[111] Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread

Cover of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman

This recipe is the result of not having the ingredients on hand to make the bread Bittman suggests eating with baked beans, and having a lot of time on my hands while my friends hung shelving.

Not that it took a lot of time. In fact, I almost forgot I’d decided to make bread until near the end, and I still managed to whip it up and serve it. Under normal circumstances, this would make me feel like a dinner hero. Under the circumstances of beans simply not cooking, no matter how much I beg, it just made me feel like at least I had something else to feed the ravening hordes.

Not that Rob, Tony & Krysti are really much of A horde, much less “hordes”.… Continue reading →

[108] Maple-Baked Apple Butter Baked Beans

Cover of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman

If you want a truly authentic Tasha & Bill experience, you need to add some amount of chaos to the cooking of this recipe.

Start by not being really sure about this “bean soaking” thing, because neither of you has done much with dry beans before (a.k.a. only one of you has cooked with them, and they’re all documented on this blog, probably under the “how to cook anything” tag). Refer back to the page he tells you to refer to about soaking, and then be unsure how far into everything to go. Be pretty sure you don’t want “cooked” beans, but there’s actually no specific directions on soaking. Feel like a bit of an idiot. Say, “Well, he says you can also do this recipe with unsoaked beans, it’ll just take an hour longer” to each other, and decide to do that.… Continue reading →

[105] + [106] French Toast

How to Cook Everything, Revised Edition by Mark Bittman

Cover of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman

French toast is my breakfast enemy.

I like to eat good french toast. Most people and places, myself included, do not make good french toast. I really do not like to eat bad french toast. Most people and places, myself included, not only do not make good french toast, they make bad french toast.

That’s right. There is no “meh” in french toast. There’s only “good” and “bad”. I suppose there can be “excellent” and “horrible” as well, but there’s no “meh”. It’s that simple.

This french toast, amazingly, was in the “good, but could be excellent” camp. I’m astounded. I never thought I could make french toast that was even in the “good” category, much less in the “could be excellent” on as well.

Why did I feel I couldn’t aspire to such heights?… Continue reading →

[54] Greek-Style Cooked Greens

Cover of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman

For the record, we had this as a side dish to the “beer-glazed beans.”:http://metacookbook.com/archives/101-51-Beer-Glazed-Black-Beans-with-Bacon-and-Tomatoes!.html It’s just that it took me awhile to remember what the side dish/recipe was.

In addition, we very much did not have the 1 – 2 lbs of greens the recipe called for. However, I was not about to let THAT stop me. I’ve been struggling for most of our CSA to figure out how to properly store turnip greens for eating, and I’d found this recipe one week when I thought I had managed it. I was wrong that week, but it meant this was up my sleeve when I did finally get it right.

I really have never had collards or turnip greens or anything like that before this CSA.Continue reading →

Well, was it a new recipe or not?

Cover of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman

Just in the knick of time to have it in today!

Well, I made pancakes this morning/afternoon (we slept in very late). It was the “Everyday Pancakes” recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. We’ve made a Bittman “Everyday Pancakes” recipe before, from “How to Cook Everything.”

These, frankly, we more dense. I don’t know what I did differently. Overall, just less delicious. I definitely didn’t cook them in enough butter. Boo.

So, would folks like to see a new write-up and a call for this to be a new recipe or no? If I get no input, that’s cool. I’ll make a decision.… Continue reading →