Twinkle, Twinkle Little Elf

Y’all, it seems like EVERY WEEK, we go through the same routine. We promise ours-elfs we will write on our little blog DAILY and we NEVER do. This results in a ‘day of s/elf-ridicule and reckoning’ known as Sunday morning when your Elf realizes another week has gone by and NOT A WORD has been written. Then, it’s gather ye wits while you may and write, write, write. Well, today is TUESDAY and we have gotten off to a start. Yesterday, we unpacked our new Air Fryer; the Phillips Air Fryer XL Avance.

It’s a big sucker so we’ll be cookin’ en masse. We haven’t yet tried it out but, hey, it’s still early. Monday, we got busy in the Kinky Elfery Kitchen..we made a batch of seitan and some ‘Eggplant Bacon. For those of you who may not be familiar with seitan, it’s what Chef Skye Michael Conroy calls a meat analog or a plant-based meat. We actually looked up the word ‘analog/analogue’ to understand the usage. The meaning as a noun is ‘a person or thing that is comparable to another’. So, rather than the term ‘fake meat’, it would seem to be a food stuff that is comparable to another food stuff…not the same but comparable. We don’t hear the nut or plant-based milks such as Almond, Soy, Cashew, Hemp (to name a few) referred to as ‘fake’ milk, so why not plant-based meats/meat analogs. In any event, seitan in a dough that is cooked by various means to evolve as sausages, cutlets, shreds, to name a few. We start with dry ingredients, primarily Vital Wheat Gluten and seasonings

to which is added a liquid mix of water and additional seasonings (we are particularly fond of Liquid Smoke).

The liquid is added to the dry, kneaded to form a dough, allowed to rest for a bit and then cut into smaller sections.

These are simmered in a seasoned broth for 90 minutes, being careful to simmer rather than boil.

The finished product really does resemble meat and, if cooked right, has the texture and smoky flavor of beef.

The ‘Eggplant Bacon’ was a bit of a surprise. We’ve made it before and were not particularly excited about it, primarily because it never did ‘crisp’ up in the oven. BUT, we tried it again with the same results, even though we baked it a bit longer. The real culprit was the lack of consistency in the thickness of the slices…some were really thin and some were thicker, so they did not cook evenly. Here they are ready to go into the oven. We had two pans,  but why show two when they look the same!

Each slice is brushed on both sides by a marinade/sauce of maple syrup, liquid smoke, EVOO, smoked paprika, and soy sauce. Here’s the link to the recipe we used, though there are several available.

http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a55771/eggplant-bacon-recipe/

Though we were tempted to throw the finished product out, we decided to keep the slices and see what we could do with them. Sure enough, we thought we’d make a “EB’LT and see how it tasted. First we toasted a couple of slices of Flax Ezekiel Bread, spread some Just Mayo and topped with a slice of tomato. Then we added the EB (Eggplant Bacon)

covered with some lettuce,

and topped with another slice of toast. Well, y’all, this was absolutely delicious, as you can see!

Now, y’all, we KNOW full well that there is nothing in the world that tastes EXACTLY like bacon but this had just enough of the smokiness and crunch of bacon that we just broke out in a great big old smile! In fact, we have (we hope) solved the slicing issue when we ran across the long dormant and seldom thought of, slicing blades for our Mandoline. Now, we are ready with some really thin slicing blades to try it again. 

Tonight (Saturday), we are having a veganized version of Italian Sausages with Balsamic Glazed Onions and Red Grapes.

http://www.finecooking.com/recipe/sauteed-sausages-with-grapes-and-balsamic-glazed-onions

We made two batches of plant-based sausages yesterday (Friday) while Big Solid was out playin’ golf. Andouille and Italian, so tonight we are diving into the Italian sausages. We did not prepare the full recipe because we didn’t need that much food. But, here's the 'mise en place' with the red grapes, sliced onions, the WONDERFUL NEW SIGN compliments of of the Elf's Brother Jud and his Sweetie Suzanne, the sausages, and finally the broth/balsamic combo.

