Cake Maker to the Stars

No Ethics in my Futomaki.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:08:00 +0000

This futomaki was lunch just now. Not traditional, maybe not even ethical, but quick, nutritious and tasty--I just licked my plate. Oh, not to mention it was all gluten-free ta-boot. Sushi doesn't have to take hours, this took me about 12 minutes to whip up from start to finish with leftovers and a few pantry staples, and I couldn't even be bothered to find my rolling mat.

Rice
First, I had leftover brown jasmine rice in the fridge. I heated it up in a sauce pan with a tiny bit of water, a good shake of rice vinegar, a shake of salt and a short squirt of agave. When it was hot and had absorbed the liquids, I set it aside.

Fillings
I was lucky enough to have fresh shiitake in the fridge and a few other bits of odd produce: tat soi from yesterday's market, an old but eternally young baby zucchini, avocado, and packaged teriyaki baked tofu.

The zucchini, avocado, and tofu were cut into long slivers. The shiitake were thickly sliced and cooked over high heat with a bit of wheat free tamari and a splash of toasted sesame oil until they released liquid and browned in spots. The tat soi was quickly steamed with a splash of rice vinegar, a dash of tamari and a tiny bit of agave.

Staples
I try to keep organic nori seaweed, wheat-free tamari and saccharin-free pickled ginger (fake sugar is the worst) on hand for sushi opportunities.

I simply pressed a layer of rice over most of a sheet of pre-toasted nori, then layed out all the fillings and rolled as tightly as possible.

If you don't have any wasabi laying around (I didn't), a little squirt of chili paste in some soy sauce is a nice combo for dipping. If you have leftover sweet potato, or carrots, those would be great in here too.

xo
kittee

Crockpuffin.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:28:00 +0000

The long cold winter is over.

Behold, my newly attained Goodwill crockpot has arrived. This crockpot is a beauty, too! With many fine attributes: a) It looks brand new. b) It's a lovely 70s orange. c) It's big. Big enough for several pounds of beans if I wish. d) I found an awesome glass lid that fits, so I could chuck the yucky plastic one that came with it. e)The ceramic crock comes out for handy clean-up.

I'm so in love. I broke it in today with my favorite chili. My favorite chili contains no chili powder, only a variety of dried chiles, cumin, onion, roasted veggies (eggplant, zucchini, shiitake mushrooms) and hominy. It's sh-picy.

Oh also--the other day I made really successful and delicious XgfX muffins.

These were adapted from the bakery style muffin recipe in Isa's Vegan Brunch.

2/3 cup Bryanna's XgfX flour mix
1/3 cup oat flour
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup Vegenaise
1/4 cup soy milk, plus extra to get the batter going (mine was too dry without)
splash canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
handful chopped dry cherries (dry fruit review forthcoming)
handful of vegan fair trade chocolate chips

Mix the dry ingredients together in one bowl, and the wet in another. Casually blend the two until just mixed. Fold in the fruit and chocolate. Scoop the batter evenly between six regular lined muffin tins. Bake in a 375F pre-heated oven for around 25 minutes, but keep an eye on 'em--mine were browning quickly.

xo
kittee

P.S. I have one Primal Strip left, so let me know if you want it and please live in the United States. Thanks!

Dia de Los Muertos

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Rest in peace my friends and family.

xo
kittee

"Mooooooo!" Says the Vampire Cow.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:33:00 +0000

I've been dying to make sugar skulls for a couple of years now, but how to substitute that tricky meringue powder? I was all set to try this year using Angel Food's vegan meringue cookie mix, when my friend Katie came to my rescue. She's had luck subbing Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer, and told me to give it a go. So I popped on over to this awesome Day of the Dead shop on Alberta and invested in a mold and just now, I have seven pink sugar skulls drying on my ironing board.

They're all firm and stuff! I was able to pick them up! No crumbling!

To those that have asked for a tutorial, the instructions that come with the mold are extremely detailed. Simply sub the egg replacer 1:1 for the powdered meringue. Tomorrow I'll try subbing it in the royal icing I use for decorating them, so expect a report back on how that works, too.* The instructions recommend not dying the sugar for first timers, but I disagree. Since I went ahead and added some rose colored Wilton paste to my water, I felt it made it easier for me to make sure the water was evenly mixed with the sugar. Personally, I won't mind a different colored seam connecting the front with the back of the skull, but if this bothers you, you can leave the step out.

*ETA: I used the powdered egg replacer in the royal icing recipe as well, and it was perfect. I doubt it would be tasty to eat, but it dried on rock hard, which is what's wanted here. For small color batches, I used 1 cup vegan powdered sugar, 2 heaped tablespoons powdered egg replacer, and 1/6 cup water (half of 1/3 cup) mixed with Wilton color paste. If your mixture is runny, add more powdered sugar until you get something pretty thick and sticky.

Happy Halloween!

xo
kittee

P.S. gwgjoan is getting a Primal Strip. I have one left, so leave me a comment if you want it!

Bun That Goes Woof.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:27:00 +0000

Have you ever loved a food so much you named your dog after it? Our fuzzy pooch pop is named for one of my most favorite things to eat, from my most favorite restaurant ever, which shut its doors forever in 2007. Vee Seven Berns-Kerns is named for the most awesome vegan Vietnamese bun (boon) served at Cafe Dalat in Arlington, VA. R.I.P. Cafe Dalat, I miss you very much. Real tears were shed when this restaurant closed, so what could I do but name our dog in tribute and as testament to my deep and unending noodle love?

This dog, really is a noodle bowl. If you've ever met him, you know this to be true.

Bun comes in all sorts of variations, but is basically a rice noodle bowl topped with fresh vegetables, protein (sometimes chunks of springrolls), nuts and doused in a tangy dressing. Dalat's version was true perfection: warm soft chewy vermicelli, topped with lightly steamed broccoli, fried tofu, carrot and daikon pickle, fresh cilantro, crispy fried shallots, chopped peanuts, with a very delicious broth on the bottom of the bowl. To enjoy properly, it was encouraged to toss from the bottom to the top and then eat and slurp--chopsticks made it more delicious (I learned this method from the wait staff who would always pause by my table and motion with their hands to toss from the bottom).

