Homemade Oreos

It's been a bit of a pity party weekend. There is nothing better than going two days and not hearing from  your best friends. Seriously, LOVE IT. Anyhoo...I'm sore as hec from a hike this morning but having snow flakes fall on your nose and people talking and laughing around you makes the mad melt away. So I came home and baked a recipe from a blog that I love and envy-http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/05/my-kingdom-for-a-glass-of-milk/ So, yes I baked a giant batch of homemade oreo's that will be divyed up amongst my tummy and various not rude people. Yes yes woes me. I did admittedly mess up the first batch, learned my lesson and made a splendorous second round. I just won't tell you who go what.

Smitten's Homemade Oreo's

**Make sure that you leave the egg and butter out for at least an hour to get to room temp.**

1.) In a food processor (that is correct) place 1 cup white flour and 1/4 c. whole wheat flour ( I always sneak it in). 1/2 c. cocoa, 1 tsp soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt and 3/4 c. sugar. 

2.) Add to the food processor: 1 egg and 1/2 c plus 2 TBS butter. 

3.) Scoop by rounded tablespoons and flatten with the palm of your hand. Place on a baking sheet. My batches ranged from 2 1/2 dozen to 3. 

4.) Bake at 350 for 7 minutes. Pull those bad boys out sooner than you think necessary.

5.) To make the cream, in a medium bowl cream together 1/4 c. vegetable shortening, 1/4 cup butter.

6.) One cup at a time add 2 c. of powdered sugar and 2 tsp of vanilla. 

7.) Once the cookies have cooled use a cheese knife to spread the cream on a cookie and layer with a second.

**UPDATE-I made these with my hand mixer (the food processor was dirty) and the results were the same. I also added 2 TBS of milk because I found that the consistency was a bit dry.***

Seitan Stroganoff

This seriously tastes waaay better than I was able to photograph it.  Honest. Cross my heart. So, the Midwest is getting pummeled and I do mean pummeled by snow right now. I can hear the wind through the thin walls of my parents ancient house. It looks like that bad movie where everyone is snowed in in New York and the aliens are coming. Yes, that bad. So, bad that I'm off work tomorrow and I left early today.  Back to food, I'm easily distracted, as a veggie I'm always on the hunt for protein sources. Always. Seitan is a wheat gluten product that looks a lot like pizza dough that's kinda shriveled up. It's a wonderful substitute for beef in just about any recipe. While perusing online I stumbled on this recipe: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7558.0.  Of course making some tweaks this turned out sooo superbly wonderful. I'll make a bet that if you didn't tell anyone they'd probably not notice that this doesn't have meat. 

Pre-Blizzard Stroganoff:

1.) Before leaving for work put the seitan in a container and drizzle with soy sauce and 2-3 cloves of garlic. Shake well and refrigerate. 

2.) Bring a large pot filled  3/4 full of water to a boil, reduce to a simmer.

3.) In a skillet warm up enough oil to cover the bottom of a medium sized skillet.

4.) Once the skillet is warm place, 1/2 onion FINELY diced, 3 cloves of garlic, the seitan diced (minus the marinade) and  1 small package of mushrooms diced.

5.) Cook until the onions are just about see through.

6.) Bring the water back up to a boil and cook a box of pasta according to the package directions. ( I used farfalle/bow tie and it takes about 13 minutes)

7.) In the skillet add 1 cup of veggie stock, 1 cup of light sour cream, 2 TBS of corn starch ( used to thicken the sauce, only if using light sour cream, omit if using full fat version), 1/2 lemon squeezed 2-3 times, a pinch of sea salt, a couple grinds of pepper, a heaping dash of basil and a sprinkle of paprika.

8.) Let this warm/thicken.

9.) Add one tomato diced.

10.) Serve over the pasta.

Garlic Bread:

1.) In a bowl combine 1/4 cup of olive oil and 3 cloves of garlic minced fine.

2.) Let sit for about 5 minutes, longer if you can to let the oil infuse.

3.) Using a pastry brush spread the oil over slices of bread. 

4.) Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

5.) Broil for about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.