Black Bean Patties

Dear Daughter is coming home over Thanksgiving weekend (with a "friend" no less), and Philip's Fast (Advent for you non-Orthodox) begins today, so I wanted to start laying in a supply of yummy vegan foods in my freezer. The first thing I made were these yummy, south of the border flavored black bean patties. They are individually wrapped in my freezer, and just need a little bake in the toaster oven, or in a frypan, or even just a quick thaw! I think that next time, I'll add a half cup of corn kernals - if I do that, I think I'll get 9 or 10 out of this recipe. You can flavor these any way that you like - I made mine kind of Mexican.

South of the Border Black Bean Patties

3 C well-cooked black beans
1/2 - 1 tsp salt (I used Adobo seasoning)
1 heaping tsp ground cumin
1 heaping tsp Italian seasoning (need that bite of oregano here)
1 C dry bread crumbs (I used Italian)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 3 Tbs finely minced onion
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 C water
1/4 C flour (for dredging)
Olive oil for frying

Mash first nine ingredients together, but leave some of the beans chunky for a nice texture. The breadcrumbs will make it very dry, so add up to 1 C water to make it a stiff, but still moist, consistency - a consistency that can easily be formed into balls or patties. Taste for salt and heat. Form into eight patties - I made slightly oval ones that will fit nicely into half a pita. On a nonstick grill, I sprayed a little pure olive oil and browned them well on both sides.

Once they cooled off, I wrapped them individually and froze them. I plan on serving these with lettuce, onion, olives, peppers and salsa, and maybe a dollop of vegan sour cream substitute in half a pita. I think my college-age daughter and her guest will enjoy these as lunch or a snack.

If I can, I'll take a photo when they eat them.

Vegetarian Paella

So.... I'm still experimenting with my handy dandy rice cooker, and this recipe is a keeper! Not only is it quick and easy, it is also beautiful and delicious! Alas, no photos because my camera is nowhere to be found, but trust me when I say it looks as beautiful as it tastes.

I love paella. Its a comfort food from my childhood for me. When I was a child, my father drove my mother and me all the way from Boston to Mexico to spend the winters. We spent four or five winters traveling around Mexico, until it was time for me to go to grammar school. My mother often told the story of how she was knitting on the beach while watching me dig in the sand, and this delicious aroma kept wafting towards her, making her mouth water. Eventually, she gathered me up, followed her nose, and found a man cooking a huge pan of paella. She described a pan about 3 feet in diameter, set over a wood fire, bubbling away. The fishermen pulled their boats into shore and the seafood that they caught was cleaned right there and tossed into the bubbling mixture. When it was done, Mom purchased a portion and we ate it right there on the beach and she was a paella convert! Her Spanish was passable, and she was an excellent experienced cook, so all she really needed was a list of ingredients, which she charmed out of the man cooking the paella, and we've been eating paella ever since.

Paella is usually made with combination of fish, seafood, and another meat which could be chicken, pork or sausage. In my home while growing up, it was usually fish, seafood, chicken and sausage. It was a festiive, exotic, expensive dish with a real WOW factor, particularly in snowy Boston in the 1950s and 1960s, which was about as far away from sunny Mexico as you can get, so it was reserved for company or special occasions, like my high school graduation party. When I had my own home, I also made paella for guests - it was one of my go-to meals, along with chicken cooked in wine from my grandmother's recipe, kibbe and grape leaves, and an old fashioned pot roast.

But now I am basically a vegetarian, only rarely eating meat or fish, and I have a fridge full of beautifully fresh produce, as well as a nearly new rice cooker...... So, here is what I did:

Vegetarian Paella

2 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 scant tsp Italian herbs (use this rather than Herbes de Provence, because you really need the bite of oregano)
1 tsp sweet paprika (I used smoked)
1 large yellow crookneck squash, in 3/4" cubes
1 large zucchini in 3/4" cubes
1/8 tsp cayenne
2 tsp Vogue Veggie Base powder or other bouillion powder
1 10 oz can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles, mild, drained with juice reserved
pinch saffron
1 1/2 C risotto rice (Arborio, Carnaroli, Valencia, or other medium grain rice)
water & tomato juice mixed to make 2 C
1 C frozen peas
1/2 C sliced black olives

