Vegetable Pot Pie

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Submitted by Mandy Mills, adapted from Vegetarian Times

Filling

  • ¼ – ½ cup White wine or vegetable stock
  • 5 cups diced vegetables – whatever you like in your pot pie. I use onion, celery, sweet potatoes, parsnips, peas, green beans, mushrooms, corn, and carrots. Keep them separated from each other for the moment.
  • 1/3 cup Whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup Skim milk
  • 2 cups Vegetable stock
  • 1 tsp salt or soy sauce
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ¼ tsp dried sage
  • ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Crust

  • Option 1: 1 Sheet frozen puff pastry, rolled out to size of your casserole dish.
  • Option 2: Biscuit top:
  • 1 ¾ cup Flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • ¾ cup buttermilk
  • 2 tsp honey
  1. Preheat Oven to 400o
  2. Coat an 8-inch casserole dish with vegetable cooking spray.
  3. In a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven, heat wine or stock over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until soft (about 3 minutes). Add remaining vegetables. If mix dries out, add ¼ cup more liquid. Cook, stirring often, 5 more minutes. Reduce heat to low. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes.
  4. Have ready in glass measuring cup combined milk and stock. Slowly add to vegetable mixture while whisking constantly. Add salt/soy sauce and spices. Cook, stirring constantly, until filling is thickened. Pour into prepared casserole.
  5. To prepare Biscuit Crust: In large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Combine liquid ingredients and add to dry ingredients. Stir with fork. Knead in bowl 3-5 minutes. Roll out to cover casserole.
  6. Top casserole with your choice of pot pie crust. Bake 20-30 minutes, until golden brown.

Serves 6

Eggplant Mushroom Burritos

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Submitted by Mandy Mills, from Vegetarian Times, March 1, 2004 , p. 47

2 Tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing tortillas

2 cups sliced button mushrooms

1 onion, minced

3 cups peeled and diced eggplant

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon salt

9 cherry tomatoes, coarsely chopped (I use 1 or 2 plum tomatoes)

1 cup coarsely shredded jalapeno-flavored Monterey Jack cheese

4 9-inch flour tortillas

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onion, and sauté for 6 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add eggplant, garlic and salt, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
  2. Stir in tomatoes, cover and cook for 5-6 minutes more, stirring well. Stir in cheese, and remove from heat.
  3. Meanwhile, lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Toast tortillas on one side in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, just until golden. Divide filling onto toasted side of tortillas, and roll up. Toast filled tortillas in skillet, turning once, until golden and crisp, for 1 ½ – 2 minutes.

Serves 4

Frozen Chocolate Pie

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Submitted by JoAnne Levy

Crust

  • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons powered sugar
  • 1/4 cup melted butter

Filling

  • 1 pint (2 cups) vanilla ice cream
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 2 packages (4 serving size) instant chocolate pudding
  • whipped cream, chocolate curls

Combine crust ingredients; press into pie plate and chill for 15 to 20 minutes, while making filling.

Combine ice cream and milk; beat until well blended, then add pudding mix. Beat just long enough to combine thoroughly.

Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

Slow Cooker Eggplant and Sweet Potato Curry

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Submitted by Mandy Mills, who adapted it from 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson

  • 2 Medium eggplants, peeled, cut into 2-inch cubes, and sweated and drained of excess moisture
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
  • 2 Sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2 Onions, finely chopped
  • 2 Cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon minced gingerroot
  • 2 teaspoon curry powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
  • 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  1. In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add sweated eggplant, in batches, and cook until browned. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware. Add sweet potatoes to stoneware and return pan to element.
  2. Add onions to pan, adding remaining oil if necessary, and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, gingerroot, curry powder, salt, and peppercorns and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and vegetable stock. Pour mixture over vegetables in stoneware.
  3. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or on High for 4 hours, until hot and bubbling. Serve with rice, or Indian flatbread (such as Naan).

Note: This dish can be assembled the night before it is cooked. Complete Steps 1 and 2, cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, continue with Step 3.

Serves 6

Chocolate Mousse Cake

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Submitted by JoAnne Levy

  • 7 oz. sweet chocolate
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 7 eggs, separated
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/8 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt chocolate in microwave for 2 minutes on defrost. Beat yolks and 3/4 cup sugar until pale yellow and fluffy. Gradually stir in chocolate, butter and vanilla. Beat whites with lemon juice till soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar (1 Tablespoon at a time). Continue beating till stiff but not dry. Gently fold whites into chocolate. Pour 3/4 of batter into 9″ Springform pan. Cover and refrigerate remaining batter. Bake cake 35 minutes. Cool completely. Cake will fall. Remove Springform sides. Trim edges with a knife. Spread remaining batter over top of cake. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Potatoes Anna

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Submitted by JoAnne Levy

  • 2 cups of potatoes, scrubbed and sliced (I do not peel but the original recipe does)

Mix together:

  • ½ cup grated onion
  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • Pinch of salt

Mix together:

  • ¼ cup butter or margarine
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoon chopped parsley

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a pie plate with some of the butter-oil mixture. Layer potato slices in pie plate. Each layer should be brushed with butter-oil mixture and sprinkle with onion-cheese mixture. Repeat layers to top of plate. Butter one side of a piece of aluminum foil and cover the plate. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and bake another 30 minutes or longer if not browned. Let cool 10 minutes.

