Gado-Gado, Ottolenghi-Style

Here is my variant on Gado-Gado, adapted from the version in Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

To make it as written I would budget about an hour and a half, maybe more. But you can take some shortcuts if you want (it just might not be quite as yummy!)

Note: I haven't actually made the OTHER Gado-Gado on this blog since I posted it.. it was probably easier but I would say this is definitely yummier. The other one has some interesting topping ideas too though, and could be a good option if you're lacking in fancy ingredients like galangal and tamarind.

Totally worth the time to make the super satay sauce from scratch. I will write it out as I made it, which includes a small substitution as I couldn't get a hold of fresh galangal. If you can find it, the original calls for using fresh galangal in the place of the fresh ginger and dried galangal.

Ideally you will read through this whole recipe and think through your timing, as you may want to overlap preparing the salad with making the sauce in ways that make sense for the ingredients you choose.

Satay Sauce

This is the slow part and it could definitely be done ahead of time if you're organized. If you're rushed for time or want to use ingredients you're more likely to have on hand, you could always skip this part and make awesome no-cook peanut sauce instead.

Ingredients

• 4 peeled garlic cloves
• 1 roughly chopped lemongrass stalk
• 2.5 tbsp sambal oelek (makes for a sauce with some heat, but not really spicy... if I were making this for kids I would probably reduce the quantity or maybe just make them some kid-friendly peanut sauce and keep this deluxe sauce for those brave enough to eat it!)
• roughly the equivalent of a 5" long piece of fresh ginger (about 1-1.5" in diameter), peeled
• 2 slices of dried galangal, rehydrated in a small bowl of boiling water for a few minutes, cut into small bits (if you don't have dried galangal, just do a little more ginger instead)
• 4 medium shallots, peeled (this is probably the most annoying part of the recipe)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 tbsp salt
• 7 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp thick tamarind water (rehydrate about 1/4 cup tamarind in about 1/2-3/4 cup of boiling water, let sit at least 10 minutes or so, stir it together and mash the tamarind with a fork, then press out the liquid through a sieve)
• 1 1/2 cups roasted unsalted peanuts
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 cup coconut milk

Method

1. Use a small food processor or hand blender to crush the garlic, lemongrass, sambal oelek, ginger, galangal pieces, and shallots into a homogeneous paste.
2. Heat up the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the paste from step 1 and cook over medium-low heat for 40-50 minutes (until the oil starts to separate). Stir regularly. 
• While the paste is cooking...
• Prepare the tamarind water
• Combine the salt, sugar, and paprika in a small bowl
• Crush peanuts roughly in a food processor - leave them a bit chunky. Put the peanuts and water into a small saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until the mixture thickens and most of the water has evaporated
3. Add the salt, sugar and paprika mixture to the pot with the paste. Also add the tamarind water. Stir and cook for 10 minutes more.
4. Add the cooked peanut mixture to the cooked spice paste then stir in the coconut milk

Spice paste is done.. keep it somewhere warm.

The Salad Part

This part is relatively quick - the time-consuming pieces are preparing tofu, roasting yams, and cooking rice... the rest is pretty speedy.

Ingredients (and some Method)

Note: you could do this part with basically whatever ingredients you want... the sauce is the key! But I will outline what I did today here. Note that in the original recipe there are potatoes instead of the rice and yams, and various other differences. 

These ingredients should be prepared first (like before or while you make the sauce) as they will take some time:

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups short grain brown rice. Cook this according to package directions or using your preferred method.
• 4 small yams, cleaned and sliced into 1/2" to 3/4" rounds (no need to peel) - toss these with some olive oil and kosher salt then roast in the oven at the same time as you roast your tofu (about 30-40 minutes, flip them over about half way through)...
• 1 block of extra firm tofu, prepared according to instructions in my post "The best way to prepare tofu" (you can roast the tofu and the yams at the same time)

These ingredients will cook quickly and the process is described below:

• 1 very small or half of a medium-large cabbage, cut into chunks (I cut a very small cabbage in half and then each half into 4 wedges, then halved the wedges to make 8 chunks per half cabbage)
• 1-2 cups bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
• 1-2 cups green beans, washed and trimmed
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves
• Something crunchy to sprinkle on top. I used these yam chips from Hardbite. The original recipe calls for crisp-fried shallots and cassava chips

