Archive for December, 2006

Pineapple cranberry upside down cake

{ December 26, 2006 @ 10:52 pm } · { Sweets }
{ } · { Leave a Comment }

  • 1 cup honey
  • can pineapple, opened with juice reserved
  • 1/2 cup dried unsweetened cranberries
  • 1/2 cup dried shredded coconut
  • 1.5 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup butter
  • 1 egg
  • milk or water
  • 1/2 tsp salt

I made this on a whim for our solstice dinner. It’s fantastically delicious and takes about 15 minutes to make.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt 1/3 cup butter and mix in 1/2 cup honey. Pour this into the bottom of a springform pan. (A 9xwhatever will work too). Strain the pineapple from the can, but save the juice. Lay the pineapple in the melted butter/honey mixture. Sprinkle on the cranberries and coconut.

In a mixing bowl, cream the remaining 1/3 cup of butter and 1/2 cup of honey. Add the egg and vanilla. Add a little less than a cup of liquid (all the pineapple juice, and then milk/water until almost a cup). Stir well and add baking soda, salt and flour. Pour this mixture into the pan.

Cook for 20-40 minutes…until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Bean and saurkraut soup

{ December 19, 2006 @ 5:23 am } · { Soups }
{ } · { Leave a Comment }

  • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 2 – 2.5 cups dried beans (one kind or various), soaked in water for an hour or more
  • 8 cups stock (chicken works best, but veggie or mushroom is good too)
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup dark beer
  • pinch of each: sage, basil, chili powder
  • 1 – 1.5 cups naturally fermented saurkraut
  • 1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil
  • 4 tablespoons soy sauce
  • salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot over medium-high heat, cook coconut oil until hot. Add onions, garlic, celery and carrots. Cook until onions carmelize. Add vinegar and beer and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Add chicken stock, herbs, soy sauce and salt and pepper. Cook for 1-2 hours, or until beans are tender. Add saurkraut and enjoy.

Veggie Burgers with spinach

{ December 6, 2006 @ 12:56 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ } · { Leave a Comment }

  • 1.5 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1.5 cups cooked beans (no liquid with these)
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (or pumpkin, etc…)
  • 2 bunches spinach, cleaned, chopped, steamed, strained and squeezed dry  (you could use frozen stuff instead and just squeeze it dry too)
  • 1/2 pound mushrooms
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 medium onion pureed or finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper and any spices or fresh herbs

Puree the nuts and seeds in a food processor until the consistency of a course flour, or even a paste. Add the beans and mushrooms and process again. Combine all the other ingredients either in the food processor (for smooth burgers) or just in a bowl (if you want them to have some texture).  Add salt and pepper to taste.

At this point, there are a couple of things you can do. You can just freeze the patties on a cookie sheet and then put them in ziplock bags to use later. If you’re going to eat them now, you can fry them in an iron skillet with a little coconut oil, so that they hold together pretty well. Put them on a greased cookie sheet in the oven and heat them up when you’re ready for dinner. I usually prefer to fry them before I freeze them, but it doesn’t make a huge difference, I just think they taste a little bit better. I usually triple or quadruple this recipe if I am freezing a lot. This makes about 8-10 patties.

Quickie Tom Kha Kai for Sickos

{ December 4, 2006 @ 8:53 pm } · { Soups }
{ } · { Leave a Comment }

  • 1 small yellow onion
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 3 inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into small pieces
  • 2 stalks lemongrass
  • 8 cups chicken stock
  • 1 lb mushrooms, or two cans straw mushrooms
  • 2 lbs chicken thigh meat
  • 2 cans (about 3-4 cups) coconut milk
  • 3-4 teaspoons sambal chili paste
  • 3/4 cup patis (fish sauce)
  • 5-6 juicing limes
  • 1/4 bunch cilantro

This soup is badass for sick people and doesn’t take very long to make. In fact, I’ve made it twice for myself in the last week and a half, while I’ve been stuck to my couch with a box of tissues. Interfuron (the HIV immune boosting medication) is made from coconut milk, so get as much as you can, and don’t lower yourself to the lowfat varieties. You’re too good for it.

So, put the onion, garlic and ginger in the food processor and grind the hell out of ‘em. If you don’t have a food processor, put them in a blender with the chicken stock. Put the pureed stuff in a pot with the chicken stock. Cut the stalks of lemongrass so that they are about 4-5 inches long. Slice the mushrooms (or open the cans) and add them. Add the 3/4 cup fish sauce and the chili paste. Bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down to super low, even simmer works at this point. Cut the chicken into pieces and put that into the pot. Cut the limes and juice them all into the mix. Shake the cans of coconut milk well and add them, then chop the cilantro up and throw it on top. Let this simmer for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Cooking it at this low temperature keeps it really soft and moist, and keeps all the cholesterol in it healthy and good for you. I know you’re tempted to turn it up, but just let it sit at low. You’re done!! Eat up. It’s good for you.

As far as the patis and the sambal, you can pretty much buy these things at any regular store in the asian section now. Thai Kitchen makes fish sauce and that’s usually what they sell at the “regular” grocery store. If you’ve got an asian store nearby, I recommend buying the fish sauce there. It should be super stinky, which the Thai Kitchen stuff is not. Not to be rude, but that stuff is make for the people with overly sensitive taste buds, and your soup will not taste like the stuff you get in the restaurant. The fish sauce is the most important ingredient in this soup, and if you can get a better quality, you will thank yourself later. I prefer Lucky Brand. Buy a big one. It lasts forever.