Food Musings is approaching its second anniversary and I am still inspired by comments that I get from readers.  Recently, I learned that a mother/daughter who I know are avid vegetarians, love this blog.  That was touching but a bit startling to me because I am the daughter of a livestock man and love my meat.  So I have been on the look out for vegetarian recipes that I could include here to acknowledge their reading loyalty.

We recently were asked to spend the evening with dear friends of ours and their children whom we adore.  It was the best of both worlds-we got to play with the kids and our friends got to put the finishing touches on this delicious dinner without interuption.

There is much love shared between our families and in keeping with the notion that you can demonstrate how much you love someone by cooking for them-this is a demonstration of how much they love us.

Buns were freshly baked for our burgers and mine was this special shape.

We also savoured tortilla chips with mango salsa, baked pumpkin and a delicious salad.  But the hit of the evening were these Black Bean Burgers with Chipolte Chile Mayonaise.

Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients:
2 slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into large pieces
2 large eggs
3 T olive oil
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
1/8 t cayenne pepper
2 (16-ounce) cans black beans
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 shallot, minced

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350.  Process bread in food processor to coarse crumbs.  Spread crumbs on rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and dry, 10 to 12 minutes.  Set aside to cool.  Whisk eggs, 1 T oil, cumin, salt, and cayenne together in bowl.
Mash 2 1/2 cups beans in bowl with potato masher until mostly smooth.  Stir in bread crumbs, egg mixture, remaining beans, bell pepper, cilantro, and shallot until just combined.  Form bean mixture into six 1-inch patties.
Heat additional 1 T oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Cook half of patties until well browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side.  Transfer to plate and tent loosely with foil.  Repeat with remaining oil and patties.  Serve.

Chipotle Chile Mayonnaise
Whisk together 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup sour cream (I actually substituted 1 cup plain yogurt instead), 4 t minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 T finely chopped fresh cilantro, 2 t lime juice, and 1/2 t salt.  Cover and refrigerate until flavors meld, about 30 minutes.

Kath’s quote: “Beans are highly nutritious and satisfying, they can also be delicious if and when properly prepared, and they posses over all vegetables the great advantage of being just as good, if not better, when kept waiting, an advantage in the case of people whose disposition or occupation makes it difficult for them to be punctual at mealtime.”-Andre Simon

Love you Iflands.

Dedicated to Sawah (and her Mom).

We were off to the NHL hockey game this past Saturday in Toronto and thought that there would likely food served, as we were guests of the CBC.  But just in case, our family who were hosting us for the night made us a “snack” to have before we left for the Air Canada Centre.  We tucked in to a delicious salad with huge, grilled shrimp and garlic toast.  But the piece de resistance was this gorgeous torte for dessert. 

Because of the layers, I imagined this recipe to be wildly complicated but it is simply two cakes held together by custard.  The magic takes place in the oven when the meringue and cake batter are baked simultaneously.

Cake:

1 c flour

1 t baking powder

1/8 t salt

1/2 c butter

1 1/4 c sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 t vanilla

3 T milk

1/2 c blanched almonds

1 T sugar

1/2 t cinamon

Sift dry ingredients together.  Cream butter with 1/2 c sugar.  Add egg yolks, vanilla and then the dry ingredients.  Spread into two greased round pans.  Beat egg whites and add sugar.  Layer whites on batter.  Sprinkle almonds on top.  Combine cinamon, sugar and sprinkle on top.  Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Custard:

3 T flour

1/3 c sugar

1/8 t salt

1 c milk

1 egg beaten

1/2 t vanilla

1 t butter

Mix dry ingredients in a double boiler.  Add egg and milk and stir constantly until slightly thick.  When cooked, add vanilla and butter with whisk.  Place custard over bottom cake layer and then place the second layer on top.

 Originally from the Culinary Institute of America

 Kath’s quote:  “Cooks are in some ways very much like actors; they must be fit and strong, since acting and cooking are two of the most exacting professions. They must be blessed – or cursed, whichever way you care to look at it – with what is called the artistic temperament, which means that if they are to act or cook at all well, it cannot be for duds or dummies.”-Andre Simon

I am fascinated by the variety of pizzas in the world.  Indeed, referring to pizza is like referring to a sandwich.  I suppose the variations are endless.  Here’s an excerpt from my favourite food read from over the summer:  “Keeping the Feast” by Paula Butturini.

