Edible Chicago

Dan's new venture!

Check out Dan's new vegetarian catering business, yummy!!

posted by Christa @ 10:54 PM 1 comments

Zesty Seitan!

Wow. That worked! So, here's a recipe some of you may have seen before, only it's been altered to contain homemade seitan instead of tofu. Christa made the seitan (the hard part), I did the rest, and it was awwwwwwsooome! Damn! Good, sweet, in-season sugar snap peas balance out the spiciness of this dish very nicely. The seitan comes from the wonderful Mark Bittman cookbook, How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. If you don't like it too spicy, you may want to reduce the amount of sauce. There's a link to the seitan recipe below. Enjoy!

Zesty Seitan & Udon Noodles:

Sauce:
1 Tablespoon mustard (prepared -- I use Nance's Sharp & Tangy)
1 Tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce (asian hot chili sauce, A.K.A "rooster sauce")
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons dried dill
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 recipe homemade seitan, cubed
1 lb. sugar snap peapods
Udon noodles (I like Nasoya brand fresh "japanese"-style noodles--available in the produce section at Jewel, right next to the tofu)

Sautee the seitan on high heat in 2T canola oil. While that's frying, assemble the sauce. Drop the udon noodles into your already boiling water (jeez, you're good!). Once the seitan is almost done frying (5-10 minutes), add the sugar snap peapods and continue to sautee for 3 more minutes. Add the sauce and cook until caramelized--about 1 minute. Drain the Udon noodles, add to the pan with the seitan, stir and serve!

posted by Dan Boucher @ 11:17 PM 2 comments

Vegan lasagna- not pretty. but really tasty.

Inspire the desire to make sweet love to a pan of lasagna with the following recipe. Included is my version of Tofu Ricotta. It's not as awesome as the Real Food Diner's version, but it's easier. Note that the same Tofu Ricotta makes great stuffed pasta shells. This recipe also includes the no-boil noodles made by Prince. This brand is my favorite, but its likely that others would work too.

Holy yum!
Needed:

8-10 oz mushrooms
1/2 of an onion
1 (15oz.) package firm tofu
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
3 Tabls. yellow miso paste
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1.5 jars prepared pasta sauce (we like Neumans Organic, Basil and Tomato)
garlic powder to taste
1 box Prince Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles
Veggie filling:
1) Chop and saute 1/2 of an onion
2) Add 1 package of slice mushrooms and saute until well cooked and dried out

Tofu ricotta:
1) Shred (with a cheese grater) 1/2 cup of carrots and 1/2 cup of zucchini
2) In a bowl, combine carrots, zucchini, 1 package firm tofu (smooshed with hands or fork), 3 tablespoons yellow miso paste,1 teaspoon nutritional yeast and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or more to taste.
3) stir in 3/4 cup of prepared tomato sauce to make a spreadable paste

Assemble lasagna:
1) Add 3/4 cup prepared tomato sauce to bottom of 13x9 pan
2) add 3 noodles of Prince Oven Ready Lasagna noodles
3) add tofu ricotta layer, about 1/2-3/4 cup, over noodles
4) add another 3/4 cup of sauce and about half of the veggie/mushroom filling
5) repeat layering. on last layer, add more sauce (about a cup or 1.5 cups) to keep noodles from getting dry.
6) bake 30 minutes (350 degrees) covered in foil, then remove foil and bake another 15 minutes
slice and enjoy!

posted by Dan and Christa @ 7:21 PM 0 comments

Cardamom bread

OK, so i intended to blog the other great weddings i went to in August, but that's too far past now. So, in summary, i finally got to try a chocolate fountain at Emily's wedding, it was fun! AND we had a awesome weekend in San Fran for Chris and Lisa'a wedding, with some of the most amazing food and wine ever served at a reception (at Greens, a must see for anyone visiting San Fran. amazing location and food.)
But now, i have perfected a recipe and i must share.
Christa's cardamom bread:
Yields two loafs of deliciousness.

1) Mix in large bowl:
2 cups boiling water
2/4 cup instant dried milk
(vegan option, 1 cup water, 1 cup soy or rice milk)
2 Tblsp butter or margarine
2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
Stir until butter melts, let sit 20 minutes to cool

2) With 10 minutes left in milk cooling, mix in small bowl:
1/4 cup warm water
1 Tblsp yeast
pinch of sugar
Let sit to proof yeast for 10 minutes

3) After cooling/proofing, combine small bowl into large bowl and add:
5 cardamom pods, ground fresh or 1.5 teaspoons ground cardamom
Beat liquid mixture with a wisk for two minutes, to oxygenate the liquid

4) Add 4 cups of flour, once combined add additional flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough is no longer sticky (around 5 cups total)

5) Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes

6) In a very large, lightly greased bowl (olive or canola oil is ok) place the dough, turning the loaf to coat in oil. Cover in saran wrap and let rise about an hour (i like to heat the oven at 200, turn it off and put the dough in the warm oven)

7) Turn dough out onto a floured surface, punch it down and split into two loaves. Roll out the loaves well to get out the big bubbles. Form into loaves as follows: work dough into a squarish shape where the longest diagonal is 1-2 inches shorter than your pan. Place in front of you as a diamond shape and roll dough from the bottom point, so the diagonal defines the width of the finished roll.

8) place loaves into greased pans and allow to rise at least 2 hours (slower=tastier) until loaf is at least 1 inch over the top of the pan.

9) Mix an egg yolk with 2 Tablsp milk and brush over loaves (this wash is mostly cosmetic, consider it optional), slash a few times with sharp knife or razor blade

10) bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Yumm!

posted by Christa @ 5:10 PM 0 comments

A month of weddings, the first:

August was a busy month for us, and it all started with a long weekend in Portland, OR, for Blair and Rich's wedding. As residents of the local Zen center and active Buddists, Blair and Rich had ceremony that was a variation on the traditional ceremony. I have known Blair for many years, and she has always been a profoundly independent thinker, so it was no surprise that her wedding had a similar flair. Blair is like a sister to Dan, so it was a great trip out to see her for a few days.
I had never been to Portland, and i found it to be a really cool city. The Chinese Garden was a beautiful oasis in the midst of the city. We stopped in at the Tao of Tea for some authentic tea. Delish.Lastly, we did get a chance to visit the Rogue Brewpub in Portland. I had a taster of a number of great beers, but my favorite was the Hazelnut Nut Brown. So, so perfect.
We stayed in a really cute Hostel, in a private room. I recommend it for the budget adventure traveler!

posted by Dan and Christa @ 8:14 PM 0 comments