Method (the rest of it)

1. If you haven't already, get the rice, tofu, and yams started cooking (see notes above). You should also hard boil your eggs if you haven't done that yet. See below for tips if you need them.
2. Once your sauce, rice, tofu, yams, and eggs are done ready... 
• Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil
• While the water is heating up, spread the cooked rice out in the bottom of a large casserole dish or serving platter
• When the water comes to a boil, add the cabbage and blanch it for 1 minute, then remove and drain it (I used a large slotted spoon to fish out as much as I could). Spread the cabbage out in a layer over the cooked rice
• Add the bean sprouts to the boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds, then remove and drain them. Layer these over the cabbage and rice
• Add the green beans to the boiling water and blanch for 4 minutes then drain. Layer green beans over the cabbage, rice, and bean sprouts.
• You're done the cooking part - go ahead and turn off the water pot.
3. If you need some time to finish getting other things ready, put the casserole/serving platter somewhere warm.
4. Before serving, layer the roasted tofu chunks and yam slices on top everything already added to the casserole/platter.
5. Serve the salad with the satay sauce, chopped cilantro, quartered eggs, and crispy chips on the side so everyone can add these in whatever quantity they like.

I Ain't Got No Bubby... Challah Recipe

I don't have a Jewish grandmother because well I'm not Jewish. So instead I scoured the Internet for a challah recipe and have made my own tweaks to it over time. Here's how I make it!

Ingredients

• 2 c whole wheat flour
• 1.5 c all purpose flour, plus...
• additional flour: 2 - 3.5 c all purpose flour (usually about 2.5 cups is right)
• 1.5 tbs active dry yeast (traditional)
• 1 tbs salt
• 1/3 c sugar, divided
• 2 c warm water (wrist temperature)
• 1 egg, beaten (plus another for glaze)
• 1/4 c vegetable oil
• 1/4 c melted butter
• 1 c golden raisins (optional)
• sesame or poppy seeds for topping (optional)

Method

1. Rinse bowl of stand mixer with warm water to heat it up a bit
2. Combine 1 tbs of the sugar with the warm water in the mixer bowl then sprinkle the yeast on top
3. Let yeast dissolve for about 10 minutes, until foamy. 
4. Meanwhile, mix together the first 3.5 cups of flour, the rest of the sugar and the salt
5. Stir to dissolve the yeast mixture then add the flour mixture to it
6. Combine the oil, melted butter, and beaten egg - add to the mixer bowl.
7. Using the dough hook and a low speed setting, start mixing/kneading the dough as you slowly add in the additional flour (add only as much as needed - start with 2 cups and add more if it starts getting sticky before you hit the smooth and elastic stage). This should take about 2-3 minutes, maybe 4. Add the raisins in somewhere near the end (if using). [ALTERNATIVELY - knead by hand about 10 minutes as you add in the additional flour]
8. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, lift it from the bowl and pour in about 1 tbs of olive oil. Place the ball of dough on top of the oil then spin it in all directions to coat the dough with the oil (to keep it from sticking to the bowl as it rises).
9. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean damp tea towel and let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours (or longer in a cool place)... aim to gently release some gas every 20 minutes or so after the first hour but if you don't do this it's no biggie.
10. Gently press down on the dough to release excess gas. Divide the dough into 2 (or more) pieces and then divide each of these for braiding. This recipe makes 2 large challahs or more smaller ones.
11. Braid using your preferred method. I like a 4-strand braid with the dough snakes wider in the middle and not too long and skinny, but you can find various challah-braiding instructions online.
12. Let rise 1/2 hour, covered with a damp tea towel. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F.
13. Glaze with the extra beaten egg (mix it with a little water if you like but I don't usually bother). Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds if you like.
14. Bake 25-30 minutes. Don't forget to transfer off the baking sheet after 5-10 minutes so it doesn't get moist underneath the loaves.

Cottage Pie (that's Shepard's Pie that's made with beef!)

See also http://eatlikekat.blogspot.ca/2012/10/vegetarian-shepherds-pie-with-cheddar.html if you want a vegetarian dish instead..

