Sad day.

Today was a very sad day. I was making my rosemary fries in the mushroom glassware pan. In a moment of poor decision making, I took the hot pan and poured cold water into it. It broke. Jamie called it a thermal break. It was very sad and I cried. I am well aware of how crazy this sounds. Jamie got my this pan for my 29th birthday. It was my first glass bakeware. Jamie was comforting and said we can try to find another one. Until then, I guess this is the pans memorial.


Only people closest to me will understand, I get sentimental about things sometimes. This pan was one of them. It was the first step in a direction of more aesthetic cooking by someone that is very important to me. It held a lot of value in my life.

Day like these

A few days have past since my last post, several of them significant.

Thursday was a double at the jobby-job. Nothing major, just a long day at work. Friday however, was exciting and slightly nerve racking. When I awoke, I had received and e-mail from a real estate agent friend of mine letting my know that a house my client wanted was back available. I immediately called my client and informed him. Not three hours later we were submitting my first contract. We will find out Wednesday if the contract was accepted. My fingers are crossed!


Saturday was a day that Ashley and I had set aside to do some fun things. The day started with a lunch a Green Sprout. For years, Green Sprout has been one of my favorite places. It was a great lunch and it is nice that Ashley really enjoys the spot as well. Next it was off to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Ashley told me she had never been so it was a must see. They have done a lot of renovations since the last time I was there, it was great to see.


After, we went to see a movie and headed to dinner at Bhojanic. It was our first time eating there and we were pleasantly surprised despite my cynicism towards fusion restaurants.

Today, Rebecca and I took a walk around Piedmont Park and then of course, the Celtics one.

Two days off

I had a great pair of days off. Yesterday was a day of much needed yardwork, which I am learning to really enjoy. The day was topped off with a major purchase, a washer and dryer! The will be delivered early next week. Not to mention, Boston took the lead in the last conference semi-final series!

Today, I got up early and went hiking with Rebecca. It was another great walk and I felt great when it was done. It feels so good to get the sun and exercise, not to mention the good conversation.

Next came dinner with Ashley. I had some tofu and still a ton of fiddleheads so I went to town. It came out really well and the fact that Ashley had never even heard of fiddleheads made it a fun time. I also made some peanut butter balls for my bedtime snack and to potentially share with the work folks tomorrow.



Tofu and Fiddleheads in Asian Garlic Sauce

1 pound of fiddleheads
6 cloves of garlic (chopped)
12 oz of firm tofu (sliced)
1 cup of vegetable broth
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of oil
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of garlic chili oil
1/2 teaspoon of corn starch
1/2 teaspoon of sugar

In a sauce pan, heat the vegetable oil and sesame oil on low-med heat. As the oil is heating, add the garlic and allow to fry until garlic is golden. Add the soy sauce, broth, and chili oil and bring back to temperature. Once there is a near simmer, sauce into a blender and puree until garlic is not noticeable. Return to the sauce pan, bring back to temperature and add the sugar and corn starch. Bring to simmer for 2-4 minutes.

Steam fiddleheads for 8-10 minutes or until bright green. The steaming liquid can be used as the vegetable broth for the sauce.

Bring a non-stick pan to med heat and add the tofu. Allow the tofu to cook until browning and flip and repeat. This will release much of the liquid in the tofu and give it is a nice texture. Once the tofu is browning, add the steamed fiddleheads and garlic sauce and mix well. The sauce will disappear quickly as it absorbs into the tofu. Allow to cook for 5 minutes and serve.

Next week will hopefully entail some exciting house showing, more hiking, more cooking, and a few loads of laundry.

First half on my two days off

Half way through my day off I have gotten a decent amount of things accomplished. I played around with my leaf blower and cleaned the yard. As a treat, I made myself some pizza. I even tossed some nice cilantro from the garden and some fresh Maine fiddleheads to compliment the Dayia cheese.

As I was assembling the pizza I though that it was odd that I had never seen a fiddlehead pizza growing up in Maine. I grew up in Augusta Maine, which is the capital but only about 35000 people. The culinary experience in my small town was limited to about a dozen pizza and sandwich shops with a few dinners in between. Surrounded by pizza places and fiddleheads, I wonder why no one combined the two into a gourmet Maine festive pizza.

On the agenda for later today is some more housework, some fun cooking for dinner and hopefully a Boston victory in Cleveland.

Ode to my Grammy on Mother's Day

It may be Mother's Day but I wanted to talk about my Grammy. As a young kid, she used to take me to Salem Mass to do all the tourist witch trial stuff. I always had a wonderful time and it was something later in life I took my siblings too. On the 3 hour ride down to Salem, my Grammy would tell my the stories of Hamlet and MacBeth. I remember enjoying the stories so much that she would occasionally take me to the Monmoth Playhouse to see the plays.

