Strawberry Salad

I made a salad for Shabbat dinner that went over swimmingly. The key, I think, was the strawberry dressing.

Dressing:
6 strawberries
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (or more, to taste)
1 teasp honey
salt, pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender, and give a whirl. Chill until needed.

Salad: spinach; oranges (peeled and chunked); strawberries (halved); mango (chunked); asparagus (steamed, halved, and cooled); avocado (chunked).

Toss with dressing, serve. Yum!

Pedometre! Photos! Ptouring!

Today I played tour guide, again, for Ann and Mickie, friends who are visiting from NY, on vacation celebrating their wedding anniversary.

Today’s tour involved a lot of walking. I mean, a lot. Maybe it just felt like a lot because it was so hot. And because I was in sandals. Or maybe it was because they’re not big walkers so they were complaining a bit, and walking fairly slow… Either way, We walked. A lot.

In the morning, I swung by their B&B and took them up the Plateau, over to Mont-Royal to see the tamtams. Then up to that clearing to see the sword fighters. The around the hill for a bit before heading down to Parc to walk up to Mile End. Then through Outremont, into Snowdon (I guess, I’m not sure which neighbourhood that is, just west of Outremont). They took the metro back to the B&B from Plamandon, and I kept walking up to Namur. The total that I walked was 11.2311km.

I then took the metro to their B&B so we could head onto the next adventure.We went to Ile Sainte-Hélène, parc Jean Drapeau, for piknic electronik. We were a little too tired to dance at what was essentially an outdoor daytime rave, so we made it our mission to take photos of all the ultra-low waistlines and exposed g-strings, underwear, bras, etc. It was surprisingly fun. We then headed to the Biosphere so they could see it, but it was closed. We headed to the ferry, hoping to go across to the old city, but we a) got kinda lost by taking a wrong turn on this tiny trail in the woods and b) missed the last sailing by a good 1.5 hours. So we took the metro back to town. That island walk around was about 3km.
We took the metro further than need be and walked some more while hunting for dinner. Another 2km, I’m guessing. So my total walking today was 16.2185km. I feel quite good about that.

Also, random photos from today are here.

Sangria and/or Mingling Manischewitz Mixtures

I spent Friday evening, pre-Shabbat, sitting on a terrasse, in the drizzling rain, drinking sangria with visiting friends (in town from NY for their wedding anniversary).

Shabbat dinner was lovely, with great people and great food. (I am so making rosemary challah!)

Today was spent playing tour guide to the visiting friends, drinking more pichets de sangria or terrasses.

Then, Manischewitz magic. Last night, at Shabbat dinner, as I was introduced to my new “sweet and bubbly” kosher wine, plans were hatched for a Manischewtitz party. And tonight, we executed those plans. I made Mingling Manischewitz Mixtures. So tasty, you should make some right now!

• In a blender, pour in Manischewitz wine. (If this were “Hebrew Hammer,” I’d tell you to use the “black label” stuff, but what we used was the blackberry wine.)
• Add frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.)
• Blend.
• Taste.
• Realise that it is *really* sweet.
• Add Cointreau to counter the sweet.
• Blend.
• Pour into wine glasses, for that extra touch of class.
• Drink!

(Variations: add Wilde’s strawberry passionfruit juice.)
Please note: This is best done in batches, using up 1.5 bottles of Manischewitz.

Along with the drinks, we felt that drinking Mingling Manischewitz Mixtures called for a couple episodes of Sex and The City. (The one where Harry and Charlotte get back together, and then their wedding episode, because, really, who doesn’t love hora puns?) And then they wanted something else, and no one had seen the Hebrew Hammer, and the sugar from the Mingling Manischewitz Madness was racing through our bloodstreams, so we watched, and laughed, and laughed some more. Excellent.

Tomorrow? Free museum day, playing tour guide some more, and hopefully more sangria.