If you're ever in Northern Virgina and crave vegan bun, there's a good version to be had in Annandale at Pho Hot, but it sure won't replace good ol' V7, and no one will come by to make sure you're tossing and enjoying it properly. It's lonely bun, folks.

When I'm in the mood, I make my own bun, which is pretty good--quite tasty and refeshing. But still, it doesn't come close to V7, that shit was unbelievable. The dressing is basically a vegan nuoc cham: squeeze a few limes' worth of juice, mix it with sugar and warm water to get a very tasty lime-aid. Once you get the juice to the point where you would gladly chug it down on a hot summer's day, mix in a generous amount of salt, a splash of wheat-free tamari and a spoonful of red chili/garlic sauce.

Bun noodles are pretty easy to find in East Asian groceries as the word "bun" will be right smack on the front of the rice noodle package. I like to buy the brand that comes with a convenient carrying handle. One day I hope to own my own bun pocketbook or suitcase or something. Here's the bowl breakdown (from the other day, this often changes depending on what's in the fridge):

Bun rice noodles, cooked until soft then rinsed and cooled to room temperature.
Steamed broccoli spears (to save time throw them in while the noodles are cooking, then pull them out and throw into an iced water bath).
Seeded cucumber spears.
Fresh cilantro.
Fried tofu chunks (mine had bits of shallots in 'em).
Sliced bell peppers.
Mushroom Fluff or VegeUSA's shreddy soy stuff (optional).
Daikon carrot pickle--do chua (mine's pink 'cuz the radish I used was a beautiful pink heirloom variety).
Top with chopped nuts (roasted peanuts are ideal) and Sriracha or chili garlic paste and for extra yumminess--fried, crispy onions or shallots.

Layer it all together with some of the lime dressing and enjoy. It's super refreshing cold out of the fridge, too--just don't forget--tossing is the key.

xo
kittee

P.S. Trinity is getting the next Primal Strip. Lemme know in a comment if you want one, too.

XgfX Action.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:26:00 +0000

A few days ago, Carlyn posted these perfect looking peanut butter cookies, which spurred me to try making a gluten free version. Having a full bin of The Devil's Baking Mix in the freezer, and a big desire for warm cookies I gave it a shot.

Besides using the non wheat flour mix, my only change was to stir in a handful of chocolate chips. At first, I hated the way these tasted, but after sitting for a day, I rather like them. Dazee was a huge fan right off the cooling rack, but for me, I could detect an off putting beany note. I come from the no beans in my baked goods school, so this was a bummer. I swear the xanthan gum leaves a slimy residue in my mouth, am I making this up? Since I keep hearing about the virtues of sorghum flour, it's next on my list of flours to try.

At least they are very pretty.

Then yesterday, I was on my way to a holiday food kinda potluck and decided to make a XgfX cabbage and mushroom galette (based on this one, but modified a bit) along with these amazing caramelized shallots. Holy crap, make the shallots--they were so delicious (I just subbed Earth Balance and balsamic vinegar). I also made my mom's fruit compote, 'cuz there ain't nothing like the holidays without it. I love the way the sticky juice liquid melds with savory things like stuffing and potatoes on my plate.

Gluten free potluck tag, galette pre-baking.

For the galette, I made the pandowdy crust I wrote about recently, sans sugar. The crust came together well, it had a nice flavor with the roasted hazelnuts, but this time, the texture was overly crumbly; disappointingly so. Especially after using all the spendy ingredients. Mitten Machen is also on the search for a sturdier vegan and gluten free pie crust, so if you can help us, please holler. Still, I just ate the leftovers and it was yummy, just not as perfect as I want.

xo
kittee

P.S. Hannah is getting the last XgfX Primal Strip, but I still have a few gluten-y ones. Comment on this post if you want one!

Smoky X3.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:15:00 +0000

It might not be everyone's thang, but me and liquid smoke, we get along just fine. I like to use it (sparingly) in all kinds of things including my popcorn. Yes! Toss some popped corns in a bit of nooch, hot sauce, liquid smoke and salt. It's a true smoky delight. I really do eat it that way, but I also use it in a lot of my Southern cooking kinda dishes: red beans, collards, breaded protein circles (for dazee), Creole gumbo or anything I want to veganize that might have had ham hock or andouille in the meaty original.

This is my favorite brand of liquid smoke, I get it at the People's co-op. It's made in CA and is completely free of preservatives and crappy stuff, including caramel color. It's just the pure extracted liquid essence of smoked hickory--whatever that means.

Liquid smoke can be cloying if added in excess, so I use it very carefully--always remember and never forget: just a wee bit goes a long way. However, there are all sorts of other smoky elements you can add or use besides liquid smoke, to help build a smoky, but not overpowering essence to your food. I am particularly fond of smoked salt. I actually cook with it in recipes instead of using it as a finishing salt, I don't find it too strong at all and feel like it adds a much more nuanced flavor than you might get from liquid smoke alone. It's pretty spendy for salt, but totally worth it for the flavor-punch it provides (that's it all bagged up in the photo above).

Yesterday thanks to my friend John, I picked up a wee jar of Bakon from Food Fight, the famous vegan grocery store, which happens to be a quick jaunt from our abode. I had no idea this magical powder (smoked torula yeast) was still being produced, so I was quite titillated to scoop some up. Back in like '93, I had a huge bag of it squirreled away in my freezer, and reuniting with it will be like meeting long lost friends at a sleazy downtown hotel, with a new hairdo and a good bra--you know, the best of good times.

See? There's nothing really bad in there folks. All vegan, all XgfX, all smoky-tasty goodness.

