Norwitz Notions

It’s Christmas Day and time for our annual tradition of Jews eat Asian food on Christian holidays (why? you ask…because we get the day off and nothing else is usually open, though that’s changed in recent years).  Normally we go down to Todai, a chain of buffets with huge amounts of decent sushi and other Japanese and Chinese food.  But the closest one is an hour away and recently changed ownership (less sushi & seafood, more meat, more money).

So this year we decided to go to Gourmet Garden, a non-chain Japanese/Chinese/American buffet with a smaller selection at half the price.  The real plus? it’s 3 miles from our house.

Gourmet Garden Buffet
100 S. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma, CA 94954
(707) 778-3899
Open: 7 days, Lunch 11am-4pm, Dinner 4pm-9pm
Party room, party trays, and takeout available
Lunch $7.88 (kids 6-10 $5.38, kids 2-5 $3.38)
Dinner (M-Th) $10.88 (kids 6-10 $7.38, kids 2-5 $4.38)
Dinner (F 4-9pm, Sat, Sun, Holiday all day) $11.88 (kids 6-10 $7.48, kids 2-5 $4.48)
Kids under 2 free, Seniors over 65 10% off

We went once before and I came away disappointed, so was reluctant to go again.  On this trip, I realized I had misremembered.  The food is actually pretty good.  Everything is made fresh and tastes like something you’d get in a home kitchen.  The disappointment was simply that most of the food has meat or egg or both and that doesn’t leave much I can eat.  There are several safe dishes to be sure, but not the full variety you expect from a buffet.

Let’s start with the sushi.  At Gourmet Garden, the sushi station is the heart and soul of the place.

Raymond the sushi chef

A young smiling man (his picture doesn’t do him justice) named Raymond creates both standard and masterful sushi and sashimi dishes with the few ingredients he has in front of him. Unfortunately, each and every one of the sushi pieces has wasabi mayonnaise, which means Miriam poison (eggs).

Raymond though is more than happy to make sushi to order.  He offered Miriam a vegetable maki roll but she said nope, she wanted one with raw fish, and chose the salmon.  He also made me a maki roll with eel and pickled turnip and some salmon nigiri (there’s a sushi FAQ with pictures so you can sound as educated as I do).

Salmon nigiri sushi and shrimp dumplings

Sushi is my favorite part of these buffets and it’s hard not to just be able to choose what I want and put it on my plate (some of the creations were just gorgeous too).  So I limited myself to 3 special orders (16 small pieces, which Miriam ate several of) and enjoyed the rest of the food offerings.

My usual way of working a buffet is to grab an employee (not a server, as they rarely know anything about the food) and get a rundown of what is and isn’t safe for me to eat.  Unfortunately, not a single one of the buffet workers I asked spoke English.  Several of them spoke Spanish (which I also speak) but were only guessing about the food ingredients.

Raymond to the rescue again.  He knew how every dish was made.  He was so knowledgeable, in fact, that I asked if he owned the restaurant.  No, he’s just the sushi chef, but he goes through the kitchen to see how all the food is made and then retains it all somehow.  After I got permission to take his picture for my review, he asked me to tell my readers that he’s looking to find a young American girlfriend.  A sweet man who knows how to cook, not a bad catch.

Plate of sushi and hot foods

I ended up with several plates of good food.  Above we have (from top and clockwise): salt & pepper shrimp (very good but messy), green beans (moderately spiced), seaweed salad (one of my favorites), family style tofu (I had a craving for braised cabbage as we drove to the restaurant and this dish satisfied it, the tofu was cooked perfectly too), eel maki, and shrimp with vegetables.

On the plate below we have: steamed cod (the only miss of the night…it was cooked adequately but was too bland, it would have be good with a spicy sauce or mixed into another dish), broiled oysters (delicious if you get them fresh and choose the bigger juicier ones), and more family style tofu.

Plate of oysters, fish, and tofu

Miriam asked for, surprise surprise, chicken and I found two she could eat: teriyaki and 5 spice. She also had noodles, sushi, fruit, and several pieces of marinated sashimi, before deciding it was too spicy.

Miriam polishing off several plates of food

I didn’t ask about dairy but I suspect most of the dishes were dairy-free.  There was cheese in the salad bar and butter in some of the American dishes. I didn’t bother to ask about gluten either.  Though, except for the noodles and dumplings, I would guess that the only gluten we ate was soy sauce (which was in almost every hot dish).  A few choices were breaded but they all had egg in them so we didn’t eat them anyway.

Because it’s a buffet and you can ignore rice and other starches, you can eat here lowcarb.  Sashimi, seaweed, vegetables, tofu, a salad bar, meat, and soups.  Some of the sauces might be a bit on the carby side for those who need to keep their carb counts way down. Vegetarians have good choices too with a lot of the lowcarb items plus rice, noodles, vegetable sushi, and bread.