Crabmeat Cheesecake with Pecan Crust, from the Palace Café

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Submitted by JoAnne Levy, who included this interesting text:

This fabulous cheesecake by Chef Robert Bruce is the signature appetizer at the Palace Café in New Orleans, one of my favorite restaurants back home. It’s decidedly different from Chef Emeril Lagasse’s savory cheesecakes, for which he is well known, primarily for its nutty crust and the special tang of Creole cream cheese.

Creole cream cheese is unfortunately impossible to find outside of New Orleans, and is even difficult to find within the city limits (Dorignac’s Food Center on Veterans in Metairie still makes their own, bless ’em). You won’t be able to make this like the restaurant does without it, but for the Creole cream cheese you can substitute equal parts of plain yogurt and sour cream. Believe me, the cheesecake will still taste fantastic!

Pecan Crust

  • 3/4 cup pecans
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
  • 3 tablespoons ice water

Filling

  • 1/2 small onion, finely diced
  • 4 ounces fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for shells
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 3 ounces Creole cream cheese (or 3 tablespoons each plain yogurt and sour cream)
  • 2 eggs
  • Salt and white pepper to taste
  • Crystal hot sauce to taste (or your favorite hot sauce)

Garnish

  • 2 tablespoons chopped shallots
  • 4 ounces sliced mixed wild and exotic mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 3 ounces Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 ounce hot sauce
  • 3 ounces heavy whipping cream (UK: single cream)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 24 crab claw fingers
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the pecan crust: Grind the pecans, flour and salt in a food processor until fine. Transfer to a bowl. Add the butter. Work the butter into the flour until you have crumbs about the size of a pea. Toss in the ice water, lifting up the dough with your fingers to incorporate evenly. The dough will remain fairly crumbly. Starting with the sides, and then the bottom, press the dough into a 9-inch tart pan. Bake the crust in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. Allow the crust to cool before filling. Meanwhile, make the filling …

For the filling: Cook the onion in a bit of butter over medium heat until translucent. Add the crabmeat and cook just until heated through. Remove from heat and set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand using a wooden spoon), blend the cream cheese until smooth. Add the Creole cream cheese and then the eggs one at a time. Fold in the crabmeat mixture. Season to taste with salt, white pepper and hot sauce. Pour the mix into the prepared cooled crust. Bake at 300°F for about 30 minutes until set and firm to the touch.

For the garnish topping: Sauté shallots until translucent. Add the mushrooms and sweat until just cooked through. Add the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, and reduce by 3/4. Add the heavy cream and reduce by half. Whisk in the butter.

In a separate sauté pan, add crab claw fingers. Salt and pepper to taste, then pour the reduction over and keep warm. Each slice of cheesecake gets three crab claws and 2 tablespoons of sauce.

Yield: 8 servings from one 9″ tart

Bouquet of Baked Spring Vegetables

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Submitted by JoAnne Levy

  • 10 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 3 teaspoons dried basil
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 16-20 peeled baby carrots
  • 1 large red onion, peeled, halved and cut into 2-inch chunks
  • 2-3 beets, peeled and cut into quartered
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 pound green zucchini and summer squash, cut into ¾ inch chunks
  • 1 ½ pounds pencil-thin asparagus, bottoms trimmed
  • 1 small red, yellow and orange pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks or strips

Preheat oven to 475 F

Combine oil, basil, thyme and garlic. Remove 4 tablespoons oil mixture to a small bowl. Pour remainder into 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Stir in carrots, beets and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and bake for 15 minutes.

Add all other vegetables. Drizzle with remaining oil mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and bake for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are barely tender (carrots and beets take the longest)

Stir vegetables gently to coat and serve.

Rack of Lamb

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Submitted by JoAnne Levy, who got it from Cooks.com

  • 1/2 rack of lamb, approx. 7 to 8 chops
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
  • 2 to 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped, or garlic powder
  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 1 to 2 cups bread crumbs (fresh bread crumbed in a food processor, not dried or seasoned crumbs)

Have butcher “french” the rack of lamb for roasting. Cover ends of bones with aluminum foil to prevent charring. Sprinkle lamb with thyme, pepper and salt to taste.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place meat in roasting pan and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, cool to a handling temperature. Spread mustard over all meat surfaces, sprinkle with chopped garlic or garlic powder, and brush with melted butter.

Using fresh bread crumbs, coat the meat well. Return to roasting pan and cook 20 minutes for medium-to-rare lamb chops. Allow to stand for five minutes before carving.

Serve with mint jelly, and fresh string beans and tiny new potatoes on the side.