Crawfish Étouffée

Recently, I went on a voyage back to Louisiana, and while there, I picked up a package of those magical little critters known almost as much for their mud-dwelling as for their deliciousness: crawfish.  If you’re a regular reader of this blog (if such things exist!), you know that most of the food we make is vegetarian…but we do make exceptions for fish, and especially crawfish.  Indeed, I was a strict vegetarian for almost two years, and eventually, well, the crawfish-deprivation just became too much to bear.  If you’ve never had them, you should absolutely find a way to remedy this tragic state of affairs as soon as possible. * Between now and then, however, you should simply know that while they’re about the size of smallish shrimp, their texture is far better (not rubbery), and their flavor is more like lobster, but better.

Seriously.  I recognize that, as a Louisiana native, I am certainly biased–but I cannot help but believe that if more people had crawfish, lobster wouldn’t be held in such high esteem.  They’re big, of course, but nowhere near as flavorful as the lowly mudbug.

Anyway, there are millions of ways to eat crawfish (crawfish soup, crawfish enchiladas, and crawfish pasta with cream sauce are only a few of my other favorites), but one of the best–and most classic–is Crawfish Etouffee.  “Etouffee” means “smothered” in French, and any etouffee (they, too, come in a variety of iterations) is essentially a rich, spicy gravy with seafood and veggies served over rice.  It’s actually quite a bit like gumbo (minus the okra), but thicker.

Interestingly, to make sure that the crawfish texture stays on track, most of the etouffee-making process is totally crawfish-free.  I started by making a light brown roux (with butter, a little oil, and flour), in which I sauteed onion, celery and green bell pepper.  When these had softened, I added garlic, and then a little crushed tomato, creole seasoning, salt, pepper and thyme.  Then, I slowly added several cups of vegetable broth, plus cayenne and a pinch of sugar.  I let this all simmer together and reduce for about half an hour, and then at the end, added the crawfish and chopped green onions.  When everything had come up to temperature, we served it over rice and with crusty bread (to soak up the extra, of course).

What can one say about etouffee?  How can you capture its awesomeness?  It’s impossible, of course, so I’ll just let you know that it was my favorite food as a child, and it continues to be right up there today: spicy, savory, rich, and completely, uniquely Louisiana.

*If you are from Louisiana, nothing from this point on will be news to you.

Guelph Goodness: The Cornerstone

When my and Josh’s parents came to help us move to Guelph during the summer, we took them to The Cornerstone Cafe to show off what cool, quirky, tasty dining establishments were available in our new home city.  While there, we realized that The Cornerstone was entirely vegetarian–a fact that had somehow escaped us up till that point, despite the fact that we’d been at least 3 times.  In fact, The Cornerstone is something of a vegetarian paradise, with a fairly wide-ranging menu with specials that change frequently.  And judging from the experiences of our families, I have the sense that it’s a tasty trip for those who typically eat meat as well.

As a bonus, The Cornerstone is fairly cheap, especially if you’re looking for a good sandwich or other lunch fare.  Their TLT (that’s Tempeh, Lettuce and Tomato, for the uninitiated) and Tofu Club sandwiches are both steals at $5.  And for dinner, there’s always something fun: I’ve had everything from a Mexican-esque salad layered between corn tortillas with spring mix, to a red Thai curry served with sesame-crusted sticky rice balls.

The one drawback is that The Cornerstone is a small place with only a couple of chefs (you can see the entire kitchen from the dining area), which makes for the occasional snafu–once something burned and things got a little smoky, and occasionally it takes a bit of time to get your food.  However, the people are nice and the food is good, which (for me, anyway) makes it all worthwhile.

American Thanksgiving

As you probably know, Thanksgiving happens much earlier in Canada (before Halloween, even!) than it does in the United States, which means that when American Thanksgiving rolls around, despite the fact that the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is on television, life goes on as usual.  So, Josh and I decided to have our own Thanksgiving celebration and invite all our friends–though we did do it on the Friday following, since everyone still had work on the actual (American) holiday.

