Meatless Grilled Reuben

Recipe test for Food52:

Cows everywhere, rejoice! This vegetarian "Reuben" is quite possibly better than the real thing. Gooey Swiss, tangy red cabbage, creamy dressing, garlicky mushrooms and crisp, buttery rye make this sandwich utterly irresistible. Thanks to Brussels Sprouts for Breakfast, I have now been ruined for all other sandwiches and I'm OK with that!

I tested this recipe for the excellent website, Food52. It was created by Brussels Sprouts for Breakfast (please take a moment to thank her for the gifts you are about to receive!). The recipe below is an adaptation of her amazing original!

Vegetarian "Reuben" Recipe Test
Adapted from Brussels Sprouts for Breakfast on Food52 
(Makes enough for 2 sandwiches but you will probably (read definitely) want to double this.)
4 slices seeded rye 
4 slices baby Swiss cheese 
14 button mushrooms, sliced somewhat thickly, so they retain their meaty texture
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/8 head red cabbage, thinly sliced
2 heaping Tablespoons prepared horseradish
1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar, like Bragg's
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 Tablespoons salted butter
extra virgin olive oil 

Dressing:
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise (I used Hellman's)
2 Tablespoons course Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons sweet pepper relish (like Howard's, my family favorite)

Measure out all of your ingredients and set two large sauté pans on the stove.

In Pan One: Heat a drizzle of olive oil over a medium flame, then add the mushrooms, garlic, a pinch of salt and about 20 turns of freshly cracked black pepper. Sauté for 8-10 minutes, until the mushrooms are browned, being careful to keep the heat low enough that the garlic doesn't burn.

In Pan Two: Heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium/high heat then add the red cabbage, apple cider vinegar, horseradish, a good sprinkling of salt and about 20 turns of freshly cracked black pepper. Sauté until wilted, about 6-8 minutes. If it's still very firm after you sauté it, cut off the heat and cover the pan for a few minutes so the cabbage can wilt in the residual steam.

Dressing: While everything is cooking, combine the mayonnaise, course Dijon and red pepper relish. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed. 

To Assemble: Generously butter one side of two slices of bread with about 1 Tablespoon of butter each. Place the bread, butter side down, then proceed as follows...

• Dressing 
• Mushrooms
• Swiss
• Red Cabbage 
• Swiss
• Final slice of bread

Turn the flame to medium/high and place a heavy pan or weight on the top on the sandwich. Toast until the butter has melted and the bottom slice of bread is browned and crisp. Smear a generous amount of butter on the top slice of bread and flip the sandwiches, weighing them again. 

For a nice crispy crust, cook each sandwich for 4-5 minutes per side. Watch for smoke as grilled sandwiches can burn very quickly!

Eat it while it's hot, then lick your fingers clean and stare at the second sandwich longingly while silently willing yourself not to eat it!

Less Fussy Jacques Torres-esque Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are insane! 

They have a perfectly crisp outer shell that protects an irresistibly gooey and yet fluffy interior. The flaky sea salt results in a crazy salty/sweet explosion and makes these the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. Jacques' recipe calls for refrigerating the dough for 24-72 hours before baking, but I baked off a few right away to see what they’d come out like, and they were amazing. 

Instead of refrigerating the dough, I rolled it all up into 3 ounce balls and froze them. Then I baked a few off the next day to do a taste test and those were even better than the non-chilled ones, so chilling of freezing is advised! I’d say either way though, you have a hell of a cookie here! Thanks to the wonderful Cannella Vita for introducing me to these perfect cookies, and to Jacques Torres for making them in the first place. 

I adjusted the recipe slightly to make it a bit less fussy (and because I’m impatient AND because I didn’t have cake flour). As I said, I loved these but I may try to reduce the white sugar to 2/3 cup and maybe even use salted butter next time to see how that comes out. There are so many slightly different versions of Jacques' recipe online. My version seems much fluffier than most, based on the photos I've seen, but I love it.

Less Fussy Jacques Torres-esque Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups minus 2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
1 1/2 cup walnut halves and pieces (optional)
flaky sea salt for sprinkling

Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt together and set them aside.

With an electric or stand mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugars together for about 4 minutes until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another minute. Incorporate the dry ingredients on low speed, or with a spatula/spoon, and then cut in the chocolate chips and walnuts. My dough was rather dry, so I popped it out of the bowl and kneaded in the chocolate bits and walnuts briefly at the end. 