Once we get a little more settled in New Portleans, with a little patch of dirt to call our own, I plan on plugging in my Alton Brown flower pot smoker, to see how that action works. The premise of the smoker is brilliant, and it cost very little to put together, so that bitch better work or I am gonna be one bummed little princess (especially considering I dragged it all across this wide country of ours). My dream? To marinate a big fluffy white extremely pressed block of tofu in some liquid smoke, savory broth, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and a touch of maple syrup. Then to faithfully rub it with Bakon and hickory smoked salt, and smoke it in my homemade earthen contraption. With a little smoky love, all is possible.

xo
kittee

P.S.
I can't believe I left out my two other favorite smoky foods (thanks to readers for reminding me):
1. Smoked paprika (from Spain, mild and delicious)
2. Chipotles (smoked jalapeno peppers--buy them whole for beans or powdered for more versatility).

P.P.S. No one in the comments yesterday mentioned they wanted a Primal Strip, so there's no one to give one too. Tragic! Please help me unload these chewy snacks, the next winner gets the last gluten-free one I have. Please lemme know in the comments to this post if you want it.

I pucker for injera.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:56:00 +0000

I've been meaning to make some preserved lemon or lemon pickle for a few weeks now. I keep buying organic lemons and either zesting them for other recipes, or just letting them dust-up and harden on the counter. Two days ago, however, I ran into Limbo because a little bird informed me they sell smoked salt, and I wanted to stock my Louisiana arsenal for some good recipe devising. Lo, besides the longest wall stuffed with jars of every herb and spice imaginable, there was also a bunch of cheap and local organic produce to procure. Including a barrel-o'- lemons for ten cents each. Yes ma'am, organic lemons for ten cents each; a bargain so steep I could not avert my eyes. So of course being the glutton I am, I purchased a sackful, skipped on outta there for the dog park and immediately abandoned 'em to a lonely corner once I got home.

The lemons are cloudy due to tons of salt, necessary to keep evil things from growing up in there.

But this morn', I woke determined not to let those cheap fruits go to waste, and the result of my mental perseverance stands as evidence in a murky pool of liquid on the left side of the photos you see before you.

Once I started having fun with the lemons and the lovely quart sized Mason jar, I didn't want to stop. So I also whipped up what I hope will be the beginning of some oat flour sourdough starter, which if all goes well, will be manipulated into XgfX injera. Please, if anyone has suggestions for wheat, barley or rye free starters, lemme know quick. I am ashamedly inexperienced in the starter business department; my determination comes solely from a deep burning desire to eat Ethiopian food without a fork. I am bad at starters, but good at Ethiopian eating.

The lemons were stuffed into a jar with sea salt, cut into hinged quarters, rubbed with more sea salt and then covered with freshly squeezed lemon juice. The vapid starter was begun with 1/2 cup oat flour mixed with 1/2 cup warm water and mixed well to incorporate homogeneously.

xo
kittee

P.S. Megan is getting gluten filled Primal Strip #12. Only one more XgfX chew stick left (but several regular ones still in stock).

A Study in Stuffed Stuff.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:37:00 +0000

I just spent the better part of two hours reading and commenting my way through all the "A" blogs of folks who are regularly posting for MoFo this month. Heavens! One idea I never was able to organize before all the writing began, was getting together teams of "comment bombers." I love the idea of a group of 50 readers or more, commenting together on specific blogs everday. Someone remind me next year!

Blogging daily is such a delightful time suck, but how it distresses me I can't keep up with the throng of '09 MoFoers--so for me, picking a letter and working my way down the list, works the best. Tomorrow, I shall start in with The Bees. My boon has been discovering a bunch of previously unknown, yet stellar blogs. My current new favorite: Claryn's Hell Yea! It's Vegan.

Peanut butter stuffed chocolate-chocolate chip cookies and birthday suit clad orange cupcakes.

In other busy news of the past week, I have been baking and cooking, cooking and baking for a couple o' different benefits. First, I was so delighted to help the Apron Activists last Thursday and Friday. We cooked for a full house, and nothing gave me more motivation than that sweet hero of a chimp, Burrito. Thanks to Jess and Tahinitoo, who captured the event in photos--the menu was insane with goodness.

In between the monkey business, I also promised to help out with a garage/bake sale to benefit another favorite charity. Time was tight, but I managed to churn out a large batch of yumsky double chocolate peanut butter stuffed cookies (a classic Martha Stewart recipe gone veganized) and a dozen orange pudding cupcakes (sorta half VCToTW half Papa Tofu). I swear on my honor, next time I make these cookies, they're going through The Deglutenizer (c). I don't mind baking with wheat flour, it doesn't hold any sort of gross factor like eggs would, but I do mind passing up on the good stuff. Especially, because I'm too lazy and inexperienced to try baking XgfX. Poo poo, kittee. Poo poo.

[Insert new and refreshing attitude here].

I leave you with A Study in Stuffed Cookies.

xo
kittee

P.S. I only have one XgfX Primal Strip left. Comment on this post, if you're interested in one (although I still have about six gluten-y varieties left). Also, Veg is Sexy wins the latest chewy.

Busy with the Balls.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:12:00 +0000

I don't know what it is with The MoFo, but it sure fills me with ball making spirit.

Today I thought I'd put on a touch of lipstick and reunite with Louise Hagler's, Tofu Cookery, one of the first cookbooks I purchased when I went vegan in 1936. Louise Hagler is one of our true Vegan Matriarchs, she hails from the famed Farm commune in Summertown, TN and is a co-author of my very favorite-- The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook. Tofu Cookery is a must have for anyone who experiences a tofu rut, or wants to be more creative with tofu--it's packed with really unique, tasty and comforting recipes. My favorites include: the creamy dip chapter, Barbequed Tofu, Tofu Pot Pie, Chinese Sweet and Sour Balls (more balls!), Chiliquiles and Carrot Cake. In 2008, Tofu Cookery was revamped with a 25th anniversary addition, so the copy you purchase, will be even better than the yellowed and ancient copy I have.

Today's Tofu Spaghetti Balls (scroll down for the recipe) will be paired with my favorite XgfX pasta and vegetable-y tomato sauce for dinner. My only changes to the recipe were leaving out the mustard powder and using an Italian gluten-free breadcrumb, a little cayenne for heat, and baking the balls at 425F on oiled parchment, instead of frying them in oil.

