Name: April
Bio: April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland's Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Posts by April:
Vegetarianism During the Middle Ages
July 29th, 2010
Being both a vegetarian and a fan of Medieval/Renaissance life and clothing (see my other blog), I came across this article from the International Vegetarian Union (IVU).
I found this to be tremendously interesting reading as it discusses eating habits that we may picture to the contrary.
History of Vegetarianism Food in England Since 1066 -- A Vegetarian Evolution?
Link: http://www.ivu.org/history/renaissance/middle-ages.html
April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland’s Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Popularity: 11% [?]
Field Roast Grain Meat Co. “Classic Meatloaf”
July 28th, 2010Field Roast Grain Meat Co, you have done it again…
Your “Class Meatloaf” meatless product is great.
I roasted it in a covered pot on a bed of onions, lemon slices, and a cup of water and baked at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.
I should have coated the whole thing with pizza sauce instead of just the top (to keep it from drying out).
The sides got a little burned because towards the end I took the lid off. I should have left the lid on the entire time and added a bit more water during cooking to steam it. I hate it when my meat substitutes dry out!
The taste was very good, with savory vegetable flavor, enough chewiness, and a hint of garlic.
Served it with mushroom gravy and broccoli rice casserole for a VERY satisfying “nomeat and potatoes” meal.
Find it here: http://www.fieldroast.com/products.htm
April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland’s Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Popularity: 21% [?]
Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps with Tofu
July 12th, 2010I love PF Changs Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps. They have a depth of flavor and crunch that is hard to find anywhere else.
I started looking for a copycat recipe because the PF Changs near us is inconvenient to go to. The only one I found was for the chicken wraps, so I had to modify it for tofu (http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/P-F-Changs-Chicken-Lettuce-Wraps-15865).
The RecipeZaar.com recipe got lots of good reviews, so I decided to try it. A short trip to the Asian market and we were in business.
The recipe I used was supposedly taken originally from Todd Wilbur and Top Secret Recipes and posted by Lali to RecipeZaar.com to imitate their chicken lettuce wraps. Why anyone would want to duplicate THOSE, I don’t know… every meat eater I have ever talked to prefers the tofu ones!
My biggest complaints about the original version were with the sauces. The “special sauce” was terrible – watery with too much sugar and too many flavors. The sauce B made was much better and only had two ingredients (soy sauce and Siracha hot sauce). We didn’t even end up adding the mustard, but some people like it and they do add it at PF Changs.
I made the below modified version, and it came out VERY good – smokey chewy, crunchy and fresh. I just finished the last of it for lunch and it kept very well and reheated fine in the microwave.
It is important to note that if you are planning to use dried shiitaki mushrooms (plan to! they add a significant amount of flavor!), the dried mushrooms MUST soak in hot water for 25 minutes before they are ready. They will add to the prep time, but the flavor is fantastic and I highly recommend them.
(iPhone photos cannot compare to DSLR! Looks like meat, ya?)
Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps
25 min | 15 min prep
SERVES 2-3
REQUIREMENTS:
Wok or large pan to make a stir fry
Wooden spoon for stirring hot food
INGREDIENTS
Filling:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying e.g. canola
1 package firm or extra firm tofu, crumbled into small bits
1 cup water chestnut
2/3 cup mushrooms (* I used a blend of rehydrated shiitakes and button mushrooms)
3 tablespoons chopped onions (scallions)
2 tablespoons green onions (* not in original recipe)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
One head of iceberg lettuce
Stir Fry Cooking Sauce:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil (* not in original recipe)
Pinch of black pepper (to taste)
1 teaspoon Vegetarian Worcheshire sauce
Drizzle Sauce: (* completely revamped from original recipe)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1-2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste or Siracha – free to add more if you like it spicy!
optional: 1-3 teaspoons hot mustard (or less, to taste)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut the mushrooms, garlic, water chestnuts, and onions into similar sized pieces – diced or cubed. They should be about the size of small peas. They should be as uniform in size as possible but not too small that you can’t taste them. Set aside – it is OK to mix these.
Cut the of the green onions and keep separate. Use only the white bottom and up the stalk until the very green part where it starts to get soft. I usually use the bottom half of the green onion.
Drain or press as much water as you can get out of the tofu. Crumble the tofu between your hands until it is approximately the same size as the vegetables you cut earlier.
Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. It should move fast and be shimmery but not be smoking heavily.
Saute tofu crumbles for about 5-10 minutes or until they brown and get crispy – cooktop temperatures vary but the golden brown tofu color is what you’re looking for. The tofu probably will not get completely ‘crispy’ but it should get a nice golden brown color all over. It helps to coat the tofu in oil and spread the tofu out against the sides of the wok rather than letting it sit in the bottom of the wok in the oil.
Add water chestnuts, garlic, mushrooms, and onion (not green onions) to the pan.
Add the stir fry sauce and be sure all the ingredients are coated with it.
Saute the mixture for 3-5 minutes.
Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.
Add the green onions and mix with a large spoon.
Let cool slightly before eating so you don’t burn people’s hands!
Serve with a large spoon alongside the lettuce cups and drizzle sauce. You can also serve with chow mein crunchy noodles or crispy rice noodles.
To prepare: Spoon the tofu into the lettuce cup and top with the special sauce. Add crispy/crunchy noodles if available. Wrap the lettuce around the ingredients like a taco/burrito and enjoy!
April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland’s Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Popularity: 100% [?]