Set the cooker to regular white rice cycle and coat the bottom of the pan with the oil. Mix water into the reserved tomato juice until you have 2 C, and then soak the saffron in it while you prepare the vegetables. As you chop the veggies, put them in the hot pan, starting with the onion, and stir. When all the veggies except the peas and olives are in the pot, stir in the rice, then stir in all the herbs, spices and bouilliion powder. Stir in the liquids, making sure that all the ingredients and flavorings are well distributed. Close the pot and reset for the regular white rice cycle. When the cycle finishes, sprinkle the peas and olives on top, close the cover, and let steam for five minutes. Open the cover, stir the peas and olives into the rice, taste for salt and pepper, and eat until you simply can't eat any more!

This was yummy with a glass of white wine and a slice fresh plum clafouti with yogurt and honey for dessert.

Paella can easily be made in very large quantities on top of the stove as well. Simply follow the proportions of rice to liquid to vegetables and follow the cooking times on your bag of rice.

My Mom and I have found that cooking paella the traditional way, much like risotto - in an open pan with liquids being added gradually - takes a variable amount of time to cook, so years ago, she opted to simmer it in a closed pan like cooking a regular pot of rice, with no loss in texture or flavor, but with a reliable cook time. Try it both ways and see what works best for you.

Israeli Couscous

I treated myself to a new kitchen appliance for Mother's Day.

Years ago, I loved my rice cooker, but I hated the clean up - everything crusted on the bottom and it was difficult to scrub it out. The more I scrubbed, the more things sticked. But... it cooked rice beautifully and it left my stove top free for other pots and pans. I don't know what happened to that rice cooker - in one of my moves it disappeared, I guess.

I've been reading about the new fuzzy logic rice cookers that can do so many things and decided that I would get one. Dear daughter is home from college for the summer and eats a lot of rice and pasta, so I figured it would get quite a work out. After researching it online, I settled on what I believe is the best combination of price and utility and purchased an Aroma 8 cup cooker with a nonstick pan, steaming basket and settings including keep warm, steam, white rice and brown rice. There's a photo of it at the end of the post. I've been playing with it all week.

The first thing I made was not-fried rice which was pretty good, but needs some tweaking before I send it off into cyberspace. However, the second thing I made is a real keeper - Israeli couscous!

A couple of months ago, I noticed a bin of Israeli couscous at my local health food store and brought some home without a clue as to what to do with it. Couscous is just pasta, really, and Israeli couscous is large, individual pearls, maybe 1/16th inch in diameter. They remind me very much of the pasta called pastina which is often used in Italian wedding soup, just larger. I was a little apprehensive about cooking pasta in the rice cooker - I am Italian, after all - but the rice cooker cooked them to perfection with slight al dente bite to them. I can't wait to try other pastas, now!

Israeli Couscous in the Rice Cooker
1/2 onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 C Israeli couscous
2 C water
3 tsp chicken or veggie broth powder
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp Herbes de Provence

Add the olive oil, onion and carrots to the cooker and press the white rice button. Let the veggies cook for a few minutes while you get everything else ready. Then, add all the above ingredients, stir well, and press the white rice cycle again. While the rice is cooking, get the garnishes ready:

Garnishes
2 oz nicoise olives, pitted and chopped
8 oz frozen peas
2 Tbs pepitas or other nut or seed for some crunch

When the cooking cycle is done, stir the garnishes in, and close the cover for a minute or two to make sure that the peas are steamed a bit and fully defrosted.

Dear daughter dislikes peas, but with a little coaxing, she will eat them, so I was hesitant about putting them in this dish. However, they've been sitting in my freezer for a while and I wanted something green in the dish and in they went. After her first bite, DD exclaimed, "Hey, I think I actually like peas this way!" What a victory for dear old Mom, huh? Maybe your pea-hater will like them too! It looked so pretty, too, nice enough for guests, I think.

This would serve 5 or 6 as a side dish as is and probably 3 or 4 people as a main dish with the addition of half a can of chickpeas.

