Day 263 - Potato Latkes

Potato Latkes

Would you believe that I was commissioned to write a Hanukkah song for a middle school girls' choir? Well it's true. And I decided to write it about latkes! More specifically, a grandmother/granddaughter latke-making ritual (inspired by the ritual my friend Emily had with her mom, Karen). The song includes the grandmother's recipe (i.e. Karen's recipe), so in an attempt at chanson verité, I made the latkes according to the lyrics in the song. (Delicious!)

And while I was at it, I thought I should try I&T's recipe, so I could taste them side by side.

Unfortunately, I&T's recipe is not very distinguished. Right off the bat, they suffer from an overdose of matzo meal. Waaaaaay too much matzo meal to potato. And the seasoning? Way off, way under. These taste like bland, institutional latkes, I'm afraid.
Here's what I learned making them side by side: 

Karen's recipe uses Yukon Gold potatoes, and they perform very well. I'm wondering if I&T use all that matzo meal and corn/potato starch to soak up the liquid that the potatoes and onions give off. In Karen's recipe, you drain, i.e. squeeze out, the liquid from the potatoes/onions, so you only have to use a handful of matzo meal involved and one egg to bind it. The latkes are more like hash browns, a little shaggy, and beautifully crispy. There's also a lot more salt and pepper! In the vegan recipe, the russet potatoes plus the heavy dose of matzo meal make for a gummy, tasteless interior. Ah well.

Can't win 'em all...

SFO: 3

Day 253 - Sweet Squash in Mole Sauce

Sweet Squash in Mole Sauce

This marks the end of Mole Week! Yet another great use of this yummy sauce. It's nice to see summer and winter squash side by side - you don't find that a lot.

If I had to pick my favorite mole dish this week, it would definitely be between the seitan stew or this dish. Obviously this one is lighter, maybe more of a side dish, whereas the seitan version seems more like a main. I think the squash might edge out the seitan, just by a hair...

SFO: 10

Day 252 - Mole Skillet Pie with Greens

Mole Skillet Pie with Greens

It's Mole Week! I'm knocking out all the Chile-Chocolate Mole recipes in a row!

This is a fun and easy stick-to-your-ribs meal. I never make stuff like this! And I can't believe Helen, who's usually such a health-conscious eater, picked this from a list of much good-ier things I offered her. I think there may be something irresistible about the name and the concept, i.e. cornbread cooked in a skillet over mole smothered greens and beans.

I went with pinto beans, because they seemed the most... um... mole-y. And I used my 8 inch cast iron skillet. Now, I should mention, that 8 inch skillet looks like it's not going to be able to accommodate this whole concoction, but the truth is, it's the perfect size, so don't be scared.

Yet again, we have an undersalting issue here - you should definitely salt the veggies to taste before you put the cornbread on top. The cornbread itself is a little light on flavor, so you definitely want to have the extra sauce on the side for serving - it needs it!

The ratio of bread to veggies here is a little slanted to the bread side, so this may be better positioned as a side dish, i.e. more like a flavored bread than an entree pie. It's yummy and it comes in a fun package, but the star here, again, is really the sauce.

SFO: 10
As long as you aren't expecting any meat, you should be very satisfied.

Day 251 - Guacamole, Chili-Chocolate Mole, Seitan in Mole Sauce, andStrawberry-Plum Crisp

Guacamole

This may be the easiest, clearest, most customizable guac recipe I've ever made. I like how I&T start with the most basic, mandatory ingredients and list the other items as add ins. Of course, Ryan is here, so there will be no cilantro. Instead, I went with jalapeño, diced tomato, cumin, and garlic, i.e. everything else.

It's interestingly light in color... maybe because it's so fresh?

SFO: 10

Chili-Chocolate Mole

Mole is one of those things I'm not sure I understand. People speak of it with a kind of reverence, but I suspect that even if I were in the presence of a spectacular mole, I might not have the ability to know why. I remember hearing on some food program that a mole sauce should taste like its own flavor, i.e. not like any one of its ingredients, which is definitely not the case here. This mole really tastes like peanut butter to me. But I'm not complaining - I love peanut butter!

What an interesting ingredient list: crushed tortilla chips, almonds, sesame seeds, anise seeds, chile powders, cinnamon, marjoram, allspice, cumin, tomatoes, chocolate, of course garlic and onions, and the aforementioned peanut butter. I couldn't wait to see what this would taste like...

And it tasted great! A lot of those strong flavors did disappear, most notably the anise seeds, chocolate, and surprisingly the tomatoes, but the peanut butter definitely held court. And again, I found this to be undersalted. But when all is said and done, I'm very happy to eat this!

SFO: 10

Seitan in Mole Sauce

I'm even happier to eat this over some homemade seitan. This seitan/mole comba makes for a nice, chunky stew! This would be a perfect, wintry comfort-food dinner! I served it over a plain white rice, which tasted great! Again, the peanut butter ruled, but hey, I'm the one always ordering things in peanut sauce at Thai restaurants so I'm in!

SFO: 9
This all hinges on your acceptance of seitan as a protein. So I took a point off for potential seitan-a-phobia.

