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January 30, 2006
Scheherazade Casserole
The original Moosewood Cookbook (1977) has mythic stature in my mind as far as vegetarian cookbooks are concerned. It is entirely handwritten and gets rave reviews from everyone I know who uses it. Since it wasn't readily available (stores sell various iterations, but I don't think the original, handwritten version is being printed anymore), even at the Coop, it became one of those things I always wanted to find but never got around to tracking down. Finally, I passed the grunt work on to Derek and asked for it for Christmas. It worked: I now own the 15th Anniversary reprint (1992), which sticks to the original but is revised to be a bit healther. Now, if I were still a vegetarian (and as much as I say I try to be, I just caved and had a turkey sandwich today so I'm hardly sticking to it), I could join the ranks of serious vegetarians by cooking lentil bulgar and stuffed squash and samosas from scratch.
I spent an afternoon flipping through it just to get a feel for what the signature dishes are. Odessa beets seem like a favorite, though I'm not big on shredded vegetables. A lot of recipes in the book seem like the classic vegetarian dishes that I love -- possibly because this book was a trailblazer. Many have roots in middle eastern food -- there's eggplant dip, cucumber yogurt sauce, spanakopita, stuffed grape leaves. There are also Asian-style peanut sauces and stir frys, and standard Italian dishes. A lot of my favorite things are in here: ricotta gnocchi, eggplant parmesan, banana bread, carrot bread, vegetarian chili.
To kick off my Moosewood cooking career with a bang, I made Scheherazade Casserole first, even though I didn't have a really firm idea about what the final product might look or taste like. The introduction starts with this: "This is one of my favorite recipes, and I strongly recommend it: ground soybeans baked with bulgar, vegetables, garlic, tomatoes, feta cheese. The texture is deeply satisfying, and the seasonings are bold. It tastes great!" It also has a completely insane list of ingredients, one of which involves prepping the night before (soaking the soybeans, something I'd never done before). Here's a simplified list:
- soaked soybeans
- bulgar
- feta cheese
- tomatoes
- peppers, garlic and lots of onions
- cumin and cayenne
These were gradually rendered into a huge reddish pile of mush which barely fit into our largest bowl. I was a little skeptical, but I just had a bite and it's wonderful. It tastes like a hearty Italian dish -- the feta really pulls it together and makes it seem decadent. I almost wish I weren't heading to Boston Thursday -- there's not way we'll finish it by then -- maybe I'll freeze half of it now. The recipe made enough for several weeks.
By the way, anyone know the origin of "scheherazade"? I could Google it, but I'm lazy.
Posted by csageday at January 30, 2006 10:41 PM
Comments
You and Liz with the Moosewood recipes...
I don't quite understand it. I'm a James Beard fan, and yet she still stays with me!
Congrats on your blogiversary--odd that I am getting to know you in this way, but fun! Anyhow, more on the churros when you get a chance, please! I love them!
Oh, and the midwest dig in your last post was fine with me... I'm from Annapolis, MD, and thought St. Louis was a group of farms or something until I moved out here...
Posted by: ck at January 30, 2006 11:20 PM
Thanks, ck. James Beard, hmmm, I should probably figure out who he is one of these days. Mom gave me a book, I think. Seems like he might make complicated things. I'm all for the touchy-feely nonthreatening hand-written books at this stage, but maybe I'll take a loo (although Barefoot Contessa and Lidia Bastianich are making me work hard for my meals).
Posted by: Cindy at January 30, 2006 11:39 PM