Veggin’

The title of my next cookbook is a novel in itself: From a Monastery Kitchen: A practical cookbook of vegetarian recipes for the four seasons complete from soups to desserts with breads. This cookbook, written in 1976, was inspired by a visit to a monastery in the Hudson Valley. The recipes were compiled by Elise Boulding with the assistance of Brother Victor Avila.

Divided by season, each section features starters to deserts. Illustrations are more whimsical and have nothing to do with the final dish.

Each recipe is framed with, as the author describes it, “a collage of quotations and art that is intended to reflect the nearly two-thousand-year-old experience of monastic life as an affirmation of wholeness, simplicity, and joy.” Many are good reading while you are waiting for your pot to boil or your food to cook.

These are a few the struck a cord with me:

“A little Madness in the Spring is wholesome even for the King” – Emily Dickinson

“Many’s the long night I dreamed of cheese – toasted, mostly” – Robert Louis Stevenson

“Many excellent cooks are spoiled by going into the arts” – Gauguin

“The bigger the dairymaid, the better the cheese” – Derbyshire Proverb

This is a strange yet fascinating little cookbook. The instructions and recipes are simple but sometimes basic steps or directions are missing. For example, one recipe begins, “cook the apples, using as little water as possible, sweetening at the end of cooking”. How am I cooking the apples? In a pan? In a skillet? In the oven? How long am I cooking them?

This is a primarily vegetarian cookbook but there are a few fish dishes included. The index is divided by type of dish such as “egg and cheese dish”, “pancake and cereal dishes”, “vegetable dishes”. The listings underneath are by recipe title. So, if you don’t know what Beans Bengal contains, you have to flip to the recipe page. (By the way, it’s yellow split peas, cheddar cheese, curry powder, onion, green pepper, olive oil and seedless raisins).

There is also a page of “useful culinary instructions” with some interesting tidbits about how to make “hi-protein matzo balls” (“Follow recipe on box, double egg and add wheat germ.”) and a heading called “Curry” (“Is very digestible. (OK for persons with ulcers!) Use in white sauces.)” I did learn how to “pseudosaute” with the instructions appearing at the end of the recipe below.

I did find that there is a new edition of the cookbook printed in 2002. Looking through it, there are fewer quotations and excerpts, and the recipes are updated. (I compared the chickpea soup recipe and the instructions changed from, “Boil, in plenty of water, until soft. Chop vegetables and simmer together with seasonings. Combine with cooked chickpeas and serve as soup.” to, “Add the remaining ingredients and cook slowly over medium heat for about an hour, until chickpeas and vegetables are tender.”)

I found that in the 1976 edition, while some of the recipes are a bit simple, they do sort of provide a foundation for elaboration. And, most a pretty adaptable, like this recipe. The recipe reads as if someone is verbally telling giving you the recipe and giving approximations a la “you can throw a little bit of this, and a little bit of that and then cook it. ” So, I decided to do just that.

Instead of rice, I used risotto. I omitted the beans and used a smoked tofu instead of regular tofu. (If you haven’t used smoked tofu before, run out and get some, it adds depth to any dish and provided a sort of, dare I say, “meaty” flavor.) Towards the end of cooking, I just ended up throwing in all the mushrooms I had and could also see throwing in steamed broccoli, snap peas and other asian vegetables into the sauce. I think the key with this dish is that if you’re adding vegetables, precook them and then drench them with the sauce.

Poor Person’s Sukiyaki
From a Monastery Kitchen, 1976 edition

• 1 cup scallions or onions finely sliced
• 1/2 cup light cooking sherry or sweet wine
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 cups fresh spinach or well-drained frozen (any steamed greens can be substituted)
• 2 cups mushrooms, if available, other vegetables can be added
• sugar to taste if desired
• soy bean curd (tofu) cut in squares (if available)
• 4 cups cooked or 1 1/2 cups uncooked rice (or any combination of rice and beans such as blackeye peas and rice, pinto beans and rice, etc.)

Cook scallions or onions according to the “pseudosauteing method” (see below).

Add sherry and soy sauce and stir.

Add spinach and other vegetables. Simmer 3 or 4 minutes. Add a little sugar as sauce cooks, if desired.

Remove from heat. Add tofu and pour mixture over rice or rice and bean combination. Other vegetables can be added. Amounts of all ingredients can be varied. Serves 6 to 8.

“Pseudosauteing technique”: delicious and healthy To give a sauteed taste without indigestibility of fried foods: instead of sauteing in butter or oils, cook in just enough slightly sugared water or broth so that when fully cooked water is all absorbed and fod is beginning to stick to the pan and burn a little. Quickly pour in a little cold-pressed oil; stir it up well and scrape all the brown which had begun to burn. (This retains all the vitamins from vegetables and oil, uses oil as seasoning, and still gives the sauteed taste. Recommended for carrots, greens, potatoes, parsnips, onions, string beans, broccoli, etc.) People who can’t digest fried foods can eat these. Salt and pepper to taste after cooking.