Next time, I'm going to try using some lemon juice or wine in the couscous, I think.

Quick Vegan Corn Chowder

I'm from New England, the land of chowders, which is fortunate, because I absolutely love chowder. Basically, a chowder is a soup which always contains milk, onions and potatoes, and is usually thickened with flour. You can add seafood, like clams or crab or fish, or ham, or my personal favorite: corn! Yes, corn chowder is my most favorite chowder. With all of the nondairy cream and milk available, its easy to make a vegan chowder, and that is what I did. You can substitute dairy products if you want. I usually don't thicken my chowders with flour; instead, I mash up some of the potato until it is the consistency that I want. If you want potato soup, add another potato at the beginning and leave out the corn. Simple as that!

Quick Vegan Corn Chowder
4 large potatoes (about 2 lbs), peeled and diced in 1/2 inch cubes
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
olive oil for sauteeing
1 Tbs veggie broth powder
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 heaping Tbs salt (I use Adobo Seasoning Salt which adds a slight yellow color and garlic flavor)
generous pinch each of: rosemary, sage and marjoram
2 generous pinches thyme
4 C water
2 C corn kernals
2 C nondairy creamer
1 Tbs non-dairy margerine like Earth Balance

Saute the onions, carrots, celery and potatoes in olive oil until onions are transparent and veggies are starting to soften. Add cayenne, salt, rosemary, sage, marjoram and thyme and saute for another minute. Add the broth powder, then pour in the water and stir well. Simmer for 15 minutes until all the veggies are very tender. Use a potato masher or a hand-held immersion blender to puree the veggies, giving the soup more body. I prefer to use the potato masher because it leaves a white colored soup with little orange and pale green flecks which is so pretty! Pour in the creamer and the corn, and heat until the corn and soup are piping hot. Adjust seasonings. Serve with a little shaving of margerine on top for added richness.

Yum!

Chowders lend themselves to endless variations in spicing and ingredients, but sometimes its nice to chow down on a plain old New England classic like corn chowder.

Food Meme

I got this from Palmabella, who got it from Nancy, who got it from Amy.

What is your go-to ingredient?
Herbes de Provence. I use them all the time.

What nationality of food do you like the best?
Hard to say.... I guess I would have to say Mediterranean rather than the food of just one country.

What’s your favorite meal of the day to prepare?
Dinner, definitely

What is/are your signature dish? (What dish are you ‘known’ for?)
Just one? Well, my daughter would say spaghetti aglia olio. My Dad would say Acadian split pea soup and maple oatmeal bread, preferably together. My Mom would say pasta puttanesca. My church friends would say tilapia Veracruz and boeuf bourgignonne. I say.... hm..... homely old pot roast.

What is your favorite comfort food?
Pasta, mashed potatoes, or ice cream

What cooking shows do you watch?
Giada DeLaurentiis, Michael Chiarello, Barefoot Contessa, Gordon Ramsey (esp The F Word), No Reservations

Your top three favorite cookbooks are:
Only three? Yikes! Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East, New York Times International Cuisine (circa 1970-ish), Vegan with a Vengeance

Your must-have kitchen accessory is:
My 9" chef's knife

Do you ever eat fast food? If so, what?
Yeah, a few times a month. I adore McDonald's fries.....

Most memorable meal you’ve had while on vacation:
My 10th anniversary dinner at Jaques in San Francisco

What restaurant do you want to eat at that you haven’t yet?
Locally, its Elizabeth's on 37th

What’s your favorite dessert?
creme caramel or flan

What scent in the kitchen do you love?
Onions and garlic being sauteed, and bread baking

What ingredient(s) do you avoid/dislike?
Pickled herring

What’s your secret splurge at the grocery store?
Good cheese!

