Yesterday’s project(s): vegan (gluten) pot roast and non-vegan gingerbread.

Right now you should be thanking your lucky stars I don’t have a camera to take pictures of this stuff with because the roast, while relatively tasty (really just a huge hunk of seitan made from scratch), looked like a total monstrosity. Also it’s way bigger than I can handle. But it was nice to throw something in the over with a bunch of carrots and potatoes and onions and garlic and let it roast a while. On a wintry day.

In the future I’ll cut down on the size (the recipe, from the Farm Vegetarian Cookbook, called for 4 cups of flour and 4 cups of gluten flour, which made a really huge roast — I’d half it next time) and maybe make the gluten itself with something other than just water (maybe stock, or some sort of sauce, not unlike the oil-water-soy sauce mix it was made in).

Gingerbread was pretty textbook — and turned out tasty. I whipped some cream to top it with while still warm. I also did little else all day besides cook and bake. But that’s pretty alright.

I never got a chance to get you my review of Taj Mahal, because I became ungodly busy Thursday and Friday, and I wasn’t on the internet long enough on the weekend. So here goes.

It was pretty sweet.

There was a plethora of paneer options, which is a big plus in my book, as paneer is my thing, and at my favorite Indian joint (Taste of India) there’s really only a few options (especially if mattar paneer isn’t your favorite, as it is not mine).  I ended up settling on the paneer tikka masala, which was tasty — no messing around, just big cheese chunks in a yummy reddish sauce. I asked for it to be a 4/10 in spiciness and it basically wasn’t spicy at all, so  maybe next time I’ll ratchet up the spiciness. (Unless it’s like Taste and they’re just totally random with how they spice it, so it doesn’t matter what you ask for.)

The veggie pakora we got as an appetizer was good but kind of boring — it was basically all potatoes and zucchini. There’s nothing wrong with those things, but I wanted some little cauliflowers in there! And some of those crunchy spinach things!

The papadum (just had to look that up to remember what it’s called — yknow, the wafery things they force on you as an appetizer, with the two chutneys) was really good — thin and crispy, salty but not spicy. The chutneys were tasty as well.

It’s BYOB, so we, uh, BOOB, and I didn’t try any other drinks. Being a fan of masala tea, maybe next time I’ll roll with that.

Pammer, for her part, got the eggplant stuff, because she likes eggplant, and she liked it, but then it may or may not have made her slightly sick the next day. Let’s pretend it didn’t, though. Just a coincidence. Right? Eh?

That part notwithstanding, it’s Andybot Approved and Recommended. Also, for you al fresco, plein-air types, there are some outdoor tables. In the middle of a parking lot alongside McKnight Road. Don’t say they didn’t offer.

Taj Mahal

7795 McKnight Rd. (It’s right near Ross Park Mall; not sure if it’s officially Ross or McCandless).

(412) 364-1760

Sometimes it’s hard to want to eat soup when it’s hot out, but we had a few nice, cool days and a few ears of corn to use up, so….

Potato and corn chowder it is!

1. In your soup pot, fry up a sliced onion, a clove or two of garlic, and a two handfuls of chopped tomatillos (for me, this was two massive tomatillos from the market — other days it would be 10 or so littler ones) in a bit of olive oil.

2. When that’s cooked up, add a pile of cubed red potatoes (leave those lovely skins on!) and two ears’ worth of corn, sliced off of the cob.

3. Stir those around with a shake of red pepper flakes, a bit of thyme and rosemary, black pepper and a shake or so of salt. Then add enough vegetable broth to just barely cover the potatoes. Stick a bay leaf in there.

4. Let that boil a while, till the potatoes are perfect. Then with your potato masher, smash down maybe four or five or six times, to make the broth thick and potato-y. Simmer just a bit longer. Do a taste test.

5. Enjoy the heck out of this soup. It’s so flavorful — the tomatillos add a lot but if you don’t have any, maybe try adding some lemon or lime juice to up the tang.

Today I met my friend Jamaica Jones for lunch at the Café at Frick. I had the prix fixe and chose:

• ginger/carrot/leek soup with crème fraîche
• crabcake bruschetta
• frozen caramel souffle with a pecan sandie and warm caramel-pecan sauce.

The ladies who greeted us at the door clapped with glee to finally meet Miss Jamaica Jones. They were dying to find out what someone with such an awesome name looks like, I guess. She doesn’t look like you’d expect, I’m willing to bet, but she is incredibly beautiful and full of energy and also a little crazy-in-a-good-way, which I respect and admire. The name suits her.

We sat next to a table full of retired Gateway School District teachers and recognized all of them but couldn’t remember any of their names. I finally broke and approached them and apologized for interrupting their meal, and then apologized again for not remembering any of their names. I added that I can’t remember some of my students’ names from one semester to the next, so they shouldn’t take it personally. They were so cute, the four of them, lunching in the cafe. I guess my old 5th grade teacher is a volunteer at the Frick because she was wearing a lanyard that said so. Girl genius, I am. See how I put clues together?

