I wish I had taken a picture, but the name says it all. This was highly comforting food. This Field Roast Grain Meat sausage is amazing too. Tastes like sausage, cooks like sausage, even gets a nice crunch to the outside when pan-fried. You need to use oil though. There is not enough fat in the sausage itself.
2 links Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausage
1 small onion, sliced to desired thickness
4 cloves garlic, sliced or roughly chopped
1 cup sliced white or cremini mushrooms
3 T Tofutti sour cream or homemade vegan sour cream
1 cup uncooked wild rice
2 1/2 c. water, plus 1/4 c. or so on the side for the sour cream sauce
Olive oil for frying
Splash brown ale (optional)
salt and fresh ground pepper
Cook wild rice according to manufacturer's instructions--generally 2 1/2 c. water to 1 c. rice/ boil water, add rice and a pinch of salt, cover and turn as low as possible, done in 30 minutes or so or when water is gone and rice is beginning to smell like cooked rice--if it smells like popcorn you're burning it.
Meanwhile, in medium-sized cast iron skillet, saute onions, mushrooms, beer, and garlic with a pinch of salt and a few turns of pepper in a little olive oil over low heat, with lid on, until tender. Remove lid and saute further until onions are a little browned. Keep fairly moist so you don't burn the garlic.
In seperate medium-sized cast iron skillet, lay sausage links down in a little olive oil and fry over med-low heat for just a few minutes on each side. For some reason, these brown very quickly, so keep a watch on them. You should be able to see the bottom edge beginning to brown and you want to check/turn them at that point. When they are done, transfer them to the skillet with the onions.
In the now-empty sausage skillet, add a splash of water and the sour cream. Stir until water and sour cream are incorporated, and add the whole sausage mushroom mix to the pan with the sour cream sauce. Mix all of it together very well. I like to chop the sausage in to big chunks with my wooden spoon. You could leave them whole though. Season to taste and serve warm over rice.
I am guessing on the proportions of this one too, but it's all really up to taste anyway. The nuts beat parmesan cheese hands down for flavor, and the texture is perfect.
1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews
1/4 c. pine nuts
2-3 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves
healthy pinch salt
several turns fresh black pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
juice of 1 small or half a large lemon
At least half a cup of olive oil
Process all ingredients in a food processor except half of the olive oil as best you can, scraping down the sides. Add the olive oil through the feeder tube* while the food processor is still going. You may have to adjust this process for a blender and put all the oil in at once, but I find it has a nicer texture if you emulsify some of it.
*Anyone know a more appetizing word for this feature?
This stuff is great. My grandmother used to make it with Albert's Salsa (in the green jar), a family favorite but hard to find, and after a few years in Austin I'm not sure I would still like it. So use your favorite. Would work with verde or really any kind you like.
8 oz. cream cheese
1-2 cups salsa, as preferred
Heat through, stirring often, until cheese is melted and well infused. Don't boil or even simmer if you can help it-just heat. I use Better Than Cream Cheese Tofutti on my bagels and I'm going to try it with the salsa recipe, but I haven't yet so try at your own risk. Sorry, Julia Childes I am not, y'all. Enjoy!
*I retested my recipe recently, and discovered the t. of cayenne I suggest was way too much. I changed it, but you can always add as much as you like at the end. Oddly, I have gotten more compliments on this recipe than any other. I must have a lot of heat-loving readers!
This turned out to be quite a gourmet experience. The heat from the chili flakes against the slight sweetness of the soy cream and fresh nutmeg, all accenting the buttery flavor of the cauliflower made for some of the tastiest soup I've ever had. And it was pretty easy, though the broth is time-consuming. Homemade broth is essential here, as boxed and canned vegetable broths have kind of a old veggies/paper bag taste and would really dampen the other flavors in this recipe. Not sure about
bullion as I've never used it.
1 head fresh cauliflower, steamed to tender, falling apart but not over-cooked
fresh nutmeg--take a whole nut and grate it using your finest grater--5 or 6 passes or until you've got a healthy sprinkle of it on your soup
*1/4 t. cayenne pepper flakes
1 t. black pepper
salt to taste
2 c. homemade garlic or vegetable broth (recipe below)
1/2 c. soy cream
1 T. margerine
2 T. olive oil
Steam cauliflower until tender. Heat olive oil and margarine in a medium soup pot until lightly sizzling and add drained cauliflower. Chop up cauliflower with a wooden spoon a bit and let simmer without stirring for about 3 minutes over medium low heat. Add salt, peppers, and broth, stir, and simmer five minutes or so. Turn off heat and add cream and nutmeg. Stir well and puree in two batches. Just hit pulse and puree for a few seconds each batch. It shouldn't take much. Pour back into pot and heat through. Serve warm.