We did the dinner as a potluck, so Josh and I each made our own contributions.  Here are his: (fake) bacon-and-corn cornbread, and Southern-style buttermilk biscuits.  The cornbread was adapted from a recipe that called for real bacon (drippings plus crispy bits on top), but he put together this pork-free version by sauteing the fake bacon in a butter and oil (to give it the smoky flavor and crisp up the faux meat), and used this in place of the drippings.

I made cornbread dressing, which was surprisingly more complicated than I anticipated.  It seems that (perhaps because cornbread isn’t something that people eat regularly here–or maybe it has more to do with the lack of Grits-eating) it is almost impossible to get coarsely ground cornmeal in this area.  Everywhere I went, I found finely ground cornmeal, which is great for polenta, but not so awesome for cornbread (as I found out with the first batch).  After finding some coarsely ground stuff in the organics section, I made the cornbread and turned it into dressing by mixing it up with vegetable broth, eggs, onions, celery and butter, and then baking the entire thing in the same iron skillet I used for the cornbread itself.  In the background of this picture is a lovely roasted vegetable flatbread dish made by our friend, Philippe.

I also made this Tofurkey (!), which was great–though less exciting, because it mainly cooks according to the package instructions–as well as some killer mashed potatoes, which I sadly did not get to photograph.  The potatoes were made exciting by the addition of caramelized onions, cumin and cayenne pepper.  Very, very tasty.  And speaking of tasty, in this photo we also have sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole, courtesy of our friends Kelly and Drew.  Mmmm, marshmallows.

And, as my inner Southern Lady kicked in, I became obsessed with properly setting the table.  In the end, though I thought it looked cute, my attempts at propriety were cruelly thwarted by the fact that 1) we only own 6 matching napkins and 2) we have only 8 chairs, which meant that I tragically forced several of my friends to eat at the “kid’s table”–which is to say, the living room.  Of course, if they’re anything like my dad, they might just think that this was something of a coup, given its closer proximity to the television.

Vegetable Pot Pie

There are moments during the fall and winter months when I want comfort food, but all of my stand-by items like macaroni or soup sound either too heavy or too boring.  I was in just such a mood this week (having just returned from Louisiana, the fattening delicious food capital of the world), so it was with great excitement that I read this new recipe in Vegetarian Times.  It wasn’t quick, but it wasn’t particularly difficult either, which turned out to be fine for a cozy night at home.

I got started by boiling chopped potatoes and carrots in a pot of salty water, and sauteing cubed tofu in canola oil, soy sauce and Tony’s.  After these were done, I set them aside and sauteed the mushrooms, onion and garlic that Josh cut up, and then added some chopped broccoli as well.

When these started to get soft, I pushed them to the side of the giant pot and made a roux in the bottom with oil and flour.  After this came together, I stirred in the vegetables that were already in the pot, plus some veggie stock, soy and hoisin sauces, Worcestershire sauce, sage, thyme, and more Tony’s.  To that I added the tofu, potatoes and carrots I’d previously set aside, and let the whole thing simmer and thicken up a bit.

Meanwhile, Josh was making the crust, which involved cutting butter into flour, adding water, salt, thyme and rosemary (can you tell I don’t bake?).  There was likely something else that happened before he rolled it out, but I leave all bread-like items to him.*

We then put the cooked veggies and their gravy-like sauce into a big baking dish and topped it with the crust, cutting holes to vent it.  After 45 minutes in the oven at 375, it was amazingly tasty–as good as any Chicken Pot Pie I had in my former meat-eating life, I’d venture to say–and certainly worth all the effort.  And as an added bonus, it was definitely cheap to make (when tofu is the priciest single ingredient, I feel that I’m doing pretty well).  So, to sum up: cheap, satisfying, and full of veggies = an unmitigated success.

*If you want more details on this, feel free to pick up this month’s edition of Vegetarian Times; it’s a good one and includes an entire vegan Soul Food meal!

Home away from Home

I went to visit my parents this past weekend, who still live in the city where I grew up–Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  While I was there, I was struck all over again by how strong feelings of “home” can be, even after years away, and how wonderful it can be to be in familiar surroundings and with familiar friends, even when that familiarity has to be found and created all over again.

watching the Tigers play, with my dad

While there, I did the traditional (and awesome!) Baton Rouge things: I went to an LSU football game–which, thankfully, was a win–and had beers at The Chimes, Chelsea’s and George’s.

Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

Sadly, Josh wasn’t able to come with me on this excursion, but with the holidays rapidly approaching, we foresee many exciting voyages in the near future.  Where oh where will the Philosophers wind up next?

Vegetarian Pho

I promised when I started this blog that I’d let you know about the ups and downs of cooking at home, so here I am, telling you about a culinary adventure that wasn’t all I hoped it would be.  I got this recipe from an old issue of Vegetarian Times, which is typically pretty reliable–but sadly, while this soup looked great, it was a bit of a disappointment, taste-wise.

Pho is a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup, and authentic Pho is definitely not vegetarian.  It typically uses a beef broth base, and some kind of meat.  We made this one with vegetable stock and tofu–admittedly not the tastiest of ingredients, but there was enough prep that I thought it might turn into something delightful.  In fact, the broth itself was a pretty lab0r-intensive process.  I simmered for an hour in store-bought vegetable stock: a bunch of garlic, ginger, mushrooms, a cinnamon stick, fennel, basil and cilantro, soy sauce and a bit of sugar.  After this was done, I poured off the solids and reserved the liquid, which did smell pretty nice.  I then poured this broth over cooked rice noodles and the tofu (which Josh fried and sliced), and topped it all with green onions, basil, cilantro, and sugar snap peas.

The results were…well, bland.  I tried adding a bit more soy sauce to my bowl, but this (unsurprisingly) just made it saltier.  So, a disappointment.  I’m trying to figure out what would have made it better (other than beef stock, obviously)…more sugar?  More broth?  Fewer basil leaves on top (which have a really strong and slightly overwhelming taste on their own)?  What do you think?  And while we’re on the subject, do you have a favorite vegetarian version of a traditionally meaty dish?

Thai Tuna Sandwiches

Recently, I had a hankering for tuna, but no mayonnaise (or, to be more precise, I had mayo that was suspect because of a previous incident that I won’t relate here in the interest of preserving your appetite).  Fortunately, I remembered a way to make canned tuna delicious without the addition of egg products, and this tasty little sandwich was born.

It’s simple, really: add about a tablespoon of fish sauce, the juice of half a lime, some brown sugar, green onions, peanuts (or cashews, which substitute nicely) and cilantro to a can of tuna, and stir to combine.  Some people use a bit more fish sauce–the original recipe I found in a Thai cookbook uses 3–but I find this a bit overwhelming, and try to match the quantities of fish sauce and lime juice.  What’s great about the outcome is that it’s super flavorful (certainly more so than your typical tuna salad!) and also super low in fat.

I put the tuna salad mixture on a slice of bread slathered with peach chutney, just because I like it, and grilled the sandwich on my stove-top grill pan.  We paired the sandwich with a simple salad of spinach leaves, almonds and dried cranberries with a sesame vinaigrette…but many other things would be good, too.  In fact, today I made the same Thai tuna salad with my Butternut squash soup, which was great.

Now, if only I could get my camera to focus properly!

The Garden (Mediocrity) Project: Marginal Success!

Well, I thought for sure our minimal efforts at gardening were all for naught last week when the ice began falling before we’d harvested anything.  BUT, it turns out that Collard Greens are some hardy little buggers, and Josh and I had a lovely harvest this weekend after all. 

Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries just before cooking, so we don’t have photos of the finished product (or, for that matter, an in-focus picture of the fresh greens).  Nevertheless, I wanted to let you know about our successful meal, in an effort to quell any ongoing suspense over the status of (what was previously known as) The Garden (Futility?) Project.

Josh was in charge of cooking the Collards, and he did a really wonderful job, using a recipe from Ina Garten.  We’ve found that hers are almost always delicious, even if they tend to get a little heavy on the butter.  This one was no different, cooking the greens in butter, onion, and garlic, with a bit of apple cider vinegar and vegetable stock.

