Veggie Delight

There's no denying that I love my meat. I like to eat just about any kind of animal and I'm not ashamed to admit it. However, there are times I like to prepare a meat-free meal for some of my herbivorous friends. Tony and I got a beautiful new kitchen table for the wedding and wanted to break it in with a dinner party. Even more exciting, I had just picked up the object of my obsession- a new Kitchenai Stand-Up Mixer. It was the perfect opportunity to invite someone for dinner. This particular dinner party was particularly stressful because we had our friend the professional chef and his girlfriend the ridiculously clean vegetarian. Cooking for a chef is like playing piano for a concert pianist- failure is inevitable (though comfortably relative). Having someone who respects cleanliness is a much more frightening experience. In the end I decided that a couple bottles of wine were the perfect solution to dulling the tastebuds and blurring the vision. The good news is that I discovered a couple great vegetarian recipes.

Vegetarian Pie

  • Pie Pastry (Just find any recipe you can)
  • 6 small garden leeks
  • 1 medium diced onion
  • 5 medium diced potatoes
  • 4 medium diced carrots
  • 3 stalks of celery
  • 2 tsp of basil
  • 2 tsp of marjoram
  • 2 tsp of paprika
  • A couple leaves of kale
  • 2 Tbl of butter
  • 2 Tbl of flour
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1 Tbl of dijon mustard
  • 2 cups of aged cheddar cheese (I prefer white)
  • 1 cup of bread crumbs
  • 2 Tbl of butter
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 tsp marjoram
  • 1 tsp of paprika

Pre-heat the oven to 375 F. Use your brand new Empire Red kitchenaid to make pie pastry. If you don't have a stand mixer, spend a few minutes feeling sorry for yourself, then go buy a frozen pie pastry...or I guess if you are feeling really brave you could try to make the pie pastry by hand. Place the pastry into a pie pan. Put some olive oil in the bottom of a saucepan and add the onions and leeks. When the onions go clear; add potatoes, carrots and celery. Then add basil, marjoram and paprika. Put a tiny bit of water in the pan, so nothing burns, and cover the sauce pan. Cook until the vegetables get tender. Meanwhile make a white sauce by putting butter into a small saucepan. When the butter melts, add flour and stir. Slowly add the milk and dijon, stirring the entire time. When your white sauce thickens take it off the stove and add the cheese. Now it's time to make your pie. Drain out any liquid that's at the bottom of the vegetable pan, and put the vegetables into the pie pan. Pour your white sauce over the vegetables and use a fork to make sure that it gets through all your veggies. Now take your 2 Tbl of butter and put it into a frying pan. Add the bread crumbs, basil, marjoram and paprika and fry until the bread crumbs are crisp. Put the bread crumbs on top of your pie and pop it into the oven. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let it sit for about 15 minutes before serving. I don't have a photo of my veggie pie because there weren't any batteries in my camera. Dang.

Cranberry Cake

  • 2 cups of cranberries
  • 1 cup of sliced almonds
  • 1/2 cup of brown sugar
  • 1 tsp of nutmeg
  • 1 Tbl of cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup of butter
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp of cardamon
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 pint of sour cream (240 ml)
  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1 tsp of baking soda
  • 1 tsp of baking powder

    • This is a great way to use some of those fabulous low bush cranberries I know you've been picking. Put the cranberries, almonds, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon into a food processor and blend them together. In your beautiful Empire Red Kitchenaid cream your butter and sugar together. Add vanilla, cardamon, eggs and sour cream. Whip together for a few minutes before adding the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Butter a bundt pan, then add half the cake batter. Cover it with 1/2 of the cranberry mixture. Pour the rest of the batter on top and spread the remaining cranberry mixture. Bake in an over at 350 F for 50-60 minutes. Serve with Baileys and coffe.

    Sierra posted this on Sep 23, 2006 from the kitchen | | permanent link