Cornbread

I made some cornbread today. This is the third time I've made cornbread, and the third recipe I've tried. To me, it seems to taste better if you throw in some chopped stuff: I used some green onions, carrots, and fresh thyme since that's what I had on hand.

I just got a cast-iron skillet, and I think it made a big difference in helping form a nice crispy crust at the bottom of the cornbread. Cornbread in general is nice and hearty and very adaptable in terms of things you can throw in, and luckily today was no exception. One tweak I'll do if I make it again is use less sugar; the recipe called for 2 tablespoons but I think one or even half would be more appropriate. I used the first cornbread recipe in a book devoted to all things cornbread, aptly titled "The Cornbread Gospels." Rose-Anne of the Life, Love and Food blog posted her version of the recipe here, along with a hefty endorsement for the book it comes from.

Chard-Noodle Casserole & Balady Bread

I basically followed Veganomicon's recipe for the spinach-noodle kugel, replacing chard with spinach and breadcrumbs for matzoh meal. Some immensely useful website that I don't remember informed me that you can substitute chard for spinach anywhere as long as you cook it longer*, and I decided to do just that, since spinach recipes abound (rightfully so, spinach is delicious) while poor chard gets lain to the wayside despite being one of those dark leafy greens we hear so much about (not to mention chard was in my produce box this month and spinach is out of season). This casserole is basically mashed tofu, chard, macaroni, onions, and bread crumbs all mixed together.

There are other things to do with chard, like make a lasagna (I was seriously considering this one); there seem to be lots of good recipes on the New York Times blog about health, "Well." There's a basic chard introduction here up there too.

* To cook chard, throw it into a pot of boiling water, and then once the water boils again, let it cook for a minute. It should wilt but still be bright green. Remove and drain.

**

In other exciting kitchen news, yesterday I made balady bread! In case you don't know, think of it as pita bread's cousin, in the same thin circle but thicker. I used this recipe from about.com's middle eastern section. (Okay, it's really a recipe for pita bread, but like I said, they are cousins and I think in English they're treated as one, despite being divided into sub-types in the middle east.) They even have a video too if you need more encouragement. One thing to bear in mind: when you preheat your pan in the oven before baking the bread, don't flour it. I did and the flour burnt completely, prompting the fire alarm to go off and transforming the flour into what strongly resembled rich fertile soil. The bread also seemed to bake faster than the suggested times, so it's worth it to check it earlier. I used two cups whole wheat pastry flour and one cup plain old white, but I might make it all whole wheat next time for an even coarser texture. It turned out great this time and it was really pretty easy to make, it just needs a little time for kneading and waiting for the dough to rise. But kneading is fun and you can spend the hour it takes for the dough to rise reading, not to mention the bread is great, so go ahead and make it.

Acorn Squash & Leek Soup

For lunch today I had the usual left-overs, but decided to add a grain to the kale & peanut sauce that I had yesterday. I chose the white basmati rice purely because it only takes 15 minutes to cook and I was already hungry. Let me tell you, basmati rice is a revelation, nice and buttery just as Isa and Terry promise in Veganomicon. It went really well with the kale and peanut sauce too.

I tried making a quick yeast bread from The Dirty South Cookbook (the flip side of Hot Damn and Hell Yeah). It went pretty well! Pretty easy, I went with half whole wheat pastry flour and half regular white.

In really good (cooking) news, I finally finished my never-ending leeks! Indeed cause for celebration. I googled "squash and leeks" since I also had an acorn squash on hand and a squash and leek soup recipe from Cooking Light magazine came up. It had recipe traits I appreciate: a small number of ingredients and simplicity. The roasted garlic it called for added flavor, and the squash gave it a creamy texture. Overall, a nice fall soup.

Final thing: the other day I toasted some pumpkin seeds following instructions on about.com's home cooking section, and they turned out great. I tried them before using a different method and they flopped, so I'm really happy I discovered that I can legitimately save pumpkin seeds based on taste and unrelated to the guilt-waste factor involved in throwing them away. Super easy & a savory healthy snack.

Moosewood Brown Bread

Because I didn't want to go out to the supermarket for toast, I made bread. Not of the replacing-toast sort, though. I found an easy enough recipe in my Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. It's an everything but the kitchen sink kind of recipe: one cup each of corn meal, whole weat flour, and plain old white; plus raisins, molasses, and brown sugar with some cinnamon, allspice, and even ginger thrown in.

Just after I'd added apple cider vinegar to rice milk to substitute the buttermilk, I glanced through the recipe only to discover that it called for a loaf pan, which I don't have. I remembered reading somewhere that bread can be cooked either in a loaf pan or "free form" on a baking sheet, so figured I'd wing it.

Anyway, turns out it's a batter bread, not a dough bread - i.e. you get a liquidy mixture you have to pour into something, not a firm dough that can stand alone. So I just poured it into an oven-safe pan and cooked it for half the time. It turned out pretty okay, but I still think it's time to invest in a loaf pan.