Bacon Cupcakes Take Over Our Kitchen

Green Salad

Mixed greens, red peppers, flowers and arugula from the garden, and blood orange dressing (five whole small blood oranges, one red onion, red wine and balsamic vinegars, olive oil, salt, and a tiny squirt of mustard, all in the food processor).

Brown Rice

Lentil Salad

3 quarts French Lentils, simmered in 4 quarts water until tender with bay leaves, dried thyme and a couple of onion halves. Lightly caramelized minced onions with a ton of garlic, and roasted carrots added at the last minute. Mustardy dressing (equal parts mustard, red wine vinegar, and olive oil), toasted walnuts, and feta on the side. Next time, either boil the carrots, or start roasting them earlier, and get a soft goat cheese if possible.

Asparagus and Mushrooms

2 ways: steamed asparagus mixed with sauteed mushrooms, and roasted in candied bacon fat. The second preparation was less amazing than I had expected. The first, thanks to Ida, was perfect.

Beets

Scrubbed, chopped, tossed with salt and olive oil, and cooked at about 425 for about an hour and half. This is not my favorite beet preparation, but it is very easy and very good, and complemented the rest of the meal.

Lemon Garlic Tofu

Slices of tofu marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, a lot of garlic, some garden herbs, and a little soy sauce and maple syrup, then baked, swimming in the extra marinade so that they wouldn't dry out. Started at a very high temperature, then down to about 300 degrees once they were browned. These puffed up in a kind of funny way, so I was a bit worried about them when they came out of the oven, but they were great.

Grilled Mahi Mahi

Salt, pepper, lemon, olive oil, and Megan Williams's grilling magic. I don't know exactly what her algorithm for the fish was, but it was very tasty. Some of it was a little overcooked, but this was my fault for insisting on "American done."

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

with cream and butter ganache, and maple bacon. I thought that this would be a cute way to make a meaty dessert, and expected them to be no better or worse than unbebaconed cupcakes, but they were amazing. These may be my new dinner party dish: plain vegan cupcakes from the vegan cupcake book with chocolate chips melted into butter and cream, topped with bacon bits made from baked maple coated bacon. Wow. I am not, in general, and oh-my-god-bacon person, but: Wow.

(Note - Tuesday Morning - this would probably have been a better sauce for the fish than the thin aioli that I made with the hand blender, and it uses whole eggs!)

Falafel falafel falafel!

(To the tune of the Mexican Hat Dance)

Okay people, I admit it. I'm getting lazy. This menu is a mostly a repeat. But it's hard to get motivated to try something new when you know that lamby meatballs will be so good.

Green Salad

Greens and mushrooms and red peppers and dressing. Last week's salad was delicious, so I was very happy to find the same veggies in the fridge today. This time it didn't seem quite as good to me, though. This is probably because I was halfway through dinner by the time I managed to dig my salad out. It's really hard to compete with eggplant and lamb and fried onions.

Cauliflower Soup

Roasted cauliflower with onions, turmeric, almonds, and dried apricot. I loved this.

Lentils and Quinoa and Onions

There was a lot of leftover quinoa from last night, so instead of making our own grain, I mixed some of it with lentils and some gorgeous caramelized onions. Unfortunately, this was done early, and I burned the finished dish a bit trying to keep it warm on the stovetop because all of the ovens were occupied. Fortunately, it was mostly salvageable, so we just had less.

Meatballs: lamb and turkey

Baked, with parsley, garden mint, onions, cumin, coriander, and ginger. The recipe from Arabesque also called for fresh cilantro, but I forgot to order any. I don't think that the dish suffered too much. We did 8 lbs of meat: 5 of lamb, 3 of turkey and it was just a little more than we needed. I expected to like the turkey version, because I usually love turkey meat balls, but they were not that good; I think that 6 or 7 lbs of lamb would have been ideal, and that 5 lbs of lamb plus an extra tray of falafel would have been better than doing turkey.

Falafel (falafel, falafel)

Again, baked. So easy now that we have big food processor! (And Ida to do all the boring assembly work!)

Grilled Eggplant

Cut by Ida, grilled outside by Megan W. I would have cooked them a little longer if I was at the grill, but then Megan would have thought that they were overdone. There's just no pleasing the two of us when it comes to vegetables. These were still very good.

Homemade Pita

From The Bread Bible. I multiplied the recipe by five and substituted half whole wheat flour. Four times the recipe would have been enough. The flour substitution was perfect. Really time consuming.