For the broth:
2 heads garlic
1 yellow or white onion
any onion family stuff like shallots, green onions, or leeks you need to use up
one carrot
a little beer (optional)
a splash balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
one bay leaf
pinch sugar
4-6 c. water
Wash all vegetables well and cut off dirt-trapping parts like roots. If you are using leeks, cut them open and peel and rinse the layers until you stop seeing dirt. No need to peel onions or garlic, but slice the tough bottom off the garlic so you can make sure there are no rotten cloves. Heat a little oil and margerine in a heavy stock pot and then add all your ingredients except water. Cook down for about ten minutes and then add water and simmer uncovered for an hour. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit. Place a large colander over a large pot or mixing bowl. Line the colander with cheese cloth to where the edges of the cloth just poke over the edge of the colander. Pour stock mix into the colander, careful to keep the cloth in place. Place a small plate over the stock vegetables and a heav can on top of the plate. Put this in the fridge and let it drain overnight. Adjust seasoning before use if needed.
Hi all--
I will be back soon. I am camera-less for long periods of time right now while my honey travels. If you would like to donate a good food-picture taking camera in order to get me back in action, please post a comment with your contact info:) Meanwhile, I will try to remember to get some food pics while he is home. I may even break out the old Minolta and see what I can do!
There--I changed my template. Change is good!
These two are always up to something.
This was delicious. I never used to like white wine (too sweet) until I discovered the good stuff. There is a wide variety of Italian whites with just as much character as any red wine. Just don't buy the crappy, mass-marketed stuff, okay?
Bulgar Bolognese
1/3 c. cracked b
ulgar wheat
1 c. vegetable broth
2-3 T olive oil
1 14.5 oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes*
1 14.5 oz. can tomato sauce
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
About a cup of water or broth on hand to add as needed.
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 c. chopped mushrooms
1 c. diced onion
10 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 celery stalk, diced
1 T Mexican oregano, may substitute Italian, but Mexican is sweeter and very nice in this dish
1 T dried parsley flakes
1/2 T marjoram
1 bay leaf*
Pistou for topping
Pistou: 2 cloves garlic, 2 fists full fresh basil, 3/4 c. olive oil, dash salt and pepper--puree
*Regarding the canned tomatoes: Muir Glen Organic is my favorite, or use equivalent fresh if in season. If all you've got are out-of-season grocery store tomatoes though, go with canned--they're better because they were picked at the peak of ripeness and canned immediately.
*Bay Leaves: Don't get the little old gray ones. Get the big, bright green organic ones in the clear jar--I will post the name when I can go home and look at it. They taste much better.
Bring 1 c. broth to a boil. add bulgar, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until bulgar is tender and broth is all soaked up.
In a large, deep skillet, saute onions for a few minutes, then add half garlic, celery, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Saute 5 minutes more. Add the spices and blend well. It will be a bit dry, but that's okay. Cooking the spices for a moment in the pan with just the oil toasts them just a bit and adds to the overall flavor. Add everything else, including the cooked bulgar, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon, then add a little broth or water to reach desired consistency if necessary. At this point, it should be just a touch soupier than you want the end product to be. Simmer low, with a cover on it for fifteen to twenty minutes. Stir well, add the rest of the garlic, and simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve with pasta of choice with a dollup of pistou. Freezes very well.
We made mashed potatoes the other day and I added sesame oil--delicious! I also mixed in some green onions, hemp milk, and of course, Earth Balance and served them with lentils and mushrooms.
Also, I just had some babaganuj and fava bean spread from a local lady in Cedar Park, and they were both amazing. They sell both at Wheatsville, I believe. Worth trying.
The results of mixing vegan rella (chedda flavor, because that's all they had) and FYH mozzeralla were quite good. I used this as a topping for a plain cheese pizza the other day and it was remarkably Totino's-like. Then last night I used it as a topping for a pizza with hummus, tomato paste, basil, mushrooms, chopped up VWaV homemade seitan, pepper, and minced garlic. One of the best pizzas I have made. It tasted a LOT like a traditional sausage and mushroom pizza. I think the fresh basil and pepper were instrumental in that. Sorry no pictures. We were hungry.
So they're not necessarily healthy, but they're vegan, and they're sooooooo good.
I used the recipe from How it All Vegan for the Anything Goes Fruit Filled Muffins. I used blueberries only, used a half and half mixture of all purpose and pastry flour, and used raspberry soy yogurt as the egg replacer. I love the soy yogurt egg replacer (thank you for the idea, Isa). So easy and versatile. I used plain old sugar for the sweetener, but you could use agave nectar or whatever. You could probably also use wheat flour mixed with pastry flour, to make it a little healthier. It's a great recipe with lots of options. I will post it later, but you should get the book. It's wonderful and
every recipe I've tried from it so far has been great. If you use recipes a lot, you know that's rare.
The first picture is of all of the ingredients I needed for the recipe, and the book with the recipe itself. There wasn't much else left in the kitchen at that point. This was so good I forgot to take any more pictures until it was almost gone (oops).
Ha, this was several days ago and I just realized I am wearing the exact same thing I am in the picture. It's good to be comfy.