All of the desserts appeared to have dairy and eggs and wheat.  They had some (out of season) fresh fruit and several canned fruits including lychees.

Fruit bowls

The restaurant is all on one level with easy wheelchair access to tables an the buffet area.  The buffet stations themselves are a bit hard to reach from a sitting position, but no worse than any salad bar.  Nothing was burning inside and there was no noticeable propane or other smells, aside from the yummy food.  We did not check out the bathrooms.

With some careful navigation, Gourmet Garden can accommodate a variety of dietary restrictions.  For those with none, you’ll find a decent variety of hot and cold dishes, all fresh and inviting.

Miriam has always been more of a director than an actor.  Since she was old enough to hold a camera, she would grab one at any opportunity.  A child’s digital camera is a promised present (anyone know of one that is kid proof, has a display screen, and is under $30?) but, until then, she has been borrowing mine.  My old Nikon camera wasn’t very kid friendly since you had to turn it this way and that, and keep it in the case in-between shots. But my new one (a $100 Canon A590IS) is much easier.  Miriam already knows how to turn it on and off (no twisting and the lens cap opens and closes automatically) as well as how to flip the switch between picture taking and viewing.  She even uses the wrist strap.

Some of her pictures are quite good and a few are pretty amazing.  Though for every good one, there are 50 shots of her toes, the floor, or somebody’s butt (one of her photographic obsessions…the other one being taking awkwardly posed pictures of herself that I delete directly from the camera, lest we get arrested).

None of the photos below are edited in any way.  I often crop, adjust lighting, remove red eye, and so forth for blog pictures, but not here.  Miriam is 3 years and 9 months old.  She’ll turn 4 at the end of February.

Being smaller is sometimes an advantage.  The unusual angle makes the picture. Compare this picture of Michael cutting pumpkins to the cropped and lightened version I used in the blog entry for pumpkin puree.

Michael cutting pumpkins

Miriam colored the book with chalk then composed a picture documenting it.

Miriam's aunt Connie holding a Clifford the Big Red Dog coloring

This isn’t the prettiest shot but Miriam loves her computer pictures.  And it’s one of the few photos of me that isn’t awful.

Cyndi at the computer

The cats are some of Miriam’s favorite subjects.

Hope waiting for the door to open

Miriam and her cousin Jaiden took about 100 shots with my camera the day after Thanksgiving.  This is Miriam’s best.

Cousin Jaiden

Household objects are a common theme.  My parents brought this ceramic lion home after a trip to Europe in the 1960’s.

Lion face

This styrofoam box has been colored, pitted, used as a hat, and, of course, filled with rocks.

Rocks and rubber band in a styrofoam box

One in a long series of Melanie photos (she being the most patient of the kitties).

Melanie on the couch

This is my favorite of all of Miriam’s photos.

Closeup of Melanie

Turning the camera in on herself.

Miriam self portrait

My brother, his girlfriend, and my 10 year old niece came to visit us and shop at the local outlet mall.  Last time I saw them all (at the Marin County Fair the 4th of July) I brought a huge picnic lunch for everyone but this visit I decided not to cook.  I’d been wanting to try a new local Napalese/Indian place since it opened last year.  They have a lunch buffet, but the timing didn’t work out, so we had dinner instead.

Namaste Cafe
1390 No McDowell Blvd., Ste, A
Petaluma CA 94954
(707) 664-9245

Open Monday through Saturday - Lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, Dinner 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Lunch buffet is $8.95 ($5 for kids) and dinner entrees run around $9-14.  Lunch buffet $8.95 ($5 for children).

My brother and his girlfriend got two chicken dishes, tandoori and tikka masala ($14), both of which they liked very much.  Miriam had some too and kept asking for more of the masala sauce spooned over rice.

Chicken Tandoori

Tikka masala is a protein of choice buried in a fragrant fenugreek sauce.  Tandoori has no sauce at all and the protein is baked in a clay oven then served on a sizzling hot platter with some vegetables.  Michael and I got the mahi mahi tandoori and the fish was ever so slightly underdone, but still flaky and flavorful.  That iron platter stayed hot for the entire meal and the vegetables left behind burned.  At that point it occurred to me is what we should have done is to have let it cook for a couple more minutes then quickly transferred it all to our plates.

Mahi Mahi Tandoori

I asked the staff about egg in their food and, fortunately for us, they don’t use very much.  Only in the naan (bread).  They told me most of their dishes have cream added and all of their breads are wheat-based.  Because Miriam and I can both get away with occasional dairy and gluten, I didn’t worry about it.  But another reviewer mentioned getting dishes made without cream, so it seems dairy-free is possible.

We started off with complementary crackers and a tamarind dipping sauce.  They were light and crispy but had little flavor, despite being studded with spices.

Cousins eating crackers

We got ourselves some roti, which is a plain wheat grilled bread (we ordered it without butter, which is how it usually comes) but that turned out to be a mistake.  It was rather plain but hardened up just enough so you couldn’t soak up sauces with it.  The basmati rice with peas ($1.50) was delicious.  My brother’s family ordered aloo paratha ($3) which was a baked flatbread with potatoes and spices and raved about it all night.