Accompaniments

Raw red cabbage with tomatoes, pickled green cabbage with parsley, shredded cucumbers and garden mint, tahini garlic sauce, pomegranate yogurt sauce. (No hot sauce - ran out of time. Hot sauce would have been good.)

Strawberries and Cream

Whipped by hand by Megan W.

Le Retour

Inspired by the Restaurant des Arcenaulx's

"menu léger" on Holy Saturday in Marseille. And by the contents of our walk-in.

Green Salad

with red peppers, white mushrooms, and blood orange vinaigrette. Simple, but excellent. The dressing was about one to one blood orange juice and olive oil, with one red onion, a tiny bit of mustard, zest from the oranges, and a little salt. This went really well with the veggies that Megan Williams chopped. Plus bacon on the side.

Celery Salad

Celery and carrots, chopped small and mixed with raisins, lemon juice, and yogurt. Tim asked us to use some celery, and this is what we came up with - a hybrid of a couple of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone recipes and Ida's good sense. Much, much better than I expected. I would happily eat this again. Almonds on the side.

Tilapia

à la Meunière et sans farine avec moutarde. The original plan had been to do fish packets with a nicer white fish, but CK shorted us the fish. So we went with tilapia. I thought that the gluten free version was disgusting, but this was a quality of the fish and not the preparation (although, to be fair, maybe I could have done a better job in masking it). The bit I tasted was so awful that I couldn't bring myself to even try the flour and butter one, but I hear that it wasn't nearly as bad. Red pepper white wine sauce on the side.

Tofu

Fairly large chunks, baked in a chaffing dish with red peppers, onions, lemon, and soy sauce. it was in a very hot oven for a very long time, but I kept an eye one it. Not bad. Would have been better cut into smaller pieces and with a lot more vegetables.

Eggs Baked with Mushrooms and Gorgonzola

This wasn't done on time, and then I started talking at dinner and forgot about it, and it got a little over done. The flavors were all exactly right: lightly sauteed onions and mushrooms with just a little garlic, gorgonzola sauce made with milk and butter, salt and pepper on the eggs before going in the over, green onions when they came out. However, next time I would use fewer eggs, so that it will cook more quickly and evenly. This might be better for a dinner party than for the house, and in that case I might just do soft boiled or poached eggs served instead. Extra gorgonzola sauce on the side.

White Beans and Mushrooms

Vegan, lower fat alternative to the above. Unremarkable, but tasty.

Quinoa

Sweet Potatoes

I heart sweet potatoes.

Asparagus

Steamed. Plain, not overdone, for Megan. I heart these, too.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with Blood Orange

Megan did this, and it was very, very, very good. This recipe, with a little less crumble and a lot less sugar. I picked up some heavy cream to have whipped cream on the side, but forgot all about it.

The Artful Chicken

Today's menu was a simplified and scaled up version of one in The Artful Vegan. With some chicken. I've wanted to do a whole menu from one of the Millennium cookbooks for a some time, but I most of them seem like a bit much for a shift. This one worked out really well, thanks to Ida and Ian, although we didn't have time to get to dessert.

Salad

Greens and garden flowers with my new favorite dressing: equal parts lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and olive oil, with red onion, mustard, salt, and pepper. I let the minced onions hang out in the acid for a while, then mixed the whole thing up with an immersion blender right before serving. An old artichoke heart jar worked well for this.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Two sheets of well roasted cauliflower, two large onions, lightly caramelized, veggie broth, lemon juice, soy milk, and nutmeg. Would have been a lot better without the nutmeg; next time, maybe roast some garlic with the cauliflower? This was really, really close to perfect the minute before the nutmeg went in. Oops.

White Bean-Filled Phyllo Casserole

Ida took care of this; we followed the recipe pretty closely, except that we didn't have as many mushrooms as we should have, and no Marsala. And we made phyllo topped casseroles instead of purses, and left out the optional vegan sausage (which we instead served separately). I think that all of the changes were good. If I did this again, I might make one more, and cut down the nutmeg here as well.

Seitan Sausage

I made this ahead of time, basically following the Millenium recipe for the dough, but doubling all the spices. Then I braised it Veganomicon-style because I was too lazy to deal with cheesecloth, and Ida fried it up right before serving it today. This will make good leftovers, and I'm glad that we kept it separate from the beans.

