Extravegance

Sharing is caring, blogging is logging.

2011-10-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

So, I know I have totally neglected this blog, which is a shame, because I look back and think "I made that!?" I can be a rock star in the kitchen, and if not for my own benefit, for the benefit of others, it is pretty useful for me to keep some track of what I've been up to.

I've been neglecting this blog for a number of reasons, largely disorganization or letting things go unattended too long so that I can no longer remember _exactly_ what I did to make things *pop*, or dissatisfaction with the photos I took.

I have a fair amount of food photos backlogged, and I am going to do my best to make them 'pretty enough,' and post them with what I remember of the recipe, so I at least have some sort of idea of where to begin if I make them again.

That said, I know exactly what I did for one particularly tasty recipe made in recent times, lets just hope I can capture some good photos to do it justice...

Spring! Wait, Summer? Whatever, it is time for refreshments!

2011-05-29T09:10:00.001-07:00

Tibicos, this is my blog. My blog, this is Tibicos. Courtesy of a friend, via Clotilde, I was informed of the existence of a new ferment. I have been a big fan of kombucha since GTs started showing up in Whole Foods years ago, and started brewing it my self. Unfortunately a life of transience and a kombucha distillery are not particularly compatible, but I didn't loose my taste for the sharp, dry, fizzy beverage. The only loss suffered were the bills in my wallet for every 4 dollar bottle that point forth.

Enter Tibicos: also known as Tibi, or Water Kefir. According to some, the name Tibi is one given by Mother Therese of Calcutta, who once traveled to Tibet and met the monks and masters of that region who gave her this beverage, hence the name is Tibicos. I didn't have to taste it, I mean who hesitates to try a new fermented beverage? I did have to try it, though, and the only way to do that was to make it my self: I went onto Craigslist and was lucky to find a local fellow giving away extra water kefir crystals (also called Japanese water crystals), and tried my hand...

The end product is one I have quickly become quite fond if, bottling it in those old GTs bottles, letting it do a secondary ferment over night before refrigerating, and starting my day with one. It is dry, with hints of citrus and the lightest of light bubbles that tickle your tongue. I could imagine it going quite well with gin, or sake.

It is rather easy to make, hard to fuck up (at least I haven't managed yet), and oh so very rewarding. You also get the cool bonus of having a jar that looks like the vegan counterpart to those side-show attractions of two headed fetuses in jars.

Anyway... onto the recipe....!

Water Kefir!

1/4 to 1/2 cup of Japanese Water Crystals*
1 dried fig, halved
1/2 lemon
3-4 tablespoons of white sugar
1 litre (4 cups) of purified water
2 litre jar with lid
*optiona items*
Cinnamon stick
Cardamom pods
Unsulphured dried fruit slice such as mango, pineapple, apple, etc.
Note: You want to use organic as much as possible. The tibi crystals are fungal/bacterial in nature and can be damaged by pesticides and other materials.

The recipe is pretty straightforward from here. Place ingredients in jar, cover with cheesecloth, let sit for 24-48 hours.

Strain and filter liquid into drinking jar.

Let drinking jar sit overnight, then refrigerate.

Place ingredients back in jar, and add another 3-4 tablespoons of sugar, cover with cheesecloth and let sit for 24-48 hours, to repeat above process 1 to 2 more times.

After 3rd bottling, separate crystals from other materials, clean jar, and start again or store crystals in a clean container with enough water or tibi to cover and a tablespoon of sugar in the fridge to let hibernate for a couple of weeks.

Tada! I quickly started doing this in a 4 or 5 liter bottle, so I could keep up with my 16 oz a day habit. I will possibly have more pics later, but go easy on me... I'm just starting this blog, again!

Calamari, sorta kinda not really...

2009-12-21T16:57:00.000-08:00

So I recently got my hands on Living Raw Food, the second book of recipes from the Pure Food and Wine proprietor. It did pretty much the same thing the last book did, which was reignite my interest in working with raw foods.

The appeal of raw foods wasn't so much about health (O.K. wasn't only about health) but a cross between the sort of primitive molecular gastronomy practiced by many raw foodists and the meaningful exploration of high quality ingredients. I was also taken in by the use of whole foods, given processed foods lost much of their appeal to me during that brief Atkins-diet phase I had when I was 20 or so. While I ditched the diet of waterbath cheesecake made with splenda, I never quite picked pasta and other refined starches back up.

It is recipes like the above, calamari with tartar sauce, that are reigniting my passion for exploring this cuisine. However it is also reminding me of the frustrations when dealing with the not-so-vegan-inclined..

Tess (my vegan buildingmate): "Ike, you want to come upstairs with us to get some raw vegan calamari?"
Ike (Tess's not so vegan but very blue partner): "I don't like calamari."
Tess: "Well it isn't calamari."
Ike: "I don't really like things fried."
Tess: "It is raw! How can it be fried?"
Ike: "Well, you said it was calamari."
Tess: "It is raw vegan, how can it be squid or fried?"

Ai. Ike did come upstairs. Ike ate raw vegan calamari. Raw vegan calamari was deemed good, or at least acceptable for those who don't like fried calamari.

Honestly it isn't all that much like calamari, though if you like calamari you'll probably like these. It is definitely a snackable concoction that makes for a good traveling companion, it is cute, and novel, all told pretty easy to make. Cutting them into rings is a vanity that you can surpass if you feel like it. Regardless of the differences, the inspirations you find raw foodists make from the original food is a delight.

While I'm not going to post the recipe here (see the book below, it is worth it), I'll mention that a mix of spices, ground up golden flax seeds, some lemon, and king oyster mushrooms are friends of yours... And of course, do not forget the salt.

Delicata Squash Cheesecake

2009-10-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks! I have made quite a few dishes, many of which will be lost due to a lack of archiving. Thankfully I am sure every thing has left me with some imprint, and I am now at least slightly wiser... My cakes will be fluffier, cookies crispier (on the outside, with chewy tender insides), and ice creams creamier.

Chai frozen yogurt, whisky apple pie, carrot sorbet, broiled radicchio slaws, five spice spreads, dark-chocolate stout ice cream, celeriac-green apple soup are some of the casualties of this fall that may never get posted. My Community-Supported Agriculture share has tossed me some curveballs, and I have handled them with grace, rendering me a bit too busy to give my blog some well-earned love. Appropriately enough, it is with some sadness that I am not off picking up my CSA share right now, which ended last week. The winter share, with rutabagas, radishes, and leafy greens will be returning on Friday, then every other week through December.

There are always a few items I have a hard time repurposing, depending on what is going on in my life at that point. This fall it was the adorable little carnivale and delicata squashes showing up in my share. They are lovely, sweet little squashes with edible skins that deserve a good place on a plate... Not the sort of thing to be brought out for pot-lucks, which has been my usual modus-operandi when it comes to food preparation. Eventually, I ended up with several and remembered that there was a Kabocha Squash recipe I had been considering making. And below we have it!

-This is definitely a recipe in progress, changes I'm planning for next time will be marked with an asterix and my intent for the future round-

Delicata Squash Cheesecake

Walnut-Lime Crust:
1/4 c (2.2 ounces) Palm Oil shortening
1/2 c (2 ounces) walnuts, toasted
1/2 c (2 1/2 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 c (6.2 ounces) graham cracker crumbs
2 t grated lime zest (about 2 medium-small limes)
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
1/2 t salt

Kabocha Squash Filling
3 lbs of sweet fall sqaush (I used Delicata & Carnivale, Kabocha and Butternut will also work)
8 oz firm silken tofu
1 c (7 ounces) white sugar
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/2 t umeboshi paste*
Juice of 1 medium lime*
1 T soy yogurt*
1/2 c arrowroot starch*
1 1/2 T brandy*

1. Steam the squash, until the a knife easily pierces the flesh and the stem falls off. To do this I prepared a large pot with an inch or two of water on the bottom, and placed a steamer basket within. I put the sqauash atop the basket, and brought the water to a boil over high heat. I reduced the heat to medium, covered the pot and let the squash cook for about an hour. When it is done, remove it from the heat and let it cool. Meanwhile, I....

2. Preheated the oven to 300 to prepare the crust: Grease a 9 inch springform pan. In a food processor chop the walnuts with half of the brown sugar in a food processor, until they are coarsely ground but not turning into a flour. Transfer walnut/sugar mix to a mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients, except for the shortening. After the dry ingredients are mixed, add the shortening and stir with a rubber spatula until everything is evenly mixed. If the mix is too dry to stick together when pressed against the edge of the bowl, add a couple of tablespoons of water as needed. When done, press into the bottom of the pan and up the sides if you have extra.

3. Put the crust in the oven and bake until it is golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove and let cool completely. Leave the oven on.

4. When the squash is cool enough to handle, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and scoop the flesh away from the skin. It is ok if a little skin gets in in the case of delicata and carnivales. Get 2 1/2 cups of flesh (save the rest for something else), and place the flesh into a blender bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients for the filling, and blend until well mixed and smooth (hi-power blenders are great for this!).

5. Pour the custard mixture into the springform pan and place in oven. Bake until the middle is set, with the center still slightly jiggly, about 1 hour. Cool completely, unmould, and serve!

*Next time I would use less arrowroot starch (probably 1/4 c + a T or two), less lime juice just for tartness. The yogurt and umeboshi paste are optional, I just happened to have them, though you may want to add more salt if you ditch the ume paste. and I forgot the brandy but would try to remember it next time.

The cheesecake is somewhere between a pumpkin-style pie, and a cheesecake. It is virtually fat free, tangy, and certainly interestingly flavored, if not flat-out good. It is good enough for me to seriously desire to make again.

Stewed Tomatillos & Tomatoes

2009-10-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

You say Tomato, I say Tomatoes & Tomatillos... OK that didn't work out the way I wanted it to, but needless to say.... One of my most recent bounties has been tomatillos and tomatoes... From this I have made sauces, and even the adventurous (and delicious) tomato jelly (recipe forthcoming, probably). This dish is surprisingly not much less adventurous than the tomato jelly, with interesting sour overtones similar to those I have found in some Malaysian dishes. This likely had something to do with a tart leek stock I used, as much as the contents of the soup... If it is something you desire, I feel like some lime juice could help achieve it.

Anyway... Having recently begin a new job with a vegetarian good food fast startup, I am a bit on the exhausted side for florid posts, so I am just going to git on with the recipe... It goes well straight on its own, or with a cous cous or other grain. It can be had hot or cold.

Stewed Tomatillos & Tomatoes

2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
2 poblano chilis, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husked and washed
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes*
1 cup home made stock or water
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 T Vodka (optional)**
2 T lime juice or white vinegar (also optional, if you like tart)

*I used mixed cherry & pear tomatoes. Large tomatoes, of any ripeness, cut into chunks will also work.
**Vodka, along with white wine, is a lovely flavour enhancer of tomato products.

Warm the oil in a large pot on a medium-high heat, when the oil heats up add the onion, pepper, and garlic until the onion is has begin to brown, about five to ten minutes.
Add the tomatillos, cook until the skins start to break open, ten to fifteen minutes. Pour in the stock and vodka, and stir, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to produce a slow bubble and cover, cook until the tomatillos are mostly dissolved, about thirty minutes. Add some salt and pepper for flavor.
Returm the heat to medium-high. When the mixture starts to bubble, add the tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes wilt but their skins remain intact. Now add the sour liquids if that is what you like.
Add more salt and pepper if desired, serve hot, at room temperature, or cold, drizzled with olive oil if desired.

Tarts! (Is "Let's get reTarted" offensive?)

2009-09-28T13:31:00.001-07:00

First, a quick note, I have some recipes being featured on Meatless Mondays! If you haven't checked that campaign out, definitely do it! Even better, pass it around to your resolutely omnivorous friends. All they ask is that you don't eat meat one day of the week, easy I know, rite?! Anyway, onto the food bits...

Pictures above is a leek and roasted red pepper tart topped with a confit of slow-dried tomatoes, on a bed of sriracha, a thai hot sauce also known as "rooster sauce," or "cock sauce." It is a fun kitchen accessory, many believe it an absolute necessity. But what are we doing talking about cock sauce, when this post is about tarts?

I wish it were about tarts! But the above tart did not dazzle the tongue's palette. Oh the things that went wrong, I can't even begin to think about! It definitely needs work and I think the platform may be a good thing to explore... so today's recipe is only going to be a base. I will surely toy with it in the future, it has the potential to be both a great platform as well as a good dish for dinner parties and pot lucks. It can also be cut up into two-bite bits and served as an appetizer.

The tofu base is creamy, with a bit of tang (from the ume plums) that one would find in a cream cheese base. It is definitely a dish that could be mistaken for a non-vegan fritatta. Oh I can't wait to explore it!

For all my talk this dish wasn't _bad_, just wasn't as awesome as I thought it could be... So here is the base, and instructions on how to explore from there... I also made this in a 8x13 inch baking sheet, but it could also be done in a 9 inch removable-bottom tart pan, or perhaps in two smaller pie pans.

DIY Quiche

Quiche/Tart crust
3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c whole wheat pasty flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t sea salt
1/4 c canola oil
3-5 T cold water

Filling
2 T olive oil
3 T umeboshi paste
2 pounds firm water packed tofu, drained
3/4 t sea salt
*fillings!

To make the crust: Preheat the oven to 375, with a rack in the bottom third of the oven. In the food processor, blend the flours, baking powder, and salt together. Pulse in the oil until the mixture becomes mealy. Mix in enough water to form moist clumps. Gather the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disk. Press it into the pan you are using, going up the sides.

To make the filling: Blend the tofu, umeboshi paste, olive oil, and salt. Pour into a bowl and stir in your fillings.

Bake the quiche for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and the filling is set.

*Fillings: Honestly, you could probably leave this plain and just have a simple sort of tart... But more excitingly, I would recommend tossing a garlic clove or two into the mix, at least... I would look through any cook book for quiches, and simply whatever they add to the egg and dairy base, you add to this.. Spices, sauteeded mushrooms, carmelized onions, artechokes, roasted red peppers, etc. To give it a nice bit of flair, a drizzle of sauce, a spoonful of topping will make a lovely difference.

Balsamic Glazed Roasted Radicchio

2009-09-21T00:22:00.000-07:00

Radicchio is, likely, one of the most neglected objects of my CSA share. It isn't that I don't like it, or find it appealing, but rather it is something that doesn't lend itself well to my meal-prep styles... which you'd be surprised to know consists largely of putting a lot of whatever I get into a blender and mixing the hell out of it (kale + tomatoes + garlic + radishes + radish greens + basil + romaine + apple=GO).

Radicchio has long held the title for "most likely to rot in my vegetable crisper," as I never knew of what to use it for. This has always paind me, given te plant's history as a medicinal tool thanks to its quantities of intybin, which infuses the plant with its bitter character. I always felt it was limited to a fine shred in salads, something I rarely make.

Now I have learned a way of tempering that bitterness in a dish that elevates my radicchio heads into a stand-alone dish. Today's recipe is a two-prong approach, both reducing the bitterness with roasting and counterbalancing it with a sweet balsamic and brown sugar glaze. Even better, this recipe can be made in about 5 minutes.

Balsamic Glazed Roasted Radicchio

1 lb radicchio (about 4 large heads, or 2 small)
2 T olive oil
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1 T brown Sugar
Salt & pepper

Turn your oven to it's low broil setting, and make sure a rack is at the highest point about 4 inches from the heat.
Quarter or halve (depending on head-size) the radicchio and gently remove the core, keeping the pieces whole.
Brush heads with olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Mix the balsamic and brown sugar until the sugar has dissolved.
Place the radicchio into the oven for one to two minutes, remove and brush with the glaze. I drizzle the heads with all of the glaze (I pour it into the cracks), place back in the oven until the edges begin to crisp and char, another couple of minutes.
Remove, transfer to the serving dish, sprinkle with a little salt and a few fresh grinds of pepper.
Can be served hot, or at room temperature.

Mocha Pudding Pops

2009-08-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

It is hot. I like things that are cold. I also like to have recipes that utilize things like almond milk, of which I have many containers of since school got out for the summer... Tales of the aseptic-sealed bean and nut milk mass abandonment of summer, 2009 are legendary!

Anyway... getting on with it... I am gifting you with the guide to my own first foray into frozen bars... or logging my work for my own future reference. The recipe is pretty tasty, but there are things I am going to try differently. Those notes will be after the recipe for me as well as you.

Mocha Pudding Pops

1/2 C sugar
3 T dark unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
5 t instant espresso powder
2 T all-purpose flour
2 T cornstarch
2 T tapioca starch
1/4 t lecithin
1 T coconut oil
1/4 C raw almond butter
2 3/4 C unsweetened almond milk
1 t vanilla
pinch of salt

In a large saucepan whisk together the first six ingredients.