Strawberry-Plum Crisp

This is almost a great, quick, easy dessert recipe to throw together for a homemade summer dinner! 

As I&T speculate, yes, plums and strawberries make great buddies here. The end product features a nice gluey red shlar filling, and I mean that in the best way possible. 

As far as I'm concerned, a crisp's top can't be crispy enough, and this one wasn't quite fulfilling on its promise. I think it could've used more topping, and it might've helped to bake it a little longer.

Also, not sure why, but this crisp had an overall off taste. Was my oil not quite good? Or was it the cloves in the filling? Something was just... off.
 
SFO: 8
Points off for a subpar version of something that should've been nailing it.

Day 247 - Roasted Yellow Pepper and Corn Bisque

Roasted Yellow Pepper and Corn Bisque

Here's another winner! There are interesting and varied ingredients in this soup, which combine in a beautiful balance of flavors: corn, onion, summer squash, chiles, coconut milk, maple syrup, lime and nutmeg, and yes, even peppers. Amazingly, the roasted yellow peppers in this recipe don't make me want to send the leftovers home with Marcy, who came to eat the soup! I actually kept and ate them!

It's a testament to the sweet, spicy, savory-ness of this dish that I was able to taste past the peppers. Alas, I did have to add salt, but what else is new?

SFO: 10

Day 240 - Blueberry Corn Pancakes

Blueberry Corn Pancakes

It's summer, I have blueberries, Carolyn's coming over, so if that doesn't spell Blueberry Corn Pancakes, I don't know what does.

These are good. Real good. Like make-them-for-the-vegan-guy-or-gal-who-just- slept-over good. But only if you want him or her to become obsessed with you. As it turns out, Carolyn is already obsessed with me, so this only made her more obsessed. But we're not going to sleep together. We stopped doing that years ago. 

Just kidding. We're still doing it.

I mean just kidding. We never did that.

Anyway, back to the food! These are better than your average bear pancake. Little tweaks, like the addition of cornmeal and lemon zest, give these that fancy lift up to the better-than-ordinary, dare I say extraordinary?

Mind you, the batter is shockingly thin. I didn't think they going to end up pancake-y, but lo and behold, they magically morphed in the pan.

What else is there to say? It's all good, it's so good you will eat too many of these and have to go jogging to feel OK about yourself.

But it's worth it.

SFO: 10
Um, yah!

Day 236 - Roasted Portobellos (Take 2), Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing, and Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

Remember when I tried to make the Roasted Portobellos at my friend Emily's house, but her oven was calibrated weird and they didn't turn out right? Well, tonight's the night I'm redoing them. Let's see if it was really the oven, after all...

Roasted Portobellos (Take 2)

Turns out Emily's oven wasn't the culprit. Or maybe it just contributed to an already awkward situation. These mushrooms are just not great. I just don't think you can cook a portobello effectively in 40 minutes at 400°, especially if it's sitting in a bath of marinade. I even drained away the marinade at 40 minutes and cooked them longer, but I was still left with soggy, rubbery mushrooms. I don't know what the solution is, but I think it may involve more oil, higher temperatures, and maybe the Maillard reaction. But this is definitely not the way to a great portobello mushroom.

SFO: 3
No one's going to want this, but least of all someone who's gunning for some meat.

Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing

Though the main attraction on this salad is subpar, thankfully, the supporting players are all nailing it. The dressing is vibrant and tasty, and the avocado, onions, and chick peas provide nice texture and flavor contrasts. One word of advice, for those who don't love raw onions. I now always marinate (pickle?) my raw onions for 15 or so minutes in the vinegar for the dressing. This takes away all the nasty bite but still leaves great flavor and even a little crunch. If you can figure out how to make a great portobello, this salad would be a knockout. Like my friend Alysha (pictured here).

SFO: 8
This would be a 10 with a great mushroom.

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

Flawless. Perfectly balanced. Easy. This is one of those brilliantly designed yet simple recipes. And here's the kicker: I'm saying all this about a recipe that has red bell pepper in it! That's how good it is!
 
What a great blend of ingredients: mango, pepper, scallions, cilantro, quinoa, and beans. Creamy, sweet, savory, fresh, piquant, chewy, every bite is a dream.

Of course, there's only 2 grains of salt in the recipe, so you're going to want to add more. Or a ton more, if you're me. 

But can we discuss that the peppers didn't bug me? I mean, I could taste them, and it's not like I liked them or anything, but they didn't ruin the dish for me! Amazing!

This would be perfect for a pot luck or a picnic. The vegans will WORSHIP you!

SFO: 9

Yup, I think even bratty omnivores would go for this.

Day 232 - Rustic White Bean and Mushrooms Crumb-Topped Casserole

Rustic White Bean and Mushrooms Crumb-Topped Casserole

Did you ever watch something ordinary become something extraordinary right before your eyes? Yesterday, these beans were Cinderella picking the lentils out of the ashes, and today they're Cinderella at the ball. And it's pretty much the same dish!

Really, all I did was put those same beans back in a casserole dish and cover them with "buttered" and herbed bread crumbs. But oh my god! What a difference some crumbs make!