Braised Chicken Thighs

Browned in cast iron (with some dramatic flaming) and then baked for an hour and a half covered in some stock that I made last week. I should have defrosted these earlier, and taken the time to season them yesterday evening, but they were still pretty good. They might also have benefitted from a more flavorful broth; even just some onions and carrots and garlic. Not my favorite meat (I could come up with something new to do with ground lamb every week), but the work-to-deliciousness and cost-to-deliciousness ratios are pretty good.

Polenta

Plain, and with cashew-sage cream. Started in two batches on the stove top (1 gallon water to 1 quart polenta) and then finished in the oven. This is a good method, and people seemed to like the cashew polenta, despite the lack of cheese.

Reheated Carrot Raisin Rice

From last week. Because it was really good, and on its last legs. For anyone who didn't want polenta.

Porcini-Zinfandel Sauce

This was significantly different from the recipe in the book, due to CK's non delivery of our button mushrooms. To replace the mushrooms in the sauce, I pureed the dried porcinis that I had used to make stock, which meant that the sauce was already thick and couldn't really take a roux. And I used a Trader Joe's Cabernet for the wine. Not a disaster; we ended up with more than we needed, but it was pretty good. Unlike the seitan, though, I'm not sure how this can get used.

Grilled Broccoli and Rapini

With a garlic balsamic glaze. Ian took care of these and did a wonderful job.

Grilled Pears

With a little balsamic here as well. Also Ian. These were fantastic. I'd forgotten how magical the grill is.

Afghan Adventure, and Falafel Fest recap

Salad

Greens, Carrots, and Beets with pomegranate balsamic dressing

Red Lentil Soup with Ginger

Red Lentil Soup is always yummy, but I thought that this one was a little weak. I used water instead of veggie broth because of the gluten, and did the onions, garlic, and ginger by eye. It could have used more of everything.

Afghan Squash, three ways

Plain Squash, Lamby Squash, and Nutty Squash. These were all delicious, but it was definitely not worth the effort of peeling the squash, or the fat and sugar of the fancy prep. The control group squash was just as good.

Brown Basmati Rice

Plain, and with carrots, onions, raisins, and cumin

Slow Cooked Spinach

With green onions, dried dill, and fresh cilantro. My favorite dish of the night. We should have made less of the lentils and more of this.

Roasted Eggplant and Cauliflower

with pomegranate yogurt sauce, and minty yogurt sauce

Almond Rosewater Cupcakes

Last week (March 1):

Falafel, Lamb Balls, Quick Pickled Cabbage with Parsley, Raw Red Cabbage with Grape Tomatoes, Fried Eggplant, Lemon Tahini Sauce, Harissa, Apricot Lentil Soup, Salad, Bulgur with Parsley and Mint, Store Bought Pita, no cupcakes

Another Apology

Dear Megan W,

I'm sorry that you missed this meal, because it was delicious. And Jack did all the dishes before hand, so there were plenty of put away containers.

I planned some coconut free cupcakes so that you wouldn't be missing out on too much, but Jack accidentally made coconut frosting. Oops.

Love, Meghan A

Both of the regular Monday assistants took a break this week, but both found great replacements. To say that Jack and Angel were assisting would be unfair. I went into the kitchen with this

http://www.oprah.com/food/The-Soul-of-a-New-Cuisine

and came out with a fantastic meal. My attempt to channel Rachel, whose consistently delicious dinners (often loosely based on this book) I miss. I think that we did a really good job.

Dishes below are marked with the initial of the person in charge. There are more notes for mine, just because I know better how they were made. Everything vegan except for the meat. Tree nuts on the side, peanuts in the frosting. Gluten everywhere (I need to be more careful about it; this time I forgot about the veggie broth) and coconut in two dishes (once intentionally, and once due to a miscommunication).

Salad

Greens from a bag with shredded fresh carrots and boiled beets (J), with tamarind lime dressing (A)

Recycled Rice

Leftover rice, frozen beans, olive oil (J&A). Note: I was against doing this, because I had just realized that we didn't have a whole grain and I wanted what we did have to be as wholesome as possible. But they both seemed very enthusiastic about fried rice, so I trusted them on it, and am glad I did.

Couscous

Done by eye. Too much water left the stuff at the bottom somewhat block-like. Not a disaster, but the rice was better. (M) Next time, maybe try making it with hot water from the hot water tap?

