Applewood Smoked Cashew Stir Fry

I’ve been a fan of Boulder-based Olomomo nuts for a number of years now, but the chef in the house hadn’t heard of them until a box of goodies showed up at our door from Olomomo a few weeks ago. I dropped everything I was doing and started opening up bag after bag and alternated between eating a few and shoving them at him saying “try THIS one.” Chai Bliss Almonds, Righteous Cinnamon Cayenne Almonds, Mango Chipotle Zinger Almonds, Cherry Vanilla Almonds… I had a really hard time showing restraint from stuffing my face with almonds.

But, they’ve branched out and are no longer faithful to just the almond: There’s Cosmic Maple Masala Pecans and Applewood Smoked Cashews. The cashews were the first to go, and I’m considering making them a staple in the house because they’re the perfect addition to stir fries.

I don’t have a step-by-step recipe here, as it was a really simple and quickly prepared dish, but I’ll tell you the basics and highlight the Applewood Smoked Cashews as the ingredient that tied it all together.

I fried some onion, garlic, and eggplant in peanut oil and soy sauce while boiling rice noodles. The noodles were done at the same time as the veggies, so I added them to the wok with some more soy sauce, a couple tablespoons of liquid tamarind, the juice of a lemon, and a bit of kecap manis. After it was all well mixed, I served it topped with avocado, chopped parsley, and Olomomo Applewood Smoked Cashews.

The cashews provided the needed crunch, and their flavor was a perfect match for stir fries. We’ll be doing it again- different veggies, different noodles, different sauce, and it won’t matter. Olomomo’s Applewood Smoked Cashews are the secret ingredient to a perfect stir fry.

Martha Stewart’s Buttermilk Biscuits

My man really likes Martha. She’s his go-to-gal when looking for baking recipes, so it was quite natural that her recipe be the one he made to provide us a vessel upon which we could enjoy his homemade jams and preserves.

He followed her recipe exactly (link here: Martha Stewart’s Buttermilk Biscuit)

After rolling out the dough, he asked me for our biscuit cutter, which we don’t actually own. No worries! I read once in Cooks Illustrated that a mason jar lid ring is a great substitute for a biscuit cutter, and it is.

These were delicious biscuits and we’re ready to make a second batch this week.

Veggie Shepherd’s Pot Pie

I must admit- I’ve really started slacking at cooking since Sean and I met. He’s such a talented chef and spent the last year cooking for us many nights each week, regardless of his work schedule. All of that changed since taking on his new role as Kitchen Manager at Zeal. He spent a month getting the place up and running and now, almost two months into his new job, is hardly ever at home, so I have stepped back into my role as an avid home cook. He deserves it, and it’s fun for me, too.

As it’s winter, I thought something hearty would be enjoyed for dinner. I’m calling this one a Veggie Shepherd’s Pot Pie. It is pretty easy to prepare, but takes some time, so allow a few hours from start to finish.

First, I made the pie crust by basically following THIS RECIPE but adjusting it for just one cup of flower. After making the dough, I let it sit in the fridge for a little over an hour to chill.

While the dough was chilling in the fridge, I started chopping a yellow onion, four or five stalks of celery, four rather large carrots, and a peeled garnet yam. I added these to a sauté pan with a little olive oil and let them slowly start to cook. Next, I chopped up two Smoked Apple Sage Sausages (vegan sausages, of course) made by Field Roast, an artisan grain meat company. Sean introduced me to this company and I’ve come to really enjoy some of their products. It’s not typical fake meat trying to imitate meat and meat products. Field Roast makes a variety of sausages that are clearly not meat, yet are versatile and tasty additions that complete many of our vegetarian dishes here at home. And, the ingredient list on their sausages meets my high standards.

So, into the pan went the chopped sausage, a few splashes of homemade veggie broth, and I let this all cook on medium for thirty or forty minutes. Then I salted and peppered to taste, added a pinch of dried crumpled sage, a little parsley and thyme. I chopped a handful of kale and added it to the mix at the end and took my pan off the heat. It was now time to roll out my dough, make my bottom crust in a pie pan, and add the filling.

Don’t forget to PREHEAT THE OVEN, by the way, to 350 degrees.

I boiled water and cooked a white Hannah yam while making the filling, but set it to the side for the first 15 minutes the pie was in the oven. When the yam was cool enough to touch, I mashed it and spread it over the pie (which I had briefly taken out of the oven, of course) and then let it bake until the top was starting to develop a crust and turn brown and the pie crust was golden and crispy (20 more minutes or so). The look on Sean’s face when he returned home after another fifteen hour work day was all I needed to know I had really shown him how much I care. After all, we all know the way to a man’s heart…

One slice of this was definitely not enough for either of us. I must admit- this was one of my best dishes in a long time.

Pumpkin Peanut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here’s one of my favorite Moosewood recipes.  They’re called “Sweet Pumpkin Cookies” in their New Classics Cookbook, and I’ve been baking them for years. As it’s pumpkin season, I picked up a local pie pumpkin and roasted it for this recipe rather than purchase canned pumpkin. Here are Moosewood’s ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped toasted peanuts
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

I made a few changes for this batch- rather than one cup of sugar, I used 3/4 cups evaporated cane juice and 1/4 cup maple sugar, I used 1/2 cup peanuts, and skipped the raisins. I like the addition of maple sugar (which you can find at Savory Spice Shop) because maple makes most things better.

Preheat oven to 375

In your KitchenAid mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Then add the pumpkin, egg, vanilla, and mix well. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to your mixer and mix until a gorgeous batter is formed. Mix in your nuts and chips, and be patient- don’t eat it all raw.

Drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet and allow a little space for the cookies to spread while baking. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until they’re slightly brown on the bottom. Transfer to a cooling rack, and dig right in.

These cookies are very flaky and I often refer to them as delicate. They’ll store better in the fridge than in a cookie jar on the counter.