Michael’s and my other dish was channa amchaur, a beautifully spiced chickpea dish with enough sauce to justify eating the perfect (but carby) rice.  I could have easily finished the bowl of it myself.

Chickpeas, rice, and bread

Michael had an Indian beer and my brother some chai tea.  We all skipped dessert.

The inside of the restaurant is warm and inviting with no scents except for the lovely ones coming from the kitchen.  Because the place is small, there is a single door to the outside and no way to sit away from the drafts.  It was cold outside and we had to wear our jackets during the meal to stay warm.  In summer it wouldn’t matter, and it has been unseasonably cold here (30’s and 40’s at night).  I didn’t check out the restroom.  The dining area is wheelchair accessible.

I do look forward to coming again but next time I want to try the lunch buffet.  Hopefully it will have more of those chickpeas.

Namaste Dinner

Other Reviews:

Chowhound Places
Chowhound Review Dec 2007
Chowhound Review May 2008

We spent Thanksgiving 2008 much like Thanksgiving 2007, at a potluck gathering at Ecology House in San Rafael, California.  Ecology House is the only HUD (US Government) low-income housing for people disabled with chemical sensitivities.  It has 11 apartments and a community room where residents host events, meetings, and parties.  The Environmental Health Network holds its monthly meetings there and they sponsor Thanksgiving, buying the turkey and other basics.

I’m afraid I was boring this year and brought exactly the same things I brought last year.  But, hey, why mess with success? Every dish was popular.  I picked some lovely greenery from my garden to put in vases and brought the following dishes:

Lemon cranberry sauce	Organic cranberry sauce made with lemon instead of orange.
Edamane salad with roasted red cabbage	Organic cold salad made with edamame and roasted red cabbage.
Pumpkin Pie	Organic vegan gluten-free pumpkin pie.
Cashew cream	Organic raw vegan cream made from cashews, lemon, stevia, and seasonings.

Okay, so this isn’t a classic Thanksgiving dish, but it’s mine.  To people eating turkey or other meat, it is a nice side dish. For a vegetarian, though, it’s a good way to get significant amounts of protein without filling up on starch.

This recipe disappears fast and gets raves (even from the meat-eaters).

I originally made it with red bell pepper and I love it that way, but I can’t justify buying bell peppers when they’re not in season. They’re very expensive, imported from far away, usually not organic, and rarely any good. So I use red cabbage as a substitute. It works well and provides a nice color contrast.

Recipe:

2 bags frozen shelled edamame (32 oz)
3 red bell peppers or 1/2 large red cabbage
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (estimate)
3 Tablespoons very good extra virgin olive oil (estimate)
Handful of fresh herbs, minced
Salt and pepper

To spread out the workload, you can make the vegetables the day before and leave them in a cold oven until you’re ready for them.

Peppers: Roast washed peppers whole in a 350*F oven for about an hour, turning several times. When peppers are cool enough to handle, remove seeds and stem and cut into strips, about 1″ long.

Cabbage: Cut cabbage in half, remove core, and slice in to long thin strips, then cut the strips in half so they are 1-3″ long. Roast dry (or with a touch of olive oil) in a 350*F oven until very dehydrated but not brown.  Stir often.

Slicing raw cabbage

Boil the edamame according to directions, drain.

While still hot, toss the soybeans in a bowl with olive oil, then vinegar, salt and pepper.  Add the vegetables at any point.

Cool edamame on counter then add finely chopped herbs, I used parsley, sage, lemon thyme, and oregano.

Put in fridge, serve chilled.

Nutritional Information:

The edamame alone is:
120 grams protein
96 grams total carbs
60 grams fiber
36 grams usable carbs

The rest of the ingredients will add basically no protein and a small number of carbs (maybe 10g at most). This recipe makes enough to serve a dozen people at a potluck. If we take that to mean there are 12 servings total, each serving has 10 grams of protein and 3-4 grams of usable carbs.

Edamame salad with roasted cabbage

An earlier version of this recipe with red peppers was posted to my lowcarb website December 1, 2003. A version of the recipe with red cabbage was posted January 24, 2004.

Note: Recipe rewritten with new pictures 12/08.

I’m not going to pretend that making your own pumpkin puree is just as easy as opening a can and everyone should do it, but it is more satisfying, it tastes better, and does double duty using up your Halloween pumpkins.  And it’s not particularly hard.

Start with the right pumpkins.  Your fabulous jack-o-lantern is not a good candidate, not even a fresh, uncarved one.  Jack-o-lantern pumpkins are bred for looks.  The inside is watery and does not taste very good, though it’s technically edible.  Your compost pile or worm bin will love it though.

