What, no meat!? Sure. It really does taste meaty. The secret is onions and wine…and maybe some Worcestershire sauce. The more you caramelize the onions the meatier it tastes…just don’t burn them! Well, unless you like the bitter notes that creates. It’s nice to have something in your repertoire that even vegetarian friends can enjoy when invited over or at a pot luck.
Of course all of this will be available in abundance from your garden. Well, except the tofu and Worcestershire sauce and maybe some seasonings, but we do have to contribute to the greater economy somehow.
Olive oil for sauteing or bacon fat
1 Onion
1-3 Zucchinis (depending on size)
1-3 yellow crookneck squash (depending on size)
1c (or so) of red wine (OK, whatever you have, but red makes it richer and meatier)
1 package tofu, preferably silk but other kinds are fine
Worcestershire Sauce
1-3 Tomatoes (depending on size) or a couple handful of small ones, any colour.
Salt, Pepper, Basil, Garlic and any other seasoning that you think will taste good.
So, like so many other fabulous recipes, chop an onion and set it to saute in the bottom of a large pot. Salt a bit and let it go slow so it caramelizes. This gives you time to prepare the rest of the stuff. Ignore the pan in the back, it’s just the start of brownies (you can find that recipe in one of my earliest posts).
Chop and add the yellow squash. Again, the pan in the back is just brownies, this time the butter and melted chocolate are mixed.
Chop and add zucchini.
Add wine to loosen up the stew. Stir, scraping the good brown stuff off the bottom and sides. Yes, the wine is deglazing the pot (with your help) and adding all that wonderful flavour to the stew. Yes, it looks a bit dry but the squash gives up a lot of fluid as it cooks.
Add the tomatoes and any seasonings you like. If you need to now is the time to add water to make it as soupy or stew-y as you like.
If you’ve thought ahead you’ll have frozen and thawed the tofu to make it a bit firmer. If not, that’s OK. Open the package, add the liquid to the stew (or not, your choice). Then put the tofu on a plate and squeeze more liquid out, adding the liquid to the stew. Dice the tofu into small bite-sized chunks and sprinkle liberally with Worcestershire sauce. Fry lightly in a pan before adding to the stew.
It’s ready when the squash is tender, maybe 15-30 minutes, depending on how tender you want it. Serve as a side vegetable dish or a vegetarian main course with home baked bread. Tea is nice to wash it down, or maybe a glass of the wine you used in the recipe then cookies for later, or brownies are good, too. (Shameless plug inserted) You can find my recipe for brownies in my August 2010 post. Chocolate chip cookies would be my very 1st post in November 2009.
Cream together butter, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla.
Add the egg.
Mix in the baking soda, salt and flour.
If you feel like adding anything else, now’s the time.
Roll into 24 balls on 2 cookie sheets. make crosshatches on them with a fork, flattening them somewhat. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.
Serve with milk or tea and pack for bagged lunches. These freeze well, too.
Strawberries will make their own sauce, given enough time and encouragement. So, get a basket of strawberries, wash it and get cutting. Into a bowl, of course. Cut off the tops, put them aside. When you’re done they’ll make your chickens really happy. Still don’t have chickens? *sigh* Toss them in the compost or worm bin. Don’t have those? Bury them under the roses…and don’t tell me you don’t have roses…some things I just can’t accept. One simply MUST have roses, even if they’re miniature ones in pots! Well, back to making desert…before you start dinner.
Now for the encouragement. Sprinkle a generous layer of sugar over the cut strawberries. Brown sugar can be good, too, or a mix of the two.
Mix them well and tuck them into the fridge while you fuss with dinner. Stir every once in a while. This is where the time kicks in.
After dinner’s done and put away there should be a fair amount of liquid on the bottom of the strawberry bowl.
Spoon over the cake, with or without ice cream, chocolate drizzles or whatever and top with whipped cream (which was the whole point of this dessert, after all). Yum!
In a large bowl pour about 1/3 to 1/2 c heavy whipping cream. You can add a touch of vanilla or other flavour extract and even some sugar, but my Grandmother always said it doesn’t really need it. Sometimes, depending on what you’re using it for, it can be a nice touch. Maybe even a but of food colour for a kid’s special occasion or to brighten up a sick day.
Using a whisk, whip (gently at first) to avoid splashing. Don’t have a whisk!? OK, use the electric beaters, but you better get a whisk by next time. They’re not expensive. Use kind of a small, sweeping, circular movement with your wrist. Keep at it. Yes, you can use an electric mixer, but that spoils all the fun! And think of all the calories you’re burning before you eat desert!
When you get bored you can hold it upright and twirl it between your hands for a bit. Kind of like an electric mixer, but human power. It should be increasing volume now (getting bigger).
