Millet Cakes with Carrot & Spinach

This recipe comes from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen. Despite some initial skepticism as to how well the cakes would hold together, the recipe worked exactly as described. The recipe here has been modified slightly from the original to account for a lack of shallots (we used an onion instead) and the fact that our chickens lay small eggs.

Ingredients

• 250mL millet, rinsed
• 500mL water
• salt and pepper
• 45mL peanut oil
• 1 small yellow onion, minced
• 150g chopped or shredded spinach
• 2 carrots, peeled and grated
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 10mL English-style Madras Curry Powder
• 64mL plain yoghurt
• 2 small eggs
• 30mL minced fresh cilantro

Procedure

1. Combine the millet, water, and 2mL of salt in a small pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the millet is tender and the water has been absorbed, 15-20 minutes.
3. Once the millet is cooked, remove the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, while the millet is cooking, heat 15mL of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, ~3 minutes.
5. Add the spinach and carrots and cook until the spinach wilts and the carrots soften, another ~2-3 minutes.
6. Stir in garlic, curry powder, 2mL salt, and 2mL pepper and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds. Remove to a large bowl.
7. Stir together yoghurt, egg, and cilantro; combine with the millet and vegetables in the bowl and stir until well mixed.
8. Divide the mixture into eight equal portions, flatten into patties, and refrigerate on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 30 minutes, until cold and firm.
9. Heat 15mL of oil in the skillet over medium heat. Place four of the cakes in the skillet and cook for ~15 minutes, turning halfway through, until browned on each side.
10. Remove the cooked cakes and repeat with the other four.

Quick Ravioli & Sauce

The last few days have been extremely busy. I wasn't really feeling up to cooking a proper meal today. Given that I'd been planning on putting some ravioli in the kidlet's lunch, I figured I'd just cook that up and cobble together some sort of sauce while it was cooking. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out, all things considered.

Tomato-Spinach Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 150g frozen spinach
• 1 (400mL) tin diced tomatoes
• 1/4 c. pesto
• 1/3 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan
• 1/4 c. grated pecorino Romano

Directions

1. Cook onion in olive oil over medium heat until softened and beginning to brown.
2. Season to taste with salt and pepper, add frozen spinach, and cover.
3. Add tomatoes and pesto and continue to cook, covered, until spinach is fully thawed.
4. Stir in cream and both cheeses and simmer for a few more minutes until sauce is heated through and well-combined.
5. Toss with pasta of choice and enjoy!

This is a fairly intense, toasted garam masala, so it is usually used in small amounts as a "finishing" spice near the end of cooking.

Punjabi Garam Masala

From 660 Curries by Ragavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. whole cloves
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds from black pods
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 3 bay leaves

Directions

1. Toast the spices over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes.
2. Immediately transfer to a plate to cool. Grind once completely cooled.

I'm really glad this came out as tasty as it did, 'cause it was a pain in the butt to make. I mean, it wasn't difficult, but it dirtied practically every bowl in the kitchen and the soaked bulgur was a awful to deal with. Next time I'll experiment with using cheesecloth instead of paper towels when draining the bulgur. That won't solve everything, but I think it'll be an improvement over the paper towels.

Baked Squash Kibbeh

Slightly adapted from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 900g butternut squash, cubed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. coriander, ground
• 1/4 tsp. five spice powder
• 1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. mint, chopped
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 1/2 c. fine bulgur
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. pine nuts, toasted and chopped
• 1 c. crumbled feta

Directions

1. Place squash in covered bowl and microwave for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile cook onion in 1 Tbsp. olive oil until softened and beginning to brown.
3. Add garlic, coriander, and five spice and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
4. Mash squash and add onion mix, cilantro, mint, salt, and pepper.
5. Place bulgur in a bowl and cover with at least an inch of cold water. Let stand for 10 minutes.
6. Drain bulgur through a fine mesh strainer. Wrap in paper towels and squeeze out as much water as possible.
7. Stir bulgur and flour into squash mixture.
8. Press mixture into a greased 9" springform pan and score into eighths.
9. Brush with 2 Tbsp. olive oil and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 45 minutes.
10. Sprinkle with pine nuts and feta and bake for another 10 minutes.
11. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge and removing ring from pan.
12. Slice along score lines and serve.

