Corn-Cilantro Pancakes (a sketch)

I thought this was a Madhur Jaffrey recipe, but i haven't had luck in re-locating it. Here's what i have scribbled down:

1/2 c cornmeal
1 and 1/3 c chickpea or all-purpose flour
1 T coriander seeds (or ground, i mean, really)
1 t garam masala
1 t salt
3 c corn kernels
1 c water, or as needed
1 T baking powder (we tried without it once, wasn't as good)
3 T chopped cilantro
2 t oil and some for frying
(opt: 2 or 3 jalepeno chilies, coarsely chopped)

and i know we used some fresh corn as well, maybe i skipped that line? my guess is somewhere around 2 cups, but i guess you'll have to eyeball it.

Combine cornmeal, chickpea flour, the spices, and 1.5 c of corn kernels in food processor*. Add 1 c water and process into a batter (10-15 seconds). Transfer and set aside for at least 15 minutes. Preheat a pan until drops of water dance. Stir in remaining ingredients, fry (4-5 minutes for both sides).

In my mind it makes more sense to let it sit if you've added the baking powder, so i'm beginning to doubt my notes (they also said "preheat oven to 300" before preheating the pan). eeeps. Well, I'll make these soon and correct the recipe. *If you lack a food processor (as i currently do), i'd suggest buying cornflour (something ground more finely than cornmeal) to substitute, and using ground coriander, and then just mixing by hand or with a beater.

Sassy Zucchini Bread

from Lorna Sass's Complete Vegetarian Kitchen (which is actually a vegan cookbook)

1.5 c tightly packed, coarsely grated zucchini
3 T flax seeds
1/2 c water
1.5 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 c barley flour (i think we used all ww pastry)
1 T baking soda
1.5-2 t cinnamon
3/4-1 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground cloves
scant 1/2 t sea salt
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c apple juice
1/3 c maple syrup
1/3 c canola or safflower oil (we used raw sesame oil, cuz that's what we had)
1 t vanilla (always double the vanilla, i say, but it's good with only 1 t, too)

Grate zucchini, put in colander to drain. In a blender, grind flax seeds. Add the water. Process until a gummy mixture is achieved (30 seconds abouts). Set aside. [Note, if this step is done in a food processor, grind the flax seeds in a spice or coffee grinder first, for 60-90 seconds] Mix flax liquid and zucchini--grab small amounts of zucchini in a fist to squeeze out extra moisture as you go. Mix the wet into the dry ingredients, just until flour is absorved--overmixing is sin #1.

Bake 18-22 minutes at 375 degrees. The original recipe is for muffins, so depending on pan size it may take longer--after 15 minutes i'd keep doing the poke-with-a-toothpick test regularly, since you want to take it out as soon as the toothpick comes out clean so it won't be dry.

Zucchini Pizza Crust

from Moosewood.

3.5 c coarsely-grated zucchini
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup grated parm
1/2 cup grated mozzerella (we used vegan cheese)
1 T fresh basil, minced or 1/2 t dried
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350. Grate zukes, salt lightly, let sit, then strain out excess moisture. Combine all the crust ingredients, spread onto oiled 9 x 13 pan. Bake 20-25 minutes (until the surface is dry and firm). Then brush the top with oil and broil it, under moderate heat (what does that mean?) for 5 minutes.
Top with tomato sauce and all the fixings, then heat in the 350 oven for 25 minutes. I think if you bake the crust a bit longer, you can get away with just adding heated tomato sauce and cooked fixings without further baking. If you want it to resemble a pizza omelette, spread thinly on a baking tray and reduce the first bake time, don't broil it, and skip the final bake time. Serve pieces folded in two.

Honey, honey (do do do do doo do)

The first step is cutting away the wax capping over the honey. This honey is much lighter than the one on the main page--maybe from a different hive? maybe those bees preferred certain plants? or it was created earlier or later in the season when only certain flowers were available? i have no idea.

