Huevos Burritos Jardin

The following recipe was a flash of insight that converted "What the heck do we have in the refrigerator?" to "Well, that's new." The idea of using eggs as a burrito wrap may not be original to me, but since I never saw it before, I'm claiming it. And the "jardin" comes from the multitude of chunky vegetables that give the dish its texture and personality.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped vegetables (onion, bell pepper, carrot, celery, raw spinach leaves, etc.)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
• 2 x 15-ounce cans of black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• ¼ cup prepared picante
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 6 eggs, beaten separately
• ¾ cup of shredded cojack cheese

Sauté the vegetables in the olive oil in a large pan until the onions are translucent and just browned. Remove from heat and add in the tomato sauce, beans, picante, and chili powder. Add back to the heat and stir to mix. Mash about ⅓ of the beans in the pan and stir back in to thicken the mixture. Cook on the stovetop for about 5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat.

Spray a small sauté pan with cooking spray, and cook each egg separately so they spread over the pan in a single layer and just set. Remove each egg and stack on a plate.

To make each huevos burrito, scoop about ¾ cup of bean filling into the center of each egg and roll up into a log. Place each rolled egg next to each other in a glass cooking dish. Sprinkle the top with cheese. Place under a broiler for 3-4 minutes until the cheese is completely melted.

Note: this recipe makes plenty of bean filling, so the recipe can be expanded for more eggs.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving Stuffing

One of my contributions to our family's multigenerational Thanksgiving meal is the vegetarian stuffing. Many years ago, I convinced my father-in-law that homemade stuffing was MUCH better than Pepperidge Farm's stuffing, so now I get to make it every year. I should have thought that one through it a bit more.

This recipe is not an original; rather it is cobbled together from various other recipes, some probably dating back to the invention of cornbread itself. It has served me well.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg or equivalent egg substitute
• ¼ cup vegetable oil (preferably canola) plus additional oil for sautéing vegetables
• 1 cup milk or milk substitute
• 7 slices oven-dried white or whole-wheat bread
• 2 cups diced celery
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 5-7 cups vegetarian broth
• 4-8 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Mix together milk, oil, and beaten egg, and add to dry ingredients. Mix just enough to make a moist batter. Pour batter into a greased 8 x 8 inch square baking pan. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until set and lightly browned. Let cornbread cool before adding it to other ingredients.

Saute celery and onion in a little oil.

In a bowl, crumble together cornbread and oven dried bread. Add sauteed vegetables and spices, and mix together. Pour in broth and butter. Bake in greased 9 x 13 inch pan for 30-45 minutes until set.

Sage Tofu Hash

This tofu hash is very versatile. It can be used as a filling for breakfast burritos; a starter for breakfast hash with potatoes, onions, and peppers; a topping for pizza; or simply a dish unto itself. By using a non-wheat tamari and a low FODMAP vegetable broth, it is vegan, gluten-free, low FODMAP, and incredibly addictive.

Ingredients

• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground sage
• ½ teaspoon ground marjoram
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
• 14-ounce block of extra firm tofu

Preheat oven broiler.

Mix broth, tamari, and spices together in a large bowl. Drain tofu on paper towels to wick away most of the water, then cut the tofu into quarter inch pieces. Marinate tofu for 30 minutes in broth mixture, making sure to keep all tofu pieces as submerged as possible.

Drain tofu, but reserve marinade. Spread out tofu on lightly greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle half of the remaining marinade over the tofu pieces. Cook under a broiler for 20 minutes or until slightly browned, stirring the pieces every 5 minutes.

Eggnog Kugel

I have always believed the eighth night of Chanukah should be called the "fire hazard" night. Whenever my wife would let me, I set out seven chanukiot with 63 candles burning brightly. Luckily by the last night, most of the wrapped presents had already been unwrapped, so the chances of an errant candle setting off a horrific holiday blaze were somewhat reduced.

What's a holiday without a sense of danger?

In more recent years, my wife has restricted me to no more than five chanukiot, which is both safer and less likely to blind passing aircraft. So, I acquiesce. Shalom Bayit, and all.

On a related note, here is my recipe for Eggnog Kugel, a recipe that blends Ashkenzai Jewish culinary tradition with the nutmeg-infused dairy product so often found throughout December. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

• Kugel
  • 8 ounces wide egg noodles
  • 4 ounces butter or margarine
  • 6 eggs
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1 cup cottage cheese
  • 1 cup eggnog
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ½ cup raisins

• Topping:
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook noodles in boiling salted water until tender. Drain and add butter. Set aside. Beat together eggs, sour cream, cottage cheese, eggnog, and sugar. Add raisins. Add mixture to noodles. Pour into greased 8 x 12-inch baking dish. Mix together topping ingredients. Sprinkle over kugel. Bake for one hour. Serves 10-12.

Nussbaum Pilkes (Nut Balls)

This Pesach dish evolved over many years and many iterations from a meatloaf-form to patties to the final form shown here. The great thing about this dish is it can be eaten straight or served on pieces of matzah, over quinoa, or over rice (for Sephardic Jews). A non-Pesadic version can be made by substituting bread crumbs for matzah meal and serving it over any grain or pasta or making a meatball sub on a hearty Italian roll.

The name “nussbaum pilkes” is Yiddish for tree nut balls. I gave the dish this name to create a greater sense of ethnic credibility, gravitas, and history, and to stem the giggles coming from the kids table when the youngest yells, “pass the nut balls!”