My Grammy and I, later in life, did not speak much. Both of our priories changed however, on this Monther's Day, I wanted to remember the good things. One of those it a classic Maine dish, the only dish I ever remember my Grammy making, fiddleheads.

Fiddleheads are a local fern that grows wild on the riverbanks of Maine. While at the store the other day, I noticed that they were selling them down here in Atlanta for 4.99 for what looked like about 8-10 fiddleheads. Quickly, I called my brother, who works at a local fish and produce shop on the riverbank in Hallowell Maine. He said he can get fiddleheads fresh and cleaned for 4.99 a pound. We looked into shipping some to me here for me to share and 4 pounds were in route, freshly picked that morning.

Grammy, as much as I disliked these as a young boy, these are for you, the way you used to make them. Weekends I spent with you taking road trips, playing Yahtzee and cribbage, and telling me about Shakespeare made for great memories. This is how I try to remember my Grammy. Happy Mother's Day Grammy.


Fiddleheads in Lemon Juice

2 cups of fiddleheads
1 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice
2/3 teaspoon of salt
2/3 teaspoon of ground pepper
2/3 teaspoon of garlic powder

In a steamer, cook the fiddleheads (make sure they are cleaned and any oxidation has been cut off) for 10-12 minutes. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. Once the fiddleheads are a nice dark green and tender, but not slimy, remove from heat. Toss the fiddleheads in the lemon sauce and serve.


This is a traditional later spring Maine dish. I have more then enough fiddleheads to make some great dishes so stay tuned. When I asked my mum about fiddleheads, she said "I don't eat ferns!" Happy Mother's Day Mum!

Broccoli and cheese soup

Another day of hiking. This time Rebecca and I tried to get through some trails at Kennesaw Mountain. We did fairly well and I would like to try it again soon. We cut it a little short but it is a good workout heading up the mountain and some beautiful flowers!

Then it was home in time to make some game food and settle in with Tato to take it all in. I have been on a "cheese" kick recently and had some broccoli that I needed to use. Broccoli and Cheese Soup!


Broccoli and Cheese Soup

2 1/2 cups of water
2 cups of vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups of broccoli florets
1 cup of raw whole cashews
3/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of mustard

Overnight (or for at least 6 hours) soak the cashews in the water in the fridge.
Strain and rinse the cashews and set aside. In a blender, combine the mustard, turmeric, black pepper, salt, crushed red pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, cashews, and 1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth and puree for several minutes. The results show be smooth and flavorful but thick.

In a pot on low heat, pour the blender contents and the remaining vegetable broth and stir well. Allow to heat on low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the broccoli (cut into small pieces) to the soup and stir well and cook for another 10 minutes. Do not let the soup simmer. Only use low heat. If the soup gets to thick, add more vegetable broth. Serve hot.

My garden flooded

My garden flooded. It was a sad thing and I may have lost most or all of my beets. It looks like most of the other things will survive. I have always struggled with cilantro and they have thus far been my best product! The peppers are coming along well too.


As I have been saying for a few days now, the playoffs are making me food lazy. I have been doing some prep work and eating quicker meals. That is not to say I have not been eating well though!

Seitan Steaks in a sour cream sauce with Rosemary Fries

Seitan Steaks

Pizza with Dayia cheese

Still no concrete plans but my vacation is coming up soon! I am also working hard at getting a decent client base together and selling some houses. If you are in Georgia and need a real estate agent, let me know! Worth a try.

Tato, mozzarella sticks, and falafel

Two days off resulted in some high stress. For no real reason, mainly just concerned that I will not be able to pull off the real estate career. Despite my best efforts. I am sure it will all come together but I just get a little anxious sometimes.

Some of the highlights of the two days off is that Tato was here. In fact, he seems to have found himself a new place to sleep. He is an interesting character.


I have been glued to the playoff games. I even got a special TV station so that I can catch all the games and news I miss while at work. It has been a lot of fun but has hindered my time and motivation for cooking. So I stole some! A shirt time ago, I saw a recipe for vegan mozzarella sticks over at Hell Yeah Its Vegan! I have been following this blog for awhile and this was great and was the perfect playoff food.

At the vegan bake sale in Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe I grabbed some Teese and tried them out. They came out great and were fairly easy to make. A great recipe!

I also made some falafel. Now, I have eaten falafel all over the county and strangely the best falafel I have ever had was in Tulsa Oklahoma. Today was the first time I had made it. Same with the tahini dressing, and they all some out awesome.