The kidlet has just started school which, of course, means I need to pack him a lunch every day. And, because I get way too excited about these things, I went out and got some ridiculously cute cookie/sandwich cutters. I haven't been doing a lot of sandwiches so far, but I did have some crème fraîche and pie pastry that needed to be used up, so I decided it was time for the most kawaii hand pies ever!

Apple & Crème Fraîche Hand Pies

Ingredients

• 2 apples, peeled and sliced
• 1/4 c. sugar
• ~1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• pie pastry (enough for a single crust pie)
• ~7 tsp. crème fraîche

Directions

1. Combine apples, sugar, and cinnamon in a small pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are soft and sugar has caramelized.
2. Meanwhile, cut out your pastry shapes. (Circles, squares, or triangles are fine; I just wanted an excuse to use the animal shapes.) This recipe made 7 pies for me, so you'll want 14 shapes total (7 pairs of tops and bottoms).
3. Spread half the shapes with ~1 tsp. crème fraîche each, leaving a small border.
4. Top with a generous Tbsp. of apple mixture.
5. Wet the edges of the pastry and place the matching top crust over the apple assembly, pinching the edges to seal.
6. Transfer to a cookie sheet and bake at 375°F (190°C) for 20 minutes.

P.S. I made the little bows on the kitty faces by combining two kitty ear cut-outs with one frog nostril cut-out. ;)

Ultimate Chili?

America's Test Kitchen bills this as the "ultimate vegetarian chili". And the recipe is good, don't get me wrong. I'll definitely be keeping it around and making it (or some version of it) again. But I think I'd stop short of calling it the "ultimate" chili.

I made the recipe as directed and sampled it at the end of cooking. It was tasty. But it was definitely better after a few tweaks. And I think I'd make a few more if I made it again as well.

Ultimate Vegetarian Chili

Adapted from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1kg assorted dried beans¹
• 3 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 dried ancho chiles
• 2 dried California or New Mexican chiles
• 1 arbol chile (optional)
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 14g dried porcini mushrooms²
• 4 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
• 1/4 c. canola oil (or other neutral oil)
• 1kg onions, chopped
• 1L water
• 500mL vegetable broth
• 2/3 c. bulgur³
• 4 c. chopped plum tomatoes⁴
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 1 jalapeño, minced⁵
• 6 garlic coves, minced
• 3 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp. roasted garlic paste (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro, minced

Directions

1. Dissolve salt in 3L cold water. Add beans and soak (at room temperature) overnight.
2. Drain and rinse the beans. Set aside.
3. Place dried chiles on baking tray and roast at 300°F (150°C) for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, toast walnuts⁶.
5. Grind chiles, mushrooms, oregano, and cumin seeds and set aside.
6. Heat oil⁷ and add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
7. Add ground chiles, mushrooms, oregano, and cumin and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
8. Add beans, water, and vegetable broth.
9. If using range/oven: Bring to a boil, cover, then transfer to 300°F (150°C) oven to cook for 45 minutes.
   If using InstantPot: Cook at high pressure for 20 minutes.
10. Add bulgur, walnuts, tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, dark soy, light soy, brown sugar, and roasted garlic. Stir to combine, cover, and continue to cook.
    If using oven: Place back in oven for ~2 hours.
    If using InstantPot: Slow cook on high for 1 hour.
11. Stir in vinegar, garnish with cilantro, and serve.

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¹ I used a 50-50 mix of kidney beans and black beans. ^Back
2 Use shiitake if you can find them. ^Back
3 The recipe calls for medium grind bulgur. I could only find coarse white bulgur or fine brown bulgur. I ended up going with the fine. I think any grind would probably be okay, it just depends what sort of mouthfeel you're going for. I think I would actually prefer the medium, but fine grind is still perfectly acceptable. ^Back
4 Feel free to use tinned diced tomatoes for this. I just had a tonne of fresh tomatoes on hand that needed to be eaten, so they went into the chili. ^Back
5 I'd be tempted to replace the fresh jalapeño with an equivalent quantity of pickled next time. ^Back
6 The original recipe called for walnuts to be toasted and then finely ground. I did this and found the results to be acceptable. That said, I think that just toasting chopped walnuts and not bothering to grind them down further would be even better. ^Back
7 I used medium heat on the InstantPot sauté setting. I'd recommend medium-high for electric ranges or medium for gas. ^Back