This dish was downstairs at Downton Abbey, and now it's decidedly upstairs! And Lady Edith wants seconds!

SFO: 10
Even bean-phobic types might go for this.

Day 231 - Rustic White Beans and Mushrooms

Rustic White Beans and Mushrooms

Rib-sticking, French-inspired, hearty goodness here. What could be bad? Classic soup/stew stalwarts (carrot, celery, onion, leek, thyme, garlic, onion) plus beans and mushrooms. It's just simple and straightforward. 


But wait, tomorrow changes everything. Stay tuned....

SFO: 10

Day 230 - Midsummer Corn Chowder with Basil, Tomato, and Fennel and Fresh Corn Stock

Midsummer Corn Chowder with Basil, Tomato, and Fennel

I love the idea of this soup, lots of summer goodies working together to create a vegan chowder. But as promising as the ingredient list may be, I didn't find the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts.

Fresh corn, carrots, celery, fennel, potatoes, garlic, onion... all lovingly sauteed and then simmered in a fresh corn stock (see below), with a last minute kick of chopped fresh tomatoes and basil - sounds like a summer dream, right? Well, there are some dreamy qualities, but first let's discuss the prep.

It's intense! Lots of chopping, and let's not forget the homemade stock! This is a labor-intensive soup, and I wish I could say it was worth all the fuss, but in the end, it was simply nice. Sweet. Literally. All that corn will sweeten a pot!

The flavors of summer are certainly present, the most predominant being the corn and the tomatoes. The fresh tomato add-in is an interesting touch. I think we're used to our soup tomatoes being either cream of tomato, i.e. cooked to death, or gazpacho, i.e. raw with a lot of kicky flavor. Here, the tomatoes are a fresh, sweet accent, i.e. a very distant cousin to either of those other soups.

But I think the sweetness is the issue here. It's a very sweet soup. And it's thin. I pureed the small amount I&T directed me to puree, but it didn't really bring too much creaminess to the pot, so I pureed some more. And even with the extra blending, the creaminess is barely noticeable. This really seems more like a brothy soup than a creamy one.

The flavor is pleasant, but I'm left feeling there's no there there. My favorite vegan recipes are the ones that feel complete, as if nothing is missing. Here, I find myself longing for clams, or some other complex flavor to interrupt the sweetness of this summer bowl and take center stage. Alas, the corn is running the show, but I wish it had stayed in the ensemble. (One acting gig, and all of a sudden, all my metaphors are theatre-related....)

SFO: 7
There's nothing wrong with this soup, it's just not the greatness I was hoping for.

Fresh Corn Stock

I love the concept of this recipe. Use the scraps from the main ingredients of your soup to create a flavorful base stock. This underlines and supports the flavors in your soup.

There's just a couple of issues.

The first is timing. You sort of have to work backwards. This stock needs to cook for 60-90m. So effectively, there are no scraps yet. You have to start prepping your ingredients for your soup long before you're going to use them. For example, I cut the corn off the cobs long before it was time to add them to the pan because I needed the cobs for this stock. Same with the fennel fronds. Alright, that's actually no big deal.

The other issue is that because of the relatively long simmer, my stock reduced a lot, by half! I started out with 2 quarts of water, and I ended up with one quart of stock. And the chowder recipe calls for two quarts. So I ended up using half stock and half water.

Granted, the stock was very sweet, so watering it down was maybe not a bad thing. It certainly did lend the soup a solid corn flavor.

SFO: 10

Day 229 - Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Dip and Walnut-Mushroom Pâté

Hey there! Remember me? Yup, I disappeared for a bit, but I'm back!

A few months ago, I was cast in a show, rehearsals for which required every bit of my spare time and energy, so I put my cooking on hold for a spell, until the show was up and running. And now that it is, I'm happy to be back in the kitchen with I&T and you all!

The aforementioned show is Murder for Two, playing though August 25 at Second Stage Uptown. It blends murder mystery, musical comedy, and crazy hijinks, with a cast of two, including me and today's special guest taster, the insanely talented and adorable Brett Ryback!

Brett and I were offered a pair of tickets to the Shakespeare in the Park production of Love's Labours Lost, so we made plans to have a picnic beforehand, which gave me a great excuse to pull out the cookbook and make some spreads!

Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Dip

Well, this packs a tomato wallop! Two cups of dried tomatoes are reconstituted for this recipe, then added to 1/2 cup of ground almonds and 1/2 cup of white beans and pureed with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper. Now that's 4 parts tomato to 1 part almonds and 1 part beans. The flavor here is a tad overwhelming, I have to say, maybe nice as an accent on a sandwich, but as a dip, it's almost hard to take. I think if the beans had been ramped up and the tomatoes reduced, this would have been more palatable.

I did the basil variation because it's summer and basil is so plentiful. Alas, the basil got lost in the tomato tornado.

SFO: 9
Safe for omnivores, but not for those with sensitive taste buds.


Walnut-Mushroom Pâté

We liked this one much better. The woodsiness of the mushrooms worked great in combination with the ground, toasted walnuts. And the nut and bean to mushroom ratio was much more even here. This is a really well-designed recipe, and quite easy to prepare, assuming you have a food processor. Again, the salt in the recipe is modest, and I had to add more to bring the flavor of the spread to life, but come to life it did. 