First, we browned the sausages in an iron skillet in a wee bit of EVOO

and then transferred them to a plate to rest up.

We then added a little more EVOO, about a cup of thinly sliced onion, and stirred them to a nice light brown.

Next up, we poured in one/fourth cup of The Gentle Chef’s Chikun Bouillon and the Balsamic Vinegar, scraping up any sausage bits and brown bits.

Our flame was reduced to a gentle simmer and we returned the sausages plus the grapes to the skillet,

it with the lid slightly open. This cooked gently until the sausages were thoroughly done. Since there is no animal in the sausages, the cooking time was a lot less, about fifteen minutes. We served it up and dove in. We also chose tonight to make some French Fries in our new Air Fryer.

We used our Mandoline with the quarter inch blades to get an even cut; soaked them in ice water for 30 minutes, then dried them well. We sprayed them with Olive Oil spray (just oil and nothing else) and threw them in the pre-heated machine! They were WAY crispy like Big Solid likes but next time, we’ll cut the ‘fryin’ time a bit. Life is good! Tomorrow will be a very busy day in the Kinky Elfery Kitchen as we are preparing some food to share…which we love to do!

As we leave you with our usual sign-off, we'd like to invite you to the 'new' Elf FB page titled The Movie Elf. We are having fun reviewing movies, especially the Oscar nominees!

We also have Big Solid to thank for today's blog title! Big Solid and the Elf celebrated their 33rd anniversary Friday! Here's a picture of that glorious day 33 years ago. We both squalled like babies and the high temperature was 8 degrees.

So, 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. Your Elf

Fly By the Seat of Your Elf

This has been another week of lacklusterness in the Kinky Elfery Kitchen; BUT, we have reasons. Remember the saga of the kitchen make-over that went on and on until the original contractor just disappeared, leaving much unfinished. Well, we found a most worthy contractor who has re-energized our contractor beliefs and has brought such expertise as to think of amazing things to make the kitchen even better!! Add that to the bitterly cold weather and SNOW we had for almost the entire week!! Y’all we just aren’t used to such weather…usually, when it snows down South, it’s gone in an hour or two or AT LEAST by the next day. We had snow on the ground for 3 or 4 days! Here’s a picture of Mail Order Annie as it was snowing last Tuesday morning

and the identical view the next day!

So, that calls for cooking stuff that is comfort food and hunkerin’ down with a good book or bingeing on a TV series (such as ‘Vikings’). We did fix two really large batches of comfort soup and chili. You KNOW we have fallen in love with the Spinach and Mushroom Soup with Cinnamon, Coriander, and Cumin as shown in the Blog of 1/7/18.

http://the-elf-in-the-kitchen.blogspot.com/2018/01/happiness-is-warm-elf.html

With each preparation, we’ve tweaked the recipe a little bit, this time adding a bit more Allspice and Coriander and less pureeing with the hand-held blender.

We made enough to share with friends. Next up, we decided to make some chili off the top of our little Elfin head. No recipe, just experimentation. We had cooked a LOT of black lentils to have on hand for a quick rice/lentil lunch. Well, we cooked so many, we HAD to think of another use. So, we sautéed some onion and bell pepper, added some Boca Crumbles

until they were nicely browned and seasoned with Chipotle Chili powder and regular Chili powder. Into that we added our black lentils…probably about two cups. Then we added a couple of cans of Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes

along with about a cup and a half of Chikun Bouillon. We let that simmer for a while and tweaked the seasoning with some pink salt and fresh ground black pepper. The final product turned our really quite delicious and with an outside high temperature of 24, hit the spot for warmth and spiciness.

