Wedding Food Part 3

Strawberry Spinach Salad

This is a great summertime salad perfect for a side with grilled chicken or pork.

• Baby Spinach, washed
• 2 Tbl sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 quart strawberries, sliced
• .5 cup canola oil
• .5 cup sugar
  
• .25 cup white vinegar
• 1.5 tsp grated sweet onion
• .25 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbl. poppy seeds
• .5 tsp paprika

Mix the oil, vinegar, sugar, onion, poppy seeds, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce together in a jar. Shake well and refrigerate for at least an hour. Toss the dressing, spinach, strawberries, and sesame seeds together and serve.

Wedding Food Part 2

Island Coconut & Sweet Potato Stew w/Rice

This stew is great served by itself or over rice. We have eaten it with pita or naan bread, it is great as a main dish or side. It is very easy to make and the ingredients are found in most major grocery stores. It might closely resemble Jamaican flavorings though it incorporates Siracha, an Asian hot sauce, and Thai curry paste for heat and flavor.

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 2 gloves garlic, smashed
• 1 Tbl ginger, smashed
• 1-3 Tbl Thai red curry paste
  
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 16oz can lite coconut milk
• 1 liter vegetable stock
• 8oz red lentils
• 15oz pureed pumpkin
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbl Siracha, plus more for garnish
• cilantro for garnish
  

Make a thick paste by mashing ginger and garlic together using a pestle and mortar or a small bowl and the heel of a wooden spoon or puree in food processor. Heat vegetable oil over medium heat in a large saucepan, add the onion and sauté until transparent. Add the garlic ginger paste and sauté another 2 minutes until fragrant; lower heat and stir constantly to avoid burning the paste. Add the cumin and coriander and sauté for a minute more. Add curry paste and sauté for another minute. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Simmer over medium - low heat for about an hour or until sweet potato is soft and almost melting into the stew. Be sure to stir occasionally.

Garnish with cilantro and more siracha depending on level of desired heat.

Wedding Food Part 1

Spanish Gazpacho

This gazpacho recipe is one that I wrote for the wedding. I have modified it so that it is vegan by using vegan Worcestershire sauce, but you can easily substitute the real sauce that contains anchovies as well if you are not serving to vegetarians.

• 4 Roma Tomatoes, peeled and seeded
• 3 stalks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
  
• 3.5 oz sweet onion, roughly chopped
  
• .25 cup Vinagre de Jerez (Spanish sherry wine vinegar)
• .25 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1 whole yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1.5 tsp chopped garlic
• .5 cup loose parsley
• 1 48oz can of salt-free tomato juice

Puree all but the tomato juice in a food processor for at least a minute, until smooth. Pour vegetable mixture and tomato juice into a pitcher and stir. Chill well. Serve in martini glasses garnished with an olive.

Spring's First Cheeses from Prarie Fruits Farm

Saturday morning we arose to a dreary gray drizzle. We quickly got ready and I, dressed for summer in shorts and flip flops, threw on a sweatshirt and ran out into the rain to pick up Laura and get to the farm early enough to secure our long awaited prize, Angel Food from Prairie Fruits Farms. We arrived at the farm expecting to see the same activity we drove into the week before, with goats playing in the pen and families gathered around pointing out the animals to their children, while soaking in the warm spring sunshine, but alas it was a dark, dismal day and when we arrived, no one was to be found. We walked around a little and looked at the goats, walked into the sales room, saw the cheese, wild ramps and Organic spinach from Blue Moon Farms, and heard some voices coming from the cheese production rooms, yet couldn't find anyone to sell us our long awaited cheese. We eventually secured our prize, a petite 5.6oz wheel of Angel Food. As we drove back to my house to enjoy we realized we needed bread, so we quickly swung by IGA and picked up one of those Take-and-Bake baguettes. With that we grabbed some strawberries and tomatoes at Laura's and headed to my house to enjoy our spoils and not share with anyone. The cheese was just as creamy and salty and gooey as we had remembered and we ended up eating the whole wheel over a 2.5 hour sitting. Now we just can't wait until they have their Prairie Blazing Star, an aged goat cheese wrapped in Sycamore leaves and soaked in a local Illinois red wine.


