And so we begin yet another week in the Kinky Elfery Kitchen! BUT WAIT!! The kitchen is in complete disarray…dare we say chaos! YES! We are remodeling the KEK which has resulted in removal of all appliances, drawers, contents of drawers, spices, shelf stuffs, pots, pans, dishes, glasses…EVERYTHING. This is what our dining room looks like.
And that’s just the beginning. So, this will be a brief bloggery since we’ve not done much in the way of Elfin cooking all week…and it appears that this week will also be a very slow one. Baked potatoes will pretty much rule as we wait for the final piece of the new kitchen puzzle to be placed. That would be the cabinets, whose doors have been removed and the drawers, that have been emptied. They will be sanded down, painted and returned in the next week AND the fixed cabinetry will also be sanded and painted. One side view
and across the kitchen.
You can already see the new wall color…Highland Grey. It’s beautiful!! Can’t wait to show you the finished work!!
NOW..we do have a few things cookery-wise to share. First is one of our MOST favorite soups EVER that we made last Sunday. The recipe is called “10 Spice Soup” from the wonderful Plant-based cookbook, Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon. Here’s the link but we highly recommend this book as a worthy purchase.
That being said, we have, of course, tweaked it a bit by adding an ELEVENTH spice (Harissa, a fiery pepper based spice used in Tunisian and Moroccan cuisines). The soup recipe also includes the recipe for making the 10 (or 11) spice mix and while it may take a bit of time to gather all the ingredients, it is SO worth it. We always DOUBLE the spice recipe and keep in on hand to flavor other dishes. So, considering we’ve made our spice mix, let’s get all up in it! Oh, one more thing…we doubled the recipe as we were cooking for a crowd. We don’t particularly recommend that as your soup pot can get really REALLY FULL! But, as usual, it was ‘ready, fire, aim’ in the Kinky Elfery Kitchen that day! The second time consuming part of this recipe is chopping all the vegetables (onions, bell peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, celery), but if you enjoy chopping stuffs, it’s fun! So, first off, we sautéed our onions and garlic
added our green pepper, squash, sweet potatoes and carrots
then the fire-roasted tomatoes (juice and all)
then the really yummy cashew cream and plant-based chicken bouillon (The Gentle Chef’s is just the best!!).
We stirred all that up nicely and then came the 11 spice mix.
This comes to a boil and simmers for a while before the final addition of chickpeas and fresh baby spinach leaves.
Cook only until the spinach leaves are wilted and the soup has taken on a golden hue.
This is one of the BEST SOUPS EVER!! And, it freezes quite nicely. As an aside, you’ll notice we mentioned a cashew cream or ‘heavy’ cashew milk. This adds such a lovely creamy texture to the soup without any dairy and you can make it quite easily by soaking raw cashews in warm water for a minimum of two hours or preferably overnight. You place the appropriate measurement into your high-speed blender along with a specified amount of the broth/chicken bouillon and liquify. No need to use a strainer or cheesecloth…just the liquified cashew milk/cream. Now, if you have a tendency to do things at the last minute, like You Know Who, soaking the cashews may be a deterrent. We have learned that you can soak a cup or two of cashews for the recommended time, drain them thoroughly and freeze them on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. That way, you have softened cashews on hand when needed!
We also made a batch of seitan, a plant-based meat analogue that can take on the appearance texture and taste of beef or pork, depending on how you season it. Here you see the seitan simmering in a stock/broth made from molasses, liquid smoke, vegetable broth/chicken bouillon, a gravy enhancer such as Gravy Master, and soy sauce.
It’s important that the low simmer be maintained or the texture of your seitan will be way too soft. After it’s cooked, remove it from the cooking liquid (and it can be frozen for future use) and let it cool before placing in the refrigerator.
It should chill for at least 8 hours before slicing and using however you wish. It also freezes very well. The other ‘Eureka’ moment for us during this kitchen fruit-basket turnover came when we sautéed some broccoli slaw with some Gardein or Boca Crumbles for a quick and very tasty one pan meal. Seasoned with some sesame oil and really good golden soy sauce, it’s easy and yummy.
LOOK at what Your Elf got this week!! Yep…an Instant Pot. It’s still sitting in the office unwrapped and will remain so until the kitchen is back in place. Thanks to Susan Voisin (FatFree Vegan Kitchen) for her support and suggestion of several Instant Pot sites to join for good recipes and guidance. As we gradually learn how to use this device, we will no doubt have some good stuffs to share.
And finally, whew! Our fasting routine continues; the stress of the remodeling really challenged us this week but we held on and made our Monday and Thursday fasting days. Big Solid’s internist, who he saw this week, said that he was in great shape and was very pleased with his blood pressure. So there you have it…another Elfin week has come and gone. We wish you health and happiness until next Sunday and remember always to Look for the GOOD, be an EXAMPLE of the GOOD, and ACT for the GOOD as HARD as you can, in as MANY WAYS as you can, EVERY DAY that you can.’ DO EPIC and evil will never win!
Your Elf
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