Vegan and/or Vegetarian Recipes

I’ve been really bad at posting recipes, hence the whack of ‘em going up at once. Enjoy!

Black Forest Mushroom Soup

4 cups dried Black Forest mushrooms	In a medium bowl, cover mushrooms with boiling water. Allow to sit about 2 hours or until mushrooms have softened. Remove ends of mushroom stems and slice. Reserve liquid. In a large, heavy, soup pot, heat butter over medium-high heat until butter melts and begins to turn a nutty brown colour. Add onion, leek, and pepper; sweat 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and mushrooms and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add tarragon, wine, stock, and mushroom liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes or until mushrooms have softened. In a medium sized bowl, whisk buerre-manié until smooth. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of the soup mixture until buerre-manié resembles a smooth paste. Add to the soup 1 spoonful at a time, whisking constantly. Simmer until thickened slightly. Stir in cream and season with Worcestershire sauce,nutmeg, salt and pepper. Bring back to a boil and serve.
4 cups boiling water
¼ cup butter
2 cups Spanish onion, diced
1 cup leek, diced
1 cup green pepper, finely diced
1½ teasp garlic, minced
1 teasp dried tarragon
½ cup red wine
8 cups stock
5 tbsp buerre-manié
1 cup whipping cream
1 teasp Braggs
½ teasp nutmeg
salt
pepper

Thai-Spiced Watermelon Soup

5 cups seeded watermelon, coarsely chopped	This light, spicy soup is delicious hot or chilled. The sautéed aromatics turn the broth a rich red-orange, more reminiscent of tomato than watermelon. See if your guests can guess the main ingredient. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 hr (3 hr if serving chilled) Purée watermelon in a blender until smooth and transfer to a bowl. (Don’t wash blender.) Discard 1 or 2 outer leaves of lemongrass and trim root end. Thinly slice lower 5 to 6 inches of stalk and then mince, discarding remainder. Cook lemongrass, shallot, ginger, and garlic in oil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, until aromatics are pale golden, about 5 minutes. Add about one third of watermelon purée and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, 5 minutes. Remove watermelon mixture from heat, then transfer to blender along with chile, lime juice, and salt and blend until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Add remaining watermelon purée and blend briefly. Season soup with more chile, lime juice, and salt if desired, blending if necessary. Pour soup through a sieve into a bowl, pressing on and then discarding any solids. Chill soup, uncovered, about 2 hours if serving cold, or reheat in cleaned saucepan. Makes 4 first-course servings. Idea: marinate tofu (or fake crab!) in cilantro, oil, and salt. sautée lightly, add to soup.
1 lemongrass stalk
3 tbsp shallot, chopped
1.5 tbsp ginger, chopped
1 tbsp garlic, chopped
1.5 tbsp olive oil
1 small hot green chilli (Thai or serrano), finely chopped (including seeds)
2 tbsp lime juice
0.75 tsp salt
lime wedges

Mock Chopped Liver

3 tbsp oil	Sauté the mushrooms and onions for 8-10 minutes. Pour into blender/food processor, adding walnuts and seasoning and water. Blend until smooth.
1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup walnuts, chopped
salt, pepper
1 tbsp water

Desserts

This was a huge success at tonight’s BBQ burritos and salad on the terrasse, and folks wanted the recipe. So here it is.

I devised this recipe after being challenged last May to make a chocolate banana vegan mousse that was as tasty as the one as Aux Vivres.

crust:
1.5 cups Graham Cracker crumbs (made by putting GC in a bag and *thwacking* it repeatedly)
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup margarine, melted

filling:
1 pack of silken tofu
1 ripe bananas
1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract

Making your own crust is really simple. (Though, you could just buy one at the store.) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Mix all ingredients until well blended. Press the mixture firmly onto the bottom and up the sides of 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely.

