FLIGHT

One of my favorites (not my own invention -> credit due to the staff at Betty Bossi, a Swiss cooking magazine)

Gnocchi with artichokes and lemon sauce (for 4 ppl)

It is vegetarian and if you can substitute the cream with soy cream (if there is such a thing), then it is vegan, too.

btw gnocchi. They are Italian, about the size of a cut-off thumb-tip (yay hyphens) and usually made of potatos or wheat dough. May come plain or with spinach or basil or tomato or cheese...

You need:

750 grams gnocchi (from the supermarket or a fresh pasta shop), that's about 1 and 1/2 pounds
1-2 cans of artichoke hearts (depending on how much you like them)

For the sauce:

1 onion, chopped very fine
1 tablespoon butter
1 and 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 tenth of a liter (or 3 liquid ounces) white wine
1 tenth of a liter (or 3 liquid ounces) vegetable broth (= hot water and instant broth)
the grated peel of 1 organic lemon (it *must* be organic, else you have poison in your sauce)
1 teaspoon lemonjuice
2 tenths of a liter (6 liquid ounces) cream

First, cut the artichoke hearts in quarters and put them on a plate.
Prepare a big pot with lots of water for the gnocchi.
You'll need two frying pans, preferrably one that is no-stick (for the artichokes). If you only have one, make the artichokes first.

Now for the sauce: set out everything you need. Cut the onion, get the white wine and broth ready, grate the lemon peel, squeeze out the juice, get out the flour and butter.

Heat the butter, start roasting the onion, then dump in the flour. Roast for a little bit, then add the white wine and broth all at once. Stir with a whisk until it's smooth, then add lemon peel and juice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Heat up the pot with water for the gnocchi. If you didn't do the artichokes first, do them now. Take a no-stick pan and a liberal dollop of butter (*not* olive oil or any other oil). Heat up the butter, then place the artichoke quarters in it, preferrably in a semblance of order. For this to taste really great, make sure you gently brown the quarters on *all* sides. That takes a bit of waiting and turning the pieces, but it's worth it.

When the sauce has simmered enough, add the cream and whisk together well. Heat it up. Let it simmer some more. Taste it, add salt and pepper. The water should be boiling, so add the gnocchi. Boil them until all have risen to the surface (takes only a few minutes) and use a ladle with holes to fish them out. If you don't have a ladle with holes, just pour the whole stuff through a sieve over your sink. Now everything should be about ready, combine on plates and eat.

For only one person, take less gnocchi, but the same amount of artichokes and about half the flour and fluid for the sauce.

_________________
I wish ...

Sour mushroom sauce

very good with rice, chicken, potatos and probably some other stuff, but I usually eat it with roasted chicken breast and plain rice

For two people I usually take a pound (half a kilo) of champignons. But I love the sauce and always cook a little too much. So you might try half a pound (250 grams) for two and a pound for four, also depending on if you have it just with rice or with rice and chicken or with potatos or with whatever.

So: here how to make it with a pound of champignons (hmmm maybe they are called something else in English? Just mushrooms (or field mushrooms) says the dictionary. Anyway, I mean those white or brown mushrooms that are almost always available at the supermarket.

You need:
a pound of mushrooms (that's half a kilo)
juice of half a lemon (or more, if you love sour food)
a quarter liter of cream
salt and pepper

Slice the mushrooms very thin (now a grater would come in handy). Heat up some butter in a frying pan and add the mushrooms. Start frying them, then add the lemon juice. They will start letting water and soon, they'll be swimming. Add salt and pepper. Let all the water boil away. Really all of it. Then add the cream. Let the cream and mushrooms simmer together until the sauce is reduced (a bit or a lot, depending on your taste in sauces, thin or thick).

Ta-daa, done. I love the way it is sour and creamy at the same time, but it's important you really let all the fluid boil away from the mushrooms, else the cream will flake.

_________________
I wish ...

Hey, this is great! I love Gnocchi! And if anybody else has recipes, throw them on here. I just started cooking again, so I'll probably be preparing the dishes in the near future. Hehe. I'll see if I can find some good recipes...

_________________

It's vegetarian *and* vegan for once...

