Dishes
Johnny Cakes and Black-Eyed Peas
March 21, 2011 | 
Author My husband IM’d me the other day at work. No commentary, just a link for Johnny Cakes (from Adventure Journal, no less). The first thing I did was scan the ingredients to see if the recipe was vegan. It was. I IM’d a reply “you make those and I’ll make black-eyed peas in the pressure cooker.” Later that night the omnivore and the vegan cooked together and made a delicious meal!
The Johnny Cakes
Dave started with this Johnny Cakes recipe. But the ratio of dry and wet didn’t seem right to him so he referred to this oh-so-NOT vegan Bobby Flay recipe and adjusted the amount of water (he did not use sugar) and added diced jalapeno. They came out beautifully
The Black-Eyed Peas
I rinsed and drained one cup of dry black-eyed peas and tossed them into the pressure cooker. I added three cups of water, three cloves of garlic, one tablespoon Sriracha and a bay leaf. I brought the peas to high pressure for 10 minutes, followed by a natural release of pressure. The Johnny Cakes were still on the griddle so after removing the lid from the pressure cooker I added salt to the black-eyed peas and allowed them to simmer for five minutes.
We were obnoxiously proud—there may have been a high-five, or two—of this rather impromptu plate of simple, vegan, fabulous good eats.
Originally posted on JL goes Vegan: Food & Fitness with a side of Kale. You can follow JL on Twitter and Facebook.
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Comfort for Four Seasons
Apparantly there are FOUR SEASONS in a year … this past year has been SUMMER and WINTER (with 12+ ft of snow so far!) I have been buried in comfort food since mid-November and am looking forward to fresh spring food … to say goodbye to it I am sharing my last four comfort food recipes that I rely on!
On the other side of gourmet comfort food is the “oh so good but oh so unhealthy” food that is easy to make and darn good!
I live in a non-sports household but this dish is a dream!
Fall Colours Chili-Cheese Casserole –
So bad for you but SOOOO Good.
Casserole Ingredients
1 large 13-oz/ 365 gram package Doritos (save 2 cups for casserole topping)
2 tbsp. onion, grated
1 10-ounce can Chili with beans
10- to 15-ounce enchilada sauce or salsa
8-ounce can tomato sauce
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Topping Ingredients
2 cups Doritos
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cups sour cream
Casserole Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Crumble 6 cups Doritos with your hands into a large mixing bowl. Add the onion, the Chili, the enchilada sauce, tomato sauce and 1 and 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese to the crumbled Doritos. Stir with a rubber spatula to combine. Place mixture into an 8 1/2 x 11-inch ovenproof casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Spread the sour cream over the top of the casserole with a large spoon or rubber spatula. Top with remaining 2 cups Doritos. Then sprinkle with the 1/2-cup of the cheddar cheese. Bake for another five minutes and serve.
Another amazing dish that makes a winter night seem shorter … and warmer!
Winter-Comfort Chicken Fumicatta
Serve over Pasta (preferably penne or fettuccine which works with a heavy sauce like this), and if so, cover with a little of the liquid before piling on top) or lemon rice.
Pasta or rice for four (Cooked)
2 cups caramelized red onions
2 tsp. EVOO
4 chicken breast, thinly sliced and cut into pieces about 1 inch long
1 lb. cremini mushrooms, sliced into thin slices
1 lb. portabello mushrooms, sliced into thin slices (top only, peel top so it absorbs flavours)
Zest of two large lemons
1 can evaporated skim milk (not the sweet kind)
2 + cups chicken stock
(Cornstarch dissolved in hot water if needed to thicken)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
4-c. baby spinach leaves, cleaned and de-stemmed
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large, shallow pan and brown the chicken: remove and set aside. Add a little more oil if needed and cook the mushrooms about 5 minutes. Add the liquids, zest and then the chicken, season to taste and place cover on. Let simmer at last one hour — if sauce to thin, add cornstarch dissolved in water and cook until more thick. Immediately before serving add in the spinach leaves. (This will keep them green and not wilt them too too much. Serve hot over rice or pasta, place caramelized onions on top and enjoy!
