus with white onion, garlic cloves and shitake mushrooms that had been lightly coated with olive oil and very simply seasoned with salt and pepper. In the same roasting pan, I added two slices of tofu that I liberally coated with some homemade salsa de chile ancho. It didn't take long to roast in a hot oven of about 400 degrees F. I stirred the vegetables and flipped the tofu after about 5 to 10 minutes, then they cooked only a short time more.

We made homemade corn tortillas and then served the roasted tofu and veggies with refried black beans, lime wedges and two different habanero salsas. We sprinkled everything with lime juice and each taco we made had a different combination of the ingredients.

Summary of Meal:

protein: black beans, tofu, and corn tortillas
whole grain: corn tortillas
dairy: none
fruits/vegetables: onion, mushroom, asparagus, chiles, limes
fats/sugars: minor use of olive oil

Tomatoes with Dijon Vinaigrette

I have to admit it. The only reason I am posting this recipe is because I want to share these photos I took of this tomato salad. The lighting was hitting the bowl so nicely, and I ended up taking scores of photos; so many that it was hard to chose which were my favorites!

So here are a few of the photos.

Orange is my favorite color, and I really love how many shades of orange I was able to capture and how nicely the orange contrasts with its complimentary color, blue.

So, here is my simple tomato salad.

Tomatoes with Dijon Vinaigrette
salad dressing recipe given to me by my French host sister, Patricia

glob of spicy mustard (Dijon or French Red Hot Pepper Moustarde au Piment d'Espelette)
1 big spoon of vinegar or lemon juice (any vinegar, but red wine or balsamic are very nice)
2 big spoons of extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
fresh chopped herbs, if desired

Stir together the mustard and vinegar or juice. Then whisk while slowly pouring in the oil to emulsify. Stir in fresh herbs, if desired. Salt and pepper to taste. Let the dressing rest for up to an hour before dressing your salad. After dressing the salad, serve immediately.

If too strong, add more oil. If too weak, add more vinegar.

Note: this dressing is great on many vegetables: shredded carrot salad, corn and pepper salad, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.