On the previous night Laura and I went out to KO Fusion, an Asian-American fusion restaurant downtown Champaign that also features sushi. We had an amazing meal, although it was quite pricey. We ordered three sushi roles for dinner and stuffed ourselves with dessert. We first ordered the Solomon, the Lava and the Crunch. The Lava roll was by far our least favorite, although still quite good, just lacked in flare. They describe it as "Crabmeat, black mushrooms wrapped in smoked salmon topped w/baked sea scallops and caviar" And that is what it was, quite fishy and rather boring, like the standard Orange roll, a maki roll, rolled in small orange fish roe. The Solomon, by only a slight advantage or more complex flavors was our favorite(not to mention the most expensive). It was a "shrimp tempura roll topped with unagi , salmon, avocado, masago caviar and crunch" They also failed to mention the wonderful spicy-sweet sauces that topped the roll that truly brought it together. For those of you who are wondering unagi is smoked eel and masago is the orange fish roe that I previously mentioned. The last roll, the Crunch, was the cheapest roll and came with a mix of spicy tomato-chili sauce and a mustard based sauce. It was a roll of spicy tuna topped with masago and crushed cashews. For dessert we had a cheesecake filling that was wrapped in wonton, fried, and drizzled with a coconut-lime sauce and a sauce that had cinnamon in it. Overall the experience at KO Fusion was great and we enjoyed the meal, including the White Dragon cocktail of lychee, rum, and pineapple juice, but we might opt to try out SushiKame down the street, which we hear from friends is cheaper and just as good.

Cookies & Hummus & Friends

So last weekend after the Latin fundraiser dinner we spent the day baking cookies for B.'s brother's fiancé's bridal shower. Well L. also ended up with a truck load of Latin garbanzo bean salad(think roughly 6lbs) Well this salad was quite delicious in flavor as it contained chipotles in adobo, jalepenos, lime juice, olive oil, onion, tomato and lots of cilantro all marinated for a couple of hours. Well we thought we could make it better by transforming it with the help of my brand new food processor(Thanks Mom!) into hummus. What we didn't know is how much 6lbs of hummus actually is......lets just say we are still eating after giving a lot of it away.

For the hummus we mixed the salad with tahini, lemon juice, Spanish olive oil from Trader Joe's, salt, pepper, and some Sweet Ancho Roasted Red Pepper spread from Harry & David. It turned out to be a sweet/spicy Latin flared hummus. Not what you would really expect from hummus, but still a good dip. One friend of ours told me the other day she ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

While we tirelessly worked on the hummus, B. got to work on making sugar cookie dough. She endlessly rolled out dough and cut miniature cookies out for the next 3 hours, while L. and I snuck pieces of dough and "deformed" cookies. L helped decorate them with sprinkles and icing, I tried to do the whole sprinkle things, but failed miserable, I figure I will just stick to cooking.

B. did let me make my own creation with the leftover dough. I decided to make my Mii. He later went for a swim in the icing and ended up drowning and getting eaten by a shark or maybe that was me.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

3 (11-ounce) cans Mexican corn with peppers, drained and rinsed

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 firm avocados, peeled and chopped

4 green onions, sliced

1 small red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 (.6-ounce) package Good Season Italian Dressing

Chopped cilantro, optional

PREPARATION: In a large mixing bowl combine black beans, Mexican corn, tomatoes, avocados, green onions, red onion, garlic, olive oil, white vinegar and Good Season Italian Dressing. Gently stir together and let set a couple of hours in the refrigerator. Serve with tortilla chips.

Makes 12 cups.

Nutritional information per 1/4-cup serving: 63 calories, 4 grams fat, 2 grams protein, 8 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams fiber, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 171 milligrams sodium.

Tropical Fruit Salsa

2 cans tropical fruit
1 can pineapple
1/4 to 1/2 small red onion (to taste)
1-3 jalepenos, seeds and veins removed

Drain the juice, resereving some if needed, put all ingredients in food processor and blend until consistency that you like. Serve with chips. You may add more tropical fruit or pineapple if it is too strong of an onion taste for you

Becky's Ultimate Chocolate Frosting

So this is my Aunt's awesome frosting,...... next I just need to get he chocolate oatmeal cake recipe off of her. Hope you enjoy this on any cake or brownies.

1/2 stick butter-room temp
1/2 stick cream cheese-room temp
1/2-3/4 C cocoa
1/3 C milk
2 2/3 C powdered sugar

Blend butter and cream cheese with hand mixer; add rest of ingredients and beat until smooth and creamy

Broccoli Salad

So I think this really is one of my favorite salads. With fresh broccoli, bacon, sunflower seeds, and raisins in a tangy mayo dressing....Well lets just say I would eat it for breakfast.....but I am not one that's big on traditional meals at traditional hours, so maybe you guys want to just stick with adding it to your next lunch or dinner. Its also great to take to potlucks. For the broccoli I usually use the florets and smaller bite sized tops, but if you don't want to waste you can thinly slice and julliene the stems, or run it through a mandoline if you have one.

Fresh broccoli, bite sized, at least two bunches
Cooked and crumbled bacon
Sunflower seed meats
Raisins

DRESSING:
1 C. Miracle Whip(I insisit on this, but you may substitute, but maybe add a little more sugar)
1/4 C. white sugar
2 T. white vinegar

Mix the dressing and toss with all ingredients. Let sit for several hours or overnight for full flavor development.

