Don't Break the Oath

Vegan Pumpkin French Toast with Caramel Maple Bananas and a Nutella Drizzle.

2012-06-22T17:33:00.000-07:00

Ok- so, I like to invent recipes. It's just kind of one of those things. Sometimes they're simple... sometimes they're a little on the extravagant side. This one is definitely on the latter side, at least taste wise. It's one of those recipes that TASTES like it requires a lot of skill & looks kind of fantastic, but, really, it's pretty simple to make.

Toast:
1 1/4 cup plain almond milk.
1/2 c chick pea flour
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice.
3/4 cup pumpkin puree.
8 slices oat bread, toasted.

Bananas:
4 medium-small firm bananas, peeled
1 tablespoon vegan margarine
6 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 cup pure male syrup.

Nutella Drizzle:
1/4 c Nutella.

Toast:
Begin by heating 2 tbsp cooking oil in a very large skillet over medium high heat. Add almond milk, flour, pumpkin puree, and spice to a blender to blend, or whisk together by hand. This batter will be kind of thick, but should not be lumpy. Keep mixing, if it is. Pour into a shallow dish. Pierce each slice of toast several times over the entire surface with a fork. Lay toast slices on top of pumpkin batter in dish, and spoon some of the batter mixture on to the tops of the toast. Turn as needed to thoroughly coat each slice evenly. Gently lay battered toast slices on hot pan, and let cook undisturbed for about 3 minutes. Flip, add more oil, if necessary, and cook the second side another 3 minutes. The toast will be browned and crispy on the outside, and will stay moist and soft on the inside. Transfer 2 toast slices for each serving to plates.

Bananas:
Cut bananas into rounds. Melt margarine in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and lay the banana slices on top. Cook undisturbed for 20 seconds, then add maple syrup. Cook for 10 seconds, then turn bananas carefully and cook for 45 to 60 seconds more, basting with the pan sauce. Top french toast slices with bananas and sauce.

Nutella Drizzle:
Place 1/4 cup nutella in the bottom corner of a zippered sandwich or storage bag. Microwave for about 20 seconds. Snip end corner from bag, and pipe warmed nutella stripes over each toast serving.

ENJOY! (sorry, I didn't take pics of this one while in the making. It wasn't really a planned thing. I will try to get pics next time I make it, and update this recipe with step-by-step photos of the directions.)

Vegan Quinoa Burgers

2012-04-07T11:34:00.001-07:00

Kicking the Frozen Veggie Burger Habit

This is the burger that got me to kick the frozen veggie burger habit. If you're a fan of the onion/ mustard combo, this is the recipe for you. The shallot gives it a VERY bold flavor and the texture, after a quick saute combined with a bake is pretty sweet. This recipe was adapted and veganized from "Veggie Burgers Every Which Way" by Lukas Volger. The recipe originally called for egg but I've used a mashed potato to help with binding.

Quinoa Burgers

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa

1/4 cup steamed spinach

1 medium sized shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ small potato, boiled and mashed

3 T all-purpose flour

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

¼ t ground black pepper

1 T olive oil for sauteing

Directions:

Follow your directions for cooking quinoa, though it seems boiling 1 part quinoa with 2 parts water for about 12 minutes generally does the trick,

1. Cook your quinoa. Skin and boil (20 minutes) half of a potato. Steam a good enough bit (1 cup of fresh) of spinach so you'll have roughly ¼ cup packed once steamed. Drain the potato and mash when cooled a little. Finely chop the steamed spinach.

2. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Mince shallot and garlic. Combine with quinoa. Add flour, salt, pepper, spinach, and baking powder. Using a fork combine as well as you can. Add mashed potato, and using fork, continue to mash and combine. This will take a few minutes. When properly combined, the mixture should be quite dense and moist.

3. Form burger patties. This recipe yields about five 3” by 1 ½” burgers.

4. Saute each side of patty for 3 or so minutes on medium heat, or until slightly browned.. Transfer to baking sheet and bake in oven for 12-15 minutes.

5. Remove from oven. Place on bun (toasted pretzel bun is perfect)! Add condiments – mustard, with a little ketchup works best here.

Seitan gyros

2011-05-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

These things are AMAZING, people. Seriously... try them. Even meat eaters go wild for these veggie delights. They use the steamer method for making seitan- which is super easy, and pretty much fool proof. I could eat these pretty much daily.

Seitan Gyros

1 c vital wheat gluten
1/4 c nutritional yeast
2 tbsp gyros seasoning (recipe for seasoning at bottom of gyros recipe)
1 c cold water
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
4-6 vegan pitas
finely sliced onion (optional)
finely sliced tomato (optional)
cucumber sauce (optional)

Directions:

This recipe uses a steamed in a foil pack method as opposed to boiling. A steamer (electric, or stove top steamer basket) is needed to make these.

