Hoppin' John

 Every year, I google vegetarian hoppin' john recipes and every year I'm disappoint. Either it doesn't look like what I want, so I don't make it, or I try it and the flavor profile is too similar to the collards, or it's bland. This year's is the best I remember trying. Flavorful and paired nicely with the four pepper collards without duplicating the same flavor profile. I might not stick with it exactly, but it's a good base to start from.

Ingredients

• ~1/3 lb dried black eyed peas
• 1 onion
• 1 stalk celery
• ~1/2 a large poblano leftover from collards
• 1 orange bell pepper
• a few sprigs thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• salt 
• olive oil
  
• ~2/3 can of fire roasted tomatoes
• rice (I used brown jasmine because it's what I had on hand)
  

1. Soak beans beforehand. (I know, I know! I basically never do, but I did this time.)

2. Start rice cooker with rice.

3. Dice and saute the onion and celery in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a dutch oven or similar pot.

4. While sauteing, dice the peppers. When the onion and celery have softened, add the peppers and saute a bit more.

5. When all the vegetables are soft, add the thyme, bay leaves, and salt. Stir a couple of times then add the black eyed peas (drained) and enough water to cover them comfortably.

6. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the peas are all but done.

7. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer a few minutes more.

8. Take off the heat. Stir peas mixture, including some of the broth, into the rice. May have some peas left over. That's fine. It makes a good soup, too.

A New Tradition for Christmas Eve Soup

Sometime in the '90's, we established the Christmas Eve tradition of crockpot clam chowder, cornbread, salad, and cookies for dinner. It worked as something that was easy to prep during the day, finish after (or between) the Christmas Eve church service(s). Outside of out usual diet, so it felt special.

John's mom also makes clam chowder on Christmas Eve, at least some of the time, so it seemed like a reasonable idea to keep that tradition going as we establish the next generation of traditions.

Except I didn't really want to make a meat focused tradition? Even seafood! While no one in our household is vegetarian at the moment, it is not a stretch to imagine hosting friends or family who are. (Even though right now, our local friends are pescatarians. Though we do have some fish allergies in the social circle...)

Tonight we tested a French Onion Soup, and I think it might just work. If we could manage it on a day with morning and evening services, with a toddler who is off his normal sleep schedule, and a quick visit from a friend between church and dinner, it gives me hope that it will be possible to continue in years where we're running around to other Christmas Eve commitments and visits. 

Like the clam chowder, it's a dish that feels out of our usual routine. Despite being a straightforward recipe, I think it's likely to stay that way; it's not the filling meal of a soup that we usually turn to. If I order French Onion Soup at a restaurant, it's likely to be a starter or a side. Tonight's salad was heavy on chickpeas, and incorporating that level of protein elsewhere in the meal makes sense. It's a lighter meal that leaves plenty of space for chocolate cakes or cookies or other desserts. Which seems fitting for the occasion.

Tonight's recipe does not need to be the definitive tradition! But writing it down now gives us a place to keep notes on what has been done.

Vegetarian French Onion Soup for the Slow Cooker

Adapted mostly from Southern Living, Food 52, and Simply Recipes.

• 2 to 3 pounds of Sweet Onions, thinly sliced
  
• 1.5 teaspoons sugar
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 0.5 teaspoons black pepper
• 0.25 cup melted butter
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 quart vegetable scrap stock 
• Bit of white wine
• 1 Tablespoon molasses
• 1 smashed garlic clove
  
• 10 shakes of dried thyme
• Stale sourdough for gluten eaters. Toasted gluten free bread for those with allergies.
• Gruyere cheese
  

Last night, I sliced the onions and put them in the crock with the sugar, salt, and black pepper. Left them in the refrigerator overnight (it was strongly scented when I opened it this morning). This morning I pulled them out, put the insert in the electric pot itself, and stirred in the melted butter, tossed in the bay leaf. Turned the whole contraption on high and went about the day. The onions released their juices and changed color over the course of the day. I stirred them around lunch time and again before we left for the afternoon Mass.*

When we got home in the evening, I microwaved the stock.** While the stock was warming, I drizzled in a bit of white wine (we don't have sherry vinegar, and do have a bottle in the fridge that gets cooked with). Once that was incorporated (and had a bit of time to cook off the alcohol), I added a spoonful of molasses and the smashed garlic clove. When the stock was warmed, I poured it into the pot and added in 10 shakes of the dried thyme.

