Chocolate Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

Another tasty treat from Veganomicon. The special thing about these cookies is that my boys made them for me while I was at work. How great to come home and have the house smelling like chocolate!

Pumpkin Crumb Cake with Pecan Struesel

Veganomicon strikes again! Tonight's Friday night treat was this subtly spiced and delightfully moist cake with a sweet and crunchy struesel topping. Delicious! I drizzled a thin icing over top to make it a wee bit more photogenic. Besides wanting a tasty treat after finishing my final history lecture for the academic year, I had another motive for baking tonight. In my quest to make veganism more visible and more palatable, I am going to man a vegan baking table at our sons school's annual spring fair. All proceeds will go to the school, and I will include a card with a link to my blog with every cupcake, loaf of bread, slice of cake, etc. I think vegan cupcakes will indeed take over the world.

Chickpea Cutlet Scaloppine

Before we get to the food, let me first say that I am tired of winter. Minus 28 degrees today and it is supposed to stay that way until the weekend. *sigh* But, enough of my whining. The idea for tonight was to make the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon, but to modify the recipe slightly so that they could be pressed really flat and thin to mimic scaloppine. That part of the recipe was a grand success. I added this sauce, which was pretty good except that the nutritional yeast did not dissolve (as you can see in the pic).

For the Scaloppine

- make the following alterations to the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon

1. Reduce wheat gluten flour to 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp

2. Replace bread crumbs with an equal amount of instant oatmeal, pulsed in a coffee grinder until coarsely ground (i.e. not fine like flour)

3. When dough is made, press golf ball-sized pieces flat with the heel of your hand as flat as possible. Fry for 2-3 mins per side.

For the Sauce

- 1/2 cup cooking sherry

- 1 cup vegetable stock

- 2 tbsp margarine

- 2 tsp cornstarch

- 1 tsp poultry spice

- 1 tsp dried sage

- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

- 1 tbsp soy creamer

- salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

1. When done frying the scaloppine, add sherry to the pan. Let bubble and reduce by about half. Add in 3/4 cup of the stock and margarine.

2. While margarine melts, add cornstarch to remaining stock and stir with a fork to dissolve. Add to pan and let thicken.

3. Add spices and yeast (if using), then creamer. Season to taste.

Jelly Donut Cupcakes

Isa is a freakin' genius. A donut cupcake? You better believe it! These tasty treats from Veganomicon were the perfect end to an intensely busy work week. Not only are they delicious, they are fun to bake. The filling is placed on top of the batter and it magically sinks into the cupcake as it bakes. I actually ran out of jam (time to go shopping), so I pressed a few chocolate chips into the center of the remaining cupcakes. The boys loved them.

Lemon Pound Cake

It sounds odd, but I have been craving pound cake since my trip to Washington D.C. You may remember that I wanted to visit Java Green, but went on Sunday when it was closed. In fact, pretty much all of downtown D.C. is closed on Sunday. So, I had to grab a plain baguette from Au Bon Pain to stave of hunger. At the checkout they had that weird flourescent yellow pound cake that looks like it has never seen a real lemon in its life. In any event, I have been thinking about pound cake ever since.

To satisfy that craving I turned to the recipe from Veganomicon, and I highly recommend it. It is tender and spongy--just like pound cake should be. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup soy yogurt, which I did not have (the only sell So Nice here which, quite frankly, is So Nasty), and 1/2 cup silken tofu, which I also did not have. So, I used 1 cup regular tofu and blended it really well with 1 tbsp lemon juice. I also added grated rind from 1 lemon to ramp up the flavour and topped it with lemon icing. Perfect!

Pumpkin Baked Ziti and Strawberry Salad

Vegan Mom made this delightful dish from Veganmoicon tonight (the full recipe title is "Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping"). This one certainly gets the whole family's seal of approval. The creaminess of the cashew ricotta unites with subtle pumpkin undertones to create a flavourful dish that we all loved. My contribution to the meal was this salad--romaine, sliced strawberries, diced tomato, toasted pecans and bean sprouts drizzled with strawberry dressing (6 strawberries, 1/2 cup olive oil, 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar, pinch of sea salt blended in a blender). We rarely eat salads (they seem kind of redundant to a vegan meal, don't they?), but this one looked really nice and tasted good, too.

Snobby Joes: Veganomicon Rocks the Lentil

Today was a busy day with Vegan Mom volunteering at the school's Christmas bazaar and me looking after the kids and then taking them to said bazaar (for which we baked chocolate cupcakes). So, tonight we cracked open Veganomicon again and joined forces to make these Snobby Joes. We all loved them, and it is a great way to get the kids to unknowingly chug back lentils. I like a Sloppy Joe with a bit more bite than this recipe provides, so I squirted in a few tbsp of ketchup and a tbsp of red wine vinegar. If I had some I would have added a dash of Tabasco sauce.

The recipe is posted on the PPK site.

