Raw Vegan Stone Fruit Cobbler/Crumble

This is my version of the recipe that I found on the Just Glowing With Health FB page. I changed just a very few things. 

The equipment that you will need:

Blender

Food processor

I prepared this so that I could have a tasty treat on hand for myself and my 40 day fruit fasting comrades. 

I made this recipe with peaches and nectarines. 

Filling:

4 medium Nectarines 

Fruit Glaze:

2 peaches

2 dates, pitted

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Juice of 1 key lime or 1/2 lemon

Crust:

1 cup almonds, soaked for several hours, drained and rinsed

3/4 c raw shredded coconut

4 dates, pitted

1 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp salt 

To make the filling:

Cut the nectarines into small bite sized pieces. 

Place in a bowl and squeeze the lime or lemon juice over the fruit and stir. 

To make the fruit glaze:

Place the peaches, dates, vanilla and cinnamon in your blender and blend them on a low speed until all of the ingredients come together in a kind of thick paste. It will be thick but smooth when it's ready. 

Stir the nectarines with the tasty glaze paste. Let it sit and develop flavor while you prepare the crumble crust. 

To make the crust:

Place the almonds and coconut in the food processor pulse until it is a coarse crumble. Then add the dates, cinnamon and salt until it is well mixed and holds together when you press some of the mixture between your fingers. 

To assemble:

Press about 1/3 of the crust into the bottom of a small glass dish. Layer about 2/3 of the fruit mixture into the dish. Layer in another 1/3 of the crust and top with the rest of the fruit. Crumble the rest of the fruit mixture on top, then yum!

Injoy

They wanna be Crab Cakes when they grow up!

Chick pea fritters

I used to make veggie crab cakes with a product that I was no longer able to find.  I later found out that the product was discontinued which is just as well since I had a desire to shift the way that I eat anyway.  I wanted to eat more natural products instead of processed products.  So I was determined to recreate this tasty treat in a more natural way.  Then a friend asked me and those of you that know me well know that I will do most anything for my friends.  So now it's on, to the lab I go with focus and determination, and Love of course, there's always love though.  There may also be a touch of arrogance, I had really become known for my veggie crab cakes! 

This recipe is part one in the creation process.  Sometimes what I do is use what I have readily available and with the end goal in mind I  riff on the concept and see what occurs.  This is a creative process that I Love!  The result is this tasty treat that I am now injoying, so I decided to share this part of the process so that you could injoy it too.  I will let you know how the rest comes along.  In the meantime if you have any suggestions leave me a comment.  Remember this is a recipe in progress. 

1 15 oz can of chick peas, drained and rinsed

1 clove fresh garlic

1 green onion finely chopped

1 T fresh red hot pepper, finely chopped

3 T olive oil

2 slices smoked gouda cheese, finely chopped

½ cup chopped walnuts

panko bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

grapeseed oil for sauteing

Please feel free to shift and simplify this recipe. The items that you add are more for flavor than anything else. If you remove the cheese you will need to add something else that may assist with flavor and texture and binding. This is a basic method that you can shift according to what you have available. This is what I had available and how I used it.

Place all of the ingredients except the olive food processor and pulse just to break them up. You can also use a blender (which I did), or a stick blender. Once they are crumbly, remove ¾ of the mixture and add to a bowl. Take the rest of the ¼ of the mixture and blend with the olive and salt and pepper and when it resembles chunky peanut butter, mix it with the rest of the mixture. Season your panko with lots of pepper and a little salt. Divide the mixture into 4 large patties and roll in the seasoned panko and place in the refrig to chill for 10 mins. Meanwhile straighten your space and heat a 12” skillet and add enough grapeseed oil to just cover the bottom of the skillet and saute the patties for about 3 mins on each side or until they are golden. Injoy.

Buffalo KaliFlower

Buffalo KaliFlower

One of my favorite treats to eat used to be buffalo chicken strips. Tender strips of chicken fried crisp then tossed liberally in a hot pepper sauce til they were drippy. I loved to have blue cheese dressing and crispy celery to cool my mouth after firey bites of goodness.