Roll the dough into 3-ounce balls and then flatten to about 3/4 inch thickness (I got 28 cookies total). Set each on a cookie sheet then chill the whole sheet in the freezer for about an hour (see frozen cookies below!).  

Once they’ve hardened, put them in baggies and bake ‘em when you want ‘em, like with my Whole Wheat Cardamom Snickerdoodles! Again, if you want to just bake them before chilling or freezing, go for it! 

On baking day, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a siltpat and pull out however many cookies you want from the freezer. Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of sea salt and bake until just golden. 12 minutes was perfect in my oven. Cool briefly on the pan, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling (if you don’t eat them all up while they’re still hot, that is!) Eat them with milk to temper the sweetness.

Whole Wheat Cardamom Snickerdoodles

These Whole Wheat Cardamom Snickerdoodles are spicy, buttery and addictive...and they're whole grain so they're healthy (a little bit, sort of)! They're particularly fabulous served alongside some Earl Grey tea, which is how I ate about a zillion of them last night! 

Prepare the dough ahead-of-time and freeze the pre-baked cookies so you can bake a few up whenever you need a delicious treat or quick dessert. 

Whole Wheat Cardamom Snickerdoodles 

Adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book 
(Makes 50 small cookies)

Dry
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Wet

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon spice/sugar mixture (below)

1 stick (8T) salted butter

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

2 large organic eggs

Cardamom Cinnamon Sugar

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 T cinnamon

1 teaspoon cardamom

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Combine the cardamom, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl or baggie and set aside. 

Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside. 

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter, shortening and sugar for about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs until the batter is fluffy and lightened in color. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined. 

Roll 1 tablespoon of dough between your palms to form a ball and then roll that ball in the spiced sugar mixture. Place each cookie about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silt-pat. Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 7-8 minutes until the cookies have puffed and just started to brown and crack. When you look into the cracks, the batter will look undercooked. This will result in a chewier more tender cookie! 

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet until slightly firmed, then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling. These cookies work really well when they're made larger too, so use 2 Tablespoons of dough per cookie to make 25  big ones if you prefer. Bake for about 10 minutes.  

Note: Prepare all the cookies at once and freeze them for future use! I like to roll all the dough into balls and then roll each ball in the spiced sugar. 

I set each finished raw cookie on a baking sheet, and when they're all done, I pop the whole baking sheet into the freezer and allow them to harden for about two hours. 

Then I transfer the frozen dough balls to baggies and store them in the freezer. This way, any time I NEED a snickerdoodle, I can just pull out however many I want, place them on a prepared baking sheet, preheat my oven (this allows time for the cookies to warm-up a bit before baking) and then bake them as directed above. 

Roasted Broccoli with Lemon, Pecorino and Basil. Thank you, Ina!

Ina Garten, I want to thank you. Your recipes rule and you manage to be super classy (what a super classy thing to say!) while also appearing approachable and fun (something not all celebrity chef's manage, but I'm not naming names here). 

The idea of partying down with you and all your "boyfriends" in East Hampton makes me feel almost giddy. I don't generally consider myself a chef-groupie, but for you Ina, I'd snip hydrangeas, iron button downs, and carry picnic baskets full of fine china and pâté all-day-long! 

So, here's to you, Ina! Thank you for sharing your rad, well-tested recipes. High five!

Lemony Pecorino Roasted Broccoli
Adapted from Ina Garten's, Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli
6 medium heads broccoli (about 8 cups)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thinly
5 Tablespoons of "Good" olive oil, plus some more 
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
50 turns freshly ground black pepper
zest and juice of one lemon
1/3 cup pecorino, Parmesan or other aged hard Italian cheese
handful fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped (optional)

Preheat your oven to 425°F.

Chop the broccoli florets, leaving a nice long stem when possible. In a large bowl, toss the florets with 5 tablespoons of "good" olive oil (or whatever olive oil you have), the sliced garlic, salt and pepper. Transfer the broccoli florets to a baking sheet(s) large enough so they're in a single layer and not crowed together...like this!

Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until "crisp-tender" and starting to brown. Shake the baking sheet at the halfway mark to ensure even roasting.

Once roasted, take the broccoli out of the oven and toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon zest and juice, pecorino and basil. Smack lips with glee! "Now, how easy is that!"

Tangy Charred Red Pepper Sauce á la Smitten Kitchen

This tangy charred red pepper sauce is absolutely delicious. It's very similar to BBQ sauce but has a more complex, smokey flavor from the charred red bell peppers. This recipe is not my own in the least. I followed it pretty much verbatim from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it only very slightly from Tasting Table. Charring peppers inside may seem a little daunting, but it's really very easy and totally worth it.