Directions:
1. Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl, and stir with a fork until well mixed. Add in cold water. Stir with fork until well blended. Knead dough about 23-30 squeezes by hand to make sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Let dough rest 10 minutes or so, and knead dough again for another 2-3 minutes to build up elasticity. (see recipe for steamed seitan for a pictorial, if needed.)

2. Form dough into loaf type shape, keeping the loaf about 1" thick (will rise while steaming). Tear off tin foil sheet about 12" long. Spray shiny side of foil with cooking spray. Lay seitan loaf in center of foil. Fold tinfoil up around seitan loaf making an envelope type shape (be sure to leave room around loaf to allow dough to expand while steaming). Fold and pinch outside edges of foil together to make a tight seam (middle seam should be overlapping- it is ok if it is not pinched). Steam dough in foil envelope for about 50 minutes.

3. Remove from steamer, and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Unwrap finished seitan loaf, and slice into strips 1/8- 1/4" thick.

4. Squeeze lemon juice over seitan slices, and allow to sink in while oil heats in pan.

5. Heat oil in a large pan. Add seitan slices, and fry until slightly browned on all sides. About 3-5 min each side. Remove from pan, but keep warm. Heat pitas, one at a time, in hot pan. Place on a plate and spoon gyro "meat" mixture into each pita.

If desired, top with favorite cucumber sauce recipe, finely sliced onions, and finely sliced tomatoes.

ENJOY!

Recipe by Jamie Monster, photos by Grimly Fiendish

** gyros spice mix
This makes enough spice for several batches of gyros. Store in a tight lidded container between uses.

2 tablespoon chili powder (NOT cayenne powder- just chili powder)
1 tablespoon curry spice powder (I use McCormick mild for this recipe)
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon allspice

A good cucumber sauce recipe (you could use soy yogurt if you want to make it vegan)

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) containers plain Greek yogurt
2 cucumbers - peeled, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
3 cloves garlic, peeled

Directions

In a food processor or blender, combine yogurt, cucumber, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, dill and garlic. Pulse until well-combined. Transfer to a separate dish, cover and refrigerate for at least one hour for best flavor.

So yummy!

Gyros, get in my belly!

Chili lemon seitan fajitas.

2011-05-29T11:59:00.001-07:00

Need something to do with that steamed "chicken" seitan loaf you made? Try these! The chili & lemon pair nicely to give the seitan a rich flavor, that is warmly rounded out with the addition of a little garlic, cumin, and cayenne. These have a very bold flavor all on their own- I swear, you won't even miss the cheese!

Ingredients:
1 loaf "chicken" seitan
2 bell peppers (color of choice)
1 medium/ large onion
2 tsp minced garlic (in olive oil)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c lemon juice

Spice blend:
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/8- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on how hot you want)

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients from the spice blend together well. Slice the seitan loaf into 1/4" strips, then turn the strips on their side so they are laying flat and slice them up the middle long ways so they are half as thick. Set aside.

2. Start heating the oil in a large pan over medium/high heat. Add minced garlic, and stir occasionally so it won't burn.

3. Chop your onion to thick slices. When the garlic is sizzling in the oil, add onion. Stir occasionally so it won't burn. while you clean and chop your peppers into chunky strips.

4. Once the onion is starting to go translucent, add the peppers to the oil. Cover with a lid and sautee for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. A little browning on the veggies is fine, but you definitely don't want them to get too browned. Veggies are ready for the seitan to be added when the onion is completely translucent, and the peppers have begun to soften.

5. Add the seitan strips, and stir occasionally. Cook until the strips are a little browned. About 6minutes. (cook for 3, then stir to flip the seitan over, and cook for another 3.)

6. Add lemon juice, and stir around well to deglaze pan. Add spice blend, and stir well again. Be careful not to end up with large clumps of spice & lemon stuck to the veggies & seitan. You want it to be pretty uniformly coated. You can add a tbsp of water or 2 if you need to to get it this way. Reduce heat to low, cover and let cook for about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

7. Remove from heat, and serve with flour tortillas, or on large romaine lettuce leaves (if watching your calories).

8. Get out the tequila, margaritas, or mexican beer & ENJOY!

~ Jamie Monster~

Seitan sliced into fajita sized strips.

The onions have gone translucent, and the peppers are just starting to soften- time to add the seitan!

After adding the spices, & everything is mixed up & ready to serve.

Ready to NOM, served on romaine lettuce leaves instead of tortillas. (you can use tortillas, though.)

Sausage of intensity!

