opehlia payne's Profile
What were your last three cookbook purchases? - [Old]
Tofu Cookery- Louise Hagler
Viva Vegan- Terry Hope Romero
Appetite for Reduction- Isa Chandra Moskowitz
I love all of Isa Moskowitz's cookbooks, but especially this one, which calls for lots of whole foods and has fewer dessert recipes to tempt me. ;) I've been looking for a good Mexican/Latin vegan cookbook, and this was exactly what I was looking for. And I'm also glad to have found recipes for tofu other than the usual scramble and stir-fry.
Seriously Now -- Which countertop appliances do you leave out on your counter?
I'm the sort of person who dislikes clutter, but have such a dearth of storage space that I have no choice but to keep some items on the counter. We inherited a few small appliances when my grandmother died a couple years ago- things I never bought but couldn't refuse getting for free. Then some things- toaster, microwave, etc- we rarely use but would regret getting rid of if we did.
On the counter are food processor, blender, a small GF grill (which has turned out to be handy in summer when it's Too Hot To Cook), toaster, rice cooker, crock pot, coffee grinder, coffee maker. I have an old food processor cart, on top of which sits a toaster/ convection oven, and on the bottom shelf, the microwave. And on top of the fridge are a bread maker, a waffle iron we just got for Christmas, and an electric tea kettle.
I'd love to have a large enough pantry to store most of these things away when not using them (except the coffee maker and grinder). Hopefully our ongoing house hunt will prove successful- we've outgrown our apartment!
Dumb Diners -- Maybe even YOU?
I also ate the husk wrappers the first time I had tamales. It was at my very first "real" job while I was in college, and we had a little holiday potluck lunch. I ate three of them before someone stopped me. They seemed a bit chewy, but what did I know? I wasn't exposed to much in the way of ethnic (or real, for that matter) food as a young'un. Doh.
Vegetarian Gravy?
Now that sounds delicious! I'm going to try this as soon as I see chestnuts in the store. Without the butter or turkey juice, but still...
Vegetarian Gravy?
Ah, that rules that one out then! :-O
I do make gravy without the mushrooms when a family member who is allergic comes around, using ground raw cashews and a little tamari instead. That one is really good, too.
I'll try to keep an eye on this thread and if you don't get lots of responses, I'll check some of my vegetarian cookbooks at home for other ideas.
Vegetarian Gravy?
I usually make a mushroom gravy. I don't really follow a recipe per se, just throw sliced mushrooms, vegetable stock, garlic, onion, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme into a pan and then add flour until the consistency is right.
It's even nicer with a little bit of flat beer in it. Just use less stock.
There's even a vegan mushroom gravy recipe here on Chow: http://www.chow.com/recipes/29032-vegan-mushroom-gravy
Food So Wrong, It's Right
Susie's on Montrose Ave, just west of Pulaski, has a gyro cheeseburger, gyro burrito, gyro hot dog, and gyro cheese fries. Actually, their cheese fries are available smothered in the contents of just about any sandwich on their menu (chili, polish sausage, hot dog, etc), or with bleu cheese, etc. We live in the area and every once in a while I crave their fries (seasoned salt) and I am always appalled to see what new cheese fry concoction has been added to the menu.
When I was a kid, my dad used to bring home dinner from Portillo's sometimes. A personal favorite of mine was a chili cheese tamale on a hot dog bun with diced onion, neon green hot dog relish and sliced jalapenos.
Vegan Spring/Summer Ideas
The chickpea cutlets are excellent! Never tried them with ratatouille- I must! They freeze well, too, so I make double batches to have a quick meal another time.
http://www.chow.com/recipes/11364-chickpea-cutlets
Vegan Spring/Summer Ideas
Yes- everything goes wonderfully on top of baked potato!
For what it's worth, I think the corn, red onion, tomato, lime and cumin (I'd add cilantro if you or your friend like it) would be lovely atop some grilled polenta... so much so that I'm going to "borrow" this and make it for dinner soon. I, too, love polenta topped with ratatouille.
Farro is great with asparagus, broccoli rabe, spinach, and cherry tomtatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and fresh parsley.
I don't typically consider tofu a "meat substitute", like seitan or tempeh. I usually use it as if it were an additional vegetable. But if you had a hankering for something huevos rancheros- like, I usually scramble a little tofu and turmeric when
my hubby has a craving for chilaquiles.
From time to time, I love a nice grilled veggie taco or wrap. No sour cream or cheese needed. This time of year I love to use grilled asparagus, sauteed mushroom and spinach. Yum!
