Super delicious fruitcake

We have so many plums we can't keep up. I searched on google images to see which plumcake looked tastiest, and this is the one I chose. It turned out to be the best cake I have ever made!

The key to this cake is:

1) Don't use a mixer, but mix by hand (literally), or by spoon or by spatula.
2) Use the freshest of fruit. I used plums picked straight from the garden! But I am sure any other (fresh, sweet) fruit would work just as well.
3) Because it is made with 'kwark' (umm... fromage frais?) it is nice and light. 

(source) 

Supersnelle heerlijke pruimentaart of appeltaart

Wilde snel iets lekker bij de koffie hebben. Ik had nog kwetsen (kleine stevige blauwe pruimen ) liggen. Op internet gezocht en dit heerlijke recept gevonden. Smaakte voortreffelijk. Wij hebben de taart lauw gegeten, maar de is taart ook na een paar dagen nog lekker. In plaats van pruimen kun je ook appels gebruiken.

Bereidingstijd: 30-60 minuten

Ingrediënten

Deeg:
125 g boter + wat boter voor de vorm -
150 g suiker -
1 zakje vanillesuiker -
3 eieren -
1 theelepeltje gemalen kaneel -
200 g bloem + wat voor de vorm -
50 g maïzena -
2 tl bakpoeder ( je kunt ook zelfrijzend bakmeel gebruiken dan geen bakpoeder)-
150 gram kwark -
mespunt zout -

500 g pruimen of 4 - 5 appels

Hulpmiddelen

kom om te mixen -
springvorm van plm. 24 cm.

Voorbereiding

Oven voorverwarmen op 200 graden. Springvorm met boter invetten en met wat bloem bestrooien.
Pruimen in tweeën snijden en pit verwijderen. Of appels schillen, klokhuis verwijderen en in vieren snijden.

Bereidingswijze

Ingrediënten voor het deeg in een kom door elkaar mengen. Deeg in de vorm doen. Halve pruimen of appels over het deeg verdelen. Plm. 50 minuten bakken net onder het midden in de oven tot de taart mooi goudbruin is.

Serveertips

Bestrooi de taart met wat poedersuiker en geef er slagroom bij.

Vegan "Tuna" Spread

I made up this sandwich spread as an healthier alternative to canned tuna. Surprisingly, it tastes like the sea and a bit like fish thanks to the addition of seaweed.

1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained. Or 2 cups of cooked chickpeas
1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
2 tbs of roasted, shredded seaweed (nori)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp old bay seasoning
1 tbs of soy mayonnaise

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Run until the mixture has the consistency of a thick paste. Spread generous amount on a sandwich just like you would tuna salad. Makes 3-4 servings.

According to Nicki, each serving is 180 calories (for those of you watching your weight).

Felix's Lasagna

Felix couldn't get enough of this, had it for dinner last night, and more for lunch and dinner today. Don't tell him, but it has a lot of veggies in it! Use a deep lasagna pan if you can.

2 medium onions
2 medium carrots
2 medium zucchini
(Optional: 1-2 cups frozen chopped spinach; I forgot to add it this time and the pan wasn't big enough anyway)
8 fat garlic cloves
1 large can (28 oz/794g) chopped tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2-3 Tbsp vegetable bouillon powder or 2 cubes
1 Tbsp dried basil
Fresh rosemary, a few leaves
1 package Yves ground round (vegetarian ground beef)
2 cups non fat cottage cheese
1 8-oz package soy mozzarella, grated
1 or 2 eggs
Grated Parmesan (the stuff in the green container is fine, or the "real" stuff if that abhors you)

PREP:
In Cuisinart fine-chop 1 onion, Sauté with 1 Tbsp olive oil, add 2 of the garlic cloves, pressed.
Add tomato paste & 1 Tbsp vegetable bouillon/1 cube.
In Cuisinart blend tomatoes, add to pan. Lid & simmer.