Okay, we were tired and hungry and I had to open every box in the house to find my food processor, so there are no pictures of these, but they were delicious, rest assured. I used the recipe from How it All Vegan for Big Ben's Lentil Burgers, but I didn't have hald of the stuff so I tweaked. Here is my version:
2 c. cooked lentils
1 diced hatch chile pepper, lightly steamed or sauteed ahead of time (any medium/mild pepper would work, as well as the onions the recipe calls for)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup bread crumbs (I used ground up rice sticks* and they were really good)
3/4 c. ground up oats
1 T. vegan worcestire
3 T oil--olive oil, peanut oil, whatever you like
1/2 c. almond and nooch parmesan substitute*
Mash all ingrediants except almond parm in a large bowl. Form into patties whatever size you like--mine made about 6 bread-appropriate patties. They should be fairly stiff and hold together well. Press patties into almond parm to coat. Fry in a little oil over med-high heat for 3-4 minutes each side or until well browned. Serve with some swiss block cheese from The Uncheese Cookbook. I fried the cheese itself before I put it on the burger and it was messy but good. I also served these with some homemade pickles, veganaise, and more worcestire sauce. They would have been gret with onions if I had hda any. This is a definite repeat.
Almond parm is a mixture of raw, blanched almonds and nutritional yeast. Just mix 1/4 c. almonds with 1/2 c. nooch and 1/2 t. salt in a food processor until it has the consistancy, more or less, of parmesan cheese and store in the fridge.
If any of you live in Austin or ever visit, wether you are vegan, vegetarian, or omni, you must go to Mr. Natural. It is heavenly and easy to eat vegan there.
Regarding vegan cheese, we have tried Follow Your Heart mozzarella and Vegan Rella so far. FYH has a great texture but not really any taste and takes a while to melt. Vegan Rella has a nice, rich cheesy taste and melts very well (a little too well) but has a kind of unpleasant, sticky texture. I am thinking next time we have a pizza we are going to mix the two.
That is all casserole. Plus a little salad. Okay and some beer, but mostly casserole.
Butternut squash casserole is:
1 baked butternut squash, seeded, flesh scraped out and mashed
1 small russet or white potato, sliced/chopped
1 small yellow or summer squash, sliced
1 small white, yellow, or Vidalia onion, sliced thin or chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T Braggs or tamari
1 c. hemp milk (it's really good for you, but any vegan milk will do here)
1/2 c. pine nuts
3 T All season blend or 3 T of a blend of nutritional yeast with your favorite spices, salt, and pepper
1 c. bread crumbs
3-5 T Earth Balance
3-4 okra, sliced
1 link tofurkey kielbasa, diced
salt and pepper
olive oil
Saute kielbasa, onions, garlic, squashes, potatoes, and okra in oil until crisp-tender. Pour mixture into 9x9 round casserole dish. Drizzle with the Braggs. Pour in hemp milk. In a seperate bowl, cut margerine into breadcrumbs and all season blend. Sprinkle evenly over top of casserole an add a few more little dots of margerine. Sprinkle on the pine nuts. Bake at 350 for thirty mintues or so or until it looks good and has little bubbly brown bits around the edges (which is how you generally know a casserole is done:)
The pie was sliced potatoes, onions and tofurkey kielbasa in a soft silken tofu, olive oil, basil, garlic, soy milk, salt, pepper, parsley, nutritional yeast, and leftover hot enchilada sauce sauce. I did a layer of potatoes and onions, several dollops of sauce and a few dots of margarine, a light layer of chopped up kielbasa, another layer of potatoes, onions, and sauce and margarine dots, and topped it with the pie crust (which I destroyed taking it out of the oven but pieced back together nicely, if I do say so myself). I used a Wholly Wholesome whole wheat pie crust, because they are delicious and, um, wholesome, and I prebaked it at a full 400 degrees for ten minutes. I then read on the internet that after prebaking, you should poke a few little holes in the bottom of the crust and let cool completely before filling. I will try this next time, but suffice to say it ain't necessary.
The pizza is the above sauce with more spicy enchilada sauce, thinly sliced garlic, chopped basil, sauteed eggplant, onion, and summer squash, chopped up leftover oven fries, and FYH mozzarella. It was all extremely delicious and I used up a bunch of leftovers which makes me happy and trashes my grammar and punctuation because I am too fat and content to want to bother with "English." Thanks for reading anyway!
Some FYH action.
Seiten Tetrazzini
Shawn made these enchiladas. They are filled with mashed beans and they were delicious.
I'm in yur casseroles.
This is bizarre. I put it all together, shaking my head. It looked nothing like anything I would ever want to eat. It did not make sense in any culinary sense. But when it came out of the oven, it taste like cheesy tomato casserole. Still processing this one. I think the litmus test will be how it tastes tomorrow. More later.