I'm not sure if pâté is the best word for the consistency I ended up with. It really behaved more like a spread or dip.

Now this, I would make again.

SFO: 10

Day 173 - Spaghetti Squash Mexicana with Tropical Avocado Salsa Frescaand Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

It's Tony® Night, and I've got some peeps over to watch, i.e. guinea pigs for my latest vegan adventures! That's David and Trey and Trey's friend Rachel with the Spaghetti Squash, and Tracy with the Bread Pudding.

Spaghetti Squash Mexicana with Tropical Avocado Salsa Fresca

I love spaghetti squash. It's such a freak of nature, that it can do that stringy thing. But I never know what to do with it. Here's a great solution. Combine it with a mixture of corn and beans and the flavors of Mexico, and cover it with a fruity avocado salsa!

There's quite a bit of spice in the bean mixture, but don't be scared: there's also so much squash that by the time you've blended it all together, the spice level is perfect. And the salsa is nicely refreshing. I love fruit in savory dishes!! Although I will say (again!), the salsa needs salt.

My only complaint here is that the dish is ultimately on the dry side, even with the topping of salsa. But the flavors are so good that the dryness is forgiven. Viva spaghetti squash!
 
SFO: 9

Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

OMG, there is nothing lacking in this vegan bread pudding. Hard to imagine bread pudding landing without lots of eggs and dairy, but this one does, no problem!

The pound of bread called for in this recipe seems like it's going to be way too much, but it's actually the perfect amount for the 9x5 loaf pan. It will, however, require a lot more soy milk than the recipe calls for to saturate all the bread.

I daresay this recipe is a lot lighter than your average bread pudding, so my suggestion is that we all just use this when we're looking for a dose of naughty. It's completely delicious and satisfying!

SFO: 10

Day 171 - Panko-Stuffed Mushrooms and Asparagus and Lemongrass Risotto

It's always a sunny day when Celia's here. She's so game to eat my vegan creations, even when they're as poorly combined as they were in this meal. (This is not meant to be a reflection of the recipes, just a criticism of my pairing starchy with starchy.)

Panko-Stuffed Mushrooms

The concept here is very traditional - make a stuffing, then press it into mushroom caps and bake. The flavors of the stuffing are what is unique here. It's very Japanese: mirin, daikon, sesame, scallions. I'm not sure if the mirin I'm using is particularly sugary, but this stuffing leaned waaaay over to the sweet side. Not unpleasant, but strangely prominent.

We're using large mushrooms here, and I'm not sure how "done" I&T think they're going to get after 20m in a 350° oven, but I thought they were crazily underdone. I put them back in for about that long again, which seemed much more appropriate for this dish.

Overall, these were interestingly savory/sweet with not the best texture to the mushroom or the stuffing, but definitely tasty and edible.

SFO: 8

Asparagus and Lemongrass Risotto

I wasn't sure how risotto would behave in vegan land... there'd be no butter or cheese mounting at the end to ensure a deluxe result. Turns out, vegan risotto works just fine, thank you.

My disappointment with this recipe resides in the broth. The promise of this homemade lemongrass broth is big - fresh ginger, garlic and lemongrass should deliver vibrant flavors, right? Well, my broth came out dull, with an off smell. Hmph. And the lemongrass that was so fragrant on the cutting board essentially disappeared by serving time. Where did it go??

That said, this is a respectable risotto, with interesting Asian-slanted flavors. There's a notable absence of saltiness (again!). Those three tablespoons of soy sauce in the broth just don't provide much. We liked the lime-i-ness, and anything that's garnished with peanuts is a winner in my book. 

I liked this, but I don't see myself making it again.

SFO: 8

Day 164 - Tofu Ricotta

Tofu Ricotta

I'm fascinated by the concept of cheese substitutes. I mean, cheese is just so distinctive and amazing. How can you possibly imitate it?

Well, many vegan magicians out there have come up with some pretty great ideas, and here's one of them from I&T. Evidently, this is from an earlier book, Vegan with a Vengeance; I guess it's just too good not to include here again.

Since I was making some more sourdough pizza crust, I thought I should have some vegan cheese for my pizza. (Confession: I also had some Yves Meatless Pepperoni on hand, so I really wanted to go to town with these pizzas.)

I think I made a bad call, though, with the tofu I used. There's a Trader Joe's product called Super Firm High Protein Tofu, and I think this was a little too firm for this recipe. The "ricotta" was incredibly dry. In fact, I had to add some extra oil to compensate for it. Next time, I'll just use your garden variety extra firm tofu.

Turns out this ricotta is so tasty, I just wanted to eat it right out of the bowl. I don't even feel that way about real ricotta! The subtle combo of flavors: lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, olive oil, and nutritional yeast, is just delicious! And while it doesn't taste like cheese, per se, it evokes the same feelings I have about cheese - salty, fatty, comforty goodness.

