Moving Day

Thank you for visiting us here at blogspot. We've decided to move to wordpress, so please find us at: http://beansfigsandkatz.wordpress.com/

We'll have our old recipes, which will continue to live here (at least for awhile), and lots of new, exciting foods. Our katz may even make some guest appearances....

XOXO
Stef and Jennifer

New flavors

Thin crust pizza with pineapple, red bell pepper, jalapenos, tomatoes and special white sauce.



Salad with marinated tempeh, kale, avacado, carrots, tomatoes, red bell pepper and apple cider vinegar.





The chocolate exhibit had a flavor!

Roasted Eggplant with Fontina, and more

1 eggplant
olive oil
salt
pepper
homemade spaghetti sauce
whole wheat angel hair
fontina
madrigal baby swiss
some kind of stinky cheese that began with the letter R

Preheat oven to 400.

Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch thick pieces. Lay on paper towels and lightly salt. Allow to sweat for about 30 minutes. Remove paper towels and rinse.

Lightly oil eggplant slices and place in baking dish. Bake for about 10 minutes, flip over, and bake another 10 minutes, or until slightly browned. Remove from oven.

Grate cheeses. Pour a layer of sauce into a baking dish, place eggplant slices on top and season with pepper. Cover with a layer of cheese and then another layer of sauce. Repeat with next slices of eggplant, cheese, and top with remaining sauce. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling. Serve over cooked angel hair pasta.

The second night, we added sauted spinach to the eggplant and sauce mixture. Delicious!

Carrot, Ginger, Pumpkin, White Bean Soup

1 onion, diced
5 carrots, sliced
1/2 can leftover pumpkin
2 fennel fronds (or celery)
1 tsp cumin
1.5-2 tbls grated (fresh) ginger
cayenne, salt and pepper
1 can white beans
3 tbls vegetarian chicken stock powder (or bouillon cubes)
water to cover (2-3 cups)

saute onion in olive oil until translucent. add ginger, carrots, fennel and spices. cook 2-3 minutes. add water to cover, bring to a boil and stir in stock or bouillon until dissolved. add in beans and stir. cover and reduce heat to simmer. cook about 30 minutes, or until carrots are soft.

optional: you can puree the soup before adding the beans with your immersion blender!

original recipe here.

New Year's Eve Vegetable Baklava

Adapted from Epicurious.

• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts (2 ounces)
  
• 1/4 cup matzah meal
  
• 1.25 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
• 2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed, reserving fronds, bulbs halved and sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 pound parsnips (3 medium), sliced diagonally 1/3 inch thick
• 1/3 pound carrots (3 medium), sliced diagonally 1/3 inch thick
• 1 large onion, halved and sliced
• 3/4 cup olive oil, divided
• 2/3 cup water
• 1-2 tbl. dill
• 8 (17-by 12-inch) phyllo sheets, thawed if frozen

Preheat oven to 425°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.

Crush walnuts and fry lightly in a pan, until toasted. Mix with matzah meal. (I'd leave this out in the future).

Slice potatoes 1/4 inch thick. Divide all vegetables between 2 large 4-sided sheet pans and toss each pan of vegetables with 3 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Roast vegetables, stirring and switching position of pans halfway through, until softened and golden brown in spots, 35 to 40 minutes. Leave oven on with 1 rack in middle.

Add 1/3 cup water to each pan of vegetables and stir and scrape up brown bits from bottom. Chop 1/4 cup fennel fronds. Combine all vegetables in 1 pan and toss with fennel fronds and dill.

Brush baking dish with some of remaining olive oil. Cover stack of phyllo sheets with plastic wrap and a damp kitchen towel. Keeping remaining phyllo covered and working quickly, place 1 sheet on a work surface, then gently brush with some oil and sprinkle with 2 rounded tablespoon walnut mixture. Place another phyllo sheet on top and repeat brushing and sprinkling. Top with a third sheet and brush with oil.