2011-05-29T09:57:00.001-07:00

There are quite a few recipes out there that use the seitan steamed sausage method, and every one I have tried has always turned out GREAT! After getting bored in the kitchen one day, decided to try making my own, and a rich, bold, and intense flavor is what I really wanted. These sausages definitely hit the mark with a heavy kick of red wine, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red pepper, and a little bit of heat from red pepper flakes. These are great sliced up and sauteed in a little olive oil with some sweet onion, garlic, and zucchini served over some whole wheat pasta, or garlic cous cous, as well as lightly browned on the grill and served to your vegetarian and vegan comrades at your next BBQ

Materials needed:

Blender (immersion or standard)

a large mixing bowl (2 if using immersion blender)

a rubber scraper

a fork

steamer basket, or electric rice steamer

tin foil

Optional- a kitchen chopper (like the slap chop)

Wet ingredients:

½ cup canned beans (white beans, black beans, black eyed peas, pinto beans, etc)

2 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp Liquid smoke

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

½ c vegetable broth

½ c full bodied, dry, red wine (I used a Spanish Grianza)

Dry ingredients:

1 ½ c vital wheat gluten flour

¼ c nutritional yeast

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp sweet paprika

2 tbsp dried Italian seasoning

1 tbsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ tsp salt

Other ingredients:

¼ c sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped

¼ c roasted red peppers, finely chopped

2 tbsp dried onion flakes, reconstituted with ¼ c hot water

Directions:

place all wet ingredients in the blender pitcher, or in a large bowl. Puree together until completely smooth.
Place fennel seeds in a plastic zippered bag, and roll over them with the side of a coffee mug until lightly crushed.
Mix together dry ingredients & seasonings in a large bowl with a fork, Make sure that everything is well blended & well incorporated together.
Add dried tomatoes, peppers, and onions to dry ingredients. Pour in wet ingredients and mix well together with the fork until all is well mixed (you will have lumps of tomatoes, peppers, & onion- that is OK).
Measure out 1/3 c of dough, and form into a log .(this will feel disgustingly close to raw hamburger- be prepared). Place the log on a sheet of tin foil, & roll up tootsie roll style. Make sure to seal the dough inside well, or it will burst out during steaming. Repeat process until all dough is finished- you should get 8- 10 sausages.
Steam in a steamer basket, or electric rice cooker for 50 minutes.
Remove, unwrap, and serve as desired.

I store these in the fridge in a sealed plastic container- they should keep for a week, but never seem to last that long! ENJOY!

Is this a brains & guts margarita for a zombie dinner party? Nope- this is the wet ingredients all blended together.

Dry ingredients mixed.

Still not brains, just the mixed dough, ready for making sausages.

Sausage log on the tin foil, ready for rolling.

All rolled up, with ends twisted tightly.

A whole batch in the steamer.

This is what they look like after cooking.

Ready to eat, served with sauteed veggies & garlic & olive oil cous cous.

ALL HAIL SEITAN! (steamer method)

2011-05-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

Grimly already covered how to make a boiled seitan in a previous blog. Here is a method that steams the dough in a foil pack. The results are a more firm textured seitan that lends its self well to dishes like gyros, fried "chicken" strips, and fajitas, or anything else that you want a drier and more firm finished product. I sometimes have trouble getting the consistency right with the boiled seitan, this one makes it easier to get the same results time & again. If you're a seitan novice & keep failing with the boiled kind, give this one a try until you get the hang of making the dough. There are a few different variations for spices at the bottom of this recipe to try out, but also feel free to experiment with your own!

Steamed seitan

Ingredients:

1 c vital wheat gluten

1/4c nutritional yeast

1 c cold water

seasoning mixes (see additional recipes for seasoning instructions)

Other equipment necessary:

large bowl

fork

measuring spoons/cups

tin foil

electric steamer or steamer basket for the stove top

non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl, and stir with a fork until well mixed. Add in cold water. Stir with fork until well blended. Knead dough about 23-30 squeezes by hand to make sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Let dough rest 10 minutes or so, and knead dough again for another 2-3 minutes to build up elasticity.

Form dough into loaf type shape, keeping the loaf about 1" thick (will rise while steaming). Tear off tin foil sheet about 12" long. Spray shiny side of foil with cooking spray. Lay seitan loaf in center of foil. Fold tinfoil up around seitan loaf making an envelope type shape (be sure to leave room around loaf to allow dough to expand while steaming). Fold and pinch outside edges of foil together to make a tight seam (middle seam should be overlapping- it is ok if they are not pinched). Steam dough in foil envelope for about 55 minutes. Remove from steamer, and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Unwrap finished seitan, and slice as needed for recipe.

Chicken flavored seitan= 1 tbsp prepared poultry seasoning, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder. Add 1 tsp liquid smoke flavoing to the water used in recipe. (see chili lime fajita recipe for use in a recipe. Also good on its own for making fried "chicken" strips and etc)

Seitan gyros= 2 tbsp gyro seasoning (see seitan gyros with cucumber sauce recipe).

Mexican seitan= 3 tbsp- ¼ c prepared taco mix or other mexican seasoning. (can be pulsed in a food processor to make a ground taco "meat")

Here's the dough after mixing. Use cool water so it turns out spongy and elastic rather than a sticky, gooey mess.

On the foil, ready to be folded up.

Folded in the foil pack. Fold up one side, then the other so they overlap on top. Then fold the loose edges over several times to make the envelope. Be sure to leave about a half inch on all sides so the seitan an expand while cooking.