Oh, how these baked balls filled my apartment with the smell of greatness. I only hope I can stop snackin' on 'em, so there's some left for supper.

xo
kittee

P.S.
JennyWren, is getting XgfX Primal Strip #10. Please let me know in the comments if you want #11.

Code Word: Potato Crepe.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:53:00 +0000

As I wrote in Ball II, we were recently visited by dazee's parents. Besides snacking on said ball and lovely XgfX crackers, we went out for our other meals that weekend; except for the last night when I wanted to cook.

Dazee's mom isn't big on The spicy or North Indian fare, but I knew she hadn't had South Indian stuff before, so I thought she might just enjoy chowing down on a mild, but delicious Masala Dosa and an equally mild, but savory masoor dal. Since I have blogged on and on and on about dosas before, I'll spare you the gruesome details. Instead I offer these little tidbits:

1. A photo of the last dosa made from the brown rice flour/urad dal batter, served up fresh and hot today for dazee's lunch with the most delcious mixed vegetable pickle (dosa batter is awesome to have in the fridge if you want easy dosas and uttapam all week).
2. If you want to serve dosas and dal to someone who isn't a huge fan of Indian food, just leave out the hot pepper and call 'em a sourdough crepe stuffed with cashew potatoes and lentil soup. Dosas don't need to be spicy to be delicious.
3. Use a really well seasoned cast iron skillet for two reasons! a)Dosas stick like super glue if you don't have a good thing going in your pan. b)If you use a non-stick pan, by their very nature, you won't be able to get them thin enough. They're fine for uttapam, but for dosa, you want to get it as thin as possible. Not only that, but sometimes it's even hard to get the batter to stick to the pan, so you get clumps and big holes.
4. No veganizing or de-glutenizing necessary, they're like Hanukkah gifts from Mother Nature!
5. An oldie but goodie.

xo
kittee

P.S.
Michelle, the restless native, is getting Primal Strip #9. Please let me know in the comments if you want #10 (although yours does not need to be pornographic the way hers was).

Gravy is Power

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:00:00 +0000

I recently dropped off my Papa Tofu master to have more copies run, which put me in the mood for zine research. Stolen Sharpie Revolution is a great little resource if you're interested in writing your own zine.

After I re-read through my copy, I zipped over to Etsy to see what else might inspire me. How about a nice little vegan zine roundup courtesy of my search?

Vegan de Guadalupe Cookzine. The cover alone is worth the cost.
Vegans are Easy
Peace to All Creatures--also available for less moolah as a PDF download.
Cooking with Compassion
Simple Sal has lots of issues!
Underwater Cigarettes #3 has vegan holiday recipes.
Kenileigh has a couple o' different vegan recipe zines. She's no MoFo, but I'm gonna give her blog some love anyway.
My pal, Jessica of GasTank fame, is offering up her latest vegan dessert zine.
I'm dying for a copy of Bake Me a Cake. The illustrations do it for me.
This one is for You Thinkers.
Small Potatoes looks really cute too.

And while I'm at it, here's another cookzine review from my personal archives.
SpoonFight: Vegan Manual to Kitchen Terrorism

SpoonFight
By: S. Chamberlain in Berkely, CA
Availability: N/A
Format: vertical half size / stapled spine
Size: 32 pages / 54 recipes

5 Recipes to Intrigue:
Hot PB Apple Shingles
Black and Blue Eyed Peas
Tomato Noodle Gluten Bomb
Quick Attack Lima Bean Soup
Sweet Potato Cannonballs

It changed my life: Basic Gluten Blueprint
No ranting, but lots of funny hostage jokes. Um, anyone seen the remote to my social filter?

SpoonFight was the 3rd or 4th zine I collected, I think I found it on the old Vegan Outreach website. This zine came out long before vital wheat gluten was available, so if you wanted seitan you had to make it from scratch, you couldn't even buy it pre-made. I remember the Basic Gluten Blueprint recipe really blew my brain, 'cuz I'd never before seen a seitan broth recipe that was tomato based instead of more of an Asian influence with kombu, broth, soy sauce ginger and garlic. It was pretty exciting to see such a recipe, y'know it opened up the possibilities.

If you missed me yesterday, I blogged over at Vegan Mofo Headquarters, a little XgfX roundup for the masses, if ya will. Trying to roundup 470 blogs into some kind of cohesive subject is no easy task. I encourage y'all to give it a shot yourselves!

xo
kittee

P.S. Bank Breaker Jeni Treehugger is getting Primal Strip #8, , who wants the next one?

Hopeful for Sugar Skulls

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:24:00 +0000

Every October, I pour over the internet looking for sugar skull recipes without meringue powder. I still haven't found one. This year, I remembered the box of Angel Food vegan meringue cookie mix I've been saving, so I plunged forth and purchased a mold. It wasn't too hard, since there's an awesome alter/Dia de los Muertos shop on Alberta--they had all sorts of molds-- for chocolates, too.

I need to wait for a dry day, but we'll see what happens! I also splurged on a calavera shaped cookie cutter, and I might even try to XgfX my Pan de Muertos recipe.

Here's hopin'!
xo
kittee

P.S. Courtney is getting Primal Strip #7, who wants numero ocho?

The Devil's Pandowdy, or How I Spent Labor Day

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:27:00 +0000

See, dazee hates Martha Stewart and her empire o' stuff, so generally, if I want to keep something of hers (mostly just magazines), I need to disguise them by ripping off the covers. Or, do like I did with her special cookie issue; rip the pages out, punch holes in them and throw 'em into a binder. Anyway, I have a few prized issues of Living I've managed to shove under the dazee-dar, specifically August 2005 (The Katrina issue), which discusses brown betties, buckles, cobblers, crisps, crumbles, grunts and pandowdies in detail, but unfortunately, gives no advice about patching broken levees.

I heart you, labor.

Over Labor Day weekend awhile back, I decided to give Bryanna's XgfX flour mix a go. I had collected a formidable collection of local fruit, and I wanted to throw them into a pie like form and try my hand at a little devil baking. Also, we were going to a potluck, and I wanted, nay--needed to uphold the Berns-Kerns reputation.