In a blender combine the almond milk, almond butter, and salt and blend until smooth.

Add about 1/4 cup of the liquid to the dry mix and whisk until smooth. Turn the stove onto medium, whisking constantly and adding the rest of the milk slowly. Add coconut oil, turn stove to medium high and switch to a rubber spatula, constantly stirring and moving the liquid that firms up on the bottom.

When the mixture comes to a boil, stir vigorously for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir for about 1 minute as it cools down, add vanilla extract. Let cool down for another 15 minutes, then pour into moulds.

You can also pour into ice cube trays, cover with saran wrap and stick in toothpicks, then freeze for about six hours. To remove from moulds, run hot water briefly over the moulds, and shimmy out.

Enjoy! They is no denying that these are indeed pudding pops.

And that is just it, they are indeed very pudding-like, even frozen. In the future I may reduce some of the starches... Also I would add the coconut butter after I kill the heat...but there you have it, I would make them again. So, cheers and happy summer! Hopefully I'll get that update on peaches in before I leave for Burning Man!

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

2009-08-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like summer is cruel. It is not a rational feeling, but rather a negative one that doesn't bask in the bounty but thinks of the future absences I'll face as the days shorten. In the moment, at Farmer's Markets, in the kitchen with my fruits of the earth, I do bask in the wonderful produce this season offers; secure that this season's goods will yield to new treasures (pears and apples I can hardly wait!) . Then I look over my photos, and see what has come and passed. These tomatoes are no longer here with me, rather they have been consumed. I smile, knowing that was their purpose.. but my smile would be even bigger if I had them with me now...

So today is a way you can stretch out your tomato supplies a little longer, while amping up the flavor, through a slow roast.

Directions are simple, ingredients minimal.

Tomatoes (Cherry, grape, and/or Roma)
Olive Oil
Salt
Unpeeled Garlic
Herbs

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Quarter or halve your tomatoes and spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You should have some distance between your tomatoes. For my purposes, my tomatoes were closer together (they were used for a sauce). Drizzle with olive oil, a couple of cloves of garlic, and some fresh herbs (I used some thyme and oregano sprigs).

Place in the oven, and bake for about three hours. They should be shriveled, but still have a little bit of juiciness inside. Depending on the size of tomatoes, this could take more or less time. Let them cool, then pack them in a jar and cover them with olive oil.

These are good for salsas, pizza & sandwich toppings, stand alone snacks, hummus additions... They are just good. Period.

Kitchen Improv 101: Eggplant Cutlets with "Breadcrumbs"

2009-08-21T16:11:00.001-07:00

So many eggplants! My fridge is overrun with eggplants! Actually, that isn't entirely true. My fridge is overrun with eggplants, there are a whole lot... but my statement implies there was this sudden deluge. It has actually been an accumulation of these interesting, not-always-inspiring nightshades in my house..

It isn't that I don't like eggplant, but it seems that all the good things to do with these oblong fruits-in-disguise-as-vegetables require a couple of steps. Having moved a bit further away from my friends, the casual dinners that beg use of eggplants are harder to do.

So when my fridge cleaning yielded several eggplants from more than a few CSA shares, give/take (along with a couple of zucchinis) I decided it was time to do something about it... while also slaying the beast of other items that have accumulated in my kitchen that screamed "Use me, so I stop taking up space!"

The fruits of the day (or is that aubergine?) yielded several results... moussaka, baba ghanouj, and eggplant cutlets... using up the rest of my shredded wheat patties!

Anyway, this is a great non-recipe recipe to start feeling your way around kitchen improv. So onto the non-recipe!

Eggplant Cutlets with Shredded Wheat Bread Crumbs

Eggplants
Shredded Wheat
3 cloves Garlic, chopped
Salt
Seasonings

Coating
Vegan Milk of Choice
Rice Flour

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Slice the eggplants about 1/2 an inch thick.
Drizzle a baking sheet with olive oil so it is lightly covered, then sprinkle the garlic over it.
In a flat dish Mix 4 parts non-milk with 3 parts rice flour (IE 1 cup milk to 3/4 c rice flour), mix until thick.
In another flat dish crush a few shredded wheats, mix with salt and seasonings of choice (I used black pepper, sage, and tekka)

Dredge the eggplant with the liquid coating, then coat with the shredded wheat mix. Place on baking sheet. Repeat until you run out of eggplant (or space, then either start a second sheet or wait for the first sheet to be done).

Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes remove from oven, flip cutlets over, and put in for another 10 minutes.

These are crunchy, addictive, tender.. and... sigh I do like them. They can be served straight, dressed up with a simple tomato sauce, put on sandwiches... Explore thine inner chef!

Slightly Savory Watermelon Salad

2009-08-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Seasons aren't the most fair entity here in the North East. For about six months a year the earth provides us with nothing, and then in June the fresh produce begins to trickle in: parsley, asparagus, lettuce, strawberries, garlic scapes... By August, the trickle becomes a torrential rainbow-like flood. We don't "just" have watermelon, there are yellow and red melons, beets in gold, and red, and stripes, tomatoes in purple, green, zebra, and so on. There are so many wonders and joys to thoroughly explore with all of your senses!

Unfortunately there is a little bit of a bottle neck in what the human body can consume in a given period of time, no less a limit on the time one has to cherish and worship this bounty in a manner it deserves. The best I can do is incorporate the wealth of my CSA.

Today's recipe is a veganized version of a pairing familiar to foodie dorks, mozzarella and watermelon. Yet, for some reason it has never quite become that popular; likely because watermelon seems to be regarded as a summer-season only produce that we wont hack nature to distribute in winter. This salad doesn't contrast the sweetness of the watermelon, rather compliments it with some slightly sweet slightly sour slightly savory flavors... The saltiness of the ume plum vinegar gives it a nice complexity, the black peppers and basil give it a little substance, and the tofu provides a fantastic textural contrast to the fleshy, juicy bursts of watermelon.

Before I go into the actual recipe, I want to give a little public service announcement on the watermelon rind. If you have the divine grace of getting your hands on an organic watermelon do NOT discard the rind. While the toughness of the green outer skin varies (the above is fairly tender and chewable, I have found solid dark green watermelons to be a little thicker in the rind), the flesh is similar to that of a cucumber. While I am sure there is no shortage of things to do with watermelon rinds, I eat them along with the sweet flesh. Pickling is something I intend to do one of these years...

Slightly Savory Watermelon Salad

1 small watermelon
1 medium bunch basil
1/2 pint of grape tomatoes
8 oz of silken or soft tofu, drained, dried
1 T umeboshi plum vinegar
Pink Himalayan sea salt
Pepper
Pistachio Oil*

Cut the melon flesh off of the rind, and cut into cubes. Halve the grape tomatoes, Chiffonade the basil. Cube the tofu. Place in a bowl. Sprinkle with vinegar, oil, a few grinds of fresh pepper and a couple of gratings from a salt stone to taste... Toss gently, trying not to break up the tofu.

Serve. I consumed with chop sticks.

Banana Pecan Piloncillo Ice Cream

2009-08-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

There are many joys to be found in cooking, one is the diversity of flavours you can find in different variants of the same ingredients. This recipe draws upon the not-so-familiar piloncillo sugar; an earthy brown sugar with hints of caramel. It has been around for at least 500 years and popular is popular in Oaxaca, though it is not commonly used here. Thankfully it can be easily found in many Latin American grocery stores. Like many less-refined sugars, it is not as sweet helping gift you with a creamy, yet light ice cream that plays nicely with others.

If you have not explored the bounty of sugars on they market, I would review a few guides to them.

This recipe is a veganized version from the lovely book, Baked: New Frontiers in Baking (as has many of my recent updates, some more successful than others. This one falls under "more successful").

Banana Pecan Piloncillo Ice Cream
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 c firmly packed, grated piloncillo*
8 very ripe bananas, peeled, broken into pieces, sealed in a bag, and frozen**
1/2 c cashew cream***
1/2 c chopped, toasted pecans
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine 3 T water and the cinnamons stick. Simmer until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the piloncillo and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
Remove the cinnamon stick from the syrup and pour the syrup into a blender. Add the cashew cream and bananas and blend until smooth and mushy.
Pour mix into ice cream maker and freeze according to directions. When the ice cream is nearly done, add the pecans, let mix. Transfer to a freezer-safe container.

* You can also use jaggery, or brown sugar, or some other unrefined sugar. I have used a mix of dominican sugar and jaggery.
** Alton Brown has a recipe that recommends freezing the bananas in their peel, then peeling them after about 45 minutes. I have not decided this is the must-do method for me, but I am going to continue to experiment with it.
*** I used a failure of a cashew-based ice cream. You can also use this recipe here.

Seasonal Slaw, Featuring Chiogga Beets, Served on a Bed of Kale

2009-07-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

Mmm... Clearly I've got an axe to grind against my self, on that whole "only posting desserts" thing... Being unable to take new pictures also seems to be doing wonders for my blog-updating. Sadly the dishes I've made today, a Ras al Hanout and Passion Fruit slaw as well as the Whole Grain Medley tossed with Tomatoes, Basil, and Mint will be lost. The fudgey brownies from a new recipe I am tooling around with are not particularly photogenic, so cheers to that?

Anyway... The camera battery charger remains unfound (!!! pain), so I will continue posting _real_ food recipes, while I cry to my self about the veganized peanut butter crispy bars unphotographed, along with the chocolate bourbon pecan pie I am making for tomorrow.

I have yet to find my "always go to" dressing recipe for slaws, but I also never buy anything to make my slaws...

Seasonal Slaw, Featuring Chiogga Beets Served on a Bed of Kale
Serves 6

Dressing
1/4 c fresh lime juice
2 T Olive Oil
1/4 t salt (or soy sauce)
1 T nut butter (optional)
Salad
1 small head cabbage, shredded (red, green, combo, whatever)
Any combination of the following, shredded, matchsticked, thinly sliced, or finely chopped:
Sweet Onions or Scallions
Kale
Beets
Cilantro
Parsley
Carrots
Cucumbers
Squash
And more!

Prepare the dressing items in a bowl, mix well.
Prepare and toss together the remaining ingredients in another bowl, drizzle dressing over. Salt to taste.
It is good let it sit a few hours, or covered in the fridge over night

Simple Heirloom Tomato Salad

2009-07-24T11:21:00.001-07:00

Heirloom tomatoes are not just candy for the mouth, but candy for the eyes as well. Above is a Marvel Stripe tomato. These varieties are best used raw, in large slices. They are pretty yellow things with red bleeding upwards. Cooking them will break down their lovely visual presence. The flavor is not strong, but like all heirlooms it is there and can be coached out to your taste buds with a little bit of salt and olive oil. This is an easy, scalable recipe that works well for individuals with gardens.. Because, really, who grows tomatoes without also growing basil?

So... a simple little first-course, salad, lunch, snack, candy-for-your-camera, whatever you want it to be...

Simple Heirloom Tomato Salad
Serves 2

1 very large heirloom tomato, or 2 medium heirloom tomatoes
A couple of sprigs of fresh basil
Good sea salt*
Black Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Step 1: Slice the tomatoes about 1/3 an inch thick, then layer with fresh basil leaves on a plate.
Step 2: Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, give a fresh grind of pepper. Serve.

*I used Chardonnay Smoked Fleur De Sel, as currently I am a fan of all things slightly smokey.

Signs of Summer: Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Seasoned Cucumbers

2009-07-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

I know it may be hard to believe, but I don't _just_ make desserts. I do make plenty of other food, too! Dessert just happens to be more photogenic and easy to distribute among your friends. I am making plenty of dishes today for a girly dinner party I am organizing, but sadly my camera's battery is dead and I can't seem to find the charger...

So, I dropped by Red Fire Farm, who do my CSA, to take advantage of their pick their own options for CSA subscribers. I was absolutely crushed to find out that I got there too late, and they had ploughed over the strawberry bushes for the season. However I did come back with loads of green beans, fresh herbs, and some Iron Bound Island seaweed. Still, the strawberries were a tragedy... I picked them last year, in early July... They were so ripe that I had to use them in less than 24 hours, but the taste was unbelievable... The crown of the crop was a red wine strawberry sorbet, rhubarb had passed season so no pies.

So... Here is a moment to remember the strawberries that I will not have this season...

...

And a brilliant red recipe to celebrate the bounty the farm offered, and remember what has passed, and will come again. The tomatoes were hothouse, sadly.. But that just means this recipe is going to be even better in August.

Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Seasoned Cucumbers
Serves 6

Gazpacho
3 1/2 pounds heirloom tomatoes, cut up into large chunks*
2 t sea salt**
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
A few twists of black pepper
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1 quarter of a red beet (optional, gives a lovely depth of color)
Seasoned Cucumbers
1 large cucumber, diced***
1/2 c diced sweet onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T fresh minced basil or basil flowers
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 t paprika
2 T extra virgin olive oil
a couple of grinds of pepper

Step 1: Soup - Toss the tomatoes with the ingredients in a large bowl and let sit for at least 30 minutes.
Step 2: Cucumbers - Meanwhile, assemble all of the ingredients for the cucumbers and toss together.
Step 3: Soup - Blend until creamy and smooth. Strain through a cheesecloth into your serving bowls, garnish with the seasoned cucumbers.
Step 4: Serve. I like to drizzle the bowls with a little extra-virgin olive oil, a pinch of coarse sea salt, and a twist of fresh black pepper.

Notes
*Single variety is good, the sweet Brandywine works well, as does the smoky Cherokee Purple.
** I used a smoked salt
*** Depending on the cucumber, you can leave it with its skin and seeds. Thicker, older ones can have rough skin that is tough to chew, and large seeds. Some smaller, young cucumbers have a tender skin and small seeds.

Apricot Kumquat Crumb Bars

2009-07-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

These are gratifying, tasty addictive little things that are very easy to share (though not as easy to consume your self). Totally OT but I am so clueless as to why I have writer's block when it comes to food... I have no shortage of things to say about food, and no shortage of things to type about.. But when it comes to writing about food... it just.. Sigh. Anyway. START OVER!

These are tasty little treats you could pretend ... Oh wait, I just solved the problem... I just need to have the tasty, tasty little thing on hand to be thoughtfully chewing on as I write about them!

Take three! These whole grainy bars are a pleasing combination of crunchy, chewy, fruity, earthy, juicy tender morsels that ... that... *takes another one*, *chomp.* The apricot-kumquat filling is sandwiched by a pleasingly textured crust that holds the filling together, bursting out with each bite and mixing with the crust. Really they are a full bodied dessert suitable after lunch, or dinner, yet substantiated with enough fruit that you can pretend they are good for you and justify them as a breakfast treat on the way to work... Just make sure to slather them with a white sugar frosting, before hand.

*reaches for another bite... and finds out she already had the last morsel*

WARNING. As I just found out, running out of this quirky-combo bar can result in a full bodied pout, with an extremely jutted out lip.

These, like many desserts, were based only loosely on a recipe.. It was neither vegan, nor based on apricots and kumquats (rather, it was based on raspberries)... However, I happened to have apricots and kumquats on hand, which seemed like when combined they could echo the tart, tangy, characteristics one gets in raspberry... The apricots giving their body, the kumquats bringing out the tart flavor as well as contributing something funky on their own. As far as labor goes, not so bad. Could be less with having to prepare the apricots, but ripe apricots should fall right off their pits.

Needless to say, enjoy. But really, I wasn't kidding about last-bite sadness.

Apricot Kumquat Crumb Bars

For the Crust and Crumb

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 C firmly packed dark brown sugar (I used muscovado)
1 1/4 C rolled oats
3/4 t salt*
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t cinnamon
1/2 c shortening, chilled and cubed
1/4 c butter sub, chilled, cubed

*closer to 1 t if using a nice mild fleur de sel or pink himalayan

For the Apricot Kumquat filling

1/2 c dark brown sugar (re: muscovado)
2 T grated orange or lemon zest
1 t cinnamon
4 T All-purpose flour
2 pounds pitted and quartered apricots
1 small handful of kumquats, chopped and seeded *
1/2 C lemon juice
3 T coconut butter, softened and liquidy
1 T water
1/4 c almond extract
2 T amaretto

*I used what I had! If you like it sharper, use more, if you have sweet lovely apricots with flavor that can stand up on its own, use less.

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch glass baking pan OR line it with parchment paper, which creeps all the way up the sides (this will make removing the bars incredibly easy, when they are cooled).

Put the crumb's dry ingredients into the food processor and pulse a few times, until just mixed. Add the fats, and pulse until loose crumbs form.