Our pumpkins came from the pumpkin farm across the street from us, the Peterson Farm.  They grow several varieties, including the jack-o-lantern type.  We got my favorite, the Cinderella Pumpkin (which Michael is cutting up below).  It gets its name from the deep color and carriage shape.  Plus a couple others, including the pumpkin pie pumpkin, which looks like a smaller version of a jack-o-lantern.

Instead of carving, we displayed them outside in our Sukkah and for Halloween.  They lasted just fine for a few weeks outside in the cold (not freezing) and rain.

Michael cuts a cinderella pumpkin in half

Wash the pumpkin and cut it into manageable chunks, then remove the seeds with a fork.  Roast the seeds later.  You can leave the gooey insides part (remove for jack-o-lanterns but don’t bother with other pumpkins). Cut the pumpkin sections further to good baking chunks (not too small or they’ll be a pain to peel).

Cutting the pumpkin into pieces (picture by Miriam Norwitz)

We had three pumpkins and made three big trays of pumpkin chunks.

Chunks of pumpkin ready for baking

Roast them until they are soft all the way through, but not burnt.  Pretty much any temperature will do.  Go ahead and put them in while cooking something else.  At 350*F, expect it to take about an hour.  But don’t go by timing: poke your pumpkin with a fork often.

Pumpkin fresh from the oven

The only hard parts are cutting up the really big pumpkins and taking the skin off (okay, removing the skin isn’t hard, but it’s tedious).  Do this after the pumpkins are cooked and when they are cool enough to handle (I left these out overnight).  Pull off any burnt parts and peel or slice away the skin.  Don’t worry about bits of skin that are left with the flesh.  A small amount is fine.

Important note: The juicier pumpkins will have liquid in the tray and drip more as you peel them.  Lightly wring out the flesh before using.  But don’t toss that liquid.  I save it (in the fridge or freezer) and use it as an easy soup stock.

Peeling cooked pumpkins

Take the pumpkin flesh and put it in the food processor.  In batches if you need to.  Process until smooth.  I put the various batches into one big bowl since there were different pumpkin varieties and I wanted to mix them.  This is the result.

Pumpkin Puree

Anything you don’t use right away, freeze.  It freezes very well with little to no loss in taste or texture.  I like to measure it into 2 cup containers (zipper bags work but I prefer Pyrex storage containers (that’s glass with a tight plastic lid) if I have enough of them).  That way I only have to defrost exactly what I need for a recipe.

Now what do you do with it?  Pumpkin pie is the obvious first choice.  I’ve also used it to thicken vegetable stews. When I could eat dairy and eggs, the puree was fabulous in pumpkin cheesecake.  Although most of us think dessert when we think pumpkin, the truth is its a wonderful savory food too, and it’s lowcarb, the lowest of all the winter squashes.

As for more things to do with pumpkin puree, I’m stuck.  If you have a good recipe, please link to it in the comments.  I still have 10 cups worth to use up.

“Goodbye old car!  Thanks for taking good care of us all these years! We’re going to miss you!”

Miriam repeated words like this many times today.  I don’t know why I get sad when getting rid of a car.  Am I doing the right thing??  How can we just leave it here to be scrapped after it did so much for us?  Fortunately, I get over it pretty quickly.  Miriam on the other hand is maybe scarred for life.

This old car means more to Michael than it does to me.  It was a gift from his grandparents back in 1989.  Six months later, he moved to London for grad school and had to sell it.  The friend who bought it never kept up with her payments to Michael so, when they reconnected about 10 years ago, she just gave him back the car.  We were glad to have it.  My car was a stick shift (which Michael can’t drive) and his van was giving out.

Two years ago, the car failed its smog test.  We spent $700 getting it fixed.  It passed the smog test and, a few weeks later, one of the 4 cylinders died.  It wasn’t worth fixing at this point and we bought a used car as a replacement.

We found out about a program California has to take older cars off the road.  If you fail a smog test, you can turn in the car and get $1000, which is about what this car was worth running decently.  Unfortunately, you only qualify at the time of registration.  We spent two years kicking ourselves for not doing this then.  All the while we kept the car registered and insured and Michael drove it every month or so to keep the battery charged (he still had to jump it a few times).  Although you register a car yearly, you only do the smog test every two years, so we had to wait.

Our chance came a couple of weeks ago.  Michael took the car in and it failed massively, as we expected, and was labeled a gross polluter.  That’s about when we learned that the state doesn’t buy cars just for failing smog, they have to be gross polluters, and this car was not one two years ago.

Last night we stripped the car of anything loose and Michael removed the radio this morning.  Then he went to the DMV, turned in the plates, and filled out forms.  Miriam loves to ride in the car so Michael transferred her car seat and gave her one last slow ride up to Windsor, about 30 minutes away, while I followed behind them.  After endless paperwork, we got our check.

As we drove away, Miriam called out her final goodbye and insisted we each do the same.  Goodbye old car and thanks.

