Jillian's Dish

So way back in a far far away land, well okay nearly a year ago I set out to chronicle some of my personal life, adventures, and cooking. I then proceeded to fall off the face of the blogging earth. Really I just found myself pregnant, with twins!  And I subsequently fell off my 30 day raw band wagon, as my will power could not withstand the extreme craving for a cheeseburger. In fact, eating in general became a huge challenge. The first trimester I was eating constantly (grapes and water at 4am anyone? Yeah it’s lonely eating for 3 sometimes). Then as I began to grow my appetite waned with the loss of space to stash the yummy nibbles. I also seemed to loose my cooking inspiration for awhile, but I am happy to say that it has been slowly making its way back.

In May I took my very last trip for awhile to visit family back in PA. It was a lovely trip and I jumped at the opportunity to visit the Culinary Institute of America campus in Hyde Park, NY. They had a wonderful book store where I scored what I think is one of the best vegetarian cookbooks I have come across, The Vegetarian Student Cookbook. Now with two infants and a husband who practically begs for meatless fare this book has been a lifesaver. It’s strong points are that it provides easy to prepare meals (not too many ingredients) and mostly simple (not many unusual ingredients). I highly recommend grabbing a copy if you would like to increase your veggie consumption and decrease your meaty dish devouring.

Here is my favorite dish from the cookbook so far with my own little recommendations…

Grilled Polenta with Fresh Tomato Relish

• One tube of polenta (I get this at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, you can even be wild and try a flavored polenta)
• Olive oil
• 3 to 4 Roma tomatoes diced
• A handful of fresh basil chopped
• 2 to 3 fresh cloves of garlic chopped finely
• 2 Sliced green onions (optional)
• A handful of flat leaf parsley chopped (optional, I sometimes add this in just to give a pop of freshness)
• Half a lemon juiced (optional, I prefer a sweeter meyer lemon, and if your feeling really wild some zest)

Slice the polenta log into even slices about half and inch thick. Drizzle the polenta slices with olive oil or grease whatever grill tool you are going to use. Salt and pepper your polenta slices and then grill on either a panini/grill press, in a grill pan, or on the grill. Make your tomato relish topping by tossing together the tomato, basil, garlic, and green onion. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, and zest. Toss again and season with salt and pepper to taste. To serve up simply place your freshly grilled polenta on a plate and top with tomato relish. This is great to pair with some mixed greens tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette (I have a great dressing recipe which I will post soon).

Happy Cooking!

 

More like MMMMM groats! I just couldn’t resist the title that Andy came up with. It is that time in our adventure into eating raw to get beyond the smoothie for breakfast. So I tried this recipe in Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Essentials for a groat cereal which is very similar to oatmeal, and waking up to a rainy morning it seemed to make it even more perfect. Though being raw this is not a piping hot bowl of oatmeal, but delicious just the same and if you are a sweets person in the morning this is a healthy replacement.

While I would like to say that I followed Ani’s recipe to the ‘T’ it is just not in my DNA to do so. However, I wouldn’t say I completely deviated off into a completely different direction. If you want to give raw/live food a whirl this is an easy and delicious way to give it a try.

GROATMEAL

Ingredients:

· 1 cup of oat groats

· 1 Banana (small or medium)

· 3 to 4 California Dates or 2 Medjool Dates PITTED

· 1/2 Cup water (not shown)

· A pinch of Himalayan pink salt or sea salt

· Handful raisins

· Handful chopped pecans

Okay this will make roughly 2 servings depending on how voracious of a morning appetite you have, you might want to double it.

1. First rinse your groats until the water runs clear. The soak your groats overnight in filtered water in a bowl with the water level 2 to 3 inches above the groats
2. In the morning drain and rinse your groats
3. Put your groats, dates, banana, salt, and water in the food processor. Pulse them together in the processor until you get the consistency you desire. This is one step where I deviate from Ani’s instruction. She tells you to choose banana, dates, or agave nectar as the sweetening factor, but I chose dates and banana because the dates give you a sort of maple-like flavor similar to brown sugar and the banana makes it creamy like oatmeal with cream or milk. Oh, and that salt, well really a little salt livens and accentuates the flavors in any dish sweet or savory. You can also increase or limit the water you use making it as chunky or smooth as you would like
4. Next scoop out your Groatmeal into a mixing bowl and mix in a handful of raisins and roughly chopped pecans. This is another step that you can get creative on. Feel free to choose whatever mix-ins you like…the sky is really the limit (well as long as it’s raw and vegan) try things like cranberries, different nuts, dried apricots, dried figs, etc.
5. Scoop into serving bowls and enjoy!

One thing that is probably becoming obvious to you and has definitely become apparent to me is that eating live is a type of cooking which requires more thought and planning in advance. In many recipes grains and nuts must soak in filtered water for hours and often overnight. The upside is that you are likely eating healthier and with with this recipe you don’t have as much of an excuse to run out without your breakfast in the morning.