Red lentil soup (my own invention)

I usually cook this for parties, because it's a great stomach-warmer and if there are leftovers, you can just warm them up again and again and again. The soup can be very varied, thick or thin, spicy or mild, with lots of carrots or with just a bit of carrots ...

For a nice pot of soup (should feed about 4 people or one person for a few days) you need:

a big pot
half a pound (a quarter kg = 250 grams) red lentils (dried, get them at the supermarket or your local health food store, or maybe an Indian food store)
half a pound (quarter kg) or more carrots
2 liters of water (or 1 and 1/2 for a thicker soup)
1-2 onions (or more)
tomato paste (now I don't remember what this is really called in English, but it comes in little cans or in tubes and is very thick and dark red)
instant vegetable broth (or, if you want to do it the hard way, add a bit of grated celery and parsley, but if you do, you'll need to add more salt)
curry (spicy or mild)

I think that's about all (that I add anyway).

Grate the carrots (either rough or fine, depending on if you want the soup to be chewy or not so chewy). Put the lentils in a sieve and rinse them. Chop the onions into very small pieces and fry them a bit in olive oil. Add the carrots and fry them, too, for a bit. Add the water and lentils and stir. Add the instant vegetable broth, according to the measurements on the package (usually one teaspoon makes 1/4 a liter of soup, but with cubes it's most often one cube per 1/2 liter). Heat up, add tomato paste and curry (depending on how much you like curry, a lot, a little or none) and stir until the tomato paste has dissolved. Let simmer for about 30 minutes or more. The lentils should fall apart, then the soup becomes all creamy.

When it's done, usually all the good stuff is on the bottom and the top is really clear, so you have to stir it well. Very very good on a cold day.

_________________
I wish ...

Here's one I posted to the rec.food.veg.cooking newsgroup. It's a little complicated, and it's helpful if you have certain ingredients...

I wrote this out today for a friend and figured I'd post to the group as
well.

*Very* loosely adapted from a (non-vegetarian) recipe in "Rice,
Ristotto, Pilaff, and Paella" by Christine Ingram (ISBN 1842157906)
(page 112).

You can substitute on the vegetables if you want; frozen broad beans
would be a good addition. I'd also like to try it with fake
(Vegetarian) chorizo. Best made in a 6-8 person carbon steel paella pan.
You will want to do all of your prep work in advance.

To order rice, saffron, paprika, paella pans, and other stuff, there are
a number of online sources; in the US, The Spanish Table (in SF) seems
to be pretty good. Google them for more info.

Vegetarian Paella

5-6 Tbsp of olive oil (I mix a little grapeseed oil too)
2 onions, diced
1 large / two small shallot(s), diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 3/4 C bomba (or arborio if you can't get bomba) rice
1 or 2 bell peppers, different colors, sliced
1/4 lb or more of chanterelle mushrooms brushed w/ a mushroom brush and
chopped, including stems
5-6 cremini mushrooms or 1 small-medium portabello chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled [1], seeded and chopped
1 Japanese (small) eggplant, diced
1 head broccoli, florets removed
Artichoke hearts (fresh is better, but canned is fine) [2]
pinch saffron toasted, then dissolved in 2 Tbsp hot water
1/4 C white wine
4 C (or a little more) hot vegetable stock; dilute a bit with water if
using a commercial stock
Olives
salt, pepper to taste
spanish paprika
lemon wedges, optional cheese for garnish

Saute onions and garlic for 4-5 minutes on medium / med-high heat or
until somewhat brown. Add peppers, saute for another 3-4 minutes. Add
mushrooms, and other vegetables except the tomatoes; saute for a little
longer. Add tomatoes, cook for a little until the mixture is kind of
thick. The pan should be fuller of "stuff" than you expect.

While the mixture is thickening, toast the saffron a little until its
aroma is released; add 2 Tbsp hot water (I've also used a little white
wine).

Add the white wine; add the hot stock, saffron liquid, and salt / pepper
/ paprika to taste; bring to a boil. Add the rice, and stir just enough
to evenly distribute the rice.

