fettuccine with creamy tomato italian sausage

I tried to be a vegetarian twice. The first time was when I was 17 and my vegetarian streak lasted 2 years. I'm not really sure what compelled me to be a vegetarian. I think it was because I thought I cared about animal rights, and I did, to a degree. But the problem was, I didn't know where to draw the line, and this weighed on me. I mean, if I eschewed meat because I cared about animals, then what about eggs? Dairy? Leather? Animal testing? It was overwhelming, and because I didn't know where the line was, I gave up altogether. 

The second time I tried vegetarianism was about 3 years ago, and I think that streak lasted almost a year. I had given it quite a bit of thought, and besides, Drew was a vegetarian. Though he never cared if I ate meat, I thought it made sense. So I did it. But it lasted only until he went to Beijing two summers ago. 

Again, like the time before, the "line" weighed on me. If I was a vegetarian because it was good for my health, animals, and the environment, well then, why did I have to give it up altogether? I asked myself why I couldn't eat it on occasion. What was wrong with eating a mostly vegetarian diet? When I didn't know the answer, I knew my heart wasn't into it and that I had to give it up. 

When I gave up vegetarianism both times, it was pork that broke my streak. The first time, it was sausage pizza. The second time, it was ham. The thing is, and this is only anecdotal evidence, it appears that when vegetarians return to meat-eating, the streak isn't broken by what is considered to be "good" meat, like a steak. It's broken by what's deemed to be inferior meat, like pepperoni or lunch meat or bologna. 

I'm not surprised that pork products were my gateway meat. I've never been one to eat steak, and I never really ate chicken or turkey. Mock meats have come a long way these days, and I actually enjoy them. Though you can find fake chicken, ground beef, and hot dogs, fake Italian sausage and fake ham are difficult to come by. 

I'm confident that I've finally found the "line." Drew and I keep a vegetarian household (my choice, not his), and I try to be as responsible as I can when I eat meat. This means that I don't eat it at, say, a fast food restaurant. As I said to Drew early on, I don't eat meat so I can eat it at Del Taco. I also eat meat about twice a week. For me, the line is to reduce my meat consumption, something that everyone should do. Too often, I think people have an all-or-nothing attitude (I certainly did!), but people don't have to be either a vegetarian or a meat-eater. 

Last Friday night, Drew left for Beijing. I intend to continue eating a mostly vegetarian diet while he's away, but now I can cook with meat if I want to. Tonight, I made Fettuccine with Creamy Tomato Italian Sausage. from Simply Recipes.   

I was ambitious, and somewhat bored, so I decided to make my own pasta. It was totally worth it. I even did it the proper way, without the stand mixer. Using Chef Anne Burrell's recipe (I love her!), I made a volcano with the flour, and poured the olive oil and eggs in the well. You have to be careful not to break the volcano or else the liquid spreads across the counter, which is what happened to me. It really wasn't an issue, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Chef Anne would be disappointed in me. When the dough came together, I kneaded it until it was smooth and pliable, which was supposed to take 10 to 15 minutes for an inexperienced kneader and 8 to 10 for an experienced one. I wasn't sure which one I was, so I kneaded my dough for approximately 3 Taylor Swift songs.  

Even prior to dating Drew, I didn't eat a lot of meat. Aside from this meal, I can't think of anything else I'd like to cook while Drew is gone. I'm a vegetarian at home, and I'm not sure that will be a habit that I'll break.        

thanksgiving in june

Tomorrow night, Drew is headed to China to spend a year doing his dissertation research. Though we'll miss each other (I plan to visit in September and December), it is an exciting time for the both of us. This is a great opportunity for Drew- I mean, how many people can say they've spent a significant time in another country? And as for me, it will be a busy time as I finish my dissertation, do my own dissertation fieldwork, and apply for jobs. 

Living in China for a year means that Drew is missing out on some important holidays...like my birthday. 

Wait, what's that you say? That's not a national holiday? 