In the steamer, ready to be cooked.

A finished loaf of steamed seitan!

Tofu - getting the texture right

2011-04-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

The early 20's. At the time I was weighing pros and cons. My brother had gone veggie a little before but I hadn't thought much about it. I was pretty thick (and remain so these days.... ooooppppsss,) and had recently been pretty disgusted by the fact I was able to pound through multiple triple cheeseburgers at McDonalds.

I'm not entirely sure why I chose to go vegetarian, but whatever the reason, it has not been a struggle to remain one.

However, one of the original selling points was the one could easily mimic “meat” tastes and textures with different ingredients, specifically tofu. So I tried... and I tried... and tried. Nope... didn’t happen.

Cooking tofu was one of my super frustrations when I was younger, and those frustrations gave way to a lot of Morningstar, Boca, etc.

A year or two back, Kams suggested freezing the tofu for a few days then defrosting it before you cook with it. This, along with a good press, eliminated the texture problems I had when it came to cooking tofu. While I generally prefer seitan to tofu, I have been having great success recently with most recipes for which I use extra-firm tofu. Here are some quick steps and a pic or two detailing freezing and pressing tofu. If you're a texture person, this is important stuff.

Ingredients/ Materials Needed:

1 lb. Package of extra firm tofu

1 large book

2 plates

1 fairly large piece of cheese cloth or paper towel

Process:

After purchasing tofu (the refrigerated kind,) pop it in the freezer for 2-3 days (longer if you don't need it right away.)
Defrost overnight for use the next day.
Slice open package and drain out liquid over a sink. Give it a firm squeeze, while still in the package, to get most of the water out.
Remove tofu from package, wrap in a cheese cloth. Place on a plate. Cover on top with another plate and rest a large, heavy, book and leave to rest for about 20 – 25 minutes.
Unwrap tofu and slice, crumble for whatever recipe you will use.

1. Tofu fresh from the freezer.

2. The great press.

Tofu Scramble - this is solid stuff!

2011-04-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

Fear not “tofufobics”.... Here is a great breakfast (or anytime really,) Tofu Scramble recipe straight (well, changed mildly based upon available ingredients) from “Vegan With a Vengeance.” I've played with it a bit in the last few weeks to get it solid. I'm really loving it, as is my wife. For the big win though, I had my parents, who are both hardcore carnivores, over for breakfast today and each went back for seconds. The original labels salsa an addition – I would make it a staple. The salsa gives it just what it needs, a little kick which meshes nicely with the other flavors. This recipe serves 3 easily, especially if you are serving it up with other stuff. I didn't have a chance to get a "serving shot." The p's were HUNGRY.

Time: roughly 30 minutes, not including pressing the tofu

Difficulty: It looks rougher than it is

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 medium sized onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 package of extra firm tofu, defrosted* and pressed

¼ cup nutritional yeast

juice of ½ lemon

½ – 1 cup of water

1 cup of your favorite salsa

Spice blend:

2 t cumin

1 t thyme, crumbled

1 t paprika

½ t turmeric

1 t salt

Process:

Heat oil over medium heat in large frying pan. When oil is ready, saute onion for a few minutes. Add crushed garlic, heat for 2 minutes.
Add spice blend. After a few seconds, add ¼ cup of water and deglaze pan (scrape up anything sticking to the pan.)
Chop/ crumble tofu and add to the pan. You want small chunks of tofu for texture. Stir occasionally for the next 15 minutes. You will likely need to add water occasionally to keep it all from sticking.
Lower heat to medium low. Add lemon juice and nutritional yeast. Stir and mix. You may need a bit more water at this point.
Add 1 cup of salsa. Mix it up for a minute and serve.
I like to add a bit of heat to this. It works well with hot sauce if that is your thing.

*I will be addressing this in the next post, but freezing tofu after you buy it for a few days, and then defrosting it really helps a lot with texture and its absorbency abilities.

1. Onions, garlic, and spice blend.


2. Once the tofu has been added.

3. The salsa has been added and it is ready to serve.

Cold Cave leaves me cold... and not in a good goth way

2011-04-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

It was with a healthy dose of skepticism that I first checked out Cold Cave's debut album, “Love Comes Close,” sometime last year. N666 was pretty hyper about it and suggested I give it a few listens. The thing is, most of the throw-back post-punk/ synth-pop stuff has left me, eh, unintersted. Bands may have some great singles, but with the exception of the Postal Service (do they even qualify as a throw back?,) most bands are inconsistent at best, and none know when to stop (Interpol.)

However, the Cold Cave debut was pretty great. Vocals in the Ian Curtis style that work (I could dedicate an entire blog to bands with shitty mock-Joy Division vocals,) peppy rhythms mixed with dark tones, supplemented with just enough layers to keep it from being simplistic. “LCC” is a solid record which I would easily recommend to anyone with a passing interest in either post-punk or synth-pop.

