Ruby Rice

  
     Today I was watching Chef at Home with Michael Smith, he's a Canadian Chef that encourages experimentation without a recipe in the kitchen. The quick editing and constantly moving camera can be at times dizzying to watch but the principles of simple cooking are presented well. As a vegetarian, lentils are an important food; something that I always bring up when people ask about protein in a vegetarian diet. One way to enhance the healthfulness of a legume is to add in a complex carbohydrate such as brown rice into the mix. Of course this is simply a base for a variety of flavors- the rice and lentils by themselves aren't particularly outstanding. Eating for the Rest of Us is dedicated to providing simple recipes, recipes that have flavor but attempt to provide flavor by nutritious ingredients. However, often my first inclination when approaching ingredients like rice and lentils, is to add a lot of other ingredients to enhance flavor. But this often will compromise the benefits native to these ingredients. The simplicity of Michael's recipe is key. By using dried cranberries, Michael significantly frills up the dish to completion.


1/2 cup of brown (or any type of) lentils
1/2 cup of brown rice
About 1 cup of dried cranberries
2 cups of water
A sprinkle or two of Salt & Pepper
1 Bay Leaf

(rince/drain rice and lentils)

1. Combine all ingredients in small to medium size pot. Bring to boil then turn down the heat to medium low and let simmer for about 30 mins with the pot covered or until lentils are tender and all the water is absorbed.

2.  Serve

Pear Sorbet

      If you need to take a break from the heat this summer you should set aside an afternoon to make this pear sorbet with your friends. Hollin and I, along with our friend Courtney, stepped into a café on Rue Saint Denis the other day after noticing its patrons spooning some wonderful looking sorbet and gelato.  We were excited to see that they offered a pear sorbet. Before I knew it, Hollin sat down next to me with a cup of the sorbet poire. I couldn't help but steal about half of it. On our walk back home, we stopped into our neighborhood fruiterie and bought a few pears. Having made a mango sorbet the previous weekend, I was eager to essentially use the same recipe to mimic what we tasted at the café.
    If you search for pear sorbet recipes you will likely find a variety of takes on it. Most of the differences that appear are a result of the type of extra liquid used in the recipe. Martha Stewart, for example, recommends using red wine or cranberry juice. We came across a bottle of pear nector at the grocery store so we went ahead and used  that for added liquid. With the mango sorbet we tried, adding water or any other liquid beside lime juice wasn't really necessary, however it seems that most pear recipes will suggest using water and/or another liquid.

The recipe below is adapted from Martha Stewart's version titled "Red-Wine and Pear Sorbet"

Ingredients:

2 cups of peeled and diced pear (about 4 small pears)
1 cup pear nector
1 1/4 cups water
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1/4 cup of sugar
1 pinch of salt


Begin by preparing a medium cooking pot by adding water and sugar and allowing mixture come to a boil.

Meanwhile prepare pears - cube the pears but because this mixture will be later puréed there is no need to spend a lot of time here getting it to look good.

Add pears to boiling sugar water and then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow pears to cook until they are tender... around 5-10 minutes.

When pears are tender stir in lemon juice and add a pinch of salt. Remove from heat and let mixture come to room temperature. (I cooled my down by putting into the fridge)

Use a blender (or perhaps a food processor might work) to purée the mixture.

If you have an icecream machine use it by simply pouring in purée.

If you do not have an ice-cream maker you can let the mixture completely freeze in a shallow container then roughly break it up into chunks before making it into a purée in a blender.

Cranberry Carrot Applesauce

The wife and myself have been settling into our new home in Montréal. It's been no small task. The kitchen was by large the most difficult to unpack and organize. Needless to say, it's been a while since I've had a hand in the kitchen. In the spirit of quick and easy foods, I thought I would share some applesauce that I made today. I fell well short of target in my efforts to mimic the housemade applesauce at Portland's Deli restaurant Kenny & Zuke's. Their applesauce is amazing hearty and delicious. Once when I was younger, I declared applesauce as my favorite food. Curiously today was the first time I had attempted to make it. Friends, this is the easiest thing I think there is to make. And it's cheap! By the way, the price of groceries in Montréal will challenge me further to find easy and inexpensive recipes of which I will continue to post. Even the most basic of ingredients such as flour are rather expensive here. So we'll see if I continue to bake as much as I hope.

Applesauce!

4 Apples (I hear it's best to use Granny Smith or another cooking type of apple)

1 cup (or so) of water

1 handful of baby carrots (Steamed)

2 handfuls of craisins.  (this is completely an option, but it was an afterthought of mine that proved to be pretty tasty. My sauce needed some tart)

2 tablespoons of sugar (evaporated cane suger was good)

2 tablespoons of cinnamon.