Okay, but aside from my birthday, Drew is missing out on some other holidays. For the most part, I don't think he's bothered by this, but it bothers me that he'll be missing out on Thanksgiving. I recognize that Thanksgiving is not without controversy. I actually attempted to read an academic book on its history, but it was boring and I stopped after 10 pages. Plus, in the introduction, the author basically said that we don't know what the first Thanksgiving was like, so, satisfied that I was not inadvertently celebrating the murder of American Indians, it made it easier to stop reading (um, to be clear, I know that happened, but if an academic can't find evidence that Thanksgiving is rooted in this, then it may not exist).

Anyhow, what really matters to me is the Thanksgiving food. I'm not much of a turkey girl, but I can practically eat my weight in stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. So last night, Drew and I had our own Thanksgiving. We made a seitan roast, stuffed with leeks and shitakes. 

It was easy to make (we made it up a few days beforehand) and I think this will become our new Thanksgiving staple. We also made stuffing:

And green bean casserole, but I had to fight for this one. You see, green bean casserole is usually made with canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and french fried onions. I'm a big fan, though I make it with fresh green beans and not canned, but Drew is not. But I assured him that he'd like a homemade green bean casserole, and I was right. I used Alton Brown's recipe, which I watched him make on an episode of his show Good Eats years ago. At first, this dish seems high maintenance, but it's really not. You mix up sliced onions with panko and flour and bake them until crispy for about a half an hour. While that's baking, you blanch green beans and make the mushroom soup. It will all take longer than opening up a bunch of cans and mixing up their contents, but it's completely worth it.   

Of course, we had to have mashed potatoes. These are really simple, just butter and sour cream.

Here's what the full plate looks like:

Even though I don't think it's really Thanksgiving unless I eat pumpkin pie, I conceded and made a chocolate cream pie instead. Drew does not share my enthusiasm for pumpkins, and this was his request. I was happy to comply; after all, I did get green bean casserole on the menu, and I'll get to bake with pumpkins all I want this fall.   

The recipe is from Ashley English's A Year of Pies. I like this cookbook, and I suspect I'll use it more often this fall, which I consider to be pie season (despite it being called A Year of Pies).

Our Thanksgiving was successful, and we were satisfied. We decided that if we ever host Thanksgiving, we're totally going to rock at it. We also realized that there is a reason people grill for summer holidays-it gets too hot in the kitchen! 

veggie burgers

We made veggie burgers the other day, using this recipe from the LA Times. The base is pureed black beans, which is then mixed with a homemade pico de gallo, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and panko. 

We usually don't make homemade veggie burgers because 1) they turn out to be too dry, or 2) the mixture is too crumbly and is therefore difficult to shape into burgers. But on occasion, for some reason, we decide to give homemade veggie burgers a go, and I'm glad we did this time. These burgers did not suffer from the above 2 problems.

I am compelled to point out that I grew the arugula we used to top our veggie burgers.

strawberry cake

Whenever I go to a bakery and order a strawberry cupcake, I'm always disappointed. "Strawberry" cupcakes just taste like a vanilla cupcake with strawberry buttercream. Frustrated, I decided to finally just make my own, but last weekend, I discovered 2 things: First, it is nearly impossible to find a recipe for strawberry cake that 1) does not call for jello or a cake mix, or 2) is not actually a recipe for strawberry shortcake. I used this blog recipe, but I was reluctant to do so because 1) I dislike using recipes from just any blog, and 2) the name of the blog was utterly ridiculous (Confessions of a Foodie Bride). Second, strawberry cake is surprisingly difficult to make. I mean, it's not the technique that's difficult. What's difficult is getting a strawberry cake to actually taste like strawberry. 

As suggested, I reduced the strawberries in an effort to get a more concentrated strawberry flavor. It didn't work. There was pretty much no strawberry flavor. In fact, when Drew tasted the cake scraps (yes, I'm anal and trim the layers so they're level- this is called torting), he said "Man, it really is hard to get a strawberry cake to taste like strawberry." It sure is. 

