I'm sorry to say that those are not my personal trees. Instead, they're an homage to my North Carolina-based Uncle Jorge, who extended his hospitality to Bean, Mom, and myself just a few days ago. Uncle Jorge wanted to know if we ever decorated our palm trees down here in Florida. I don't own one at the moment, so I scratched up a picture of somebody else's festive fronds instead. You better believe that if I ever do convince Red to dig up some of the yard in favor of a palm tree that it will be covered in twinkle lights every December (if not every day).
With or without lighted tropical shrubbery at our disposal, we've had a heck of a fine Christmas, and I hope everyone else is enjoying their own celebrations as much as we're enjoying our own.
Lots of love from our little corner of the globe, from Kate, Red, and Bean.
[Now go sneak down to the kitchen and have another piece of cake. You know you want it...]
Hey guys! I bet you can guess where I've been for the last week. I'll give you a hint: it involves the words "Bean" and "tissues."
You got it on the first try! Give yourself a gold star :)
Anyway, I'm not here to talk about toddler sniffles (or their adult counterparts, which have since descended on Red and me). No, today I want to address the most magic meal of the year:
Holiday breakfasts.
When I was about ten, sausage pinwheels came into our family. My mom and I differ on their origins: she says they are a tweaked recipe donated to us by my Aunt Wren, and I have a firm memory of her showing me the photo she'd just discovered in a ladies' magazine circa 1990. Whatever the case, these petite twirly meat and cheese bites were a hit. They have since graced our breakfast plates on every holiday morning since.
Sausage pinwheels are just chock full of virtues: they are easy to assemble, take about ten minutes in the oven, and please just about everyone. They are not, however, in any way nutritious. Even the vegetarian versions I've developed are quite possibly lethal. Refrigerated croissant dough, shredded cheese, and soy sausage in a tube do not a balanced meal make. I'm in the process of developing a decent stand-in for the soy sausage, and I've been trying to make an easy copycat of the crescent roll dough as well. For right now, though, it's just pure, delicious evil. But a couple of times a year (hello, Christmas morning), these are a boon to the busy cook.
Bon appetite. And try not to die after you eat them.
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Pinwheels: Sausage and cheese to the left, plain cheese to the right.
Sausage Pinwheels Servings vary by how many you cut, appetite, etc., but this can usually feed 4-5
[Note: I usually assemble these before bed on the eve of whatever holiday. Just roll them up, place them on a cookie sheet dusted with flour, and cover with plastic wrap. If they're a little sticky the next morning, just dust them with a little more flour before slicing.]
2 rolls of refrigerated crescent roll dough (Pillsbury's originals are the best) 1 tube of bulk soy sausage (Gimme Lean breakfast sausage, or any of your own recipe) Italian seasoning Ground or cracked fennel, smoked paprika, and/or red pepper flakes (optional) 1 12 ounce bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1. Preheat your oven to 375F. Flour one large, clean work surface. Line at least two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.
2. Pop a tube of crescent roll dough and extract half. Unroll it; you will see it divides into two rectangles separated by one big perforation (each rectangle will be made up of two long triangles). Separate them at the main perforation and lay them side by side with the shorter edges overlapping. Press them together, and do the same along the triangle perforations. Flatten the rectangle a little at the longer edges where the dough is a little thicker.
3. Take spoonfuls of the soy sausage and drop them onto the prepared dough. Smooth the sausage out until you've covered the available space, leaving only a 1/4 to 1/2 inch margin along one long side (get as close to edge as possible on the others). Sprinkle generously with Italian seasoning and any other herb or spice of your choice. Top with cheese, about the same amount you would use on a normal pizza (ie, you want to see a little of the sausage under the shreds), once again leaving that naked margin along the one long edge.
4. Starting with the fully covered long edge, roll the crescent dough into a long tube. If the dough splits along the original perforations (as it usually does) just pinch it back together. Press the naked edge gently into the side of the completed roll, then set aside.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 with the remaining three rolls of dough. You will use all of the cheese and at least two-thirds of the sausage, depending on how thickly you spread it (go ahead and use the whole tube, if you like - they're your pinwheels, darn it!).
6. Slice the dough logs into rounds about 1/2 inch thick. A serrated knife works well, or give your old electric carving knife a new lease on life with this project. If the knife becomes gooey, dip it in a glass of hot water and wipe with a paper towel. Lay the completed slices on the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.
7. Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking time if you're baking more than one sheet at a time. The dough will be a golden brown and the cheese melted when they are done. Let cool on the pans for about 2 minutes, then remove with a metal spatula. Serve hot and watch them disappear.
Variations:
All cheese: Replace the sausage with softened cream cheese. After you have spread that, then topped with the spices and the cheddar, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Proceed as directed in the original recipe.
Vegan variation: You can substitue Pepperidge Farms puff pastry for the crescent roll dough. Just let it thaw as directed, then roll it out a little and top as directed. Use a non-dairy cheddar style cheese of your choice, of course.
