Apres Cleanse Dreams: What to Cook (from my favorite food blogs) when the Cleanse is finally over

I'm extremely jealous of all of you. You with your pasta dishes, cheeses and your pies. Just who do you think you are, tempting me this way?! Oughta be ashamed, that's what.

But seriously, I have to say that the fall season seems to have brought out the very best in the food blogs. Here is a round-up of sorts of the foods I am dying to try once I'm off this infernal cleanse:

I, like so many of you out there, have a hard-core pumpkin fetish bordering on the kinky. I'll try anything as long as it involves pumpkin. It's sick. The blogger at Cashews and Hummus writes cleverly about the pumpkin love that dare not speak it's name. She tempts me with a simple jar of pumpkin butter. See here.

Also, from Cucina Panzano, I am tempted by a new twist on an old Italian favorite, a Pumpkin Cannoli. Cucina also writes about the Stonewall Kitchen headquarters and store inYork, Maine, a place that is very familiar to me and reminds me of the summer . . . sniff.

Close in flavor and versatility to the pumpkin is the sweet potato. And there are many, many recipes to choose from. Here, I'll choose a savory and a sweet dish. First, the savory: an unusual take on a favorite Arabic vegetarian food, Sweet Potato Falafel, sounds very intriguing to me. Recipe by ARUGULOVE.

For the sweet dish, I'll go for a pie. But not just any old, sickeningly sweet, marshmallow-infected sweet potato pie, but a Sweet Potato Pecan Pie from Closet Cooking. Sweet potatoes and pecan pie filling? HOW can this go wrong? It can't, I say.

One more from the orange vegetable group: a Spicy Carrot Soup from Simply Life. This one I could probably tweek to make it cleanse-friendly and eat it now!

Umami. It's the "earthy" flavor that you either love or hate. The word comes from the Japanese and basically means "tasty," or "meaty" or "savory." Put me down for a "yes" on all three.

One of my favorite sources for this flavor is the mushroom. Now, Japanese mushrooms are encouraged on the cleanse, but I'm having a hard time finding them, except for shitakes. Anyway, when the cleanse is over, I'll be sure to try Wild Mushroom Soup from Chocolate and Croissants (this is a really cool, French-themed blog. Check it out.).

Recently, I published one of my poems, "The Changeling Maid," in Goblin Fruit, an online poetry journal. In the bio section, all the contributors are asked to tell what is their favorite fruit. Well, who can really choose . . . my own tastes seem to change with the seasons. Anyway, I chose "figs" from which one of the best cookies on the planet are derived. Ciao Chow Linda tells us how to make Fig Jam, a staple for making all sorts of fillings and sauces with figs.

In addition, I picked up some sweet Italian sausage at the farmer's market this Saturday. Their meat is local, humanely raised and sustainable. I'll be enjoying the savory-sweet taste of sausage in about a week or so, and when I do, you can be sure I'll be posting about it.

Mexican Chocolate Fondue (Dairy-free and Sugar-free)

I wanted to try making a raw fondue for our Solstice Party, but I couldn't get my hands on any raw cacao in time (you can also put nibs in a grinder and get a good result). I resorted to using Ghiradelli unsweetened 100% cacao bar, melted it with 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil and sweetened it with enough agave until it tasted sweet enough to me (a couple tablespoons?). Flavor the fondue with a dash of ginger, cinammon and cayenne pepper.

Sooo good.

Strawberry Souffles with Strawberry Mousse and Strawberries Dipped in White Chocolate*UPDATED*

Why have tired, old cake and ice-cream when you can have souffle and mousse?

The birthday surprise seems to have been a big hit. Unfortunately, the pictures really didn't come out very well, so I'll just have to entice you with the recipe.

First, I'd like to thank a couple blogs for the recipes and inspiration I used to come up with this dessert. Earlier this month, Kevin at Closet Cooking posted a delicious-looking strawberry souffle that I knew I just had to make. With all the delicious, local strawberries we were getting from the CSA and other local farms, I knew it would be good. When my sister's birthday approached, it seemed like the perfect fit

. Kevin's recipe for strawberry souffle was very simple -- but it only served 4 and I wanted to be able to serve at least 6. So, I went to the Joy of Cooking to read up on souffles (I've only made one in my life, a few years ago). The book didn't have a recipe for a souffle with strawberries, but I adjusted the quantities and some of the ingredients based upon what I read there. 

I've been watching Joanne Weir lately, and she featured cooking classes on making souffles and mousse, so the thought to combine the souffle with a mousse probably had a genesis there. I did a Food Blog Search for "strawberry mousse" and stumbled upon a sweet little blog called Tartelette. There, I found a recipe for Pistachio and Strawberry Mousse Mille Feuilles. I just extracted the strawberry mousse part from the too-cute recipe (and I mean "too cute" in a nice way!). This mousse was very light, more like a flavored whipped cream -- which made it perfect for this dessert. And can I just say that mascarpone cheese is one of my new favorite things? Yes! So light and smooth -- nothing like its usual substitutes, cream cheese or ricotta.

