The Peach Festival at Weed Farms

On September 6, 2009, we took a trip up to Weed Farms in Marlboro, New York for their annual Peach Festival. We picked peaches, plums, apples and a ton of veggies. We also had enjoyed a nice lunch of mozzarella sticks and French fries. Then we took a sack of apple cider donuts which were delicious!

Here's a slideshow of our trip:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

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Dont-Look-Any-Further Banana Bread

Thursday was the Artichoke's birthday. And man, did he get spoiled big time with gifts. Plus, my mom took him out for a fancy-shmancy dinner. Well, all wasn't complete, because one thing he really wanted was a loaf of banana bread. Weird, right? But he loves the stuff!

He did specify that he wanted it to be vegan, because he doesn't eat eggs. Thanks to a great recipe I found at VegWeb.com, I was able to come through for him with one of the best banana breads I ever made or eaten. The ingredients may be slightly unconventional for a baked good, but you would think it was "authentic."

Dont-Look-Any-Further Banana Bread
Source: VegWeb.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• soy milk
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/4 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 medium bananas, mashed

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease/spray a 9 inch square baking pan; set aside. (From Macaroon - I used a 9" loaf pan)
   
2. Put one teaspoon vinegar in a liquid measuring cup and add enough soy milk to equal 1/4 cup; mix together and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients together; set aside. In another bowl, beat oil, vanilla, and bananas. Gradually add in dry ingredients as well as the soy milk mixture. Beat until smooth.
4. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes until brown on top and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Serve warm, if desired (From Macaroon - the bake time for me was 45-50 min).
   

*Notes: You can add nuts or desired spices (like cinnamon). This can also be made in a standard size loaf pan (adjust cooking time accordingly).

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Homemade Blueberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

I wasn't much of a blueberry fan until recently. All of the sudden, this summer, I couldn't get enough for them. Pretty much every bunch I got was good!

I was down my last cup of them this weekend. So I decided to try something a little different. I made my own vinaigrette dressing with them. It came out really good with a nice subtle hint of blueberry. Now, I have to try to do this with other fruits.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 4 tbsp margarine
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 packets stevia
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 to 6 tbsp yellow or Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp parsley flakes
• Sea salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt margarine in sauce pan. Add blueberries and cook until juices begin to mix with margarine.
2. Reduce heat, stir in the vinegar and stevia, and let mixture simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Strain mixture into a bowl. Mix in the olive oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes.
4. When mixture is cooled, whisk in the mustard and parsley flakes, until well-combined. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
5. Pour mixture into a re-sealable container. It should keep in the refrigerator for approx. 2 weeks.

For you Willy Wonka and blueberry fans, here's a little something:

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Disco Chik’n Salad

Like my sainted grandmother, I tend to not jot down directions or amounts for my recipes. A couple of days ago, I whipped up a quickie dinner that was easy and yummy . For now I’ll call it Disco Chik’n Salad. Why? I don’t know.

Since we’re now committed vegetarians, experimenting with various meat substitutes has become fun. Below is an easy recipe for a light summer dinner that I hope you will enjoy.

4 plain chik’n breats (we prefer Quorn’s Naked Chik’n)
1 cup of plain soy milk
2 cups of panko bread crumbs
¼ cup of grated cheese (Pecorino works nicely)
Teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the panko bread crumbs, grated cheese and fresh ground pepper into a shallow bowl. Take the (unfrozen) chik’n breasts and dip them into the soy milk. Roll each breast into the panko and press firmly so the crumbs adhere. Place the breasts on a baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes on each side. When the breasts are done chop them into even pieces and place over 4 cups of chopped romaine lettuce. Drizzle on dressing and add a dash of grated cheese and freshly ground black pepper.


Dressing:
Add and stir:
¼ cup of balsamic vinegar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Tablespoon of pecorino Romano grated cheese
Tablespoon of Dijon mustard

Use immediately.

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McNulty's Tea & Coffee Co.

Carmella loves the fact that McNulty’s does not use generic labels of their coffee bags, but instead, they use an individualized rubber stamps for each type of product they sell.

