Easy Dinner: Vegetable Pie

It's a funny limbo - these days right before Christmas. I'm busy planning Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day breakfast and dinner and just don't have time or mental energy to plan TODAY's dinner.
These are days when I fall back on the easy favorites that Dennis loves. The dishes I've been making for years and years. Like Vegetable Pie. I first came across this recipe in the '70's - back in college when I was struggling, poor, and hungry! It's been a staple ever since. Great for vegetarians. Very pantry-friendly. Easy to alter to your liking or the limits of your refrigerator. The crust is kind of a latke, kind of a kugel and totally tasty. And the filling is like that old fashioned classic, cheesey cauliflower.

And it uses so little equipment. Hardly any clean up.
a food processor (best) and/or box grater
a knife & cutting board
a pie pan
a mixing bowl & wooden spoon
a skillet & same wooden spoon
a cup measure & whisk/fork

Serve with a quick green salad and a glass of wine for a satisfying, warming dinner.

Vegetable Pie
adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook

Olive Oil
3 Yukon Gold potatoes
2 onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cauliflower, cut up into smallish bits
1 tsp herbes de provence
3 eggs
1/3 c milk
1.5 c shredded cheddar cheese (I cheated tonight and used a bag o cheddar cheese from Trader Joes)
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400F
Lightly oil a 9" deep pie pan
Using the food processor, or a box grater, grate 1/2 onion and the potatoes into the large mixing bowl. Generously salt & pepper, add one egg, and mix well.
Press mixture into the pie pan, pushing it up the sides to make a thick crust.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the pie from the oven and brush the crust with olive oil. Return to the oven for 20 minutes more.
While the crust is baking, dice the remaining 1-1/2 onions.
Heat some oil in the skillet and add the onion, cooking until it's just beginning to brown on the edges.
Add the minced garlic and toss around in the pan for a couple of minutes.
Add the herbes de provence.
Add the chopped cauliflower and stir to coat all the pieces well. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until just cooked. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
When the crust is done, sprinkle with 1/2 c of the cheese. Add 1/2 the cauliflower mixture. Next, layer 1/2 c of cheese, the rest of the cauliflower, and, finally, top with the rest of the cheese.
Break two eggs into the milk and beat well with a fork or whisk. Make a hole in the filling and pour the milk/egg mixture into the pie.
Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Allow the pie to rest for 5-10 min. before serving.
Other things to think about: mix broccoli & cauliflower, add a layer of chopped spinach on the bottom of the pie, add frozen tiny peas, use Emmenthaler & thyme, Ricotta/Parmesian and rosemary. Do NOT use the pretty purple heirloom cauliflower. It makes a VERY scary looking pie.

A Wonderful Day

It's been a very exciting 24 hours. First, I looked outside yesterday and the camellias were in bloom. Imagine that. Perfect timing to make a showing in a holiday flower arrangement. That would have made it a very nice day.

But then, I checked the food52 site and realized my stuffing recipe had been selected as a finalist in this week's Best Thanksgiving Stuffing contest. This is the third time I've had a recipe selected, and let me tell you, every single time, I'm totally shocked.

And goofy proud. And exceptionally grateful.

But anyway.

The next bit of news - Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, founders of food52, would be cooking the stuffings on the Today Show. That just sent me over the top. I was crazy nervous, happy, thrilled.

Dennis wanted to tell everyone. He was especially delighted as he completely pushed me to enter the recipe. And of course, it's because of my wonderful husband this recipe was created in the first place.

My mother made a similar stuffing, although she used Pepperidge Farm stuffing croutons and crumbled Bob Evans breakfast sausage in hers. When I met Dennis, the vegetarian, I thought he deserved a stuffing all his own, and nudged the recipe a bit.

Truth be told, while Dennis called friends and family to tell them about the Today Show, I just wanted to tell my Mom. It's been five years since she died, and even longer since we had Thanksgiving together, and, today, more than ever, I really missed her. She would have been so pleased.


What We Call Stuffing
serves 12

1 large loaf of challah or brioche
2 c/500g celery, diced
2 c/500g onion, diced
2 c/500g cremini mushrooms, diced
8-10 sprigs thyme, chopped
3 sprigs rosemary, chopped
1/4 c/75g chopped flat leaf parsley
3 c/24oz vegetable stock, preferably homemade
3 oz unsalted butter
4 oz unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Cut the challah into 1" cubes. Leave the cubes out on a parchment lined sheet pan on the counter to get stale, at least overnight, and preferably, 2 days.

Melt 3 oz butter in a large heavy saute pan. Saute the onions until wilted, add the herbs, celery and mushrooms and cook until just slightly cooked through.

In a large bowl, combine bread cubes, vegetables, melted butter and vegetable stock, and salt and pepper. Test for seasoning and adjust.

