Cookie Chick

Broccoli at the La Grande Farmer's Market

Unlike President George H.W. Bush, we love broccoli. We usually have at least two bags of frozen broccoli florets in the freezer for a quick side dish. It’s been unusually cold this winter in Southern California. A nice bowl of warm soup is not only nourishing but a healthy balance for all the sweet treats that abound this time of year. You can trick yourself into thinking you’re being good.

I’ve been experimenting with vegan cooking lately. While we are still not vegan, we are trying to cut back on dairy and eggs for health reasons. I decided to try to make a broccoli “cream” soup without using dairy or adding cheese. It is actually quite tasty and a healthy alternative to other cream based soups. Look for a vegetarian “chicken” broth powder. You can usually find it in a natural foods store. It makes nice broth and is a wonderful seasoning when sauteed with fresh vegetables.

Vegan Broccoli Cream Soup

• 1-2 pounds of fresh or frozen broccoli, cut into 1 inch sized pieces
• 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks of celery, peeled and diced
• 2 small or 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 tablespoons of vegetarian “chicken” broth powder
• 4 cups of water
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup of soy creamer or plain soy milk

Directions

In a medium sized dutch oven, sauté the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in the olive oil until soft and fragrant, about 5 – 10 minutes. Trader Joe’s now sells a “Mirepoix” mixture of celery, carrots and onion to save you time, but it’s easy and less expensive to cut them up yourself. Add the “chicken” broth powder and saute for 5 more minutes. The powder will release more moisture from the vegetables and become more fragrant. Add the potatoes and cook for a few more minutes. Add the water, bay leaves, and the broccoli and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the broccoli and potatoes are fork tender. This will take about 20 minutes or so.

Remove the bay leaves! Using an immersion blender, blend the soup to a desired consistency. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can puree the soup in batches in a blender, but be careful to only fill the blender halfway so that you don’t burn yourself if the hot soup overflows. If you like a chunky soup, you can remove some of the broccoli and potatoes and add back in. If the soup is too thin, you can microwave some frozen broccoli and add it to the soup. Add the soy creamer and salt and peppper to taste. You can add more soy creamer or milk if you prefer a creamier soup.

After you’ve eaten your healthy soup, you won’t feel so bad for eating a few more of those sinful Trader Joe’s star cookies covered in dark chocolate. Those things are evil!

Orange Cranberry Bread with Chocolate

(I’m reposting this from my main blog. It’s been far too long since I’ve posted here. I was surprised to find people actually read it, so I’m going to try to be better.)

Although, I’m not a vegan, I have been an ovo-lacto vegetarian for 18 years. Lately, we have been cutting back on dairy and eggs. I’ve experimented with using soy milk in place of cow’s milk since we don’t have it in the house anymore. I’ve found that it actually works better in quick breads. It seems to add a bit of tanginess, not unlike buttermilk.

I decided to try making a complete vegan bread using a recipe that was already close. It called for buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt. Substituting soy milk and soy yogurt was easy. I also am trying egg substitute and this recipe only had one egg, so I thought it would be a good test. As an added bonus, I tried adding a bit of chopped vegan dark chocolate. Dave thought it would be good in orange bread, and boy was he right!

This bread was delicious, both warm and cold. I’ve made this bread using dairy and eggs and now I’ve made the vegan version. I have to admit, the vegan version is better. It’s clean and bright with the orange contrasting nicely with the chocolate and the tang of the cranberry adding the extra zing.

Vegan Orange Cranberry Bread with Chocolate

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 orange (zest and juice)
• 1/4 cup of vanilla soy yogurt
• 1/2 cup of vanilla soy milk
• 1 serving Ener-G egg substitute
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup of fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
• 2-3 ounces of vegan dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

1. Using a Microplane zester, zest the orange making sure not to go into the white pith. Juice the orange and place the zest in the juice to bloom.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the orange juice and zest, yogurt, soymilk, egg substitute and vegetable oil.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Fold in the cranberries and chocolate.
6. Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
7. Bake the bread for 55 – 65 minutes until a tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean and the bread starts to pull away from the edges of the pan.
8. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes and then run out of the pan to finish cooling.

When we first “tied the knot” a dozen or so years ago, we purchased an inexpensive set of cookware at Target. Budgets were tight and cooking wasn’t such a passion. All the pieces were coated with teflon for a non-stick finish, even the sauce pans. Overall, the pans worked well and held up to frequent use. Concern over the safety of teflon began to emerge a few years ago. Pans heated to 500º C could emit toxic fumes. According to Cook’s Illustrated, it was fairly easy to get to that temperature quickly when cooking over high heat. We began to consider other alternatives.

As I become enamored of cooking and my husband ran out of gift ideas, finer cookware became a common and welcome present to be gleefully opened. Now, I have a nice set of All Clad stainless steel cookware and an ever growing variety of Le Creuset cast iron.

I still have a few teflon coated fry pans that are needed for crepes (or 49ers). We also cook eggs and egg whites daily, so a non-stick pan is needed for that, but does the non-stick have to be teflon? Some folks have suggested going back to the original non-stick, cast iron. I’ve tried cooking eggs in my Le Creuset skillets with the inner black, matte finish. It works okay, but not as well as teflon.