I make vegan refried beans a lot- toss cooked beans (pinto or black beans work nicely), onion, a little lime juice, cumin, some hot sauce (sambal oolek is perfect) and a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a food processor and pulse till most of the beans are mashed. Heat a little more olive
oil in a skillet and cook the beans to the desired consistency.
Another favorite bean dish is black-eyed peas with greens- mustard, collard, kale, spinach or any combination thereof- with chopped onion, carrot, garlic, gumbo file, cayenne pepper, paprika, and tomato. Go easy on the seasoning and the flavors really come through.
Potato and pea curry is delicious, and not overwhelmingly curry-ish. I find that most potato recipes call for baking, and it's too warm in Chicago to use the oven during spring and summer, so I'd be keen on more potato main dish ideas myself. Usually, when we want potato, we just
make it into a hash, with whatever kind of green veggie we have a taste for mixed in or on the side. Shell pasta goes nicely with potato and peas, too- the only "sauce" needed is a little olive oil and a splash of lemon juice. I add a nice handful of fresh parsley.
Ratatouille is one of my favorite summer dishes for farmer's market veggies. I found a good recipe on this very site-it's delicious- we make it about once a week during summer's peak!
I've used fruit for main dishes before, mainly mango, pineapple and rhubarb. I'll tap my brain and revisit with those ideas again later, too.
Must get back to work now... but will be back to this thread!
What are your 12 most essential bottled goodies that you keep in your fridge for cooking?
miso
harissa
ketchup- tomato, Maxchup and curry ketchup
capers
ume plum paste
tamarind concentrate
sriracha and sambal oelek
tahini
tube of tomato paste
champagne vinegar (the label says it should be refrigerated after opening)
mustard- yellow and Dijon
peanut butter
Local distributor(s) of non-alcoholic wines
Oops- I replied to the wrong post there- meant to reply to both as opposed to a specific posting.
Local distributor(s) of non-alcoholic wines
Under some circumstances, grape juice is fine with me, albeit a bit higher in calories. It seemed weird having it with some of my meals, though, and I thought wine might be "ncer", if you know what I mean.
Oh, and I love those Martinelli sparkling juices, too! They have them at Jewel and at our Whole Foods.
Over the weekend I popped into the Binny's in Lakeview and they did stock the two brands I am waiting to hear about. However, the good news is that they have a number of other brands there, as well. I've written down some more names and will do more research. I didn't notice there was a wine forum here, so I'll defintely check that out as well.
Thanks for all the input, everyone!
Local distributor(s) of non-alcoholic wines
I received a nice response from a Binny's wine buyer informing me which of their wines are non-alcoholic. But I'd swear it seems like the producers of said wine have no interest in selling it.
I've emailed them all asking for them to let me know what fining agents they use to clarify their wines, and only one has bothered to reply... and their product is sparkling juice and not actual wine. I know for a fact at least one of them (Ariel) is a no go.
It really does make it difficult to be an informed consumer when producers fail to respond to inquiries. I may just have to go with mail order from Europe and deal with the freight costs. (Sigh)
Local distributor(s) of non-alcoholic wines
Thanks! There's a Binny's in Lakeview, which I should be able to get to. I'll check their web site for availability before heading out.
Local distributor(s) of non-alcoholic wines
I've been trying for some time to locate local distributors of alcohol-removed wines. While I don't have issues with cholesterol, etc, Alzheimer's runs in my family and my GP suggests that a glass of red wine a day could be a useful preventative measure. However, I appear to be allergic to alcohol. I've never had issues cooking with just a bit of wine, but I have a terrible reaction after drinking even a few ounces.
I recently discovered a nice alcohol-removed wine, but can only seem to find them available for mail order (and by the case), and the cost of shipping is more or less prohibitive. Does anyone know of any liquor stores (chain or otherwise) or other local sources which have non-alcoholic wine- stuff that tastes like wine and not like grape juice- for retail sale?
I live on the North Side of the city, work near Merchandise Mart, and would be taking CTA, so locations way out in the suburbs wouldn't be feasible.
What do you wear while you cook?
Jeans or flannel pajama pants. Bare feet in warmer weather, socks when it's too cool to be comfortable barefoot (I never wear shoes in the house and while I own a pair of slippers I have never thought to put them on...). Bra and apron. Otherwise topless. We have two cats, it's impossible to get all of the cat hair out of my clothes and I would hate to wind up with cat hair in the food...
Just re-read funniduck's post and have to say that wearing the apron backwards is brilliant. I, too, tend to wipe my hands on the backs of my legs. I am totally putting the apron on backwards when I make dinner tonight!