Spaghetti and Bean Balls

Veganomicon strikes again! I spent the day putting insulation in the attic, so Vegan Mom and Vegan Mom-in-Law swung into action and made tonight's tasty meal. It was a grand success, and everyone (especially the kids) bolted it down like it was their last meal. The bean balls were tender but still held their shape (though we decided (as an autonomous collective) to keep them out of the sauce until right before they were served, lest they sog), and the marinara was the perfect. Thanks, Isa!

I know some people hate to see pics of food with no recipes, but hopefully this will encourage you to support vegan chefs and the cookbooks they write.

Black Bean Burgers with Roasted Corn Guacamole and Sweet Potato Fries

Tonight I made the black bean burgers from Veganomicon. The recipe isn't really much different from other black bean burgers recipes I have seen, except that it uses high gluten flour to bind everything together. This makes me think that these burgers will hold up well on the grill (but I did not test that theory tonight.) The burgers are pretty good on their own, but when topped with tomato, red onion, chopped romaine, salsa, and roasted corn guacamole they are absolutely fantastic!

Roasted Corn Guacamole
INGREDIENTS
- 3 large avocados
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
1. Heat a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Meanwhile, scoop avocados out of skins and coarsely mash with fork. Mix in lime juice and cilantro.
2. Add corn and onion to skillet. Dry roast for about 15-20 mins, stirring frequently, until corn and onions are a deep golden brown.
3. Let corn cool slightly, then add to avocados along with spices. Serve.

Sweet Potato Fries
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Peel and thinly slice 3-4 sweet potatoes. Toss in 1 tbsp of oil.
3. Bake for 20-25 mins on a cookie sheet, flipping every 5 mins or so to prevent sticking.
4. When fries are crisp and cooked, sprinkle 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of chili powder, and salt to taste over top and mix well. Serve.

Leek and Bean Cassoulet: A Veganomicon Review

First, let me wish a Happy (and turkey-free) Thanksgiving to my American readers. I hope your day was filled with family and/or friends and tasty, tasty, food. So, while you bolted down Tofurkey, we tried another Veganomicon recipe. Temperatures are plunging here (-7 degrees Celsius as today's high), so this seemed like the perfect dish. White beans, leeks, potatoes, and flaky biscuits sounded like a nice culinary hug on a chilly day.

Taste-wise, the recipe was a success. The textures also worked well--smooth sauce, soft veggies, and firm yet flaky biscuits. The spicing is nothing exceptional, but it works well to create a dish with comfort food appeal.

My only criticism is that the recipe/method is over complicated. I will do things differently next time. For example, the recipe calls to boil the potatoes until tender, but to saute the carrots in the pan until "very soft." This actually takes a long time, so it makes more sense to me to boil the carrots and potatoes together to save some time. Finally, while the dish tastes good, I am not sure it is worth all the prep time (for a dad of three who is pinched for time). When in the mood for comfort food during the week I might be inclined to make Chickpea Pot Pie or Cheesy Chickpea Shepherd's Pie and save this cassoulet for the weekends when I have more time.

The final analysis: 8.5/10

Chickpea Cutlets: A Veganomicon Review

My copy of Veganomicon finally arrived in the mail a few days ago. For some reason it was released later in Canada than in the States, and what with Canada Post . . . . Anyway, the good news is it is finally here! Things have been so busy here, though, that I have not had any time to sit down and look through the recipes in any great detail. I like to read a new cookbook from cover to cover first, so I can get a good sense of what it is all about, and so I can piece together meal plans in my head. Maybe this weekend . . . .

So, on to the cutlets! I read about them on a few blogs, so I looked them up. They seemed perfect--a seitan-like texture without the hours and hours of simmering. What's not to like?

Here is my take: First, the texture is not bad but is a bit on the chewy/stringy side. I could feel the cutlet sitting there in my stomach afterward like a lump. But, I have been known to bolt down dinner with minimal chewing. Second, the recipe calls to pan fry the cutlet for 6-7 mins per side. This is a little tricky. It's hard to find the right temperature: too hot and you burn the outside before the inside is cooked, too cool and you get raw cutlet. Blech. I think next time I will bake it, as is also suggested. I just did not have the time tonight. Lastly, a note on prep. The recipe calls to mash a can of chickpeas with a fork until no whole chickpeas remain. This takes forever, especially since I doubled the recipe. I think next time I will pulse them in a food processor for a smoother texture.

So, the final verdict? I am going to give the dish a 7.5/10. The boys loved them (Son #1 ate two cutlets with great relish), so that is a big plus. I also think the recipe has great potential--I will experiment next time with some different spices since the cutlet as is is kind of neutral. I also made a mushroom gravy to pour over top, which made it less plain.

Mushroom Gravy

1. Saute an 80z pkg of sliced cremini mushroom in 4 tbsp of oil for 10 mins, until golden brown.

2. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of flour over top and stir until well mixed.

3. Slowly pour in 1 cup of plain soy milk, stirring constantly. Bring to bubbling and let thicken.

4. Stir in 1 tbsp mushroom soy sauce, 1 tsp of sage, and salt and pepper to taste.

You can make this thinner or thicker, depending on what you like. If you need more gravy, add in more soy milk and some dissolved cornstarch to thicken.