Jennie Cooks, A Catering Company

I wait all year for June to come. It’s one of my favorite months of the year (and my birthday is in November).  It is the beginning of barbeques and beach time and bathing suits. Of long days and gloomy mornings, which are something to relish since they leave as quickly as they come. But one of my absolute favorite things about this early summer season in Los Angeles is, of course, the fruit.

Oh all that delicious fruit that floods the farmers markets and our bellies. I tend to eat the first batch of peaches, cherries, apricots and berries so fast that I forget all the wonderful things I can do with them.  While I am a big fan of juices and salads, I am an even bigger fan of PIES. Especially since they make me feel like I am being healthy with all that fruit in them.  I have found a simple but delicious recipe for a vegan pie crust, compliments of VegFamily, to combine with whatever fruity-filling of your choice.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup margarine
• 5 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl with fork, lightly stir together flour and salt.
2. With pastry blender or two knives used scissor fashion, cut in margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Sprinkle in cold water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition until pastry just holds together.
4. With hands, shape pastry into ball (if it’s a hot day you may have to refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or so).
5. For a two crust pie, divide pastry into 2 pieces, one slightly larger, and then gently shape each piece into a ball.
6. On lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin, roll larger ball into a 1/8 inch thick circle, 2 inches larger all around than pie plate.
7. Roll half of circle onto rolling pin; transfer pastry to pie plate and unroll, easing into bottom and side of plate. Fill as recipe directs.
8. For top crust, roll smaller ball as for bottom crust; with sharp knife, cut a few slashes or a design in center of circle; center over filling in the bottom crust.
9. With scissors or sharp knife, trim the pastry edges, leaving 1 inch overhang all around the pie plate rim.
10. Fold overhang under; pinch a high edge. Bake pie as recipe directs.

Father’s Day is coming up and what better way to celebrate your father, grandfather, uncle or husband then to make them a pie. My grandpa’s favorite was cherry. And luckily for me, cherries are all the rage at the farmers markets right now.  So in honor of both cherries and my grandpa, my family will be getting a delicious home-made vegan cherry pie this weekend. I try not to tell them about the vegan part until after they tell me how good it is. I found the recipe for the cherry filling on Almost Vegan and use just one cup of sugar and any kind of margarine, as most are vegan and soy can be hard to find. If making pies seems like a daunting task, don’t fret. Word on the street is that Jennie will be hosting a few pie making classes in the upcoming months. So stay tuned, making pies is way more fun with friends anyway.

6 Cups of Fresh Tart Cherries (pitless)
1 1/2 Cup of Sugar
1/4 cup of Corn Starch

Pinch of Salt
1 Tablespoon Soy Margarine, Cut Up

1.) Preheat oven to 425 F. In large bowl, stir together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add cherries and mix with spatula or spoon.

2.) Put in the pie crust that you already made with the recipe above.

3.) Place pie on cookie sheet to catch any overflow during baking. Bake 20 minutes. Turn oven down to 375F, bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, until filling bubbles in center. If necessary, cover edges loosely with foil to prevent over-browning during baking. Cool on wire rack at least 1 hour to serve warm, but the longer you cool it the less it will run.
- miranda

This recipe goes out to producer  Jenn.  She’s a busy bee commercial producer who in all the years we’ve been working together has never asked for a recipe until she tried our white lasagna last week.  Enjoy my love!

Nice day for a White Lasagna

Ingredients

Oil or butter

1/4 cup minced shallots

2 teaspoons minced garlic

3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced

3 zucchini, sliced

fresh spinach ( optional)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups grated Parmesan

15 ounces fresh ricotta ( my sister uses cottage cheese)

2 – 3 cups grated mozzarella (  fresh motz is also delicious)

1 pound lasagna noodles  – uncooked

Cook the vegetables

In a large skillet, heat some fat ( about a TBS)  over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, and crank up the heat, and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are tender and have given off their liquid, about 5 minutes. Set aside, and in the same pan give the zucchini a good sear. Combine the vegetables, including the fresh spinach if you like that, and lightly season to taste with salt and pepper.

Make the bechamel sauce (see recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Assemble the lasagna

Across the bottom of a deep dish lasagna pan (13 by 9-inches), spoon enough bechamel sauce to cover (about 1/2 cup). Then add 1/4 of the vegetable mixture. Arrange a layer of noodles side-by-side across the sauce. Spread another layer of bechamel over the noodles and top with the  vegetables. Add each of  the cheeses evenly over the noodles, not worrying too much about it. Repeat layering with sauce, noodles and vegetables until you use it all up, ending with noodles on top. Coat the top  layer with remaining sauce and a light sprinkling  of parmesan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake until the noodles are tender and the lasagna is hot and bubbly, about 45 minutes to and hour and 15 minutes.  (stick a knife in the middle and make sure the noodles are soft – then it’s done!) Uncover and continue baking until golden brown on top, about 10 minutes.

Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving so the cheese sets up. Serve hot.

Delicious Bechamel

Ingredients

5 tablespoons olive oil or butter

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 – 6 cups  organic 2% milk (or whole)

salt and pepper to taste

minced garlic

Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat the fat over medium-low heat  and add the garlic , cook a minute till fragrant, but not browned ( unless you like that)  Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Add the milk to the fat mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside until ready to use. If it’s too thick add more milk. Consistency should be the same as a nice marinara.