Drape phyllo stack into one half of baking dish, gently pressing it into bottom and up side and leaving an overhang. Make another stack with 3 more phyllo sheets, more oil, and remaining walnut mixture. Drape into other half of dish (phyllo will overlap in center of dish).

Spoon vegetables into phyllo shell. Fold overhang toward center over filling (it will not cover vegetables) and brush edge with oil. Brush remaining 2 sheets of phyllo with remaining oil, tear in half, crumple, and arrange on top of filling.

Bake in middle of oven until phyllo is deep golden brown, 15- 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

This was HUGE. When we couldn't finish it after a few days, we pulled out the vegetables and made a soup by adding beans, tahini, canned tomatoes and more dill.

Weekend French Toast

6 slices Old apple-cinnamon bread from the freezer
1 egg
1 tsp. turbinado sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup rice milk
dash of cayenne (oops)

Mix eggs, rice milk and spices in a pyrex dish. Soak bread on both sides, then fry until golden in a lightly buttered pan (about medium heat). Serve with honey.

Jalapeno Corn Cornbread

Adapted from here

1 cup yellow corn meal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 tsp. baking soda
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup canned jalapeno peppers, minced
1/2 cup frozen sweet corn
1/3 cup sorghum
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup rice milk
1 slice of lime, squeezed
1 (generous) Tbsp. lemon juice (the yogurt and juice mixture was a substitute for buttermilk)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400° F. Combine the flour, corn meal, baking powder and baking soda. Mix very well. In another bowl, combine the oil, sorghum, yogurt/juice and egg. Whisk for 2 minutes. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Bake in a greased bread pan until the top is lightly golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

We served this with chili!

Pineapple Upside-Down Gingerbread Pumpkin Cake

Adapted from Epicurious.


Topping:
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup soy butter
1 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon molasses
1 cup frozen pineapple

Cake:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup soy butter, room temperature
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup canned pure pumpkin

For topping:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease with soy butter, a 9x9x2-inch baking pan. Combine sugar, butter, orange juice, and molasses in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, whisking until sugar dissolves and syrup is smooth; boil 1 minute. Pour evenly into prepared pan. Arrange pineapple pieces close together in a single layer in the syrup.

For cake:
Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl. Add sugar and beat to blend. Beat in egg. Beat in molasses, then pumpkin. Beat in dry ingredients just until blended, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in 1/2 cup boiling water. Pour batter evenly into pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes. Cool cake in pan 30-45 minutes. Place platter over pan and invert. Let stand 5 minutes. Gently lift off pan. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

Potatoes Au Gratin

2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes
1/4 c. soy butter
1 medium onion chopped
1 tbl. whole wheat flour
salt and pepper
1 c. rice milk
1/2 c. fat-free plain yoghurt
1/2 c. yoghurt with Wholefoods ranch dressing seasoning mix
2 c. cheese grated (combined): .75 oz mustard cheese, white Cabot cheddar
paprika

Heat oven to 375.
Slice potatoes approximately 1/8 of an inch thick. Spread potatoes evenly into an ungreased casserole dish.

In a pot, melt butter and cook onions for about 2 minutes (until golden). Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Remove from heat.

Stir in rice milk, yoghurt, dip, and 1.5 cups of cheese. Heat to boiling and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Pour cheese sauce over potatoes. Divide one-fourth of a cup of rice milk and pour into each corner of the casserole dish.

Bake 45 minutes, uncovered.
Sprinkle remaining cheese over potatoes and cook an additional 15-20, until brown.

Red Headed Step Cabbage Meets Slausage, Apples and Potatoes, Oh My!

We tend to overcook sometimes, so we make good use of the freezer. For this exciting edition of Beans, Figs and Katz, we married two of our favorite, but large dishes together to create a delicious casserole.

Preheat oven to 375. Defrost frozen items.

In a large 2 quart casserole dish, we combined:

1 container (approximately 2 cups) of the Slausage, Apples and Potatoes, Oh my!, 2 containers (approximately 3.5 cups) Red Headed Step Cabbage, and some leftover rice (about 1.75 cups.)

Bake for 40 minutes, or until heated through.