Foods you love at Trader Joe's that got discontinued? [OLD]
The roasted vegetable pizza. It was the only vegan pizza they carried, and I haven't seen it at our Chicago store for a few months now. We've seen a similar pizza at other stores, but with slightly different toppings and a much sweeter balsamic sauce. It's good, but it's not quite the same thing.
If you use canvas bags for groceries - what do you use for garbage bags?
Instead of plastic trash bags, we use these:
http://www.biobagusa.com/
They're available at our local Whole Foods and cost just a wee bit more per unit than regular plastic trash bags. The extra expense is well worth the knowledge that these won't sit in a landfill for years. They are both biodegradable and compostable, so if you have a compost bin you can use them for food waste and toss into the bin. They even make smaller-sized bags for keeping compostable food waste separate from trash that needs to be hauled away.
We usually take the tras out a couple times a week and the bags haven't had any issues with beginning to compost before we get them out to the cans.
Whole Foods, Live Tour!
I've been to Spoon Thai and IMO it's overrated and there are much better places within a couple of blocks- Opart Thai and Rosded. But all three are within close proximity to pay parking lots. As is the Grecian taverna I mentioned in a earlier post (just a block north of Rosded).
Too bad you're not hitting the Sauganash store. That's the one I shop at and it's a nice one.
If you like Middle Eastern you might try Fattoush, which is about a mile south of the Halsted Ave WF, on the 2600 block.
Whole Foods, Live Tour!
Barbi Yanni's Grecian Taverna in Lincoln Square should be do-able from the Lakeview location. Easy to get there via bus, train or cab.
Will you be doing any demos at the WF Sauganash store? There's a great Korean place called Amitabul not too far away, though you'd probably need a car for that trip.
how do you recycle in your kitchen?
I re-use plastic bags and Ziplocs when I wind up with them.
I've purchased reusable mesh and linen bags for produce and bulk dry goods, then store them in jars and plastic containers.
I save vegetable scraps and parings in the freezer and use them to make vegetable stock.
I have a wormery for composting the veggie scraps after making stock; the worm castings make great soil for potted plants.
Re-use spice jars for spices bought in bulk
Take-away containers instead of buying Tupperware, etc.
Pretty much the same things other people have already mentioned here- only I see some other things mentioned I'll keep in mind!
Please post your Chicago Chow Top 10 Lists!
I love Top Ten lists! :)
My top ten favorite Chicago eating establishments, in no particular order:
Chicago Diner
Dharma Garden
El Cid
Evergreen
Opart Thai
Viceroy of India
Mysore Woodlands
Cousin's
Andie's
Amitabul
Bulk/ dry packaged cannellini and farro on NW Side?
Re-reading how I phrased the original post, I was a bit vague, yes, sorry. I avoid purchasing product sold in plastic bags, wrap, etc, so I buy dry goods in bulk whenever possible. It is true that I hadn't previously seen farro at WF at all, and I did find it this time, with the packaged rice, etc, so I do thank you for letting me know that it's available there.
Hopefully I'll find it in bulk at Graziano's. If that doesn't pan out, I'll limit myself to very occasional purchases from WF.
Thank you all for your help!
Bulk/ dry packaged cannellini and farro on NW Side?
Checked the WF over the weekend- they had farro in plastic bags but unfortunately not in bulk. Will hopefully try JP Graziano this week, if it ever stops raining...
Bulk/ dry packaged cannellini and farro on NW Side?
Oh, that's less than a mile from work, I could walk there on my lunch hour. Thank you!
Bulk/ dry packaged cannellini and farro on NW Side?
Fantastic! I'll pop in there next time I'm in the neighborhood. Thank you!
Bulk/ dry packaged cannellini and farro on NW Side?
Bari Foods is do-able from work- thanks! Which Whole Foods location has it? My Whole Foods does not- I asked them.
Bulk/ dry packaged cannellini and farro on NW Side?
I can't for the life of me find anyone who consistently stocks bulk/dried cannellini beans, and can't find farro at all. I typically shop at the Whole Foods in Sauganash and have found bulk cannellini there just once. Bob's Red Mill sells them online but I hate to buy a case if I can buy in a smaller amount. And I can't find farro at all.
Does anyone know of a shop that stocks these? Or a reasonably priced and reliable source for online ordering?
We live in the Avondale area. I'm not averse to traveling a bit to get some- I grew up in Elmwood Park and thought I might try Caputo's on Harlem Ave- but I'd be taking CTA and would rather set out with some chance of success.