Filling! Put the tofu, bananas and vanilla in a blender. Blend. Put aside for a moment. On the stove, melt the chocolate in a double boiler. If you don’t have one, you can replicate it by bringing a small saucepan of water to a boil, then putting a metal bowl over the top of the pot and putting the chocolate in the bowl. Stir the chocolate to help it melt… Once it’s melted, add to the blender, and blend away. You’ll probably need to use a spatula to scrape the chocolate from the sides.

Pour the filling into the pie crust. Put it in the fridge to cool. (The cooled chocolate will harden, holding the pie filling firmly together.)

ta da!

This recipe is also really good with berries mixed in instead of (or in addition to) bananas. Also, I’ve tried it with a bit of liqueur (I’ve tried cointreau and Bailey’s) and both are super tasty.

Eating?

I’m still not back to any semblance of “normal” eating. However, my appetite, which has been AWOL since Monday, has returned. This means that I’m hungry, and wanting food, but my body isn’t cooperating with my wants. The result is that I’m thinking about food. A lot. And I realise that I haven’t shared any recipes in a while, though, this week aside, I have cooked some pretty tasty things.

4 Tomatoes
2 cups of strawberries
2 oranges
1 Avocado
1 Mango
Cilantro
1 sm. red onion
1 Jalapeno
2 Limes

Dice the tomatoes, strawberries, oranges, avocado, mango, and cilantro, and mix in a bowl.

Finely chop the onion and jalapeno and add to the bowl.

Zest two limes, add the zest to the bowl. Then squeeze the juice of the two limes into the bowl too. Mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Delicious fruit salsa!

Cold Carrot Soup
This is a really great soup for summer - it’s served cold (you’ll want to chill it in the fridge for several hours, so make it the night before), but it’s somewhat spicy, and the combination makes it really refreshing.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds carrots, peeled, chopped (about 5 cups)
2 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), chopped (about 2 cups)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
3 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
6 1/2 cups (or more) vegetable or chicken broth
8 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons grated lime peel

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots and leeks; sauté until leeks begin to soften but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add cumin and crushed red pepper; sauté 30 seconds longer. Add 6 1/2 cups of broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until vegetables are very tender, about 35 minutes.

Working in batches if needed, purée soup in blender until smooth. Transfer soup to large bowl. Cool in the fridge.

Whisk in 6 tablespoons sour cream. Cover soup and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Stir lime juice into soup. Thin soup with more broth, if desired. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls. (Optional: spoon 1/2 tablespoon sour cream atop each serving.) Sprinkle with cilantro and lime peel.

*sigh* Now to eat some matzah and broth. Again.

Shabbat

I was biking home, still trying to figure out my plans for Shabbat dinner, a day or two of messaging with S was going nowhere, when I heard “Benjiiiii!” I looked, and there was R, pedalling to catch up with me. We ended up having a quiet, casual, summer Shabbat chez moi. I don’t often host Shabbat dinners as my place is small and there are usually many of us together, but for two of us it worked.

We said the chamotzi over challah we had baked together late Wednesday night.

I made a simple spinach salad with green mangoes and grape tomatoes, with a little bit of balsamic as dressing. In the centre sat a cold pesto pasta salad. I used egg noodles as I wanted the noodles just to be a vehicle for the pesto, not to add flavour. The pesto was quite simple to make, and I changed my standard method somewhat: basil, parsley, pine nuts, olive oil, chevre, salt and pepper in the food processor. Rachel told me it was the best pesto she’d ever had. And we had corn which, despite how early it is in the season, was actually pretty good. I simply broiled it with some olive oil, salt and pepper.

To drink I made us margarita-esque smoothies. In the blender I mixed up a cup of frozen strawberries, 4 oz white rum, and 2 oz peach schnapps. It was a little too thick for my blender, so I also added a bit of Bolthouse Farms’ berry blast smoothie. It turned out to be way too strong for R, so hers went back in the blender with more strawberries and more smoothie until she could drink it happily. She especially enjoyed the few whole strawberries I threw in.