Crepas Fiestas

A few weeks ago all lovliness broke loose in my home.  The sink would not drain (thanks to mounds of melting snow), the burners on my stove would not light, and then the boiler broke.  After about a week of a non-draining sink, the dishes were quite piled up.  I ran the dishwasher a couple times, but it always backed up into the sink.  I lit the burners on my stove with a lighter, and the dog was so cold during the night that he jumped into bed with us (not very fun with an 80 pound dog). 

Well, the burners started magically working again when I made tea while waiting for the repair man.  Wahoo!  And the sink began to drain after I poured almost an entire extra large sized bottle of draino down it and the snow ceased melting for a few days (last resort after many home remedies).  The repair man fixed our 30+ year old boiler in about an hour and told us never to fix it again, shedding light on our insane utility bills during the winter.  All is well that ends well.

I made a version of crepas fiestas from Vegetarian times during this fiasco.  Why I chose to make something with so many dishes while my sink didn't work is beyond me.  Perhaps because I bought the ingredients when my sink still drained and was determined not to let them spoil (ingredients from my cheating days).  The photo above gives a slight glimpse into my kitchen that week (after a load of dishes had already been washed).

I made them in more of a lasagna style after realizing that my crepes were a bit too small to stuff.   I also topped them with guacamole (this is the same week that I had about an entire avacado a day in an attempt to satisfy my cravings for them).   So, if you have some time, this recipe was absolutely delicious! 

Vegetable Dumplings

My grandma always used to make this dish when we visited. It was one of her many dishes I loved, and always asked for it over the venison steaks my grandpa hunted or fish freshly caught. I realize now the error of my ways and that I should have heartily enjoyed fresh, local, more humanely treated meat growing up. Alas, I was a picky child somewhat. But man she made the best chili, salsa, canned applesauce, and many other goodies like jam. I had one jar of her applesauce this summer and shared it with the hubs, he said it was the best applesauce he ever had. I had better pick her brain for the recipe soon.

Originally, this was obviously Chicken and Dumplings. I have tried it adding faux chicken (blech) as well as beans (to me it ruins the texture) and ended up sticking with the basics: veggies and dumplings. I have also experimented with various dumplings from homemade to Bisquick (grandma's original biscuit recipe). Today's version is my fail-safe, easy-peasy recipe. Feel free to substitute your favorite biscuit recipe, use almond milk to make it vegan, and use your own combination of frozen veggies (grandma uses canned but I prefer to avoid the added salt).

I also love to add fried onions or shredded cheddar cheese to the biscuit batter, onions or garlic would be nice flavorful additions, as well as probably 1 tsp or so of thyme or rosemary or sage. This is comfort food. And the best on cold winter nights. And good for mildly picky eaters as the flavor overall is quite bland and highlights the key ingredients while leaving room for improvement/experimentation. 

Veggie Dumplings
3 T olive oil or butter
3 T flour
1 pkg frozen mixed veggies (i generally use a succotash mix)
4-6 c vegetable broth
1 batch mixed but not baked all-purpose mix biscuits
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium high heat, adding frozen vegetables once heated. Saute for 1-2 minutes, then add flour and mix well. Once incorportated and cooked for 1-2 minutes, add vegetable broth (enough to cover veggies by about 1 inch). Bring to a boil and drop biscuit mix on top of vegetable mix. Cover with lid and reduce heat to low until most of liquid is absorbed (25-35 minutes).

That's it. Easy-peasy. Growing up we boiled chicken on the side, shredded it and added it with the veggies. Beans are helpful for protein but I am not a fan of the texture for this, I think it is a personal thing. Enjoy!

Cheating

(apologize for the negligent photo, i was hungry and impatient for a good photo with my weirdly acting camera that probably needs a tune-up.  The flowers are oh so pretty though!)

I miss summer.  And boxes of vegetables so graciously picked up by my friend G.  And salsa, and fresh tomatoes, and eating dinner on the front porch after a nice run in shorts. 

So last night, I cheated on winter and her vegetables.  I bought a cucumber, avacadoes, and an orange pepper, and used frozen spinach and canned tomatoes.  And it was lovely.  Not as robust as peak in-season veggies, but tasty.  Please forgive me for relenting to my desires and betraying fresh, local, winter produce.  I just couldn't take another root vegetable or frozen peppers. 