I am a veggie now so what's a girl to do.  As an alternative I like the battered cauliflower that I could get from my local veggie restaurant, but they were not the full experience. Soooo, I decided I better do something about it!

I saw a recipe on line for buffalo cauliflower and I was like yes! I did a bit of research and liked what I saw the recipes were creating a batter, dipping then baking the cauliflower and adding the pepper sauce and voila. I combined the best of what I saw with my own acumen and came up with what you see here.

Here's the roadmap:

So you are going to season your flour and then create a batter, dip and bake the cauliflower and add a pepper sauce bake again and injoy!

Here is what you will need:

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

cookie sheet

Evenly coat the bottom of a cookie sheet with the olive oil and set aside

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees

The Star:

1 medium cauliflower, bout 1.5lbs, cut into about 1” pieces (about 4 cups)

Batter:

¾ cup flour

1 T. cornmeal

1 T. sesame seeds

3 t. smoked paprika

3 t. garlic powder

2 t. salt

1 t. pepper

1 t. onion powder

½ t. sage

½ t. oregano

½ t. steak seasoning

1 T. worcestershire sauce

1 cup milk

½ cup water

Mix the dry spices into the flour. Slowly stir in the milk and the worcestershire sauce and add this a bit at a time to get your batter the consistency of a thick pancake mix.

If you like you may have a taste of the batter to test for seasoning. It should taste just a bit salty.  When the consistncy and flavor of the batter is right dip the pieces of cauliflower into the batter and place on the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake in the preheated 450 oven for 12 minutes on the middle rack.

Remove from the oven and take a spatula and carefully turn over all the pieces being careful with any that may be a bit stuck, so as to keep whole if possible. Let them cool for about 10 minutes on the cookie sheet.

In the meantime prepare the hot pepper drench and keep it movin, you're almost there.

hot pepper drench:

4 T. red hot pepper sauce

3 T. butter

3 T. sesame (I love sesame seeds and they add great texture and eye appeal, but they are optional)

melt in a small skillet or sauce pan

using a large spoon drench all the cauliflower pieces and return to the 450 oven for 5 minutes

Serve with:

celery sticks

carrot Chips

cucumber chips

zucchini chips

blue cheese crumbles

blue cheese dip

Yogurt CornBread

Yogurt corn bread

It's colder than an MF outdoors and I can remember as a child when it was cold like this out that mommy would have something bubbling away on the stove and something good in the oven too. My favorite of which being cornbread.

So today I knew I wanted to have some tasty cornbread that was really traditional, no additives like cheese or peppers, but with a little bit of a twist and I was also out of eggs.  

Yogurt cornbread was my answer to that nostalgic desire to keep my hearth warm and my home inviting.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees

Here's what you need:

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
4 T Sugar
4 T Baking Powder
1 t salt
1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

In a medium bowl add all the dry ingredients, this is a rustic recipe so no need to sift.  Stir with a whisk or a fork to ensure that the dry ingredients are combined.  Make a well in the center and add all the wet ingredients.  Stir until just combined.  Please ensure that you do not over mix.  Cook in a 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet or 8x8 baking dish for 20-25 minutes until the cornbread is a light golden brown.  Injoy!

Its super simple and oh so delicious.

"May the sun bring you energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being.  May you walk gently through the world, and know it's beauty all the days of your life."         

~Apache blessing

Chunky Chili Tamale Pie

Living in community was one if the richest experiences of my life.  We would have community dinner twice a week and take turns cooking for each other. My housemate made a habit of veggie remixing recipes she'd find in magazines. When I tasted her version of a better homes and gardens chicken and olive tamale pie I was inspired!  I took a bit of a left though. I hope you injoy this, I know I did. 