What’s the most decadent dish you’ve ever had?
That would be at that fabled 10th anniversary dinner....... pate fois gras

What’s your favorite midnight snack?
If I eat really late at night, I'm usually eating crackers and hummus or leftovers

Koliva

My father, Edmour Joseph Babineau, died January 23, 2009, and tomorrow we will celebrate the traditional 40 day memorial (in greek: parastas, in slavonic: panikhida) for him at church. We Orthodox remember the dead at every service, and on specific "soul" Saturdays in Lent, but tomorrow is special. There are special prayers for the soul as it departs from the body at the moment of death, and we hold what is called a memorial service on the 3rd, 9th, and 40th day, as well as at the 3 month, 6 month, 9 month and one year mark, and every year following. The 40th day is a echo of Christ's Ascension into heaven, and we will pray that Dad will also ascend to Heaven to spend eternity with God

I just finished making the memorial wheat for this service. This is variously known as koliva, hilbee, or kutia, depending on your ethnicity. A plate of this sweet wheat rests on the memorial table throughout Divine Liturgy and during the Memorial itself, after which all the congregation will partake of it. We boil wheat as a remembrance that mankind is placed in the earth like a seed, only to be raised up and blossom forth again through God's plan and power. This is a powerful reminder for Orthodox Christians of the words of St. John 12:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." The symbolism of death and resurrection, between that which is planted in the ground and that which emerges, is deeply embedded in the making and eating of koliva.

My father really loved memorial wheat and sometimes I would make it for him and mother as a breakfast treat. As I was chopping and toasting the nuts and seeds, I remembered happy times around that very same kitchen table: the four of us laughing and eating, or helping Elisabeth with her school work, or doing the crosswords, or just sipping coffee and deciding where to picnic the next day. Happy times, gone now.

But I'm not sad, I'm really not. My father was trapped in a body and a mind that failed him, and he's free now. I miss him, but that is nothing new - with Alzheimer's, the missing starts very early. And its not forever, you know. We'll meet again at the last. I am thinking a lot of him today, though. Here is the eulogy that I wrote for him and which was read so very beautifully by my dear friend, Carla McCurry:

Edmour Joseph Babineau
April 25, 1916 - January 23, 2009

Here are some remarks that Denise wrote about her father, which she has asked me to read to you today.

How do you measure a man’s life? Is it in the days, months, years? If so, at 92 years old, my father was rich. Is it in his possessions? If so, then I look at my father’s few mementos, the fishing poles, handles worn smooth through many years use, or maybe his trusty camera with all the lenses and filters and tripods, and think that perhaps my father was poor. Is it in the memories that a man leaves behind? Over the last few days, I’ve heard from countless people who knew my father, all of whom had their favorite, funny “Eddie” story. Maybe it was the one about the tomatoes that were so big that he had to cut them in half to get them in the door, or maybe it was the liver Popsicles, or maybe it was a memory of going fishing or golfing with him. Always, the memories were of laughter and fun. If memories measure a man’s life, then my father was rich.

Those of you who met my father when he was an old man missed out on so much. He was a real character - a great storyteller, unfailingly good humored, very smart, funny, loyal, brave, loving, a steadfast champion of the underdog, and could fix anything. He had a gluttonous love of cherry ice cream and Boston baked beans, though not together!

He loved his family more than anything. He passed his love of yardsaleing on to his granddaughter, Elisabeth. Together, they would hit the yardsales early on Saturday mornings, and haggle over prices, bringing home their treasures.

All his life, he loved traveling to new places and meeting new people. His Sunday drives for ice cream – to another state! – were legendary. He always said that someday he was going to buy a trailer and travel around the country. How many people get to live their dream? Well, my father did. He loved traveling in his motor home and did so for 15 years before settling down in Savannah. In that 27 footer, he traveled throughout the US, Canada and Mexico with my mom. He loved fishing and golfing, and was a seeded tennis player and professional boxer in his day. He was a real war hero, decorated in WWII and written up in the newspapers of the time.

My favorite memory of my parents is creeping downstairs early in the morning to the kitchen, and finding them dancing all alone to music only they could hear. He took tender care of my mother for many years, and never once complained.

He was a wonderful, loving, devoted husband, father and grandfather. He was a true gentleman, a charming raconteur and practical joker. He was honorable and true. He was everything a man should be and seldom is. He was one in a million, and we were so very lucky to have had him in our lives for almost 93 years. The world will be a sadder place without him. My daughter and I will miss him very much.