But if you want a meaty version, this one was delish:

Based on http://www.rachaelray.com/recipes/seriously-flavorful-shepherds-pie-savory-beef-and-mushrooms-with-cheesy-mashed-parsnip-and-potatoes-on-top
If you have parsnips, then go for it and just follow the recipe above.  I didn't happen to have any so I did this instead (ie. I dropped a few other ingredients that I didn't happen to have):

Ingredients

• 6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into largish chunks
• Salt
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
• 1 pound mushrooms, crimini or button, quartered
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme + 1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary (or whatever combination of herbs you happen to have/want to use)
• Coarse black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef sirloin (I might have had closer to a pound?)
• 1 large bay leaf
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 large or 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 rounded tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• About 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup dry red wine or dark beer
• 2 cups beef stock (I used mushroom stock made from cubes since that is what I had)
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups shredded or crumbled very sharp white cheddar cheese (we only had a cup or so of the orange stuff, so that's what we used)

Directions

1. Place potatoes and parsnips in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and season with salt, cook to tender. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Heat a large Dutch oven or frying pan over medium-high heat with a couple tablespoons EVOO, 2 slow turns of the pan. Add mushrooms and brown completely. Season with thyme, salt and pepper and remove to a plate.
3. Add 1 turn of the pan EVOO to the pot and heat until it begins to smoke. Add meat and caramelize until deep brown. Remove to a plate and add remaining tablespoon oil, another turn of the pan. Add bay, vegetables and garlic, and reduce heat to medium. Cook 12-15 minutes, until tender, then sprinkle in flour. Cook a minute then stir in tomato paste and Worcestershire. Deglaze the pot with wine or beer and stir in stock. Add the mushrooms and beef back to the pan.  Reduce heat and let simmer to thicken and combine flavors. When ready to assemble casserole, remove bay leaf.
4. Drain and mash potatoes with milk and butter. Melt in cheese and season mash with salt and pepper.
5. Place meat/mushroom mixture in a large casserole dish and top with the potatoes. Bake 20 minutes or until brown.

REAL Cabbage Rolls

So we tried making Moosewood's Stuffed Cabbage, which are fancy-pants rolls stuffed with a sweet ricotta-based filling and no tomatoes or sauce.  They tasted alright, but the problem was that you look at them and think "cabbage roll... mmm.. I want a cabbage roll"... and then they taste nothing like cabbage rolls.  I don't think I'd bother to make them again.

Luckily, we thought our cabbages were a little small, so we bought two - and then only used one, which left one for making some REAL cabbage rolls with.

Here are the cabbage rolls we made tonight (I'll write down this recipe as if we'd made them all homogeneous even though actually the first ones were extra meaty and the last ones were vegetarian... and that was a good way to do it too.  If that's what you want, then separate the filling mix into 2 parts and only add the meat to 1 part).

This looks like a long and complicated process, but it really didn't seem too bad at the time.. especially with a helper to do the cabbage prep while I did the other parts.

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Roll Stuff:

• 3 cups cooked brown rice (or use white if you prefer)
• 1-2 eggs (if you do everything in 1 batch, 1 is probably enough, but if you split it into 2 parts then you can just put an egg in each part and keep things simple)
• 1 onion, diced fine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbs tomato paste (next time I'd probably just skip this unless I happened to have some open already - there's plenty of sauce to use instead)
• Splash of red wine if you happen to have it
• 2 tbs chopped parsley
• 1 lb extra lean ground beef (I bet you could replace this with some diced carrots or something if you want vegetarian rolls instead)
• 1 large head cabbage (or 2 smaller ones)

Method:

1. Cook the rice if you haven't already
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. Prep the cabbage:
• bring a large pot of water to a boil
• remove the core by slicing into the base a bunch of times with a paring knife 
• get ready with a couple of pairs of tongs/some scissors/whatever implements you have on hand
• put the whole head of cabbage in the boiling water
• as it softens, remove the leaves 1 by one and pile them up on a plate - this way the outer leaves are taken off before they get too mushy and the other ones cook longer.
• keep going until the leaves are too small to be useful
 


