Borscht with a Vegan Touch

Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, as well as an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of sentient animals. A follower of veganism is known as a vegan.

A soup that is richly aromatic, tangy and hearty soup which can be eaten cold or hot and is loved by many especially in Central and Eastern Europe, primarily in Russia, Poland, and Ukraine. The beetroot, its main ingredient, gives this soup its dark reddish color. On hot days like in the summer, this soup is best served when cold while in the cold winter days it is best served when hot. In some regions and recipes, the main ingredient is tomato and the beet-root becomes as the secondary ingredient. Other ingredients that may be added are cabbage, carrots and peppers. When served cold, this soup can be garnished with chopped veggies such as radishes and cucumbers, soured milk, kefir and yogurt. Also, it serves as a nutritious and light meal alone or is served with rye bread as a sumptuous appetizer. This sharp, sweet soup garnished with vegan sour cream, capers and fresh dill is already completely delicious as is. For a heartier soup, potato-onion pierogies can be added to it. When you are pressed for time on certain days, you would do yourself a favor by cooking this in a crock pot or slow cooker and let the soup be infused with the flavors of the greens and dills even more. The soup is:

Vegan Borscht

Ingredients

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp cooking oil

3 large yellow beets, diced

3 large red beets, diced

2 large potatoes, roughly chopped

1 C celeriac (celery root), roughly chopped

1/2 C fennel bulb, roughly chopped

10 C water2 C red wine1 tbsp tamari sauce

2 tsp each: celery seed, allspice

1/4 C balsamic vinegar

1 bunch beet greens, washed and chopped into ribbons

1 bunch fresh dill OR 2-4 tbsp dried dill

Fresh dill, capers, vegan sour cream, or other garnishes

1. Using a very big soup pot, sauté garlic and onions in cooking oil. 

2. Put allspice, celery seed, tamari, wine, water, fennel, celeriac, potatoes and beets. 

3. Boil then lessen the heat and simmer. 

4. Cover for 30 minutes or until the fork can easily pierce the beets. 

5. Add dill, beet greens and vinegar, then simmer for another 5 minutes until all the greens look bright in the soup pot. 

6. You may serve this dish as is or it can be garnished with capers, fresh dill and/or vegan sour cream. Enjoy!

Low Calorie and Still Healthy Gratin Recipe

Freshly made taglierini spinach pasta is tossed with buttered ham and cream, then covered in Béchamel sauce, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and browned in the oven for a delightfully delicious meal. To make perfectly shaped taglierini pasta, you need a pasta-making machine. It is best to cook the pasta a few hours after letting the dough rest for a while. Keep it wrapped in plastic to keep it moist and fresh tasting.

Make the béchamel sauce beforehand so you simply need to pour it over the cooked pasta and  ham. Also known as white sauce, béchamel is made with butter and flour and combined with milk. It is one of the most basic mother sauces of French cooking and is also used in many Italian recipes.

To make a simple béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until it foams but not brown. Add equal part flour and stir for a minute or two until bubbling. Care should be taken not to brown the sauce. Remove the mixture from the heat and slowly add the milk, stirring constantly using a wooden spoon. Return the mixture to the heat and stir the sauce gently until it comes to a boil and thickens, coating the back of the wooden spoon. Stir in Parmesan and salt to flavor the sauce. You can also add a pinch of nutmeg, which is customary in Italy. The thickness of the sauce will depend on the proportion of roux and milk; typically a cup of milk will need about one to three tablespoon each of flour and butter.

A type of egg pasta, taglierini is similar to the more popular tagliatelle but thinner. It comprises of long noodles that look like ribbons. It is typically eaten with truffles or meat roast sauce known as ragu. It also lends well to cream-based sauces, seafood, and vegetable sauces.

Green Pasta Gratin with Ham and Cream

Ingredients

1/4 lb. cooked ham cut into julienne (thin, long slices)
1/2 cup cream
½ lb. green taglierini (see below)
Béchamel sauce (white sauce)
Grated parmesan cheese

Taglierini:
2.2 lbs. flour
1/2 lb. spinach blanched and finely ground
3 or 4 eggs (depending on the amount of juice from the spinach)
1 tablespoon water


1. To make the pasta dough, mix the flour and spinach until the ingredients are evenly distributed and there are no clumps. Add the eggs and water. Knead for 10 minutes until you obtain smooth, homogenous dough. Allow the dough to rest for 2 hours in a plastic bag.