Put aside half a cup of the crumb mixture. Pour the rest of the mix into the prepared pan and flatten it into an even layer. The crust should touch the sides of the pan but should not edge up above. Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool. Leave the oven on and prepare the apricot filling.

TEH FILLIN'

In a medium bowl whisk together the sugar, lemon zest, flour, and cinnamon together. Add the apricots, kumquats, liquids, and fat (re: coconut oil). Gently mix with your hands until everything is evenly coated.

Spread the mix over the cooled crust. Sprinkle the reserves atop.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, rotating the pan at 20 minutes. Bake until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edges.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Cut up into squares (or triangles, or diamonds) and serve. This can also be frozen, or kept in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days.

Peanut Butter Marbled Rocky Roads

2009-07-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

Five half pence (two and a half pence?) to the first person who can guess what the above picture is of. No cheating and reading the title before hand!

Oops, probably too late for that, isn't it? So these are tasty, decadent, rich, happy little things. Like many things the recipe I am posting isn't exactly what I did. So first I will post the recipe I originally intended to go with... And then I will have a discussion about my dance

with these bars...

Peanut Butter Marbled Rocky Roads

2 1/4 c vegan graham cracker crumbs
2 T firmly packed dark brown sugar
2/3 c butter sub*
15 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 light corn syrup
1 c soyatoo cream or cashew cream**
20 halved vegan marshmallows***
1/2 C whole, salted peannuts****
1/2 C to 1 C smooth peanut butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar, then add the butter sub. Stir gently until combined. Pour and evenly distribute into the prepared baking pan, pressing down with your hands along the bottom and up the sides of the pan.

Bake the crust for 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Remove the plan, let cool on a rack.

Set up a double boiler. In the large heatproof bowl, toss the chocolate together with the corn syrup. Place over double boiler, add "cream" of choice. Cook, stirring, until everything is melted. Fold in the marshmallows and whole peanuts. Pour the mixture into the pan and spread as evenly as possible (using an off-set spatula helps).

Now lay down horizontal 'stripes' of peanut butter on the oozy yummy top, then drag a knife up and down vertically to create a marbling effect.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or until set. Cut into triangles and serve. The bars freeze well, and will keep for about 3 days.

Asterix!

So my notes... I hate letting food go to waste, so a few things I did to illustrate alternative uses for things...

So...

*Butter sub. I used a mix of canola oil, coconut oil, and about 15% water. There was no need to use more expensive vegan butter for the task at hand.

** I used a failed cashew-based raw ice cream with touches of cinnamon and raisen for the cream. It had decent flavor, was good, rich, but didn't quite click right as an ice cream.

*** I used a failed batch of vegan marshmallows and swirled it in the chocolate mix, rather than getting some vegan marshmallows. I know I've said it before and I'll say it again. I try not to get fairly narrow-use ingredients, especially if they are unnecessarily expensive.

**** Other nuts are usable. I tossed some yummy walnuts in there!

MALTED CHOCOLATE FUDGE SAUCE (with pastry creme filled banana cakes)

2009-07-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Baby, this cake is simply a vessel for the lovely unblemished chocolately surface above... Full recipes for everything else will be forthcoming, but right now I am heading off to the woods for the 4th of July.

This is a conversion of one of many recipes that really doesn't lend itself AT ALL to being vegan (y'know.. Take eggs, cream, butter.. cook, and done! Now, how to make without the eggs, cream, and butter..), so it isn't necessarily that easy to follow.

Furthermore, I am always trying to fight back the beast that is the house's constantly growing pantry, this means if I am running out of something needed for a recipe I will scour for substitutes or often invent my own (no soy milk? water often works for smaller amounts. Larger amount? Blend some nut butter and water for the quantity needed. Ran out of walnuts? Toast some pecans). In this case, I was supposed to use all light corn syrup, but the bottle was on its last bits, so I substituted dark corn syrup for the rest.

Then there is finally the content itself.. It is fantastic and addictive, but I feel like I could tone down the malt flavor, in doing so I will probably streamline the recipe next round. For now you are getting the raw notes of my process.

2/3 c Almond cream (1/6 c TJs raw almond butter, 1/2 c water, blended until consistent)
1/6 light corn syrup
1/6 dark corn syrup
1 T INKA
2 T dark muscavado sugar
2 T light brown sugar
3 T Medium flavor malt powder (available at Brewer's emporiums, teh internets, etc.)
1/2 t salt (used pink himalayan)
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into pieces (Valhrona, used I. arrr!)
2 T butter sub (in my case I used a home made one consisting of 5 t canola oil, 1 t water, and a dash of lecithin)
1 t vanilla extract

Blend all of the ingredients together, up unto the chocolate. Pour into a saucepan with 4 oz of the chocolate over a medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir until smooth. When the chocolate has melted, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and stirring very slowly, cook for 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter sub, vanilla, and the rest of the chocolate.

Enjoy, no really, it is good. Even the unedited version I wish I

Good Morning Coffee Banana Bread Muffins with Chocolate Chips

2009-06-30T01:24:00.000-07:00

*note* far more photogenic if you click on the image. That said, I was not having much luck making these photogenic (they look ok in person!) *end note*

Mmmmuffins. I rarely ever express that sentiment. In my endless food snobbery I have dubbed muffins (and scones, and a few other items) the red headed step children of baking. They are comprised of the processed foods I try to avoid, rendering them entirely anutritious entities no better for you than any given dessert. Desserts, however, are often an artful playground for flavor exploration and combination, cooking technique and theory, or a decadence to bask in the pleasure of.

Muffins and scones tend to just be.. mediocre, unmemorable entites. There are exceptions, so I hear... And perhaps I would like to add my own to them one of these days. The above are quite tasty, and leave a glorious, clean after-taste that pleasantly lingers like a dear guest.

I do not know if I am going to post the recipe quite yet... I feel like I need to study The Muffin, and its respective concept. I feel like there is some sort of definition that my veganzied version did not quite achieve. Your own suggestions on what makes a muffin are welcome. In the meantime, the espresso/banana/chocolate combination is one from Brooklyn's "Baked" that needs not a recipe for one to explore.

Its 4:41 AM. I think I need sleep. I do have such a back log of things to post here, though... so many recipes getting lost in rime's sands...

Cherry Choco DETH!!1!

2009-06-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

So first I'm gonna say I wanna go to Burning Man this year (Death Guild ho!). Second, I am going to keep this simple, for it is a simple recipe.

It is really a rich, creamy torte-like mousse that is, aside from having to soak the nuts, extremely quick and easy to make. It is one of the many items that people would not believe was vegan. Even closing my eyes and thinking about it right now I can imagine falling into its softly yielding texture.

Anyway, on to the recipe!

Cherry Chocolate Torte

Crust:

1 Chocolate crust of choice*, pressed into a 9" springform pan

Filling:

2 C raw cashews, soaked overnight, drained
1 C dark chocolate, chopped (I used some Valhrona Orange Noir and Callabaut bittersweet)
1-2 C cherries, pitted (frozen work)
1/2 C water
Pinches of salt, drops of vanilla, flecks of cinnamon, espresso shots.. whatever floats your boat.

*I used a simple raw crust made up of 3 parts walnuts to 1 part cacao nibs, and a pinch of salt with enough coconut butter to hold it all together. Press into pan, refridgerate.

So, this is simple. Real simple. A powerful blender helps, and may be necessary. Soak the cashews overnight. Drain. Blend down as far as you can. Add 1/4 c water and make even smoother. Add whatever flavorings you would like. Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a double boiler. When melted, add to cashew mix and blend until very smooth, adding water as needed.

Once smooth, stir in the cherries by hand. Save a few to adorn the torte. Pour the chocolate mix into the pan and smooth out. You can drag decorative lines into the chocolate substance as well, put in the fridge to set. Should be done fairly quickly.

You may want to layer the bottom of the springform pan with saran wrap, for ease of removal. I served this at a dinner party cut into single serving two bite pieces. It was loved by all. Babies may have been made. I may need sleep.

PREVIEW: Wedding Cake Round, THE GROOM'S CAKE!

2009-06-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

So... The last wedding cake was a huge success. I am timing each cake-making with my biweekly dinner parties, next up is Thursday... So for when I get more time, I will tell you more about... Cannibul Cake!

Very long short, my friend saw the above lolcats and she said that was the one that she wanted... How could I resist? More coming soon (oh my god the recipes I have on back queue for posting).

Wedding Cake (part 1) !!!

2009-06-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

So, I was given the ultimate vegan blogger honor the other day. My friend Jenny asked me to do her wedding cake!
WIth some talk I also convinced her to let me do most of the food for most of her wedding, as well.
So first, congradulation are in order to Ms. Jennifer Harder Mr. John Alexander, the future Harder-Alexanders.
The wedding is not until May 2010, but time does move by oh so very quickly and of course I need to practice, so periodically that is what I will be doing... Practicing! As if there is any reason _not_ to make cakes that you disseminate among your friends on a semi-regular basis!

So... Round one. I believe I did find one good lavender lemon cake for one layer. I will also likely do a chocolate layer, as well as a diabetes-friendly Groom's carrot cake.

An added bonus of this cake was that it was served to a friend of mine who has a nightshade allergy. The powdered vegan egg replacers tend to contain potato starch in them, while this recipe used no such agents.

So, onto the recipe...

Lavender-infused Lemon Layer Cake

2 1/2 C Pastry or Cake flour
1 1/2 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 C plus 2 T butter sub
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 C + 1 T water
grated zest of 1 large organic lemon
3/4 C soy or rice milk
1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract
2 t dried lavender blossoms

Bring the water to a boil, cut the heat, add the lavender. Let cool. Strain and set aside. Discard the lavender blooms (or make more tea with em!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare two 9 inch round cake pans by covering them with a thin layer of shorteing then dusting them with flour, tapping off any extra flour.

Mix the dry ingredients together and stir well.

Mix together the wet ingredients and the lemon zest. I cut the butter-sub in with a blender, but to each their own. Pour the wet ingredients into a mixing bowl. From there I sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir just until consistent, about one minute.

Pour evenly into the pans, and set in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes or until done (a toothpick or fork inserted in comes out without batter sticking to it).

Remove from oven, let cool for a couple of minutes, run a knife around the edges, and invert onto a cooling rack.

Next up.. The curd.

1/2 C lemon juice
1/4 C water
3/4 C sugar
2 T cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
grated zest of 1 organic lemon
3 T. full fat soymilk, nut milk, or organic nondairy creamer
1 T Butter Sub (I used coconut butter here)

In a blender, mix together the juice, water, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Pour into a heavy saucepan with the zest. Whisk over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a full boil. Boil 1 minute, not stirring. It should be thickened and turning clear. Remove from heat. Add milk choice or alternate and butter choice. Blend well with the whisk. Cool the curd, then refrigerate in a covered container. It thickens as it cools.

When everything is cooled, well... Do assemble as you would any layer cake, with the curd in the middle. I suddenly lost my attention to detail so will hopefully post proper assembly instructions later.

Dominos - Luxury Brownies and (Coconut) Milk Fudge

2009-06-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

I seem to have a chocolate and vanilla thing going on... It is late, sleep soon, the recipes always need tooling, but this is what I did, and I still ended up with a tasty end product.. Both products are best served chilled, particularly the fudge... I am not sure if I made an error in the confectionary process, or the veganized recipe needs tooling (or both). Ah to the recipes.

Coconut Milk White Fudge with Nuts

4 cups sugar
2 cups coconut milk (I used a 14 oz can plus 2 T water)
1 stick cinnamon, preferably Mexican canela
1⁄2 cup light corn syrup
1⁄4 tsp. baking soda
1⁄4 tsp. fine salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1⁄2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1⁄2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1⁄2 cup chopped toasted pine nuts

1. In an 8-qt. pot, whisk together sugar, milk, cinnamon, corn syrup, baking soda, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat; do not stir the milk. Use a metal spoon to skim off and discard any foam or solids that rise to the surface, rinsing the spoon in water after each use. Simmer, brushing the sides of the pot occasionally with water to prevent the sugar from crystallizing, until the mixture thickens and a candy thermometer reads 240°, about 30–35 minutes.
2. Remove pot from heat. Add butter and vanilla; do not stir. Remove and discard cinnamon. Let mixture cool to 180°.
3. Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan; line bottom with greased parchment paper. Stir milk–sugar mixture with wooden spoon until no longer glossy, 5 minutes. Add pecans, walnuts, and pine nuts; stir to combine. Transfer to baking pan; smooth surface with a rubber spatula. Chill until set, about 8 hours. Turn fudge out onto a cutting board and cut into sixty-four 1" squares.

The brownies... I have been seeking a good, dense, fudgey low flour vegan brownie recipe... the kind you get for flourless chocolate brownies. Sadly I have yet to find something that can lend the structural integrity necessary needed for flourless chocolate brownies, and the rest turn out cakey... My efforts at flourless brownies with vegan egg replacers thus far have been fairly tasty but utter failures as far as brownies are concerned. Then I saw this recipe from Coco&Me which looked promising... a low flour brownie, and my veganized effort showed it had enough flour to lend structure but not enough to dillute the quality chocolate used... The butter was replaced with a blend of water, oil, and lecitin, the eggs were replaced with Bob's Red Mill egg replacer. The final recipe could still use some work, but getting closer and leagues better than the flourless varities.

oh man, I need to sleep... More recipes and concepts coming soon.

Updates, updates

2009-05-29T11:05:00.001-07:00

Yes I have been working in the kitchen.. Updates should be coming soon soon. Remember if you want previews, do keep up with my Flickr blog :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63114167@N00/

<3

-Mary

Three Decadences - Donut Trifle with Rich Chocolate Pudding

2009-05-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

So I want to have fun, lots and lots of fun. I also want to use the knowledge I have to build to new heights. I read about the creations at P*ONG, Per Se, Citizen Cake, etc. and I want to have them, but I also want to make something I could stealthily slip among their fun, whimsical offerings without disappointing the palette. This is a noble first step... it needs work, but it is a good first step. The pudding I used for this is also a fantastic stand-alone item, if you need a spiced pudding...

Anyway, this is an odd, fun recipe. You can make these in individual dishes, one larger dish, martini glasses, plates, whatever you have. Improvise!

3 Strawberry Jelly Filled Donuts
3 Devil's Foodcake Donuts

I left them in the dehydrator overnight, at about 110 degrees or so. You don't have to do this but for me I love the crunchiness and flavor concentration it creates. When they are good and dry, break up the chocolate donuts into fair sized chunks (about eight to twelve pieces per donut). Cut the jelly donuts into quarters, set aside a couple of pieces of the jellies for top-decorations.

Now that that is done, onto the...

Chocolate Pudding (!!!)

14 oz can coconut milk
1/2 c water
3 T sugar
4.5 oz good dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used Valhrona and Callebeut)
3 T dutch-processed cocoa powder (I used Sharffen-Berger)
1/4 C Arrowroot starch
1/4 t salt
1 t vanilla
1 t curry powder or spices of choice (I used a bit of freshly ground ginger, vietnamese cinnamon, madras curry powder, chili powder, anise, and nutmeg).

Mix the coconut milk and water together, set aside 1/2 c of this mix. Put the rest of the coconut milk in a sauce pan. Add the sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer over low heat.
Meanwhile whisk together the remaining coconut milk, arrowroot starch, spice blend, and cocoa powder until smooth (I used a blender for this). When the milk-mix has started simmering, take about 1/4 cup to the starch-milk mix and add slowly, stirring all the while until consistent.
Turn the heat down to the lowest setting, and slowly whisk in the starch mix into the simmering liquid. Now whisk the mixture vigorously until the pudding returns to a simmer and thickens up a bit. Remove the saucepan from the heat, keep whisking for another minute. Add the chocolate and vanilla and whisk until smooth.

At this point you can either use the hot, thick mixture to arrange the trifles, or you can put it in a dish and let it cool then arrange your trifles. It comes down to how you want to do it. Given I made my dessert in a dish for people to serve their selves out of, I chose to pour it on hot, rather than letting it set.

The object in the photo is adorned with vegan whipped cream, shaved chocolate, and a marashino cherry. Fresh strawberries would also be a fantastic adornment.

Red is Stop. Green is Go. Pink is Yum.

2009-05-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

Waugh firefox crash just sucked my post into a void :(
Needless to say, I have a serious problem.
Pictured above is a sorbet, an ice cream, and a frozen yogurt. Not pictured is another four or five ice creams, another sorbet, and well.. probably some other stuff, too. My fridge is full of ice creams... FULL! Well, onto the recipes...