She writes: “And every Easter Sunday, a totally different sort of pizza, one meant to break the long Lenten fast, appeared on our breakfast table.  It had a double crust like a calzone, but it was flatter and wider, shaped like a foot-long strudel.  My grandmother called it “pizza gain”, and Anglicized version of pizza chine (KEE-nah), which in itself is dialect for pizza ripena, filled pizza.  “Pizza gain” was stuffed with many of the foods that we could not eat during the forty-day Lenten fast: proscuitto crudo, dried sausage slices, fresh runny cheese, and hard grated cheese all mixed together with endless fresh eggs from cousin Josephine’s farm.  We would cut into them on Easter morning and on every subsequent morning until they were gone, a treat so rich that two slim slices would make a meal.  I loved the Russell Stover’s pecan-studded caramel egg that my grandmother arranged to have appear in my Easter basket every year, but I would have traded that egg away in a heartbeat for a whole “pizza gain” of my own.”

We are fond of a pizza variety that doesn’t really taste like pizza at all.  I call it Pizza Bianca because it is made with entirely white ingredients:  Alfredo sauce, chicken, roasted garlic, grated mozzarella and crumbled feta cheese.  I assemble these things on top of a homemade pizza crust, not really caring how thinly I’ve rolled out the dough. 

It makes a great “stand around in the kitchen while eating your supper” dish.  I made it this past weekend when we called upon the Daughter #3 (daughter-in-law)’s folks to help with a painting project at the new house.  In fact, they virtually handled the entire project by themsleves.  As my dear Dad used to say “many hands make light work”.

Kath’s quote: “My idea of feng shui is to have them arrange the pepperoni in a circle on my pizza.”-Unknown

D works in the food-service industry and every once in a while he comes home with a purchase from a sale when “dead stock” items are sold to staff members when they have not been successfully sold to customers.  Now because I am the daughter of an Agrologist who specialized in livestock, the term “dead stock” is taking some time to get my head around.  But in the mean time, cooking up some of these items are stretching my culinary skills-and that is a good thing.

Last week D came home with a case of frozen oysters on the half shell.  We love oysters and were excited to give them a try but these in their “raw” state did not live up to ones that we have had at Fat Tuesday parties or our visit to New Orleans.  How could they?  The poor little guys were miles away from their natural habitat and our main complaint was their saltiness.  Well they are salt water creatures, for heaven’s sake, it wasn’t their fault. 

So last night I thawed about three dozen and then removed them from their shells.  Even though my recipe suggested that I reserve the oyster juice, I intentionally discarded it and gave the oysters a quick shower in warm water as well.

Then I followed this recipe and ta da, success.

Scalloped Oyster Casserole

1 lb. freshly shucked oysters

1 c cream (I used 1% milk with good success)

1/2 c butter, melted

1/2 t worchestershire sauce (I doubled this as we LOVE worchestershire)

1/4 t salt (I eliminated)

dash of pepper

2 1/2 c crunched soda biscuits (I used Italian bread crumbs to further reduce the sodium)

2 T butter, cut into slivers for topping (I eliminated, thinking that 1/2 c was quite enough)

Generously butter a glass 7 x 11 baking dish (metal will not produce the crusty brown bottom).  Melt butter & add worcherstershire, salt and pepper.  Place a layer of crumbs in bottom of dish, then layer 1/2 the oysters, pour 1/2 of the melted butter mixture over the oysters (stir butter just before or seasonings will have settled).  Repeat the layers one more time.  Dot with cold butter.  Pour cream (or milk) over top and bake uncovered immediately at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until top is browned and crunchy.

Kath’s quote: “As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”-Ernest Hemingway

I first tried this crazy concoction this summer at The Keg on a hot dog and have obsessed about it ever since.  A friend made us a jar for our Labour Day Weekend at the beach house.  She also gave Daughter #1 the recipe which I have attempted to secure a couple of times.  When we are together, we get focused on other tasks and then I forget to follow through.  I typically remember that I am recipeless when I am riding down to the main floor of her block in the elevator-drat!  

So I did what everybody else does now a days, I Googled the recipe and know that the one that I have posted here contains most of the same ingredients.

Bacon Jam

1 lb. smoked bacon (or use regular bacon and liquid smoke)

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 medium onion sliced

3 T brown sugar

Tabasco sauce (according to taste)

1 c coffee

1/4 c apple cider vinegar

1/4 c maple syrup

Black pepper to taste

extra water

Fry the bacon in batches until lightly browned and beginning to crisp. Using a light touch, cut into 1″ pieces. Transfer the bacon, onion and garlic into a heavy based cast iron pot and add the rest of the ingredients except for the water. Simmer for 2 hours adding 1/4 of a c of water every 25-30 mins or so and stir. When ready, cool for about 15-20 mins and then place in a food processor. Pulse for 2-3 seconds so that you leave some texture to the “jam”.

Here are the ingredients that I assembled for the sandwich lunch that I made with the precious stuff that weekend: chicken, havarti, portebella mushrooms, grilled peppers, mixed greens, tomatoes and chipata buns.

Ta da!

 Kath’s quote: “And the Quangle Wangle said
To himself on the Crumpetty Tree,–
‘Jam; and Jelly; and bread;
Are the best of food for me!”-Edward Lear