Today so far has been one of those perfect days where life seems awesome and full of possibilities. I’m going to Boston, a city I’ve never set foot in, to visit with an old high school friend who is starting Harvard Law in the fall. We’re taking a day trip to Cape Cod which seems impossibly quaint to me. In July I’ll be going to Philly and Baltimore, and in August I’ll be in Brooklyn, D.C., and possibly San Francisco (the farthest west I’ve ever been is Las Vegas.) These are all fun little trips, but if you asked me where in the world I’d go if I could only pick one place I’d never been, my answer would be “to Mexico for Dia de los Muertos!” Not knowing this, Jamaica randomly asked me at lunch, “Hey! I’m going to Puebla for Dia de los Muertos– do you want to come along with me?”

Yes, ma’am. Yes I would like that, very much. I’m not getting my hopes up too much until I get clearance from my principal, and my fear is that first quarter grades are due that very week. Though I guess I could just give everyone a “C” and call it done. Anyway, we’ll see…

My legs are sore from lunges, my belly is full of good food and wine, and there is a thunderstorm rolling in. My day couldn’t possibly get any better, except for the following two bummers:

1. my superfancy bathing suit is not going to arrive in time for my trip and,
2. I have to drive to Monroeville in a few minutes for a hair cut. But even Monroeville, with its Route 22 traffic and its never-ending strip malls, will not spoil my optimism today, no sir.

vs

Thoughts?

(It’s really more difficult than one would expect to find an image of the Frownie Brownie).

For my 32nd birthday, I went to Lidia’s Italy: Pittsburgh edition. For $22, this is what you get at Lidia’s for brunch:

• a bloody mary or mimosa (we all ordered mimosas. I ordered two.)
• an amazing array of bread like cranberry scones and rosemary foccacia with three different kinds of butter (apricot jam butter, strawberry jam butter, crunchy sugar butter)
• an antipasti table to write home to your Auntie about. cured meats, cheeses, olives, some sort of stewed cabbage dish, canellini bean/tuna salad, i can’t even remember what else. insanity.
• an entree big enough to feed 3 or 4, no lie. we ordered crepes stuffed with butternut squash and goat cheese, manicotti, and frico. i’ve never had frico before. it’s a melty Monasio cheese envelope filled with potatoes, leeks, and different fillings (we ordered both “bacon and eggs” and “rosemary and mushroom”.) were you ever twisted enough to find out what it tastes like if you just melt and fry some cheese in a hot, buttered skillet? i am that twisted, friends, and thank god for it– now i know what to tell you “frico” resembles. and that’s not a bad thing at all.
• a dessert table: tiramisu, raspberry torte, flourless chocolate cake, lemon drop cookies, paper-thin chocolate and apricot cookies, etc…
• some damned fine coffee. i forgot to ask where they get their coffee from, but i fully plan on returning to find out.

It was the first time I’ve been to Lidia’s. I’ve heard mediocre things about the dinners there lately (as well as the service) and I almost bailed and went to Point Brugge last minute, but Lidia’s brunch was top-notch as far as I’m concerned. I will certainly return, and inevitably (involuntarily, even) I will gorge.

(Note: If I were someone awful and annoying, someone like Dane Cook, perhaps, this is where I would make a really un-funny observation about wide-girthed folks and their proclivity towards all-you-can-eat brunches such as these. Lucky for you, I am not Dane Cook, so it doesn’t need to be said.)

So, yes: stop by Lidia’s for brunch, if nothing else, and head on over to Zerrer’s Antiques in the Strip. The prices are reasonable, the owners are awesome, and you just might find a treasure!

FYI: If you are a fan of Lidia Bastianich (I don’t pay attention if it don’t rhyme with “Schmourdain”), she will be signing copies of her cookbook Lidia’s Italy at the Shadyside Williams-Sonoma on Sunday.

Lidia will personalize her new cookbook Lidia’s Italy and also sign her other titles. (Proof of Williams-Sonoma purchase is required.)

Be sure to bring your m-effin’ wallets, kids.

Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup

You’ll need:

• 2 cans black beans, rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes (if you’re into tomatoes, or not if you’re not.)
• 1 can pumpkin puree (or in this case, a small heap of freshly pureed pumpkin)
• 1-2 onions, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ c cooking sherry
• ½ stick soy margarine
• 4 c vegetable broth
• 1 t salt
• ½ t black pepper
• 2-3 t cumin
• 3-4 T balsamic vinegar

Instructions, photos, and biscuit recipe below!

(more…)

African Peanut Soup

In a large sauce pan, heat up:

• a dribble of olive oil
• a good-sized yellow onion, chopped
• two cloves of garlic, chopped
• a knuckle of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• pinch of cinnamon
• bigger pinch of cumin
• smaller pinch of cayenne – or a squirt of sriracha sauce, or a small spoon of chili garlic sauce

More photos and the rest of the recipe below!
(more…)

At x-mas time, when visiting my folks, some of our holiday presents included some excess bounty from their garden, including a shopping bag full of potatoes, a handful of sweet potatoes, and three obscenely large (and shaped) neck pumpkins.

Witness one of these obscene bastards!

(more…)

For x-mas I got Emma the Veganomicon cookbook. We’ve been trying a handful of the recipes out since then. A couple weeks ago we made homemade seitan for the first time using their recipe. Tonight I tried out their Chickpea Cutlets recipe and used it to make a big ass Vegan Chicken Parmesian Sandwich. Here’s how ya do…

(more…)