Cooking the Candle 79 Cookbook

Seitan Piccata and Braised Green Beans

Seitan Piccata is V's favorite dish at Candle 79. He never gets anything else. So when we had my parents and some friends over for dinner the other night he requested that it be the next thing I cook from the cookbook. I would have waited a few more months to make it, because frying things sort of scares me. And frying things in small batches and keeping them warm for 7 people, and then plating them before they get cold, scares me even more. It helped that my mother offered to help (while being so amazed by the seitan, which she had never seen before).

We did not make the seitan... I love Ray's Wheat Meat, which seems to be available at several health food stores around New York City, so it never seems worth the effort of starting from scratch. Someday though! Before this project is done!

I started by making the green beens - almonds add some texture and just a hint of flavor. Then I put them on a sheet pan in the oven, covered with foil, at 170 degrees (as low as my oven will go) to keep them warm, while we cooked the rest.

We made garlic mashed potatoes (boiled, then pureed in the food processor with soy milk, a little olive oil, salt and pepper).

My mom made the sauce. I breaded and fried the seitan. V. took pictures after we plated. Hooray for team work in the kitchen!  

I was the only vegetarian at the table and everyone completely cleaned their plates. It's a filling and fulfilling dish. Perfect for a cold winter evening with friends, family, and lots of red wine!

Recipes are on pages 89 and 111. 

I know. This not actually sharing the recipes is a little frustrating. But I can't copy the entire book for you. And so far 8 out of 8 recipes have been winners. That's a pretty great record if you're still looking for a good Christmas present! 

Oh, and in case you're wondering, this recipe is completely different from the piccata in the Candle Cafe Cookbook. I like this one a lot better.

Quinoa Chili

It was pure luck that I came across the cookbook called Feeding the Whole Family when my first child was born over a decade ago. It was the first time I'd come across such exotic grains as millet, quinoa and amaranth, and included step by step directions on how to cook them. I may have called it 'keen-wa' for the first few years, but I definitely developed a love affair with this grain from the moment I tried it! And this chili is a family favourite - all of the kids will devour it, it's easy to spice up with hot sauce after the fact, and such a nourishing meal to bring to new moms or sick families:-) And now that the cold weather has arrived, I find we're enjoying it about once a week - with garlic bread, tea biscuits, tortilla chips or on a bed of steamed kale, we love our chili!

Page 145.






Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

No, I won't torture you by not giving you the actual recipe - that would just be CRUEL!!!!

Red Bean and Quinoa Chili

1 cup dried kidney beans, soaked
1 tsp cumin
3 cups water

Drain soaking water off beans. Place beans in a large pot with cumin and water; bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat, covered, until tender (50-60 minutes) or pressure-cook using 2 cups of water (45 minutes) OR.....for those who don't have a lot of time (me me me), buy one can of organic kidney beans.

2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp sea salt
1 large green pepper, chopped (I often use red or orange, and add carrots or cauliflower here)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne
2/3 cup quinoa, rinsed in warm water and drained
1 cup fresh or frozen corn (Ry is allergic, so I use peas instead)
1-2 cups organic tomato sauce
1 cup water

Heat oil in skillet on medium heat. Add onion, salt, garlic, pepper, and spices; saute for 5-10 minutes. Add rinsed quinoa and stir in. Add corn, tomato sauce, and water to onion/quinoa mixture. Simmer together 20 minutes. Add cooked beans to other ingredients; simmer another 10 minutes.

ENJOY!

Chocolate Chip Cookies for Every Occasion

We make chocolate chip cookies a lot. Everybody likes them, they're quick to make and you can endlessly vary the additions. For our holiday party I used dark chocolate chips, dried cranberries and walnuts.

Sometimes I substitute half the flour with hazelnut flour. Or I mix dark, milk and white chips. I think they need nuts to balance out the sweetness of the chocolate, but it's entirely up to you!!

The one thing that stays consistent is the texture, which is cakey with a little crunch around the edges.

