Vegan Dad on the Road: Mi Lah Vegetarian

Oh, the glamourous life of an historian. On the road, delving into archives, researching, analyzing documents. I am back in Philadelphia, one of my favourite cities in which to research. I'm sorry to see that Independence Hall is shrouded in scaffolding but it's still great to wander the streets of the city that hosted the Continental Congress and the Grand Convention. The other amazing thing is the food: purely vegan restaurants in which you can order anything off the menu! I'm really getting spoiled.

Tonight's dinner was from Mi Lah Vegetarian. I went there for lunch the other day and will be sure to hit the brunch on the weekend. It's a bit on the pricy side but nothing too outrageous. With my order placed the waiter brought some bread and some kind of dipping oil. I'm not exactly sure what was in the oil (red peppers?), but it was good nonetheless. The bread wasn't anything to write home about but I am pretty picky about my bread.
Next: salad. Mango, Avocado and Mixed Green Salad with Lime Dressing. Sorry for the pic but the low lighting of restaurants really does not lend itself to food photography. It was really nice to get fresh veggies after a few days on the road. The mango was perfectly ripe and the dressing was delicious.
Entree: Grilled Oyster Mushrooms with Brandy-Tequila Tomato Sauce with Vegan Sausage, Corn Masa Cakes, and Shaved Apple Salad. All in all, this was a great dish. The sausage had the right texture and was perfectly spicy, complemented by the sweet crunch of the apple. The masa cake was a touch ponderous but had a nice crust on it. I was disappointed, though, with the oyster mushrooms. The were the king variety, and just the stems. They did not have any seasoning on them and were a pretty good chew. Since I know how tasty grilled mushroom can be it was a let down. That being said, I would order it again.

Spiderman Returns: Happy 5th Birthday Vegan Son #3

Ah, another birthday, another cake. Vegan Son #3 requested the Spiderman cake I made for Vegan Son #2 last year. I like this cake because it has a simple colour scheme and the pan comfortably fits a double cupcake recipe. The webs are a little tedious, but all in all it is a relatively easy cake to make.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Bittersweet Chocolate

A while back we were invited to a birthday party. In preparation, the host sent me the recipe for the cake she was making for the party so I could bring a vegan version. The cake was fairly standard (an old family recipe), but the icing was a bit different because it had two eggs yolks. What caught my eye, though, was the addition of grated bittersweet chocolate to the batter. This is a fantastic way to make a cake that is somewhere in between chocolate and vanilla, but with a more sophisticated look and flavour than a marble cake. Rather than make it in a bundt pan (as the original recipe called for), I opted for cupcakes. I used Isa and Terry's vanilla cupcake recipe and folded 4 oz of grated bittersweet chocolate into the batter. The icing is a standard buttercream with a tinge of yellow colouring to match the colour of the egg yolks in the original, and the drizzle on top is a slightly thinned ganache. In the end, it looked almost identical to the original and was incredibly tasty.

Sweet Onion Relish

Sweet Onion Relish from Vegan Dad on Vimeo.

INGREDIENTS
- 9 lbs Vidalia onions
- 1/2 cup salt
- 4 cups apple cider vinegar
- 4.5 cups sugar
- 1-2 tsp tumeric
- 1/2 cup chopped roasted red pepper, or pimento
- 1 tbsp pickling spice
(more or less this recipe)

Glazed Strawberry Pie with Shortbread Crust

My aunt made a pie like this on my recent trip to the southland (when you live in North Bay, Ohio is the southland) and I thought it would be even better with a shortbread crust. Sort of a tart meets pie meets shortcake kind of thing. Of course, you could just use a pre-baked or pre-made pie shell and be done a whole lot faster. The great thing about this recipe is that you don't cook the berries, giving that juicy fresh berry taste bursting in every bite. So, a big thanks to my aunt for the filling recipe. And be sure to savour every bite because a pie like this only comes around once a year.

INGREDIENTS
Shortbread crust
- 6¾ - 7 oz oz all purpose flour (conversion chart)
- 3 oz icing sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5½ oz cold Earth Balance margarine

METHOD
1. Sift flour, icing sugar, and salt into a bowl, then cut in margarine and work into a crumbly dough. Add more flour if too wet, or a few drops of oil if too dry.
2. Press mixture into a 9" pie pan. Cover the pie plate in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 mins.
3. Preheat oven to 375. When crust has cooled, prick the bottom and sides many times with a fork. Bake for 15- 20 mins, until a light golden brown all over. Remove and let cool. Make the filling.

INGREDIENTS
Filling
- 6 cups fresh whole strawberries
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup water

METHOD
1. Mash enough of the berries to measure 1 cup. Place remaining berries in a large bowl.
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch, then gradually whisk in water and then crushed berries.
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.
4. Cool for 10 mins, then pour over berries and gently turn to coat. Transfer to cooled pie crust and chill at least 3 hours or until set.