Later..it tastes great cold out of the fridge. I think I would prefer it to be a mellower taste though. Even though it is from all natural ingredients, it tastes like some of the more unhealthy, pseudo-cheeses. Your mouth is telling you that you are eating Velveeta, and that you should feel ill, even though what you are eating is cashews and spices and stuff--nothing weird or unhealthy and it's not even high in sodium. I don't think I will make this one again, but I am excited about making the other cheeze dishes. They all look quite easy and this book has lots of whole-entree recipes (not just cheeze substitute recipes) that look delicious, especially the section on casseroles. I may try tofu tetrazzini next.
This reminds me, I love the Food Network, and I usually salivate over Paula Dean's stuff, but even as an omnivore I would never actually cook anything on her show because of the fat content. I have been discovering that, as a vegan, I can make all kinds of stuff I never used to by making it vegan/healthy. For instance, I would never eat hot dogs but now I have discovered tofu pups. I would never eat a sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast casserole but now I have tempeh, fake cheese, and tofu. I would never eat pizza three times a week but now I have whole wheat pizza with garden veggies and nooch or homemade, healthy fake cheese. You can make all the comfort food you want, make sure and include a boatload of vegetables, and you're golden. Maybe I can veganize a bunch of Paula Dean stuff. Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich anyone?
Because it's the best gal-dern vegan po-boy in town, that's why!
Wheat Meat Manifesto Part 2
2 loaves Po-Boy Bread
, warm but not toasted
soy mayo (recipe below)
chopped raw kale and lettuce greens
sliced tomatoes
southern fried seiten (see recipe in previous post)
homemade refrigerator pickles*
Louisiana hot sauce
thinly sliced Vidalia onions
Soy Mayo from Vegan Planet6 oz. firm silken tofu, drained
1 1/2 T white wine vinegar
1/4 t dry mustard
1/2 t salt
pinch of sugar or natural sweetener (optional)
3 T neutral oil
Puree all ingredients except oil in food processor. While processor is still running, slowly add oil through feeder tube until emulsified. Keeps 4-5 days.
*Refrigerator pickles are a great way to make your own pickles. They are extremely easy and you can customize the taste. I used a recipe off of The Homesick Texan, but I didn't follow it very closely and I don't really remember what I did. The first thing I did was use 9% white vinegar along with Bragg's Apple Cidar vingear, and they were waaay too strong. Go easy on the vinegar. Pickles are such a personal thing, though. You make them how
you like them.
The recipe I've got for soy mayonaise is really easy and tastes similar to Hellman's (Best Foods for y'all on the West Coast). It's from Vegan Planet, as is the equally easy and tasty recipe for the soy sour cream you see in picture number 2 above. It doesn't quite taste like sour cream, but is better in my opinion. Both recipes are also extremely versatile. I will list them in a bit as well as the taco recipe--got to get out the door and get to work at the moment.
If you want to buy soy mayo, the only kind I have tried is Veganaise, and it's a dead ringer for Hellman's. Good stuff.
Tacos
1/2 package Soyrizo brand soy chorizo, squeezed out of the "skin"
1/2 a red oinion, sliced thin
2 c. cubed, cooked potatoes--any kind will work, this is a great thing to do with leftover baked potatoes
1 ripe avacado, cubed
diced fresh tomatoes for garnish
4 whole grain tortillas, warmed--or whatever kind you like
Soy sour cream for topping, recipe below
Warm tortillas on low in the oven. Meanwhile, saute onions in a little oil for three minutes or so. Add potatoes in an even layer and press gently into (preferably cast iron) skillet. Allow to cook--don't touch!--until you can see that the bottoms are browning just a bit. Flip as gently as you can and repeat. Then screw it all up by stirring in the chorizo. Cook until the chorizo is heated through. Serve on warm tortillas with toppings of choice and prepare to lay around for a while.
Soy Sour Cream
6 oz. soft silken tofu, drained
1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T sunflower or other neutral tasting oil (I used safflower)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t sugar or other natural sweetener (optional)
Put all ingredients in a food processor and puree. Keeps 3-4 days.
I love pizza too, and I've been pleasantly surprised at how good pizza can be, even without beloved cheese. This tofu ricotta from Vegan With a Vengeance, which I tried for the first time last night is
better than cheese. It felt gourmet. I also scoffed at potatoes on a pizza, and now I love this combination. Delicious. Thanks again, Isa!
The PizzaKabuli makes a Kosher/Vegan pizza crust that is great to keep on hand in the freeezer. They even make whole wheat if you can find it. If you are in Austin, Wheatsville Co-Op has the whole wheat ones.
1 pizza crust-- your own or pre-made. Can be still frozen.
For the base--
2 c. cooked garbonzo beans
2 T tomato paste
2 drizzles olive oil--3 T?
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 T lemon juice
Mash all ingredients. May add bean juice and/or olive oil or tomato juice until you get the right consistency. Spread evenly on pizza crust.
On top of that, layer sliced tomatoes. Be sure to squeeze the juice and seeds out first so your pizza isn't soggy.
Saute about 1 c. red onions and 1 c. sliced mushrooms in a little oil until just moist, then add to pizza.
