Food

I haven't tried this recipe yet, I just wanted to copy it down and make sure I saved it for use later. Hopefully I don't need to make any changes at all... I copied it straight from this page: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/48418

HOME MADE VEGETARIAN FISH SAUCE: So, I've noticed that a lot of asian dishes call for fish sauce, and if you're a true vegetarian like me you always feel like that puts the recipe just out of reach. I've come up with my own vegetarian fish sauce and I think it's 99% close the real thing.

I based the main part of it off the Wikipedia Vegetarian Fish Sauce recipe, but I felt the recipe there lacked a few things which put it into the realm of "tastes like the real thing" but it's 100% VEGETARIAN.

HOW TO MAKE VEGGIE FISH SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
2 - cups shredded dried seaweed
4 - cups water
3 - cloves garlic (smashed but not minced)
1 & 1/2 - Tbsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 - cup soy sauce
2 - tsp lime juice (concentrate OK)
2 - tsp lemon juice (concentrate OK)
2 - Tbs vinegar
3 - tsp sugar
1 - tsp ground ginger
1 - tsp ground garlic
1/4 - tsp chili powder

You can find the dried seaweed at just about any asian market. Personally I prefer the type that shredded kinda small versus the large sheets of seaweed. I think that when it's shredded it makes for a richer sauce.

HOW TO PREPARE VEGETARIAN FISH SAUCE
1. In a large bowl, add 2 cups dried seaweed + 4 cups water
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes
3. Add garlic cloves + peppercorns + soy sauce + lime juice + lime juice
+ vinegar + sugar + ginger + garlic powder + ginger + chili powder
4. Bring to a boil, turn heat down to medium and cook for 30 minutes
5. You can adjust the salt level by adding water
6. Allow to cool
7. Strain into a container

Straining it is the key. Once it's strained you can funnel it into a large water bottle, and label it "Veggie Fish Sauce" or as it's called in Vietnam "Nuoc Mam Chay" If you've ever tasted the real fish sauce (in your pre-veggie days) you can sample a tiny bit and see just how close to the real thing it really tastes. But caution...this stuff is stinky and strong! Just like the real fish sauce.

Hope you like it.
Ms Nadja Dee Witherbee
Seattle WA

THE BROTH
2 onions, halved
4" nub of ginger, halved lengthwise
5-6 lbs of good beef bones, preferably leg and knuckle
1 lb of beef meat - chuck, brisket, rump, cut into large slices [optional]
3 thinly sliced carrots
1 bunch of greens (spinach, kale, etc...)
6 quarts of water
1 fennel bulb
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbl coriander seeds
5 whole star anise
1/4 cup use soy sauce
1 inch chunk of yellow rock sugar (about 1 oz) - or 1oz of regular sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (halve if using regular table salt) (this is to taste, the soy sauce will already have some salt in it, so add this last right before serving it if needed)

THE BOWLS
2 lbs rice noodles (dried or fresh), flat "chinese" style noodles, or spaghetti noodles
cooked beef from the broth
1/2 lb flank, london broil, sirloin or eye of round, sliced as thin as possible.
(get the grocer or the meat store to slice for you before you leave)
big handful of each: mint, cilantro, basil
2 limes, cut into wedges
2 big handfuls of bean sprouts
2-3 chili peppers, sliced, optional
Hoisin sauce, optional
Sriracha hot sauce, optional

Directions:

In a separate pot, parboil the bones: Fill large pot (12-qt capacity) with cool water. Boil water, and then add the bones, keeping the heat on high. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and rinse out the pot. Refill pot with bones and 6 qts of cool water. Bring to boil over high heat and lower to simmer. Using a ladle or a fine mesh strainer, remove any scum that rises to the top.

Put about a tablespoon of oil in the soup pot. Dice the onions, and the fennel bulb. Add this to this to the pot, and saute until both are slightly clear. Add the broth from above into the pot.