Having read through Martha's recipes and expert opinions on the subject, I settled for a pandowdy. A pandowdy is a type of pie, but with a single top crust; halfway through baking, you take a spoon and whack through the crust a bit, so fruity-juicy stuff oozes out. I liked the single crust plan, as I had no idea how workable the wheat-free crust would turn out. I also liked it, because I wanted to use my brand new mini alphabet cookie cutters to decorate the top.

Since I had never made a pandowdy before, I decided to stick with Martha's nice crust recipe too, I just veganized it and de-glutenized it, and swapperized her pecans for Oregon's beloved filbert.

Gluten-Free Toasted Hazelnut Pie Dough

1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, cooled (I left the skin intact)
1 cup flour (plus a little bit more in case your dough is wet like mine was)
1 teaspoon unbleached granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) Earth Balance, cold cold cold and cut into a small dice
A smidge of ice water, it might not be necessary

So basically, just do a pie crust thing. First coarsely grind the nuts in a food processor, then add 1 cup of the flour mix, the sugar (obviously leave this out for savories), and the salt. Once combined, throw in the cold Earth Balance and process. Regular pie crusts turn into a crumbly state at this point, but my gluten-free ingredients combined into a pasty sorta pastry--not good, or rather pretty unexpected. If this happens to you, throw in a bit more flour. Mine was so wet, I'm pretty sure I left out the water completely, but if yours isn't coming together, then go ahead and add just the tiniest amount, until the dough just comes together. Gather it all up into a disk, wrap it up and throw it in the fridge to chill well.

I had all sorts of fruit laying around for the filling: asian pears, regular pears, plums, blackberries, dried cherries and raisins, and I used it all. I sliced it all up, threw it in a bowl, sprinkled it with brown sugar, a few tablespoons of the XgfX flour, a little lemon juice, cardamon and salt. Once that was all mixed up, I laid it out in a pie pan, rolled out the dough, carefully transferred it on top of the fruit and finger-crimped the edges. After I cut out my secret message, I glued it on with a little soymilk, brushed more 'milk over the whole thing, then sprinkled it liberally with granulated sugar. Martha says to bake pandowdies at 375F, but I think that was too hot for the dough. Either that, or since I was using a new-to-me oven, I should've baked it on a lower rack. In either case, keep a sharp eye on your crust, you can always wrap the edges with a little foil, if it's browning too quickly. After the crust has set and begins to brown (the recipe said 45 minutes, but again that seemed too long for mine), take the pandowdy out and crush it in a bit with a spoon, then return it to the oven until the whole thing is oozy and crusty and perfectly golden brown.

I looked most forward to the spoon smashing, but when it was time for business, I wussied out. Since I was afraid I would eff up my cute letters, I just carefully smooshed around them. Next pie I'll hold off all bashing and plan for a full-on punched out story on top.

xo
kittee

P.S.
I want to form a vegan and gluten-free webring. If you have a website or blog that centers around these and want to be included, let me know!

P.P.S. I'm sending Teenagedvegan Primal Strip #6. Let me know in the comments if you want one, especially if you are XgfX.

Resist the Cupcake Resist.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:48:00 +0000

I wanted to whip up some cupcakes to donate to Food Fight's benefit movie night today, but I didn't have a lot of time. In the process of zipping and zooping around my tiny kitchen, I learned a new cupcake technique.

Remember those crayon resist drawings you did in primary school? Ya' know, the ones where you drew all over paper with crayons, then brushed brightly colored paint over the entire thing? Today, I converted this same technique to cupcakes.

First I baked a dozen chocolate cupcakes. Then I whipped up some blackberry fluffy filling, which was just non hydrogenated shortening blended with powdered sugar and homemade blackberry freezer jam. I injected the cupcakes with the fluffy stuff using a pastry bag, then did a quick microwave ganache. When I dipped the cupcakes into the molten chocolate, the ganache repelled over the center of the cuppers, where the fluffy filling was, and I ended up with a "resist" effect.

The blackberry filling looks loose in these photos, but it actually firmed up quite nicely in the fridge, pre-ganaching.

Fluffy soft centered chocolate cupcakes covered in an al dente chocolate topping are my kind of thing. I mean, they would be my kind of thing if I could eat them. With more time, I'd like to try these XgfX.

xo
kittee

P.S. Herbstonne is getting Primal Strip #5, who wants six?

Ball II

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:29:00 +0000

I am revisiting this post, because dazee's parents arrived today, and I wanted to make them a ball. You know, something nice to serve on a platter with crunchy, flax-y crackers and thinly sliced sections of my favorite apple, The Honey Crisp.

In a moment of grown up responsible decision making, I decided to ix-nay the whole "port cheese" concept, and go with plan B, which was less likely to be a giant nut ball disaster. First off, Brazil nuts are really expensive. I bought a 10oz bag and it came close to $9, far too many bills to chuck into the ol' compost tub, if my plan failed. Secondly, I tend to be overly experimental when I want to impress, especially when I should just chill and play it safe. The dilemma was I wanted to stir up the ball a bit. No boring balls. No ball repeats.

Mr. Ball II in his birthday suit.

My compromise was to modify the original ball, but to steer towards a roasty-smoky angle instead. I followed the same ball recipe, but used:

10 oz Brazil nuts
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 medium sweet red pepper, roasted and peeled (broil until dark brown and bubbly on all sides, cover to steam for 10 minutes, slip off skin)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons water
3/4 teaspoon salt
dash liquid smoke
1/8-1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
4 cloves of roasted garlic

This ball is a bit ugly.

Even though the ball is a bit on the ugly side, it was really delicious. I liked it even better than ball #1. In fact, I just spread some leftovers onto a warmed brown rice tortilla and ate it with more slices of those sweet, crispy and heavenly apples.