1989 Honda Civic Sedan

Shhh…don’t tell anyone it’s vegan: they’ll never guess.  The first time we made this was Thanksgiving 2007 and it (along with all the cashew cream) was devoured. Someone else’s pumpkin pie (homemade with traditional ingredients) still had half left.  In 2008, this Thanksgiving treat was one of 3 pumpkin pies (all gluten-free as it happens) and got the nod as first or second from everyone who tried the selection.

Pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving 2007

Because I couldn’t find one perfect recipe, I used the crust from one and the filling from another. Actually, Michael did the work.

Lowcarb notes: we’ve made this pie (filling and crust) with xylitol instead of sugar and it works fine.  Leave out the molasses.

We decided to triple the recipe this year but somehow ended up with 4 pies (and 6 crustless cupcakes we made for a nut-allergic friend).  We used small/medium springform pans.

The crust:

From:
http://www.somethinginseason.com/2007/10/pumpkin-pie-from-scratch-part-1.html
(note: this lovely site has been shut down)

Basic recipe:
2 cups whole pecans (you can substitute walnuts if you like)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg

Michael processing pecans

I used pecans and organic cane sugar and flaxseed goo for the egg (1 tablespoon fine flax meal in 1/4 cup water, nuked for a minute then left to cool). You simply grind it all in the food processor and then press it into the pan. Cover the bottom and an inch or more along the sides with a good thick crust (1/4″ or so).

Crusts ready for filling

The filling:

From: http://www.tazarat.com/results.asp?id=33

Basic recipe:
3/4 lb firm tofu
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin puree or 2 cups fresh-cooked pumpkin
1 cup Sucanat (organic evaporated cane juice/cane sugar) or brown sugar
2 TB oil
2 TB molasses
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ginger powder or 1.5 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Michael & Miriam measuring pumpkin puree

We used homemade pumpkin puree (from Peterson pumpkins) which I measured into 2 cup bags and froze. For the sugar, we used organic cane sugar. Michael used 4/5 of a cup instead of a full one in 2007 but we forgot in 2008 and used the full amount.  The pies tasted great and weren’t too sweet. The oil was sunflower (also oiled the pan with it). Instead of ginger powder, we used twice as much grated (both fresh and frozen work well) ginger.  In 2008, we couldn’t find nutmeg in the pantry so substituted cardamon (yum…I think we’ll have to do both next year).

Pumpkin pie filling

You just food process and/or mix everything and pour it on the crust. Spread out evenly.

Filling the crusts (picture by Miriam Norwitz)

The directions say to cook for 1 hour at 350*F, until cracks appear.  But this isn’t nearly long enough.  The filling takes 1.5 to 2 hours; unfortunately, the crust starts to burn after you pass 1 to 1.5 hours.  The secret is to turn off the oven after an hour or so, before you get that burnt smell, but leave the pies inside where it is warm.  The filling will continue to set.  If your oven doesn’t hold heat well, leave it on a low temperature (like 200 or 250).

The good news is that overcooking the crust actually tastes good.  People liked it even when it was burnt, though it was better when it was just caramelized.  Just keep an eye on it and you’ll be fine.

Pumpkin pie display

This is a rich pie with plenty of spice, but still a good pumpkin flavor. It is softer than your usual pumpkin pie but part of that is regular pies have a very firm crust that holds the filling (this crust doesn’t do that at all). The texture is good. All in all, it was a success.

I made a cashew cream to go with it. The cream was also a huge hit. It was great on it’s own but even better with the pie. They went together superbly.

Pumpkin pie with cashew cream

Note: Recipe rewritten with new pictures 11/08.

So what’s wrong with cranberry sauce made with oranges, you ask? Nothing. It’s delicious. But the slightest trace of oranges makes my daughter sick for hours. So I developed a version with lemons instead. I think it works better than oranges for cutting fatty foods and providing a clean crisp taste. You will need to add slightly more sugar/sweetener to this recipe to make up for the lack of sugar from the citrus.

Cranberry sauce is one of those dishes that is so easy to make I can’t understand why everyone doesn’t do it. Especially given that the canned stuff is so bland and without texture.  You do want to use organic cranberries here, as chemically-grown berries tend to be high in pesticides.  2008 was not a good year for cranberries and they were horribly expensive.  Fortunately, you don’t need a lot of them (1 lb served over a dozen people).

This recipe freezes extremely well. It also lasts in the fridge for a long time. I froze a batch leftover from Thanksgiving 2006 and served it for Thanksgiving 2007 with very little reduction in taste or texture.  I used the recipe again for Thanksgiving 2008.

Ingredients:

Fresh cranberries, 1 bag (about 16 oz)
Fresh lemon zest from 2 small lemons (organic only)
Fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon (2 if not juicy)
Fresh ginger root, grated, 1-3 teaspoons
Salt, pinch
Stevia, pinch or two (optional)
Organic cane sugar, as desired
Water as needed

In 2008 I used 3 TB sugar and no stevia and ended up with perfect sauce that was not very sweet (which is how we like it).  In 2006/7 I used a bit less sugar and some stevia.  In 2008 I also used 3 TB water to thin out the sauce a bit.  How much water you need (if any) will vary a lot based on how juicy the berries are, how much you cook it, how much sugar you use, etc.