If you are in the LA area and looking for a good natural foods store I would suggest trying Sprouts near the Westfield Culver City Mall, this is especially good if you are needing to get other regular groceries as they have meat, deli, and bakery selections. Rainbow Acres off Washington Blvd. which I think is technically in Culver City but kind of near the Marina Del Rey border is also great; this is more of a nutritional store and has a lot more for the serious vegan or raw food person (like the cacao nibs which I couldn’t find at Sprouts). In my opinion though their produce selection is pretty pathetic for a natural foods store, but if you are like me and you frequent the local Farmer’s Markets once or twice a week this isn’t an obstacle. That said, it is time for me to put my rain boots on and hope that the farmers market is still on today.

I hope you will give Groatmeal a try!

Thanksgiving is over and if you are like me then you are exhausted from hosting, cleaning, and cooking. Plus Christmas, the end of the year, and the end of my Thanksgiving vacation are all just around the corner. This calls for some comfort food and one of my favorite ways to reinvent those Thanksgiving leftovers, turkey pot pie.

Jillian’s Mostly Homemade Turkey Pot Pie:

1. 1 stick of butter
2. Flour (about 3/4 cup)
3. 1 carton chicken stock (about 32 oz.)
4. 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
5. Salt, pepper, leftover fresh herbs (optional)
6. 1 bag of frozen veggies thawed (I like the standard carrots, peas, green beans, and corn mix but feel free to use what you like)
7. Leftover shredded turkey meat
8. 1 box of ready made pie crusts (2 crusts, I like Pillsbury you can use whatever you like or make your own)
9. 1 egg and a little water for an egg wash

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then start making the pot pie filling by melting the butter in a large sauce pan. Once fully melted add the flour a little at a time whisking it and trying to keep it from being clumpy. You are going for a wet beach sand texture. Next you will slowly incorporate the stock whisking to keep your mixture from having lumps until you get a nice gravy like texture (not too thin but not too thick and it will thicken when cool). Then incorporate the heavy cream, you don’t have to add this but I like the extra creaminess that it adds. Salt and pepper to taste. You can also add some finely chopped fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme if you have them left over.

In a large bowl add your turkey and veggies then fold in your sauce. You may or may not need all of the sauce depending on how deep of a pie dish you are using. Next put your filling into a 9 inch pie dish that is already lined with crust #1. Smooth the mixture out until level with the top of the dish. And top with your second crust pinch the edges of the two crusts together sealing the pie.

Whisk the egg with a little water and give your pie a nice egg wash so that you crust gets a nice amber and flaky top. Place in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Just check in on it in those final ten minutes to get your desired browning on the crust you will start smelling it when it is almost done.

And voila! You have turkey pot pie.

A delish comfort food and great way to use up that leftover turkey. Of course this doesn’t have to be kept to an after Thanksgiving meal you could make your own chicken pot pie using one of those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store. After the first time making this it probably will take about an hour from prep to table and you can peel your chicken off the bones the night before making it a doable dish when you get home from the office.

I hope you will give it a try and feel the comfort. I got two pies out of my leftovers this year though Andy loves it so much he says that I could make 5 more! Yikes! I will fill him in on that stick of butter and he might just change his mind. Hahahaha!

Thanksgiving is upon us! As someone who loves to cook you can probably guess that this is one of my very favorite holidays. Thanksgiving for me centers around spending time with family and friends, feasting on tasty items until you feel as though your pants might pop open, and being thankful for all that I have. Over the past few years I have dabbled with different recipes and have begun to create my own arsenal of Thanksgiving dishes that I hope to pass on to my kids one day. My cranberry sauce recipe is one I love and am excited to share with you in hopes that it makes it to your Thanksgiving line up and is enjoyed.

Cranberry Persimmons Sauce

1. 1 Bag of cranberries
2. 1/2 cup of red wine (I find $2 buck chuck merlot or shiraz to be good)
3. Zest of one orange and the juice of half the orange
4. 1/3 cup of water
5. 1/2 star anise
6. 1 cinnamon stick
7. 1 cup of sugar
8. 2 to 3 fuyu persimmons peeled and diced into small pieces (these are the flatter shaped persimmons that can be eaten hard or soft, I like them crisp for a nice contrast in texture)

Put ingredients 1-7 in a sauce pan and simmer letting the cranberries pop open and the sauce thicken,  about 20 minutes. Remove the star anise and cinnamon stick then chill. You can make the cranberry sauce 2 to 3 days ahead. Add the persimmons pieces to the sauce about an hour or two before serving.

This is not a strict recipe so feel free to increase the wine and decrease the water or go wild and add a splash of Grand Marnier, just try to keep the liquids to one cup or a little less otherwise your sauce will be too saucy. You can also lighten up on the liquids for more of a relish and definitely double it if you are having a larger Thanksgiving gathering. I hope you will give it a try.

With love from my Thanksgiving table to yours,

Jillian