Cranky Papa Palooza

As I've been busy packing and more packing my Dad has been

doing a lot of the dinner cooking. If theres something Cranky

Papa makes best its stews, curries, and chili! Take a look...

Coney Island Chili with Soy Parmesean

Potato and Cauliflower Stew

Oh yeah, I did make some Bombdiggity Baked Beans

Green Olive Pasta

It is so sad, my refrigerator is so desolate right now.

I haven't gone shopping in ages, so the extent of my veggie

stockpile is potatoes and cabbage.

Since I wasn't feeling significantly irish enough today

to make a family stew or bake my gran's soda bread I

reached for the canned tomatoes.

We had been out at the beach all day and needed some

carbs asap. So whole wheat pasta it was, yet where is

the twist?

Green Olive Whole Wheat Pasta

Ingredients

1 can of tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp mince

fresh parsley

1/3 cup chopped

green olives

1 diced chili

or 2 tbsp chili flakes

1 tsp salt

1 pack ww pasta

Cook the minced garlic in the olive oil over a medium

heat, until fragrant. Add tomatoes (including liquid),

parsley and chili. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add

green olives and cook until most of liquid is cooked off.

In the meantime cook your pasta until al dente.

When draining reserve about 1 cup of water. Add sauce

to pasta pot and add in water. Combine well and season

with sea salt to taste. Serve topped with fresh minced

parsley or vegan parmesan!

On a side note here is a big friend we made out in the

ocean today.

Striking Gold

Its a great feeling when a recipe comes out perfectly.

Tons of tweaking and tasting, twisting and tossing...

I finally got my peanut-ginger muffins ready for my book.

Huzzah, indeed. Have a look see.

Now I need to make more jelly cuz this used up the last

little bit I had. I was thinking of ginger thumbprint cookies...

Any suggestions?

Three Little Piggies in Blankets

No recipes to relate today, I just wanted to post what I'm working

on for my book lately. I thought these cuties were a awesome,

classic, kid-friendly, vegan treat... I also have a great savory twist

version with italian 'sausage' and herb and olive-oil piggies.

Great for parties too, when I make these for parties they'd

fly. You ain't nevah seen a pig fly?

Jazzy Ginger

How

do

you

heat

up

and

cool

down

at

the

same

time?

If you said ginger and ice cream, you were right.

I still have this jar of ginger jelly from my first- not entirely successful-

batch. So, I'm thinkin'... 'what can I do with this?'

Its really hot today and I have this little carton of So Delicious Creamy

Vanilla Ice Cream. Well Pop goes the jar, Plop goes the jelly, and

yum goes my tummy. The spicy sweetness was perfect with the cool

creaminess of the ice cream. Brilliant! It tasted so cute... yes things

can taste cute. Try it for yourself! The pre-made ginger ice cream

just doesn't cut it.

Sorrel and Sunshine Tofu

Its good to have friends in green places!

Yesterday I received a beautiful bunch of sorrel. YAY

I haven't had sorrel since I lived in California. We had a fair

bunch there and our dog loved to eat it in one quick chomp.

Sorrel is European in origin and has high levels of vitamin

A and C. The younger leaves are fruitier tasting and will get

more of a tang as it ages. This is due to the level oxalic acid

in the sorrel and also why you should not cook it in cast iron.

So if you're making sorrel soup, double check what stockpot

you use or else it will come out tasting metallic.

Sorrel is sometimes used interchangeably with spinach, but

can also be used as an herb in ways.

Sorrel is most commonly used in soups or sauces for fish.

I decided that tonight I would breakdown and do some fried

tofu cakes and let the fishes swim on by.

I rarely make fried foods, but when I do...

I served this dish with some golden veggies and a pot of wild rice.

The veg came out so perfect; butternut squash, carrots and yellow

bell pepper quickly sautéed with some vegetable broth.

The natural sweetness complimented the sorrel dish perfectly.

Sorrel and Sunshine Tofu

ingredients

Tofu

1 lb extra firm tofu, sliced in to 1/4" slabs (pressed and drained)

1/3 cup of cornstarch or arrowroot powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chili powder

dash cayenne

salt and black pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients except the tofu. Coat each side of the

tofu slices and place in heated pan of oil. Cook until each side is

golden brown. Allow to drain and keep in a heated dish until all

are cooked and sauce is prepared.

Sauce

3 cups fresh sorrel, stemmed and chopped

2 tbsp earth balance or olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp mince onion

1 1/2 tbsp chopped capers

3 tablespoons almond milk

Heat oil or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until

translucent, stirring to make sure it does not brown.

Add the Sorrel and stir, coating. The Sorrel will become wilted,

cook until it resembles a puree. Add the capers and almond milk

and cook a few minutes more. Keep on low until tofu is ready.

Who says pizza needs cheese?

Not me, no Ma'am. Since my Sister was here we had to make pizza.

I made a quadruple batch of whole wheat dough to start with...

2 tbsp yeast, 3 cups warm water, 1 heaping tbsp sea salt, 1 tsp sucanat,

3 tbsp olive oil, and 8+ cups flour

I think 2 cups were unbleached white. I'm not sure exactly how much

flour I used. I usually just do it by feel, adding as much as I need to

knead it.

But the dough came out really nice, not too crunchy like the last

time. I think last time I added too much flour, so it came out like

crackers. Or I could just blame it on the oven, yes I'll do that.

We had two large large pizzas. My Parents of course had cheese...

But mine was a mix of olives and peppers... if I had artichoke hearts

it would totally have been greek. I used green and black olives,

pepperonis, sweet peppers, portabello mushrooms, cashews and

a sprinkle of salt and nutritional yeast. Yeah, no sauce here. I wasn't

in the mood for tomato sauce, so I brushed the dough with olive

oil and minced garlic. Hmmm whats for dinner?