Add sliced, precooked potatoes, then ricotta and bake at 350-400 until the crust is as crisp as you like it. If you want to cook your toppings a bit more but your crust is getting burned, try squishing a ring of foil around the exposed edge of the crust. Then next time, ease up on the toppings or just start out with a ring over the crust.
Tofu Ricotta from Vegan With a Vengence1 lb. firm firm tofu, drained and pressed
2 t. lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
1/4 t salt
dash black pepper
1 fistful of basil, washed and then chopped
2 t olive oil
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
In a mixing bowl, squish the tofu up with your hands until it's crumbly. Add lemon juice, garlic, salt, basil, pepper, and then mush again until well blended. Mush until it's ricotta-like. Add oil and stir with a fork. Add nooch and stir until well blended and moist. Refrigerate until ready to use. Okay after a week, but much better fresh.
6-7 red potatoes
2 T olive oil
3 T non-hydrogenated
margarine + 2 more T for crumb topping
3 T flour
2 1/4 c. unsweetened soy milk
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves pulled from stem
dash nutmeg-fresh if you've got it
1/4 t dry mustard
1/2 t pepper
salt to taste
1 c. mushroom gravy (optional)
1 1/2 c. bread crumbs
1 c. nutritional yeast
1-2 c. lightly steamed kale, chopped
Oil 9x12 casserole dish with olive oil and set aside. Preheat oven to 350.
Boil potatoes for about ten minutes in rapidly boiling water. They won't be completely cooked, and that's fine. Remove and cool in a bowl of ice water. When cool enough, slice them into 1/4" rounds and return to empty bowl.
In a sauce pan, melt butter and add your herbs. Saute for a minute, then add flour. Stir until blended, as you would a basic white sauce. Add milk and cook, stirring, over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Add mushroom gravy, mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat and set aside.
For crumb topping, place crumbs in a med. mixing bowl. Cut in 2 T
margarine, nutritional yeast, and 2 T olive oil. Mix with hands until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
In casserole, layer as follows: potatoes, 1/3 sauce, kale, potatoes, remaining sauce, crumb topping. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
I had a little bit of mushroom gravy so I threw it in. This is probably good without it though.
My cat, Flipper, who loves flip flops.
If I have a signature dish, it's clean-out-the-refrigerator stew. I love the creative thrill of assessing what all I have that is about to "turn" and somehow pulling it all together with other fresh stuff to make a well-balanced stew. We just bought a bunch of tomatoes at the farmer's market yesterday, but already they were looking bruised and near-rotten today. There's been too much rain here and the result has been a lot of rotten garlic and short-lived tomatoes, but we needed it so I'm not complaining. Cook be warned--I made this up as I went, so I am just guessing on the measurements.
Seiten, Tomato, Kale, and Sauer Kraut Stew With Jasmine Rice
1 c. Sauer Kraut
1 1/2 c. cooked chick peas and 1 cup+ of their juice
1 c. vegetable broth
1/2 bunch kale, chopped roughly
1 red onion, cut in half then sliced thin
2 large cloves garlic, minced
4 T olive oil
1 package White Wave seiten, cut into thin pieces
2 large heirloom tomatoes, chopped, with their juice
2/3 basket cherry tomatoes, whole
2 T cumin
1 T turmeric
1 T mustard seeds
1 t dry mustard
1 t red pepper
1/2 a dried ancho chile
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
2 med. red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Saute seiten in a cast iron skillet in a little oil until browned on all sides. Add tomatoes with juice and vegetable broth, scraping up any brown bits. Set to simmer on low. In a large soup pot, saute onions in a little oil for a few minutes, then add garlic and spices, including bay leaf. Saute until fragrant. Add seiten mixture to onions, then add potatoes, kale, chile, sauer kraut, and chick pea
juice. At this point, there should be enough liquid to cover the potatoes, but just barely. You may need to add more liquid than I have listed here, and that can be more vegetable broth, more chick pea juice, or whatever you have on hand that you think will taste good. Bring to a boil, then simmer 40 minutes or so or until potatoes are tender. Add chick peas and heat through. Adjust salt and other seasonings to taste. Serve with jasmine rice and a squeeze of lime juice.
If you are an Austinite, then you probably know who Toni Price is, and you are also probably familiar with the Soup Peddler. If you are not, Toni Price is a lovely local (though soon to be trucking off to California) blues singer (www.toniprice.com), and The Soup Peddler is a local soup peddler with a cool history and, I hear, some great soups (www.thesouppeddler.com). Toni has lots of great cd's and the Soup Peddler has a book I want with one of the coolest names ever for a cookbook (teaser!--you'll have to look at his website:).
The Soup Peddler puts out a book every year of local folks' recipes. It is sold at finer businesses around town and the proceeds go to Mobile Loaves and Fishes and other charities. It outsold Harry Potter two years in a row at Book People, a great local independant bookstore (www.bookpeople.com). Toni Price has a nice recipe for dew drop biscuits in the 2005 edition, and this is my vegan version. I didn't change any proportions--just replaced butter with margerine, etc. I was a little suspicious of the 3 T. of baking powder, but they turned out great. The batter is really fluffy and kind of fun to spoon out. These are wonderful when you're in the mood for biscuits but not for a lot of kitchen fuss.