Now, I wish I was just as skeptical when I bought Cold Cave's latest, “Cherish the Light Years,” (Matador) last week. I should have known getting 2 albums I was excited about in one day (see Maritime post) was too good to be true. Cold Cave's sophomore effort is not a horrible record. But, after a pretty intense opener, the lead single “The Great Pan is Dead,” and a decent track 2, the record begins to unravel. The third track sounds is a guitar/ synth hybrid, a mix between New Order's “Movement” and “Brotherhood.” That sounds tempting, and with passing listens it sounds better. But with this track starts an unnecessary over-reliance on guitars, and well, fairly uninspired dark-pop. The vocals have changed as well. While the Curtis influence is still there, there is an added “umphhh” to the energy, which does not work so well. The fourth track, “Catacombs” sounds like it was inspired by the “Friends” them song (wtf??? right? I know!) And the balance of the disc seems little more than background music, which is a bummer for a band which showed quite a bit of potential.

As Cold Cave searches for “their sound,” perhaps giving “Love Comes Cold” a few listens will get them from jumping someone else's (Depeche Mode's) train. They had it right the first time, and I appreciate them trying to do some new stuff – it just falls flat. Perhaps it will grow on me, but for the time being I'll stick to their debut – a solid dark, synthy gem of the 00's.

Here is "The Great Pan is Dead."

Oh, yeah, and if you are wanting a little Fat Bobby of the Cure in your life check this out:

Hummus done right? Start with dried beans.

2011-04-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

Nothing says summer in Chicago like lake front bike rides, White Sox wins, and mass shootings. And, from the looks of it, 2 of the 3 are in full swing as of this weekend. With temps hitting a steamy 88 degrees in early April, it seems like the right time to bring out a great recipe for Hummus. N666 is going to be mighty pissed I'm not choosing his mom's authentic Syrian recipe, but I've got to be honest, Vegetarian Times recently published a recipe I have been going ga-ga over. The secret here is to rehydrate dried beans. By doing this (instructions follow,) and using a little baking soda to soften 'em up, you will get a dreamy (can this word apply to hummus?), creamy texture.

For well over a decade, I have tried to replicate the recipes perfected by 2 restaurants – Grape Leaves in Oak Park, Il and Taza in London, England.

While hummus, like pizza, is rarely horrible, these 2 joints have left me salivating for more. I have followed N's recipe, as well as that of other friends of mid-east descent. They've all been good, yet the texture has always been a tad too coarse for my liking. The VT recipe helps in the texture department, and we cannot eat enough of it.

Reconstituting Beans:

Time: 8 hours overnight soak; 1 ½ hours to cook, mostly unattended (Lately I have been placing the dried beans in a slow cooker for about 6 hours, which does a pretty solid job. Freezing the beans and defrosting them allows for an easy removal of the skins. Chick peas without skins= very smooth texture for your hummos.)

Difficulty – a breeze

Ingredients:

16 oz. Dried garbanzo beans/ chick peas (will turn out to be about 3 cups cooked)

1 T baking soda

10 cups of water to soak; more to cook

Process:

Measure out beans using a small scale
Soak beans in a large bowl of cold water overnight – they will grow
Bring a large pan or pot of water to a rolling boil
Add beans; reduce heat to low-high. Stir occasionally – you WILL need to add water as it evaporates. Cook for one hour.
Add in baking soda – stir. Continue to watch if more water is needed.
Remove from heat and strain. Remove as many of the bean skins as possible.

Hummus Recipe:

Time: 10 minutes, with a food processor

Difficulty – no problem

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked chick peas

1/3 cup of lemon

1 clove of garlic

½ cup of tahini (it seems different brands have different flavor strengths; adjust to your liking)

1 t salt

2/3 cups of water

Process:

Puree warm chick peas (just after cooking and straining,) lemon juice, salt, garlic, and 1/3 cup of water.
Add tahini, continue to puree. Add more water as needed for consistency.
Chill for an hour. Add olive oil, along with other spices (paprika, cumin, and Za'atar spice blend are good options.) Serve with fresh pitas (recipe follows.)

Hummus with olive oil and Za'atar

Pita Bread, Pita Bread - I never would have thought....

2011-04-11T17:09:00.000-07:00


Dough Balls

... I could make my own pita bread. Served warm with fresh hummus - it does not get better. Wait for it to cool down???... not a great choice. The bread will lose it's moisture quick, so eat soon after baking for a pretty awesome experience!

Time: (For roughly 6 pitas) 2 hours 30 minutes; mostly unattended

Difficulty: eh, a little effort (you need a baking stone for this)

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of All-Purpose Flour

1 ½ cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (can be replaced with AP flour)

3 T olive oil

2 t Instant Yeast (you can find this on shelves, in a jar, at your local market)

2 t salt

½ sugar

1 cup of water, a little more if using the Whole Wheat pastry flour

Process:

Combine flour, salt, yeast, and sugar. Sift together. Add olive oil and mix together with a fork.
Add one cup of water and knead into a slightly sticky ball. If needed, add 1-2 extra T of water. Place in a covered bowl for 1-2 hours. (You can also refrigerate and delay the rising process 1-2 days for a better flavored bread. If doing this, cover with a damp rag or paper towel. When removing from fridge, let rise for 1-2 hours.)
Flat dough.

