Epicuriousity: the 'Catch-up is a good condiment' edition =p

Hello again anonymous and known readers of my bloggy blogdom.
It's been a while, but here we go with the show and tell of what I've been up to culinarily over the last how ever many weeks =)

Enjoy the photos!

My Vegan Banana Bread =)

My Vegan Coconut, Macadamia Nut, Apricot Loaf

One of the many permutations of my Fusion Curries

Coconut based Vegetable Curry with Noodles

I cannot take credit for the bread. It came from Ninawa market where they bake it daily in their huge stone oven. I did make the confit'd mushrooms though. Lusciously roasted in the oven with onions and garlic with a generous amount of olive oil and a touch of vinegar. Yumminess =)

It's okay you can 'confit' in me. =p

These two are from Patel Brother's Market. They make them daily. Meet Samosa and Vada Dal =)

Vegan Vanilla and Chocolate Halloween cookies that I made in October

Sauteed Gai Lan with Organic Udon noodles in a Ginger, Garlic sauce

No, those are not pieces of diced smoked pork. That's actually sauteed marinated and pressed tofu with some pea pads from a local Michigan farm. 

More Noodle goodness

Vegan Banana Pancakes that I made for my 3 nieces a few weeks ago. They scarfed them up =

The impromptu stirfry that happened with the help of my 3 little sous chefs (my nieces). They did such a good job cutting up the Vegetables for me with the supervision of their Mom of course =)

the impromptu succotash of blue potatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and deliciousness.

You should recognize this one, it's a bowlful of my Lugaw!

Not cooking , but steeping a beautiful blend of Rooibos from a local Michigan company. I believe this one was called 'Michigan Sunset.' Sooo good. 

I can't take credit for this except for the heating part. This is a Dal Puri that I bought in the frozen section of Patel Brothers and usually you would fry these, but I just cooked it in a nonstick pan and I think the results are pretty good. Dal filling was really spicy; so a good raita is recommended to accompany this one =)

Broccoli Raab and Peapads with a spiced pressed tofu in a homemade chili peanut sauce

My spiced stove-top Naan bread

Adventures in breadmaking, this time a take on a Middle Eastern style of bread

Top of a stuff bread I made

A peek inside of the stuffed bread. It was a mixture of Indian/Middle Easter spices with vegetables blended  together into a nice harmony.

Can you spot some of the whole toasted spices I used in there?

My Cinnamon Rolls in their Raw state

My Cinnamon Rolls in their cooked state

One of the only decent shots of my last batch of Lentil soup. This one used tiny red lentils that were from the Middle East. 

My Multi-seeded (chia, flax, sesame and pumpkin seeds) and fruit (dried Michigan: cherries, cranberries, strawberries and blueberries) with a handful of old fashioned oats in there for good measure. Came out beautifully. It's a keeper.

Sitting pretty in its baking pan

Do you feel inspiraled to bake yet? =p

Most recent stir fry that I made. Bok Choy, sweet peppers with a spiced marinated tofu in a garlic/ginger hoisin sauce with a little bit of chili for kick.

 So, those are it for now and that's not even all of them! Let me know which ones caught your eye the most or if you have any questions about them.

Happy cooking, healthy eating and well being to all of you!


Love,
Jessica

The power of Lugaw compels you!

Hello Everybody,

Depending on where you are situated it may be getting colder outside and you're starting to layer your clothes, but if you're not; then why haven't you invited me over to visit you yet???!!! ;p

I came home from work tonight not expecting to cook anything too complicated if anything at all, but I ended up making a very simple and common, but beloved Filipino dish called Lugaw (pronounced Lou-gow) or if you want to use the Spanish terminology it can also be referred to as Arroz Caldo. I guess you would call it a type of soup, but maybe also a type of porridge. It's based on a few ingredients: rice, ginger, vegetable stock or broth and a few seasonings. I made my own version as I do of almost everything I'ved cooked since the dawn of time; so of course this is a Vegetarian/Vegan version of Lugaw.

The traditional Lugaws do tend to have some meat in them; the most common one that comes to mind is chicken, but of course we're omitting that for my recipe. I actually didn't substitute anything for the chicken. I think that the few ingredients alone are hearty enough and definitely satisfy an appetite; especially on a cold winter's day.

Halle-luya! I <3 Ginger =)

If you love Ginger and hearty soups; then you will love this!

Here is what I used for the one I made earlier this evening:

Ingredients for Lugaw

4-5 Cups of cooked short grain brown rice
(It's better to use day old rice, but newly cook will do too)
6 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
1 Handful of medium thick slice pieces of ginger
3 Small onions sliced
Pinch of Turmeric or Saffron/Safflower
1 Bay Leaf
2-3 Tb Soy Sauce or Tamari
2 Tb Nipa Vinegar
3 Tsp Sesame Oil
6 Cups of filtered water or  low sodium Vegetable stock
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste


Method:

In a large heavy bottomed pot saute the garlic slices in 3-4 Tb of oil until just golden brown. Add the rice being sure move the rice and break it apart if necessary; so that it is evenly coated with the garlic and oil. Then season the rice by adding in your soy sauce and sesame oil, mixing it around to evenly distribute it. Let it cook for a few minutes or until thoroughly heated through. At this point you will be adding in the water/vegetable stock along with the 1 bay leaf. Once you've mixed everything together add in your sliced onions,vinegar, ginger along with a little freshly ground black pepper. Check your soup for seasoning, stir and let simmer for 18-25 minutes on medium heat. Never leave the pot or stove unattended, stir it occasionally to make sure that nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. It will thicken dramatically and once you start to see that there are tunnels of steam shooting out of the surface you know that the Lugaw is close to being finished.

A big pot full of love!

Once the Lugaw is done, turn off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes. It's best to eat this while it's hot and the flavors will only get better and better the longer you keep the soup. 

A bowlful of love that hugs you from the inside =)

It's truly a Filipino Comfort food. I guess the U.S. equivalent to this would be like a bowl of Grandma's Chicken soup. It warms you up and makes you release a happy sigh of 'ahhhh.'


I wish I had more photos to share with you for this, but it's not a super complicated recipe anyway. I hope you'll give it a try.



Happy Cooking and Good Health to you all.


Love,
Jessica