Rinse the cranberries in water and drain.

Put into an empty pot on the stove and heat gently while stirring until the cranberries start to soften.

Zesting a lemon over cranberries

Add stevia and sugar to desired sweetness. The stevia is optional but will help reduce the overall sugar level. I end up using about half of what is called for in a traditional cranberry sauce that also has a sugar boost from orange juice. Don’t use all or mostly stevia as the dish will be too bitter (I love stevia but it doesn’t mesh well with lemons).

Add salt, lemon, and ginger.

Stir and cook until the cranberries start to pop open and the texture is to your liking. Mash a bit if you wish or leave mostly whole. Adjust sweeteners/seasoning if needed.  If the flavors aren’t coming together, you probably need a touch of salt.

This cranberry sauce makes a great traditional accompaniment to turkey or other Thanksgiving fixings. It’s also good as leftovers with a variety of foods as a condiment. Miriam enjoyed dipping carrots in it. And for Thanksgiving 2007, some people ate it straight as a dessert.

Finished cranberry sauce

Note: Recipe rewritten with new pictures 11/08.

This is a simple recipe but difficult to get just right. You need a good blender and some finesse.

I made the cashew cream to go with a vegan pumpkin pie I took to a Thanksgiving Potluck in 2007 and again in 2008, though it’s delicious on anything sweet.

Recipe:

2 cups raw cashew pieces (I keep them in the freezer)
Juice of one small lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Dash or two of white stevia powder (or use a another sweetener if you prefer)

Soak the cashews overnight (anything between 4 and 24 hours is fine).

Drain and rinse the nuts and blend them with as much water as they need.  You may need to do this in several batches.

Michael & Miriam blend the cashews

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Keep blending, then stop and use a spatula regularly to get it all. Make sure it is very smooth.  Don’t be afraid to add water, but taste the cream frequently to make sure you aren’t over doing it.  If the blender is strong, the nuts will cream up and absorb the extra liquid.  If not, you’ll have a somewhat gritty cream (which won’t take too much liquid, so be aware) but it will still taste good.

Finished cashew cream

Serve as you would whipped cream.  It will keep in the refrigerator for several days.

Cashew cream over pumpkin pie

Note: Recipe rewritten with new pictures 11/08.

It’s fall! It’s pumpkin time! So what do you do with those seeds?  Well don’t waste them, turn them into a healthy nosh.

Start with any winter squash: pumpkin, acorn, red kuri, whatever you like.  In these pictures, I used butternut squash.

Cut the raw squash in half lengthwise.  Use a fork to pull out the seeds.  See the gooey stuff in the seed section of the squash?  It’s delicious when cooked so you can just leave it there (except for pumpkins; remove and discard pumpkin goo).

Removing butternut squash seeds

If you want, you can wash the seeds in some fresh water (I rarely bother).  This will give them a cleaner appearance and flavor after being cooked, and will reduce burning.  Be sure to lay them on a clean towel after washing to dry them.

Mix in some oil (I use olive, just enough to coat), something salty (I used tamari), and some flavor (I used cumin, other times I use curry powder or hot pepper).  Stir with the fork.

Spread them out on a cookie sheet (no need to grease it since you put oil with the seeds) and bake until crispy and golden brown.  I put them in with the squash (the temperature can vary between 300 and 450 degrees) but watch them carefully because they’ll be done in 5-20 minutes, depending on the temperature.  They do burn easily.  Be sure they aren’t too soft either; you want them to crunch in your mouth once they’ve cooled down.

Roasted butternut squash seeds

If there are any leftover, store them in a glass jar with a lid on the counter.  They will last for a few days to a couple of weeks.  If they get soft in the jar, just crisp them up in the toaster oven.

Some comfort foods come from childhood (the one that fills my soul is very soft, very slow cooked scrambled eggs over buttered whole-grain toast, something I can no longer have) and others are with you all along but hidden until you happen upon that food.  My adult-found comfort food is Ethiopian.  The sour spongy bread wrapped around legumes cooked long and creamy in unfamiliar spices.

So when I heard an Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant was finally opening in Sonoma County, I had to go.  It took a while–it actually opened in early 2008, and another I never made it to was open briefly before it–because eating out regularly was the first thing we cut from our budget as money got tight.  But after a bad day Thursday, when I had an appointment near Michael’s office, I emailed him and said that after the appointment I was picking him up at work and we were going to lunch.