When dough is ready, reform into a ball, roll out, and divide into six roughly equal pieces and roll each into a ball. Let balls rest for 20 or so minutes.
Preheat oven, with baking stone inserted, to 350 degrees. Preheat for at least ½ hour.
Roll out each dough ball to about ¼” thickness. The thinner you roll it out the more likely you are to get a “pita pocket.” Leaving it a bit thicker will give you a hearty “Greek” style pita.
Once oven is heated, place 2 pitas on baking stone. Bake for 4 -5 minutes, flip, and then bake an additional 4-5 minutes.

Yeah, boring pic, but I just had to show off how it inflated! So exciting.

The Sugary Pop of The Maritime and a Scone if the Sweet-Tooth Ain't Satisfied

2011-04-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

The Maritime, known for a lineage which includes Cap n' Jazz, The Dismemberment Plan and The Promise Ring released a new album this past Tuesday. While the majority of music to be discussed here will fall under the umbrellas of metal and punk, The Maritime remains one of a small handful of “modern rock” bands I get excited to hear, and I have to shout it out! This new disc, Human Hearts, if you are familiar with them, continues the sweet pop tradition they have mastered, while adding a keyboard laden twist. While many people will cite their origins in the 90's emo scene as the genesis of their sound, their music grows slightly more complex with each release. Human Hearts is a more layered affair, taking solid influence from the The Cure's textured output of the late 80's, and this is executed quite well. The Maritime move back and forth between a solid rock style and laid back pop, and do so seamlessly. 4 albums into it, this band deserves the attention of anyone with an affinity for smart, well-done pop.

Oh, and the scones – thanks Vegan With a Vengeance!

And if this pic from my window is any indication, spring is here... finally.

Balsamic Setian with Steamed Kale and Butternut Squash - Praise, Hail Seitan!

2011-04-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

Making seitan on my own led to a different set of struggles. Eventually I could replicate several items I had loved as a carnivore and was happy about it. Yet, I have found that seitan worked best in roles you may not have even considered as a meat-eater. The following recipe was one I found recently on the “Working Class Foodies” site. It was a video recipe detailing how to make seitan from scratch. This recipe was at the end of the video and I've made it a number of times.

Lightly pan-fried seitan, steamed butternut squash and kale, enhanced with a little Balsamic vinegar. The flavors are subtle – the mix of the slight bitter from the kale and the sweet tang of the vinegar coupled with the minor crunch of the breaded seitan and the give of the squash leaves all senses satisfied.

The recipe takes a bit of effort – you have to work with it a good bit of the time, but if I was to serve a seitan dish for meat eaters, this would be it. It is not trying to be anything it's not – and that's why it works!

Time: about 1 hour

Difficulty: moderately, though goof-ups do not seem to affect the final dish much

Ingredients:

1 medium sized butternut squash, peeled and chopped into medium sized cubes

1 bunch of Kale

4 cups of pre-made seitan medallions

3 T Balsamic Vinegar

¾ cup of All-purpose flour

1 T corn starch

¼ cup olive oil for frying the seitan, plus 1 T more for sauteing the mix

1 t salt, more if needed

1 t pepper, more if needed

Process:

The first thing is too figure out how you will steam your squash and kale. Here is how I do it. Fill up a large stock pot with water; place a steamer pot in it and begin boiling the water. Peel squash, and then separate the top (long) part from the base (wide part.) Begin to chop into apx. 1” x 1” x 1” cubes. When the water has come to a boil, place chopped squash in the steamer and loosely cover. Steam for about 25 minutes – you want the squash soft but not mushy.
While the squash is steaming, squeeze the water out of the seitan medallions. I've had the most success wrapping the seitan in cheese cloth and squeezing the water out, over a sink. Once you have finished with this, place the seitan on a dish.
Begin heating the ¼ cup of oil in a large frying pan on low medium heat (4/10). Prepare the coating for the seitan by mixing/ sifting together the flour, corn starch, salt and pepper. Coat seitan in the powder. Once the pan is properly warmed, gently place the seitan in the pan, frying it about 4 minutes a side.
While the seitan is frying, chop the kale into thin shreds. Remove the squash from the steamer. Replace with the kale. Steam kale for no more than 5 minutes – it will be BRIGHT green and very soft. Begin heating 1 T olive oil in a second large frying pan.
Combine seitan and squash in the second frying pan, stirring regularly. Add vinegar and continue stirring. Add the kale and saute for about 5 minutes, sprinkling with a small amount of additional salt and pepper if desired.
Serve.