Ideally this would all reach a simmer and the flavors would meld over the course of, checks the reference recipes, a half hour or so. Realistically, I preheated the oven, grated the cheese, and pulled together a salad and then rushed to get food to the very hungry toddler.

Ladled soup into ramekins on a cookie tray. Topped with the appropriate breads (different colors of ramekin for the different types of bread). Added a generous amount of cheese to each. Set the broiler to low and slid the whole thing into the oven. A few minutes later, pulled it out, and served.

* One possible change to consider is doing the onions on low overnight instead of high during the day. I'm curious if that would get them to a deeper caramelization than they reached today. Could also let the lid be ajar a bit more frequently during the day.

** Two notes on the stock. First, most recipes call for more than what I used, but it was what we had on hand. Second, if the week before has an inkling of cooking with dried mushrooms, I would totally upgrade to mushroom stock.

Cabbage Slaw

This summer, I'm trying to do a better job at hosting friends over to grill in the garden. It takes a bit of planning to figure out which friends to invite together and reserve the grills if it's going to be a large enough group. And of course, there is the menu.

For summertime, my go-to grilling main is brats and similar sausages. They're straightforward and usually precooked all the way through, so I don't fret about not cooking them enough in the middle. (I'm getting better at grilling but still learning!) Veggies from the CSA or other seasonal produce go on the grill, too. Many of my vegetarian (and some omnivorous) friends like Beyond Meat, so I'll pick up Beyond Brats, too.

I like slaw on my brats, and it makes a good side for others. Earlier this summer, I searched through my cookbooks looking for the type of slaw I was remembering from my childhood. Not the mayonnaise one. The other, vinegary one. Struck out in More-with-Less. Didn't find it in Jane Brody. Eventually pulled out the Whitmire Memorial Library cookbook, and voila, there were multiple recipes that fit the bill. This recipe is modified from Twenty-Four Hour Slaw by Peggy Bullard and Cabbage Slaw by Pam Alexander.

Cabbage Slaw

Grate the following (a food processor is your friend here):

• Half a small cabbage
• One carrot (or two if small)
• One small white onion

Heat together until the sugar dissolves:

• 1/3 c apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1/3 c sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• mustard seeds
• celery seeds

In a bowl, mix the grated ingredients to distribute. Pour the sauce mixture over the cabbage. Mix. Cool in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

 Note: if you shred more than needed, then you've got a base for okonomiyaki ready to go.

GF Chex Mix

Many of our holiday traditional snacks are gluten filled, but chex mix is easily made gluten free. Celia, Mom and Dad's former congregant made excellent chex mix. This is based on her recipe, which is adapted from the chex original. Given that I made the second batch of the week today (it's a hit with the neighbors), recording here for future reference.

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter or margarine
1.5 tsp. seasoned salt**
5 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 clove minced or pressed garlic
2 2/3 c Corn Chex*
2 2/3 c Cheerios
2 2/3 c Rice Chex
1 c. salted mixed nuts
1-2 c. GF pretzels

Preheat oven to 250°. Melt butter in large shallow roasting pan (15x10x2 inches) in oven. Remove.

Stir in seasoned salt, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. Add Chex and nuts. Mix until all pieces are coated. Bake in over 1 hour. Spread on absorbent paper to cool. [Editor: uh, paper towels.] Store in container with tight fitting lid.

Helpful hint from Chex: Party Mix may be frozen, so you can save time when you make
a double batch. (Celia's comment: If you have enough large pans.) Thaw at room
temperature in container in which it was stored.

*Celia prefers Crispix, but it’s not GF according to John’s research.

**Seasoned salt: 

1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp paprika
1/16 tsp. (aka pinch) turmeric

Dill Dip

Our garden plot came with dill volunteers. We tried to protect them as we rebuilt our bed, but only one survived.

That said, one dill plant is still a decent amount of dill. Maybe not for all our pickling dreams. But we're pulling it early because it was next to the tomatoes and we'd rather not have the tomatoes growth stunted. But there was no question what the first thing to make with it was.

Dill dip is a classic summer dish for John.  4th of July? Dill dip. Birthday potluck picnic in the park? Dill dip. It's the condiment for hanging out with friends, drinking iced beverage of choice, eating chips. (The recipe says it's great with raw veggies. Which is true. I still think it's better with chips.)

The recipe is in the binder of recipes from family and friends that his parents gave him around the time he graduated from college.