Boil broth: Add ginger, spices, beef, sugar, soy sauce, salt and simmer uncovered for 1 hours. Add the carrots and the greens, and simmer for another 30 minutes.
Remove the beef meat and set aside (you'll be eating this meat later in the bowls) Continue simmering for another 1 1/2 hours. Remove the bones from the pot. Taste broth and adjust seasoning - this is a crucial step. If the broth's flavor doesn't quite shine yet, add one at a time, and taste: 2 teaspoons more of fish sauce, large pinch of salt and a small nugget of rock sugar (or 1 teaspoon of regular sugar). Keep doing this until the broth tastes perfect.

Prepare noodles and meat: Slice your flank/london broil/sirloin as thin as possible - try freezing for 15 minutes prior to slicing to make it easier. (Or get your local meat counter to slice it for you before you leave the store). Remember the cooked beef meat that was part of your broth? Cut or shred the meat and set aside. Arrange all other ingredients on a platter for the table. Your guests will "assemble" their own bowls. Follow the directions on your package of noodles - there are many different sizes and widths of rice noodles, so make sure you read the directions. For some fresh rice noodles, just a quick 5 second blanch in hot water is all that's needed. Make sure they're fully cooked separately before you assemble the soup.

Ladling: Bring your broth back to a boil. Line up your soup bowls next to the stove. Fill each bowl with rice noodles, shredded cooked beef and raw meat slices. As soon as the broth comes back to a boil, ladle into each bowl. the hot broth will cook your raw beef slices. Serve immediately. Guests can garnish their own bowls as they wish.

I adapted the recipe from here, it has a slightly more detailed explanation: http://steamykitchen.com/271-vietnamese-beef-noodle-soup-pho.html. I like my soups to have a little color, that's why i added the kale and carrots. Most restaurants won't have them in it.

This corn chowder recipe will feed 5-6 people, depending on how much soup you give them.

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 small leaks, only use the white and light green parts, finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper, diced, about 1/4" size
2 small carrots, diced
1/2 teaspoon dried sage - leaves, not powder
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1 tsp paprika
salt - to taste
1 15 oz can of corn - water still in the can
3 small russet potatoes, diced, about 1/2" sized cubes
1 bay leaf
6 tablespoons soymilk - approximate
3 cups of water
Osem parve chicken soup mix - to taste

1. saute the onion, leeks and the bell pepper on a medium heat until they turn clear.
2. add the sage, basil, bay leaf, carrots, and paprika. saute and stir about 2-3 minutes.
3. add the water and the potatoes. cook about 5 minutes with the lid off.
4. the water should be just starting to boil at this point.
5. the potatoes should be half cooked, add the can of corn and all the water in the can.
6. i like the extra corn taste the corn water gives the soup.
7. start off with about 3 tsp. of the chicken soup mix.
8. let the soup finish cooking with the lid on until the potatoes and the carrots are cooked.
9. add the soy milk 1 tablespoon at a time. I like the soup mostly white, so add the soymilk to taste until the soup looks like you like it.
10. taste the soup. add a couple dashes of salt if you want to.
11. taste the soup again. add the chicken soup mix 1/2 tsp at a time until it has the desired taste.

Just for fun I wanted to post. This is a Sephardic Rosh Hashanah bread.
Although, I've also heard of the Serphadic tradition that it isn't bread for
them unless it's a plain bread with no additions. this is parve and moist

~ Pumpkin Challah Or Pan De Calabaza ~
Recipe taken from Maggie Glezer's cookbook "A Blessing of Bread: The Many Rich
Traditions of Jewish Bread Baking from Around the World" and adapted by Rosa @
Rosa's Yummy Yums.

Makes 1 big loaf or two smallish loaves.