Lemon rice
2 1/2 c chicken stock
1 c converted rice
3 coves minced garlic
Zest and juice of one lemon
1/2 tsp. dill
2 tsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Bring stock to boil in a saucepan, add rest of ingredients, cover and let simmer on low until all water has absorbed. (20 – 25 minutes.) Eat on own or with Chicken Fumicatta on top. YUUUMMMMM
Spring Has Sprung Squash and Caramelized Onion Lasagna
1/3 cup butter
4 large onion, sliced
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 cup milk
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
9 lasagna noodles
3 cup chopped broccoli or spinach leaves
Squash Filling
1 1/3-cup light ricotta cheese
1 1/3 cup squash, puree
1 egg
1 egg, yolk
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 pinch grated nutmeg
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat; cook onions, stirring occasionally, for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown. Set aside. Meanwhile, in heavy saucepan, melt remaining butter over medium heat; stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring, for 10 to 15 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Meanwhile, in large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles for 8 to 10 minutes or until almost tender. Reserving cooking liquid, remove noodles from pot; rinse in cold water. Arrange in single layer on damp tea towel. Return reserved cooking liquid to boil. Add broccoli; cook for about 2 minutes or until almost tender. Drain and refresh under cold water; drain again. Set aside. In food processor, pulse ricotta with squash purée until very smooth. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in egg, egg yolk, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg until well blended. Set aside. Set aside 1 cup of the cheese sauce. Arrange 3 noodles in single layer in greased 13- x 9-inch (3 L) glass baking dish. Spread with half each of the squash filling, broccoli, onions and remaining cheese sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles and reserved cheese sauce. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake for about 40 minutes or until light golden and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Summer-Veggie Cannelloni and Trappist Oka Cheese Gratin
Cannelloni
4 large sheets of fresh lasagna, halved or 8 cannelloni shells
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 medium eggplant, in 1/2-inch cubes
2 c. washed and chopped spinach
1 Tbsp. water
2/3 c. Canadian Ricotta
2 basil leaves
Salt and pepper
Tomato Sauce
1-tsp. butter
1 medium onion, minced
28-oz can Italian tomatoes, diced
10 basil leaves
Salt and pepper
1/2 lb. (Canadian Oka, diced small)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook pasta according to package directions. In a frying pan, melt butter. Add oil and shallots. Cook until golden. Add eggplant, spinach and water. Continue cooking for 2 minutes. Stir in Ricotta and basil. Salt and pepper to taste. Lay out cooked pasta sheets and evenly spread Ricotta mixture on them; roll into cylinders (or stuff cannelloni). Place in an ovenproof dish. To make tomato sauce: in a frying pan, melt butter. Add onion and cook 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and continue cooking for 15 minutes. Add basil. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over cannelloni. Sprinkle Oka over top. Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is melted and golden.
More Comfort Food-Mexican Chicken Casserole
So the core foodnuts had an Academy Awards Night last week, and I made my Mexican Chicken Casserole. One pound of cheese for 7 people? But of course it was great!!! And I won the pool too. Be warned- this is not gourmet food. It has actual cans of soup like your grandmother used to use!!
Mexican Chicken Casserole
4-6 chicken breast, cooked and cut or shredded (I boil mine in water for 20 min)
12 corn tortillas, medium or large
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
sliced olives, or mushrooms, or onions- 1 or 2 cups
14-16 oz green chile salsa- mild
1 lb cheddar cheese- shredded
Cut torillas into 1 inch strips. Mix soups, milk, salsa, olives/mushrooms/onion.
Grease large shallow casserole dish. Add 2 Tbls water. Place ½ torilla strips covering bottom. Cover with ½ the chicken and then ½ the sauce. Repeat layers. Top with the cheese. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Remove from fridge and let sit 1 hour before baking.
Cover with tinfoil and Bake at 350 for 1 ½ hours. Remove the tinfoil for the last 45 minutes.