I was at a Le Creuest outlet in Gilroy, California in January and I believe I saw skillets with the shiny enamel finish on the inside. I didn’t buy one at the time and searched for them when I got home. Either I was mistaken or they don’t normally sell fully enameled skillets. My Le Creuset french oven and deep saucier clean up so well, I wondered if fully enameled skillets would fare as well. Since I could not find new Le Creuset with the shiny enamel interior, I decided to check eBay. I found a vintage Le Creuset pan on eBay that had the shiny enamel finish. I decided to buy it and give it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works for eggs. It’s a small pan, about 9″ in diameter, so it’s not too heavy. With a spray of canola oil, I preheat the pan on low. Once it reaches a suitable temperature, I add the eggs. It works well enough for scrambled eggs, perhaps a higher heat might be more suitable. I’ll have to play with that. It does an amazing job on eggs over easy. The eggs do not stick at all. Once I flip the eggs over, I turn the heat off and let the residual heat finish cooking the other side for perfect eggs. Clean up is a breeze, just like teflon.

I’m not sure if other cast iron manufacturers make fully enameled skillets with the shiny interior. It would be a wonderful addition if they did.

One of our favorite breakfast haunts is the Original Pancake House, not to be confused with the International House of Pancakes or IHOP. The Original Pancake House is also a chain, but one of greater distinction. Founded in 1953 in Portland, Oregon it is still a family run business with franchises coast to coast.

We’ve been patrons of the Original Pancake House since the early 1990s. We can’t remember who introduced us to this culinary delight, which is a shame since a sincere “thank you” is owed.

Our favorite meal at the Original Pancake House is the 49er Flap Jacks. They are large, crepe-like pancakes that are both tender and chewy. Over the years, I’ve tried various recipes seeking to duplicate or at least approximate this family favorite. Recipes online often call for a sourdough starter, but I’ve never tasted sourdough in the 49ers.

A friend recently shared a recipe for Palacsinta, a Hungarian Crepe that her grandmother used to make for her. I made her recipe and it was oh so close to 49ers. The next try, I adjusted the recipe slightly by cutting back on the sugar, adding a bit of salt and a bit more flour. We now have something that comes close enough to satisfy our 49er cravings, at home and on the cheap.

I now use my blender to mix the batter the night before as a tip from Alton Brown when making crepes. It’s easy and quick. The batter can be used right away, but the overnight stay in the refrigerator helps the bubbles escape and improves the flavor.

49er Flap Jacks (Approximation)

• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 cups of milk
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Blend the sugar, salt, eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla in a blender for 3 seconds. Add the flour and blend until combined, 5 – 10 seconds more. If any flour remains on the sides, scrape down and blend again for a few seconds until combined.

Pour batter into a covered container and refrigerate one hour or overnight.

When ready to cook the flap jacks, preheat a 10″ non-stick skillet or crepe pan on medium low heat until the pan reaches 325º or until a drop of water “dances” across the surface. If it evaporates immediately, the pan is too hot. Turn down the heat and try again. Brush the surface of the pan with melted butter and pour 1/2 cup of batter in pan. Swirl pan to cover the bottom evenly with batter. Cook until the edges begin to brown. Flip over the flap jack and cook until the other side browns lightly.

Serve with pure maple syrup and slices of lemon.

Hi, my name is Sylvia and I have a kitchen gadget obsession. I know I’m not alone. Stores like Williams Sonoma, Sur La Table, Crate and Barrel, not to mention Amazon.com love us. Where some people buy shoes, we buy kitchen ware: appliances, cookware, bakeware, tools, etc.

Some gadgets get used frequently and I wonder how I got by before they graced my kitchen. Other things seemed like a good idea at the time, but gather dust and get moved around until the next garage sale or eBay auction.

I have a KitchenAid Professional 600 mixer, Stella. (My third KA Mixer, all worked beautifully, I just ‘had to’ upgrade. ) I love Stella and use her several times per week. She stays on the counter ready for action. She’s a big mixer with a large 6 quart bowl. However, sometimes you don’t need a bowl that big and it can actually be a hindrance.

KitchenAid came to the rescue by introducing a 3 Quart Bowl and Combi-whip in March of last year. (Yes, I did rush out and buy it last March.) This smaller bowl ingeniously attaches to 5 quart and 6 quart models that use the bowl lift mechanism. Currently, it is a Williams-Sonoma exclusive.
[ CORRECTION: It is now also available directly from KitchenAid. ]

Is the smaller bowl and whip a necessity? No, I got by quite well without them. However, having a second, smaller bowl is a nice convenience. The small bowl nests well, so it’s easy to store. That is half the battle in my small kitchen. The 3 quart bowl will nest in the 6 quart bowl, but I use the big bowl to store the attachments including the dough hook, the paddle, and the combi-whip. The wire whip is too big and gets stored in a cupboard. I have some of the KitchenAid bowl covers to keep the attachments and bowl clean. I nest the 3 quart bowl with some bowl shaped strainers.

So far, I mainly use the 3 quart bowl and whip for making pie crust and making buttercream frosting. It does an excellent job of cutting butter into flour. It also mixes buttercream well and is little easier to scrape down. So, while not a necessity, this bowl and whip are keepers.