Red Wine Strawberry Sorbet with Black Pepper
2 pounds strawberries, hulled and washed
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
1 c dry red wine
2 c sugar
1 T vanilla paste
1/2 fresh ground black pepper
1 t balsamic
1/2 t citric acid (if strawberries are out of season, or to taste)
Toss strawberries with lemon juice, balsamic, vanilla, and citric acid, set aside. Meanwhile put wine, sugar, and black pepper on the stove. Warm over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour syrup over strawberries, stir, let cool to room temperature then refrigerate until chilled.
Puree or blend strawberries until smooth, then prepare according to ice cream manufacturer's instructions.

Thai Basil Coconut Ice Cream
**Under Construction!**: Re: I didn't log it, and it needs work anyway... I want to say I based it off of this recipe from Kitchen Therapy but looking at the recipe to say I based them off one another is a very very loose interpretation...

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt
1 pound plus 2 oz fresh strawberries, hulled and washed
2/3 c sugar
2 C strained plain vegan soy yogurt
1 T agave
1 t lemon zest
2 T red wine
1 t balsamic vinegar
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t citric acid
pinch salt
dash lecithin
OK I should say straight up, pretty much every ingredient after the yogurt is semi-optional, if you don't have it, don't stress it. Don't have open red wine? Use kirsh, or vodka, or rum, or nothing, or whatever. And so on... HAVE FUN! Anyway, that said, dice the strawberries, toss them with the sugar and liquor. Let sit for 2 hours.
When two hours have passed, blend with the rest of the ingredients, chill in refrigerator. When chilled, prepare according to manufacturer's directions.

I am going to say that the posted recipes are 'sketches.' These are rough guidelines I followed in the kitchen. I often find recipes restrictive and when it comes to flavouring, I explore with abandon. Not having some things listed rarely stops me from making something. In the case of the strawberry sorbet, rather than opening a bottle of red wine I used 1 C of a red wine black pepper sorbet I had left over, which was very dry without much sugar. In that red wine sorbet I used some leftover concord grape sorbet. I am constantly using things as much to get rid of them as I am to explore and experiment. I do advise you to do the same, though admit my boldness may be bolstered by my compression-based ice cream maker that does not need recuperation time to make a second batch...

Remember, failure is just an excuse to cook even more, and if you are sticking to the sort of ingredients life happened to hand to you it isn't like you invested any money in the recipe... Speaking of things being handed to you, next up is going to be the Brown Sugar Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers...

Mega-Sandwiches. Recipe liberation

2009-04-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

I swear that this blog has become a recepticle for me to show off my unhealthy drive to make decadent desserts, and be illiterative. Still, I DO make actual food, like, food you can eat three to five times a day... Sometimes. I feel like I should make a confession here. I am a really really weird eater, or a scavenger, or a weird scavenger eater? I obsessively, impulsively have to try a taste of every thing available. It is a horrble trait i really need to conquer but ohmygoditssohard! So when it comes to cooking I go for quick gratification, or concoctions based on what I have lying around... which is often rather obscure or not at all measured. Withered ginger, the scrapings from a near-empty jar of red curry paste, salvagable scallions. half a zucchini... yeah I can work with that, but doesn't make for a great or photogenic recipe.

Desserts fit really well into my lifestyle because no one turns down a piece of cake, a brownie, or even a scoop of ice cream. I can make them, and disperse it at a leisurely rate over the next several days. Real food, however... is not quite so easy or fun to hand out like say, prescription drugs at an end-of-year college party (is that off-colour?). Sometimes, however, I get inspired, or the leftovers I have lying around line up just right... So I present you with a more asthetically-appealing fridge and pantry cleaner... Actually, this is going to be a poor recipe, because well.. it was a pantry cleaner, so I'm giving estimates, and if you don't have it, you'll have to improvise...

Spicy Fennel Seitan Sausage Muffaletta

1 8-10" round olive loaf, cut into three layers

Varying volumes of spicy faux meat (depends on how thick you like it, oh thats what she said)*

1/2 cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 c olives
2 T garlic
1 Shallot, peeled, coarsely chopped
Pepper
Salt
Olive oil

2-4 C baby spinach (or chopped regular)
2 T Brown Rice vinegar
2 Medium Tomatoes, thinly sliced
Roasted red peppers (or in my pantry-cleaning case, I used a roasted red pepper and carmelized onion relish)

*I used a home made spicy fennel seitan sausage that I have not yet gotten a consistent recipe for, will back link it to this post when I do have it. Millenium's cookbook has a good recipe here.

Toss the spinach with brown rice vinegar, let sit.
In a food processor place the cherry tomatoes, olives, garlic, shallots, and salt/pepper in to taste. Give a glug or two of olive oil. Pulse until it reaches a consistency you like (I enjoy coarsely chopped, but you can make more of a paste).

Thinly slice the "meat," and spread on the bottom slice of the bread. Top with a layer of the tomato-olive relish. Top with half of the spinach, place on baking sheet. On the middle slice of the bread, place a layer of tomatoes, then sausage, then roasted red peppers. Top with remainder of spinach.

OPTIONAL: Place sandwiches under low broiler to wilt spinach (yum).

OK I need to stop procrastinating... Sandwich is pictured with a simple mixed greens and low fat sorta-not-UNhealthy chocolate cookie.

monster

2009-04-25T10:48:00.001-07:00

monster
Originally uploaded by vapidchick

Coming up, spicy sausage muffaletta... assuming I survive.

Lazy Blogday - Twofers Unrelated - Sunbutter Cookies n' Cream, and Chocolate Mousse Pie

2009-04-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

These desserts really do not have a whole lot in common, and both stand up well enough on their own to not have to be sharing a plate... The pie in particular, at least if you get a bite with the crust. I have never had a pie in which the content was so meaningfully enhanced by the crust; in this case a mocha-walnut concoction. The airy filling is grounded in harmony the earthy base.

The sunbutter ice cream, I am not so kind toward. It is delicious and addictive, but also hard and flaky if not allowed to warm up a little, first. I will probably be making it again, and try some new spins on it... Texture aside, at the end of the day its life in my freezer will not be long. Still, if I want something more solid I will be going to my other peanut butter ice cream recipe.

My photographic laziness aside, there is a reason these two gems (one may be a little rougher, but) share a plate. They both offer special considerations toward the sensitive and the allergy-prone. The pie contains no gluten (or dairy ;) ), and the ice cream was made with a peanut-butter allergic friend in mine. So for those times when you don't want to make someone feel like everyone else is eating less well because of their needs, these dishes could please any palette.

Sins for Saints Chocolate Mousse Pie

So this came about because I wanted to make something for the massage workshop I was partaking in over the weekend. I was not feeling amazingly inspired the night before the event, though. So I just figured "meh," and went to bed later than I should have. I woke up, still wanting to make something, and fingered through a cookbook for an idea and saw a mousse. When I first experimented with vegan cooking, a tofu-based strawberry-kiwi chocolate pudding was one of my first recipes... so I ran some math in my head and this is what I got.

It was 7:50 AM. My workshop was at 9. Travel time was half an hour. Time was of the essence, so oven baking was out of the question. I wanted to do an oreo cookie crust, but with only 6 cookies that wasn't happening. So instead the crust was inspired by my experience with raw desserts. It was a total win, even better one of the girls of the group is gluten-intolerant, which I had forgotten. And the mousse.. well.. its just good... The food-making part was done within 25 minutes, and while I could have left the kitchen cleaner, I certainly could have left it worse. I was amazingly happy with it (so was everyone else). Though I am going to say it is absolutely necessary to make sure to get a bit of crust with each bite of mousse. Knowing that, So, onto the tart.

Crust:
1 and 3/4 c walnuts*
1/4 c cocoa powder**
1/2 t sea salt
2 T maple syrup
1-2 T raw coconut butter
1 t ground coffee

Mousse
15 oz dark chocolate, chopped***
1 c plus 2 T soy milk
1 T cocoa powder**
3/4 t kuzu starch
20 oz silken tofu
1/4 c maple syrup
2 t vanilla paste (or extract)
1/2 t almond extract

1. To make the crust, place walnuts in a food processor and chop until they are fine crumbs. Add everything else except the coconut oil and mix well. Add enough coconut oil for the crust to stick together. Press into 10" spring form pan and place in fridge to set.

2. To prepare the mousse filling dissolve the kuzu in the 2 T of soymilk. While it dissolves, place the chocolate, cocoa powder, and 1 C of soy milk in a double boiler. Add the dissolved kuzu starch and heat over simmering water, in the double boiler, until melted, stirring occasionally. It should take about 15-20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place the tofu in a blender bowl or food processor and blend until smooth. Add maple syrup, vanilla, and almond extract and blend again. Either blend with chocolate mixture, or fold in.

4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the springform pan, and chill until set (about 2 hours), or overnight, before serving.

*I used soaked and dehydrated but that is up to you
**Valhrona
***I used a blend of Trader Joes Dark Pound Plus and Callebeut Semisweet

NEXT!

Sunbutter Ice Cream

9 oz silken tofu
1 c water
1 c soy milk
1 c sunbutter
1/4 c sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
1 T powdered maca (Optional. I like the malty flavor it imparts)
15-20 (or more!) Chocolate Sandwich cookies (I used Joe-O's), broken up just a lil'.

Bring the water to a boil, add sugar and let cook for 5 minutes. Let cool. Blend remaining ingredients (except for the cookies) until smooth. Chill and prepare according to the directions of your ice cream maker. Once mixed, add in the cookies and either stir in by hand or churn until they are just mixed. Pack into container and enjoy now, or later, or now and later.

Mango-Tequila Sorbet spiked with Serrano Chilis

2009-03-25T14:36:00.001-07:00

P1030390
Originally uploaded by vapidchick

So a friend told me about a spicy mango sorbet he had at a local Ice Creamery... And well... me being the cocky cocky cook that I am thought "Anything they can do I can do better."
There are many reasons I don't really like eating out, that extend beyond my vegan values... and that mantra is one of them.

While I have never eaten this purveyor's spicy mango sorbet, I have no shortage of affection for this one. On the spiciness factor, all but one friend was fine with it. The latter claimed that I assaulted her with it and made her eat it, "but the cilantro one was really good." I know that after a few bites I am I need a glass of (almond) milk.

Onto the recipe!

Mango-Tequila Sorbet spiked with Serrano Chilis

1 Umeboshi plum (Eden)
32 oz Frozen mango chunks (Trader Joes/365 Organic)
1 pinch salt (Pink Himalayan)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 T jaggery (Thai taste)
3 T tequila (Salza brand, Hornitos)
2 T lime juice or to taste
3 Serrano chillis, seeded (or more, depending on preferred spiciness)
1 T raw almond butter (maranatha)

Make a simple syrup with the water and sugar (bring to a boil in a sauce pan, for a few minutes, then let return to room temperature)

BLEND ALL!

Chill. Churn according to ice cream machine's instructions...

Substitute sugar mix with an agave/water blend (sweetened as you like) to make raw.

Also I recommend checking out the up close close full size photo here..

Tis pretty :)

Coming up were the accompanying sorbets... a Cilantro-Rum Lime Sorbet, and a savoury Roasted Red Pepper and Chipolte ice cream.

Winter Kept Us Warm...

2009-03-24T09:00:00.001-07:00

One of my favourite food items has to be the simplest of simples; brown rice porridge. This dish is a staple in Asian kitchens, where it is known as jook, or congee. It can be jazzed up with tofu, slivers of ginger, vegetable stock, cinnamon, nut butter, coconut milk, vanilla, toasted nuts... the sky is the limit. I have been there, done that, but nothing will ever compare to straight up cooked brown rice, reheated with water until it becomes a creamy porridge.

This winter I finally swung myself a dedicated morning yoga partner, and every morning after yoga we would sit down to a bowl of brown rice porridge with a cup of genmaicha (roasted brown rice tea). After yoga, if you told me that I could only have this to eat for the rest of my life, and that would be it, I would be happy. Any type of rice works, brown, or white, short grain, long grain, basmati, jasmine, etc. Better than that, you can do this with any leftover grain... millet, buckwheat, quinoa, etc. However, brown rice has my heart. I am not keen on quinoa... it never breaks down into creamy goodness.

The directions are simple... put as much (or as little) leftover cooked rice or other grain into a heavy bottomed bot, and cover with a half-inch of water. Cook until it is the consistency that you desire. I like my congee to really be pudding-like, others prefer it where the rice has maintained its shape.

I often add nothing, just a little salt. Today, in the name of using them up, I tossed in some of the tapioaca 'grapes' leftover from the recipe I am in the middle of illuminating... and here is another close up of those funballs, for the heck of it..

Speaking of simple pleasures... A piece on shared experiences making us happier than material acquisition... And here is where I note that I have never sat down and had this centering dish by my lonesome.

Malted Peanut Butter Ice Cream

2009-03-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

OK, so maybe the pictures were not as bad as the first one implied... Though this one could use some serious photoshop mopping on my lovely concord grape balls, as well as the plate. Oh well, I'm working on it, I'm working on it.

Appropriately enough, better pictures come with better recipes (Srsly? You mean it gets better than salted concord grape tapioca balls?!) So I am starting to release the more substantial stand-alone items of this concoction. The first, and probably best to make without any grander purpose is the peanut butter ice cream. Sure, the melting ice cream does go beautifully with the crunchy home made cracker jacks, tangy sesame yogurt cubes, and salty-sweet-chewy tapioca balls, but I don't just whip those out of the cupboard.

Anyway, this was sourced from a number of peanut butter ice cream recipes, and I gave it my own twist... I felt it turned out quite lovely, but it turned out even better when paired with a dark chocolate ice cream, recipe forthcoming... I am going to note I used a super blender for this, so you may want to stick to very smooth peanut butters if using a normal blender. The addition of maca root can be omitted, rendering the peanut butter non-malted. I felt it was missing something, though, which is why I added it. I am sure the type of peanut butter one is using can significantly change this, though.

Malted Peanut Butter Ice Cream

1 12 oz package silken tofu, frozen, thawed then drained
1 cup peanut butter (I used a mix of ground-at-store, Maranatha, and Trader Joe's Valencia)
3/4 c maple syrup (think I used grade A, Kirkland brand)
dash cinnamon
1/4 t Xanthum Gum
1 T gelatinized maca root powder
1 3/4 C unflavored hemp milk (or milk alternative of choice)

Blend ingredients together.
Chill.
Churn.
Chow.

Elizabeth Falkner's Concord Express, veganized

2009-03-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

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Alas, first item.. I feel like the photo could be much better.. but photo editing/corrections is not my forte.. So the photo you see is the photo I shot (and I was in a hurry). It is a shame as I feel like any multi-component dessert I make deserves as much time after making it as I put into it (including relishing its consumption). Alas, I really was in a hurry, but also excited to put this forth. Oh, what a quandary!

Anyway... I do like my cook books (who doesn't?), and I appreciate my food porn, but there aren't exactly a lot of cook books out there for the vegan food-porn voyeurs. I don't know what it is that compelled me to go through Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts: Recipes from Citizen Cake but I did, and then I bought it, and brought it home. It isn't vegan, it isn't whole-foodie, but damned if it isn't creative, inventive, and compelling to the last page. I have had a great time going through it and finding inspiration for a number of recipes. Until now I had only done aspects of her desserts, singular entities that often build up to something greater. I had been wanting, for a long time, to attempt one of her multi-component desserts, but had not the excuse. Finally a friend said he'd buy me dinner, if I made him the dessert I showed him.

Sold.

I will be releasing this recipe in parts over the next week or so... But right now, I will begin with part one.. The frog's eggs (no, not really).

Concord Grape Tapioca:
3 C water
2 t kosher salt
1/2 C large tapioca pearls
2 C Concord grape juice
3 t sugar

Bring the water and salt to a boil, add the tapioca pearls (the big bubble tea ones sold at Asian grocers), and cook uncovered for 45-60 minutes, until they are mostly cooked through but still a little firm on the inside. Strain the pearls, and return to the stove, with grape juice and sugar. Return to a simmer, keep heat on medium low and cook uncovered for 15 minutes or so.. Or until the pearls reach the desired consistency. Al dente is a popular firmness.

I will state a little annoyance with the inconsistency of tapioca pearl firmness. It varied significantly. Some pearls were sublime, others had hard centers similar to corn kernels. Anyway... More is coming in future days.

Next up!

Malted Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Old Fashioned Pear Cake

2009-03-05T11:33:00.001-08:00

Ah, pears... It is safe to say most (or all) fruits and vegetables are best when they are fresh, picked-ripe, local and organic... All that jazz. But there are some pieces of produce where anything but the former leaves you feeling like you might as well be eating cardboard. The texture, aroma, and juicyness of a pear is so very characteristic of the fruit and certainly unlike anything else. Oranges have grapefruits, apples have... other apples? Anyway, this recipe is from the fall, when I found my self with a fair portion of pears from the CSA. Not enough to eat all at once, so I had to find another vessel for them... I tried a pear crumble (meh, yet the recipe will probably show up here in the future) and this simple pear cake. It stole the show. The sugar and butter (substitute) candied the cake, leaving it crisp and carmelized... I amalgamted several recipes, all non-vegan, and made this cake... more than once. I imagine you could substitute apples, plums, or peaches, but the earthy texture of the cooked pears infusing the cake was pretty divine...
So onto the recipe...