Minestrone Genovese
Genoa, Italy
This is just a fabulous soup, and worth a little effort.
Buy a container of basil pesto from the deli section, fresh, not canned. 6-8 oz
For the soup:
3 T olive oil
¼ lb spinach washed and coarsely chopped
¼ lb beet greens washed and coarsely chopped
¼ lb dry lima beans, soaked for an hour in water, then drained
½ savoy or other cabbage coarsely shredded
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 T or more chopped onion
1 leek, white part only, cleaned and sliced
2 t. salt, or chicken bouillon for 8 cups water I use “Better Than Bouillon” a paste
½ t. pepper
½ lb linguine broken into 1 inch pieces
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the spinach, beet greens, soaked lima beans, cabbage, potatoes, chopped onion, leek, and bouillon or salt, and pepper. Stir and cook briefly 2-3 minutes. Cover with the 8 cups water and simmer gently covered for 1 ½ hours. Raise the heat, bring to a rolling boil, and break the pasta into the soup, and cook until just cooked according to package directions. Taste, adjust seasoning.
Blend in the pesto with a wire whisk, and cook for a minute to blend flavors. Serve with shredded parmesan cheese.
Comfort Food – Part 2
Super easy … and kinda hard (lots of choices!)
Salsa Chicken
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 lb. chicken breasts strips
2 Tbsp. oil
14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/3 c. apricot or peach preserves
Empty the taco seasoning on a plate or into a plastic bag. Add chicken strips and toss to coat. Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add chicken and sauté 5-7 minutes or until done. Stir in tomatoes and preserves. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
OR
This is a VERY complicated dish but an absolute favourite of everyone!!!
SOOO worth the time … and can easily be made “less caloric” if you so desire with milk instead of cream, etc!
Seared Duck Breast Pasta
Sauce
1 finely diced large onion (Vidalia is best, white will do)
¼ c. butter
¼ c. flour
1 ½ cups duck or chicken stock (hot)
1 ½ cups 18% cream
2 tsp. freshly ground pink peppercorns
1 tsp. salt
¼ c. fresh minced tarragon
Enough cooked linguine or pappardelle noodles for two servings.
2 large duck (or chicken) breasts, skinned
1 pound assorted mushrooms (shitake, morel, and oyster), cleaned and thinly sliced.
1 large thinly sliced zucchini or yellow winter squash
Garnish: more chopped fresh tarragon and cracked black pepper.
Sweat the onions in the butter over medium heat until clear, no colour achieved, and then add the flour slowly and cook until you have a blonde roux (4-5 minutes). Remove from the heat and cool the bottom of the pan in water and add in ¼ of the stock and make into a thick paste. Slowly incorporate the rest of the stock, then the milk, constantly stirring so that no lumps form (or you will get a crappy pasta sauce!). Add in the pink peppercorns (black will do if you don’t have the pink), salt and tarragon and simmer on low heat for a minimum of 20 minutes to cook out the starch in the flour. Stir occasionally to make sure it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Keep the sauce uncovered, as it will probably reduce which is fine.
Cook the pasta until al dente and keep warm until ready to serve while sauce is simmering,
Heat a skillet with olive oil in it and cook the breasts. If it is duck, make it rare (dark pink in the middle) so it is its best flavour and consistency — overcooked duck is horrific. (140 degrees is an accepted temperature for rare. Duck should reach an internal temperature of 180º F and it should not be pink in the middle. Remove and keep warm on the side, add zucchini and mushrooms and cook until al dente.
Check taste of sauce, season to taste. Slice the breasts into 6-8 slices or serve whole on the bone.
Assembly:
Place pasta in two large bowls and cover with sauce (the more the better!). Mix a little in the bowl but don’t make it sloppy (pretend you are serving it in a restaurant and it has to look good!) Layer half of the mushrooms and zucchini in each bowl. Place a breast in each bowl and pour some more sauce on top of the breast/veggies. Garnish with a little more tarragon and cracked pepper.
Eat with gusto and smile and your dining partner. This is not a dish to add grated cheese to, as the flavour will overwhelm the dish.