Christmas Cookies

This year's Christmas cookies were made in a hurried late night episode in my Brooklyn kitchen. The clock roared past the midnight hour and I flung flour around, a rolling pin in one hand, a sticky iphone in the other. Not exactly your charmed cookie baking event, but this is how we do. The frantic effort produced a few of these little boxes stuffed with Mexican Chocolate Cookies (spicy!), Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons, and Gingerbread People. All recipes are courtesy of the good people at Post Punk Kitchen- a website that is always there for me when I'm scrambling for an idea or a recipe. Thanks Isa!

All recipes are linked below for your use! My favorite were the Mexican Hot Chocolate cookies- I will be making them again soon!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
Gingerbread People
Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

Wising you very happy holidays, however and wherever you spend them. I'm off to Ohio this afternoon to celebrate with family and friends and also to walk in the woods. May your days be relaxing and filled with much joy.

Very truly yours,
NRG

The Veganette for Chickpea Magazine

Three recipes/ photographs of mine are featured in the winter edition of Chickpea Magazine! I am honored to be included in what is surely one of the best new vegan magazines in circulation. Pre-order now and prepare yourself to enjoy Cara's hand lettering and a pile of new recipes and photographs by some of the nation's finest pan-friers, muddlers, and whiskers. 

You can find the veganette submissions on pages 70-75 featured as a "Cold Dark Day Menu". These are some of my favorite new recipes for winter- Roasted Romanesco with Toasted Pecans, Gluten Free Apple Blackberry Pie, and Cashew Ricotta Pizza. You can preview the magazine online here and pre-order a print copy here. While you're at it, consider purchasing a year subscription! This independent magazine is a beautiful trailblazer that will out-swagger your bon appetit any day of the week. 

To cold (bright) days!

NRG

Scalloped Potatoes In A Garlic-Herb Béchamel Sauce

If you're a vegan like me and thought you would never again enjoy the homey taste of scalloped potatoes, think again! Here, thinly sliced onions and Yukon Gold potatoes settle in a savory herbed béchamel sauce garnished with a a healthy load of ground pepper and fresh rosemary. Delicious! I've adapted the gratin recipe from Mollie Katzen's The Vegetable Dishes I Couldn't Live Without, a brilliant (though not particularly vegan) cookbook filled with interesting and new ideas on how to prepare veggies. Katzen's vegetarian cookbooks are bestselling and rightfully so! The lady can tell you how to whip up some amazing home-style soups with ease and class, all while preaching on about her unending love for vegetables.

4 Tbs. margarine
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
2 Tbs. flour
1 1/2 cups warmed unsweetened almond or soy milk
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
2 lbs. Yukon Gold Potatoes (sliced thinly)
1 large onion (sliced thinly)
freshly ground black pepper
fresh rosemary

Melt the margarine in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the garlic, rosemary, and thyme, stirring often to prevent burning. Add the flour and whisk constantly until a thick paste forms. Keep whisking as you add in the warmed milk. Add the bay leaf and turn the heat down even lower. Let the gratin thicken, stirring often, for about 8 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and preheat oven to 375.

Cut the potatoes and onions very thinly and arrange in a greased pan. Pour the béchamel sauce over the vegetables (make sure to discard the bay leaf) and top with cracked pepper. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the center of the oven for an hour. Test to make sure the potatoes are tender, and increase time if necessary. Remove from oven and garnish with fresh rosemary and more pepper.

Enjoy!
NRG