To go with the greens, I made a mushroom and sun-dried tomato risotto, which I thought turned out really well (the photo at right isn’t of my risotto, but of one like it, since my camera was out of commission).  To make the risotto, I started by sauteing a bit of onion and garlic in a combination of butter and olive oil.  I then added a bunch of sliced crimini mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, which I had previously soaked in hot water.  To that I added the arborio rice, and, little by little, stirred in vegetable stock, wine, salt and pepper until the rice was just al dente.  The risotto was a great match for the Collards–though I’m sure we’re over the limit on butter for the week.  I’m calling it even, since we avoided the typical Collard Greens cooking medium: lots and lots of pork fat.

Vegetarian Jambalaya

Look, I know what you’re thinking.  Jambalaya needs meat, especially smoky, spicy sausage.  But can I tell you something?  This one is so good you might just forgive me for leaving out the pork.

Coming up with this recipe took a little time and experimentation, because even my previous attempts to cook regular jambalaya were less than completely satisfying.  Growing up in Louisiana, I ate my fair share of jambalaya–sometimes with chicken, sometimes with shellfish, but almost always with slices of delicious sausage.  But the weirdest thing about my childhood jambalaya experiences was that my very favorite version was the kind we ate in the school cafeteria.

That’s right, I said “in the school cafeteria.”

My mom made jambalaya at home too, but while hers was good, there was something about the cafeteria’s recipe that I found absolutely irresistible.  And this secret ingredient remained a mystery to me until last year, when I was thumbing through the Chef Jon Folse Cookbook my parents got me for Christmas.  The secret?

Tomatoes.

It seems so obvious to me now.  The jambalaya at school had a slightly reddish cast to it, and a hint of sweetness balanced out by the savory sausage.  And if you know anything about Cajun and Creole cuisine, you know that Creole cooking (which is more popular in the larger cities of south Louisiana, especially New Orleans) features more tomato-based recipes than Cajun cooking, which is a bit more rustic, prepared with cheaper ingredients.

I was, it seems, unwittingly a townie food snob from a young age, with a hankering for tomato jambalaya, despite my mother’s delicious tomato-free, down-home delicacy.  So, what I’ve made here is a vegetarian version of a creole jambalaya, somewhat adapted from Folse’s recipe.

Starting out, the recipe is exactly the same: I saute onion, celery, red bell pepper and garlic in a giant pot until the onion turns translucent (seasoning with Tony’s, if I’m in the South and can get it–otherwise I mix together all-purpose seasoning with cayenne).  After this is gets a little more complicated.  If I were making regular jambalaya, at this point I’d add andouille or some other spicy smoked sausage, but since I don’t eat the piggies anymore, some creative thinking is necessary.  I’ve previously extolled the virtues of Tofurky sausage, which I use in this application as well–but this on it’s own isn’t enough, since what we need is some smokiness.  There are a couple of routes to go for this.  I’ve previously used veggie bacon cut up in little bits, but the grocery store we frequent here didn’t have anything like this.  So instead, I went with a smoked tofu (which you can buy already smoked in some stores)–which did the job well, even if it wasn’t quite as good as veggie bacon.

So, after adding the “sausage” and tofu and browning it a bit, I added my veggie broth, a few diced tomatoes, and a small can of tomato sauce, and the rice (plus some Tabasco and extra cayenne for good measure), and then cooked the whole thing until the rice was done.  At the last minute, I added some chopped green onions and fresh parsley.

We served our jambalaya with a baguette we toasted and rubbed with garlic (yum!), for a tasty and (almost) traditional south-Louisiana meal.

Philosophers Abroad

We took a break from being ex-pats last week to just be “Pats.”  I’d definitely forgotten how beautiful Washington is…and, oddly, how much it reminds me of the European capitals I’ve seen more recently.

I mean, could the Supreme Court try any harder to be Greek?

But seriously, who am I kidding?  I loved every minute of it, and thought seriously about a career change while eavesdropping on the cell-phone conversations of what were apparently mid-level Hill staffers complaining about budget cuts.

Although, with a job that demanding, I’d hardly have time to blog, much less cook or garden.  So I suppose we can all be glad that I remain, as a philosopher, a decided political liability.