The pepperoni pizza was pretty great - My friend Rena tried it. She's the one who coined the phrase "Vegan My Ass" to describe my eclectic and irreverent eating habits. And Rena, who's decidedly UN-vegan, thought it tasted great, although she said it didn't taste anything like pepperoni pizza. :-)

SFO: 9
One tiny point off for total lack of meltiness.

Day 162 - Greek-Style Tomato-Zucchini Fritters with Fresh Herbs and Mediterranean-Style Cashew-Cucumber Dip

Greek-Style Tomato-Zucchini Fritters with Fresh Herbs

This is not an easy recipe, but it is definitely worth the effort! Even with my mistakes, it still delivered a pretty yummy result.

My big mistake had to do with liquid removal. You're basically dealing with a lot of liquidy things, like chopped tomatoes, grated zucchini, and tofu. And if you don't drain them really well, I mean REALLY well, you're going to end up with an overly wet batter. Which I did. Which is not ideal when you're about to roll it in bread crumbs and fry it.

That said, they held together, and even though they were quite soggy, they were really delicious. 

I also tried baking a few to see if I could improve the situation, but no, the batter was just too wet to ever be crispy.

If you make these, don't give up until you've gotten every last drop of water out of the tofu, tomatoes, and zucchini. You will be rewarded, I'm sure!

SFO: 9
You'd never know there was any tofu in here, the other flavors are so vibrant!


Mediterranean-Style Cashew-Cucumber Dip

This is a perfect accompaniment to the fritters! Again, there's  water removal, this time from the cucumbers. I love the whole concept of using cashews for creaminess. And it's quite effective, although one issue I have with this dip is that upon sitting, it tends to separate a bit, i.e. creamy patches and watery patches.

As I&T say, it's delicious enough to serve on its own with pita bread, but with the fritters, it's heaven.

SFO: 10

Day 153 - Black Bean-Vegetable Soup

Black Bean-Vegetable Soup

As I&T say, having a good black bean soup recipe is like having a good "little black dress." Of course, I don't have a little black dress, and I'm not sure what the analog is for a guy, maybe a blue blazer, but nevertheless, we all get the reference.

This is a really cute little black dress. There's a nice amount of vegetables in here. Of course, I avoid bell peppers where I can, so I substituted an additional jalapeño, which has been successful before. Usually, it doesn't amp up the spiciness because I remove the seeds and ribs, but in this case, my soup ended up quite spicy! But it was a pleasant heat. Salt hound that I am, I found the soup to be significantly undersalted, but to each his own.

The end result is simple and delicious, if a little watery. Since I do like my bean soups on the creamy side, I pulled out the immersion blender and did a little damage in the pot, and I ultimately liked the texture I ended up with. The garnishes really elevate this soup, so I highly recommend using all of them: lime wedges, avocado, and minced cilantro.

SFO: 10

Day 151 - Banana-Wheat Germ Muffins

Banana-Wheat Germ Muffins

Another fast and easy recipe - and delicious! Great way to use up overripe bananas!

Alas, no one was here to help me eat them, so I'm freezing these for snacks. Perfect!

SFO: 10

Day 148 - Dijonaisse, Apricot BBQ Sauce, Baked BBQ Tofu, and Chocolate Chip Walnut Pound Cake

Dijonaisse

After my second experience making the Silken Mayo, I thought I had unlocked the key to the magic of the recipe, i.e. maple syrup vs. agave nectar. Alas, this batch was on the sweet side again. I think I'll just cut back a little on the syrup next time, as I have a lot of variations on this recipe yet to do....

I love mustard and I was hopeful for this, but it was only OK and languished in my fridge unused.

SFO: 4

Apricot BBQ Sauce

I love a fruity sauce. And I love apricots. This should have been a hole-in-one for me, but it ended up being only OK. I think I know why.

First of all, it was probably too early in the season to be cooking with apricots. They just didn't have that great apricot-ty flavor yet.

Second, I think there's something up with my liquid smoke. The flavor is just too overwhelming. I either need to cut back on the amount or change brands.

When it was time for tasting this sauce and adjusting the seasonings, I found I needed more maple syrup and more salt - it just seemed, I don't know, blah.

In the end, it was fine, but not the fruity wonder I was expecting.

SFO: 9

Baked BBQ Tofu

Hmm. Again, another recipe that should've been a winner but just didn't register.

First you bake slices of pressed tofu in oil and soy sauce. The tofu gets somewhat leathery, but not really fried. And then with all that oil in the baking pan, you pour the BBQ sauce on and keep cooking it. I couldn't help thinking that this dish would have benefited from removing the oil before adding the sauce.

It's possible that my results were skewed because I cooked this in a smaller pan than directed; the pieces seemed cramped during the first stage of cooking. (Who has a 9x18 baking pan anyway?)

Here's Alysha with some tofu on her plate, and the other picture is the baking pan with the tofu covered with BBQ sauce.
 
SFO: 3
Chocolate Chip Walnut Pound Cake

Definitely my favorite pound cake variation in the book so far!

I went out of my way not to overmix this, and the results were much better. So I'm going to declare a typo. Do not mix the pound cakes "with electric beaters for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until a very thick batter forms." This is a recipe for a disastrous lump of uncooked batter at the bottom of your pound cake. Mix just until combined, maybe 30 seconds. The end.