Falafel

the patties

1 can of chicpeas
2 tablespoons of chicpea flour
1 tablespoon of fresh parsley (chopped)
2 teaspoons of fresh cilantro (chopped)
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of cumin
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of sesame seeds

Strain and rinse the chicpeas. In a large bowl, using a fork, mash the chicpeas. Once there are no large pieces remaining, add the remaining ingredients and mash until well blended together. Chill for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, complete the dressing portions and the prep portion of the sandwich of the falafel. Once chilled, heat frying oil (based on you pot size) to 375 degrees. You can also use the "water test" to make sure the oil is hot.

While the oil is heating, form chicpea mixture into 6 patties about twice the size of a quarter. Once the oil is hot, carefully begin to deep fry the patties. This should take about 3-5 minutes for each batch of patties.

Remove from oil and set on a paper towel to soak up some of the excess oil.


the dressing

2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of vegan unsweetened and unflavored yogurt
1/3 cup of cucumber (peeled)
2 tablespoons of tahini sauce
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 teaspoons of fresh parsley
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of sugar

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Chill.


the sandwich

2 pita breads
2 handfulls of greens
4 large slices of pickle
6 slices of cucumber
1 cup of cucumber (cubed)
3/4 cup of tomatoes (cubed)

With a sharp knife, slice the tops of the pita breads open so that you can assemble the sandwich. Gently stuff the pitas with the greens. Then add the cubed cucumber and tomatoes. Then take the chicpea patties and set 3 of them in the pita. Place the pickles and cucumber beside the patties and spoon the dressing over the top.

Enjoy it Natalie

Sunday was another day at work but it was topped off with another hike in Sweetwater Creek with my new hiking buddy, Rebecca. It was really great weather and amazing to get outside after a long weekend in the neon lights.

Monday was another day of house showing, which I really enjoy. Then it was off to the job for a night of playoff chatter with the co-workers. I think I watch more television this time of the year then any other, love the playoffs!

A few weeks ago, I spoke with my friend Natalie, who has been trying many of my recipes with her family. She had a request, anything with mushrooms. I love mushrooms so who am I to deny a friend their request? Enjoy it Natalie!


Roasted Mushrooms and Brussel Sprouts

1/3 of a large sweet onion (sliced)
2 large portobello mushroom caps
4 large shiitake mushrooms
5 large crimini mushrooms
5 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1/2 pound of brussel sprouts
1/2 cup of woodear mushrooms
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup of vegetable broth
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of black pepper
1 tablespoon of fresh basil (chopped)
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon of hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke


Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Take each mushroom and cut it into different types of pieces, some slices, some cubed, etc. In a 13x9 baking dish, pour in the olive oil, oinions and garlic and place pan in the oven for 5 minutes until the oil in hot but not smoking. Cut the stems off the brussel sprouts and slice them in half. Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms, brussel sprouts, salt and pepper and return to the oven. Allow to roast for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, much of the oil will have been cooked off by this point. Stir and add the remaining ingredients. Return to the oven for another 8 minutes and serve hot.



This was a nice savory dish and very earthy. The mushrooms each displayed their distinct flavors and were nicely complimented by the crunch if the brussel sprouts. This was the first time I had ever cooked with woodear mushrooms and they were fantastic!

Lemons!

As always, it was two long days at work. Saturday was a great day off. I had picked up some lemons recently and Ashley was over for lunch and we opted to make some lemon-aid. I am not a fan of the labor but I love fresh homemade lemon-aid! With the remaining pulp and peels, I made a nice sauce for some steamed vegetables for a nice lunch.


Steamed Vegetables in a Lemon Sauce

1 cup of carrots
1 cup of broccoli
1/2 cup of peas
1/2 cup of corn
1 tablespoon of lemon pulp
1 tablespoon of water
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Steam the broccoli, carrots (cut into matchsticks), peas and corn in a steamer until broccoli is a bright green. The carrots should require about 5 more minutes of steam time than the other vegetables. Set aside and cover.

Heat a pan to low / med heat. Add the lemon pulp and stir, slowing adding in the water. Vegetable broth can be used here but the flavor of the sauce is delicate do use a very subtle broth. Add the pepper and salt and stir well. Add the lemon zest and stir again. Reduce heat, do not get a "frying" heat. Much of the water will evaporate, drizzle the oil over the sauce and mix in. Add the vegetable and stir to coat.



After lunch, Ashley darted off to work and I headed out to the Vegan Bake Sale. Sadly, by the time I arrived most of the goodies were gone. I picked up a few things and chatted with some friends before heading around Marietta to go thrifting. I found some great plates and even a bad ass mug.


The real thrifting treasures were some dinning room chairs that were dirt cheap and in great condition. I grabbed 3, all different styles. I could not fit any more in my little car so I stopped there. Now I just need a good dinning room table. I actually feel like I am making a home.