Shepherd's Pie

I've never actually had shepherd's pie, so I have zero basis for comparison on this one. I wanted to make a casserole type thing because sometimes it's so nice to prepare all the food, then toss it in the oven for a while and use that time to relax or do other stuff. Sometimes right after I cook I'm not too hungry.

From veggie cookie

A pie of kasha and bulgar wheat with carrots, onion, and mushrooms, topped with mashed potatoes.

I used this recipe from Allrecipes because I wanted to try something made from vegetables and grains, not prepackaged meat substitute. I'm not going to spell out the recipe again here; check out the website for more information. It took a little time to prepare the buckwheat (kasha) and bulgar, but everything was pretty simple, if time consuming. I think it turned out pretty well, but next time I'll use less grain and more carrots and mushrooms. Maybe I'll toss in some peas, too. I'm not sure if those traditionally go in shepherd's pie, but I think they would be really good with the potatoes and give a little more color to the dish. The mashed potato topping was very good, and everything went well together.

Restaurant: Cosi

I first went to Cosi years ago, by accident, looking for a quick lunch in downtown Philadelphia. Over the years, they've reproduced and now have more locations in Philly than anyone, even me, really needs. We used to get Cosi sandwiches, salads, and pizzas pretty regularly, even putting up with some subpar service at my suburban location to enjoy the unique foods.

Cosi is a quick food place, one of those chains where you order at the counter and then take a number to your table so the person bringing your sandwich can find you. However, since moving to Cincinnati and being Cosi-less, this place has become an obsession for Alex and me. Whenever we're in a town that has a Cosi, we stop by (so far, this has only been Columbus and Lexington, plus our trips back to Philly). It is that good. Plus, the Cosi we visit in Lexington has Southern charm and hospitality, a far cry from the sometimes dirty, sometimes slow, sometimes get your order wrong shops in Philadelphia.

We were in Lexington last night and stopped by Cosi. We shared a salad and a sandwich, plus we took an extra sandwich to go. We ate it cold, in the car, on the drive home from our concert. Still good.

From veggie cookie

What's so special? For me, it's the T.B.M. Melt. Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella. Yum. First, the Cosi signature is their bread. It's freshly baked flatbread that's chewy and lightly salted. They stretch and bake the dough right in the store. We've tried to recreate the T.B.M. Melt at home and made some pretty good sandwiches, but this bread is unlike anything else I've had. Top it with sundried tomato spread, tomato slices, basil, and fresh mozzarella, then melt it. It's heavenly.

They also have a great signature salad. I wasn't feeling it last night, but Alex proclaimed it's his favorite salad above others we enjoy. It's mixed greens, a lot of romaine, grapes, pears, Gorgonzola, pistachios, and dried cranberries with a "sherry shallot" vinaigrette. It's really good, and also something we've tried to recreate at home, but as infrequently as we go I like to stick to the T.B.M. Melt.

So yes, this little fast food place is one of our favorites. I'm not ashamed of that.

"Party" squash casserole

I visited my aunt and uncle over Labor Day and we had this dish for supper; when I back to get a little more, the entire casserole was gone. I snapped a photo of the recipe card, partly to have a copy of the recipe to try at home and partly as a memoir of my grandmother's cooking. I gathered up what yellow squash I could find now that it's early fall and gave it a try myself.

From veggie cookie

Start by boiling 5 medium squash with a bit of salt until they're tender, then drain and mash.

Meanwhile, combine the rest of the ingredients. I put them right into the casserole dish. What a strange mix! I think this is a recipe that I would not dare to try just from reading it.

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon sugar. Looking back at the recipe, I am almost sure that I forgot to put in the sugar.
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Cracker crumbs or bread crumbs for topping

Mix everything except the crumbs in the casserole dish, top with the crumbs, and bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes.

I enjoyed this, but it's certainly the kind of casserole you don't eat a big serving of. I think next time I'll have to reduce the mayonnaise. I really like the pecans in the casserole and I don't think I noticed the bell pepper much at all. I did stick to the measurements, so there was a tiny amount of bell pepper compared to the other ingredients.