Finally! We made it to Italy! We start out in the Piedmont region where the team time trial (TTT) takes place. The TTT requires heavy work which requires a heavy meal. It’s a good thing because in this region the cuisine is inspired by farmers and peasants where il vino che e pane (the wine that is bread) is nourishment for these hard working people…

Butter is preferred over olive oil due to a strong French influence while polenta and rice, highly cultivated in the Piedmont, are used much more than pasta. Meanwhile, perfumed truffles and mushrooms are featured frequently as they are found in the dark oak forests prevalent in this region. Hearty fruits and vegetables (potatoes, radicchio, cabbage and greens) grow well due to sunny days and warm nights.

I chose a hearty Risotto al Barolo as my first Italian dish as it perfectly embodies the region – it features a wine from the Piedmont region, risotto and butter. It is a warm satisfying dish after a long day of work. You could also add a few drops of truffle oil (or a few shavings of an actual truffle) if so inspired just to round out this dish.

I do know that a lot of you are intimidated by the thought of making risotto. Before you go running and screaming from your kitchen, let me give you this note: Risotto is honestly very easy to make (you just don’t have to reveal this fun fact to the people you are serving.) My preferred method for cooking risotto is different than in this recipe which requires you to simmer the risotto first, drain, then gradually add liquid. My method is the “add liquid a little at a time and don’t stir so often” method. Either way works just fine, I’m just partial to my way. Why? Megabeth prerogative, that’s why.  (If you want to use my method, read my post entitled:  “Risotto: It’s Not That Hard to Make.“) If you use this recipe’s method, be sure to reserve some extra of the vegetable broth you simmer the risotto in. I found that I needed to add more liquid towards the end to soften up the risotto even after adding the wine.

Risotto Al Barolo (Risotto with Barolo)
adapted from The Good Food of Italy

4 cups light vegetable stock
1 2/3 cups Arborrio rice
Salt and pepper
1 onion, chopped
4 Tablespoons butter
About 1 1/4 cups Barolo or other good red wine
Grated parmesan

Bring the stock to the boil, add the rice, season with salt and pepper.

Simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, then drain. (Note: Reserve some of the vegetable stock in case you need to add more liquid to the risotto later.)

In the meantime, in another large saucepan, fry the onion in 1 tablespoon of butter until soft and transparent, add the rice.

Pour in the wine a little at a time, and cook, stirring often, for 5 to 10 minutes, until the rice is tender. (Note: Add some of your reserved vegetable stock, little by little, if the rice has not cooked all the way through.) The risotto should be moist and creamy. Stir in the rest of the butter and let it melt in.

Sprinkle in some parmesean and stir until it is melted and creamy. Sprinkle additional cheese on top when serving.

Cycling photo copyrighted. Used with permission.

Really. Risotto is not hard to make.

Most people have the misconception that risotto is a time-consuming and labor-intensive dish to prepare. It’s probably because they get turned off by thinking they have to be chained to the stove to stir, stir, stir. But, there really isn’t a need to stir. Alton Brown even agrees with me.

Basically, the more you stir risotto, the more starchy goodness gets rubbed off. The less starchy goodness you have the less creamy the risotto will be. (Alton Brown would have you think of risotto having little raincoats on them, the more you stir, the more the risotto bonks around and the more likely that the starchy rain coats will come off.) The best part is, without all the stirring, there is more time to do other things in the kitchen.

My Risotto

- olive oil
- 1 box risotto
- at least two cups white wine
- vegetable broth
- shredded parmesan cheese
- freshly ground pepper
- optional ingredients: onions, peas, mushrooms or asparagus sauteed in olive oil

Put a few tablespoons of oil in the bottom of your pot on medium heat. Brown some chopped onion (optional in our house).

Add uncooked, dry risotto into pan and coat with oil. “Toast” the risotto in the pan until slightly brown (or you smell the risotto cooking).

Add one cup white wine first. Only stir a little bit to distribute the liquid. Let risotto sit until it absorbs the liquid. But, don’t let it get too dry.

Add one cup heated vegetable broth. Again, let risotto sit until it absorbs almost all the liquid.

Keep adding one cup vegetable broth and the letting the risotto absorb. Gently stir occasionally to prevent risotto from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Risotto will start expanding. Once you’ve hit about six to seven cups of liquid, begin taste testing risotto for doneness. Keep adding liquid until risotto is soft and creamy. If you run out of vegetable broth and the risotto still needs to cook, use hot or boiling water until done.

Towards the end of cooking stir in one of the following optional ingredients: pre-sauteed mushrooms, peas or small pieces of asparagus.

The last cup of liquid to absorb should be one more cup of white wine. Otherwise, the wine flavor is hidden by the vegetable broth taste.

Stir in some shredded parmesean cheese.

Serve in bowls with freshly ground pepper and parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. And, the best part is that risotto is just as good the next day as leftovers.

So, resist the urge to stir except to keep the risotto from sticking to the bottom of the pot. You’ll save so much time and have a great side, or main, dish.