Old Fashioned Pear Cake
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup canola oil
All-purpose flour for dusting
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup sugar
1 medium banana, well mashed or pureed*
1 egg replacer (I used Bob's red mill)
4 bosc pears, firm but ripe (any pear works. I had boscs)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Spray a 9-inch round springform pan with oil (or brush it your self), and dust the pan with a thin, even layer of flour, tapping out the excess. Set aside.

Whisk together the whole-wheat pastry flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat together the fats and the sugar on high speed until pale, light, and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg replacer and banana. Beat again until well combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients just until combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and neatly arrange the pear quarters on top, skin side up. Bake for about 1 hour, or until the top is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 10 to 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.

*I often do this with the egg replacer in my blender

Spring Awakenings, with Pinkly Peppered Lemon Yogurt Cake

2009-03-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

So my blog has been long neglected. Just as the earth has been buried under snow and ice. Unlike winter, though, things in my kitchen have been far from dead. Indeed, this time has been a lovely proliferation of new and exciting recipes. All too many will be lost to the halls of my memories, dust growing ever thicker... Some strong recipes have survived, and will be popping up here in the coming weeks, like the crocuses and daffodils in my yard. Appropriately enough, to welcome this blogging springtime, is a lemon cake! I made this to attend a Time Trade Circle meeting in Cambridge, and it went down very well. When I grabbed the plate to take off people started saying "You are the one who made that? What is it?" and a multiplicity of voices started saying how the TTC should start a cookbook of shared recipes. So as usual I am trying to buy as little as possible and liquidate as much as I can...

One of the things I need to use up are my experimental batches of home made soy yogurt. My house recently acquired one, and I decided I wanted to try my hand at soy yogurt (I have also tried my hand at sesame yogurt.. interesting, and not bad.. could be delightful for baking with). So while I seem to have making soy yogurt down, the milk our machine makes is more of a soy porridge and needs to be strained. This works ok for baking yogurt but not the silky creamy sort of thing. So I have a fair quantity of this grainy yogurt and baking seems like a lovely way to use it up. I first made some of the chai cupcakes from VCTOTW. Dissapointed with them, but much like curries... the flavor did improve the next day. So here I had a potluck, and some soy yogurt to use up. So I hunted down yogurt baking recipes, and Alpine Berry had a tasty looking French-Style Yogurt Cake.

I glanced over the recipe, easy to veganize. and I certainly had every thing on hand. I made a couple of changes though, more lemon peel, and rather than poppy seeds I crumbled some pink peppercorns in a pestle and added them... I feel the flavors were very complimentary, and I would definitely make again. So, onto the recipe. Oh, an unhelpful note.. I have a suspicion I may have ground up half of a vanilla bean.. but cannot remember. Still, a dash of vanilla rarely hurts anything.

Lemon Yogurt Cake with Pink Peppercorns

Cake
3/4 cup plain soy yogurt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 lemon's worth of finely grated lemon zest
3 egg replacements (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 T crushed pink pepper corns
1/3 cup canola oil

Glaze
The juice of a squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan. Line with a parchment circle and butter the paper.

In a large bowl, mix the yogurt, sugar, and lemon zest with a wooden spoon. Mix in egg replacer.

Add the flour, baking powder, and poppy seeds. Mix until flour is just incorporated.

Add the oil and mix well. The batter will look curdled at first but it will come together.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, until your cake tester is clean and the cake springs back when lightly touched.

Allow cake to cool in pan on a rack for about 15 minutes.

Gently remove cake from the pan and set on a rack to cool completely.

Combine the lemon juice and powdered sugar and spoon it gently over the cake. The glaze will be thin and will soak in like a syrup.

I then cut off "corners" of the cake, to shape it like a sun. I thought it was a nice after-touch, and the people at the pot luck seemed especially impressed with it.

Coming up, sorbets!

Creamy Eggplant & Roasted Pepper Soup

2008-12-02T23:40:00.000-08:00

Hrm. I have no idea how I made this recipe up. No pictures, it looks fine but as an eggplant soup is not that photogenic.. so photos it will do without. It does look nice and all, but it is eggplanty gray-ish. Anyway, my housemate loved it. Sort of. She couldn't believe it had almost no fat in it, she thought it tasted too decadent. I will definitely make it again, possibly when I have nice bowls to picture it in.

2 small to medium eggplants
1 T garlic/EVOO
8 cloves garlic
1 lrg red onion
1/2 c roasted red peppers
2 T macadamia/cashew butter
1/4 c nut yeast
heaping T stock
4 c water
3 inches kombu
1/4 t cinnamon

Soak the kombu in the water.
Sautee up the garlic and onions until they start to sweeten. Blend all of the ingredients together, and voila.

Actually, I realized I do have pics. They will be forthcoming!

The Three: Hummus, Muhumarra, and Carrots Smashed with North African Spices

2008-11-18T19:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know the title is quite a mouth full... Here is item one of the lovely trio.

Carrot Smash:

2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch lengths
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for dipping
2 tablespoons white vinegar
4 teaspoons harissa (see note)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3 pieces sprouted grain bread, toasted and dried
Salt and pepper to taste

*harissa is a spice paste you can make your self, or get in a can at middle eastern grocers. I used the latter, this time. Will probably make my own at some point... ideally it will come with a post.

1. In a large saucepan over high heat, cover the carrots with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the carrots and return them to the saucepan. Cook for 30 seconds over medium heat to thoroughly dry them. Remove the carrots from the heat and coarsely mash them with a fork or whisk. If lazy, pulse them in a food processor a few times. You should have a coarsely ground carrot puree that sticks together but still has rough pieces throughout.

2. Stir in the olive oil, vinegar, harissa, cumin, and ginger. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

This is best served with dukkah, another spice blend. I never got around to that part, so can't post much on it... yet. But I do have some carrots in my fridge that need to get used. We will see.

The recipes for muhumarra, and my favorite hummus to date are forthcoming.

Lil' Squashes Stuffed with Soy-Maple Rice & Fall Vegetables

2008-11-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

So, fall is officially here. My housemate and I went in on a CSA together, except that he is never really around... so I have been left with a box of CSA veggies all to my self each week. Ya, horrible, rite? rite?! Srsly, thou. I mean, seriously. I do have an excess of vegetables, and a need to use them. However I have also swore that I was going to go through my pantry and not buy anything new, like, anything. So how do I continue to improve my recipe mental rolodex and not spend any money? Ah, the concept recipe. To clarify, concept recipes are ideas that are not detail oriented. They are not baking, or steeped in French cooking science. They are ideas, like "winter vegetable soup," "X vegetable stirfry," "garden salad," etc. They are fantastic for the changing seasons, as you can often adapt the recipes to fit what is seasonally appropriate.

So, today's concept? Stuffed squash. The no-pantry thing is working out quite well, as I have been trying to following more of a whole foods/macrobiotic lifestyle. So this basically means I need to keep baking and desserts on the down-low. So far it has been going tastily. Not amazingly photogenic (or I was not in the mood to make it such), but wholesome good things. As this is a concept recipe I am going to emphasize that you feel free to substitute things. Don't have celery? Use parsley. Only have two carrots? That is fine. Use quinoa instead of brown rice, etc. etc. Really, this works even if you have leftover grains or some stirfry sitting in your fridge, ignored. However, this is how I threw it down...

Lil' Squashes Stuffed with Soy-Maple Rice & Fall Vegetables

4 small squash (I used butternut and acorn), halved lengthwise and seeded
Canola oil for greasing the pans
Salt n' Pepper
2 cups uncooked short-grain brown rice, rinsed (ideally, soak over night)
3 cups water
1 large red onion, diced
1 celary heart, chopped
2 (very) small leeks, chopped
3 carrots, cut into half-moons
2 T fresh oregano, chopped
2 T maple syrup
1/4 C wheat-free soy sauce (or more to flavor)
1 C raisins

1 cup toasted nuts of choice (I used pepitas, toasted in sesame oil and salt)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash cut-side up, brush or spray tops with oil. If you can't prop the squash up, cut a thin slice off the curved bottoms so they do not tip over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes or until tender. Keep them warm.

While the squashes are roasting, combine the water, rice, and a teaspoon of salt. Cover. Bring to a boil, decrease heat to medium low, and simmer until the rice is tender. If there is any water left, drain it out.

While the rice is cooking, sautee the vegetables in a large, heavy skillet, or two. If you want to be particular, you can sautee the vegetables up seperately. I cooked my carrots seperate from my onions and celery. This step is not necessary, but nice to do if you have the time (which I did). More importantly, I had two burners free. Sautee until tender. If you cooked the vegetables seperately, combine them now, stir in the soy sauce, maple syrup, raisins, and basil, then add the rice. Stir, salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the rice mixture evenly between the squashes, sprinkle with the nuts, and serve.

*to toast the pepitas: heat a heavy bottomed pan to medium-high heat, douse with oil, toss seeds in, sprinkle with salt, and shake around until they start to turn brown.

Other item of note, I am reading "In Defense of Food," and just found out that according to Paul Rozen, a psychologist@UPenn, a third of Americans believe that a diet absolutely free of fat would be better for us than a diet containing even just "a pinch" of fat.

The Cherry, the Chocolate, and the Holy Walnut

2008-11-10T09:20:00.000-08:00

So, I told someone that I would make them a chocolatey cherry-y thing when a big thing finally went through. It was still pending, but I had some extra sour cherry juice in my fridge that had been sitting there for months that needed using up, and an ache to make ice cream.

This wont be a particularly easy ice cream to replicate, as it was a "use up what I have" sort of ordeal. It did stay very soft in texture even after being frozen, so perhaps it could use less sugar. Next time I would use 5 oz unsweetened chocolate, rather than mixing it. That aside, I would leave everything the same until I made it again. Hopefully with pictures. My roommates descended upon it before I could photograph it!

Onto the recipe...

Black Forest Ice Cream

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used Trader Joe's)
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (again, TJ's)
2 T powdered chocolate (I used generic, ideally I'd use the surprisingly affordable Valrhona)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 can coconut milk
dash soy lecithin
2 T beet juice (optional)
1 1/2 C sour cherry juice (this is the stuff in a jar of sour cherries)
1/4 salt
1 t vanilla
1/4 t almond extract
1 T tapioca starch

Optional: Walnuts and cacao nibs

Mix together the water, chocolates, the sugar and the tapioca. Heat until chocolate and sugar have melted, and the mixture has thickened a bit from the tapioca. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and stir until smooth, ideally do this in a blender.

Cool, and then prepare in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Add in cacao nibs or walnuts toward the end, if desired.

Khoresh Bademjan.. Or "eggplant goes to Persia."

2008-11-05T07:27:00.001-08:00

P1030120
Originally uploaded by vapidchick

So I like eggplant in concept, really. It is an anutritional food... low in calories, fat, protein, just about everything. But for some reason I just haven't integrated it into my internal recipe book, yet. However, the CSA plied me with it repeatedly this summer and I had no idea what I was to do with it. I asked the son of a proud Iranian immigrant then-boyfriend if he could provide me some Persian recipes that used it... which he did. One was for khoresh bademjan, the other was for eggs n' eggplant. You can guess why I may have chose to work with the KB.

The original recipe he gave me called for lamb... unfortunately I have yet to figure out what are some good "associative" lamb flavors... aka "things you use to recreate the qualities of lamb." I substituted a "field roast" sausage link, or two, that I had kicking around my fridge. The second time I made it, I used some blue potatoes I had from the CSA. I feel like any potato would work, though, even sweet. I will say that using potatoes makes this the nightshade-y dish possible, If only i could integrate bell peppers and spinach into it, which I bet I could.

This recipe is really just an idea. I quickly learned that any proportion of tomatoes/eggplant works, and it is a great way to use up ones you have.

Anyway... the recipe!

Khoresh Bademjan

Serves 4-6

1 oven-ready cooking pot (like 'Les Cruset'), cast iron frying pan, etc.

1 cup of lamb-like "meat" replacer
1 pound eggplant -- sliced into 1/2 slices
2 tablespoons salt
1 onion -- diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
water -- as needed
salt and pepper
1/2 -1 teaspoon cinnamon (I like cinnamon, k?!)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tomato -- sliced thin
4 cloves garlic -- minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint

Preheat oven to 450.

In your oven ready dish, cook onion and 2 cloves of garlic in olive oil until golden brown. Add meat-replacer and brown a bit (if it browns). Cover with water and add tomato paste, turmeric, cinnamon and nutmeg. Let simmer until 'meat' is cooked and has absorbed the flavors.

Now place a layer of eggplant over the 'meat' and then layer that with tomato slices. Continue until you run out of substances. Add salt and pepper if desired. Add more water until you can push down on the layers and see it. Cover and simmer until eggplant and tomato are tender, about 10 minutes. Now, place it in the oven. You can let it cook covered or uncovered, depending on the moisture levels. I let it bubble for awhile, until it looks like the eggplant (skins and all) is melting and all recognizable structure has broken down. Half an hour, maybe?

I then let it set for a bit, but it can be eaten right away. This dish makes a fantastic left-over. The photo is of the pre-oven'ed dish... I find it pleasantly surreal.

The mint and garlic can be sauteed in olive oil and served atop for a lovely treat, or you can leave them out.

Food blogging, recipes, et al.

2008-10-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hrm, I have several recipes written up... I just need to upload the photos, and attach them to the entries. In the meantime, I may try to keep a log of what I have been making/eating, my thoughts on it (were it a recipe), etc. So here is a quickie: Heidi's chopped miso salad. Verdict? Would not make again. I found the flavor pleasing (I also tossed in a garlic clove), but it wasn't anything particularly kismetic or what-not. I was literal when I say quickie.

Iranian Shotgun Wedding Cookies

2008-08-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

So, as mentioned before, I am on a quest to clear out my pantry and fridge of things I have had sitting around. This can be a little difficult because I have quite a queue of recipes I would like to try, ones that often don't involve things I have already... which leads me to get more things. Still, I am being good. Most recent example was getting rid of that half-bag of pistachios I had for who knows how long... and some orange lentils. I managed to do it in one fell swoop, too! I even managed to finish one of the four boxes of corn starch we have kicking around. All in the same recipe!

How is that even possible? Like watching a square peg go into a round hole, I really couldn't tell you. I just know it happened, by my hands, even.

Seriously, though. I would like to say you all know what Mexican Wedding Cookies (MWCs) are, but apparently all but two people I have asked out of a good twenty or thirty do. MWCs are a buttery, shortbread like cookie rolled around in powdered sugar before, and after, baking. They have a delectable crumble and roll around in your mouth. Most centering is the aromatic toasted pecans that are finely ground and mixed into the butter-flour base.

What is the problem with that? Absotively nothing. They are wonderful. Actually, there is a problem, for me. It is easy to find a use for pecans, white flour, and butter (substitute). So I have no use for such a recipe, right now. Yet, I absolutely must bake, or else I will asplode. So, I have been fingering through a book of desserts, and everything I have veganized from it so far has been wonderful. As I was looking through it, I saw a recipe for the MWCs and some how I realized that I could make those, except make something totally different... Iranian Shotgun Wedding Cookies.

Rosewater, lentils, pistachios... that was what I had in my holster, and that is what I was gunna use. And those are most certainly components one finds in Persian dishes. The cookies couldn't well be called bastard cookies, as I fathered them my self with MWCs. I felt calling the quick arrangement of necessity between me n' MWCs could be called a shotgun marriage with some accuracy. They turned out pretty spectacular, and entirely addictive on the first batch. So unto the recipe...

Iranian Shotgun Wedding Cookies

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (the 1/2 c is for coating)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter substitute (I used earth balance sticks)
2 t pure vanilla extract (this can be swapped for rosewater, or you can use 1 t each)
1 1/2 t water
2 cups finely ground cardamom orange lentils*
1 cup corn starch
1 t salt
1 c finely chopped toasted pistachios (about 1 1/4 cup pistachios)

*I ground about 2 1/2 c lentils, with 1/2 t cardamom seeds, in a high power blender until obliterated. I used 2 cups, and put the rest aside for next batch.

Position racks in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 deg F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, silpats, or other item of choice.

Pour 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar for coating into a shallow bowl or plate and pour the granulated sugar into another shallow bowl or plate. Set them aside until you are ready to coat the dough.