1. Cut up apples into chunks, discarding the core.

2. Place in Medium to Large Skillet. Pour water so the apple chunks are nearly covered. 

3. Cook on medium until apples are tender.

4. Add cinnamon. Feel free to add more or less. I like to get a good coverage of cinnamon. 

5. In a Blender, add carrots, craisins and some water.

6. When apples are tender, pour water/apples into the blender and pulse to desired consistency.

7. Refrigerize and eat.

Tahini Quinoa Salad

      I'm always on the look out for recipes that involve quinoa. This small grain is rather neutral and is packed full of protein. Good for the vegetarian. I came across this recipe in Sophie Dahl's new book, Miss Dahl's Voluptuous  Delights: recipes for every season, mood, and appetite. At first glance it may look like a repeat of my previously posted quinoa recipe, Les quinoa avec les legumes. And while it does contain some of the same ingredients, the flavor is very different thanks to the tahini dressing. This recipe is relatively inexpensive also. Tahini will be the most expensive ingredient and could be hard to find. I found mine next to the peanut butter in the nutrition area of the grocery market.


Serves 2


For the Dressing:
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
Juice of One Lemon
2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons of Tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 clove garlic, peeled & chopped (or crushed garlic from the jar)
Honey (to taste and optional)


Salad: 
2 Cups vegetable broth
1 Cup Quinoa
1/2 Peeled Cucumber, chopped
2 Scallions, finely chopped
1 Plum Tomato, finely chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, de-seeded & chopped
Fresh mint leaves to garnish (optional)


Instructions:::


1. Bring Vegetable broth to a boil, add quinoa and cover and let simmer 10-15 mins. Or until broth is absorbed.
2. Meanwhile blend dressing ingredients until smooth.
3. Prepare salad ingredients.
4. When quinoa is finished, mix in salad ingredients. 
5. Top with dressing upon serving.


It may be preferred to let the quinoa come fully to at least room temperature before serving. Feel free to serve it right from the refrigerator as well. 

Spinach & Cheese Ravioli

Nothing fancy here, just trying to save a dollar or two by making my own ravioli. While ravioli is not the healthiest dish one can eat, if you are going to indulge you should make it yourself. This way, you can control how much of each ingredient you use. When planning on what to fill these little guys with I immediately started to think of all the fancy ravioli I've had. Limiting the filling to ricotta cheese and spinach seemed boring - but like most things, simple does not have to mean bland. These turned out delicious as well as easy to make. The only challenge I faced was trying to get the dough thin enough. In the end, it was a little thick for my taste. To really perfect ravioli it is recommended to buy a pasta maker which will press the dough into a thin strip....But really, I think the same results can be achieved with a rolling pin.

Next time I would love to add in some whole wheat flour for some extra flavor and healthy.

First things first, the dough:

I borrowed this recipe for the dough (the simplest I could find) http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1635,130160-227204,00.html

Dough Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 large eggs, whole
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. sea salt
3 tablespoons water

Equipment:

Something to cut out Raviolis...Anything will do. 

Mixer (optional)
Rolling Pin

1.  In the mixer throw in 2 cups of flour (all-purpose white, unbleached) 2 eggs, oil, salt, and water... Everything listed above in together. 

2.  Mix the dough (I used a dough hook) mix for a few minutes until everything looks well combined. As always with dough, add in a little flour if things look too wet or add some water if too dry and flaky. 

3.  Plop your dough onto some parchment paper, lightly floured work surface, or dough mat.  Cover with a bowl or plastic wrap and let relax for 20 mins.

The Filling:

1 Cup of Ricotta Cheese
1/2 - 3/4 Cup of Spinach

4.  Meanwhile, chop up some spinach. A food processor is recommended for this, but you could  use a knife and chop small shreds.  

5. Stir the chopped spinach into the ricotta. Adding Salt and Pepper to taste.

- Note....My measurements for the ratio are very approximate. If you would like more spinach to ricotta ratio go for it! 

6. Going back to the dough, start will a ball and begin rolling out. Try to get the dough as thin as you can without creating holes. 

If dough is sticking to pin add some flour (I used semolina flour - it's great for dusting)

7. Now cut out circles, squares or what have-yous. It doesn't matter. We used circular cookie cutters.


8. Spoon out about a half a teaspoon or so of filling and then stack a cut dough piece and pinch off the edges to seal in the filling. 

9. Repeat until you've finished the dough.

10. Bring water to a boil and carefully drop in ravioli and cook for about 4-6 mins.


This dough contains cheese and eggs so if you aren't using the ravioli right away refrigerate or freeze.