Charred Red Bell Pepper Sauce
Adapted (and doubled) from Smitten Kitchen's, Charred Pepper Steak Sauce
(Makes about 3 1/2 cups steak sauce)
2 large red bell peppers
1 1/3 cups tomato purée
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons molasses
2 scant teaspoons table salt (to taste)
2 teaspoons ground mustard
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Preheat your broiler and set the rack as close as possible to the flames while still leaving enough space for your peppers. 

Wash and dry the red peppers and set them on a baking sheet. Broil them, turning, until they're charred on all sides. Set them aside to cool while you combine the other ingredients in your food processor or blender.

When the peppers have cooled a bit, tear or cut them open and remove the seeds, stems and membranes. Add the peppers (with charred skin) to the food processor. Puree until everything is smooth.

Pour the sauce into a medium saucepan and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure that the sauce doesn't burn on the bottom. Press the sauce through a fine mesh sieve to remove the pepper fibers. Serve hot over beef, pork, chicken or veggies! This would also be delicious baked on any of the above in a nice hot oven.

Herbed Caramelized Tomato Whole Wheat Couscous

For this dish, I slightly adapted a recipe for Roasted Herbed Tomatoes from the fantastic  website, Tasting Table. Roasting the tomatoes brings out their sweetness, which is imperative in winter, when there's nary a delicious tomato to be had.

I prepared an entire box of Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Couscous per the box instructions, then tossed in the vinaigrette and roasted herbed tomatoes, fluffing and combining everything gently with a fork. Along with a salad, this makes for a wonderful light lunch or dinner. Deeeeee-licious!

Couscous
Hodgeson Mill, or other couscous variety, prepared per the box instructions

Lemony Basil Vinaigrette
1 Tablespoon olive oil
juice of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (plus more to taste)
50 turns freshly cracked black pepper
handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped

Herbed Roasted Grape Tomatoes
Adapted from Tasting Table, Roasted Herbed Tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
about a Tablespoon olive oil to coat
one container (about a pint) grape tomatoes, halved

Preheat your oven to 375°F. 

Wash the grape tomatoes and dry them off as well as possible. Toss them in a bowl with the dried basil, oregano, salt, pepper and oil so they're evenly coated.

Lightly grease a baking sheet (or line one with silt-pat or parchment) and place the tomatoes on it, cut side up. Roast for about 20-30 minutes until the tomatoes are tender and slightly shriveled. Toss the roasted tomatoes into the couscous along with the vinaigrette, season to taste, and enjoy!

Rosemary and Bittersweet Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

I found this recipe idea while scanning the web for a not-too-sweet dessert to bring to a dinner party with my new blogger friend, Samar. Samar is the author of the wonderful culinary mash-up blog, Oishii Rasoi. We share a similar obsession with the entire panorama of Asian cuisine, as well as, a penchant for challenging ourselves to replicate complicated techniques (or at least seemingly complicated techniques) in our tiny New York City kitchens. 

Here's what I brought...

This cake is wonderful. I mean WONDERFUL! It's FULL of flavor and the texture is divine. There's a hint of savoriness from the rosemary, bitter-sweetness from the dark chocolate, and it's all cushioned in a light, fluffy cake with a perfectly crisp outer shell. 



Rosemary and Bittersweet Chocolate Olive Oil Cake 
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks who adapted it from Good to the Grain, by Kim Boyce
(Two eight inch cake pans = two thin, lovely cakes but you can also make this as a loaf and just increase the baking time)
Dry:
3/4 cup spelt flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon sea salt

Wet:
3 organic eggs
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup 2% milk (whatever fat content you have is fine)
1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary, roughly chopped

5 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher), roughly chopped 
*Per 101 Cookbooks author, Heidi Swanson, leave some large chunks 1/2 inch or so, for texture variation!

1 Tablespoon sucanat or sugar in the raw sprinkled on the top for more texture!

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Grease your cake pans with olive oil then line the bottoms with parchment rounds and lightly grease those with olive oil too.

Prep the Rosemary and chocolate and set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients well and set them aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, milk and rosemary.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing until they're just combined. Add the chocolate chunks to the batter then pour it into your prepared pans. Sprinkle with sucanat or sugar in the raw.

Bake for about 13-15 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a speck of crumb. 

This cake is absolutely delicious both warm and at room temperature.