Meatless Jambalaya

This is another recipe I got from Angela Shelf Medearis' The Ethnic Vegetarian -- and this one is very good. I've made it before, but I think this was before I really knew what seitan was. I couldn't find any, and so I substituted tempeh, which really didn't do the trick. This is a one-pot meal made entirely on the stovetop. There's a fair amount of chopping and a variety of ingredients, but it's not too difficult and well worth the time.

From veggie cookie

This is a variation of Creole jambalaya, which starts with meat, then adding vegetables, tomato sauce, and rice. It's flavored with creole seasoning, which includes paprika, garlic, black pepper, onion, thyme, cayenne, oregano, and bay leaf. I used Morningstar link sausages, which aren't vegan, but otherwise this recipe could easily be made vegan.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons margarine
8 ounces seitan, drained and sliced
12 ounces soy link sausage, cut into thirds
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 medium green bell peppers, chopped (I used a leftover red bell pepper and one green)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
3/4 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons Creole seasoning
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups vegetable broth

Heat the oil and margarine in a large pot or skillet over medium heat. Add the seitan and sausage and cook for three minutes or until lightly browned. With the oils, the seitan does indeed brown, which is a pleasant surprise. Remove the soysage and seitan and set aside.

Cook the celery, bell peppers, garlic, and onion for about 8 minutes or until the onion is tender. I happen to like my bell peppers not quite so tender, so I add them later. Stir in the rice, tomato sauce, seasonings, and broth and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally.

Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Remove the bay leaves and add the sausage and seitan, stirring to combine, and cook another 5 minutes or so just to warm them. Cover and remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes before serving.

I really like this recipe, and after taking another look over the cookbook, I really like the whole cookbook. The explanations are wonderful; she begins with a description of the ethnic dish, describes the substitutions she's making, and provides really clear and thorough instructions on how to cook it. I'm certainly learning more about what makes a good recipe as I cook more dishes and stray from the meals I grew up eating. I think I'll be scouring this book for even more dishes to try.

Restaurant: Indigo Casual Gourmet

Indigo Casual Gourmet is one of those places that I can't help but go back to, even when I feel like I know better. I've had some great meals there, as well as some awful meals there. I think what it comes down to is that they have a few good items, and really that's all it takes. I had a friend once who always knew what she wanted to order at restaurants; if she was in the mood for a certain dish, she'd go to the restaurant and not bother with a menu. Indigo isn't quite like that for me, but I'm usually disappointed when I stray from my standard meals.

Why the pitiful introduction? Well, I've been reading other reviews of the restaurant and now I'm nearly ashamed to admit that I like it. While I agree with the comments that it can be overpriced, overcrowded, and that some of the dishes are a little less exciting on your plate than as described on the menu, they have a few really great items that keep me coming back. I am now, however, asking myself whether I would frequent this restaurant as much if I didn't live so close. We take a 20-minute walk to Indigo, enjoy Wine-down Wednesdays featuring half-price bottles of wine, and then walk home.

The menu features pizzas, pastas, and sandwiches, with a few salads and calzones thrown in. Plenty of selections are vegetarian or can easily be made vegetarian, and they mark these on the menu with two carrots in the shape of a V. Adorable. One of my favorite appetizers is so delightfully simple that I should make it at home: the sundried tomato crostini. It's a toasted baguette, split longways, rubbed with garlic butter and then topped with sundried tomatoes, sweet red onions, and melted mozzarella cheese. You see, at home, I'd think twice about both buttering my bread and topping it with cheese. Delicious. We didn't order this today because it just seemed excessive.


I got my favorite dish, the grilled veggie wrap. It's a little messy, but oh-so tasty. Grilled eggplant, zucchini, portobellos, tomatoes, with smoked mozzarella and pesto. The bread is chewy and does a pretty good job holding everything together. I love, love, love this sandwich. In this photo, you see I got the side of chips. I think I'll stick with the fries next time -- nothing against the chips. Whenever I order anything else on the menu, I find myself longing for this. I've tried various pasta dishes and had a bad experience with an undercooked portobello in the bistro sandwich and a cold calzone.


Alex ordered his favorite sandwich, the veggie sub. He likes that it has both mozzarella and cheddar (this is Cincinnati, after all, so you have to serve plenty of cheese). It's also got banana peppers, green bell peppers, and mushrooms, all toasted together. He has the oven-baked fries on his plate, which are just fantastic. They bake the fries in individual portions on wire sheets to get them extra crispy.

