Griddle Cakes: Making Deliciousness out of Leftovers

Who says pancakes have to be sweet?  Generally, I do.  I love sweet things for breakfast, mostly because I love coffee with my breakfast and savory does not go well with coffee (at least for my taste buds).  

Good think Bittman labeled these griddle cakes and not pancakes or I may have had a hard time eating them.  Remember that fiesta we had for Labor Day?  Well that week we had a ton of leftovers, turns out some boys don't eat as much as you think they would.  One of my meal planning goals as of late has been to not throw away any food in my fridge, using every leftover and vegetable.  So, it was Mexican week in our household, and I wanted to make some things a little new.  We did of course have burritos the first day, and a tortilla soup, and then finally a day of griddle cakes. 

I had about a cup of rice, 3/4 c of black beans, salsa, guacamole, mushrooms, cheddar cheese, and sauteed onions left over, with no clue what to do with such tiny servings. 

In comes the Minimalist with his wonderful base recipe ideas.  I perused his cookbook index for the ingredients I had on had, then browsed the recipes listed underneath until I found one that suited my needs/ingredients.  This worked well with Bittman's cookbook since it is so large and comprehensive, though I do this with my magazines and other cookbooks as well, it just takes much much longer.  Thank goodness for Bittman.  This recipe is based on his, but suited to my kitchen.

 

Griddle Cakes

2 eggs

1 c rice

1/2 c milk

1/2 c cheddar cheese

1/2 c flour

1/2 t baking powder

salt and cayenne to taste

a few tb canola oil

salsa and guacamole to top

Heat an electric skillet to 375.

Mix everything together well, getting a medium thick batter.  Pour 1/4 c of batter onto the skillet for each cake, cooking on each side until browned, around 3 minutes per side.  Serve topped with some salsa and guac.

Cornmeal Crusted Tofu with Jalapeno Cheddar Grits

It has finally been cooling off out here in Philly, which makes it much more pleasant to cook in my kitchen.  It also makes me much more inclined to eat spicy meals.  I don't tend to shy away from cooking if it is hot out, but this summer had some doozies.  So thank goodness for 65 degree nights! 

The last time we had these grits we tried them with fried green tomatoes...that didn't work out so well but boy those grits were tasty. 

Cornmeal Crusted Tofu (from Veganomicon)

1 pound extra firm tofu, drained and pressed (frozen then defrosted for ultimate texture)
1 c almond or regular milk
2 T cornstarch
1 c cornmeal
2 T chilie powder
1 t cumin
1/4 t cayenne
1 T lime zest
1 1/2 t salt

Slice the tofu into 8 slices.  Combine milk with cornstarch in a shallow bowl and mix well.  In another bowl, toss cornmeal with the remainder of ingredients.  

Heat about 1/4 inch or less of oil in a large skillet (I love my big rectangle electric skilletfor this) to medium heat.  Drop one piece of tofu into the milk mixture then dredge in the cornmeal mixture.  Cook the tofu in batches if necessary so you don't overcrowd the pan.  Fry the tofu for about 3 minutes per side till browned on each side.  Drain on paper towels.

Jalapeno Cheddar Grits
1 c grits
3 jalapenos, diced
3/4 c sharp cheddar

Cook grits according to package directions.  When there are 5 minutes left in cooking, stir in the jalapenos and cheddar.  Easy peasy.

Fiesta Spread

Labor Day weekend was great, packed with lots of good people and music.  We had some friends over for a picnic/bbq Monday in between two shows with the hubs and his band.  I didn't really take any photos, but luckily the hubs took one with his phone before we ate. 

I wavered in what to serve mostly meat-eaters, and not knowing if my group would be 8 people or 15.  After thinking about a traditional bbq menu with fake hotdogs or grilled pizza, I settled on a quesadilla bar.  I bought a ton of cheese and tortillas (of which we are still eating leftovers), and served a plothera of fillings like beans, tomatoes, sour cream, mushrooms, and onions.  All in all it ended up working in my favor as we had an unexpected vegan in the mix yet the meat-eaters still seemed to enjoy it.  On the side I made a black bean sald, mexican rice, and friends brought chips and salsa. 

The black bean salad was heavy on the farm-veggies with tomatoes, onion, and peppers either from the farm or my garden.  I mixed black beans, tomatoes, corn, peppers, and red onion with salt, pepper, olive oil, cilantro, and a splash of red wine vinegar.  Nothing fancy to let the veggies take center stage. 

Party-goers assembled their quesadilla at the table on a plate, the plopped it on the grill which was on for two rounds of quesadilla making.  Overall this was a great party idea, and very veg friendly as everyone made their own quesadillas. 

What are your ideas for when vegetarians/vegans come for a meal?  Or vice versa, what are your ideas when picky or meat-eaters come to a meal?

BBQ Seitan and Coleslaw

As I write, it is a cool and breezy evening and the sound of the Phillies playing in the background.  We have the windows open and no damage from the hurricane that recently ripped through the northeast.  Today was beautiful and we had a lovely dinner.  Not this dinner, but a lovely one nonetheless and we have much to be thankful for.  This dinner was inspired by the only menu item that lures me into choosing the same thing every time I go to the restaurant. 





The hubs and I love Home Grown Cafe in Newark, Delaware and despite the distance, we end up going there at least every other month. I love their menu where almost everything can be made either vegan or vegetarian with then even choices of protein.  Somehow though, their "sloppy joe" gets me every time and I end up eschewing other options for a trusted favorite (the bahn mi was another inspiration for a recipe on the blog). 