Soy Lite: Replace the soy sausage with any of your choice (Tracy at "A Veg*n for Dinner" has a pretty good recipe here). For soy-sensitive vegans, try replacing the cheddar with a good nut cheese. Joni Newman has a decent almond cheese recipe in her book Cozy Inside. Both Pillsbury crescent rolls and Pepperidge Farms puff pastry contain soy lecithin and/or soybean oil, so there is no soy-free version as of now :(
OK, I had my annual baking extravaganza this weekend, and I wanted to share the results. I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with the turnout. Here's some of this year's line-up, complete with a festive holiday plate. I'll follow with names and links to recipes. Sorry, gang, since I don't yet have Isa and Terry's new cookie book, none of these guys are vegan. Some of them probably wouldn't be hard to do, though, and I'd bet they'd still bel pretty darned exceptional.
4. Wookie cookies (milk chocolate chips replaced by white chocolate)
[Not pictured: old-fashioned peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies (the peanut butter ones were packed up in a box for my brother, and the sugar cookies got ruined in the decorating stage. Oh, well...)]
If I had to pick a favorite out the assortment, it would definitely be the jam thumbprints. These are not like the waste-of-space little pinwheels that adorn every store-bought holiday cookie assortment. These are rich little coconutty wonders designed by my own personal domestic goddess, Ina Garten. I could eat an entire batch by myself and not even mind that I'd consumed three sticks of butter.
I can't speak for every family, but in my original nuclear set-up Thanksgiving was the start of what basically amounted to a season of endless feasting. Forget diets, nutrition, or any kind of restraint. The third Thursday of November through the first of January, we celebrated with food.
Now, don't get me wrong - none of this was elaborate stuff. My enduring memories of holiday treats were a classic navy blue tin of Danish butter cookies and the guest appearance of those spendy Cape Cod style kettle potato chips on our annual Xmas Cold Cut Buffet. But it was all tasty, easy, and a delightful departure from my mom's usual insistence on vitamins and things.
Things have changed a little since I met and married the one and only Red. I'm trying to start my own family food traditions now, which include a massive weekend of baking made-from-scratch Christmas cookies and veg*nized Reuben sandwiches on New Year's Day (my Yankee mom insists that we eat sauerkraut for good luck in the coming year). And in light of modern food science innovations, a lot of our old hydrogenated childhood treats have gone by the wayside (who knew in the 80's that there was really no butter in those Danish cookies?). Yet still... I just can't seem to kill my affection for some of those old youthful culinary delights. So this time of year, I still tend to indulge in those while I also mix in some new healthier treats.
And that's what December will showcase on the old bloggeroo. I'll give you a few of the meatless, and sometimes veg*n versions of Mom et famille's classic snacks and sweets. Then I'll offer up some of my new favorites. What ties all the dishes together is that they are fast, easy, or make-ahead friendly. What with all those cookies I now love to bake, I just don't have time for anything else complicated, y'know?
I'm starting off with the lighter side of things. This week in particular was a "What - me cook?" kind of set-up. Besides suffering from the normal Thanksgiving hangover, I also had to contribute to a potluck at Red's work and put up Christmas decorations. This left me with almost zero menu-planning motivation.
Enter sherry mushrooms.
I got this concept from a really old episode of the Food Network's How to Boil Water (I'm talking ancient, ie., before Tyler Florence). The French chef who's name I have forgotten made a version of these to accompany a beef roast. Since then, I have remade them to my liking, and now they often accompany pasta, proteins, or a slice of buttered toast (pictured below). When served alone, they're an easy side dish to jazz up your seitan roast or potluck buffet table. Atop toasted whole wheat bread, they pair with a salad or sauteed green beans to make a very easy dinner for one or two on a busy night. Like pretty much every night this past week...
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Sherry Mushrooms Serves 1-2 as a main course (depending on appetite)
[Note: You can finish this with any kind of wine or liquor you so desire; I use sherry because it's versatile and I usually have it on hand. Feel free to play around with herbs, too. Marsala wine and sage, for example, make a great combination with the mushrooms.]
1 (one) 8 oz. package of cremini or white mushrooms, cleaned, dried and cut into quarters or halves 2 TB olive oil (approximate) salt and pepper 1/2 TS dried thyme, crumbled (or 1/2 TB fresh, chopped) 2 - 4 TB dry sherry 1 - 2 TB butter
1. Heat a large, shallow skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, swirl to lightly coat the pan, and then carefully toss in the 'shrooms, salt, pepper, and thyme. Toss the mushrooms gently to cover in oil, and then leave to cook for 2-3 minutes. Toss again to redistribute the 'shrooms, and once again leave for 2 minutes or so. The mushrooms should begin to get a wonderful golden brown with a crispy exterior. When this happens, remove them from the heat.
2. Turn the burner down to medium. Add the sherry and return the pan to the burner. Cook for about a minute, then toss in the butter. Toss the mushrooms until the butter has melted into the sherry. It will make a light sauce. If you need it saucier, add more sherry and butter until it reaches the consistency you desire. Taste, adjust seasonings, and enjoy!
These are great topped with a light dusting of parmesan cheese.
VEGAN VARIATION: Replace the butter with Earth Balance of your choice (or more olive oil - I know this is a no-brainer). For added zing, you can top it with lightly roasted and chopped walnuts or almonds and a light dusting of nutritional yeast.
"You know that expression on a dog's face as he watches you plop food into his bowl? Everything that's happened in my life so far has led up to this moment. That is how I feel, at the bottom, about something to eat."
Faster than a speeding squash plant after a rainstorm...more powerful than a KitchenAid stand mixer...able to leap tall dust bunnies in a single bound...