Go crazy! Throw together a batch and enjoy...with tea, with coffee, for breakfast, as a midnight snack, as a way of telling your best friend you love her, to ease into telling your partner that, yes, you needed those $200 jeans, after your workout, before your workout, instead of a workout....seriously, they are perfect for every occasion!

Every Occasion Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread (or other shortening)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

a pinch of salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 12oz. bag chocolate chips of your choice (or mix and match different kinds)

at least 1 cup toasted nuts of your choice

at least one cup dried cherries or cranberries (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Cream the Earth Balance with the two kinds of sugar and the vanilla. Whisk in one egg at a time.

Mix the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the chocolate chips and whatever other additions you are using.

Scoop teaspoon-sized mounds of batter onto your sheet pans. Space them well apart, because they will expand. 

Refrigerate each sheet pan for 10 minutes before baking. This will prevent them spreading out too thin in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes or until they start to turn golden around the edges.

They will keep in an airtight container for several days!

Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cookies

These are soft and very lemony. Very easy to eat! I think they make a nice balance to all the spice and fruit and chocolate cookies that we love to eat during the holidays. We served them at our Christmas party last weekend and they were the first to go...before the chocolate chip and the palmiers and the German cinnamon-almond cookies.
They would be good any time of year of course. I could see a summer picnic in Central Park, a little champagne smuggled to the great lawn in a thermos, a few lemon cookies...perfect lazy Sunday!
This is another adaptation of a German recipe, so the measurements are metric. The electronic kitchen scale that you absolutely need from Santa will take care of this!

Lemon Olive Oil Cookies
3 lemons
100g sugar
150g all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
a pinch of salt
75ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tblsp. soy milk (or other non-dairy milk of your choice)
sugar for rolling


Wash and dry the lemons. Grate the zest of all 3. Juice one of the lemons and set the juice aside.


Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.


In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and lemon zest with 75g of the sugar. Using an electric mixer or a wooden spoon, blend in the olive oil, lemon juice and soy milk. Don't overmix. 


Pour the rest of the sugar into a bowl. Roll little balls with the dough and then roll each ball in the sugar.


Line a baking sheet with parchment. Space out the cookies so they have room to expand in the oven (about 1 1/2" between them).


Gently use your thumb to press down the center of each cookie.

Bake about 12 minutes, or until the bottoms start to brown. Remove from baking sheet and spread out on a cooling rack.




Glaze
50g powdered sugar
1 tblsp. lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon


Mix the lemon juice into the powdered sugar with a spoon. You want the glaze to be smooth but not too runny. Put a little dollop of glaze into the center of each cookie. If you want to be fancy, use a knife to coax the glaze down the sides of the cookie (see picture). Sprinkle a little lemon zest on the glaze. Let it set (this may take a couple of hours). 
Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Cooking the Candle 79 Cookbook

Avocado Salsa

Why is it so hard to find perfectly ripe avocados? I went to four stores, and I did finally find some, but it doesn't always work out that way. Here's a trick that one of my chef friends taught me: take the hard avocados and put them in the food processor with a little olive oil. Works like a charm. And you're only adding healthy fat to something that is already healthy fat, so if you have a party and you're in a bind, I highly recommend it. You're avocados won't be chunky but they'll taste perfectly ripe.
In this case it wasn't necessary and I got a nice, chunky avocado salsa. Which is to say guacamole. Whatever you want to call it, it was a big hit at our holiday party and I should have made more!
Recipe on page 11.

Cooking the Candle 79 Cookbook

Winter Spiced Sangria

Depending on whether your apartment is hot or cold in the winter, you will want to make this recipe as sangria or mulled wine.
I recently heard somewhere that old buildings in New York tended to be overheated because it was assumed that you needed fresh air, and would therefore keep your windows open all winter. It's certainly the best explanation we've heard about why our apartment (built in 1927) is so hot, even though we've turned the radiators all the way down. And we do keep the windows wide open. Lots of fresh air and quite a waste of energy!
So when we had a party this weekend, 15 people in the already hot room, we opted for the chilled sangria. It was delicious. Not too sweet with plenty of holiday flavor!
Recipe on page 166.