So, here is now my own recipe for

 Strawberry Souffles with Strawberry Mousse and Strawberries Dipped in White Chocolate:

Souffle:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup strawberries, pureed
  
• 3 tablespoons sugar 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  
• 5 egg whites (room temperature)
  
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 tbs. sugar

 Directions:

1. Mix the strawberry puree, 3 tbs. of sugar and vanilla extract.
   
2. Beat the egg whites until you get soft peaks.
   
3. Gradually beat in the cream of tartar, then the next 2 tbs. sugar.
4. Gently fold the strawberry puree into the egg whites.
   
5. Pour the mixture into 6 buttered and sugared ramekins.
   
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until puffed and golden brown on top, about 12 minutes.
   

Mousse:

Ingredients:

8 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup pureed fresh strawberries
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, kept cold

Directions:

1. Mix the mascarpone and sugar until smooth.
   
2. Add the pureed strawberries.
   
3. Whip 1 ½ c. heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
   
4. Fold into strawberry mixture.
   
5. Refrigerate until serving.
   

Strawberries Dipped in White Chocolate

Ingredients:

12 gorgeous, ripe, unblemished strawberries

6 oz. white chocolate pieces (or bar)

mint or lemon balm leaves for decoration

Directions:

1. Wash and DRY the strawberries. Chocolate will not stick to wet berries.
2. Lay out a piece of parchment paper and arrange the mint/balm leaves in sets of two so that you can place a strawberry between them and the chocolate will stick and hold the decoration together.
3. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over low heat.
4. While the melted chocolate is still warm, work quickly to dip each berry and place down on the parchment.
5. Refrigerate until serving. 

To assemble the three parts should be intuitive enough. Serve the souffles IMMEDIATELY. Plop a dollop of mousse on top (I punctured a hole in the souffle and filled it and then added more on top) and garnish with chocolate-dipped strawberries.

Recipe Review: De Laurentiis's Hazelnut and Chocolate Pie

I don't have the Food Network. I have the most basic of basic cable packages, and most of the time, I don't complain.

I don't think I really miss anything by not having the Food Network, anyway. What am I going to miss? Rachel Ray? Paula Dean? Pu-lease.

However, I do enjoy a few of the programs, and one of the first cooking programs that I really took to was Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis. I've made a few of her dishes over the years, mostly seafood, but I did make a spinach-ricotta ravioli one time made from eggroll wrappers. The wrappers are a great substitute if you don't have a pasta maker.

But now that I don't have the Food Network, I only catch De Laurentiis's show (or any others) if I am at the gym, of all places, where I finish up my workout with a spin on the elliptical machines -- and I always make sure I get one with a TV so that I can watch a food program. 

I am thoroughly disappointed if it's Ray or Dean. I groan audibly.

A couple days ago, I lucked out and saw the making of this chocolate pie. 

(Okay, so it doesn't look like much here, but I'm not really a photographer. Deal. Imagine the moist, chewy chocolate and the nutty hazelnut flavor. Imagine the unusual texture: somewhat dense, like a brownie, but a little more cake-like around the edge. And yet it's called a "pie." Don't talk; eat.)

See De Laurentiis's recipe here.

Ever since I did that macrobiotic cleanse this spring (lost weight, felt awesome), I've been trying to eat more of the foods I ate while cleansing and avoid those that I cut out. I've done a pretty good job (I'll have to publish more about macrobiotics and cleansing later) and have only gained back about a pound.

One of the things I really try to avoid eating is refined sugar. Refined flours, too. So, I decided I would not use sugar or white flour in the recipe above. I used agave nectar and whole wheat flour instead and it still came out great. 

Since agave is sweeter than regular sugar, I used less than 2/3 c. agave. Since it's also a liquid, I cut out the boiling water and melted the second batch of chocolate in the microwave instead. The quantities in this recipe are pretty easy to adjust.

The chocolate chips were made with evaporated cane juice -- which I believe is really just a fancy way to say "sugar" . . . but until they start making chips with agave or brown rice syrup, I just have to suck it up.

I am very pleased with the result . . . a little too pleased . . . I'm in danger of eating this entire thing myself! Refined sugar or no, eating an entire chocolate pie by oneself is not going to be good for the waistline. ;) So, into the freezer this pie is going to go! 

I think I'll bring it to my parents' house on Saturday to share with my sister, her husband and my niece and nephew and then "forget" to bring it home. That should take care of that . . . 

Here's a good link to a page about cooking with agave.