Abyssinia Restaurant
913 4th Street, Santa Rosa, CA
(707) 568-6455
Hours: M-F 11am - 3pm; 4:30pm - 9pm (closed Tuesday)
Sat 9:30am - 10pm; Sun 9:30am - 9pm

Vegetarian Combo

I’ve eaten in perhaps a dozen different Ethiopian restaurants in my time and they’ve ranged from barely passable to excellent.  My current favorite is Café Eritrea D’Afrique in Oakland, CA.  For the most part, they all have very similar dishes: Injera (the bread) served with we’t (meat or legume/vegetable spiced stews, also spelled wat or wet or wot).

Before I knew I was gluten-intolerant, I took a friend with celiac to Cafe Eritrea and she made sure that their injera was made from teff (a non-gluten African grain) only.  When they said it was, she tasted a bit and waited 20 minutes.  She is so gluten sensitive that she would have known by then.  She then ate a full meal (and many others on different occasions) and never had any symptoms.

I’d encountered wheat flour in some injera recipes (and even some restaurants) but assumed it was a Westernization of traditional cuisine.  Turns out it’s a valid variation, along with the use of barley flour.  I thought perhaps it was a regional difference, maybe Eritrea vs Ethiopia, but my readings tell me it’s more of a family or personal difference.

In one Vancouver restaurant that used barley flour with the teff, they said the bread was less sour than the 100% teff versions (the woman made a face as she thought about sour injera) and I’ve found this to be true.  Cafe Eritrea’s injera is thick and soft (but with body) and very sour; I love it.  Abyssinia’s injera is made with teff, wheat, and barley and is thin, dense, and with very little sour taste at all.  Both versions are good, it’s a matter of personal preference and of course of food tolerance.  If you can not have barley or wheat, check ahead of time what the injera you’re thinking of getting is made from.

I was disappointed: Miriam and I can eat gluten once in a while without any problems, but I prefer not to and this means we can’t bring gluten or wheat intolerant friends there.  And I really miss the sour stuff; it doesn’t hit my comfort food buttons without it.

Abyssinia is a nice place and it has received a boatload of good reviews.  It’s very clean and white with touches of native art and eating baskets (which I didn’t see in use).  Aside from the staff, I didn’t see anyone in the restaurant who looked like they came from Ethiopia, though I’m not sure how large the community is in Sonoma County so that may not be a true sign.

Our server (who may have been the owner’s son) was accommodating and quick.  We asked for water as we perused the menus.  I wanted hot water with lemon.  Michael asked for regular water.  And Miriam said “warm water.”  Our server obliged with a tray of drinks fit for the three bears.

Miriam's water is just right

Miriam had expressed an interest in chicken and that’s what Michael wanted too, but the sole chicken dish on the menu (Doro We’t $13.95) came with a hard-boiled egg.  The server said the eggs are already in the sauce but he’d check to see what he could do.  The kitchen was about to start a new sauce and they had no problem doing one egg-free (he seemed to understand that sauce that had touched egg was not safe).

Unfortunately, he mentioned that the chicken was spicy so Miriam refused to even try it, but Michael enjoyed it (and was glad not to have to worry about cross contamination).  He said it was “sufficiently spicy” but not so much that I wouldn’t have been okay with it (I’m a former spice wimp who is fine with medium hot).

Doro We't

I had the vegetarian combo ($18.95 for two, $10.95 for one), which they say is vegan (some of the meat dishes use a spiced butter).  It has a bit of every one of their six vegetarian dishes: garbanzo beans, split yellow peas, two lentil dishes, collard greens, and cabbage/carrot/potato.  Plus some green salad.  Only one was spicy (the lentils (miser) or garbanzos (shiro) on the far left of the plate, see top of page).  The collards had a deep green leafy flavor which was quite good.  Some reviews praise them for not being bitter, but I like that depth in collards.

The we’ts had a flat taste to them, like they lacked salt, though adding salt didn’t help much.  The food was also quite oily.  I’m someone who tends to cook with a fair bit of oil but this put me off.  I’ve had Ethiopian food before that had no oil and it is flavorless.  The excess here might have accounted for the dampening of the spice flavors. Part of the fun with this cuisine is eating the plate, the injera on the bottom that has soaked up the sauces.  But in this case, the injera had little sauce but lots of grease.

Considering Abyssina is only 20 minutes from my home, and 5 minutes from Michael’s work, it made a nice meal and I may go back again.  I can’t say it is as good as the Oakland ones (though those vary a lot as well), but they’re a good hour away.

Parking is difficult but we found a place around the corner.  It’s a few blocks from the center of downtown so there is street parking here and there.  The restaurant is wheelchair accessible and there is no incense or other strong smell.  But the bathrooms had so much air freshener that Michael and Miriam turned away at the door (when a 3 year old is willing to hold it, you know it’s bad).

To see the menu, click on the picture below and use your browser’s zoom function if needed.

Abyssinia Menu

Other reviews:

The Press Democrat (May 2008)
Chowhound (March 2008)
Yelp

With all the various fermented vegetables I’ve made, somehow I never got around to making cucumber pickles.  But that changed this summer when I tasted a friend’s potluck offering and realized how much I missed them.  The vinegared pasteurized version from the store just doesn’t taste the same.