My only change for ball III will be to go against the recipe directions about rolling the ball in herbs first and then baking it. I've noticed once the ball is baked, the herbs dull from the heat and lose their zest. However, after the ball is baked, the exterior dries out a bit and chopped herbs would probably not stick. So when there is a next time, I shall bake The Thing sans herbs, then re-mash it to homogenize the drier outside with the soft inside, then re-roll in chopped herbs for taste and presentation.

I am taking a ball break for awhile. Balls are a good time, but too fattening for regular fare.

xo
kittee

P.S. As far as the Primal Strips go, Kilax is getting #4 because she has appealed to my southern side by stealthily referring to good ol' Stonewall's Jerquee, pride o' Lousiana. I have more, I have a lot more, so lemme know if you want one.

P.P.S. Check out gothtober.com, especially day #9, made by my good, good friends Gailiunicide.

Sunday's Sundae

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:37:00 +0000

We had a gal-pal crafty afternoon last weekend, followed by a walk down the street to investigate the brand new Back to Eden Bakery Boutique. Because one vegan bakery is never enough.

There were all sorts of lovely things to admire, and being the good friend I am, I picked dazee up a gorgeous slice of marionberry pie. They even had pretty XgfX muffins in the case, but the idea of 'em just wasn't quite flippin' my tizzies. Instead, I ordered one of my favorites, a decadent multi topping topped sundae. Sundae on Sunday=the perfect meal.

I chose the five buck deal: a very large dish of vanilla Coconut Bliss, topped with thick homemade caramel, peanuts and granola. This thing was freakin' enormous, and it hurt me to eat it all, which of course I did. Glory, glory.

My pickle liking friend, Michelle brought her own bowl, so she got even more ice cream than me. I could be wrong, but I believe she also went for the bang with Chicago Soydairy's vanilla soft serve, chocolate sauce, chocolate chips and crushed Newman O's.

Back to Eden Bakery Boutique
2217 NE Alberta Street
New Portleans, OR 97211

Oh yum.

Claryn is getting Primal Strip#3. Let me know in your comment if you want one, I have about 15 more!
xo
kittee

Even the Little Kids.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:36:00 +0000

I love baking for a good themed party, so when we were invited to an undead birthday celebration, I clicked my heels in the air and threw myself into a zombie tizzy cupcake fest.

Cue Theme Music:

Here's the best, first. Money shot!

1. I made 24 chocolate cupcakes with espresso.
2. Then holes were poked in each one and stuffed with blackberry fluffy cream (powdered sugar was whipped with non-hydrogenated shortening, a little extract and a few tablespoons of homemade blackberry freezer jam).
3. Then they were topped with chocolate mousse (half were also filled with this instead of the blackberry fluff). Y'know the recipe: blend a box of firm aseptic tofu with a bag of melted chocolate chips, some sort of extract and maple syrup or agave nectar to taste. Chill to set.
4. I chilled them good and prepared a poured fondant.*
5. I also decorated a bunch of choco roll out cookies. You can make the cookies stand up by using some fondant to glue a cookie to a little flat cookie base. I made a royal icing by blending a tiny bit of agave nectar with powdered sugar and then added water to get a spreading consistency. Once the cookies were fancied, I jammed a few on top of the cupcakes.

*Notes about the fondant:
1. I followed these instructions, but in these proportions (for 24 cupcakes):

3 3/4 cups unbleached granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
6 tablespoons agave nectar

I am very happy to report that agave nectar makes a perfect substitution for gross corn syrup, and nothing pleases me more, as I hope to never purchase that shit again. Agave also works great as fake blood, just dye it red and add the tiniest amount of water to thin.

The fondant was a dream to work with. Seriously, it's magic stuff. You can seal almost anything under it, and the process is extremely fun and rewarding. The trick is to keep it warm over a double boiler so it stays in a liquid state, then once you dip, the fondant immediately sets at room temperature. So just to explain clearly, once you beat the fondant in your food processor (with coloring if you want), it will turn into a thick paste. Scrape the paste into a heat proof bowl and warm over a double boiler, stirring all the while until it's smooth and loose. Keep it fairly hot until you've dipped everything (or double dipped if you're like me). You can store leftovers in the fridge, just reheat when you want to use it.

Fakin' it since these weren't XgfX.

For the record, there are two groups of creatures featured in the photos below. Group A are poor animal victims, their little brains have been ravaged by hungry undead men. Group B are the scary and starving zombie men. They have their arms out in front of them the way zombies are always shown walking in movies (who knew groom cookie cutters could come in so handy?). I have been unfairly accused in real life and on the internet of making pornographic undead cookies. I refute this accusation, they have bloody hands from ripping out the sheep brains.

Behold:

Poor de-brained sheep.

The zombie guys were spreading some weird version of swine flu.

I swear my thoughts were pure.

Pixiepine is getting Primal Strip#2. Comment if you want one, I have about 16 more!

xo
kittee

Ball.

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:15:00 +0000

You may have heard about Vegetarian Times' April nut cheeze article? Vegans were abuzz! I even blogged about it, I actually made a recipe from it, which I don't do often. It caused a real internet stir. My general feeling about the cashew cheeze recipe was that it was a pain to make and in the ended tasted like a log o' hummus. I think I've mentioned, I don't always have the best attitude.

Pretty logs, yes. But the flavor wasn't worth the effort.

Then recently, I was cooking for a picnic. A picnic full of fusion: Vietnamese bun (with caramel tofu), sangria (I have the best recipe) and XgfX crackers with a cheeze ball. I thought it all sounded perfect for an evening of swift watching, yes? The plans put me on a new quest for a new ball, a tasty good ball. So off to the PPK I went skipping with my hair puffs poofing, and my hard work and exertion were rewarded with ANOTHER VT cheese ball. The ingredients even looked suspiciously similar, but this ball called for brazil nuts instead of cashews.

Since Brazil nuts are quite good for the prostate, and I had two grown prostates to feed, I jumped in. Verdict: Brazil nuts make a good ball.

A good ball.

A mighty good ball indeed. This was easy to make, easy to form and the texture was great. I even brought the remaining ball camping with me, and it stayed together. The ball stayed together. My only change: I added a bunch of roasted garlic instead of raw, which I thought would be too harsh and hurt my head to think about.