In Cuisinart fine-chop second onion with rosemary. Sauté with 2 Tbsp olive oil in Dutch oven, add the 6 garlic cloves, pressed.
In Cuisinart grate carrots & zucchini, add to onions. Sauté til softened a bit. Add dried basil, rest of vegetable bouillon, ground round, a bit of water for moisture.

In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, egg, 2/3 of the mozzarella and some Parmesan.

Set aside 2 cups of the tomato sauce, add the rest to veggies.

Boil lasagna noodles about 5 mins to soften & speed up baking time.

ASSEMBLE:
In this order: 1 cup tomato sauce, 1 layer of noodles, half of veggie mixture, half of cheese sauce, layer of noodles, other half of veggie mixture, rest of cheese sauce, last layer of noodles, rest of tomato sauce, rest of grated mozzarella and a bit more Parmesan. Bake @ 350 F for about 40 mins.

Mediterranean eggplant ratatouille

I made the recipe you sent me from The Meat Free Monday Cookbook but didn't have some of the ingredients so it changed considerably into this; very delicious! I'll definitely be making it again soon.

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped (or 3 small)
2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
1 eggplant, cubed
1 - 1.5 cup Trader Joe's Harvest Grains blend (a mixture of Israeli/pearl couscous, red and green orzo, split dried garbanzo beans, and red quinoa). Substitute with whatever grains you can find, or potatoes.
1 tsp dried oregano
1 large (28 oz/800g) can/2 medium (14.5oz/400g) cans chopped tomatoes
2 cups/400g vegetable stock (or a bouillon cube and boiled water)
10-12 mushrooms, chopped
1 large apple, chopped (or 3 small)
1-2 Tbsp capers
2 oz/125g feta, crumbled

Heat some of the oil in a large soup pot, add the chopped onion and celery and sprinkle with a little salt. Cover with a lid (this helps them sweat but not brown). While the onion is cooking, chop the eggplant. Add the remaining oil and the eggplant and cook 4-5 more minutes, until the eggplant begins to soften. Add the tomatoes, stock/water, grains, oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for  25-30 mins until all the vegetables are tender and the grains are cooked (check halfway through to stir and add more water if necessary). At the end, it should be thick & chewy, not soupy.

Add the capers and heat through, and salt & pepper to taste. Serve with the feta.

Optional: additional vegetables like zucchini and red bell pepper, olives, and sprinkle with parsley and pine nuts (or more affordable: sunflower seeds). You can definitely make this ahead and let it sit, it will improve.

Mom's Rice and Spinach Ring

I love this recipe (from Magimix Cookery). They say, "This is the most attractive vegetable dish and one that is very easy to make. Serve it with curries, roast meat or fish."

Ingredients:
12 oz (350g) long grain or Basmati rice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lb (450g) fresh spinach (or 8 oz - 225g - frozen spinach)
1 small bunch parsley (or dried)
1 large onion
1 green chilli pepper (or 1/4 tsp dried chilli pepper flakes)
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I prefer cumin seeds, more fragrant when you've fried them)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala (not too much)
2 oz/50g butter

Method:
* Cover rice with enough cold water to come 3/4 in. (2 cm) over the top of the rice, add 1/2 tsp salt, stir well, bring slowly to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Stir well, to beat air into the grains, return the cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes by which time the rice should be tender and fluffy and all the water should have been absorbed. (I just boil the rice in lots of water for 10 mins, no measuring involved, drain and rinse with boiling water. Always perfect rice)
* Remove any tough stalks from the parsley. (I never bother; in fact, I use a ton of dried parsley. Seems to work!)
* Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic.
* Remove the seeds from the chilli pepper. (flaked red pepper easier)
* Cook the spinach until just tender and drain well.

* With Magimix double-bladed knife: process the parsley until finely chopped and remove. (if you've used fresh parsley)

* Process the onion, garlic and chilli until finely chopped.

* Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion, garlic, cumin seed and chilli (flakes) and cook over a medium heat until the onion is soft and transparent.