In an age of homogenized coffee shops and retro-stores, McNulty's Tea & Coffee Co. is an oasis, proudly stuck in the late 19th century. This unpretentious landmark is nestled in the middle of neon Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, NYC, and shows no signs of folding despite the horrible financial crunch we are all experiencing.

McNulty’s offers an astounding range of exotic coffees and teas to the discerning tea and coffee drinking faithful. Even if you’re not a fan of coffee or tea, I suggest stopping by to peer at their window which displays coffee artifacts such as a 1930 Russian samovar and West Village bohemian-aged tea tins. The tiny and knowledgeable staff could not be more helpful or friendly. When you pop inside you’ll swear that you’ve stepped back in time when the country’s few coffee purveyors took pride in their products.

Recently I swung by and purchased a pound of Bavarian Cherry Chocolate. This was one of the most flavorful coffees I’ve had in eons. Subtle hints of chocolate and cherry were present with neither canceling the other out. This is just one of their many flavors of goodness that they offer. Now, don't you think that McNulty’s is worth the schlep?

McNulty's is located at 109 Christopher St, New York, NY 10014, USA
www.mcnultys.com

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How Did That Sauce Get On His Shirt?

We LURVE Daft Punk! Their video for "Revolution 909" has got to be one of the coolest videos they've done AND it comes with a "recipe" of sorts for you foodies!

Check it out!

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Zucchini Day with The Macaroon & Artichoke

Today is Zucchini Day! Why? Because we needed to cook some before they went bad. I had actually bought 4 of them last week. I didn't remember that until I bought more yesterday at Whole Foods. So, this morning, I made a loaf of zucchini bread and a simple pasta dish with heirloom tomatoes.

For the zucchini bread, I was going to make a vegan loaf, using a recipe I found online. Sadly for me, the applesauce I thought we had was consumed by the Artichoke! Thanks to quick thinking, I replaced the applesauce with 1 cup of vanilla yogurt, and cut the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon. It came out very well, but the baking soda gave off a slightly strong smell. I would cut the baking soda back to 1 teaspoon. Other than that, it tastes really good with a little bit of Earth Balance margarine.

For the pasta dish, it was something I whipped up using heirloom tomatoes, white wine and Parmesan cheese. I never had an heirloom tomato before today. I'm sad that I missed out for so long. They have a great flavor, especially with the zucchini! YUM!

Here are the recipes:


Zucchini Bread
Source: VegWeb.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups grated zucchini
• Ener-G Egg Replacer equivalent of 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 1 cup Sucanat (or refined sugar)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350. Stir first five ingredients together. Add dry ingredients and stir well. Pour batter into 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 nonstick baking pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes.



Pasta with Heirloom Tomatoes & Zucchini
Source: The Macaroon & Artichoke's Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 lb cooked pasta (I used spaghetti, but this would work great with fusili, penne or linguine)
• Olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• 10 to 15 pearl onions or 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 2 medium heirloom tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 c. white wine
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan. Then, add garlic until it begins to brown slightly. Add in the onions, and sautee until they start to become translucent
2. Add in the tomatoes and zucchini and cook for about 5 minutes before adding the white wine, sea salt and pepper
3. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes or until the half of the wine has burned off.
4. Add pasta and cheese to sauce pan. Toss all of the ingredients together.
5. Sprinkle a little bit of Parmesan cheese atop each serving (optional).

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My First Vegan Cookies!

All right, boys and girls, herbivores and carnivores! May I introduce you to the Post Punk Kitchen, a great vegan website and resource! Here, you'll find a lot of fabulous recipes, including one for these amazing Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.

It was my first time making vegan cookies and definitely not my last. The ingredients were easy to find. The recipe was simple and quick. The end result was one of the best cookies I've ever had (NO JOKE!). They were so good that my mom (forever a meat eater) couldn't tell they were vegan.

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: The Post Punk Kitchen

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole flax seeds
• 1/2 cup soymilk
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Grind the flax seeds on high in a blender until they become a powder. Add soymilk and blend for another 30 seconds or so. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
4. In a seperate large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Add the flax seed/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla.
5. Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.
6. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.
7. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Variations:
For chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with almond extract, and replace 1/2 the chocolate chips with dried cherries.

For chocolate nut cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with a nut extract (almond, walnut, what have you) and replace the chocolate chips with 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts all are good).

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