 2. Using a pasta-making machine, spread the dough with a thickness of about 1/10 inch. Cut into pieces and allow drying. Place the dough into the machine again and cut into taglierini. Spread the taglierini on a cloth and cover with a plastic to keep the pasta moist.

3. In a copper pan, brown the ham with butter. Add the cream and reduce.

4. In the meantime, cook the pasta in a large saucepan with salted water until al dente. Drain.

5. Mix the pasta with the cream and ham and put the whole in an oven-proof dish. Cover with béchamel sauce.

6. Sprinkle grated Parmesan and bake in the oven until an au gratin is obtained.
   

Pheasants: Also Like Chickens?

I'll be sharing recipes that will help anyone that wants to cook a pheasant.  Below are some slow cooker pheasant recipes and I personally prefer it.  If you want quick and easy pheasant recipes just go in the link. Now, farm-raised pheasant is a game bird that resembles chicken, though leaner. It has a pinkish white meat and a delicate flavor. The wild pheasant, on the other hand, has a rich gamy flavor. Whichever kind of pheasant meat you choose, slow cooking can do wonders for it. The heat is low and friendly for the tender meat. 

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2. Cook the pheasant inside the slow cooker with condensed soup, water and an onion soup mix. It will not only keep the pheasant moist but also lend it more flavor. You can also cook it in aromatics (like garlic and onions), some herbs, a touch of butter, dry white wine and sour cream (to counter the gaminess, especially in wild pheasant). Wrap the pheasant in smoked bacon for more flavor.

   
   

   Another way to prepare pheasant is to marinate it overnight in red wine or citrus and herbs. For an Asian-style marinade, try apple cider and ginger. Marinating keeps the meat moist and flavorful as well. In some slow cooker pheasant recipes, you can cut the pheasant into bite size pieces, dredge it in seasoned flour and briefly sauté in oil. After that, transfer the pheasant pieces into the slow cooker and put in the usual aromatics, including olives and mushrooms, chicken broth and dry white wine. Slow cook as usual.

   
   

   Avoid overcooking otherwise the meat will be dry and tasteless. But if you cook pheasant properly, you’ll get meat that drops off the bone, well-flavored gravy or broth, and a hearty, pleasant meal. 

   
   

   If you want to make it more classy you can make this recipe

   
   

   

   Ingredients

   
   

   2 whole pheasant, cleaned and singed, and cut into pieces

   4 cups port wine

   6 whole cloves

   1 bay leaf

   1 onion, sliced thin

   2 cups all purpose flour

   Sea salt

   Freshly ground pepper

   8 tablespoons unsalted butter

   
   

   Preparation Instructions

   
   

   1. In a baking dish, stir together the wine, cloves, onion, bay leaf, and sage. Add the pheasant pieces and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

   
   

   2. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Drain the pheasant pieces, reserving the marinade. Pat the birds dry.

   
   

   3. In a clean baking dish, combine the flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge the pheasant pieces and shake to remove excess flour.

   
   

   4. Put a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet placed over medium high heat. Once the butter melts, add pheasant pieces and brown on every side.

   
   

   5. Place the browned pheasant in a casserole dish. Pour the reserved marinade over the birds and bake for 1 ½ hours or until desired doneness is reached.

Everyone Loves Guacamole

 

Everyone loves to dip chips or whatever in guacamole. the green soft texture with a refreshing flavor and taste, it's like treating yourself every time you dip something in guacamole.  It maybe along the street, on top of you sandwich or just on top of the table, guacamole is loved by almost everyone.

Guacamole 

Is an avocado-based sauce that originated with the Aztecs in Mexico. In addition to its use in modern Mexican cuisine it has also become part of American cuisine as a dip, condiment and salad ingredient. It is traditionally made by mashing ripe avocados with a mortar and pestle with sea salt. Some recipes call for tomato, onion, garlic, lime juice, chili, yogurt and/or additional seasonings.

History

Guacamole was made by the Aztecs as early as the 16th century. The name comes from an Aztec dialect via Nahuatl āhuacamolli, which literally translates to "avocado sauce", from āhuacatl ("avocado") + molli  ("sauce"). In Mexican Spanish it is pronounced [wakaˈmole], in American English it is sometimes pronounced, and in British English sometimes.

Early recipes from the California Avocado Advisory Board (Calavo), published in the 1940s, were accompanied with a pronunciation suggestion: "Say Huakamole". Later marketing tried to create a "luau" or Pacific Island image of the avocado in the 1960s, and a Spanish or Mediterranean image in the 1970s. Guacamole has pushed avocado sales to 30 million pounds on two days a year, Super Bowl Sunday and Cinco de Mayo.