In all, I've had some inattentive wait staff, but that doesn't bother us while we linger over a bottle of wine, and these sandwiches aren't too pricey. And considering how packed the patio is on half-price wine night, I'd say Indigo shouldn't be too concerned about the lack of support from the web writers -- although some of the criticism (cold food!) could be a basis for improvement.

Another batch of Cheater's Chili

From veggie cookie

I made this easy chili in the Crock Pot with a large sweet onion, Bush's chili starter, a little extra chili powder, Morningstar crumbles, crushed tomatoes, and kidney beans. Serve with Trader Joe's cornbread and shredded cheddar. The cornbread tasted like cake; not bad, but a guilty pleasure.

On Cooking: Permanence vs. Adaptability

I haven't been cooking a lot this week. We went back to Allyn's for my version of comfort food -- fries and beer (and a veggie patty too), and made yet another frittata and the lasagna I shared in a photo post. Last night we grabbed Potbelly sandwiches and headed down to the ballpark; tonight I'm throwing chili into the Crock Pot and running some errands. This is the kind of cooking rut I was hoping to avoid, but I think a slump is bound to happen and I'll be cooking again this weekend.

So, I'm taking this opportunity to write about how we cook. I'm not yet really committed to any particular way, and maybe it would be best for me to actually choose a method and really make it work for myself.

Typically, I don't follow a recipe precisely. In my Brazilian Black Bean Soup, I used a whole can of coconut milk. What would I do with the rest if I only used a cup? This means, of course, that I didn't actually make the wonderful soup carefully crafted by the wonderful chef at Horizons. So, I said I made it, but based on the facts, I'd have to admit that I made something like it -- not the soup itself.

Like many others out there, I saw the movie Julie & Julia, and I read My Life in France. I can completely understand why Julia Child wasn't too keen on Julie Powell's goal to cook through Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Two things impressed me in reading Julia Child: first, that cooking was something for servants and chefs and most "regular" people had no interest in it (contrast that with today's FoodTV, etc.); second, that cooking is a science and a cookbook should have exact measurements and instructions. Ideally, that makes sense, and I think most agree that this precision is necessary in baking, for instance. However, realistically, I don't measure most things. I cook sometimes without a recipe. When I made my frittata, I didn't even set a timer, I just checked on it until it was done. Occasionally, this fails me. I'll end up with a salty pot pie if I don't taste it along the way, or I'll overfill my pan or wok when I use too many vegetables.

Even so, I still find the guidance of a recipe helpful. I don't even know whether I aspire to have the ability to put together delicious dishes on the fly like on Top Chef. And even just keeping track of the recipes I try is part of why I started to blog. I've never made recipe cards like my grandmother did, and I'm not really a fan of cookbooks, either. They're bulky, they're an investment, and I don't like the (inevitable) spine creasing, or worse -- food splattering. I'm still looking for the one I like best, and I have a few I cook from occasionally.

A photograph of my grandmother's Party Squash recipe. If I can scrounge up some decent summer squash, I want to make this again this summer. I'll have to look for some chetter cheese, too.

My main alternative, so far, has been to get recipes from the web. I love Allrecipes, I find helpful things on FoodNetwork.com, and sometimes I just do a Google search for information. I'm on the lookout for a good vegetarian blog, and nothing has really struck my fancy yet, although I've found many, many good vegan blogs.

The way a person cooks could probably be (and quite possibly has been) grossly overgeneralized into some kind of a personality quiz. Beyond what your cooking style says about you, there are real implications to the various ways of finding and tracking recipes.

Do you find security in the permanence of a classic cookbook? Tried-and-true, just like momma made it.

Do you prefer the convenience of searching the web for a recipe that suits your needs or ingredients? Try doing a web search for your ingredients and find out what you can make. Even if you're not trying to toss together a meal with what's in your pantry, the comments on web recipes are really helpful in improving the original dish.

Do you like the adaptability of handwritten recipes you add notes to, or even putting notes in your cookbooks? My mom always gave a star rating to recipes she'd tried and also put in notes to help improve its performance in the kitchen next time.

How about the inspiration you'll find in a blog or magazine -- especially one accompanied by a gorgeous photo* -- and the feeling that you really must try this recipe soon?

*Possible future post on food porn. I don't like it, but I may keep my complaints away from this blog.