To frost the cake, I made an Italian buttercream, with leftover strawberry puree mixed into it. Usually, I make buttercream the easy way- just butter and confectioner's sugar. But last year, I was watching an episode of the Worst Cooks in America on the Food Network, and this renowned pastry chef was teaching the contestants how to bake a cake. All I remember is him saying "Real buttercream is not that crap with butter and powdered sugar." Or something to that extent (I don't think he would say 'crap').

And so, I decided to make a proper buttercream. The recipe is from Cakelove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch. The author is Warren Brown, a lawyer turned baker, who owns the Cakelove bakeries in D.C. (Fun Fact: When Drew worked in D.C. a few summers ago, he lived just a few blocks from Cakelove and we used to go there and get cupcakes.)

I rarely use the Cakelove cookbook, but that's not because I don't like it- I do. This cookbook rarely leaves the bookshelf because the cakes are kind of fancy and the recipes are a bit too high maintenance. When I use this cookbook, it is for special occasions, like birthdays. And it was my friend's birthday, so I felt it appropriate to break open Cakelove.

To make the buttercream, first you have to whip 5 egg whites to make a meringue. Okay, you're not really doing that- the stand mixer is doing that for you. While that's happening, you make a sugar syrup and when that reaches 245 degrees, you slowly pour it into the meringue while the stand mixer is running at high speed. Yeah, crazy, I know. In fact, when I did this the first time, I wasn't wearing an oven mitt and the syrup splashed and burned one of my fingers. Profanity ensued. After the sugar syrup is mixed in, you add a pound of butter, one pat at a time, with the mixer at about medium speed. When all the butter is mixed in, you crank up the speed to high for a minute or two, until the butter is fully incorporated. 

If you were paying attention, you noticed that it took me 2 tries to successfully make Italian buttercream. I almost gave up after the first try (I burned my finger!), but I'm glad I didn't. The buttercream is light and fluffy, and it tasted so, so good (and that was before I stirred in the strawberry puree). It is superior to the powdered sugar crap in many ways (not only did it taste better, it was also easier to work with), and I'm not sure I'll ever go back. 

As for the cake itself, it was good even though I didn't detect any strawberry flavor. My friend was happy with her birthday cake, and so was everyone else at her party.

nachos

I love nachos, but before meeting Drew, making them myself didn't occur to me. Drew sauteed veggie crumbles, onion, garlic, and black beans with a variety of spices, but as usual, I wasn't paying attention. He poured the mixture over a pile of tortilla chips, topped it with grated cheddar cheese, and baked it in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese. 

I usually turn my nachos into a salad, adding lots of lettuce, salsa, avocado, and sour cream. It feels more virtuous this way.

parsley pesto

When I was a kid, I used to fill out comment cards at stores, telling anyone who would listen that I was mad because I couldn't reach products on the top shelves. That I couldn't do so because I was a child never crossed my mind. Having been short my entire life,  even as a child, somehow I just knew this would be a lifelong issue.

And I was right; as an adult, I can't reach most things on the top shelves of any store. Before I dated Drew, sometimes I just wouldn't buy what I couldn't reach (which he found a bit baffling) and sometimes I would ask for help- it depended upon my mood or if a taller person was easily accessible. These days, Drew and I usually shop together, so my being vertically challenged is a non-issue.  

We made fusilli with parsley pesto the other day. The recipe is from Bon Appetit, which calls for spaghetti. But I wanted fusilli, but at Whole Foods the other day (Drew was busy grading final exams), it was on the top shelf, out of my reach. In the past, I've simply opted for penne instead, but this time, I sucked it up and asked someone to get me the fusilli.

 

It is a misconception that pesto is made with basil. In fact, pesto means "to crush" or "to grind." It can be made with pretty much anything. I'm normally not a huge fan of parsley, but I was intrigued by this recipe, and it was pretty good. Plus, pesto is so easy to make.

We ate this pasta with sautéed carrots, which I grew in our garden. Drew added butter and sage, which I also grew (no, I didn't churn the butter, but we have done that once in case you're wondering).