Dill Dip

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons dill seed or dill weed

2 teaspoons seasoned salt

3 Tablespoons minced onions

3 Tablespoons parsley

 

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate. Let sit at least one day to allow flavor to set in. Excellent with all raw vegetables.

Rhubarb ginger pie

 Happy pi day! I still had frozen rhubarb in the freezer from last summer, so I decided rhubarb pie was called for. Much like pecan pie, every time I set out to bake a rhubarb custard pie, I try to recall which recipe I decided on last time and always forget. Was it Nana's? The other one from Nana's cookbook? Or the one from the other cookbook? I did remember that I've paired ginger with rhubarb before to much success, so I went with that.

Here's today's version, a 6 inch ~deep dish pie. Next time, defrost rhubarb. Today's filling was runny, which I suspect was due to the water in the frozen rhubarb. Still delicious.

Ingredients:

• Pie crust (I default to easy oil or combo butter/shortening. You do you.)

Filling:

• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp cream (milk would be fine)
  
• ~3/4 cup sugar
• 1.5 Tbsp flour
• a pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• a knob (1.5 Tbsp?) diced fresh ginger
  
• ~2 cups frozen rhubarb
  

Crumb topping:

• flour
• whole wheat flour
• brown sugar
• powdered ginger
  

Make filling. Pour into bottom crust. Make crumb topping. Scatter on top. If feeling crafty for pie day, cut a pi shape out of leftover crust and place on top. Bake in 375-400 degree oven for an hour. Left cool. Devour.

Christmas Cassoulet Experiment

We didn't have anywhere to rush off to on Christmas Day this year, no family brunch to attend. This gave us more time to relax but presented a conundrum: what to have for Christmas dinner.

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

I got off the waitlist for the Rancho Gordo bean club this fall. (I know, I know.) My first shipment came with Cassoulet beans. I only had a vague sense of what cassoulet was. I dutifully googled cassoulet recipes. 6 hours in the oven? Waaaaaaaaaaaaay more meat than I ever cook? I can use them in a vegetarian soup, thank you very much.

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

I half jokingly, half seriously mentioned cassoulet while looking up recipes again. "What's that?" "A French casserole with duck, but we could use chicken, and sausage and ham hocks." "Okay." "Oh, and the beans I got." "Sure. Make a shopping list."

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

After researching a dozen recipes, I tabulated the baking times and temps. Tried to balance slow cooked goodness and not running the oven all day long, deliciousness without too much fat. I followed Rancho Gordo and Serious Eats' recipes the most closely but was inspired by many others and my own instincts. Here's what I did. 

What I did

 

0.8 lb Rancho Gordo Cassoulet beans

0.5 lb  loose sausage

3 Chicken thighs with skin and bones

½ large onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

1.5 Bay leaf

2 sprigs of parsley

1 stalk celery, diced, + some celery greens

5ish cloves garlic, divided

~1 tsp dried thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

5 peppercorns

6 cloves

3 Tbsp tomato paste

 

1. Soak beans overnight in salted water.

2. Drain beans and add new water. Cook beans with herbs (parsley, celery greens, rosemary; dried thyme, peppercorns, cloves in a tea bag) and garlic. 18 minutes in instant pot. Natural release for 20 minutes. [Next time cook less or on stovetop. Did not hold shape.] Remove herbs.

3. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken thighs in a bit of canola oil on medium high. 10 minutes first side, skin side down. 5ish minutes the second side.

4. Remove chicken. Divide sausage into 6 patties. Brown sausage on both sides. Remove sausage. Drain most of extra fat.

5. Saute onion, carrot, and celery. Add garlic when mirepoix begins to soften.  Add tomato paste. Puree veggies with a bit of the bean liquid.

6. Layer ingredients in ovenproof dish. Put ⅓ of beans on bottom. Mix in some of the vegetable puree. Place the sausage patties on top. Add a thin layer of beans and vegetable puree. Place the chicken on top, skin side up. Add the remainder of the beans and vegetable puree. Add enough bean liquid to submerge the top layer of beans.

7. Bake for 1.5 hours at 325F. Break skin on top and stir it back into the top layer. Bake 40 minutes at  335F. Debate if ready. Break skin and stir back in. Bake 20 more minutes at 335F. Serve.

    

    We served with rolls and a kale-apple-carrot-pecan salad with a balsamic vinaigrette. It was good, and I'd make it again, yet I wouldn't seek it out or make it a must-do tradition. Part of the enjoyment was in the experiment itself.