Unless you can cook this over an open fire, or have a very large grill
or range on your stovetop, the best bet is probably to cook on the stove
and then transfer to the oven halfway through, or else cook at the very
bottom of the oven for the entire time (that will only work on a gas
oven, though) at 375 degrees.

Cook, without stirring, for about 20 minutes, add olives on top, cook
another 4-5 minutes. Add more liquid if necessary. Rice should be
slightly al dente at this point. Remove from heat, and cover with a wet
dish towel or aluminium foil, and let sit for another 10 minutes.

Serve with lemon wedges and optional cheese.

[1] To peel tomatoes, put in boiling water for 20-30 seconds and then
run under cold water; the skin should peel off easily

[2] Last time I made this, my mother had just brought down some fresh
baby artichokes from Northern California. We boiled them, trimmed off
the outer leaves, and stuck them in half or whole (depending on size)...
very tasty, and well worth the trouble if you can get fresh baby
artichokes.

You kind of need to have a pan that's close to the right size / shape
(I've done it in a cast iron skillet before, but really you should use a
paella pan like the one I am using here).

Couple pictures:

In progress, on the oven floor.

Finished product

Sorry - hate when people do this, but... that last one was me.

Hey Will! Welcome to the board!

_________________

Here's my favorite recipe:

Phone number from Phone Book

Phone

Cash

Ordering!!!

(yeah I know)

- Donnell

_________________
i cant read

http://creatureone.com/non/recipes/ <-----------

_________________
· old art

Will, that recipe looks...incredibly...incredibly good. I vow to make it when I have an extra pair of hands to help me again. Thank you.

_________________
hopelarson.com
the secret friend society

Thanks.

I can't claim credit for much of the recipe - I just modified it from a (non-veg) recipe I have. Somehow even though I have tons of veggie cookbooks, I find myself adapting non-veg recipes or using vegan recipes in non-veg cookbooks much more often.

I was surprised that the chanterelles worked so well - I thought they might be too delicate. Any wild mushrooms can be substituted if chanterelles aren't in season or if you can't get them where you live.

If you're relatively handy in the kitchen, you probably don't need another set of hands for this one - just do all your prep in advance (this is really important). As long as everything's prepared in advance, one person can do it pretty easily. It does help to have some help eating it though, since the recipe is designed to be made in a pretty big paella pan. I think the one I use is designed for 6-8 people. One of my roommates and I did manage to finish almost 3/4 of a batch by ourselves once, though.

ooh recipes~ I love to cook when I have the time and energy. Here is a strawberry pie recipe from my friend:

SUMMER STRAWBERRY PIE (most delicious strawberry pie EVER!!)
8” pie crust
Quart fresh strawberries
1 ½ cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¾ cup sugar
3 ounce strawberry jello
cool whip/whip cream


Cut berries, pat dry. Put in pie crust. Combine water, corn starch, and sugar in a pot. Boil for 2 minutes until clear and thick. Stir while you boil. Remove from heat. Add jello pack, stir until jello dissolves. Pour over berries while still hot. Refridgerate until hardens (1 day). Top with whipped cream.

Seriously, when I eat this pie my tongue is like having an orgasm haha~

since I'm at the computer and I have time...

SRI WASANO INDONESIAN RICE SALAD

COOK:
2 c. brown rice w/3 c. water

COMBINE in bowl:
1/3 c. peanut oil
3 Tbs sesame oil
1/2 c. orange juice
1 medium garlic crushed
1/2 tsp crushed red hot pepper
2 Tbs soy sauce/Braggs
1 tsp salt
(optional: 1 Tbs brown sugar)
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar/ rice vinegar
1 c. pinapple chunks.

MIX RICE AND ABOVE SAUCE THEN MIX:
2-3 scallions, minced
2-3 stalkes celery minced
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. chopped peanuts pieces
1/2 c. cashews pieces
2 Tbs sesame seeds
1 c. red/green pepper slices
1 c. water chestnt pieces

>>>>
It's a rice salad, served cold, kinda like pasta salad but with rice and really fruity and sweet/tart. It does really well at potlucks.

at first glance the ingredients seem weird, but just try it when it's all mixed together. so good.

_________________
http://www.semihemisphere.com