Toni's Dew-Drop Biscuits
2 c. all-purpose flour, sifted at least once and then measured out
3 T baking powder
pinch salt
Whisk above ingredients together
Cut in 4 T Earth Balance
Stir in 1 c. soy milk
Oil a big cookie sheet or two and to spoons
Scoop and drop onto pan
Toni's note--"We call 'em cat's head biscuits, size is up to you!"
Bake at 450 10-12 minutes until golden brown
Serve with jelly, agave honey, or Earth Balance for breakfast or with a soup
1/3 c. cracked bulgar wheat
1 c. vegetable broth
2-3 T olive oil for sauteing
1 14.5 oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes*
1 14.5 oz. can tomato sauce
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
About a cup of water or broth on hand to add as needed.
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 c. chopped mushrooms
1 c. diced onion
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 celery stalk, diced or 1 t celery flakes
1 T Mexican oregano, may substitute Italian, but Mexican is sweeter and very nice in this dish
1 T dried parsley flakes
2 T garlic powder
1 t granulated onion
1/2 T marjoram
1 bay leaf*
Pistou for topping
Nutritional yeast for topping
Pistou: 2 cloves garlic, 2 fists full fresh basil, 3/4 c. olive oil, dash salt and pepper--puree
*Regarding the canned tomatoes: Muir Glen Organic is my favorite, or use equivalent fresh if in season. If all you've got are out-of-season grocery store tomatoes though, go with canned--they're better because they were picked at the peak of ripeness and canned immediately.
*Bay Leaves: Don't get the little old gray ones. Get the big, bright green organic ones in the clear jar--I will post the name when I can go home and look at it. They taste much better.
Bring 1 c. broth to a boil. add bulgar, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until bulgar is tender and broth is all soaked up.
In a large, deep skillet, saute onions for a few minutes, then add garlic, celery, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Saute 5 minutes more. Add the spices and blend well. It will be a bit dry, but that's okay. Cooking the spices for a moment in the pan with just the oil toasts them just a bit and adds to the overall flavor. Add everything else, including the cooked bulgar, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon, then add a little broth or water to reach desired consistency if necessary. At this point, it should be just a touch soupier than you want the end product to be. Simmer low, with a cover on it for fifteen to twenty minutes. Stir well and adjust seasonings to taste. Serve with pasta of choice with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and a dollup of pistou. Freezes very well.
The Pizza
1/2 c. verde salsa (recipe below)
3/4 c. hummus (recipe below)
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 red onion, quartered and sliced thin
1 c. mushrooms, sliced about 1/4' thick
1 large tomato, seeded and juiced (just cut in half and gently squeeze out the seeds and juice)
1/2 c. chopped basil
1 medium sized red potato, cooked and sliced about 1/4' thick
1 c. nutritional yeast or shredded soy cheese
1 pre-fab pizza crust
Preheat oven to 400. Saute mushrooms and onions until crisp-tender. Spread the hummus and verde on the crust as you would any pizza sauce. Layer on the tomatoes, garlic, basil, onions, mushrooms, potato, and yeast or cheese, in roughly that order. Bake for twenty minutes give or take, depending on your crust. If you find that the crust burns before your toppings are fully cooked, try covering just the crust with foil halfway through the baking. Other good toppings to mix and match: spinach, roasted eggplant, summer squash, etc.
The Verde
1 lb. fresh tomatillos
2 serrano peppers, seeded and diced (wear gloves)
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 c, chopped cilantro
1/2 small sweet onion
3/4 t cumin
1/2 t oregano
Just a drizzle of honey, optional
Salt and pepper to taste
Puree all but the onion. Mince the onion and stir into the pureed salsa.
The Hummus
1 c. dry garbonzo beans/chic peas*
1 big clove garlic
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 T tahini paste
2 t salt
1 t pepper
1 t paprika
1/2 c. olive oil
Soak the garbonzo beans overnight in the fridge. They will triple in size so make sure you have both a big enough container and enough water to keep them covered at three times their dry volume. DO NOT soak them in a mason jar! It will explode.
Boil the beans in salted water for an hour and a half or until they are very tender. Drain and pour into food processor. If you have ever had canned garbonzo beans and swore them off forever, try cooking them yourself. There is no comparison.
Add remaining ingredients and puree. Make sure you have a little room in the top of the food processor and you keep the lid on tight. Hot stuff in a blender or food processor can build up pressure and explode. Taste and adjust your components. The amounts above are just a guideline, and you will want to play with proportions to get it just the way you like it. You can also add all kinds of things to it--basil, roasted red peppers, cayenne pepper, etc.