Dazee's parents are coming this weekend, and I think I shall make this again, but with some roasted red pepper blended within--maybe in a sorta marbled style, like a port cheeze ball.

Oh no you're not. Yes, I am.

Also, if you want a primal strip, let me know. Since Dazee's not home form work yet, I'm picking from yesterday's comments. Since Mary's comment made me sad, she's getting the first XgfX chewy stick, y'all.

xo
kittee

Chewy Crunchy

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:06:00 +0000

The other mornin' as I was strolling through Food Fight on one of my regular jaunts with good ol' Vee, I noticed Primal Strips has two flavors that have recently been reformulated to be XgfX (they switched out a wheaty soy sauce, for one without). I was really glad to chomp one, since the chewy is something that I greatly enjoy and don't find often these day (soy curls are yummy, but not super chewy the way seitan can be).

Top Row L-R: hot & spicy shiitake, xgfx hickory smoked soy and teriyaki seitan.
Bottom Row L-R: mesquite lime seitan, XgfX Texas BBQ soy and Thai peanut seitan.

When I got home, I picked a few strands of jerky from my front molar, then wrote to thank the company for being so awesome. I also asked them to please send me a free box of Primals to give away during The MoFo. They happily obliged me with a package filled up with six different kinds: XgfX, seitan, and mushroom varieties! My sharing plan is to give one away everyday I post, until the party runs dry. If you want one, lemme know in a comment, and dazee'll be my daily random generator (please make sure your comment contains a link or an email so I can track you down). Also, I want to save the gluten-free varieties for the gluten-free'rs, so please make yourself known when you comment--unless you are just dying for a gluten free flavor--no unhappy vegans during MoFo!

In other successful Monday news containing no wheat. I was recently loaned a galley copy of Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book (soon to be released). I didn't have much hope for the book, since 1. I have a bad attitude about baking without wheat, and 2. I have a bad attitude about baking with xanthan gum, and 3. I have a bad attitude in general and 4. I felt personally burned by Babycakes.

Raspberry Cinnamon Scones, made with brown rice and garbanzo bean flours.

Scrounging through with wrinkled brow, I found a recipe for Blueberry Cinnamon Scones, which looked slightly promising. Since I had all the ingredients at hand and because the recipe calls for zero evil powder, I risked it. I swapped the blueberries for some really gorgeous and super-tasty-delicious golden raspberries we had stowed in the freezer, and the results were surprisingly good. Not exclamation point great, but still quite enjoyable. I know you can't see the berries in the picture, but their raspberry flavor is really bright.

xo
kittee

Interview Leftovers

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:35:00 +0000

Not the sunniest of afternoons, but I did my best.

Clockwise from top left:
Saag
I usually whip saag outta whatever mild greens are at hand. This was made from local beet greens and rainbow chard. I generally throw clean greens into a pot with a clove or two of garlic, a jalapeno pepper and a chunk of ginger. Then I steam it until the ginger and garlic are soft and puree it in the food processor with some olive oil and fresh cilantro. Then in the same pan, fry a bit of cumin seeds, ground cumin and ground coriander. Add the puree, mix, season to taste with salt and heat through.

Roasted Beets
Coarsely chopped peeled beets wrapped in tin foil with a bit of salt and a tiny bit of olive oil and baked till soft (@400F).

Mango Pickle
Care of Michelle, from World Vegetarian. I consider myself very lucky, indeed. This shit is excellent, and not too spicy really. Don't be afraid, it is very, very delicious.

Dal and Brown Rice
The dal was made from red lentils (masoor dal), boiled 'till soft in water with grated ginger and turmeric. When it softened, I threw in a peeled and chopped yellow tomato and a pinch of cayenne pepper. In a separate pan, I fried in a little oil: cumin seeds, ground cumin, ground coriander and curry leaves. I scraped the spices into the soft dal and added salt to taste.

xo
kittee

Kittee: A Portrait of Her Stoves

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:34:00 +0000

Kittee: A Portrait of Her Stoves
Part I of a Multi-Part Series

By Dazee
MoFo Legal Affairs Correspondent

For years, MoFo has wanted to sit down with Cake Maker to the Stars' Kittee and talk with her about the important things in life – the love and the laughter. Well, that didn't exactly happen when we spoke earlier today. She was cooking a huge dinner of chard- and beet-green saag, brown rice, roasted beets, roasted garlic, and masur dal, and that's it. This involved sorting through a half-rotten bunch of cilantro and putting the stems in the saag. Instead, we took a fascinating journey through her past as she talked about her stoves.

Kittee's childhood home, on Martingale Drive in McLean, VA, was the home of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, that ineffectual government entity so reviled by every president from Ike to Barack. Kittee had an idyllic childhood, romping across the lawns with her dog, Rosie, and the children of Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

MoFo: Kittee, thank you so much for speaking with us.

Kittee: (Laughs.) It's my pleasure.

MoFo: Let's talk about your parents' Martingale Drive stove.

Kittee: I don't really remember much about it except it was electric. It had an oven on top and bottom. Each burner had a set of 5 buttons you'd push, from warm to high. All the houses on my street had the same set-up.

There was this stuff from the '80s, Hollywood Popcorn, that came in a packet with hydrogenated yellow fat on one side and the kernels on the other. You'd squeeze the hard fat into the pan, then dump the kernels in. It's like old-fashioned popcorn, with disgusting oil. It was kind of a lot of popcorn.

MoFo: Did the Scalias have the same 5-button heat control on their stove?

Kittee: The Scalias were not in my neighborhood. Sorry to burst your bubble. They didn't live in Greenway Heights.

MoFo: But the Scalias lived in McLean, right?

Kittee: I don't know. They went to my high school. They might have lived in Great Falls.

MoFo was embarrassed by this glaring historical error. So we moved on. Kittee once lived at a house without a front doorknob.

MoFo: How about the stove in the house without a front doorknob?