If your oven is like mine, you can probably expect to cook the cake for 70 minutes or more. 

Otherwise... yum!

SFO: 10

Day 141 - Olive Marinara Sauce and Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

One of my side adventures has been in the realm of sourdough. After failing at creating my own, I went and bought a starter online, which came in dry form, and I "grew" it, which involves a lot of discarding of perfectly good dough. So I found a pizza dough recipe that uses the discarded starter! And I needed a sauce to top my sourdough pizza!

Olive Marinara Sauce

Like the default marinara recipe, this is quick and easy and tastes pretty good. I don't think there's anything else to say, although I do note that there is no sugar in this recipe, and particularly in this olive variation, I thought that a little sugar might have improved the flavor here...

SFO: 10

Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Who doesn't love an oatmeal raisin cookie?

I'd heard reports from friends who'd tried this recipe, unsuccessfully, and I was anxious to see what the issue was. While I didn't have the same terrible results my friends had, I think I understand their frustration.

This recipe creates and incredible dry and crumbly dough. It's quite challenging to form these cookies. It almost feels like you're just piling the ingredients on top of each other, more than forming dough balls. In the end, the cookies that come out of the oven are cohesive if slightly crumbly, but they're definitely less cookie-like than your average oatmeal raisin cookie.

The flavor, however, is great.

As I usually do, I combined all purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour for this recipe. It occurs to me that maybe there should be liquid adjustments built in when incorporating WW flour. I can't help thinking that a little extra liquid would go a long way in improving the bind-ability and texture of these cookies. Maybe a touch more oil and soy milk to compensate for WW flour?

Also, I think that these cookies want to be cooked longer than the 10-12 minutes in the recipe. But that's always my instinct with these vegan cookies. I tried regular and extended cooking times, and while the regular were chewier, the extended were more satisfying overall.

This is not a definitive oatmeal-raisin cookie recipe, but it's a respectable one.
SFO: 8

Day 138 - Hazelnut-Anise Biscotti

Hazelnut-Anise Biscotti 

Remember my ritual Chinatown/Little Italy dinner with Ryan and Judith? Well, tonight was the night. And even though we were eating dinner out, at House of Vegetarian (HOV), I thought I'd bring some Veganomicon goodies to replace our Little Italy cookie dessert.

These biscotti are just as delicious as the almond variety! I did the half and half APF and WW flour combo, to equally good results. I had the same timing issues I had with the previous batch, i.e. the second bake took longer than expected, but otherwise, this recipe is rock solid.

SFO: 10

Day 136 - Mexican Millet, Black Beans in Chipotle Adobo Sauce, and Tangerine Baked Tofu

Sue's back! And while she's a very game eater, she does have a couple of limitations: no sugar (there goes dessert) and no wheat. I'm sure we can find something fun in here that's wheat-less. How about a Mexican fiesta?

Tangerine Baked Tofu

Fun ingredients (something about tangerine juice and rum that just says "party") pointed to a zesty, flavory tofu entree. These pressed tofu slices marinate and bake at the same time in all that party juice. Then, when they're finished, the sauce has either evaporated or it's spooned on top for serving. 

Well, I didn't have a strong finish with this dish. It was ready before the other elements, so I just turned off the heat and left them in the oven to cool down. Bad call. Not so bad for the tofu, which was well-cooked, but bad for any remaining sauce, and really bad for the Pyrex baking dish. No amount of soaking loosened that grit. I spend a solid 20 minutes with a Brillo pad before I could call that dish clean.

The tofu itself tasted OK. Neither here nor there. 

Until... the other courses were ready. Then, when we tasted them again with bitefuls of the beans and millet, the tofu magically came alive. All of a sudden, the sweetness was a wonderful relief, as was the texture. This is a dish that really blossoms in context.

SFO: 2
Sue made me give this a 2. And she liked it. But she thought that your average omni would be all "anh anh" about it. And she's right.


Mexican Millet

Yum!! This is something I would never have tried were I not doing this project. The word "Mexican" in a recipe does not inspire me to move forward. However, this is one great dish!

Firstly, you just don't see millet that much, so it's a welcome reprieve from the omnipresent rice. Next, the flavorings here are super duper good, and sending it completely over the edge are the optional (but should be mandatory) garnishes, namely fresh cilantro, chopped tomato, and lime juice. Stellar!

SFO: 10
This will shock and amaze your millet-unconscious friends.


Black Beans in Chipotle Adobo Sauce

This is a lot of attention for canned beans. It makes me wonder: why canned here, and dried there. Who decided which recipes got which? And why? 

I+T, if you ever read this blog, please weigh in.

The beans taste fine, but the real dazzler here is the sauce. Very simply, it combines sauteed garlic and onions and some minced chipotles in adobo, blended to chunky sauce consistency. So basic, yet so delicious. And spicy, but worth the shvitz. (Does anyone else out there sweat profusely from the scalp when eating spicy foods, like I do?)