In a large bowl, or stand mixer (if using the stand mixer, use the paddle attachment), cream together the butter sub and 2 cups powdered sugar for about 3 minutes or until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla and/or rosewater, and water, and stir until just combined. Add the powdered lentils, cornstarch, and pistachios and stir for about 3-4 minutes, or until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Now here a light touch is needed. Grab small chunks of the mix, form loose balls. Do not compact the dough, just lightly press them between your palms to form walnut sized balls. Don't worry about them being smooth, you just want them to hold together. When you have made each ball, place it on a sheet and continue until you are out of cookie mix.

When all the balls have been formed, toss a couple into the granulated sugar and roll around until they are coated. Then toss into the powdered sugar and roll around until coated, then placing them on the cookie sheet about 1/2 an inch apart.

Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, or until lightly golden and just beginning to crack. When the cookies are done, place the pans on cooling racks and let them cool off. When they are completely cool, roll them around again in the powdered sugar and put them aside. Refill the powdered sugar as needed. Remember the are fragile, and store best on a plate rather than in a jar.

Enjoy, or hate me. They are way addictive and I make no claims of health in using lentils over flour.

Accch! So backlogged!

2008-08-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

So many recipes I have done to blog about! As you can see from my flickr page, I make a lot more than I post about!

Ideally. before I run off to a Food Not Bombs meeting, I will post the Iranian Shotgun Wedding Cookies recipe!

In the meantime, I am working on a good vegan version of Smitten Kitchen's S'mores Pie. I can the dark chocolate and crust just fine, it is the marshmallow aspect I am having a hard time... I may just use ricemallow stuff, for aesthetics. Assuming I have some strong need to make such a thing. When I do, I will post the veganized recipe I have been using, with photos! For now I am too ashamed of the tasty but aesthetically imperfect product.

I am trying to clear out my fridge and pantry of all I have... or at least a lot of it. That should be fun. I am so not allowed to buy any new sugars (I already have cane sugar, jaggery, molasses, light and dark muscovado sugars, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, corn syrup, maple sugar, and and and! Let us not even get into the flours, or my half dozen or so salts).

Right now Vegan Yum Yum's Smokey Miso Tofu is in my oven. I am digesting some
banana blended with black sesame tahini (the last of my cute lil' jar, yay!), some maca and raw cacao. I also finished off the red miso (I have at least 6 different misos in my fridge and counting) on the aforementioned tofu.

Seriously, I am going to have to inventory my kitchen at some point... all the items I have that so many people think there is just one kind of. IE Cocoa powder. Are you talking about my dutch processed? My powdered hershey's "I don't care that this product is socially irresponsible, I needed chocolate at 2 AM and only Shaws was open" chocolate? My schaffrenberger powdered baker's chocolate? My bulk Valrhona that I use for dusting ? The coarse grounded raw cacao beans? The raw cacao powder?

Oh maybe you were talking about salt? Do you want the coarse sea salt? The finely ground sea salt? The pink himalayan rocks, or the finely ground version? Oh no, you would want to use the black Hawaian salt flakes to press into your chocolates. Oh they are Mexican chocolates? Try the smokey mexican salt. Ah, try sprinkling this apricot sea salt unto your avocado.

ramble ramble ramble.

Time to check the tofu.

However, remember. Mary is not allowed to buy flour, salt, sugar, chocolate, or miso for a loooooong time.

Thai Red Curry and Squash soup

2008-07-19T14:37:00.001-07:00

This was just a quick "What to do with leftovers?" dish. I had some leftover roasted kabocha squash that was in need of using, some leftover coconut milk from god knows what, put both in blender with some water... maybe toss in some almond butter to make it creamier, along with some garlic and red curry powder and voila! I will hopefully have some more real recipes coming up soon, or at least a few more concepts that are easy to follow and good to experiment with.

Erp!

2008-07-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been in absentia! I have been really busy, and also decided I am going to start a vegan catering business, but be more serious/proactive about it! Anyway, there will be updates to come, I promise! If y'all really want I can just share updates on food photography :)

<3 you all,

-Mary

The Best Chocolate Ice Cream ever (srsly, those dairy based bastards don't stand a chance)

2008-06-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take a nice "on the cone" pic of this, or something, but it didn't last long enough for me to :(. Me and 4 friends made short work of it... I guess I'll just have to make it again, clearly. I am currently making a variation of it with light coconut milk, and 2 T cold pressed espresso, and some lecithin to make up for the lost fat (it isn't supposed to be low fat coconut milk, my beloved 小姐 just got it by accident... *result*, goood. One housemate couldn't believe it was vegan).
So this originally started as a simpler recipe on Chowhound, but who can ever leave well enough alone?

Oh yeah, btw. Look what toy I just got (or was gotten for me). Yeah, it is fun. I just got it today.

Soo, on to the recipe...

1 cup water
1 cup sugar (straight up vegan cane)
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Trader Joes bulky bars)
2 cups canned Thai coconut milk

2 T powdered chocolate (I used Valhrona)

2 T coconut butter
(I use Artisana, don't really know if there is competition)
2 T rum
pinch salt
1/2 t vanilla

1. Heat the water and sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved.
2. Coarsely chop the chocolate, add it to the syrup, and whisk until the chocolate has completely melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the powdered chocolate, coconut milk and salt until smooth, then whisk in the vanilla and rum.
3. Chill thoroughly, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

*note* I can't remember if I added 2T of soy lecithin granules, or not. I do not think I did, but I had intended to. So I know if I make this again, and it is not perfect, well. I actually think I may have used a few more changes than noted, but as expressed, I'll have to make it again :D. The recent batch I made used a can of light coconut milk, 2T lecithin, and 2T cold pressed coffee. We were quite happy with it.

Club sandwiches

2008-06-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

So Real Food Daily and Raw Food Real World are two of my fave cook books, and I would love to have made every recipe in the both of them, one of these days. Anyway, these were the club sandwiches from RFD. I will be making them for a startup's catered lunch on Wed, should be fun! Below are some fotos from the manufacturing of them.

Romaine lettuce from our CSA, sauteed tempeh bacon, and (home made) seitan cutlets ready to get fried up. Don't have to worry about cross-contamination here! Its like "Oh no, some panko crumbs got on the cutlets." Uhm, so?

snap, crackle, pop... fryin' up the cutlets.

Happy birthday, Al!

So I wont give the full recipe, but it is sourdough, tempeh bacon, RFD's chicken-style seitan, avocado, romaine lettuce, veganaise, tomatoes... I think that is it.

Black Bean Brownies and Blueberry Pie Ice Cream

2008-06-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

The ice cream is not blueberry, but rather blueberry pie. The blueberries are cooked with the flavorings you find in pies, rather than focusing on the taste of the blueberries alone. This requires two steps (three if you count making your own almond cream), making the 'pie filling,' and making the almond cream base. I think it still needs some work, it is a little chalky. Next time I make it I am going to try one of two things; blending the cooked blueberries and strain them to remove the skins et al. OR I may make the cream base, and just stir in the pie mix rather than blend it in. Also, the base will probably be good for any number of other ice creams, particularly if they are fruit-based. Re: The carrageenan, I am still figuring it out. In the recipe I used carrageenan (or Irish moss) that had been soaked overnight, drained, then stored in the fridge with enough water to cover it. So here is what I made this time...

Blueberry Pie Ice Cream

Pie filling

1 1/2 c fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen. If using fresh, wash and pick over)
1/2 c sugar
1/8 t cinnamon
1 small lemon, juiced + 1 lemon rind
1 T orange juice
heaping 1/8th t powdered valhrona chocolate (any powdered chocolate should work)
pinch nutmeg
pinch clove
pinch salt

Almond Cream
2 C raw almonds (soaked overnight then drained)
3 C water

Cream base:
Liquid from Almond Cream
1 T lecithin
1 T carrageenan
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 C ground chia seeds

Cook the pie ingredients in a small saucepan, over medium heat stir until sugar dissolves, and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for about 5 minutes, remove from heat and let cool down.

To make the almond cream: Blend the almonds and water until the rattling stops, then strain through fine cheesecloth, a nylon nut milk bag, or other.

Mix the almond nutmilk with the rest of the ingredinets, blend until smooth. Let the milk sit for about 10 minutes, blend again, let sit for another 10. This is to allow for the chia seeds to absorb the water.

When the pie mix cools, add to the cream base and blend (or stir in). From there, prepare as you would according to your ice cream mixer directions. I try to get mine as cold as possible, without it freezing, before putting it in my ice cream maker.

Black Bean Brownies

So I had been seeing some interesting recipes, like these black bean brownies, from Baking with Agave Nectar. I figured I would give them a try, only a few problems... the listed recipe includes butter and eggs. Nah gonna fly with vegan baking, mang. Anyway. The first variation I made of these things was far too 'gummy.' I was displeased with it, but my friend really loved their earthy quality. I told him "OK, I'll make you a tray for 10 bucks to cover ingredient costs."
Deal made. Friend has brownies. I have an improved recipe. These brownies are earthy and moist, nice but not decadent. Suggestions are welcome, but all in all the recipe is solid.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9x13 inch pan.

Wet ingredients:
2 c cooked, drained blackbeans
1 c water
1/4 c instant coffee
1/4 c psyllium
2 T lecithin

1 C canola oil
4 oz baker's choco

Dry ingredients:
1 C sugar
1/4 c powdered chocolate
1 t carob powder
1/4 t salt
1/4 c Bob's red mill egg replacer
1/4 t stevia
1 c chopped walnuts

Blend the black beans and waters until smooth. Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, melt the chocolate into the oil. Add the melted chocolate and the rest of the ingredients, mix until consistent.

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until consistent.
Pour into greased 13x9 inch pan, bake for 30-40 minutes, until brownies are set. Take down, let cool overnight in the refrigerator or freezer. I prefer them frozen, but hey, your call.

Thai Kitchen Sink Soup

2008-06-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago I went over "concept recipes." This is the soup version of that. Honestly I made this too long ago to really remember what I put in, but there will be an honest guess. The vegetable items in this soup are as much whatever I have kicking around my fridge that I want to use up as the broth is.

To make the liquid part of the soup I look through my fridge for one or two things to make it 'rich,' like creamy, and one or two things to give it flavor.

For the vegetables I see what I have, shred, dice and chop.

Rich items could include: nut butters, particularly almond and cashew (but also peanut, macadamia nut, tahini, etc.), coconut milk, and/or mushrooms. I usually do this when I have a near-empty jar of some sort of butter I need to use up, a half can of coconut milk, potatoes, squash, etc.

Flavor items are usually some sort of paste made for soup or sauces: Miso (sweet, dark red, whatever I have), tom yum, thai curries (like red, masaman, yellow), garam masala, chunky chat, indian curry powder, etc.

I usually toss in a couple cloves of garlic, ginger, a vegetable stock cube (or better than bullion paste), salt, braggs liquid aminos, sesame oil, soaked kombu (kelp), red pepper flakes, black pepper, other spices... all depends on the flavor I am going for.

All of this goes into the blender, with some water, and I blend until smooth. Some combos work better than others, IE almond butter + thai curries work very well. Miso + kombu + sesame oil = good. I then pour it into a sauce pan on the stove and heat it up.

Meanwhile, I prepare whatever vegetables I have into the number of bowls I am using. In this case I shredded some carrots and daikon, ripped up some basil leaves, and slices some scallions and put them in a bowl. Other good veggies included shredded zucchini, roasted root vegetables, thinly sliced onions, spinach, carrots... You can also toss leftover cooked grains/beans in as well, such as rice, quinoa, chickpeas, etc.

When the soup is ready (re: boiling), I pour it over the ingredients, into the bowl. The vegetables are blanched, and keep their flavor/are not over-cooked. The infusion of basil adds a great kick when cooking more thai-style soups.

Tacos!

2008-06-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Another item crossed off the Raw Food, Real World "to-make" list. I did not include the bell pepper in the tortillas (they are either expensive, pesticide ridden, or both... and usually shipped from across the globe).

For the spicy "beans," I used a mix of pumpkin seeds in addition to the sunflower seeds. Think that is about it. The results were great, and the omnivores scarfed them all down.

For kicks, below, the tortilla mix spread out on the teflex sheet, about to go into the dehydrator (and the soaked seeds off to the side).

Miscy

2008-06-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

It is pantry-cleaning time, so using various things I have more than enough of. So miscellaneous things I've been making...

A vegan version of the black bean brownies. Good frozen, don't love otherwise (a bit gummy, not so rich). I may post my recipe notes. We will see.

I also tossed together some chicken-style seitan fajitas, with the extra soaked/cooked beans... those got refried. I had some home made seitan (the real food daily recipe) kicking around that had to get used up, along with some brown rice and lovely purple forbidden rice. Also tossed together some guacamole.

My friend recently gave me his juicer (until he gets a bigger kitchen). This is going to be fun...

Flourless Sunbutter Cookies

2008-06-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

So I had been seeing recipes abound for flourless peanut butter cookies, and sunflower seed butter alternatives. I had been curious to try them for awhile. I also had a jar of sunflower seed butter that has been following me around for several years now (cough cough).

1 cup sunflower butter, stirred
1/4 cup muscadova light brown sugar, packed
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg replacement (I used Bob's Red Mill.. crap, does that have gluten in it?)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 t molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
A small pinch of sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the sunflower butter, sugars and egg-substitute in a mixing bowl until consistency is reached. Add vanilla, molasses, baking soda and salt; mix well with a wooden spoon.

I chilled my dough at this point, but I don't think that is necessary. Pull off pieces of the dough with oiled hands and roll into 1-inch balls. Place the balls on a foil-lined or parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a fork, press the balls slightly to make a criss-cross pattern- making the cookies roughly 1 1/2 inches. I actually like making diamonds to squares, but to each their own.

Place the baking sheet into the center of a preheated oven and bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until they are golden and set. They will be soft until they cool. Cool the sheet on a rack for a minute or two before removing the cookies to a cooling rack.

I made about 24 little cookies, but you can make 12 more normal sized cookies.

Personal feelings: I really liked these cookies and found them quite addictive, the omnivore of the house didn't think they were up to snuff with other cookies I have made. I think they were different, but good. Try and decide for your self.

Espresso Chocolate(x2) Chip Cookies

2008-06-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

Oh how happy I am with these cookies! They are everything I could want. Complex, quality, robust, yet tender and well rounded. Oh, did I mention they are also quite rich?

Anyway... The first batch of these I made was a bust... Between veganizing recipes and trying them for the first time, I have my work cut out for me. The first ones I made did not have enough flour in them. I had my suspicions confirmed when the batter fanned out over the pan when I put them in the oven. I added more flour to the rest of the mix and sure the cookies were good but they had been over-beaten at that point. They were a very intriguing almost-shortbread style cookie... good but, hrh. The 2nd time I made them I added more flavor and voila!

So here is the recipe below. It includes cold pressed coffee, you could use regular espresso or instant coffee instead. I am just putting down what I used.

1 c 365 organic all purpose baking flour
3/4 c cocoa powder (I used part Hershey's, part Valrhona I think)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 baking powder
1 T Bob's Red Mill egg replacer
1 T espresso beans, finely ground
8 oz by weight butter substitute (about 1 cup, I really need to keep to volume measurements).
3/4 c dark brown sugar (I used muscadova)
2 T light brown sugar (again muscadova)
1/2 c + 1 T granulated sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t kosher salt
2 T cold press coffee
2 T water
1 1/3 c (vegan) chocolate chips of choice

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, ground espresso, and egg replacer. In the mixer bowl (or large bowl if doing this by hand) cream together butter replacement and sugars. Don't over-mix. Just get consistent. Make sure to scrape down sides if not hand mixing. The mix should still be cool.

Add the liquid ingredients and salt, stirring until just combined. Add the sifted ingredients in two parts, stirring gently until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix just enough to distribute. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to overnight.

When the dough has chilled, position racks in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350. Line sheets with parchment paper or use silpats. Get dough from fridge, and scoop up 1 inch balls (or whatever size you like, really). Set about 2 inches apart (or more for larger cookies). Bake for about 10 minutes, a little longer if you want them crisper. I baked them so they still looked a little 'raw' in the middle. When done, take out of oven, and transfer to a rack to cool off.

I liked these best still warm, but they keep pretty well for a couple of days after, in an air tight container.

Raw Tabouli

2008-06-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ach, you absolutely must click through to see this in big beautiful form. Click on the image, click on "all sizes" above the photo, then click on "large' or "original." Anyway, this is a great "I don't like measuring things" recipe.