PS: Drew just told me that the parsley pesto was good, but it needed something. Apparently, my addition of sun dried tomatoes was insufficient.

triple chocolate brownies

Last weekend, Drew and I went to Surfas, this restaurant supply store. To us, it was like being kids in a candy store. We walked up and down every aisle, and we even ate lunch in the café. In addition to selling merchandise such as dishes, pots, and pans, Surfas also sold gourmet food products that aren't found in normal grocery stores. We found fancy pastas, cheeses, spices, and chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

 

We splurged on Vahlrona cocoa powder and Callebaut semi sweet chocolate. All the different brands and types of chocolate are sold as cocoa powder, discs, chips, and blocks. Even 10 pound blocks.

We were sensible and did not purchase 10 pounds of chocolate, and instead we got the more reasonable one pound block.

 

When we got home, I immediately made brownies. The recipe is from Baking Illustrated (from the geniuses behind the magazine Cooks Illustrated), and it calls for 3 kinds of chocolate: unsweetened, semi sweet, and cocoa powder.

These are quite possibly the best brownies ever. They're nice and fudgy, and they have a perfectly crackly top. Drew and I decided that splurging on good quality chocolate was totally worth it. Though we could not detect an appreciable difference between the Callebaut chocolate and the blocks we get from Trader Joe's, we could easily tell that the Vahlrona cocoa powder, which smelled almost smoky when I opened it, not surprisingly proved to be much better than Hershey's or Trader Joe's (which is probably the same thing anyway).

 

In 10 days, Drew is leaving tp spend a year in China. Until then, I will be baking with chocolate. Lots of it. 

tofu and pickled beet sandwiches

A few years ago, I spent a summer in Ann Arbor, on the University of Michigan campus. It was there that I discovered my love of sandwiches. I, uh, also learned a lot of statistics, but that's just not as tasty. Or interesting to blog about. Anyway, I had no idea that I harbored such a love of sandwiches, but when I was in Ann Arbor, it occurred to me that in contrast to the Univ of MI and Univ of MN campus (where I went to college), there really aren't good sandwich places on or near the UCI campus. 

But, there is Gogi, so I guess that might make up for the lack of good sandwiches.

Anyway, sandwiches are awesome, and I usually make them myself these days. Last week, we made tofu and pickled beet sandwiches. 

The recipe is from Bon Appetit and was supposed to be made with eggplant, but ours went bad in the fridge, so we baked up some tofu instead. I've been getting into pickled veggies lately, and they add some nice tang and crunch to sandwiches, and also, well, anything. 

seitan tikka masala

At the end of June, Drew is headed off to China for a year. He's going to do a language program and his dissertation research. I'm not looking forward to this, so I've been trying to find the silver lining(s). There are very few (no snoring and no sitting through action movies comes to mind), but one of them is meat. 

To be clear, Drew does not care if I eat meat. I never ate a lot of it anyway, and I've gone veg twice- once about 15 years ago and the second was just a few years ago. I prefer eating a mostly vegetarian diet, and most of the time, I don't miss meat.  

I began making a mental list of restaurants to visit and meals to cook when Drew leaves. It's not that he refuses to go to some of these restaurants, it's that these sorts of places have no veg options and I'm not going to relegate him to a meal of french fries or a side salad so that I can eat, say, seafood. On occasion, I do play what I call the "meat" card, in which we go to a restaurant where he must eat a meal of sides, but I try not to abuse it. Fortunately, this isn't an issue in Southern California; we've been able to find good restaurants where we can both be satisfied. 

I came across this recipe for chicken tikka masala in Bon Appetit a few weeks ago, and I immediately thought to myself "I'll make this when Drew leaves." But then I realized that, like so many recipes, this one could easily be made vegetarian. We could have used fake chicken, but we decided to make up a batch of seitan instead. Seitan is made with vital wheat gluten, and it has a firm, chewy texture. Drew and I used to buy it, but it's way cheaper to make and very easy to do. We use this recipe from Post Punk Kitchen.  

This tikka masala was very easy to make. It requires some advanced planning, but there's a lot of downtime, what with the marinating the seitan and simmering the sauce. We served this with sauteed red chard, which is difficult to see in the background of the picture. The chard is from the garden, and I sacrificed it to make room for a volunteer tomato plant.