Callalo

Amazing spinach and coconut curry. Secret ingredients: seaweed and miso. The original called for oyster sauce. I could eat this all day. (J)

Veggie Tagine

Roasted root veggies stewed in African spices, with olives and raisins. Almonds and parsley on the side. Used up some half prepped vegetables from last night, along with some odds and ends from the walk in. My favorite dish tonight. (Perfect how it was, but I added more raisins to my own plate anyway. I'm a sucker for raisins in otherwise savory dishes, although I try to hold back when cooking for the house.) (A)

Braised Chicken Thighs

With bones and skin, salted and well browned in two cast iron skillets (this took a long time; I probably should have done it in three), then braised in a mixture of veggie broth, lemon juice, capers, diced red onion, fresh garlic and ginger, and ras el hanout in an oven that claimed to be at 350 degrees for about 2 hours. I loved the method, but was too cautious with the spices. Also, I suffered a very large number of very minor burns. Next time: long sleeves. (M)

Tofu

Diced and marinated in the Moroccan glaze from one of the Millenium cookbooks. An hour in a hot-as-it-goes oven left these slightly over cooked; I need to keep a better eye on them. They didn't seem ready at 6:45, but the ones at the edges were burnt at 6:50. Maybe next time I should just add water? (M)

Chickpeas

Meant to go in the tagine, but kept separate due to some house members' well publicized chickpea intolerance (s?). Just plain. (A)

Harissa

Whole coriander, cumin, and caraway toasted in a dry skillet. Ground a bit in food processor, then blended with lots of garlic and olive oil and some salt. Then a little paprika and a lot of chili, and water to get a good consistency. I burned my mouth testing it, but it was good and, HiPsters, there is a lot left. (M)

Mild Sauce

The Moroccan glaze from the tofu, with some extra tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, and lemon juice. (M)

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Coconut Frosting

Banana. Cupcakes. With peanut butter and sugar. How could this not be a good idea? (J)

Dear Megan Williams

Sorry about the dinner put away. I promise to do better (less) next time. Love, Your Head Cook

Monday's Menu:

Green Salad

Actually just spinach, thanks to the Monday holiday and a very empty walk in. I suppose I could have boiled some beets.

Coconut Apple Lentils

From a recent Minimalist column. Half red lentils, half yellow split peas, coconut milk, and 8 chopped apples. Still tasted like a horrible disaster of blandness at 6:30, but was saved by salt, lemon juice, and

Coconut Mint Tarka

made from unsweetened dried coconut fried with garlic, ginger, and dried mint in a ton of olive oil, with some minced spring onions from the garden added off the heat. Fantastic.

Crazy Rice/Quinoa

A well worn favorite: white rice or quinoa, caramelized onions, cinnamon, turmeric, frozen peas, and raisins. Somewhat out of character, I actually prefer craisins here, but we were out. This also usually has

Roasted Cauliflower

mixed in, but there was no room in the dishes, and no time to stir it in anyway, so we served it on its own. Boring, but possibly my favorite boring vegetable.

Garam Masala Turnip Fries

These were meant to be the main vegetable. I was excited about them, because I love roasted turnips and thought that we were being good co-opers by using up some of the less glamorous root veggies, but they were just okay and didn't really get eaten. They were made like roasted potatoes: steamed for about twenty minutes, and then baked on big sheets with a lot of preheated oil for maybe forty more. However, we had a lot of things that needed baking today, so they were sharing an oven with the tofu, and didn't get crispy. I'd do these again, but only if I could devote a whole oven to them. I'd also probably make fewer of them, and let them drain a bit from the steaming before throwing them on the baking trays.

Spinach, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes with Indian Spices

From the Ajanta book. This was super delicious, but probably the thing that I should have cut. All three of us were working full steam this shift and we still went 15 minutes over.

Tandoori Chicken (and Tofu)

From Julie Sahni's Classic Indian cooking. The chicken would have been better if I hadn't been so busy with everything else and had therefore been able to keep a closer eye on them. And the tofu would have been better if I had put it in earlier, or if the oven hadn't been so over worked. However, the recipe is perfect for the house. It's so easy, and so much tastier and prettier than just salt and pepper roasted chicken thighs.

Steamed Greens

Cauliflower and Kale: this was just using things up. They didn't really get eaten, but I am optimistic about their fate as leftovers. They are so plain that they'll be very easy for people to work into lunch food.

Raita: Regular and Vegan

a la Megan Williams. Perfectly executed, but next time we should do one with mint in it. And maybe skip the vegan one, but put aside some yogurtless spiced tomatoes and cucumbers for people who don't do dairy.

Coconut Vegan cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

My third favorite of the vegan cupcakes so far. Maybe second. (Maybe I need to do a side by side comparison with the margarita cupcakes...)