Ingredients

• Pilkes
• 2 cups walnuts
• ½ small onion
• ½ green bell pepper
• 1 carrot, peeled
• 1 medium stick of celery
• ½ cup matzah meal
• 1 teaspoon Kosher for Passover vegetable bouillon mixed in a tablespoon water
• 6 ounces tomato paste (1 small can)
• 1 egg (or 1 tablespoon flaxseed in 2.5 tablespoons water)
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt/pepper to taste
• Sauce
• 28 ounces tomato sauce
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a food processor, grind up walnuts, onion, bell pepper, carrot, and celery to a coarse paste. Mix in matzah meal, tomato paste, bouillon, egg, and spices. With wet hands, roll into 1 inch diameter balls and place on a cookie sheet coated with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping the balls over half-way through the cooking process.

Prepare the sauce by adding tomato sauce and spices to a medium-sized sauce pan, and cooking covered for 20 minutes over a low heat.

Place the balls in a glass serving dish and cover with the tomato sauce.

Hamantaschen

Purim, the 14th of Adar, is my favorite holiday in the Jewish calendar. This is in part due to the shades of emotional complexity inherent in the holiday and partly due to its underdog nature (overshadowed both by biblical holidays and by Chanukah, it’s spoiled rich cousin who benefited from location). Mostly, however, this is due to hamantaschen, the Ashkenazi culinary emblem of the Feast of Esther.

For those not in the know, Purim celebrates the biblical Book of Esther, the story of how in ancient Persia, an evil prime minister (Haman) convinced the all powerful king (Ahashuerus) to kill all the Jews in his empire, and how the beautiful, brave Queen Esther, herself a Jew, heeds her cousin Mordechai’s advice and warns the king at her own peril, thus saving the Jews and turning the tables on Haman. We celebrate by reading the Megillat Esther, dressing up in costumes, stamping out the name of Haman with noisemakers, feasting, and drinking to excess. Holidays don’t get much better than this.

In fact, the whole holiday is an exploration and celebration of all our nobler and baser emotions: fear, hatred, jealousy, lust, bravery, and revenge. There is a tradition that on Purim, one should get so drunk that they can’t tell the difference between “blessed is Mordechai” and “cursed is Haman”. And somehow, Chanukah got all the press time.

Another tradition, however, is sending packages of goodies to friends, family, and people in need. Central to this tradition (mishloach manot), is the making of hamantaschen, triangular cookies filled with everything from traditional Eastern European fillings of poppy seed and prune, to less heinous fillings of berry jams, apricot, chocolate, etc., etc., etc.

What follows is my recipe for hamantaschen. Although strawberry, apricot, raspberry, and chocolate are my traditional go-to fillings, every now and then I get exotic with the mango filling shown below. Chag sameach! Happy holidays!

Ingredients

• Cookie dough
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup butter or margarine, melted

• Mango filling
• 3 ripe mangoes (each about 3/4 pound)
• 1 Tbs fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1 tsp corn starch mixed with 2 tsp water

Mango filling:

Peel and cut flesh from mangoes, discarding pits. In a blender or food processor purée mango with the lime juice and 2 tablespoons sugar until smooth. Heat sauce over a low to medium flame, stirring constantly. Add the corn starch and cook until it thickens to your desired consistency. This recipe makes a lot of filling, but you can always freeze the extra.

Hamantaschen:

Sift or mix well the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, butter, juice, and vanilla extract. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour and cover. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Roll out dough to ⅛ inch thickness. Cut into circles with a 2-3 inch round cookie cutter. Put ¾ tsp of filling in the center of the circle. Shape into triangles using a standard hamantaschen fold. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 11 to 13 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Cool on a rack

TVP Burrito Base

Textured vegetable protein (TVP) is a staple in our family. Invented by Archer Daniels Midland in the 1960s, TVP is a soy product made by defatting soy flour and extruding the resulting protein under pressure into a variety of sizes (granular, flakes, and chunks). When dried (which is how it is sold), it can absorb liquid at a 2:1 ratio. TVP has a mild flavor by itself, which makes it ideal for any dish that requires a ground beef or chunk chicken component. It takes on the flavors of the dish and imparts texture rather than flavor.

For people who have difficulty digesting beans, TVP works well as the central protein in the bean burrito base. The resulting dish is more like Sloppy Joes than refried beans.

Ingredients

• 1½ cup TVP
• 1½ cups boiling water
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• ¼ cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons prepared picante
• 2 teaspoons chili powder

Pour boiling water into TVP and allow to soak for 5 minutes, until TVP has expanded and looks “fluffy”.

Saute onion and green pepper in oil until translucent and slightly browned. Remove from heat and add tomato sauce, picante, and chili powder. Place on low heat, stirring constantly.

Stir TVP into tomato sauce. Cook uncovered, stirring constantly for 3-5 more minutes until mixture thickens to desired consistency.

Bean Burrito Base

My wife once told me that her father, who grew up in the small town of Rockwall, Texas, first tasted Tex-Mex food when he was in the army. Many years later, he would typically make dinner for his family by sautéing up some onion, bell pepper, and ground beef, and only then deciding what they were actually eating for dinner.

This bean burrito filling, which she also learned from her father, fulfills the same roll. Depending on what types of beans (or non-bean protein) I have in the house, I will first make up this bean burrito base and serve it wrapped in tortillas, smothering tortilla chips and covered with cheese, baked into cornbread, filling hand pies, etc., etc. It is a very simple recipe that should be part of every vegetarian’s arsenal.

Ingredients

• ½ cup chopped onion
• ¼ cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons prepared picante
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 x 15-ounce cans beans (pinto, red, or black)

Sauté onion and green pepper in oil until translucent and slightly browned. Remove from heat and add tomato sauce, picante, and chili powder. Place on low heat, stirring constantly.

Drain and rinse beans. Stir into tomato sauce. With potato masher, mash beans to desired consistency, stirring constantly over low heat. Cook uncovered, stirring constantly for 3-5 more minutes.