Monday, June 7, 2010

Meatless Monday














There's a funny cartoon on
Meatless Monday's homepage: Two hogs are noshing, snout to snout, and one says to the other, "TGIM."

In support of Meatless Monday, at the beginning of each week I post one meal idea that's vegetarian -- though MM promotes one whole day completely meat-free (that's three meals, and snacks).

The goal of this sterling program is to bring to people's awareness both the personal and environmental health benefits of consuming less animal protein: beef, buffalo, pork, chicken, turkey etc. etc.

As one of the "bloggers on board," I look forward to Monday's because it means a creative time in the kitchen coming up with a simple, nutritious, delicious, and budget-friendly vegetarian meal so that you, my readers, can easily recreate it at home without too much fuss.

This Monday, I have additional incentive; I have two French friends coming to an early supper. One of the women has a French cooking summer camp for children, The Language of Food. Because of Marie Pierre's love of food and cooking, it was fun and pleasurable for me to put my best foot forward in the kitchen today.

And with a backyard full of spring greens, plus chicken and duck eggs in the fridge, my vegetarian meal idea was inspired by organic ingredients from the yard.

Follow the slide show below, and my method recipe below that, for steps on how to make ...

Spinach & Cheese, Raisin Bread Terrine



1) Line a small baking tin with buttered foil. You could also use the butter paper, buttery side up -- that's if you save the paper your butter is wrapped in.
2) Place your choice of sliced stale bread pieces over the foil. I used sprouted grain, Ezekiel Raisin Bread. If you don't use raisin bread, you could toss single raisins in over the bread.
3) Wash and wilt a small bunch of spinach, then drain it of any excess water.
4) Take small chunks of the wilted, drained spinach and dot it around the bread, in between the spinach, dot pieces of either goats cheese, cream cheese, or your favorite cheese.
5) Into a blender break 3 large eggs. I used one duck egg, and because I had whites leftover from the egg-yolk mayonnaise I made last week, I added 3 chicken-egg whites to the duck egg.
6) Pour one cup milk or half and half over the eggs (or a nut, grain or soy milk); add salt and pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Run the blender.
7) Pour half the contents of the blender over the bread, spinach and cheese, and now repeat the process: layer of bread, raisins, spinach, cheese, and then pour the remainder of the egg mixture over the lot.
8) Dot the top of the terrine with dobs of butter and place the baking tin in a 350-degree oven for about 30-40 mins.

To Serve: As you can see in the slide show or the pic at the top, I sliced the terrine into wedges and placed them into large serving bowls. I added a chunk of goat cheese to the side, into which I stuck several walnuts and a piece of parsley. I chopped fresh chives over the terrine and garnished it with edible chive flowers.

For a more substantial meal, slice larger chunks of terrine and serve with a bountiful spring salad.

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