SFO: 10

Day 135 - Porcini-Wild Rice Soup, Mediterranean-Style Baked Lima Beans, and Whole Wheat Soda Bread with Millet and Currants

This was a banner day! I have to confess, I've been feeling a little ambivalent about this project. Yes, there have been major hits, but there have been misses too. Some I take full responsibility for, and some I blame on sloppy editing or merely tastes that don't line up with mine. But today... today was a game changer. I am reinspired!


First, I had Ryan over for some bread tasting (and home improvements). And then Marcy came for dinner. Double whammy!


Whole Wheat Soda Bread with Millet and Currants 

I do love a good soda bread, although I was skeptical that one could achieve a decent result with no buttermilk or cream. I also enjoy millet in baked goods. And currants. So this recipe held promise.

You'll want to start the millet cooking process well in advance of baking because it does take a while for the millet to cool down to room temperature, partially covered.

Once the millet is ready, the assembling of the ingredients is pretty simple and straightforward. I got my pastry cutter out again, and this time, I resisted mincing it to death. I went ahead and used a cake pan, although the instructions for using a cast iron pot intrigued me.

Confession: I had a lot going on while I was making this, and I missed a big step: the brushing of the top with soy milk, before and during baking. While I'm sure the top of the bread would have had a nice gloss, vs. the matte version you see pictured here, I'd like to believe there was no sacrifice in flavor or texture of the bread itself.

As for the end result, it was excellent! Possibly even an improvement on previous traditional (read "non vegan") soda breads. While a dry, crumbly soda bread might be the norm, I welcomed the moistness of this one. It was full of flavor and had a great texture, and dairy was not missed at all! Great recipe!

SFO: 10

Porcini-Wild Rice Soup

First of all, I would like it to be known that I did go on a mission for fresh chervil for the garnish for this soup, and I came up short. I have come across chervil in local markets on occasion, but the couple of times I've gone looking for it, no such luck. Ah well, parsley it is.

This is a terrific soup recipe, enhanced by my newfound favorite commercial vegetable broth, namely Whole Foods 365 Organic. This doesn't really make sense, but the end result of this recipe is a soup that can only be described as beefy. Crazy, right? I guess it's all that umami-ness in the porcini mushrooms. This soup tasted so complex and fabulous that we couldn't believe our taste buds! That last flash of grated carrots is a really nice touch. I've never seen that before. I like!

SFO: 10+
This gets a plus because it's a vegan soup that is completely convincing as beef-based.


Mediterranean-Style Baked Lima Beans

Lima beans are the main cause of my childhood bean-o-phobia (first runner up being baked beans), so I haven't been excited about the lima bean recipes. But I know Marcy has a special fondness for Gigantes, which are gigantic lima beans cooked in this traditionally Greek way, so I figured now is just as good a time as any to get this first lima bean recipe out of the way.

Cut to... 

Oh! My! God! This is possibly my favorite recipe in the book so far! 

First of all, the beans. I purchased a plain old bag of Goya-brand Large Lima Beans, and I wondered if they'd be the right ones because they just don't look that big in the bag. But after a night of soaking, they are appropriately gigante. And once cooked, they hold their shape beautifully. I didn't taste one before adding them to the sauce and baking them, but in the end, they taste AMAZING! Almost sweet! I'm hooked!!

And then, the sauce. Quite a few components to manage, but the extra work is so worth it. The sauce is perfection. Salty, tangy, unctuous, herby, slightly sweet. Heaven!

I really can't say enough about this recipe - it is magical!

SFO: 10
This is a perfect way to erase any "lima bean baggage" (as I+T have named it). Irresistible.

Day 129 - Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Seed Rice Paper Rolls and MangoPear Pandowdy

Today I'm so happy to be entertaining Celia, who is one of the most fun and sparkly people I know. And she is so game in the food department! No restrictions - bring it on!

Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Seed Rice Paper Rolls

Here's one of those recipes that requires some intense early action, but once you have all the components prepared, it goes pretty quickly. But one of the components is a mother. One pound of butternut squash diced into 1/4 inch cubes. Think about it. You have to peel that thing, then slice it, then dice it into teeny tiny little cubes. We're talking roughly aspirin sized cubes. Endless. Oh, and then you have to roast them. Not easy, right?

The rest of the components are a breeze though: rice vermicelli, which cooks in minutes. Fresh cilantro. Roasted pepitas. And a sauce that is easily assembled, although beware the hot chile oil measurement. One tablespoon, as listed in the recipe, will set your hair on fire. I used a third of that, and it was plenty! (NB: I may be a wimp, but Celia also agreed.)

One tricky part of this recipe is the 'juicing' of the rice paper wrappers. First off, I recommend doing the rice paper rolling on a lint-free kitchen towel. Next, you want to figure out the perfect amount of time for the wrapper to be in the water so that it's malleable but not tearing at your touch. For me, that magical time is 30 seconds. It still seems like it's going to be too stiff to roll, but by the time you fill it, the residual water has softened it to a perfect consistency. 

Meanwhile, getting these stuffed and wrapped tightly is another challenge. Mine were a little loose and saggy. Workable, but not the snazzy, tight, tight rolls you see in Vietnamese restaurants.

Flavor-wise, these are really nice. A little sweet, a little crunchy, a little herby, with a perfect sauce accompaniment. We made a meal out of them, and it was yummy and filling.