Go back to the wrist-whipping. Keep it up until it leaves tracks in the cream. Soft peaks are good. If you keep whipping it it is possible to make butter, but that’s much less likely when you do it by hand than when you use an electric mixer. When using people power you’ll be ready for it to be on the desert or beverage before you go too far, even if it’s only lightly whipped.
Add: 1 large onion, thick-sliced, 2 Bay leaves (1 if you’re using a smaller cut), several peppercorns, salt, 2 Tbsp sugar (I used brown, just because), mixed spices (nutmeg, mace, ginger, cinnamon, allspice), 1 c red wine or mild vinegar (wine or malt vinegar is fine), enough beef broth or consume to cover roast, add water if you need to. I used turkey broth because pandemic is upon us. If you have whole allspice or a cinnamon stick it’s fine to use them instead of ground stuff.
Turn it over a few times to get it all mixed well.
Dry the roast with a paper towel and brown in a skillet.
Put into a roasting pan with the marinade and roast, covered, for about 20 minutes per pound at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This was a 2 1/2 pound roast so I went an hour and a half at 325 so I’d have time to get other things done, too. Yeah, maybe I need to work on my math. But darn, I’ll have to make this again…in less than a decade this time.
Zap 6 or 8 gingersnaps in a blender. Use this to thicken the gravy.
Pour the juices into a saucepan and bring the juices to a boil, reserving some in case you have to thin the gravy.
Add gingersnaps to thicken. Stir quickly and vigorously to avoid lumps. You can strain out the lumps if any form, or you can leave them in to proudly prove this was home-made. Add some reserved juices if you need to thin it a bit. Add sour cream to taste if you like.
Serve with potato dumplings and the vegetable of your choice.
Peel and put in a bowl. Give the peels to the chickens they’ll love them)…or compost if you don’t have chickens.
Add a little butter and smash with a potato masher…whatever kind you have will do.
Add 1/4c flour
Form into balls around a crouton
Dust with flour
Drop into boiling liquid. broth is best but salted water will do. Lower heat and cook uncovered 5-6 minutes. test one first, if it doesn’t hold together add more flour. Yes, that is a pot of asparagus in the background.
Melt some butter in a frying pan (OK, bacon fat is fabulous or you can make do with olive oil if you have to. Start a chopped onion frying.
Cut up the cabbage and squish up the potatoes (and any other veg like carrots or turnips that were boiled up with it). Add to the oil and onions in the pan.
Squish evenly flat with a spatula and allow to brown nicely on the bottom while you cut up any leftover corned beef (or whatever meat you had with it…this is optional).
Turn the whole potato/cabbage/veggie mess a few times, scraping the bottom of the pan well to get the yummy brown bits. When it’s done enough (some people like more browning while others just like it simply warmed-over) dish it out. If you have leftover meat to cut up you can heat it in another pan with cooking juices and/or wine to make a nice sauce. That’s it in the back of the picture. You’ll be putting this on a toasted hamburger bun with melted cheese. I used provolone this time. What, no meat? Scramble up an egg, they’re not just for breakfast anymore!
Taa-daa! Finished yummy leftover dinner! Or breakfast. Good with a nice stout or ale or nice red wine or a glass of the Real Thing (not to name actual brands…) or for breakfast coffee, juice or milk is good, too. Oh, who am I kidding, there’s a pandemic going on, drink whatever you have in the house that sounds good. Of course you’ll be responsible since you’re already sheltering in place and all.
Divide the hamburger into more or less equal 8 pieces because buns come in an 8-pack. Squeeze/squish/roll/manhandle into roughly bun-length burgerdogs and arrange in a pan. Cook over medium heat. If you want to mix in any seasonings before forming into dogs or sprinkle with Worcestershire or anything else after putting in the pan, go ahead.
Open the buns, put them on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with cheese and melt them under the broiler. Depending on the size of your sheet you may have to do this in shifts.
Put the buns on everyone’s plates so they can prepare them with their preferred condiments.
Add the burgerdogs, dress with mustard and ketchup if you haven’t already done so and enjoy.
Pull out a pan big enough for the amount you want to make. I used a small saucepan for 1/2 of a 2 quart bottle. I used
Warm over medium heat and use a ladle to pour into mugs or teacups. Don’t have a ladle? What’s wrong with you? Don’t you eat soup!? Go get a ladle! Now you can have the cider. Serve with a meal or just to warm up. Adding a shot of whiskey, rum or brandy to a cup is optional and one assumes purely for medicinal purposes, of course.
Iconic Irish fare. Quick and easy to make, yummy, what’s not to love? Gotta make it on St Pat’s for breakfast, tea or serving it with the corned beef and cabbage or shepherd’s pie or whatever you have for dinner.
Mix the dry ingredients,
then add the wet ingredients.
If it’s not quite holding together than add milk/buttermilk a bit at a time til it forms a stiff dough.
Butter a cookie sheet and plop the dough onto it. Form it into a round, then cut a deep cross into the top.
Brielle's Avalon 
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