Early Spring Vegan Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

The wife was extra sweet this year and bought me a canoe full of candy so we could welcome St. Valentine's Day. It was terribly saddening as I came down with a nasty cold and had to avoid lots of the candy she had bought. As I tried to combat my yearning for chocolate covered everything (raisins, sunflower seeds, pomegranate seeds, and more) I turned to a less guilty treat. Hollin baked these up. They are superb and vegan. They are extra moist and great right out of the oven when the outside still has a little crunch. Pair with your favorite tea and you are ready to welcome in some early spring weather.

Ingredients
 1 1/2 Mashed Bananas
1/2 Cup of Applesauce
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
1 Cup of Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 Dash of Salt
1 Dash Nutmeg / 1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Cup Dried Cranberries or Raisons
3/4 Cup of Oatmeal

1. Mix Bananas, Applesauce, Vanilla, and Brown Sugar
2. Mix in Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, Nutmeg/Cinnamon, Raisons and Oatmeal (the remaining ingredients).
3. Spoon out balls of cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet or bake mat. Slightly flatten (cookies will not spread out as much as conventional cookies, so slightly flattening will make them less round)
4. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20 - 30 minutes.

Multi-Grain Bread

Bread-making may conjure up plenty of unpleasant thoughts for some people. The vulnerability of yeast, the stickiness of dough, the strenuous task of kneading are some of the things that may come to mind.  And unlike most baked goods and cuisine, the French word for bread, 'pain', does not help the reputation of bread-making.  I'm sometimes deterred from what I feel will be a laborious process. In the past several months I have made bread on occasion in a bread machine after struggling with sprouted grain bread. With a bread machine there is absolutely no excuse to not make homemade bread.

I'm not sure if it has been the recipes that I've tried but I haven't been all that impressed with my bread-machine bread. Crust seems to be  too thick and the notch from the mixing blades at the bottom of the loaf has been annoying.

After making artisan type bread in the past, I was eager to try a basic bread-pan style loaf. Something I could actually use for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So after reading a simple recipe in Martha Stewart's magazine I got to work crafting a multi-grain loaf. The results are quite good. And really, a not-so-painful experience it was.

Ingredients, what you'll need. 

The Flours:
3 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of rye
3 cups of all purpose flour (white unbleached, all that good stuff)

The Grains:
1/3 cup bulgar
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup of raw sunflower seeds (shelled)
1/4 cup of flax seeds (whole or processed)

Water:
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees) FOR YEAST
1/2 cup warm water for Bulgur
1 1/2 cup warm water for mix


Other things that you'll need:
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (two 1/4-ounce envelopes)
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons honey FOR YEAST
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons coarse salt (sea salt please)


Optional:
Spray olive oil


Tools:
Bowls
Mixer
Thermometer (digital is the way to go here)
4 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch loaf pan. 
Plastic wrap



Bulgar!
1. Prepare the bulgar by letting it soak and absorb water for 20 mins.

Get the yeast going:

1. Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup of warm water (watch the temperature with the thermometer you want to have water at 110 degrees F or whatever your yeast package recommends)

2. Add honey (2 teaspoons)

3. Whisk until all the yeast has dissolved. Then let sit for about 5 minutes. It should froth like crazy.

The mixing bowl:

1. Add yeast mixture
2. Add melted butter
3. Add 1 1/2 cup of remaining water.
4. Add 3 tablespoons of honey.

In another bowl:

1. Combine all flours.
2. Combine Salt
3. Dry mix thoroughly

Back to the mixing bowl:

1. Add two cups of flour/salt mix to the Yeast/honey/butter mix.

2. Attach dough hook and mix with stand mixer until smooth.

3. Add the remainder of the flour mix and the grains one cup at a time. Slowly over several minutes combine all ingredients while mixer is running.

4. Mix on low until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ragged and slightly sticky ball.

5. Knead dough on a floured surface (or baking mat) for 5 or so minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic but still slightly tacky.

6. Spray or apply a thin layer of butter to the mixing bowl or another large bowl.

7. Work the dough into a ball and transfer to the large bowl.

8. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1 hour in a warm place. The dough should double in volume.  (And should not spring back when poked)

9.  Transfer dough back to work surface and punch down dough and divide in two (using a sharp knife to do this works best)

10. Grab half of the dough and work into a rectangle (nearly sqaure) about 8 1/2 inches in length.

11. Fold ends toward the center, slightly overlapping eachother.

12. Pinch together the seam.

13. Place dough seam down in the oiled/buttered loaf pan.

14. Sprinkle with flour and cover pan with plastic wrap. Set in warm place to rise, about 45 minutes or until dough is about 1 inch above the top of the pan.

15. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. And wait for dough to rise.

16. Reduce heat to 400 degrees. Remove plastic then bake bread. for about 45 mins or until tops are golden brown. Rotating pan after 20 mins.

17. Transfer to wire racks, Let cool slightly then turn out loafs and let them completely cool before slicing.