But right now, I think he’s standing just inside the pearly gates, the host extraordinaire, greeting newcomers as St. Peter’s right hand man, saying as he always used to at the Inn: “Welcome! Come on in. I have a special room just for you.”




Here is my recipe for Koliva, enough for home. For my church, I usually double it. I do not like it to be dry, so I leave out the zweiback or graham cracker crumbs.

Koliva

1 C soft wheat (very important - it must be soft, not hard, wheat)
1/2 C chopped nuts, like walnuts, toasted
1/2 C sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 C golden raisins
1/2 C chopped fruit (I like to use craisins)
1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
1 C powdered sugar
zest of one orange
1 tsp anise seed, crushed a little

Simmer the wheat in 4 cups of water for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until very tender and cooked all the way through. Drain well and place in a large bowl with all the other ingredients. Stir very, very well to make sure that all the ingredients are mixed well. Let cool.

Once it is cool, place it in a flat serving platter. Smooth the top and decorate with silver dragees, jordan almonds, or other white candies in the shape of a three bar cross. I've used yogurt covered raisins when I couldn't get jordan almonds here in Savannah, and these work very well.

Enjoy. And if you make this, please, say a little prayer for my father as you eat it.

Kale Braised with Carmelized Onions and Rutabagas

One thing I've learned about cooking is that you can never have too many carmelized onions! They are so very delicious that sometimes I eat them as a vegetable. I should have gone food shopping yesterday, but didn't want to brave the Saturday crowds, so I had a look in the fridge to see what I could put together. I had a lovely bunch of curly kale and a medium-sized rutabaga as well as a few onions, so this dish was born. Its really a riff on Italian minestra, which is garlicky greens and beans, and southern-style turnip greens with turnips. Whatever it is, it certainly is delicious - so delicious that I ate half of it in one sitting. Luckily, its pretty healthy, so no problem. The rest was packaged up for work lunches this coming week.

Kale Braised with Carmelized Onions and Rutabagas
2 Tbs butter or margerine
4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 onions halved and sliced very thin
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 Tbs smoked paprika
1 Tbs garlic salt/Adobo seasoning
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 bunch curly kale
2 Tbs water

In a large pot with a tight fitting lid, melt half the butter and 1 Tbs of oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute, stirring often, for about 10 minutes until starting to carmelize and brown. Add the remaining oil, minced garlic, rutabaga, paprika, salt and pepper, stir well so that everything is coated with oil and spices. Turn heat down to medium, cover tightly, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring twice, until rutabagas are just barely tender. Add water to keep from sticking if necessary - this should not be necessary if your pot is nonstick. Uncover, add the kale and stir well. Cover again and let steam for about 4 - 5 minutes, until kale is wilted. Stir well and adjust for salt and pepper.

The onions continued to carmelize as the other veggies were cooking and ended up sweet and almost sticky, as did the rutabagas, which also were beginning to carmelize. This would be yummy with a spritz of lemon juice, or even balsamic vinegar to cut the buttery richness of the oil. I used Earth Balance spread rather than butter, since that's what I had in the house (Lent is upon us, you know), and it was yummy. I think this would be a fabulous base for a pasta salad - just stir in about a half pound of pasta, cooked al dente.

Again, I have no photo, and I apologize. I've unpacked the camera, but haven't found the charger yet, so photos will have to wait. Suffice it to say that this was a very pretty dish, with the small orange cubes peeking out from the dark green of the kale.

In the Orthodox Church, the Rite of Forgiveness at vespers this Sunday afternoon is the official beginning of the fast, of Great Lent. Every person in the parish, from the youngest to the oldest, will line up and ask forgiveness of each other for what they have done and what they have failed to do during the past year. There is always much hugging and many tears as hurts are forgiven. It never fails to move me, and humble me as well. So, in the spirit of Forgiveness Sunday, dear brothers and sisters, I ask you to forgive me for my sins and offenses, for what I have done and what I have failed to do, for how I have consistently missed the mark and fallen short of Christ's example.