We spent Thanksgiving this year with brother Jimmie. The day went just how I like to spend my days off... Cooking! Ozten and I started cooking up some snacks at home then we moved the cooking party over to Jimmie's so we could snack and drink and cook some more.
We started eating the snacks...
- Stuffed Mushrooms from Vegan Fusion
- Roasted Pumpkin with Cheese "Fondue" from Gourmet Magazine
- Cheese plate a la Jimmie
- Squash Soup from SOUPS Cookbook
- Tricolore Salad of Endive, Beet and Arugula
- Tofu and Leek Tart with Lentil Sauce from the Voluptuous Vegan
Stuffed Mushrooms from Vegan Fusion
Stuffed mushrooms, originally uploaded by Patty OK.
These were really good. I added all of the optional ingredients - I love the Miso and the Nutritional yeast gave the spinach mixture an almost cheesy consistency. It took a little longer to cook than suggested (closer to 20 minutes and still not soft), we eventually turned the broiler and cooked them a few more minutes until the tops were brown.
The recipe wasnt totally clear whether to remove the mushrooms from the marinade to cook them or to leave them in. I left them in - maybe thats why it took longer to cook?
Anyways these were really good and I would definitely cook them again.
Roasted Pumpkin with Cheese "Fondue" from Gourmet Magazine
The Fondue is in quotes perhaps cause its not really fondue that you dip something into but a pile of cheese that is cooked up with bread and the pumpkin. You scoop out the goo and the bread catching some of the pumpkin on the way and serve it in a bowl. Made for a not so tidy presentation. If I made it again I would try making it in individual sized pumpkins.
Squash Soup from SOUPS Cookbook
This was a pureed soup with sauteed pears, cranberries and pear cider added at the end. We also called it Jimmie's Autumnal Goodness in a Bowl. The cookbook is from the Soup Maker at the Hop Vine in Capitol Hill. As we ate it we discussed why they have so many awesome soups in their cookbook but serve only four different soups there and why is their service so slow...
Tricolore Salad of Endive, Beet and Arugula
Another great pick. This recipe has you roast the beets on a bed of salt which I have never done before but it made for some really tasty beets. They were really flavorful and not too beet-y.
The endive added some nice crunch and mellowed out the flavor of the dressing which was a little strong, but good. Whoever came up with the recipe must never have watched Saturday Morning cartoons to learn to not drown your food. The recipe called for 2 beets, I had a ton on hand so I cooked them all (4 big and 8 small). I dressed them all and still had lots of dressing leftover. Its good and re-usable so no big whoop but you could safely cut the recipe in half. We topped it with garlic chips instead of nuts on account of it being a holiday and all.
Tofu and Leek Tart with Lentil Sauce from the Voluptuous Vegan
And finally the main course. The Voluptuous Vegan cookbook is awesome for some festive meals. Sometimes they require a bit of work but everything Ive made out of the cookbook has been awesome. This one actually was not too hard at all and totally yummy. We used a selection of mushrooms - chantrelles, shitaki and crimini. We served it with the lentil sauce and a rice pilaf that Jimmie made. The tart had a little bit of tartness to it (imagine that) and the lentils offset that well. The lentils also went well with the rice - long grain and wild rice cooked in veggie broth with pecans and dried cranberries.
And of course Dessert...
Bourbon-Orange Pecan Pie with Bourbon Orange Cream
Austin fixed up this one... I'm not a big fan of Pecan Pie but this was pretty good. I really liked the orange in there. Its a bit of an involved recipe, we found candied orange peel at the Ballard Market, but he did make his own crust.
We finished the night with a walk around the block and a game of Scrabble that I totally dominated...