I watched Guy's Big Bite on television at my parents Sunday.  Temptation at its finest.  I loved the idea of a spinach tostada despite his topping, which seemed to negate the lowered carb "tortilla".  So I devised a topping of my own, atop Guy's Spinach tostadas.  

Tostada Topping

2 avacadoes, diced
1 can roasted tomatoes, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cucumber, diced
1/2 orange pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
2 green onions, diced
juice of 1 lime
4-5 cubes frozen cilantro (about 1 tsp each)
salt

Mix together, and it gets better if it sits overnight.  Spoon over spinach tostadas.  ( I did not add, but perhaps 1 tsp of cumin would be great).

Snow Days and Baking

There is something about snow on the ground that creates an insatiable urge in me to bake.  We have had 2-3 snow days as of late, and I am debating not even trying to get to work tomorrow where I am positive there will be no parking.  Here are some of my baking projects over the last few snow days...

Vegan French Toast Doughnuts (taste a bit more like a muffin in donut form)

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Bread

Dutch Pear Pancke

Forgive me, I have no recollection of where exactly this recipe came from.  I discovered it a bit back in my recipe tin while I was cleaning it out to put all of my recipes into a three-ring binder.  Such a marvelous thing to do.  Perhaps more on that later as well.  

Dutch Pear Pancake  (i used pear, recipe calls for apple)

1/3 c maple syrup

1/4 c brown sugar

3 T butter

2 pears, thinly sliced

1 egg

3/4 c milk

1 T butter (butter)

1 1/4 c flour

4 T sugar

2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1/3 c applesauce

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine first 3 ingredients in a cast iron skillet or 9" cake pan.  Melt in oven for 5 minutes then stir to dissolve sugar.  Arrange pear slices over mix and set aside.

Whisk together egg, milk, applesauce, and melted butter.  In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Pour into milk mixture and stir until smooth.  Pour batter over pears. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and invert onto large plate.

My new toy

I got a few new kitchen gadgets for Christmas, duplicates of many of them actually.  I have had a great time using each one, but this one so far I think is one of the niftiest for what it does.  

This baby has been on my mind for quite some time, though I must admit I was always hesitant to get one because the blade is so menacing.  On cooking contests someone always manages to slice off a piece of their finger on that sucker.  But it's products seem so worth it at times.

French fries. Gratin with evenly sliced potatoes.  Homemade chips. French fries. I have only used it thus far for a gratin and french fries (twice...but we bake them so it is ok).  I am looking forward to this summer making evenly sliced zucchini for the tarts as well as beet and parsnip baked chips.  Wowee.  Look out for those! 

Sausage and Lentil Soup

Lentils are a wonderful source of protein and are so quick to cook, they are one of our favorite pantry staples. I also had some lightlife sausage to use the rest of, and TastyKitchen had recently posted a spicy lentil sausage soup. While this soup is not spicy in the least (the hubs and I have had to tone down the acid and spice as of late), it is hearty and flavorful.

This soup was wonderful for a pre-snow storm evening. And hearty enough to even satisfy the hubs while being vegan.

Sausage and Lentil Soup (Printable Version)

Homemade Salsa (in winter)

During the winter I sincerely miss the fresh salsa from the summer, especially with garden fresh, heirloom tomatoes. Excuse me while I drool. But storebought just doesn't come close.

Taking a que from the Pioneer Woman, I looked into my cabinet to make my own salsa. I made a much smaller batch, and mine is probably mostly different from hers, at least enough to call it my own recipe. I often look up recipes for a basic outline of ingredients and measurements, then go for it on my own. Only with cooking though, I tried that with baking and it just doesn't work very well.

Homemade Salsa

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

1 can rotel diced tomatoes with habaneros (the hubs likes it spicy- feel free to use one of their milder versions)

1/4 of a medium to small sized onion

1 small clove of garlic

4 cubes frozen cilantro (in frozen foods section at trader joes- wonderful!) or 2 T fresh, chopped

2 T lime juice

1 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1 t cumin

Dice up the onions and add to a blender, crushing the garlic into it as well. Drain the tomatoes of most of the juices, then add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients, blend until desired consistency. (I don't like chunky salsa, so this turns out great!)