The trouble of making the hummus and verde is worth it, because you will have a lot of hummus and salsa left over. Both are great with tortilla chips, and hummus is good on just about everything. Cooking the garbonzo beans is pretty invlolved, but I cook a huge batch and freeze them or keep them in jars in the fridge so I have them on hand for such things. The idea here is not to try to do this all in one night.
Send me your favorite pizza toppings:)
Now I understand why vegans get so excited about seiten. These little southern fried seiten bits were better than chicken nuggets. Actually, they tasted almost exactly like chicken nuggets, except the inside is more tamari-juicy than meat-fat-juicy, and there are none of those stomache turning bits of gristle or bone chips. I loved chicken nuggets as a kid, bone chips and all, but have been repulsed by them as an adult for the most part. These turned out to be a reclamation of a childhood favorite.
Southern Fried Seiten Nuggets1 c. cornmeal
1 c. all purpose flour (I wouldn't substitute wheat here--it doesn't seem to fry well)
1 t thyme
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t cayenne pepper
other spices as you like
1 package seiten nuggets (I used White Wave and they were great. I don't know any other kinds yet)
Safflower oil or Canola oil for frying
Cut seiten pieces to desired size. Mix all dry ingredients. Coat nuggets well in dry mixture. There should be no moistness peaking through or they won't be crispy. Heat oil over med to med-high heat. To test when it's ready, toss a little chunk of seiten in the pan. If it sizzles immediately, the oil is ready. Fry each piece of sieten a few minutes on each side or until brown and crispy. I did it in two batches--you want to give each peice a little breathing room in the pan. Drain on a rack or paper towels and serve any temperature you like.
I have found it very difficult to find Kaffir Lime leaves at times. In fact, I have only seen them once at Whole Foods. Another time I was looking for them, I called every gourmet and ethnic market I could find and NOBODY had them, but one woman told me that there was a tree in an alley somewhere downtown. Rather than hunt for the tree, I turned to the plant nurseries, and I got this little beauty at It's About Thyme (
www.itsaboutthyme.com) for about $6. It was a little smaller then. It actually didn't start growing until about two months ago, when the cat knocked it over and most of the dirt out of it, then shortly after it got a huge gall on it, then the soil was all weird and would puff up dust every time I watered it, then out of nowhere it had a new branch and has been growing and looking great ever since. If anyone can explain that mystery, I would be grateful.
That's Iliada Organic Olive oil, about $14 a bottle. We go through one of those a month. Seems like a lot, but that includes salad dressings. It's good stuff.
Laura's Smothered Okra
Cook a pot of your favorite rice.
Wash and de-stem 1 lb. of fresh okra. Cut into bite-sized bits and boil in lightly salted water for 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Quarter and thinly slice one sweet white or yellow onion and saute in 2 T or so olive oil for a few minutes. Add 2 cloves minced or crushed garlic and saute a minute more, or until fragrant.
Chop 2 large, fresh tomatoes and one sweet green bell pepper (may your favorite mild pepper here--I may try fresh banana peppers next time). Add to the onions along with the okra. Mix well and add 1 1/2 t brown sugar, 1 bay leaf, 2 t black pepper, and 2 t salt, or to taste. Simmer low for 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve hot over rice.
I made this using a recipe from The Whole Foods Market Cookbook, 1st Ed., 2002. My interest has been renewed in this book since I gave up meat and dairy, as each of the recipes is handily labeled "vegetarian" or "vegan" if it is either. This recipe, which I would have never prepared as an omnivore, turned out to be the best stroganoff I've ever made. I tweaked it a little, of course, but not much. What follows is my version.
Mushroom Tofu Stroganoff1 lb. extra-firm tofu, pressed, drained, and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 c. Italian Herb Vinaigrette (recipe follows), or your favorite marinade
3 T olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1/2 c. Shiner Bock (may use burgundy wine)
1 1/2 lb. cremini or white button mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick
3/4 c.
unsweetened soy milk
3 T tamari, soy sauce, or shoyu
1 t fresh ground pepper
2 good bay leaves (organic if you can get them)
1 t dried thyme or 1 T fresh
To press tofu: Cut one block into 4 even pieces, lay on one side of a clean dish towel and cover with the other side. Weigh down with a really big book or anything that can provide a good, even weight. Leave for 20 minutes.
For Vinaigrette:
1 c. olive oil
1/2 c. sweet balsamic vinegar
2 sprigs fesh rosemary, chopped
2 t dried Italian seasonings (oregano, basil, etc)
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t red chile flakes
2 sprigs parsley, chopped
1/2 t salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
Put all ingredients into a shallow, flat dish and whisk well. Add your cubed tofu and toss to coat.
Preheat oven to 450. Remove the tofu cubes from the marinade and place on a baking sheet. Roast until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
In a large cast iron skillet, saute onion slowly for 20-25 minutes over low heat, adding a little beer here and there to maintain moisture, but not so much as to keep from getting good little brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add garlic and mushrooms and toss well with onions. Put a lid on the pan until they are well steamed, then remove and stir to loosen everything up. Add the rest of the beer and scrape up those brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add milk, tamari, pepper, bay leaves, and thyme. Simmer 10 minutes. Add tofu and heat through. Serve with rice, biscuits, toast, broad noodles, or whatever you like.