As much as i love a guacamole dip wherever football game i watch, I don't even know to make that dip before, so I found myself asking a friend and added some twist on my guacamole dip.

A refreshing and spicy dip, guacamole takes only a few minutes to make and can add life and nutrition to chips. Adapted from Time to Cook Low Cab by Paragon Publishing, this healthy guacamole recipe is made with ripe avocados, freshly squeezed lemon juice, sour cream, olive oil, cayenne pepper, onions, garlic, and salt. Serve this with potato chips, corn chips, tortilla chips, nachos, pita bread, or with vegetable sticks for a light and healthy appetizer, snack or party food. Whip this up when you have guests coming over or bring it to a potluck or picnic. Tangy, spicy and creamy it is a sure hit that will keep your guests asking for more.

10 Minute Guacamole

Ingredients

3 ripe avocados

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tablespoon sour cream

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 green onions, chopped fine

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

Salt

Preparation Instructions

1. Cut one avocado in half lengthwise. Stick the point of a knife in the pit and pull up to remove the pit completely. Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh of the avocado and put it in a bowl. Repeat with the remaining avocados.

2. Add the lime juice to the removed avocado flesh. Mash the mixture with the back of a fork.

3. Stir in the sour cream, oil, cayenne pepper, green onions, and garlic. Season with salt. Mash again with the back of a fork; the mixture should not be perfectly smooth.

4. Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate and serve within 2 hours.

A Diabetics Dessert

DIABETICS WHY HOLD BACK?

A Simple Diabetic Dessert

Everyone likes to have some dessert after lunch or dinner. The craving for eating something sweet is found among the diabetics mostly. Though a person in the habit of eating sweets can satisfy this urge very easily but the diabetics can only dream about having them. The good news is that today there are lot of desserts which the people suffering from diabetes can also eat. The diabetic desserts can be cooked very easily just by substituting sugar with the sugar free cubes. One can have sugar free chocolate cake, puddings and various other sweets.

A lot of fruits can also be used for making some of the delicious desserts for the diabetics. Fruits have the ability to make up for the sweetness without adding extra sugar. As fruits contain natural sweetness so these are not harmful in any way. A variety of desserts can be made without sugar like fruit salads with whipped cream. Then there are frozen treats also including the sugar free fudge pops or ice pops. One can even taste sugar free ice cream which is very easy to make at home also. One doesn’t have to compromise on the satisfaction of one’s sweet tooth because of the available diabetic gourmet desserts.

Being a diabetic is hard especially when we have a gathering or a feast is coming your way because you can't just dig in and pig out. And yes cravings still goes on when we see the desserts (cakes, ice cream, etc..) and we aren't allowed to eat them. So i looked up some recipes that is diabetic friendly and this is one, enjoy.

A Diabetic Cake 

Ingredients

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup raisins, seedless

1 cup applesauce – unsweetened

2 large eggs – well beaten

1/2 cup artificial sweetener

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Dash of nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour, all-purpose

Procedures

1. Pour the raisins in a saucepan and cover with the water. Cook over low heat until raisins are soft.

2. Drain away the excess water and mix the raisins with the applesauce, eggs, sweetener and cooking oil. Blend well. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring well.

3. Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.

4. Bake in a 350 degree F. preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

An Unlikely Appetizer

A lovely alternative to the usual salad greens, banana and nut salad makes a light and nutritious appetizer and requires only a few ingredients and is simple and quick to make. To make this recipe, all you need is bananas, chopped nuts, lettuce leaves, and unsweetened whipped cream. You simply assemble these ingredients together and you have an elegant appetizer in no time. For this recipe use bananas that have a sticky and moist flesh as opposed to varieties that are dry. Bananas should be fully ripe for the nuts to adhere to the flesh.

You can use your favorite nuts to make this recipe. Cashews, pecans, almonds, walnuts, and pistachios all taste wonderful with bananas. You can also use crushed peanuts to make this recipe, which is reminiscent of the classic combination of bananas and peanut butter.

Banana is very much a staple fruit of India. One of the great things about bananas is that it is not only delicious but is also cheap and available throughout the year unlike the other fruits.

Banana is a fruit which is still very casually consumed for its taste, texture and a feeling of fullness unlike other fruits which are eaten due to their much known health benefits. The masses definitely prefer it due to its low cost.  With whatever feeling it might be consumed, banana is nutritious and a wholesome fruit. This is a much lesser recognized fact. Except for its limitations for weight loss and diabetes, like other fruits this one too deserves high regards.