4. Prep the sauce:

• saute the garlic in the oil for about a minute
• add the crushed tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes
• add vinegar, sugar, and worcestershire sauce
• simmer about 5 minutes
• season with salt and pepper and remove from heat
5. Prep the filling:
• saute oil and garlic in a skillet about 5 minutes, until soft (put in the carrots during this step if you're using them instead of beef)
• stir in the tomato paste and wine if you're using them, 1/2 cup of the sauce (or a little more), and the parsley
• mix to incorporate everything then take it off the heat
• add to this the (raw) beef, the rice, and the egg (remember you might want to divide this before adding the beef!)
• mix the filling together with your hands
6. Roll the rolls!

• put some filling in a leaf and roll it up!
• pack the rolls seam down in an oiled casserole dish
• pour some sauce over top of the rolls
7. Bake them up!
• cover the dish with tinfoil (or extra cabbage leaves?) and pop it in the oven
• bake meaty rolls for an hour or veggie ones for about half an hour

Enjoy!

Gado Gado Goodness

This was a hit at a (mostly) meat-free, dairy-free dinner party last night.  A good assemble-your-own type dish for picky eaters and that could mostly be made ahead of time - leftovers will make great lunches!

The basic recipe came from the Moosewood Cookbook.  Basically Gado Gado is a mixture of fresh and cooked and crunchy things all drenched in peanut sauce and from there you can basically make it whatever you want.  This might look daunting, but it was really quite easy indeed and could be simplified or complexified as much as you want.

Here's how you make THE SAUCE:

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 (or more) medium cloves minced garlic
• 1-2 tsp grated ginger
• 1 bay leaf

--> Cook the above in some butter or oil until the onions are translucent then add all the rest:

• 1 cup "good, pure" peanut butter (a great use for that massive jar of peanut butter)
• 1 tbs honey
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbs apple cider vinegar
• dash of tamari / soya sauce
• 3 cups water (yes I know it seems like way too much but just go with it)
• 1/2-1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like - I used about this and there was a very very mild bit of spice... I'll probably make it a 1/2 tsp next time)

--> Don't worry if the peanut butter's just in a big glob at first - give it a little time and a whisk and it'll mix in.  Simmer this mix on very low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-------------------

Now for THE REST OF IT.  I put the following ingredients on the table, but you could definitely mix this part of it up and put whatever you want under the sauce.  The Moosewood says that you should make an "artful arrangement of cooked and raw vegetables".  I challenged our dinner guests to make their own artful arrangements on their plates - some took this to heart, and others just piled up the food.

• raw spinach
• cooked rice (this is not in the original recipe but it was much appreciated in the meal)
• fresh bean sprouts
• steamed broccoli
• steamed carrots (you could do raw grated or juliened carrots instead but I didn't have much carrot)
• apple slices
• crispy fried tofu chunks (see below)
• cooked chicken (this was provided for the tofu haters at the table)

And some garnishes:

• fresh mint leaves (my addition - I think some basil would have been really good too)
• toasted sunflower seeds
• roasted peanuts
• lemon wedges (for juice)

---------------------

Moosewood also suggests the following which I either didn't have, didn't want, or completely forgot about:

• a drizzle of sesame oil
• raisins
• oranges
• shredded cabbage
• steamed green beans
• pieces of hard boiled egg

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THE TOFU

I basically did a variant on http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Gluten-Free-Tofu-Nuggets-1423597?columns=4&position=6%2F43

• Cut the block of tofu in half on the plane with the biggest surface area so that you can squish out a bunch of water.  Squish it with some paper towels if you happen to have them so it dries out a bit. 
• Cut the tofu into little cubes, about 1/2" big
• Marinate the tofu in some soya sauce (or get fancier if you want)
• Meanwhile, prepare a coating with the following ingredients (or something like it):

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• a largish 1/8 cup sesame seeds
• maybe a little flour? (I didn't use any myself and it was still fine)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• I also threw in some marjoram since it was the closest thing I happened to have to parsley flakes, which I would have used instead

• I didn't have any of the other ingredients in the yummly recipe so I just skipped them but you could add things like celery seed, onion powder, etc if you have them.
• Toss the marinated tofu in the coating and fry the chunks in a frying pan with oil (or bake them in the oven if your stove top is taken up with the other stuff.