USDA says: “Plant-Based Diet May Help Control Weight”
July 7th, 2010A study suggests that plant-based diets are inversely related to obesity. “All the vegetarian groups had higher intakes of fruit, vegetables, and fiber and lower intakes of fat and protein”
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/mar06/plant0306.htm
April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland’s Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Popularity: 3% [?]
Fresh Summer Strawberries and Handmade Whipped Cream
June 28th, 2010This incredibly simple dessert epitomizes everything great about summer.
Fresh Summer Strawberries and Handmade Whipped Cream
Slice several strawberries. Use other berries if available.
Place a half cup of heavy cream in a bowl with 2 Tbsp Splenda or 1 Tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla extract.
Whip the cream until stiff using an immersion blender, handheld mixer, or by hand (if you’re nuts/bored).
Place strawberries in bowl.
Cuddle the fresh whipped cream up next to the strawberries.
Enjoy summer.
Could anything be easier?
April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland’s Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Popularity: 8% [?]
Product: Kitchen Scale – Worth Its Weight in Gold
June 28th, 2010I recently purchased an EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale from Amazon.
Why do you need a kitchen scale? Well, I could explain it, but I’ll let the good folks over at one of my favorite sites explain it as only they can: Cooking Scales @ CookingForEngineers.com
The price of the one I bought is very low for these contraptions ($25). Their prices can vary from $9 to well over $100.
The EatSmart scale is extremely accurate, and you can switch from ounces to grams (I don’t need decimals of grams for cooking/baking).
It’s small enough to fit in a drawer, and comes in multiple colors.
Setup is incredibly simple – just put the batteries in and power it on.
You can put a bowl on top of it and it will ‘zero’ itself to the weight of the bowl. Then add your ingredient to the bowl and it will only measure the weight of the ingredient!
I love it, and it’s my new favorite cooking accessory gadget, so I thought I would share it with you.
Available from Amazon.com
EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale, Silver
April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland’s Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Popularity: 3% [?]
Field Roast Grain Meat Co. “Celebration Roast with Wild Rice and Mushroom Gravy
June 24th, 2010Field Roast Grain Meat Co. “Celebration Roast” is one of my favorite meat substitutes, but I wanted to keep it from becoming too dry, as it often does if you make it according to their directions.
To combat the roast’s finished dryness, I put the roast in a covered pot, placed over a bed of veggies, namely onions and carrots wth a little bit of water and soy sauce to help steam them instead of letting them dry out.
It worked exceptionally well, and it completely eliminated the dryness.
I served the sliced roast with chewy wild rice and mushroom gravy and included the carrots from the cooking pot.
For the mushroom gravy, I made regular gravy, but added 6-8 small button mushrooms (sliced) and some sage. Instead of water, I used the water/soy sauce/broth from the cooking pot. The combination of the ‘drippings’ and mushrooms made the gravy taste meaty and phenomenal.
April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland’s Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Popularity: 11% [?]
New Books
June 11th, 2010I just received two new books I ordered from Amazon:
Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor
and
The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread
They both look *really* great, and I can’t wait to try some bread recipes!
Baking is probably my weakest link in the kitchen, as it is so precise and mathematical and I am far more right brained about gastronomy. Ok, not just that – pretty much everything. I hate maths!
I’ve been in training for the last five days for work, and B and I have been eating takeaway food all week because we’ve both been working late.
As such, I expect to have some new blog posts this weekend! Stay tuned.
April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland’s Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Popularity: 2% [?]
Deconstructed Vegetarian Bacon and Egg Breakfast Sandwich with Black Truffle Butter Toast
June 4th, 2010This morning, I wanted to experiment with egg rings.
The ‘deconstructed bacon and egg sandwich’ is a scrambled egg with thin strips of Morningstar Farms Veggie Bacon Strips, toasted whole grain bread with black truffle butter, with hot sauce dots on the plate and fresh chives from the garden.
A bit of soft cheese would have been good on top of the egg (queso fresco, chevre, brie), but I was not really trying to make this for breakfast today, it just kind of came together.
…Apparently food blogging has been great for my creativity.
I prefer scrambled eggs and eggs where the yolk is cooked all the way, so rather than do the standard fried egg in egg ring, I made a scrambled egg in an egg ring.
When using egg rings, don’t forget to turn the handle up so the wood doesn’t burn and you can lift it off the pan easily. Make sure the egg ring is laying flat in the pan and is not touching any of the side of the pan. You can spray it with cooking spray or brush a bit of oil onto the inside to keep ingredients from sticking, but I did not and it was not necessary.
The result of this fabulous accidental breakfast was so pretty that I decided to plate it and make a blog entry. I’m not the photographer that B. is, so kindly pardon any deficiencies in the snapshot.
This was incredibly simple – took me about 10 minutes to prepare, and the presentation was well worth the extra time getting it mise en place.
April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland’s Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Popularity: 14% [?]
Free Meatless Grilling Guide from Morningstar Farms
June 2nd, 2010Morningstar Farms has a free Guide to Great Meatless Grilling available on their website – it’s “filled with tips and tricks that will help you up your grilling game all summer long”. Get it while it’s up!
April has been a vegetarian her entire life and is an avid home cook. She resides in Maryland with her omnivore husband, four happy dogs, and an african grey parrot. She enjoys spending her non-cooking free time as photographer and business manager for Baltimore Maryland’s Premier Wedding and Portrait Photographers at Blair Wright Studios Photography
Popularity: 3% [?]