Kittee: Oh my god. Shit, I don't remember anything about that. I'm sorry. I lived in that house shortly after I went vegan. I remember I made stuffed cabbage with nooch gravy. I made it out of The Cookbook for People who Love Animals. That's a really old-school cookbook. I might have wung it a little bit.

I can tell you about the fridge. The house housed a million people. The produce drawer was mine. There was some nasty stuff in that fridge. I ended up moving out of that house after this couple who got food stamps moved in and brought meat in. The food stamps was what made them bring food into the house. I would come home from work and the place would just stink like meat.

The guy who owned the house used to wear a unitard and sell tuna sandwiches at the Grateful Dead. Then that house ended up going into foreclosure, a little while after I moved out.

Xantham Gum is More Devilish than Bill Clinton by kittee

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:47:00 +0000

I was pondering Vegan MoFo subject matter in a public arena last night, when I was reminded of an important post I had begun a few weeks ago. I began writing it in a hot fit of hate and rage, and then when my boiling blood cooled a little, I was distracted by zombie cupcakes and poured fondant.

Here's what I wanted you to know:

XANTHAM GUM IS THE DEVIL STRAIGHT FROM THE BOWELS OF HELL. Some people in the elevator may tell you it's Bill Clinton, but they are wrong. Unless they have solid literature, do not listen to them.

Now I've known for some time that xantham gum is irritating stuff. It alone has caused me to avoid XgfX baking, for eleven months now. It has an unpleasant name. It makes me feel nervous and uncomfortable around flour. Also, it's wickedly expensive--what's to like? In New Orleans I could only find it in small bags for $15 bucks or so, too much to spend on a tenuous kitchen experiment. But here in Portland, I can find it in the bulk bins, which is besides the point, since I was recently given a hand-me-down bag of it (more proof that it's rotten stuff, people are trying to pass it off to the innocent). Anyway, I'd finally gotten to the point in my "journey" where I was becoming open to trying a XgfX mix. I thought experimenting with something within my comfort zone like Indian flatbreads--specifically simple chapathis and aloo paratha, would be a good idea.

So you know how slimy and gummy ground flax gets when it's been moistened? Have you ever dealt with psyllium husk slush? Do you know about mixing Gremlins and water? Xanthan Gum becomes a horrid plague when moistened with liquid--like a zillion billion trillion times worse than anything you could ever imagine. I seriously can't believe it was left out of the bible story. I know this to be true because I unknowingly threw some into the sink and then tried to wash it down the drain with running water.

Here's my warning--do not do this. You will be sorry, and you will never get it out of your sink, off your sponges, or away from your skin unless you use coarse gritty sand paper. Even then, you will still know it's there.

Instead, stick to recipes that do not require this evil nightmare, like Isa and Terry's gluten-free cupcakes from VCToTW.

The end.

P.S. I wrote a round roundup for Vegan MoFo International today.
xo
kittee

Power to the Pickle

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:56:00 +0000

I've always enjoyed a good glass receptacle, but since moving to New Portleans, I've noticed the quality of jars in my life have improved. First off, even though glass is recyclable here, people seem to save 'em--horde 'em even, depending on the variety.

Score Example #1

In the bulk department of our food co-op, there's a special dedicated drawer full of free, clean jars. On my last visit, I peered inside and snagged a nice amber colored one (good for spices) and a large Vegenaise jar. After sniffing to make sure they weren't funked, I stuffed 'em with hazelnuts and brought them home to turn them into honest women.

Jars are great for all kinds of things.

You can make spice blends and give them away as gifts, or keep them for yourself.

If you can find 'em, Adam's peanut butter come in superb glass specimens. I found a few in Vancouver, B.C. a long while back and just re-discovered them while makin' groceries in town. It must be a West Coast brand, and boy did I want to buy a jar, not for the peanut butter, but simply for the glass quality. Solid!

Here's my Adam's jar posing on the left, please pretend it's full of XgfX oat flour starter for injera. That's the plan, which will be materialized in due course.

There are a lot of BIG jars here, too. Apparently, the larger the jar, the more pickle power you get out of it. See, besides being a jar-centric city, the people of New Portleans are really into fermentation, preserving, and putting food "up." Michelle lent me one of her coveted gallon bottles, which is currently resting on top of the fridge holding some brewing bancha tea kombucha. During a recent kombucha workshop I attended, I learned that kombucha scobies are most accurately described as "biological mats." Tasty, yes?

When we first moved here from the South with no jars to call our own, it hurt Michelle terribly. So before I coaxed that gigantic jar out of her myriad collection, she donated a few to start me off right--mini versions of Bob's Red Hot with flip up tops. Serious 'biz! Last weekend, I filled one of those puppies with tasty vegan nuoc cham and brought it camping to eat with soft noodle-y rice paper rolls.

Favorite Jar #1, circa 1996. Scored while interning at the Women's Studio Workshop in NY.

I lied a little. We did move with a few jars, but small ones, the ones that dazee could not pry from my firm, fast grip. My favorite jar, has a pink and red spiral top and is full of chipotle peppers.

xo
kittee

Vegan MoFo Roundups! MoFo Maps 'n More More More!!!

kittee68@yahoo.com (kittee) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:14:00 +0000

Vegan MoFo 2009 begins in thirty-six short hours! The latest tally shows over 315 blogs signed up and ready to proliferate daily in this earth shakin' event. We have over 315 blogs participating, and I'm guessin' there'll be a mad dash to make the deadline to participate, which is this Friday October 2nd. So who knows, there could be over 10,556 blogs to keep up with.

There are big plans in the works at Vegan MoFo Headquarters International, where you'll be able to check in everyday to read a daily MoFo Roundup, see a map of MoFoers form around the globe (sorta like Hands Across the Vegan Blogo-Galaxy), see if there are any mini Mofo events taking place, and other fancy stuff like that.

Big wazo favor please! If you're MoFo-ing can you please email the following to kittee68 at gmail dot com--for the love and hugs globe project above and to create an offical email list:
Your blog's URL, your email address and your location in the universe?

Y'all are the best little beanie weanie mofo sweeties ever.
xo
kittee