SuicideGirl: Smythe
suicidegirl

Smythe is speckled like a leopard.

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NOVEMBER 23, 2009 @ 07:43 PM


So, I have decided on a Thanksgiving menu!

Everything is vegetarian, with the ability to make everything vegan. Someone in the house is soy-sensitive, so dairy sneaks its way into a few dishes.

You can read the recipes under the spoilers, please be advised that I do not cook with measurements, so the quantities listed are general suggestions. All oven temps are in Fahrenheit.

Cashew Cream of Broccoli Soup (this one is experimental)

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
1 cup RAW cashews soaked in 2 cups veggie broth over night.
1 hearty head of broccoli
3 garlic cloves
1/2 an onion
olive oil
veggie broth
nutritional yeast, to taste

Dice the onion and garlic. In a saute pan, heat olive oil and add onion + garlic, cook until soft. Take off of heat. Drain the cashews and save the liquid. To a blender/food processor add: cooked garlic + onion, soaked cashews, 1/4 cup of the veggie broth used for soaking. Blend together, continue to add broth until the "cream" base is the consistency you like.

At this point you have a three options, (1) you can chop up broccoli and add to be base and cook together, (2) you can cook the broccoli up real good and blend it to make a homogeneous soup, (3) you can chop up the broccoli into bite sized pieces, cook most of the way and add it to the cream base and cook until the broccoli is fully cooked.
(I am going to go with option 3!)
Top with nutritional yeast.



Roasted Root Veggies + Fennel Bulb in Herbes de Provence

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
Ingredients:
parsnips
butternut squash
acorn squash
kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin)
fennel bulb
herbes de Provence
olive oil
salt
2 cloves garlic

Cut the squashes + parsnips into 2 cm (~1 inch) cubes. Steam until about halfway cooked and remove from heat. Dice fennel bulb + garlic. In a saucepan heat large helping of olive oil, saute fennel bulb + garlic for ~5 mins. Turn heat off, add a large pinch of herbes de provence and stir. In a large bowl, combine steamed squashes, the olive oil/garlic/fennel bulb/herbes mixture and salt. Toss together until evenly coated. Turn on your oven to 450 F. In a baking pan arrange squash so it is in one layer and is not touching its neighbour. Bake 15 mins, flip squash; continue to do so until squash is fully cooked.


Thai Influenced Stuffing

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
bread, probably ~5 cups
1 tsp lemongrass (not the powder!)
1 tsp ginger (not the powder!)
1/4 c lime juice
dried red chili pepper
4 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
olive oil
veggie stock (a local market sells Thai Culinary stock, I am using that, it rocks)

For the bread I am using two half loaves that are left over from the weekend before Thanxgiving, 1 is rye/wheat/white the other is wheat. Both loaves are boulles, so they have a nice chewy crust that will hold up when broth is added.

You can either cube the bread or pull it apart into similar sized bits. Place bread bits on a baking sheet and toast for 20 mins @ 350F, mixing half way through. Take out of oven and allow to cool.
In a sauce pan, saute diced garlic + onion, after 2 mins of cooking add a couple of red peppers and cook until onions are soft. Add lemongrass, ginger and lime juice, cook for 3 mins. Add ~ 3 cups of stock and heat till hot. In a bowl, combine bread and stock. Mix until thoroughly moist. Yeah, I am immature.

If you have a muffin pan, you can make stuffin' muffins by scooping portions of the wet mixture into individual servings! So much yum!

Bake until crispy!



Roasted Brussels Sprouts w/ Garlic

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
A ton of Brussels sprouts
1/2 a head of garlic
olive oil
salt

Cut Brussels sprouts in half. Steam for 15 mins. Remove from heat. In a saute pan, heat olive oil and saute garlic until brown. In a bowl, combine sprouts and garlic+ olive oil. Add salt, mix until evenly coated. Place sprouts on a baking sheet and place under broiler. Stir sprouts every 10 mins until crispy and cooked.



Seitan cutlets in a mushroom gravy
Seitan Recipe

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
DRY MIX:
2 c. pure gluten powder (instant gluten flour; vital wheat gluten)
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic granules
1/4 tsp. white pepper
WET MIX:
1 1/2 cups Great Northern beans
1 and 1/2 cups water
3 tbs Braggs liquid aminos or soy sauce
1 tbs olive oil
BASTING BROTH:
2 cup veggie broth (I am using Thai veggie stock, again)
2 tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed

Mix the Dry Mix ingredients in the bowl of your electric mixer with dough hook attachment, or place them in the bread machine in the order given. Add the Wet Mix and knead for about 10 minutes. (If your bread machine has a dough cycle-two kneads with a long rest in between-use that cycle. Otherwise, just run it through the kneading part and then unplug it and let it rest in the cover container, then plug it in again for another knead, then remove it,) Let rest for about 1 hour, covered. You can make your Basting Broth during this time and have it ready. Then knead it for 10 more minutes.

(NOTE: You can knead by hand, too, but it's tougher than bread dough. You may want to let the seitan dough sit for a while to soak up the liquid more thoroughly before you starting hand-kneading.) KNEADING IS IMPORTANT TO THE TEXTURE OF THIS SEITAN!
The dough should be quite shiny and smooth. Avoid breaking it up when you take it out of the bowl. NOTE: I like to line the pan with cooking parchment to avoid sticking and tearing, and make the loaves easier to turn, by whichever method you choose to cook them.