THEN, we finally had to face down our fear of making The Gentle Chef's Chikun Shreds...if you remember, the last couple of times we made them, we almost blew up the house with the exploding dough. So, we only made ONE batch of dough and instead of processing it for 60 seconds to get that taffy-like consistency, we processed for 30 seconds. The texture was still approaching 'taffiness' but not the gooeyesqueness of taffy. Nonetheless, we TRIPLE-WRAPPED in heavy duty foil (like we did before) but were extra careful to leave MORE room for expansion. We also altered our wrapping technique to assure a better seal at each end. THEN, as one more precaution, we TIED IT UP! SEE!

It was the longest two hours of your Elf's life! We watched that oven like a damn hawk and even took the package out of the oven at the 90 minute mark to make sure there was still room for expansion...there was, so it went back in. We actually made the two hours with a great sigh of relief. After cooling for a bit, we unwrapped it to see what it looked like... and we were pleased!

The cooked 'chikun' had to refrigerate overnight to allow it to texturize appropriately. We did lose a bit of the 'chiken-like' texture but the taste is great. We have nerve up now to try it again soon and will press our luck with a longer processing time for the dough. If you recall also from last week, we had purchased an Air Fryer. We tried some potatoes

which we had sliced too thickly and did not really crisp up. Later in the week we 'air-fried' some broccoli and Brussels Sprouts.We added them to some Red Lentil Pasta along with some Gardein chicken. We also sautéed some home made seitan

and threw that in as well. Seasoned with EVOO and some fresh lemon juice, it was a nice little spur of the moment meal.

As for the Air Fryer, it was returned after some additional researching for a different brand. We are waiting for it to arrive Monday (tomorrow). We also bought Kathy Hesters' new AF cookbook and have found several recipes to try.

She also has some great commentary on the use of an AF as well as things to avoid. So you can rest assured that you will be seeing some things from the world of Air Frying! And finally, we always eat Thai at least once a week, usually on the weekend at a local Thai restaurant (Fusion). They are very vegan friendly and are aware of preparing dishes without fish sauce or other 'hidden' animal ingredients or seasonings. Plus the food is delicious! This is your Elf's favorite, crispy Tofu with vegetables.

So, again and for always, 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. Your Elf

PotPourri Part Two

BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE!! But, hopefully, the Kinky Elfery Kitchen is busy enough to warm the whole house!! Actually, we don’t have a LOT to talk about this week; we’ve been occupied with non-kitchenery stuffs and have prepared little in the way of new recipes. We DID prepare a couple of previously featured dishes to share with some friends, so the week has not been a total loss in the food preparation ‘bidness’. HOWSOMEVER, what we do wish to be helpful and entertaining! This past week offered us a breather from the intense cold we’ve been experiencing, though since Friday, we are back in the Deep South Freeze and will stay here for a few more days. We in Mississippi hardly suffer from really frigid temperatures, so when we have several days with lows in the teens, we don’t deal with it very well. And aging infrastructures don’t either, so maintaining water service in the city of Jackson has been a challenge with well over 100 breaks in water mains. All of them were repaired just in time for this current and upcoming onslaught of dreadfully cold weather. So, here are just a few things from this past, almost cookless, week. On Wednesday, January 10, we had the honor and joy of speaking to the Alumni of the Dean Ornish Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson MS. This picture was taken prior to our Elf-speak so there are a few folks that are missing. Can you spot Your Elf?

In any event, we had a BALL! Your Elf could NOT shut up and the very responsive audience/participants kept us on our pointy toes with questions and comments. The Ornish Program for the Reversal of Heart Disease is only offered in Mississippi at St. Dominic Hospital.

https://www.ornish.com/provider-stories/undo-heart-disease-ornish-st-dominics-clinical-delivery-team/