As promised, I am finally talking a bit about seitan.  "What is seitan?" you may ask.  Well, for starters, it is oddly pronounced like "satan" with the second a sounding a bit more like "on." (sorry grammar people- i never learned phonetics).  Seitan is made out of wheat gluten and is a more convincing meat substitute as far as texture goes.  We don't eat it very often, but is great for an occasional treat.  I have never made it before this recipe, though I have bought it frozen before with less than desirable results. 

I loosely used the recipe in Veganomicon for seitan, found here though I omitted the lemon and veg broth because I was out.  I am sure it will taste better next time if I use a good quality broth.  I prefer Trader Joe's brand of concentrated liquid bouillon but they haven't been carrying it for quite a while. 

BBQ Sauce  (adapted from Recipes from an Ecological Kitchen)

1/4 c apple cider vinegar

1/4 c soy sauce

2 T tomato paste

1 pt cherry tomatoes, seeded

1/4 c maple syrup

1 T olive oil

3 t dry mustard

2 large cloves garlic, minced

red pepper flakes to taste

1 t liquid smoke

salt and pepper to taste

In a blender, mix all ingredients together.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Pour into a saucepan and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes for tomatoes to reduce. 

BBQ Seitan

Slice the seitan cutlets into 1/2 in thick slices and sear on a cast iron griddle on all sides.  Toss into bbq sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve with good rolls and a better cole slaw than the one pictured above (I spared you the recipe, no point in making you suffer the poor quality slaw as well- find you favorite blog and use theirs). 

When the husband's away...

 I will eat tomatoes, lots of them.  In a sort of continuation post, this is just a teaser of a few things I have been doing with my abundance of tomatoes.  When the hubs is gone I tend to not really want to cook (it is no fun with no one to share it with- plus, I cook too much food for one). 

So, aside from my tomato and boursin sandwich which was my dinner of choice last summer, I have had quite a few BL"T"'s, and made up a batch of bruschetta that I ate practically all by myself.  Hey, I used less oil and it is mostly veggies right (nevermind the crackers). 

We are fans of Morningstar Farms fake bacon, though to be honest we haven't really tried any other kind because that is what good ol' Trader Joe's carries. 

What are you making with your tomatoes?

First Canning Attempt

A few weekends ago I attempted to can tomatoes.  The farm let us pick as many tomatoes from the field as we could, so the hubs and I filled a grocery bag.  G gave me some large canning jars so I thought fresh packing tomatoes would be a great way to preserve them. 

My grandma gave me a Ball canning book last time she visited and I have only tried one jam recipe until now.  I had some pectin in the cupboard and a lot of blueberries and strawberries.  True to form for my learn by trial and error cooking- I discovered that jam has a lot of added sugar.  The recipe I found to use asked for 7 cups of sugar, and if I didn't want to sit and let the fruit reduce without pectin (I didn't- wanted to can in less than 2 hours), I would have to add that much sugar.  Another future option is low-sugar pectin, but boy was the pectin useful!  Last time I canned preserves it took me 45 minutes to cook down the fruit. 

The canning book is helpful, but I think supposes that you already know some key things, like the temperature preserves need to be to gel (not found anywhere in the book- thank goodness for google).  Canning tomatoes however has a two-page spread complete with drawings, and step by step directions that are pretty helpful. 

Basically, I put the jars and lids into the dishwasher and skinned the tomatoes.  Then I quartered them and packed them into a jar, topping it off with simmering water. 

Nothing about this was in the book though:

I did use used jars, but I did test them all and removed the ones with cracks- apparently I missed this one.  I came over and saw that the jar was floating, which depsite my canning novelty, I knew was wrong.  I grabbed the tongs and pushed it down, only to have it pop back up.  The next action was suprising, I pulled up the jar to investigate and all the tomatoes fell out into the pot!  This resulted in a slew of exclamations, mostly consisting of me repeating, "Oh no!  Oh no!" 

I scooped out the tomatoes into a bowl that later on became salsa, and let the rest of the jars just keep on cooking.  I think they turned out fine, though no one who has seen them has canned tomatoes before.  Anyone have thoughts as to the odd layering affect? Tips for future canning?

Aside from the busted jar and having to fish out the bottom from a pot of boiling water- it was relatively easy.  From start to finish it only took me about 2 1/2 hours, and boy was the dishwasher helpful!  And after getting the jars as a wonderful gift, the tomatoes as free surplus, a great cost-effective activity. 

Vital Wheat Gluten and Tomatoes

I am pretty sure I may have tomatoes coming out my ears.  I have been working it feels like non-stop to preserve the summer goodness that is tomatoes.  I do have to mix cherry tomatoes into something quite tasty though to get the hubs to eat them, and even then it isn't all that willingly.  

Israeli Couscous and Arugula Pesto with Tomatoes

Last night I made some cherry tomato marinara sauce, with a couple of tomatoes from my garden.  It took some work, but mostly only when I decided to drain out the sauce, leaving the skins and seeds behind.  Once I did that though, the sauce was alright, but a bit acidic still.  A good first attempt. 

I ventured into my first foray with vital wheat gluten last week, making a recipe from Veganomicon.  I made chickpea cutlets which just sounded like they were asking for a gravy like chicken friend steak.  I didn't have any dairy in the house though so I made carmelized onions with a touch of vinegar and maple syrup, so yummy, and paired it with a simply cucumber and carrot salad dressed with some red wine vinegar. 

Overall, they were really tasty and not very difficult.  I am attempting homemade seitan this week.  What is seitan?  Stay tuned and find out...