Mississippi Mud Cookies

Being from the West, I’d never heard of Mississippi mud cookies before Bianca mentioned them on her blog.

Her pictures looked so tempting, I had to look up a recipe, and found a few similar ones such as this one here and this one.

I love that AllRecipes offers comments on the recipes, but unfortunately didn’t find their recipe until after the fact, so here’s how things went down:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Wipe 1" wide band of butter around the rim of a 3 quart pan to prevent boil-over.
2. Combine milk, sugar, cocoa, butter and peanut butter.
3. Stir and bring to boil over medium heat. Let boil for 1 1/2 minutes, do not stir.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in oats and vanilla. Stir until oats evenly distributed.
5. Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper. Cool. Makes 4 to 5 dozen.

Comments: So, these never set up…it seems that I didn’t boil the mix long enough? Fail. =(

Quick Pickle Cucumbers

After falling in love with the quickie pickle carrots, Alicia at VeganEpicurean posted about her Quick Cucumber Pickles, and that became next up on my list.

Ingredients:
4 small cucumbers, cut in half and thinly sliced
½ cup vinegar (any type of light colored vinegar, I used champagne)
½ cup water
Stevia, to taste (I used 6-1gram scoops)
Fresh cilantro, minced, to taste (I used about ¼ cup)
Directions:
Heat the water, vinegar and stevia until about body temperature. Place the cucumbers and pickling solution in a jar. You are heating the vinegar so the flavor will penetrate the vegetable more quickly. Refrigerate until needed. If the liquid doesn’t cover all the cucumbers turn the jar over periodically so all the cucumbers are submerged for part of the time. I made these about 30 minutes before dinner but sooner would not be a bad thing. When you are ready to serve drain the pickles and toss with cilantro.

Comments: Despite looking beautiful, these just didn’t do it for me. I replaced the stevia with sugar and used apple cider vinegar. I also had a giant cucumber which I know was part of the problem (too juicy!)…and no cilantro, although I don’t think that would have saved this in my books. I’m not sure if her tastes are just so different from mine, or my changes added up…but I’ll keep looking!

Vegan Almond Feta

Ah, but for valiant efforts! Alicia at Vegan Epicurean has raved about this vegan cheese forever. We have very little (very expensive) feta, so I was eager to find a replacement. Unfortunately, I also lack a blender and reliable oven in Argentina.

Ingredients:
1 cup of blanched almonds
Juice and zest of one lemon (approximately ¼ cup of juice)
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 clove of raw garlic (if small clove use it all)
1 ¼ - 1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ cup water, or more if necessary

Directions:
In a jar with a lid, cover the blanched almonds with water and refrigerate 24 to 48 hours hours. Then drain the nuts rinse them thoroughly and drain again. The longer soak seems to make the nuts process more completely.
Move the drained nuts and the remaining ingredients to a food processor and puree until the mixture is very smooth but has a very slightly crumbly texture. This took 8 minutes during which time I periodically stopped the processor and scraped the side of the container and restarted the machine. If after 10 minutes the consistency is not smooth you can add up to another ¼ cup of water to help the mixture to process.
If you used the extra water to process the nuts, then take the nut mixture and move it to a strainer lined with three layers of cheesecloth.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees when you are ready to proceed.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the cheese onto the baking sheet and form it into a flat disk that is about ¾ of an inch thick. Bake the cheese until it begins to become slightly firm on the top. (About an hour)

Remove the cheese from the oven and allow it to cool to about room temperature before you move it to a serving platter. If you have a wide spatula and have cooked it long enough it will move in one piece. Be careful it is delicate.
To serve: Drizzle the nut cheese with the extra virgin olive oil and salt, freshly cracked pepper and thyme leaves.

Comments: While the recipe wasn't so terrible I had to toss it, from the perspective of cheese, it was a definite FAIL. I found it very lemony—not in a bad way, but too strong to resemble the acid of feta. And of course, my texture was WAY off (I may attempt it again, and steal my roommate's blender for the project)...and it was clearly cooked. Browned on the bottom. I ended up tossing it in various dishes throughout the weak, giving them a lemony, savory twist.

Butternut Squash with Quinoa and Dried Fruit Stuffing

Angela of Oh She Glows posted this tempting-looking Baked Acorn Squash with Quinoa, Cranberry, and Apricot Stuffing. As I’d just baked a giant butternut squash, and had quinoa ready to go, I gave it a go.

Obviously, I tweaked it to what’s available in Argentina, but thought I stayed pretty close to the original recipe, overall. So what happened?

SERVINGS: 4

INGREDIENTS
1 cup quinoa

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

3/4 cups diced onion

salt

1/4 cup diced carrots

1/4 cup diced celery

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teapoon dried sage

1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dried peaches, chopped the size of raisins

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of ground cinnamon

freshly ground black pepper

roasted butternut squash

PREPARATION

1. Simmer the quinoa in 2 cups of water until fluffy, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. While the quinoa cooks, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook until softened, stirring frequently, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the carrots, celery, ginger, and sage.

4. Cover the pan and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 5 to 7 minutes (add a tablespoon of water, if necessary, to prevent scorching.)

5. In a large bowl, toss together the quinoa and vegetables. Stir in the dried fruit, sesame seeds, nutmeg, and cinnamon, season with salt and pepper. Top squash with mixture, and heat in oven until hot.

Well, it was edible, but definitely not on my list of top 100 recipes. I mixed the leftovers with a tablespoon of arugula pesto, which helped considerably. It was very short on vegetables for my taste, but it also just didn’t come together. I won’t be making it again.