1. Steam Squash.


2. Pan fry seitan.

3. Chop kale.

4. Saute squash.

5. Saute it all.

6. Serve.

* By the way, this is one dish that does not do well when reheated. Everything grows soggy, and tastes, well, bland... and mushy - yep, tastes mushy.

Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, cavity

2011-04-02T05:22:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh..... vegan cupcakes! So rich – too rich? Not possible. But, you'll want to brush and floss right after eating. I snagged this recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. She runs The Post-Punk Kitchen, which is a pretty great, though enormous, vegan baking and cooking site. These cupcakes were pretty easy to make, as well as pretty darn tasty, and have certainly convinced me that I do not need eggs, nor butter, to create great desserts. Don't know if you need to own the book, but check it out at your library – it's fun.

And, yeah – she is also the author of The Veganomicon which, after the Bittman book, probably gets the most usage in my kitchen. For me, it is one of the “must-owns.”

The Last Days of Winter - A Hearty Minestrone

2011-04-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

Minestrone

With winter taking its last gasps across Chicagoland, it seemed like a fine time to enjoy one last hearty soup for the season. Minestrone is one of those foods most will personalize to their own tastes. Here is my take – pretty basic. Butter and sage are the 2 keys in the recipe for me. It's better re-heated the second day.

This calls for a good bit of stock – it will reduce considerably. You get a lot of soup, which is great for leftovers, especially when made on a Sunday.

Time: 1 and 1/2 hours, mostly unattended

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

4 T butter 1 T tomato paste

1 chopped onion 1 potato, cubed

1 stalk chopped celery 12 cups vegetable broth

1 large carrot, sliced 3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 ½ cups kidney beans 1 ½ cups (or 1 can) white (Cannellini) beans

½ cup shredded cabbage 1 ½ t salt

2 cans stewed tomatoes 2 T sage

pepper to taste 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Parmesan cheese 1 zucchini, sliced
1 16 oz can tomato sauce

Process:

Melt butter. Saute onion, celery and carrots. After a few minutes, add garlic.
Add the rest of the ingredients (minus cheese,) bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat, cover, leaving a little room for steam to release. Simmer for just over an hour.
Add grated Parmesan cheese. Serve.

A note about the parsley. At about $2.00 a bunch, it is not cheap. However, you can freeze it for some time. Spray it down with water (not soaking, but damp.) Place in a plastic bag and keep in freezer. Not sure how long it will last, but a few weeks later will be fine. Not to mention, it is much easier to chop when frozen.

* pics? they were pretty lame. Will get some up in the future.

Chicago Style Italian Beef Seitan

2011-03-31T18:07:00.000-07:00

Chicago Style Italian Beef Seitan

Chicago Style Italian Beefs are one of those foods visitors “must-have” when visiting, along side stuffed pizza and our well-known hot dogs.... and for good reason. The flavors are simply incredible, once mixed into the saucy mess of bread, along with either hot or sweet peppers.

These sandwiches had been a long-term craving – one of those things I could have almost broken down for. Once I got the seitan recipe going well, one of my first goals was to figure this out. If I have something of a specialty, this would be it.

A few notes before we begin. When you first make your seitan loaves, add a ton of oregano and fennel, as well as a T of Hot Giardiniara to the broth. Start the flavoring early. You will need a Slow-Cooker/ Crock Pot as well. Finally, Giardiniara seems to be a Chicago only thing (as were Flamin' Hots for many years.) I've searched for it on the coasts in sandwich shops to no avail. It's a mix of olives, chopped celery, cauliflower, carrots and hot peppers, heavily salted and oiled. However, it is pretty amazing – the hot stuff is VERY hot. You can get regular as well.

Time: 2-4 hours, nearly completely unattended

Difficulty: A cinch

Ingredients:

2 prepared seitan loaves, sliced as finely as possible

3-5 cups vegetable stock (depends on the size of the slow cooker)

2 T dried oregano

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 T fennel seed

1 sliced green pepper

2 T giardiniara

some freshly ground pepper

4-6 6” French Bread Rolls

Process:

Put all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on high for 2-4 hours.
Stir occasionally.
When preparing to serve, slice roll and dip into the broth. Collect broth in bread to your liking - sloppy is just fine.
Load up bread with seitan and green pepper slices. Add additional giardiniara to your liking.

1. Sliced and ready to be slow-cooked.

2. In the crock pot.

3. Hot Peppers and all!

Seitan Marsala Recipe (or something like it)

2011-03-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Given that my meat eating days ended just past my teens, there were many carnivorous dishes I never indulged in- I found limiting myself to hot wings, burgers, etc. did the trick just right. Fast forward a decade.... I'm sitting in the Blind Faith Cafe (just north of the Chicago border in the suburb of Evanston,) and Seitan Marsala is an option. Having heard of this dish from friends who savored it in Italian restaurants, I decided to give it a try, and I loved it. The mushrooms, the thickened and heavily flavored sauce coupled with the tender seitan, was a dish I would be craving long after clearing my plate.

