Month: November 2013

Some of my earliest memories of black eyed peas involves my mother cooking them. They were highly seasoned and usually accompanied with pieces of some type of meat. I remember my mother favored seasoning the beans with ham hocks or neck bones. Thinking back, the addition of the ham did add flavor to the beans. My mother is an amazing cook and her black eyed peas, along with many of her other dishes rarely lasted.

Switching to a Vegan diet did not mean I give up on the “down home cooking”  I experienced from my youth. I call it, down home cooking with a twist. 😉 I always knew that plant based foods could taste great if prepared correctly. My mother started letting me help prepare meals when I was four years old, and so I took on this “new way of cooking” with a lot of enthusiasm. Although I had always eaten healthy as a non-veggie I really had not explored all the amazing things you could prepare with plant based foods until I made that transition.

It wasn’t long before I started preparing the standard vegetables like dark leafy greens, carrots, potatoes, peas, and beans in a variety of new ways. Surprisingly enough I experienced unique tastes from vegetables that I’d originally written off as “bland” and unappetizing. I learned quickly, that preparation is everything. Vegetables and fruit now had the starring role in the dishes I prepared and I had a lot of fun creating recipes in my kitchen. Naturally in those early days, they weren’t all winners but over time I perfected them, and learned how to prepare the numerous vegetables and fruits that graced our table.

However, somewhere in the process I forgot about black eyed peas. I abandoned them for years. While they were pushed to the side, numerous other beans made their way into my kitchen, and I enjoyed whipping up tantalizing vegan creations that satisfied my desire of creating good home cooked meals and in the process I impressed some of my non-veggie friends that happened to stop by my home.

About ten years ago, I started using black eyed peas again, and I was instantly transported back to my mothers kitchen, preparing food, sitting around the table, and spending time with family. The last dish I made with black eyed peas was in September 2013. It was spicy black eyed peas with veggies and herbs. Recently, I’ve been craving them so this time around, so I do believe I’ll make some Black eyed pea burgers.

A few days ago I stumbled upon a Thai based cookbook.

I can’t remember how I found the book, but I can say that I was drawn to it because a mortar and pestle graced the cover. I love my mortar and pestle, it gets plenty of weekly action in our home.  Guess what? Andy Ricker’s cookbook,  and his restaurant, are both named  ‘Pok Pok’. Andy says, pok pok is the sound that the pestle makes when you grind the ingredients into the mortar. I say it sounds like tok tok. 😉

That aside, I was intrigued by the reviews I read about in on Amazon. While I don’t follow cookbooks for any of the meals I prepare at home, I do become inspired by observing others. Amazon has an amazing option available to authors that lets potential buyers take a peek at some of the books contents. It’s something I enjoy seeing, since that usually determines if I’ll purchase the book.

One of the recipes he shares, Kai Kapharao Khai Dao (stir-fried chicken with hot basil) is similar to two dishes I prepare at home; meat and a vegan version. However while I do use basil, I don’t use ‘hot basil.’ Andy’s description has me intrigued and so I’ll be checking to see if I can purchase the seeds to plant in my garden next year.

Based on Andy Rickers writing style, along with some of the delicious recipes presented by him within this book, It’s safe to say that this book will be gracing one of my book shelves soon.

Last week, my daughter asked me if I would make Chicken vegetable egg rolls for dinner.

I’d made vegan eggless eggrolls towards the end of October, but have not made any since that time. Since I knew I didn’t have any chicken breasts, I stopped by the grocery store (on my way home from work) and purchased a few pounds.

Once I arrived home, I cooked the chicken breasts in my 8 qt. Presto pressure cooker. While the breasts were cooking I started grinding my herbs, spices, garlic and ginger into my mortar and pestle. Into my wok, I added a variety of vegetables and sauteed them for about two minutes. By that time the chicken breasts were finished and so I added a small amount of the breasts to the wok.

Once everything was cooked, I set aside in stainless steel bowl. I then prepared the filling for vegan egg rolls, once that was cooked, I set aside and started adding the chicken filling to the non-veggie egg rolls. I first pan fried the vegan vegetable ‘eggrolls’ into the skillet, followed by the chicken and vegetable egg rolls.

My daughter loved both varieties! Of course the next day, a few ended up in her Zojirushi lunch jar.