This link is for informational purposes; your Elf is on board for diet-regimens that support plant-based eating. In any event, these alumni have altered their life-style to assist in their cardiac rehabilitation; this includes not only plant-based eating but also limiting fat intake. So, you can imagine the challenge of not only becoming plant-based but also counting grams of fat. But, let us tell you, these folks are doing it and they are doing it to stay healthy. Bottom line, they are committed and they are eager to learn more about options that they have and recipes that promote the goals of the program. It’s not easy but they are up for the task. So, thanks to all of you who attended, who asked great questions, who offered their stories, and who listened. A common theme of comments and questions centered around how to incorporate variety, taste, and restaurant eating without sacrificing the plant-based, low fat guidelines. So, here’s a link for an ‘Oil Free 8 Minute Marinara Sauce’ compliments of Shane and Simple.

https://shaneandsimple.com/oil-free-8-minute-marinara-sauce/

His blog and site is also full of great healthy options, so please enjoy. There was also considerable interest in plant-based meats in an elf-fort to stay away from the typically fat laden, highly processed, and not necessarily tasty commercial plant-based meats. So, we are offering this link to an older blog featuring our preparation of The Gentle Chef’s ‘Bacun’ (always with his permission). There IS oil used in this recipe so be forewarned.

http://the-elf-in-the-kitchen.blogspot.com/2015/05/gone-with-elf.html

AND! LOOKEE what Your Elf learned from this meeting! Yep, an Air Fryer. These have been the rage for a while now but we’ve been a bit reluctant to try.

One of the Ornishers, Ken Roberts, raved about his, so we decided to take the plunge and get one. So, far, we’ve managed to get it out of the box and will spend considerable time this week playing with it. We Googled ‘vegan air fryer recipes’ and found dozens of resources, sites, and recipe books all using air fryers. So, we should have some fun things to share with you next week; or not. We also found another interesting and easy recipe to try using our slow cooker...’Slow Cooker Cauliflower’. We love cauliflower so this looks to be a winner. We’ll let you know!

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/slow-cooker-whole-cauliflower-532997

Thursday of this week saw us (Your Elf and Big Solid) in his home town of Water Valley MS. Water Valley is a small town (maybe 3000+) that has become a showpiece of rejuvenation. It has transformed itself from a dying railroad town to thriving mecca for the arts and businesses. To show you how ‘mainstream’ plant-based eating has become, a nationally famous restaurant called ‘B.T.C.’ (Be The Change) was established in an old vacant 'Ben Franklin' store

AND they offer vegan/vegetarian options! This WONDERFUL salad, called Oh Suzanne, was a luscious combination of fresh and locally grown greens, spicy walnuts, black-eyed peas, dried cherries, crispy Brussels sprouts, and a delicious golden beet and cherry vinaigrette! It also has pickled egg and honey goat cheese but we asked that be held to make it totally plant-based.

OH SUZZANNE! It was delicious! We also received our order of a CASE of Firewalker Hot Sauce…you  may remember we found this on our trip to Asheville NC this past August.

http://firewalkerhotsauce.com/

WE LOVE this sauce but it will seriously challenge your heat tolerance!! Talk about adding flavor though!! WOW!

Today, as we were checking out at the grocery store, the woman behind us commented on the amount of fresh vegetables on the conveyor with’ “Looks like there is some healthy eating there”. We responded with an enthusiastic yes and mentioned that we were/are vegan. The checker also commented that she needed to eat better, so we had a moment to share our Elf card and talk about the blog. For whatever else occurs, we hope both of these folks will read, try, and try again. Life is good!

So, we are at the end of this little bloggery today with some guilt about not having ‘fixed’ some recipes. But, hey! There are the coming weeks, so stay tuned. In the meantime, remember to always 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!

YOUR Elf!!