Here is what I call:

Chunky chili tamale pie with olives

Ingredients:

3/4 c water

3/4 c milk (unsweetened almond milk works too)

1/2 c cornmeal

1 14 oz bag frozen organic sweet corn

1 12 oz bag pound Morningstar veggie crumbles

1 16 oz bag frozen black eyed peas, cooked til tender

1 T ground cumin

2 T organic ketchup 

1 16 ounce jar mild or medium green or red salsa

1/4 c pimiento-stuffed green olives, chopped

1 med onion chopped 

1 poblano pepper finely chopped

4 T butter 

3 T extra virgin olive oil

1 tomato, thinly sliced

1/4 c crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese (optional)

Garnish of bias sliced green onion

Coarse black pepper 

Sea salt 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a large saucepan add 2 tablespoons of the butter and sauté 1/2 of the chopped onion and 1/2 of the poblano pepper over medium heat. 

3. Add the corn and sauté til warmed through. Add the milk and water raise the heat to high and bring to the boil.  Gradually whisk in cornmeal; reduce heat. Cook, whisking constantly for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-lowand stir frequently, for 10 minutes.  Add pepper and salt to taste.  Remove from the heat. 

4. Meanwhile, in a 12 inch cast iron skillet add the other 2 tablespoons of the butter and all of the olive oil and sauté the other half of chopped onion and poblano pepper over medium heat until the onions are just translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the ketchup and cumin and let the spices warm through perfume your vegetables. 

5. Add the Morningstar veggie crumbles and sauté til warmed through. Then add the black eyed peas and sauté til warmed through. Turn off the heat and add the salsa, and olives. Spoon cornmeal mixture over the top then arrange the tomato slices atop and bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until mixture is heated through.

6. Top with crumbled cheese and sprinkle green onion and injoy. 

How to deal with Inspiration?

What I am seeing is that I am quite a spontaneously inspired chef. Even if I actually have a recipe I am always tweaking it and adding and changing things. I was doing a very exciting series with an awesome client. She had a lovely garden and an open heart and a radio show that she was producing. Enter me, The Chef and consultant. I created some of the most delicious and beautiful dishes during your work together. I was sooo inspired and supported and nurtured so like the artist that I am I flourished and our eyes and our palates were the benefactors.

So flash forward to now 2 years later, I am posting some of the lovely photos of the creations that were inspired during that time and someone sees the beauty-filled deliciousness and pops the question... “What is this?”

Crickets...

I'm thinking to myself, how do I answer this question because to me the answer is

It is a breath of fresh air

It is a kiss from my lips to yours

It is edible inspiration

It is Love

It is rays of sunshine on a plate

It is the best of me

and I know that the person that asked really is thinking

“No I mean how do you make it?” and “What is it made of?”

So in such instances I am still learning how to respond. I am learning to activate my vision and connect it with my memory to create receipts that people can follow to create deliciousness for themselves. This is one of the reasons that I Love teaching classes, because then the students can see the process and also help me record the process too. If you have any cool suggestions that I can use to help me write and cook while the muse is visiting me, I am open for suggestions. I have added pictures from some such inspirations. Let me know what you think, and share it with you analytical friends. Our palates will all benefit from the solution!

The well ordered kitchen ~Getting your mess in place

There is a term in the culinary world Mise en place which literally means everything in place. I heard a columnist one time refer to this as having her “mess in place”, and immediately I understood. One of the best ways to ensure success in the kitchen is preparation, preparation, preparation.

I cannot say enough how important it is to take the time to set up appropriately before hand to help things to go smoothly. So to your success here are a few tips that I offer to assist you along the way.

Orderly Kitchen Tips:

• Relax
• Start with a clean kitchen and clean as you go along
• Begin by reading your recipes completely
• Assemble all your ingredients
• Allow more time than you think you need
• Listen to good music
• Enjoy a tasty beverage
• Stir love into your food
• Do your best
• Enjoy your meal with the ones you love

Stay focused the only thing on your agenda til the meal is on the table is cooking!

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