Over the last several years I had tried and tried, to no avail, to replicate that meal. However, once I began cooking my own seitan, I sought out recipes once again and came across one which I could eat on a weekly basis. Certainly it requires some effort and a bit of time, but now you have those seitan loaves, here is a recipe worth giving a go. While I have changed some of the process and ingredients to my tastes, this is a recipe inspired by Emeril. His seasoning recipe (listed separately below) is used.

Time: 1 hour, first ½ hour unattended

Difficulty: not so bad, once you have the ingredients

Ingredients:

½ cup All Purpose Flour

1 cup vegetable broth

1 T Essence seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

1 loaf of seitan, split

1 T olive oil

4 T butter

1 diced red bell pepper

1 8 oz package sliced mushrooms (I prefer Baby Bellas)

¾ red wine (no, I don't use Marsala and it's still tasty)

Process:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice boiled seitan loaves in half. Place on cookie sheet and bake for half an hour. This will dehydrate the setian making it more absorbent.
Combine flour and Essence seasoning with a whisk. Dredge seitan loaves in the powder.
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium until hot, but not smoking.
Cook seitan for about 3 minutes per side. Place on a plate.
Add 1 T of the butter and add mushrooms and bell pepper. Cook until mushrooms are golden brown and giving off their own juices. Add the wine and turn up heat to medium high. When the liquid has reduced to about half, add 1 T of the butter and the broth. Cook until sauce begins to thicken – several minutes.
Lower heat a tad and add seitan. Cook about 5 minutes per side. Sauce should reduce and thicken.
Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Oven baked seitan

2. The pan-fry

3. Mushrooms and pepper

4. Ready to eat

“Essence” Seasoning

2 ½ T paprika

2 T salt

2 T garlic powder

1 T black pepper

1 T onion powder

1 T cayenne pepper

1 T dried oregano

1 T dried thyme

combine all ingredients; yields 2/3 cup

At War With Seitan - A Basic Seitan Recipe with Pics

2011-03-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

Seitan... oh lord seitan. After years of reading recipes, blogs, watching videos, and making boiled seitan, I feel as though I have finally found consistency when it comes to making seitan. This post is for those who have struggled with texture – whether it be too gooey, too doughy, or problems with getting it to expand properly. Several little tricks have been have been suggested (use some soy or chick pea flour, start with cold water, etc.,) some of which have been useful, some not so much. After many practice runs of getting greatly varied results, I've settled on this process to produce consistent, well-textured and tasty seitan. I generally use Bob's Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten and whatever Nutritional Yeast is available. The recipe/ process I use is built off of Bittman's recipe from “How to Cook Vegetarian,” but there are some helpful changes which I have added.

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes, mostly unattended

Difficulty: not bad, but can occasionally be frustrating – results can occasionally vary

Ingredients:

1 cup vital wheat gluten

1/3 cup of nutritional yeast

seasonings as needed (1 tsp. liquid smoke or soy sauce is a great place to start, though spice and flavorings can be used in any way )

apx. ¾ cup of cold water or vegetable broth (oddly, this is a place you will need to adjust depending on the dough's absorption of the liquid)

Stock pot (the larger the better) filled with veggie broth

Process:

Mix vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast and dry seasonings (whisk works well) in a small mixing bowl.
Add wet ingredients (the cold liquid seems to help with the texture in the long run,) mix with fork
Knead for a minute or 2 (you may need to add more liquid or gluten – the texture at this point should be slightly gummier than Play-doh)
Leave sit for about 20 minutes.
At this point, you have to make a decision – do you want loaves or medallions? This will depend on what seitan dish you will be creating. If you choose loaves, divide the seitan into 2 roughly equal pieces. You can roll between your hands for a minute to shape, though it will be quite sticky.
Should you choose to want smaller pieces, often referred to as medallions on other sites and cookbooks, use a knife or tear seitan into very small (a little larger than a thumbnail) pieces. This will take a little time (5-10 minutes.)
Place seitan into the large stock pot, filled with cold vegetable stock. Starting with cold stock (straight from the fridge) was recently suggested and has lead to much better consistency.
Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to a boil, cover. Stir or flip on occasion (every twenty minutes or so.) Boil for 1 hour.

1. Dry ingredients

2. Wet ingredients mixed

3. Post-knead/ pre-boiled

4. Boiling

Storing and other stuff:

Once the seitan has cooled, you can store and refrigerate for a little over a week, though I will take it out every few days and re-boil it. I won't swear this is a necessity, but I have had stock go bad in the past, and I have read about moldy seitan as well. As we post other recipes, we will let you know what works in terms of textures for specific dishes. However, 2 things you will likely do for many dishes is to either oven bake (to dehydrate a bit,) or pan-fry. When I first started making seitan, I was always disappointed that I could not achieve the textures I've found at many of the great restaurants of the veg-world. The two-aforementioned techniques have really helped significantly.


2. In the crock pot.