Pot Pourri Elf

BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE!! But, hopefully, the Kinky Elfery Kitchen is busy enough to warm the whole house!! Actually, we don’t have a LOT to talk about this week; we’ve been occupied with non-kitchenery stuffs and have prepared little in the way of new recipes. We DID prepare a couple of previously featured dishes to share with some friends, so the week has not been a total loss in the food preparation ‘bidness’. HOWSOMEVER, what we do wish to be helpful and entertaining! This past week offered us a breather from the intense cold we’ve been experiencing, though since Friday, we are back in the Deep South Freeze and will stay here for a few more days. We in Mississippi hardly suffer from really frigid temperatures, so when we have several days with lows in the teens, we don’t deal with it very well. And aging infrastructures don’t either, so maintaining water service in the city of Jackson has been a challenge with well over 100 breaks in water mains. All of them were repaired just in time for this current and upcoming onslaught of dreadfully cold weather. So, here are just a few things from this past, almost cookless, week. On Wednesday, January 10, we had the honor and joy of speaking to the Alumni of the Dean Ornish Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson MS. This picture was taken prior to our Elf-speak so there are a few folks that are missing. Can you spot Your Elf?

In any event, we had a BALL! Your Elf could NOT shut up and the very responsive audience/participants kept us on our pointy toes with questions and comments. The Ornish Program for the Reversal of Heart Disease is only offered in Mississippi at St. Dominic Hospital.

https://www.ornish.com/provider-stories/undo-heart-disease-ornish-st-dominics-clinical-delivery-team/

This link is for informational purposes; your Elf is on board for diet-regimens that support plant-based eating. In any event, these alumni have altered their life-style to assist in their cardiac rehabilitation; this includes not only plant-based eating but also limiting fat intake. So, you can imagine the challenge of not only becoming plant-based but also counting grams of fat. But, let us tell you, these folks are doing it and they are doing it to stay healthy. Bottom line, they are committed and they are eager to learn more about options that they have and recipes that promote the goals of the program. It’s not easy but they are up for the task. So, thanks to all of you who attended, who asked great questions, who offered their stories, and who listened. A common theme of comments and questions centered around how to incorporate variety, taste, and restaurant eating without sacrificing the plant-based, low fat guidelines. So, here’s a link for an ‘Oil Free 8 Minute Marinara Sauce’ compliments of Shane and Simple.

https://shaneandsimple.com/oil-free-8-minute-marinara-sauce/

His blog and site is also full of great healthy options, so please enjoy. There was also considerable interest in plant-based meats in an elf-fort to stay away from the typically fat laden, highly processed, and not necessarily tasty commercial plant-based meats. So, we are offering this link to an older blog featuring our preparation of The Gentle Chef’s ‘Bacun’ (always with his permission). There IS oil used in this recipe so be forewarned.

http://the-elf-in-the-kitchen.blogspot.com/2015/05/gone-with-elf.html

AND! LOOKEE what Your Elf learned from this meeting! Yep, an Air Fryer. These have been the rage for a while now but we’ve been a bit reluctant to try.

One of the Ornishers, Ken Roberts, raved about his, so we decided to take the plunge and get one. So, far, we’ve managed to get it out of the box and will spend considerable time this week playing with it. We Googled ‘vegan air fryer recipes’ and found dozens of resources, sites, and recipe books all using air fryers. So, we should have some fun things to share with you next week; or not. We also found another interesting and easy recipe to try using our slow cooker...’Slow Cooker Cauliflower’. We love cauliflower so this looks to be a winner. We’ll let you know!

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/slow-cooker-whole-cauliflower-532997

Thursday of this week saw us (Your Elf and Big Solid) in his home town of Water Valley MS. Water Valley is a small town (maybe 3000+) that has become a showpiece of rejuvenation. It has transformed itself from a dying railroad town to thriving mecca for the arts and businesses. To show you how ‘mainstream’ plant-based eating has become, a nationally famous restaurant called ‘B.T.C.’ (Be The Change) was established in an old vacant 'Ben Franklin' store

AND they offer vegan/vegetarian options! This WONDERFUL salad, called Oh Suzanne, was a luscious combination of fresh and locally grown greens, spicy walnuts, black-eyed peas, dried cherries, crispy Brussels sprouts, and a delicious golden beet and cherry vinaigrette! It also has pickled egg and honey goat cheese but we asked that be held to make it totally plant-based.