Toasted Coconut Pie

Well I haven't posted lately, and I am sorry to all that actually read this, but the last couple weeks of the semester have been upon us and I am sure that it is not just me that is extremely busy. This pie is extremely simple to make and great for something quick to whip up. By using a premade pastry crust from Pillsbury or some other brand, you can save a whole lot of time and it tastes just as great.

1 pkg premade pie crust

MIX TOGETHER:
3 beaten eggs
1 1/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. melted butter
1 T. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla

STIR IN:
1 1/3 C. shredded coconut

Pour into an unbaked pie shell and bake 40-45 minutes at 350. Cool before serving.

Pineapple Casserole

Ok so the first time that I tell people about this dish they look at me and say "eww pineapple and cheese!", but I assure you that this is an amazing combination, and I am sure my I-team will back me up, well at least it was gone pretty quick when I made it. So enjoy this amazing, and very cheap, side dish.

2 cans chunk pineapple
3/4 C. sugar
3 T. flour
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 stick butter

Place butter in a 9x13 pan and place in oven while preheating to 350. Once butter is melted, drain pineapple, reserving half the juice. Pour pineapple into pan. Sift together the flour and sugar, stir in the cheese. Top pineapple with mixture, top with crushed Ritz crackers. Pour 1/4 C. or so of juice over casserole, and bake 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Caramelized Balsamic Onion, Spinach, and Goat Cheese Pizza

So I have been posting a lot today and yesterday, but since I was on pizzas I had to follow up with my favorite pizza of all times. You start with the Backwoods Pizza Dough recipe and keep it clean and fresh with EVOO(Extra Virgin Olive Oil) as your sauce. Then you layer on baby spinach, caramelized balsamic red onions, fresh mozzarella and crumbled goat cheese. And for a real treat you finish it all off with a drizzle of white truffle oil and grill it on a gas or charcoal grill. NOTE: This pizza, as it is currently written, is not super cheap. But if you substitute the truffle oil for olive oil(my mom actually prefers this) and you use frozen spinach, and shredded mozzarella, it still tastes good, just don't omit the goat cheese unless you substitute it for some other stronger cheese, because the sweet and creamy, strong tastes really compliment each other. In addition you could bake this pizza at 450 for 10-12 minutes or until crispy.

Serving Size: 1 large pizza

½ recipe Backwoods Pizza Dough
1 recipe Carmelized Balsamic Onions(recipe follows)
1 pkg unseasoned crumbled goat cheese
1 pkg fresh Mozzarella
1 pkg fresh baby spinach
EVOO
White truffle Oil

Preheat Grill on high. Roll out dough on cornmeal on a cookie sheet with no sides. Drizzle 1-2 T of EVOO on dough. Layer fresh spinach on dough followed by onions. Slice the mozzarella into medallions and layer loosely spread out across crust. Top with crumbled goat cheese and drizzle with white truffle oil. Gently slide the pizza onto the grill and put the lid on. Grill for 10-15 minutes checking regularly until the crust is browned and the cheese melted.

*NOTE: Do not put too much Mozzarella cheese on pizza, fresh mozzarella melts much more than aged part-skim Mozzarella. Add other ingredients to your own tastes, measurements not meant for total use.

Caramelized Balsamic Onions

2 large red onions
2 T white sugar
Balsamic vinegar

Peel and slice the onion in half and then in ¼ inch slices. Heat a small non-stick skillet on medium high and add onions to pan. Sauté until tender. Sprinkle sugar on top of onions and stir until sugar has melted and caramelized onto onions, about 2 minutes. Add 2 splashes of Balsamic vinegar and wait until it dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside.

Backwoods Pizza Dough

So this is my mom’s recipes that she found in a cookbook somewhere and now it is a staple in our family’s weekly diet. We usually make a triple batch which will feed my family plus an about 8 hungry teenage boys. If you make this in a stand mixer it isn’t too much work to let it knead the dough a good majority. If you make the dough you can let it rise and then freeze it tightly wrapped plastic.

¼ oz dry yeast

¼ C warm water-out of tap

3 C flour

1 t salt

2 T EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

1 T honey

¾ C cold water

Preheat oven to 250° before beginning. Dissolve yeast in warm water and let stand till bubbly. Combine rest of ingredients in blender; add yeast and stir to blend. Knead till smooth and glossy. Form a ball and oil the surface. Cover the bowl, turn off oven and place bowl in warm oven for an hour. It should double in size. When rolling dough out roll out thin and on corn meal. Bake pizza at 450° for 8-12 minute or until crust is crispy and done.