Cooking:
DO NOT PREHEAT OVEN. Roll the seitan into a log, slice into hearty pieces. In a dutch oven, place the broth add the seitan slices. Place in oven and turn to 325F. Bake for 2 and 1/2 hours, turning the roast pieces over twice. I usually turn it once after 1 hour, and once again after 1 more hour. If there is a lot of Basting Broth left in the cooker, you may have to cook longer to let it absorb.
Recipe originally from: http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/1435893.htm#turkey


Mushroom gravy

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
6 tbs Butter/Margarine
4 tbs Flour
3/4 cup Broth
1 garlic clove, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
Sage to taste

Add 6 tbs of butter in a saute pan, when butter is melted add mushrooms + garlic. Cook for 2 mins, add 4 tbs flour. Stir, continue to heat until flour starts to brown. Add stock and cook until the gravy thickens, add sage to taste. If need be, add cornstarch to thicken.



DESSERT TIME!
Individual Crustless Pumpkin Cheesecakes

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
cream cheese
pureed pumpkin
agave syrup
pumpkin pie spices
vanilla (or almond, or hazelnut) extract

ramekins

Whip together 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup agave syrup, 1 tsp spices, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract and 1/2 cup cream cheese.
Add mixture to ramekins, place in a water bath (use hot water!) and cook at 320F for 30 mins. Allow to cool completely and transfer to fridge until ready to serve.

With STRONG coffee to ward off a food coma!

Over the holiday weekend I am looking after my thesis advisor's dog. I'm excited and nervous as this dog can be kind of a rascal. I'm excited about it because I've been wanting to get a dog. I have a feeling I've become too spoiled having an independent cat and won't be able to deal with a dog all up in my junk. I'm excited for it either way.


Do you have any fun and/or unique holiday traditions?

My family is quite British. It would not be Christmas or New Years without crackers and everyone in the family wearing paper crowns.






___________________
Ever wonder what I would like for Christmas?
For (Good Neighbour) to go live. I guess we shall see.

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Comments
DevilsReject

DevilsReject

Cleveland, OH
February 2007

NOV 23, 2009 07:52 PM

My holiday traditions are me hiding in my room and gaming until my extended family goes away.

Taye

Taye

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

NOV 23, 2009 08:08 PM

Oh my god, I am so trying those pumpkin cheesecakes! (With Tofutti cream cheese). Post pictures of your feast! smile

July

July

SUICIDEGIRL

Nevada, USA

NOV 23, 2009 08:13 PM

Wow. You're going to have one of the best Thanksgiving meals around! I agree, post pictures!!!!

DevilsReject

DevilsReject

Cleveland, OH
February 2007

NOV 23, 2009 08:18 PM

Being the only technically gifted person in the family, the blood-suckers for some reason believe that i should work on their computers and repair their electronics for free. The people I despise the most usually start with a fake "Hi Rob!" and then follow it up with a "My <insert electronic device> is broken/not working right, do you think you could take a look at it?" or they ask me to build websites for them free of charge.

I dislike the holidays.

sick

sick

Minneapolis, MN
June 2003

NOV 23, 2009 08:23 PM

Cooking without measurements is one thing, but baking is quite another. I advise using measurements when baking.

Estrada

Estrada

University Place, WA
OLD SKOOL

NOV 23, 2009 09:30 PM

Thanksgiving is really the only holiday my family celebrates so I guess that's a tradition.

MobProd

mobprod

Portland, OR
OLD SKOOL

NOV 24, 2009 12:08 AM

As previously discussed, I'm excited about my Thanksgiving, but goddamn do I wish I were attending yours.

Jamie_Trecker

Jamie_Trecker

Chicago, IL
January 2003

NOV 24, 2009 07:10 AM

Where's the plum duff?

memorandom

memorandom

United Kingdom
February 2004

NOV 24, 2009 12:23 PM

those recipes all sound absolutely mouth-wateringly delicious. .

Fusionface

Fusionface

Columbus, OH
February 2004

NOV 24, 2009 06:04 PM

A vegan Thanksgiving would be interesting. I'm not vegan or vege but I do enjoy vegetarian meals. I will say I ate a lot of raw fish on my vacation...thinking I want to live by the ocean to put myself back on that kind of diet...

robotskullrobotskullrobot

EL_Scootro

EL_Scootro

Pittsburgh, PA
January 2005

NOV 24, 2009 07:56 PM

a) i want a boston terrier SOO bad!
b) that thanksgiving sounds AMAZING!!!

Turbulence

Turbulence

Austria
November 2005

NOV 24, 2009 08:39 PM

thanks!

your menu sounds mind blowing!!!

radiofrank

radiofrank

Mississauga, ON
November 2002

NOV 24, 2009 08:41 PM

I'm feeling awfully hungry at the moment. biggrin

Truth be told, my family doesn't have any "fun" holiday traditions; the one thing we do every year, though, is having a meat-free Christmas Eve dinner.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

nikonphoto80

nikonphoto80

Lexington, KY
December 2004

NOV 24, 2009 10:43 PM

Well I’m not a vegetarian but that stuff does sound pretty good.

I love dogs, I would be so excited to be doing that, what kind of dog is it?

That sounds like a really fun Christmas tradition, the only one I have is we all go to my grandmother on my dads sides house late Christmas eve night, we have my dad and his 3 brothers, all their kids and wife’s and I have 4 antis that are there ever year, it is a big group of people.

Monroe

Monroe

SUICIDEGIRL

Pennsylvania, USA

NOV 25, 2009 04:41 PM

Mmmmm...I'm coming to your house for Thanksgiving next year!

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