Lore de-capping and collecting wax

The extractor. Four uncapped frames sit in, then you spin a bunch, flip them over, and spin some more. Centripedal/Centrifugal force does most of the work.

Benski spinning some honey

I could have sat there and watched this for hours.

Just be glad I didn't post all the extreme close-up, eye-strain-inducing photos that I took...

Bees! I think these were the Italians. Photo courtesy of John (and the following ones as well)

Removing frames from the hive

Gently (gently!!) trying to remove bees from frame

Placing the bee-less frame in an empty box. The goal was to minimize the number of bees that would get into the garage/extraction room, where they could get trapped.

An empty jar shows off one of Kyli's brilliant "Bee Barf" brand labels.

Tofu Cheesecake with Blueberry Glaze

The Base (from The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook):

Filling:
3 cups tofu
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup oil (we may have used slightly less)
1 cup sugar (i'd use a little more)
1 tsp vanilla (go crazy, make it 2)
a pinch of salt

Blend/Food Process. The book says you can add a little water at the end if you need to for creaminess, but it seemed good to us, so we didn't.

Crust:

1.5 cups graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup melted margarine (or soy margarine)
1 T sugar (optional)

Mix crumbs, sugar, and oil, and press into the bottom and sides of a 9" pie plate.

Pour the filling into the crust. Add the glaze. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes (until middle is set--although i don't think we tested it).

The Blueberry Glaze: (an inspired combo to recipes from both The Voluptuous Vegan and The Yoga Kitchen)

1 cup fresh blueberries
almost 1 cup unsweetened apple juice (we had some pear juice, so we used that, but i think cider would work great)
1 T maple syrup (hmm, i think we used a bit more, or maybe brown sugar, up to 1/4 cup of sweetener would be my guess)
a pinch of salt
1 T arrowroot, dissolved in 2 T of juice (i think you can substitute cornstarch?)

Heat blueberries, sweetener, the juice, and salt on medium heat until the mixture is blue and some of the blueberries have burst, probably about when the liquid starts to boil. Add the arrowroot/juice bit to the pot, then stir until the mixture just starts to bubble. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. We waited a few minutes for it to cool before pouring it over the tofu filling, but it was still pretty hot, so i wonder if that step did anything.

Pasta Fresca

First, choose and cook your pasta. We went with penne, because, hey, that's how N&Co does it (penne's also my favorite pasta). Since we were making pasta for 5 people, we ended up using a bag and a third (what size bag you ask? um...) of penne, and eyeballing the increase in other ingredients like onions and tomatoes. But we kept the sauce the same, and that's the true key to this dish.

In a very hot pan, saute

2 t olive oil
2 1/2 C pre-cooked pasta
1/4 C cubed roma tomatoes
1 T diced red onion
2 shakes of salt + cracked pepper

Sear noodles, stir a bit, should get "steaming hot". We actually didn't wait to sear the noodles, we just waited until the onions looked ready, and then poured in the sauce. Or maybe that's a lie, did we pout in the sauce first cuz we thought it would need to reduce more? Er, either way, it worked...

Once everything is good and hot, add

1 oz fresh baby spinach (who measures ounces in their kitchen? yeesh...)
1 oz fresca sauce

Toss to combine, and when the noodles look good and coated, take off heat. Shred some parmesan cheese on it so it gets nice and melted.

Fresca sauce

I think we used this entire batch for our amount of pasta, it didn't seem like 15 servings or whatever the website said. If you're cooking for 2, maybe pour a third of it in with the pasta and see how that looks.

1/4 C fresh garlic, minced
2 t salt
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
1/4 C sweet white wine
1 C extra virgin olive oil

Sorry for the imprecise recommendations on the sauce. I'm sure that we'll make this again soon, and then we'll be sure to take better notes.

Seaweed!

The coast of Maine

Shep Erhart of Maine Coast Sea Vegetables


Dulse looking ethereal

'Fry's done.