Press stuffing in to a large buttered baking dish. Cover with buttered parchment and then foil. At this point, the stuffing can be held for several hours, but should be at room temperature before baking.

Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, the last 10-15 minutes without the foil and parchment, to crisp the surface.

The day-after sandwich spread, as served at the 2008 Dead Poultry Society party.

Life in Transition - and a Recipe

I haven't written much about Food52, and now seems like a good time. Because it's come at an interesting moment in my life.

Food52 is a fascinating concept - a website started by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, that will seek out recipes from cooks around the country - some pros and some, like me, just enthusiastic home cooks - and collect them into a cookbook after 52 weeks. There are weekly contests (and anyone who knows me knows how I feel about a competition!) with great topics - best summer cocktail, best frozen dessert, and so on. It's lively and fun and I'm delighted to be part of the community. Learn more about Food52 here.

I've been participating for about a month. I've made at least a dozen of the posted recipes - liked some, loved others, shrugged off a couple. Commented. Voted. Been a member of the community. Last week was thrilling - I was actually selected as a finalist for my Plum Sauced Pork Tenderloin recipe. Totally amazing. It gave me great hope for this, the next stage in my life. My life in food.

For the last decade, it's been all about gardens, although I never stopped cooking. With the downturn in the economy, the landscape design biz has definitely fallen off, and I'm wondering whether there is something in this food thing I've been doing all my life. Something that will engage me.

This fall, I'm going to try holding some cooking classes, just to see how I like it, and whether anyone will come. And I'll just keep blogging (and wondering if anyone is reading) and entering recipes at Food52. Wish me luck. I'm older than the last time I reinvented myself and I'm hoping it's still possible.

Here's the recipe I entered in the Best Eggplant Recipe contest.

Swearing Like A Sailor Stuffed Eggplant

The eggplant are first boiled, then stuffed with rice, toasted nuts, currants, herbs and cheese, then quickly sauteed (that's where the swearing comes in), and then baked in a rich tomato sauce. I've frozen this very successfully, pre-baking, both in individual serving dishes and as a large casserole. It makes a great dish for a crowd and I've served it at Thanksgiving, as it's a little something different from the regular eggplant parm that is a buffet staple for vegetarians. Without the cheese, it's a vegan dish. The technique for this recipe first appeared in Gourmet magazine.

Serves 6, but doubles or triples easily

Stuffed Eggplant:

• 6 smallish eggplant - I prefer the white round types, or the paler purple oblong variety
• 1.5 cups cooked rice (white, brown, basmati, leftover Chinese takeout all work)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesian
• .5 cups toasted pine nuts
• .5 cups currants, plumped
• 1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs - basil & parsley & chervil work nicely
• fresh or dried thyme and oregano
• salt & pepper
• canola oil

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 quarts whole tomatoes, drained and rough chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil

1. Pierce eggplant all over with a fork.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add eggplant and boil for 20-30 minutes, depending on their size, or until fork tender. Remove from the water and cool slightly.
3. When cool enough to handle, slice eggplant in half lengthwise, preserving the skin (and half the stem on each half, if possible.) This is a good time to start swearing.
4. Scoop out the flesh of the eggplant, rough chop, and put it in a large bowl. Continue swearing a blue streak. They're unbelievably hot and the skin splits. Don't worry. You'll be able to fix this.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients to the eggplant and stir well. Taste and correct for seasoning.
6. Scooping some of the mixture in your hand, (really - use your hands) form it into a large egg shape and stuff the eggplant skins, piecing them together as necessary. Place them on a parchment lined sheet pan as you complete them.
   
   
   
7. Heat 1.5"-2" of canola oil in a deep saute pan. I use a cast iron pan. Send the kids out of the room. This is when the swearing really starts.
8. When the oil is hot, place two or three halves in the oil, skin side down. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Using two slotted spoons or a slotted spoon and a spatula, turn the whole blasted thing over without losing the stuffing. Yes, seriously. Cook another 2-3 minutes, until browned on the stuffing side. Remove to a rack lined with paper towels, stuffing side up.
   
   
9. When you have successfully browned all the eggplant, have a glass of wine. Really, that was a huge pain, wasn't it? Don't worry. It's worth it.
10. Preheat the oven to 375
11. Now, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan, add the garlic until starting to turn golden, then add the tomatoes, some salt and pepper, and cook for 20-25 minutes until it's good and saucy. (You can also use fresh tomatoes - about 5 lbs., peeled and chopped.)
12. Either use individual serving dishes large enough to hold two eggplant or a large rectangular baker. Pour the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish and place eggplant on top of the sauce. Cover with foil.
13. Bake 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly.
14. Take a deep breath. Stop your swearing. Serve and enjoy.

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