* Add the (cumin), coriander and garam masala and cook, stirring, over a medium heat for four minutes. (why four minutes?)
* Process the spinach (a bit), add the butter and process for long enough to melt the butter (a second or two), unless you've used finely chopped spinach to start with in which case, just drain it!
* Add the onion and garlic mixture, the spinach and parsley to the rice and season with salt and pepper.

* Press the rice into an oiled ring mold, cover tightly with foil and bake in a moderate oven (350º F/170ºC/gas 4) for 45 minutes.

* Turn out onto a serving dish (as if you need to be told!?)

"Note: the center of the ring can be filled with a savory mixture of leftovers" or, much nicer, chicken/quorn tikka massala!

Roasted Butternut with Blue Cheese and Shiitake Mushrooms

I have refrained from posting this sooner because I thought I'd serve it when you came to visit. But Jon liked it so much, I shall share it. We've had it twice already since I found it in the Vegetarian magazine Karen gave me.

Ingredients:

1 lg butternut squash; 1 (!) clove garlic; 160g orzo pasta [or rice, in my case]; 1 banana shallot [?] or a few normal ones; 10 fresh sage leaves [or ground]; 60g shiitake mushrooms sliced; 125 crumbled [! have you ever been able to crumble?] vegetarian blue cheese; 30g roughly chopped walnuts; olive oil; three [!] knobs of butter.

Method:

Preheat oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Clean the outside of the squash and remove seeds and fibres.

Brush the halves with olive oil/butter and crush the garlic into the two hollows. Season with salt and pepper. [Amazingly, 1 clove is actually sufficient.]

Bake in a pre-heated oven for an hour [or a microwave for about 2x5 mins.

Meanwhile, cook orzo/rice as directed.

Sauté sage, mushrooms and shallots with a knob of butter [or olive oil]. Then add orzo/rice.

Scoop flesh from butternuts leaving a good 1cm of flesh. Mix the scooped-out flesh with the pasta plus most of the blue cheese and walnuts.

Divide between the two halves and sprinkle with remaining blue cheese and walnuts.

Bake in oven for 15 mins until cheese is melted and squash is slightly golden.

I think next time, I'll just serve the above as a risotto type of dish!

It tastes very nice either way. ;-)

Broccoli-Edamame Soup

This recipe comes from Vegetarian Times. Through March 31, a 1-year (9 issue) subscription is only $7; well worth it; they always have delicious recipes with beautiful inspiring photos. I took this one:

Broccoli-Edamame Soup with Jumbo Goat Cheese Croutons
serves 8

VT says: "This creamy soup gets its extra richness and bright color from edamame".

I say: it was really surprisingly creamy! I didn't make the jumbo crouton and only used a teeny bit of nutmeg (I'm not a big fan but Jim likes it). Next time, I have to remember to peel the stems of the broccoli as they were very fibrous and I had to sieve the soup. That made it even smoother (and fancier).

2 tsp olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 4 small)
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (or 2 veggie broth cubes & 6 cups water)
3 cups frozen shelled edamame (= one 12 oz bag from Trader Joe's)
1 lb broccoli - stems & florets chopped (= one bunch from TJ's; peel stems first!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ½-inch-thick slices from skinny whole grain baguette
4 oz. aged goat cheese, shaved (or soy cheese if you want to keep it vegan)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and nutmeg, season with salt & pepper, if desired. Sauté 10 minutes. Stir in ½ cup broth, scraping bottom of pot to lift off any brown bits. Add remaining broth, edamame, broccoli, garlic. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, 20 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 350F. Arrange baguette slices on baking sheet, bake 6 minutes until crunchy on both sides. Remove from oven, arrange cheese over toasts. Return to oven and bake 6 minutes more, or until cheese has softened.

(When broccoli stems are soft:) Working in batches, transfer soup to blender and blend until creamy and smooth. Return soup to pot and warm over low heat. Ladle soup into 8 shallow soup bowls; float 1 cheese crouton in center of each bowl.

PER SERVING (1¼ CUP SOUP AND 1 CROUTON): 195 cal, 12g protein, 9g total fat (4g sat fat) 19g carb, 15mg chol, 174mg sodium, 5g fiber, 5g sugars