OH SUZZANNE! It was delicious! We also received our order of a CASE of Firewalker Hot Sauce…you  may remember we found this on our trip to Asheville NC this past August.

http://firewalkerhotsauce.com/

WE LOVE this sauce but it will seriously challenge your heat tolerance!! Talk about adding flavor though!! WOW!

Today, as we were checking out at the grocery store, the woman behind us commented on the amount of fresh vegetables on the conveyor with’ “Looks like there is some healthy eating there”. We responded with an enthusiastic yes and mentioned that we were/are vegan. The checker also commented that she needed to eat better, so we had a moment to share our Elf card and talk about the blog. For whatever else occurs, we hope both of these folks will read, try, and try again. Life is good!

So, we are at the end of this little bloggery today with some guilt about not having ‘fixed’ some recipes. But, hey! There are the coming weeks, so stay tuned. In the meantime, remember to always 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!

YOUR Elf!!

Happiness is a Warm Elf

WELCOME 2018!! What a wonderful year to continue to be plant-based and vegan or to incorporate plant-based eating into your current food regimen. We are only too happy to share tips, recipes, resources, and links that will make your effort be rewarding. So, let’s begin our year together with the traditional foods of the New Year Day celebrations of parades and, of course, FOOTBALL!! Nothing like a glass of champagne at midnight to welcome the year with all the joys, challenges, opportunities and excitement that we can ferret out!

As is a Southern Tradition, we prepared Black-eyed Peas, Cabbage and Cornbread for our New Year’s Day food extravagance. And, we left out the Ham Hocks/How Jowl. Believe you me, we did not miss the fat at all and had plenty of flavor with good seasoning and some Liquid Smoke. So, we put our Black-eyed Peas in the Crockpot with enough of The Gentle Chef’s ‘Chicken’ Bouillon (with a half teaspoon of Liquid Smoke) to cover, set on high, and let them cook away. We did check on them after about two hours to replenish the liquid that had been absorbed. We used a slow cooker bag to keep the Crock Pot clean. We have mixed feelings about using the bags, mostly because we have a regular sized Crock Pot and the bags are designed for the larger pots that are oval instead of round. Sure do wish they made these cooker bags for the smaller pots.

We removed the thickest part of the cabbage core and cut the cabbage into reasonably sized pieces. We heated a large deep frying pan until it was pretty hot, threw in about a tablespoon of EVOO. It got hot quickly and we added raw cabbage until the pan was about three-quarter full.

We like to get a bit of a sear on the cabbage initially and then turn the heat down, cover until it cooks down a bit and then add the rest of the raw cabbage. It gets a good stir to assure that the newly added cabbage mingles with the more wilted and absorbs some of the seasoning (a bit of white balsamic vinegar and a quarter teaspoon of Liquid Smoke). This is covered and allowed to cook down until tender and well seasoned. If it needs further seasoning prior to eating, we can adjust for taste with more white balsamic, salt and pepper.

Even though we LOVE our Black-eyed Peas and Cabbage, there is nothing ‘eat-wise’ that brings a smile to Big Solid’s face than corn sticks baked in cast iron! We have veganized the recipe with ease and while we put together the batter, we brush the iron corn stick pans with some coconut oil (it sustains a high heat capability), throw them in a 450º oven and let them get really hot. Then, we add the batter and listen to the swizzle that assures we'll have a nice crust!

When the ‘sticks’ are done, it’s time to eat and rest in the knowledge that we will have good luck for the year!