"Slurp" makes me think of all things savory and tasty. Steaming homemade tomato broth with pesto and little bread dumplings, perhaps. Tofu stroganoff with mushrooms stewed in garlic, Shiner Boch, and their own juices. Fresh, juicy cantaloupe and watermelon. Mashed potatoes and gravy.
At the moment I am craving chicken and dumplings, which I no longer eat because I am a recently converted ovo-vegetarian. As I have been discovering in recent weeks though, there are a million wonderful things a vegan/vegetarian can still eat, and a million ways to make old, carnivorous favorites over into even better vegan or vegetarian meals--with out relying heavily on processed food substitutes. I want this blog to be about resourcefulness, innovation, creativity, good health, and good food. I have already found a great wealth of these things in the online vegan/vegetarian community, and I look forward to making my contribution. So stay tuned for a vegan version of mom's chicken and dumplings, because when it comes to cravings, I am driven and resourceful. Or better yet--send me your ideas. Happy cooking:)
There should be enough dough to fill this board. This picture is of the extra dough I cut off the sides and re-rolled.
Drop the dumplings in one at a time!
We went to see Tom Waits in El Paso for our third anniversary. It was wonderful! I loved El Paso, and, of course, to see Tom Waits is a once in a lifetime experience. We even stayed at the same hotel as he did--the beautiful Camino Real. Between the hotel and the theater (which are across the street from one another), this was a high class excursion all the way. And reasonably priced! The hotel restaurant was also a real treat. Delicious, with a lot of variety, and the bar had fabulous, fresh margaritas. And the bed was really comfy, and the service was efficient, friendly, and easy going. And the view was awesome--we woke to watch "Chalk the Block" getting started in the plaza below the hotel. The El Paso Museum of Art is the best art museum I have seen since I can remember. Everywhere everyone was friendly and it was just a lovely city. I can't begin to describe Tom Waits. If you know the music, than you lust after seeing a live show, and you would not be disappointed. I can see why he has a cult following. More on the show later.
Pretty ristras at Pike's Market
We picked our first three heads of cauliflower last night, and lucky us we got one of each color! The purple was the best. Tender and flavorful, and a little more broccoli-like than regular store bought cauliflower. 
It's Spring time again in Texas! Or at least, I'm putting my hands over my ears and going "lalalala" until you tell me it is. I am not a winter girl--I enjoy brisk weather, but cold just makes me grumpy, and I miss the sun. Fortunately, we have had a rather nice, mild winter so far, and I'm guessing Spring this year is going to be BEAUTIFUL. I know I'm looking forward to it, and for more than just the weather. There's a lot of great stuff going on in Texas in the Spring, but one of my favorites for the past few years has been the Bluebonnet Blues Festival--and not just because my folks put it on. There's blues, beer, sunshine, food, people-watching, and lots of art. Plus, as is partly the point of the festival, you can help support local businesses by enjoying some shopping along Main Street, or grabbing a drink or a bite to eat in one of the many cafes or fine restaurants. A new thing to look for this year is the Sculpture Walk--several dozen sculptures from various artists around the world, placed along Main Street and within walking distance of the square--everything from clockwork acrobats to giant pastel daisies, tucked away artfully all over the middle of town. It's a heart lifting experience to stroll around in the sun, take in the art, enjoy good fresh food, and fill yourself with the smells, sights, and sounds of Marble Falls in the Spring. So make your way out here March 28-30 and see what we have to offer. See you there!
These two are always up to something.
This was delicious. I never used to like white wine (too sweet) until I discovered the good stuff. There is a wide variety of Italian whites with just as much character as any red wine. Just don't buy the crappy, mass-marketed stuff, okay?
Some FYH action.
Shawn made these enchiladas. They are filled with mashed beans and they were delicious.
Because it's the best gal-dern vegan po-boy in town, that's why!
If I have a signature dish, it's clean-out-the-refrigerator stew. I love the creative thrill of assessing what all I have that is about to "turn" and somehow pulling it all together with other fresh stuff to make a well-balanced stew. We just bought a bunch of tomatoes at the farmer's market yesterday, but already they were looking bruised and near-rotten today. There's been too much rain here and the result has been a lot of rotten garlic and short-lived tomatoes, but we needed it so I'm not complaining. Cook be warned--I made this up as I went, so I am just guessing on the measurements.
If you are an Austinite, then you probably know who Toni Price is, and you are also probably familiar with the Soup Peddler. If you are not, Toni Price is a lovely local (though soon to be trucking off to California) blues singer (www.toniprice.com), and The Soup Peddler is a local soup peddler with a cool history and, I hear, some great soups (www.thesouppeddler.com). Toni has lots of great cd's and the Soup Peddler has a book I want with one of the coolest names ever for a cookbook (teaser!--you'll have to look at his website:).