1-2 large heads of flat leaf parsley
1 bunch mint (optional)
1 bunch of scallions
1 small onion
Couple heads garlic (optional, as much/little as you like)
A tomato, or bunch of cherry tomatoes

Hemp seeds
1 lemon (or two)
Olive oil, or hemp oil
Salt

Clean and chop the first six ingredients, toss into a bowl. Drizzle with oil (about a quarter of a cup). Juice the lemon(s), and add to the mix. Sprinkle with salt, toss on a handful of hemp seeds (as much or as little as you'd like). Toss until well coated. Enjoy!

Crazy Good (or rather nutty) Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2008-05-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

These are just... really really good. I don't often say anything I make is "really really good ," certainly not on the first try. It is often that I will say "This is pretty good, but next time I would..." Not these. Ok, next time I may use 4 ounces butter by volume, rather than weight.

4 oz by weight butter substitute of choice, softened but still cool (I used Soy Garden. The non vegan recipe said 8 T, I would go with that next time I did it)

3/4 c dark brown sugar (I used muscadova , tastes like molasses)
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg replacement (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt (the margarine usually has salt in it already)
1 1/4 c all purpose flour (I used 365 "all purpose baking flour")
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
8 oz dark chocolate, either chips or I just used some Valhrona and Trader Joes big bar chocolate I had lying around and chopped it up.
3/4 c chopped walnuts (optional)

In a large bowl, cream together fat and sugar until consistent (don't overmix. Sugar granules are just fine). You can do this by hand or via electric mixer. Add the egg substitute, vanilla, salt, and just combine.

In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Then sift into bowl with the fat/sugar mix. Stir until just combined, then add chocolate/nuts. Stir until consistent. Should look like the picture below. It was almost kind of dry/crumbly (I strongly recommend you click through for the close up).

Cover bowl with saran wrap, place in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

When ready, pre-heat oven to 350, and position rack in the middle of the oven.

Meanwhile, take out a baking sheet (no sides), line it with parchment, use a silpat sheet, or grease it. Lay out the cookies using a table spoon, a small scoop, or just pick out bits with your hand, and drop them on the sheet. Don't worry if the mix seems crumbly, just make sure the dough is in a bit of a pile. Don't over-handle.

Bake for about 13 minutes if you like them not too crunchy, 17 if you do like them crunchier (I only baked them for 13). The sugar begins to carmelize so they still have a certain crispness to them.

These cookies really hold their own at room temp/the day after. Good luck!

Coconut Chocolate Sherbert

2008-05-13T23:36:00.000-07:00

I am currently churning this in my lame Cuisinart ice cream maker. Will report back soon.

This is def on the menu tomorrow, shaved fennel with toasted pistachios. I have a head of fennel, and some pistachios that are aching to be used. Though I am going to toast the pistachios my self.

Pizza party

2008-05-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

So I am in a phase where I am "beyond recipes" for much of my cooking. I come home, I want comfort ASAP. So I do a quick evaluation of what I have, what needs to get used up the most before it goes bad, etc.
I also do a lot of work with 'concepts.' I describe concepts like the "concept" of miso soup; a lighter fare that is earthy and centering, light or heavy depending on which miso I use and how many vegetables I have. They are hardly loyal to tradition, but certainly echo it. I often fuse flavors and international concepts.
The concept of miso soup last night, for example, meant that I boil some water. While the water is boiling, I see what I have in the fridge and flavors I have in the pantry. So I end up chopping up some scallions, julienning some carrots and daikon, slicing a garlic clove and a couple of mushrooms. Split those ingredients into two bowls, along with some red pepper flakes, some liquid aminos, a bit of fruit kimchee fruit vinegar (the sour juice left over from the fruit kimchee I made. I used it instead of brown rice vinegar), a couple of grains of salt. I pour over the hot water and let it flash cook the vegetables, use the rest of the water for some hojicha tea, and set out a plate of home made (regular) kimchee.
What about the miso? Hell, what about the pizza? Isn't this a pizza post? Ok to wrap up about the miso. Add the hot water, taste it, determine how much 'substance' it needs, and then you add a heaping (or not so heaping) tablespoon of miso. In this case I used a 3 year barley miso. I also added the rest of my tom yum paste and coconut milk, to give it a creamier, more tropical aspect.

Anyway, back to the pizza. This was about introducing what 'concepts' are. So the pizza above is inspired by Veggie Planet's "Vegan Oddlot" pizza. In all fairness, I did buy some ingredients for this one. I already had the crust, though, and had to use it. Lets lay out the ingredients for this one.

Some or all of the following:
Olive oil
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Canned artichoke
Olives
Spinach (fresh or frozen. If frozen, thaw and squeeze the extra water out)
Garlic
Fresh basil
Roasted red peppers
San Marzono tomatoes (those are great! Notice the can in the background)
Mushrooms

Mashed tofu topping:
Tofu (drained)
Tahini
Sriracha hot sauce (or sambal olek, or any other hot sauce)
Black pepper
Garlic

Pizza dough or pre-made crust (or pita, tortillas, or other flat breads in lieu of dough).

Pre-heat oven to as hot as it will go (500 or so, for me). Note. I made this with a pizza stone. I don't know how raw dough will cook on metal. However you probably want it around 350-400 if you are doing it on a metal sheet.

This is a great activity to do with friends! So I often have one friend roll out the dough, while having other friends fetch what I need, or are prepping ingredients. Meanwhile, I prep the mashed tofu topping. In a bowl I smash together some tofu, tahini, a dash of sriracha, some salt, black pepper, and a mashed garlic cube or two. I don't have volume because it all depends on how much I have, and I measure based on eye. I would say use about 1 T tahini per half cup of tofu, though. Keep tasting it, though.
Set the mix aside, and get to assembling the pizza! I brush over some olive oil (sometimes I blend olive oil and garlic together for the topping). Then go nuts assembling all the ingredients however you like.
One note. I would layer the basil on the bottom or else it turns brown in the oven, if exposed.

I bake mine for about 12-15 minutes before I even check on it, then I see when the crust is starting to lift away from the stone as a good time to take it out.

I will surely post other pizza 'concepts' in the future. My friend just brought me some ramp (wild onions) from West Virginia!

Many miles for a cherimoya

2008-04-24T15:47:00.001-07:00

So I decided I really needed a cherimoya. It is a delicious sort of melt-in-your-mouth-peachy-banana-berry fruit with overtones of chocolate. I found them about a week or two ago, and loved them. So after my first cherimoya, I decided I wanted another. It took about 25 miles of biking, and much research, but I got it. I first went to the Alewife Whole Foods, which is about 4 miles away, and they were out! Then I went 8 miles to Russos, a food importer, and they were just closed! Then I went back to Russos the next day, and they didn't have them that time. So I found lil' Armenia, in Watertown, which I am happy for. They did indeed have them, and some other good stuff. I will have to explore further. For now, I am happy/sated.

I should start updating more and more regularly. I've been uploading the photos, it is just a matter of sitting down and organizing my recipes, notations, etc.

Arugala Salad with Shaved Pears, Cherries, and Meyer Lemo

2008-04-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

This is a simple one to throw together. Wash and shred some arugala, shave some pears, toss some cherries on top. For the dressing just blend peeled meyer lemons with some olive oil, salt, a bit of honey or agave to taste... and voila. If you have some lying around, spiced walnuts or pumpkin seeds would add a nice touch to the dish.

Raw Raspberry Cheesecake

2008-04-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

So Alison, my house mate, was looking through one of my vegan cookbooks and saw a raspberry cheesecake. It was a typical cooked, tofu based sort of affair. I'm not a big fan of soy, and try to avoid it, and told her I could totally make her a better, raw version. I had some raspberries in the freezer, some cashews I had been soaking the day before for a faux sour cream, or whipped topping, or something (I forget). So I threw this together. It was loved by all. It would be good with a whipped cream topping, I think... Mayhaps next time.

Here is the recipe:

Crust:
1 c hazelnut meal (leftover from hazelnut mylk)
1/4 c almond meal
dash of vanilla
dash of salt
dash of cinnamon
Enough agave nectar to keep mix sticking together, or until desired sweetness is reached

Filling:
1 c soaked cashews
1/3rd c nut mylk of choice (I think I used hemp seed)
1/3 c lemon juice
1/2 c frozen 0r fresh raspberries
1/4 c agave nectar, or enough stevia to reach desired sweetness
1 t vanilla extract
dash of salt
1 T lecithin
1/4 c unscented coconut butter

Crust:
In a standing bowl mixer or food processor, mix together crust ingredients until they reach the consistency desired. Feel free to leave it 'dry' and crumbly, the cheesecake filling will hold it together. Press into an 8x8 brownie pan, or something of same surface area/depth.

Filling: Blend all the ingredients together, except lecithin and coconut butter. Add lecithin and coconut butter and blend until smooth. Pour into brownie pan, pie pan, whichever. Refrigerate until set.

Notes: Honestly, I didn't measure the raspberries. I just added to taste. Also a personal option, I added some slices of red beets for color. This is optional, but I like it, personally.

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes with Spiced Frosting

2008-04-13T19:10:00.001-07:00

Recipe coming up ASAP, as soon as I review my notes. But wow, they taste even better than they look. Def't make sure to click thru for full size.

Delicious [baking] Mistakes

2008-04-09T17:49:00.001-07:00

So, there are several vegan baking projects I am trying to perfect. By 'perfect,' I mean my version exceeds pretty much any other version I have had, vegan or otherwise, in texture, flavor, etc. I make it so the product is indistinguishable as vegan, or in any way lacking. So far I perfected spiced ginger-molasses cookies, and almond cookies. Much as I love raw foods, and many of them far exceed their non-raw counter parts, many are fundamentally different, same with a lot of vegan goods. So it is time to eliminate the justification for any excuse of "just not as good," "different," etc.

Understandably, this takes some trial and error. Right now I am working on brownies. They taste amazing, but they always end up getting 'fried,' re: oil bubbles up along the sides, even when I use far less than recommended, etc. I am left with a sort of fudgey, almost candied product. It is completely irresistible and I am not doing my body any favors by having these delicious piles of dense chocolate ooze lying around, but it isn't a brownie, not yet.

Still. One of the many fun things, what to do with all that delicious failure?

Mmm... Whipped up some cashew-coconut cream (later to be used as a cardamom ice cream base), sliced some bananas and frozen strawberries, sprinkled with some walnuts, and voila! Brownie banana split sundae! Tres decadent! Totes delish (sorry had to short-hand).

As for the brownie 'frying' itself, this is a pic of what I am talking about...

Still tooling what to do... different egg substitute, perhaps (I want to avoid ones like banana that have their own distinct flavor. I am trying to perfect the dense, rich, pure chocolate square), even less oil than I am already using (I think I am using half recommended right now), more white flour (boo). Anyway... the quest continues.

Squash Linguine with King Oyster Mushrooms and Dried Cherry Tomatoes

2008-04-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

The title pretty much says it all. I decided I need to make virtually everything in Raw Food/Real World... and of course document it. Next post will be a list of what I need to make, what I have made, and a bit of commentary on it. Anyway... today was... delish. So this was the titular recipe. Included below are some of the steps. The recipe can be found in the book, it is relatively simple, though.

First, you make some linguine noodles from goldbar squash, using a peeler, mandolin, whatever your weapon of choice is. Lightly alt them and let them sit in a colander, while you prep everything else.

Toss the mushrooms with some nama shoyu, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a bit of italian spices. Let marinade. Toss cherry tomato halves with a bit of olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Dehydrate (sorry, I don't want to give the recipe away here, get the book!).

Raw Food Real World: To Do List

2008-04-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

So here is an index of the recipes I've tried and have to try from Raw Food, Real World, along with a brief commentary, some may be left out (like Bunny Spice, coz I don't have a juicer).

Vanilla Brazil Nut Milk (Strawberry milk variety)
Cinnamon Maple Pecan Milk (wouldn't rush to make again)
Creamy Macadamia Milk
Pineapple Star Anise Lassi
Pina Colada
Creamy Coconut Shake
Avocolada
Enzyme Boost
Blue Sunset
Bee Protein (yummy)
Fig and Grape Cleasning Shake (would love to try but organic grapes and fresh figs are hard to find)
Greenmarket Salad
Arugala Salad
Sea Vegetable Salad (Would def't make again, though maybe add a little more flavor to the dressing)
Red Grapefruit, Avocado, and Fennel Salad (this is likely my favorite salad recipe to make; simple, rewarding, wonderful)
Our Favorite Filling Salad
Double Mango and Thai Basil Salad with Red Chile and Star Anise
Warm Cherry Tomato and Sweet Corn Salad (Not bad, not phenomenal)
Quinoa Tabouli (The quinoa was a bit firm. Maybe let it sprout a bit longer? Will likely try hemp seeds instead, next time, or cooked quinoa)
Quinoa and Grape Salad
Pineapple-Cucumber Gazpacho (I think I am making this tomorrow...)
Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho
Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup with Lime
Celeriac and Green Apple Soup
Spicy Thai Vegetable Wraps (loved @the PF&W restaurant, yet to make)
Tomato Tartare (oh for tomatoes to be in season, again)
Shitake, Avocado, and Pickled Ginger Sushi Rolls (Good, not sure if they are worth the labor, or more a raw novelty with the jicama 'rice')
Summer Rolls with Green Papaya
Lobster Mushroom and Fava Bean Tarts
King Oyster Mushroom and Dried Cherry Tomato Fettuccini (Simple, not impressive, but easy and quick, dehydration time aside. I prepped everything the night before, put it in the dehydrator, and enjoyed for breakfast. Would make a great portable lunch 'salad')
Zucchini and Green Zebra Tomato Lasagne (I have made Ani Phyo's lasagne, loved it, but will still try this)
Red Beet Ravioli (Was not too impressed with the results of what I tried)
Pumpkin and Squash Couscous
Soft Corn Tortillas (Delish, semi labor intensive, but totally good. Housemates loved them)
Asparagus and Porchini Ravioli
White Corn Tamales
Green Curry Coconut Noodles
Cauliflower Samosas (Delish. Made the 'wrap's with flax meal as I didn't have several thai young coconuts at the time. The sauce is particularly impressive)
Japanese Eggplant-Filled Scallion Pancake
Flatbread Pizza
Golden Squash Pasta (I will never make this unless a generous soul donates truffles to moi :( )
Spicy Peanut Coconut Noodles
Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart (made the crust, crust is pretty divine)
Pineapple Carpaccio
Chocolate Pudding
Sour Cherry Tart
Lime Mousse Tart
Pumpkin Tart
Lavender Ice Cream and Blueberry Sundae
Vanilla Ice Cream
Concord Grape Sorbet
Macaroons (Made the chocolate variety, tres decadent!)
Cherry Pistachio Biscotti
Almond Butter Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Freezer Fudge (quick, tasty, especially with course Himalayan sea salt)
Apple Crepes
Spiced Oatmeal with Dried Figs
Cranberry Maple Granola
Maple Cinnamon Buckwheat Crispies
Crunchy Honey Nut Butter and Berry Jam Sandwich
Cinnamon Date French Toast
Sun-Dried Tomato and Cashew Romesco
Pine Nut Parmesan
Macadamia Cheese
Fluffy Macadamia Feta
Candied Pumpkin Seeds (yum, added some cayenne, a bit of extra ginger, and a dash of powdered stevia)
Spicy Chili Lime Almonds
Spiced Brazil Nuts
Maple-Sugared Slivered Almonds
Candied Walnuts
Walnut Hemp Crackers
Sun-Dried Tomato and Herb Crackers
Jalapeno Corn Tortilla Chips
Spicy Flax and Herb Crackers
Mango Chutney
Green Olive Tapenade
Tart Sour Gream

Ok I am going to skip the drinks, mayhaps if I make one and it is an absolute must-try, I will push it here, but till then... I need to find a way to get a thai coconut tree growing outside my yard, as that is one of the bigger limitations on trying all these recipes.

New camera!

2008-03-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

I got a camera again, now time to get back in practice! I have some photogs I need to upload, and this blog is going to be a lot more focused on raw foods, now!

<3!

Pretty Much Raw Tootsie Rolls

2007-07-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

I'm alive, and well fed! I have a whole back-log of photos I need to post, with recipes.

I made this by accident, it's quick, easy, and tastes a LOT like tootsie rolls (but better, IMHO)

1/2 c pitted dates
1/3 c coconut milk
1 c raw almond butter
1/2 c carob powder (I used roasted, it's what I had around)
2 T raw cocoa powder
1 T vanilla paste
1/2 t salt, or to taste

Blend the dates and coconut milk in a food processor, until you get a fairly smooth paste.

Add the rest of the ingredients, blend until you get a fairly gummy but solid mix. I put my mix into a loaf pan, but you can also shape it into truffles, rolled in carob powder, make it into little tootsie roll logs, etc. Tell me how it turns out!