We try to use Miyoko’s Creamery Vegan Butter; it’s delicious and sustainable but VERY expensive. So we keep Earth Balance on hand for baking. We have noticed that ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’ has now come out with a vegan option; of course, we can’t get it here yet but are asking.
Big Solid has been asking Your Elf for some 'chicken and sausage' gumbo, so during the week prior to New Year's Day, we decided to give it a go. We used a combination of two recipes, the Mushroom and Tempeh Gumbo from Susan Voisin's FatFree Vegan Kitchen for the dry roux

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2013/11/mushroom-and-tempeh-gumbo.html
and a non-vegan recipe for the vegetables and spicing.

http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/louisiana-chicken-and-sausage-gumbo-the-real-stuff-47656
So, first you make a roux, starting with flour and, this time, our cast iron skillet. Of course, the flour initially is white

and gradually undergoes that magical color change that makes a roux

a roux.

Once the flour is a deep enough color, we blended with our ‘go-to’ bouillon and VOILA! A deep, dark roux. We sautéed our mirepoix, (chopped onion, celery and bell pepper) the Holy Trinity of Louisiana cooking, added garlic, Cajun seasoning and then the blended roux. To this we added okra (it IS gumbo) and let that simmer.

To that we added our plant-based Andouille Sausage and a combination of Soy Delight Chicken Nuggets we’d sautéed stovetop and the remaining 'Chickun Shreds' from the exploding dough a while back.

The non-vegan recipe called for the addition of the gumbo staple filé thirty minutes before serving. If you’ve ever doubted that filé makes a difference, take it from Your Elf…IT DOES!! We tried the thickened gumbo prior to adding the filé; Big Solid’s reaction was “This is good but it’s not gumbo.” Broke Your Elf’s heart. THEN we said, OK, let’s add the filé and try it again. “BINGO!” or should we say “GUMBO!” Here’s the final plating.

The final recipe we’d like to share with you this week is one we will make often…it’s THAT good. A Facebook friend, Sharla Bachelder, sent us this link and we knew immediately that we’d like to try it. Mushroom-Spinach Soup with Cinnamon, Coriander, and Cumin. Long title, GREAT SOUP!
https://mobile.nytimes.com/recipes/1017980/mushroom-spinach-soup-with-cinnamon-coriander-and-cumin.html
We share this link with a caveat…this site is not free. You do get a free trial at which point, you may choose to purchase a membership or let it go. It’s a great site but not plant-based. Just so you know. Anywho…here’s the soup! We got our ‘mise en place’ and naturally found ONE ingredient we THOUGHT we had but didn’t. However, we had a decent substitute so we forged ahead. Top row left to right we have Organic Cinnamon, Ground Coriander, Allspice, Ground Cumin, Thyme, Oyster and Shiitake Mushrooms, EVOO, Kosher Salt. Bottom row is Baby Spinach, Tomato Paste, Lime, Earth Balance, Shallots (we did not have enough to make complete the amount, so we added diced onion), Cremini Mushrooms, Black Pepper.

The mushrooms were torn and placed in a soup pan.

This was done in half-portions of mushrooms and shallot/onions, using approximately 10 ounces of mixed mushrooms each round of cooking. They were cooked for about 14-16 minutes for each portion until all their liquid had been rendered and they were a nice deep brown.

All the mushrooms were returned to the pan with all the spices/tomato paste and cooked for about a minute

then we added 5 cups of our chicken bouillon. (The recipe called for water but we always use the bouillon.) The spinach was added only until wilted

and then very coarsely chopped with an immersion blender. We served it with a left-over corn stick!

The first Saturday of each month is celebrated with our BFFs, Jesse and ME Dees. This Saturday we went to a new restaurant for us, Bacchus.

https://www.bacchusmadison.com/

While their menu doesn’t exactly include plant-based eating options, they were very happy to design a couple of options for us when we contacted them ahead of time. Your Elf had a very nice veggie pasta

and Big Solid feasted on a grilled veggie sandwich with fries!It was a very nice evening with very good friends.

So, we close out our first blog of 2018 and already have some fun ideas cooking up for the Kinky Elfery Kitchen!
We leave you as we always do..remember to always 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!
Your Elf.