Lentil-and-Rice-Stuffed Tomatoes

Stuffed Tomatoes waiting to be sauced and baked

I don't often eat lentils.  I think I should.  The filling for these tomatoes was really tasty just on its own, and superb stuffed inside tomatoes with a garlicky sauce and crumbled feta on top!

The recipe is based on one from AllRecipes.com, incorporating a number of reviewer suggestions.  Here is the original.

The following describes exactly what I did, which involved making a heck of a lot of filling - so much that I stuffed the original 8 tomatoes then a couple of days later used my leftover filling to stuff about 20 more little Campari ones.  So you could reduce the amount of rice and lentils if you're only stuffing 8 tomatoes, or you could just have extra tasty stuff.


*Note if you're in a hurry, you could make a really tasty stew by just preparing the filling and mixing in some chopped up tomatoes (this is basically what I did with some of my leftovers)... just don't forget to top it with feta for extra tastiness!

Ingredients:

- 1 cup brown rice
- 3/4 cup Puy Lentils (I thought these would have a good taste/texture and they did.  The original calls for red lentils and other reviews used green ones or even black beans, all of which would also be good... these alternatives might require some adjustment of cooking time.)
- 3-4 tsp Veggie stock powder
- 2 tbs butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tbs chopped fresh mint
- salt and pepper
- cumin or garam masala
- several cloves of garlic, minced (I use lots!)
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 8 medium tomatoes or more smaller ones
- crumbled feta for topping


Directions:

1. Put the rice, 4 cups water, and the veggie stock in a medium-sized pot.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 mins.
2. Add the lentils into the pot with the rice and simmer for about another 25 mins, until most of the liquid is absorbed (probably not quite all though).
3. Meanwhile, melt butter in a saute pan. Add onion, and saute until golden brown over medium low heat. Stir in lentil mixture and mint. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add cumin or garam masala to taste for extra flavour. (I used cumin).
4. Slice the tops off tomatoes, and reserve. Scoop out the middles, and reserve. Fill tomato shells with lentil mixture, and replace the tops. Stand in a baking dish.
5. Chop reserved tomato middles, and place in a small bowl. Mix in oil and garlic. Pour around the stuffed tomatoes. 
6. Bake in a preheated 450 degree F (230 degree C) for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve with crumbled feta as a topping.   Good with some tasty bread on the side to soak up the extra sauce!

The Verdict:

Katie's rating: delightful!

Easiness: Easy
Speed: Slowish

Pita Pizzas!

pita pizzas!

First off, let me mention that while looking for some tips on roasting peppers, given that I had never done it before, I came across the awesome Vegan Dad blog with tonnes of great recipe ideas. By the way, if you want a truly vegetarian pizza, skip this and instead take a look at his Roasted Red Pepper Pizza recipe - looks delish!


So that brings us to tonight: pita pizzas. Well, again I can't quite say these are vegetarian, but they could easily be. Before I realized that we could roast some peppers to expand on our apparently limited topping options, we decided to pull some of Johnny's coworker's fabulous venison sausage out of the freezer. While they were cooking, I roasted my first peppers - it was fun!

Ingredients:

5 pitas
1 can tomato paste
seasonings for tomato paste (minced garlic, herbs, salt, pepper) basil leaves, chopped
1/2 can of pineapple tidbits, drained
1/2 each: roasted green, red, and yellow pepper1 block mozzarella, grated
1 homemade moose/venison sausage, boiled and fried (you know, if you just happen to have this on hand)
a touch of olive oil
a sprinkle of garlic powder
grated parmesan/asiago (for garnish)

Directions:

Well, it's a pizza. You know what to do.

A few things that Johnny did to make these ones extra special:
- heat up the tomato paste and mix in garlic and other seasonings before spreading it on the pita shells
- put some toppings under the cheese and others on top (the peppers and sausage were on top and I think it was better that way)
- drizzle the edge of the crusts with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder before baking
- sprinkle the finished pizzas with grated asiago before eating

The Verdict:

Katie's rating: Yum+
Johnny's rating: Yum+

Easiness: Easy
Speediness: Slowish