I love filler, baby

2007-05-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to explore raw and living foods. I just picked up I Am Grateful, the Cafe Gratitude raw food cookbook. So far it seems awesome. I mean c'mon, "I Am Heavenly; Mudslide Pie," "I Am Devoted; Live Coconut Cream Pie," or "I Am Adoring; Tiramisu," anyone? I also just picked Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, which is the book that started my interest in raw foods.

I am having a lot of fun with Ani's book, and have started drinking home made nut mylks (as she calls them, to clearly differentiate them from dairy based milks) daily. I feel great, overall. It is totally conducive to easy living and quick foods that wont make you feel bad.

Last night I was hungry but did not have the energy to invest into cooking something. Inspired by the raw food books and the ease of having your food pre-digested by a blender, I threw together some frozen banana chunks, brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, hulled hemp seeds (all three nuts/seeds were raw/unsalted), carob powder, mate powder, and vanilla extract.

Push down, blend, suck down.

Man I felt better.

I used the pumpkin seeds and mate as (frank female problems warning) the first day of my period was kind of bumming me, and those are both supposed to be hormonal balancing agents. Today I feel completely fine and unburdened, did some pilates first thing in the morning without a hitch!

munch munch munch (snack sammich)

2007-05-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

I'd apologize for the lack of updates but nooo one is reading this. I will be posting more once I process a few photos and decide which recipes to begin posting.

I will try to be good about posting what I am eating, for my own logging sake or inspiration in simplicity. So before I go to the Poconos for Memorial Day Weekend, I am trying to clean out the fridge rather than make more food.

Tonight's dinner was stupendous, and it only took 3 minutes!

I tossed a piece of sprouted grain bread in the toaster, I mashed up half of a haas avocado in the skin, spread it on the toast, layered it with the rest of my adaptation of Vegan with a Vengance's chorizo, and dotted the top with tofutti's "better than sour cream."

All done, all tasty, all eaten up yum. Seriously you could have told me my cat was found horribly mutilated and I wouldn't have cared, while I was eating this open faced delight.

Spring is Undeniably Here! Borscht

2007-05-14T15:09:00.001-07:00

ooh pretty... want to touch!
2 cups water
2 cups strong vegetable broth (I use Better than Bullion for my stock)
6 Medium peets, trimmed, peeled, cut into chunks
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 red, yellow, or orange pepper, seeded, deveined, and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 bay leaves
1 dash dried dill
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 T olive oil
Lemon Juice, Stevia, Salt, and Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Chopped cilantro
Vegan sour cream, for garnish (I linked a recipe for convienience, use whichever you prefer, including commercial)

1. Combine water, broth, beets, tomatoes, pepper, bay leaf, dill, and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook, partially covered, for about 35 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat, discard bay leaves, set aside to cool. If it is cooler outside than inside, I often leave the soup base 'outside,' it cools faster and saves more energy than putting it in the refrigerator.
2. While base is cooling, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the onions, scallions, and garlic and cook until tender. Remove from heat, add to soup base, along with parsley.
3. Remove about one cup of liquid from the soup base (more if it seems really 'watery'), add orange juice. Puree with a blender bowl, food processor, or immersion blender in batches if necessary (I used an immersion blender). If soup is very thick, add more of the beet juice liquid, continue to add liquid until you get desired thickness (thinness?).

Let base cool all the way. Here is where you custom tailor it, with the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and stevia. Some people like their borscht tart, some sweet, some both, etc. etc. When you are satisfied with the flavor, let cool.

Spoon into white bowls, and garnish with sour cream, sprinkle with cilantro.

The rest of the beet broth you can save in the fridge for food or clothing dye, a morning drink, use in another soup, fake blood ;), etc. etc.

Enjoy! And I'm not going to pretend I'm not totally proud of the photo up above.

Amaranth Stuffed Kabocha Squash

2007-05-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick n' easy.

1 2-3 pound Kombucha squash
1 cup amaranth
6 green onions, washed and diced
2 T Braggs Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
2 1/2 cups water

Fill a sauce pan up about one inch. Bring water to a boil.

Cut the top off the squash off, remove seeds, guts, etc. Place top and squash in sauce pan. Turn water to simmer. Cover, let steam cook for 30 minutes until soft but not mushy. Remove from heat and drain water when done.

In the meantime, wash the amaranth in a fine sieve and drain well (I use my sprouting bag for this). Preheat a frying pan on medium high, and gently brown the amaranth (takes about 5 minutes). Remove from heat. In another sauce pan, bring the 2 1/2 cups water to a boil, add Braggs, stir, add amaranth, cover, turn to a simmer, and let cook until the water is absorbed (about 30 minutes). If the water is still not absorbed, turn up the heat a little and continue to stir until it is a bit of a thick porridge. Add the diced green onions, and pour the mixture into the squash. Serve warm and fresh, by cutting it into eight wedges, or refrigerate and serve the next day. This is a great easy, quick, simple healthy whole food side dish.

Peanut Butter Banana Pudding Espresso (and the kitchen sink!) Brownies

2007-05-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

This recipe is sorta-kinda-a-little inspired by Vegan with a Vengeance's "banana split pudding brownies." It is about as true to/inspired by the recipe as made-for-T.V. movies are true to/inspired by actual events that happened at some point in this world. I would go so far as to say I only ganked the recipe for the banana pudding topping, everything is is completely different (as completely different as any chocolate+sugar+flour+stabilizers basis can be). It turned out quite well. I skewed for a healthier recipe, because of that it is still complete decadent and not lacking in any way, but is cakier rather than fudgier because there is no added fat.

Peanut Butter Banana Pudding Espresso (and the Kitchen Sink!) Brownies

Wet ingredients
4 ounces baker's choclate squares
4 mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar (use 1 cup if not using the stevia recommended below)
1 T vanilla extract
3 dropper fulls of liquid stevia or enough to achieve desired sweetness (I used chocolate flavor ed stevia but you can also add a dash of chocolate extract)
1 t instant espresso

Dry ingredients
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

For the topping layer:

3 mashed very ripe bananas
2 T sugar
1/4 c vanilla almond milk
1 t vanilla extract
1 T arrowroot powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease a 9x13 baking pan.

To make the brownie batter:
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. While the chocolate melts, mix the rest of the "wet" ingredients, until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and continue to mix.

Combine the dry ingredients and add to the banana mixer until pretty consistent, mixture will be a little gummy. Don't worry :). Spread the mixture out in the baking dish.

In a clean bowl mix the topping layer ingredients together, and spread atop the brownie mix.

Bake for 30 minutes, remove from oven, let cool. Cut up and can serve with diced up bananas and cashew cream or other non-dairy whipped or delish topping, or just enjoy plain!

Kinda Sorta Sour Pickles

2007-05-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing I love doing, it's learning how to make new foods. Master? Not really, but have a capacity to make in at least a basic form, yes! So I figured I would give pickles a try, after having learned how to make sauerkraut.

O.K. actually that is not what happened. I just happened to pick up some pickling cucumbers (along with other vegetables) for a buck twenty-nine on clearance. Still, I can't let them go to waste, can I? Pickles are no where near as daunting or intensive as sauerkraut, as I found out. Say hello to a recipe I'll certainly be doing again...

Kinda Sorta Sour Pickles

1 m onion, thinly sliced
2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 cup water
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon pickling spice
4 whole garlic cloves, smashed

Combine the onion and cucumber slices in a clean jar or container of choice.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4 full minutes to wake up the spice flavors.

Slowly and gently pour the pickling liquid over the onion and cucumber slices, filling to the top of the jar.

Cool to room temperature. Top off the pickles with any remaining pickling liquid and refrigerate.

Note, the smashed garlic will take on a great bright blue-green shade due to chemical interactions. You can add the garlic at the pouring stage to minimize this, I believe, but I prefer it colored.

The pickles will last awhile. I end up tossing them with whatever sandwich, wrap, roll up, or whatever else I make for the next couple of days... for example...

This is pretty standard "quick n' easy" sandwich for me, fresh tomato, avocado, pickles, some flavored tempeh or tofu, topped with whatever home made cheese I have lying around and tossed under a broiler for a couple of minutes. Always satisfying.

Semi-Italian Style Stuffed Green Peppers

2007-05-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

I happened to leave my camera at Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar, anyway... I will be able to do pictures soon, intermittently. But until I get my own, sadly my food photog quality may be lessened.

Today's dinner, I just threw some leftovers together. I cut a green pepper in half and scooped it out. I sauteed up some diced shitake mushrooms in a little olive oil, with salt, put them aside. I then sauteed up some diced tomatoes in the same mix, and then tossed the tomatoes and mushrooms together and placed them in the peppers. I then covered this mix with some leftover tofu ricotta I had lying around, tossed them in a 425 degree oven and set to bake for 30 minutes.

Here's hoping all turns out well (they're baking right now, eep!)

Whole Grain Grilled Cheese. First "real" entry, before I enter a (food) coma.

2007-05-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

O.k. I am going to toss up a quicky. Statistically speaking, after this post, I will likely never update this blog again... Did you know how many blog titles I had to go through to find this one? Every single taken blog name I tried that was taken had no more than 3 posts, and has not been updated since 2006.

Onto the show!

Whole Grain Grilled Cheese Sandwich Ruby Caraway Sauerkraut

Whole Grain Grilled Cheese

Cashew Cheddar Cheese (recipe below)
Tomatoes
Margarine or cooking oil of your choice
Fresh Tomatoes
Sprouted Grain Bread (I used Sesame Ezekiel, and you can honestly use any kind you want)
Salt and Pepper

Warm up a frying pan on medium to high. Coat with oil. I season my pan with a little salt and pepper, at this point, especially if I am using olive oil. While the pan is heating up, I spread the cheese on one side of the bread, slice and layer the tomatoes, dash with salt. Place on frying pan and remove when golden brown on each side.

I normally cook the sandwich open face, with a cover over the frying pan, and then assemble it when ready.

Cashew Cheddar Cheese
This recipe is courtesy of Ann Gentry's the Real Food Daily cookbook. If I had to keep only one cookbook, it may possibly be this one.

1 1/4 cups raw cashews
1/2 cup nutrirional yeast
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 1/2 cups unsweetened plain soymilk (or other unadulterated milk of choice)
I cup agar flakes (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup yellow miso
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about I lemon)

Using the pulse button, finely grind the cashews in a food processor; don't allow the cashews to turn into a paste. Add the nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, and white pepper. Pulse three more times to blend in the spices.

Combine the soymilk, agar, and oil in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the agar is dissolved. With the food processor running, gradually pour the soymilk mixture through the feed tube and into the cashew mixture. Blend for 2 minutes, or until very smooth and creamy, and then blend in the miso and lemon juice.

For grated or sliced cheese, transfer the cheese to a container, cover, and refrigerate about 4 hours, until very firm. Once it's firm, grate or slice the cheese as desired.

For melted cheese, use the cheese immediately as melted cheese. Alternatively, make the cheese in advance, cover, and refrigerate. When you're ready to use the cheese, melt it in a saucepan over medium heat until smooth and creamy, stirring frequently. If needed, add more soymilk for a thinner consistency.

For Jalapeno Cashew Cheddar Cheese: Stir 2 tablespoons of minced jalapeno chiles into 2 cups of melted cheese. The cheese will keep for 4 days, covered and refrigerated

Make 4 cups.
I personally pour the cheese mix into eight individual miniature "loaf" pans, and freeze the ones I am not using immediately. They freeze well, so long as you give them time to thaw. It also makes a good 'pate' style cracker spread.

Sauerkraut recipe will be on the way.

Let's start simple, shall we?

2007-05-08T17:25:00.000-07:00

I have a back-log of food I have made, but don't have all the recipes on-hand, so I am going to begin with the results of a pantry-filling trip from not so long ago. I will also talk about a few of the ingredients, what I can and did use them for.

1. Umeboshi Paste: A Japanese condiment, often found in macrobiotic cooking. It is a form of pickled plum, salty and tangy, it is often used in lieu of butter. It is also used for dressings. For a quick and simple dressing, toss some umeboshi, fresh garlic, tahini, and water into a blender. It goes great with both cooked and fresh greens.

2. Avocados: Oh my god, Wild Oats was having a 50 cents each sale on organic avocados! Yes please! You will be seeing a lot of avocados here, on average I eat at least one or two a week, sometimes one to two meals a day. Avocado is extremely versatile, I use them for sandwiches, sushi style rolls, salad dressings, accessories, even as a substantiator in pies!

3. Adzuki Beans: Popular in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese cuisine, I have yet to use these. If you have ever had any sort of Asian dessert filled with a red, sweet paste, you have eaten Adzuki. I plan on using these for something like sloppy joes, or just as a side dish of their own.

4. Dates: You know these, many of Scheherazade's Thousand and One Nights began with some merchant carelessly tossing a date-stone and accidentally killing some guy, forever being indebted to a Djinn, evil Vizier, yada yada. Thus far I have used them for date crumb bars (tasty recipe, but needs tweaking. Will likely post the results when I make them again), and some gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, another recipe that is promising but in need of serious tweaking.

5. Assorted whole grain products. These are serious stuff. I generally prefer to keep my whole grains cooked, as it's a good 'backdrop' to any food. Still, I also like my decadences and these are vital for baking-cookies, pies, breads, bars, cupcakes, biscuits, etc. The puffed millet is good quick n' easy no-bake dessert bars, though I am experimenting to find a better puffed whole grain besides brown rice. Overwhelmingly you will see that I pretty seriously avoid processed flour if I can help it, though I am starting to dabble in the occasional "junky" food, just to refine my cooking repertoire.

Finally, here we go.

2007-05-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

This will probably end up in the "about," but for now...

Ok so let us see how well I can stay dedicated to the rapidly multiplying list of vegan blogs. This should help keep track of the recipes I try, success and failure, and keep me from doing too much of the same thing. Hopefully, if my cooking doesn't improve, my food photography will.

I have always been passionate about food, but also have something of an ethical, moral, and environmental conscience. As time went on, I started to see meat and animal produce increasingly coming into conflict with such values (not to mention health). I don't personally believe in total abolition of consumption of animal product, but not as it is currently harvested, nor anywhere even close to the current rate of consumption in the Western world.

Overall, my biggest concern is the resource-intensiveness of producing animal product (meat, dairy, eggs, wool, etc.). Currently there are about 1 billion pigs, 1.3 billion cows, 1.8 billion sheep and goats and 15.4 billion chickens on this planet. We dedicate more land to feeding them than we do the rest of humanity (not counting the land animals occupy as 'dedicated to food'). This wasn't too bad until ethanol replaced the now-banned MTBE as a required fuel additive, and seen as the "fuel of the future."

Until this point, most countries maintained grain surpluses, now not only are these surpluses evaporating, grain prices are going up as ethanol plants compete for the grain slated to go to surplus and developing economies. Unfortunately, livestock growers and ethanol developers have more resources than citizens of developing economies, meaning that they can pay more for the grain that is increasingly in demand. This means that staple foods are becoming less affordable in places like rural China, Southeast Asia, Africa.

I don't want to ramble or anything, so I'm going to cut it short. If you have any regard for the environment, any concerns about global warming, anything at all... Realize that short of owning your own plane and using it regularly, consumption of meat/animal product is probably the biggest burden you are placing onto the environment.

Quick numbers:
To raise one pound of beef requires over 12,000 gallons of water just for the grain to feed it, half a gallon of gas, and 16 pounds of grain. Doing the math, that is over 14,000,000 gallons of water, 600 gallons of gas, and 19,200 pounds of grain to raise one slaughter-ready steer. This does not include many other costs, such as transportation of grains, to/from slaughterhouses, grocery stores, methane, waste matter, etc.

To grow one pound of wheat requires 25 gallons of water, 2.5 acres of land produces enough wheat to sustain 15 people. Twenty-two people could be sustained on cabbage grown on 2.5 acres of land. Only one person could be sustained via beef on 2.5 acres of land (according to Oklahoma State, you can't even raise a cow on less than 10-14 acres without fertilizer).

40 (another source claims 54) calories of fossil fuel are needed to produce one calorie of protein feedlot beef.
2 calories of fossil fuel are needed to produce one protein calorie of tofu.

The United States Geological Survey says that 40 percent of fresh water used in the U.S. in 2000 went to irrigate feed crops for livestock. Only 13 percent was used all for domestic purposes including showers, flushing toilets, washing cars and watering lawns.

Also meat/animal product eaters are hurting everyone, which is totally unfair to anyone who eats vegetables. You think e.coli 0157:H7 is naturally occurring in spinach and almonds?

For more information, go to The Global Benefits of Eating Less Meat.

In the meantime, on to the food!