My friend used slicing cucs (the kind you put in salad), cut into chunks.  They were delicious but a bit mushy with a thick skin.  I knew I’d want to use pickling cucs, which are thin-skinned, solid, and just the right size for pickles.  I found some at an organic farm stand I passed on my way to an appointment in Santa Rosa.  The farmer insisted I take some heads of dill as well.

I used the making sour pickles recipe from fellow tribe member Sandor Katz, author of Wild Fermentation.  With other veggie ferments, you add salt, massage it in, and let the vegetable juices come out and cover the veggies (adding some salt water if necessary).  But, with whole pickles, you need to make a brine.  With cucumber pickles especially, the salt to water ratio matters.  I used 3 tablespoons salt in 2 quarts/liters of water.

I also added a large head of dill flower, a small handful of peppercorns, and some grape leaves.  Katz (and other sources) say the grape leaves help make the pickles crunchier.  I figured it couldn’t hurt, and I do have a nice grape vine in the back of my property.  Next time though I’ll make extra grape leaves and then use them for stuffed grape leaves since all the commercial ones have preservatives.  If you want garlic, toss in a few peeled cloves.

Seasoning for pickles

Put your dry seasonings in the bottom of the container (use glass or ceramic; plastic works but I can’t recommend it).  You don’t have to sterilize it first but do make sure it’s clean.  Wash the cucumbers, cut out any bad spots, and remove any remaining blossom ends with your fingernail or a knife.  You can keep the stems.  Pack tightly into the container.

Packing pickles

Now, pour in the salt solution, making sure all the cucumbers are covered.  Put a plate or jar or other weight into the container to keep the pickles submerged.  I used a plate with a water-filled jar on top.  Cover the container with a loose fitting lid or towel to keep it clean.

Put the container on your kitchen counter or some other place that’s not too hot or too cold.  Don’t put into your fridge; it won’t ferment.

A plate as a jar weight

Check the pickles every day.  There will be a lot more mold growth than with sauerkraut and other vegetables.  Carefully wipe it away, cleaning the plate/weight as well.  You can dip a cup or ladle into the brine to pull off mold from the top.  The mold is white and isn’t overtly harmful but it will make your pickles mushy and bad tasting.  Don’t worry about traces but try to get most of it.

After 5 days, my pickles were crunchy with a slight tang but were more cucumber than pickle.  At two weeks they were just right.  You should taste now and then to see how you like them.  Some people go a month or more.  It’s not only a matter of taste (do you want sour, half sour, dill, etc?) but the salt concentration and temperature will make a big difference in the fermentation rate.  When they’re done, clean things up one last time and stick the container in the fridge.

Pickles ready for eating

This batch came out pickle perfect.  But my second batch, not so much.  That time I bought organic pickling cucs from the farmer’s market and they had air spaces in the middle.  You just can’t predict this.  The pickles took less time to cure and still tasted fine (though not as flavorful since I didn’t have any dill) and the texture wasn’t bad, but I didn’t get that solid pickle crunch when I bit into them.  I also had a lot more trouble with mold the second time, even after refrigerating.  They’re still edible but I’m not sure what went wrong.  Guess I’ll have to practice some more…next cucumber season.

In my ongoing quest to discover 1001 things to do with masa, I came up with this little gem.  Guaranteed to please three year olds everywhere.

Start with fresh masa if you can get it.  Reconstituted masa harina if you can’t.

Grab a chunk, roll it into a ball, then flatten by hand into a thick oval tortilla.  Place your hot dog on top, making sure the tortilla is large enough to cover the dog on all sides.

We used a LightLife Tofu Pup.  Not because it’s the best vegetarian hot dog out there (trust me, it’s not) but because it’s the only one I know of that is even halfway like a hotdog but is vegan and gluten-free.  Miriam had been asking for hot dogs and this package was a treat for her.  Feel free to substitute any hot dog or sausage of your choice.

Hot dog placed on top of masa

Now, roll the masa around the dog, seal the edges and crimp the ends.  Pull off any excess masa.

Note: I haven’t tried this on a stick but the time to do it is before you put the hot dog on the masa.  Wrap the masa around the hotdog end of the stick.

Corndog ready for frying

Fry in a hot cast iron pan (or anything else that won’t stick) without any oil.  With tortillas, the pan should be hot enough to sizzle water, but here you want it on the low end of that because the masa is thicker and you want it to cook through without burning the outside.

Cook until browned on all sides.  That means about 6 turns (it’s round, not a square) and don’t forget a few seconds on each of the ends.

Corndog with Catsup

Serve with the condiments of your choice.  For Miriam, that’s catsup.

Miriam adds catsup to her dog

Three years olds often take some time to warm up to new foods, even ones that become their favorites later on.  Not in her case…  “I LOOOVE this!!”

Half eaten corndog