SFO: 9
One point off for "Where's the beef?" concerns.

Mango Pear Pandowdy

Here's another dice-a-palooza. Two mangoes, and two pounds of pears, all cut into 1/2 inch dice. Not as bad as the squash above, but time-consuming.

A piece of advice: mix the filling ingredients together in a bowl. It's too crowded in the pie plate to properly toss everything to get it mixed well.

Now it's time to put yesterday's busted crust to the test!

I have to confess, I didn't know what a pandowdy was until reading this recipe. Midway through the baking process, you cut the crust into squares and mash it into the filling. The idea is to have some browned crust pieces and some mushy, soggy crust pieces. The cutting and mashing feels so strange and violent and sacrilegious, but it was kind of fun! Here are before and after shots.



Now, I don't know if it's because I overworked my dough so horribly, but this crust wouldn't brown/cook! I left the thing in the oven for about 20 minutes longer than it was meant to be in there, and the crust was barely brown in spots. Even though it seemed that I could/should cook it longer, the filling was bubbling over badly by that point, and I thought, enough already!

Unfortunately, my crust was pretty much a bust. I mean, it was edible, but it was so dense, not flaky at all, and there was NO magic to it. The filling, though, was fantastic. Mango and pear is not a combo I would have thought of, but this is a terrific pairing! 

Side note: When I ate this as leftovers, I reheated it in the toaster oven and let it go until the crust got good and brown, and it was delicious. I think with a better crust and longer cooking time, this could be a home run.

SFO: 10
Just needs a better crust.

Day 128 - Basic Single Pastry Crust

Basic Single Pastry Crust

Boy, did I botch this!

And I should know better. I've made a few pie crusts in my day. But this was the first time not doing it in the food processor. I wanted to go by the book, and I+T wanted me to use a pastry cutter to blend the flour and shortening, and I own one, so I tried it.

Oy.

I don't know what I was thinking. I cut it way too fine. And then, the part where you gather the dough into a ball, I kept on thinking that my dough was wet enough to hold, but it wasn't, and I ended up kneading it, and then adding some water, and then kneading it some more, and then adding more water, etc. By the end, I'm sure I had melted all the shortening and started causing some major gluten development, exactly what you DON'T want in a pie crust.

But I thought, maybe somehow it'll magically be OK for tomorrow's Mango and Pear Pandowdy....

FYI, a tip for rolling it out: you can keep the plastic wrap you wrapped your dough in and use it on top of the dough as you're rolling it out. With the plastic on top and the parchment on the bottom, it makes rolling a no-brainer.

SFO: 10

Day 125 - Caraway-Parsley-Carrot Dip, Broc Mac Daddy, and Tea-Poached Pears in Chocolate Sauce

The "kids" are over again! (i.e. Alysha, David, and Trey)

Caraway-Parsley-Carrot Dip

Thank god I made this, because I was running so late with my Broc Mac Daddy and the kids were starving, so this went fast! David thought it was hummusy, which it is vaguely in texture and appearance, but flavor-wise, not at all. In fact, flavor-wise, it's somewhat blank. Carroty, yes, but the caraway and parsley don't do much to bring it alive.

Before starting this project, I tried the curried version of this recipe, and it was a lot more flavorful. I look forward to making that again....

SFO: 10


Broc Mac Daddy

This is my second Mac Daddy, the first one being the "original recipe." Now I'm moving on to the variations. 

I have to say, this one was a lot better than the first, which is not to say the first was bad, but the big difference is the vegetable broth! The first time, I used Trader Joe's Low Sodium Veggie Broth, which has a strong flavor with a big tomato presence, and it really affected the color and flavor of the dish. This time, I used Whole Foods Vegetable Broth, which has a much lighter flavor and color, and the results were one million times improved.

The broccoli was a nice addition, didn't make or break, but it did give us the illusion we weren't being super naughty. 

But wait, we weren't being super naughty. The naughtiest thing about this dish is that it's mostly pasta. And it's salty. Otherwise, it's a lot of nutritional yeast, and some tofu. Comfort food that won't harden your arteries! Yay!!

SFO: 7
We all really liked this, but I can see how this might be upsetting for a closed-minded omnivore.


Tea-Poached Pears in Chocolate Sauce

I+T are really funny. They make exactly the right joke about this dish, i.e. it feels like you should have a butler to serve it. It is more lah-di-dah than most of the recipes in here. Plus it involves tea, which is so British, i.e. butlery.

I think there's a mistake here in the ingredients: "8 ounces chocolate, chopped (1/2 cup or so)"

These two numbers, 8 ounces, and 1/2 cup, are so far off that one has to be wrong. I sided with the 8 ounces, and I ended up with a chocolate sauce that had a proper consistency, however it did obliterate any tea flavor.

In fact, we were hard-pressed to find any tea flavor at all, even in the pears.

That said, it's a very pretty dessert, and it's delicious. Some of us licked our plates clean. (see picture)

Others of us licked our plates and then ate all the leftover sauce out of the saucepan with a spoon. (no picture to protect the binge eater who may or may not also be the writer of this blog)

SFO: 10