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Pumpkin puree (+ more if the dough is too dry) homemade or canned
2 1/4 Tsps (7g) Active dry yeast
1/4 to 1/2 Tsp Ground cardamom
1/2 Tsp Ground ginger
3 3/4 Cups Plain white flour
2/3 Cup Warm water
1/3 Cup sugar
1 1/2 Tsps Salt
1/4 Cup Plain vegetable oil
1 Egg (~53g) + 1 egg (for the glaze), beaten
Sesame seeds or poppy seeds

Method:
1. Sprinkle the yeast into the water in a bowl. Leave four 10 minutes and then
stir to disolve.
2.Mix the flour and the spicestogether in a large bowl, make a well in the
centre of the flour and pour in the yeasted water.
3. Use a wooden spoon to draw enough of the flour into the yeasted water to form

a soft paste.4. Cover with a tea towel and leave to "sponge" until frothy and
risen, about 20 minutes.
5. Whisk the sugar, salt, oil, egg and pumpkin together. Add to the dough and
mix well.
6. Knead for at 5-10 minutes.
5. Let the dough rest while you wash and dry your bread bowl.
7. Oil the bowl lightly, put the dough in it, cover the bowl with a towel.
8. Let it rise in a warm place until the dough has tripled in size, about 2-3
hours.
9. Punch it down and shape as you wish (I opted for two braids, which requires

halving the dough and then cutting each half into thirds, rolling those thirds
into ropes of dough, and braiding the ropes).
10. Place the loaves on baking sheets that have been oiled or sprinkled with
cornmeal/flour.
11. Let the loaves rise until at least doubled in size, about 40 minutes to an
hour.
12. Glaze the loaves with the extra beaten egg and sprinkle them with sesame
seeds or poppy seeds.
13. Bake the loaves at 180° C (350° F) for 40-45 minutes.

Remarks:
Instead of the pumpkin puree, you can use 1 sweet potato (baked, then mashed).
I recommend you to use the following pumpkin:
Potimarron (French) = Hokkaido Pumpkin = Chestnut Pumpkin = Baby Red Hubbard =
Uchiki Kuri = Chinese Pumpkin = Japanese Pumpkin.
To obtain fresh puree, take your pumpkin, cut it in half, deseed it and peel
it, then cut it in cubes and steam. Once it is cooked, mash the pumpkin flesh.
It has to be a very smooth puree.
You can add a little more pumpkin puree if you want the flavor to be stronger.
Use plain/neutral tasting oil such as peanut oil, canola oil or sunflower oil.
If you find you dough too wet, add some flour or, on the contrary, if you find

it too dry add some pumpkin puree, a tablespoon at a time.
The dough should be firm, easy to knead and neither dry nor sticky.

So, I had a craving for thin crust pizza, and they don't have any in the city I live in. I'm experimenting with different recipes. I made this in my Kitchen Aid mixer. I like to make it the night before I want pizza, and let it rise over night. It will rise slowly.

approx. 2 cups flour
approx. 1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
2 tablespoons honey, sometimes I like to use maple syrup
or if using sugar, use about 1 tablespoon of sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
pizza sauce - your own or store bought

1. Add all the dry ingredients and the olive oil to the mixer bowl.
2. in a separate coffee cup, add about 1/4 cup of water, the yeast, and honey.
3. wait about 5 minutes, and the yeast should be a little bubbly.
4. turn on the mixer on the lowest setting, and using a spoon, first add the yeast/water mixture, and then add the regular water.
5. scrape the sides of the bowl every now and then.
6. in about 5 minutes, a ball of dough should form. stop adding water once the dough forms. that's when you know there's enough water in the dough.
7. cover the dough, and let it rise overnight. If you're making pizza for the impatient , let it rise about an hour or so, until it doubles.
8. in the morning, punch it down, form a ball, put the seam side down, and let it rise again until it doubles. about an hour or so. I usually punch it down, form the ball, and then run errands. depending on the warmth of your kitchen, this will take shorter or longer to double.
9. in order to make thin crust pizza, add flour to the counter, and roll the pizza dough until it's about an 1/8" thick.
10. when you add the pizza sauce, make sure to add a thin layer all the way to the edges. otherwise the pizza will burn.
11. add toppings

p.s. I'll add a recipe for pizza sauce in a different posting