Monday Morning Breakfast II (or Tuesday Brunch?)

*sorry, I'm late!*

I decided to take Saturday and Sunday off because of a pretty stressful week and busy weekend; however, I full intend to post on future weekends, partly due to the fact that Saturday and Sunday are my favorite themed posts! Next week, look forward to a beautiful day at the Red Stick Farmer's Market, where I intend to shop for produce, local fruity wines (blackberry, muscadine, and orange!), and munch on my favorite pepita and cilantro hummus. On Sunday, I'll share something new - most likely a new vegan snack food or ingredient. Do you have any suggestions for new products you think I should try?

Today's theme focuses on breakfast foods! What better way to kick start a long day/week with a huge and hearty plate of waffles?

The is hands-down my favorite waffle recipe. If you don't own a copy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan Brunch, then you need to rectify that asap! I've tried most of the recipes in this book, none of which have failed me (but that shouldn't surprise you, it's ISA!). I cooked up a batch of her Cornbread Waffles which are fluffy, gritty-in-a-good-way, and majorly delicious.

Topped with bananas, blackberries and a bit o' maple syrup, these waffles are tops. I managed to get 6 regular full-sized waffles (per the recipe) and 1 mini waffle from this recipe. 

First bite, yum!

Cookbook-ing Wednesday I

On this third day of mofo, I thought it would be nice to take a look at what other bloggers are working on. While I haven't had much time to peruse the hundreds of participating blogs, I have stumbled upon quite a few gems (and my bookmarks tab has gotten much fatter).

A dinner part is taking place each week at Cadry's Kitchen, and this week's party is inspired by the Wizard of Oz. Each recipe is based on a character from the film - the Scarecrow's long days guarding fields of corn motivated his Corn & Black Bean Salad, while the Tin Woodman made Tortilla Twigs which are filled with heart-healthy yummies like beans, berries, and artichoke hearts.

I'll be diligently following Muffin Topped now that I've discovered her theme: a month of waffles! I'm really intrigued by the Norwegian Potato Waffles she made yesterday.

And how could I forget Joyfulgirl's rice and beans? Yup, rice and beans all month long! Considering that rice and beans in a staple food in most countries around the world, I'm really looking forward to any new combinations I'm not familiar with!

And now onto today's theme - Cookbook Challenge Wednesday. I random selected a cookbook from my collection and it was...Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman! This book has some seriously promising meals. I haven't much from it, so I'm really glad it made it into the cookbook challenge. The recipe for this week is the Chorizo and Potato Lasagna!

 

Creamy potatoes layered between spicy chorizo tomato sauce, all topped with a silky cream sauce and baked to golden brown perfection! This recipe took about 1.5 hours to come together, but it was well worth the wait and effort. To cut down on time spent in the kitchen, one could easily prep the potatoes and chorizo sauce (including Celine and Joni's recipe for chorizo TVP) in advance. Speaking of the chorizo sauce, I could eat that on anything. It's a fresh tomato sauce with shallots, garlic, olives, capers and chorizo (from TVP), among other things. And that creamy topping was basically heated soymilk, cornstarch and some spices - simple and really yummy.

 Assembling took some patience because the potatoes are very delicate (although that could be attributed to my thin slicing and possibly overcooking). I got about two layers of potatoes and three layers of sauce from this recipe. Once you pour on the cream sauce, you bake it and...

There you have it! A bubbling golden brown, spicy, creamy Chorizo and Potato Lasagna. Now, if you'll excuse me...

Vegan MoFo - Day 21

Day 21 - Pie & Praise!

This year's Vegan MoFo has unleashed some pretty remarkable blogs, recipes, themes, photos/videos, etc. I've bookmarked and pinned untold amounts of vegan awesomeness, which I'll probably be going through well into the new year. Some favorites have included Fork & Beans Homemade Twix Bars, this Homemade Tofu tutuorial from Messy Vegetarian Cook, and basically the entirety of Meet the Wiko's mofo theme - street food! There are so many awesome contributions that my head is spinning, and we've still got another week of awesome.

With all this mofo marvelousness, I thought it'd be ok to take a break from my mofo theme to celebrate the arrival of one of the greatest things to ever (finally) exist.

Let's hear it for the pie! Oooh, let's give the pie a haa-aa-y-ayaannd!

Vegan Pie in the Sky completes the trilogy of dessert books by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero. I've made two things from this book so far. First, the Pear Frangipane Tart (recipe found HERE), and second (only after receiving my physical copy), the Maple-Kissed Blueberry Pie! I had to use frozen blueberries because the only fresh ones available we out-of-season, mushy and ridiculously high-priced. This pie tasted great, but please heed Moskowitz&Romero's warnings and UP THE THICKENER when using frozen fruits. My filling was a little thin, but quickly firmed up after a night in the fridge. And by the way, that crust is 100% homemade...and it was pretty easy!

I'm so excited to bake my way through this book!!

Vegan MoFo - Day 17

Day 17: V-Eggs Benedict

Finally, the MoFo post I've been waiting for! Actually, I've been yearning to make this next dish for months, and I can't fathom why I've waited so long!



Tofu Benny's from Vegan Brunch

Bit o' History: For the longest time, I thought eggs Benedict were named after that treasonous flip-flopper Arnold! Actually, most historians acknowledge two different versions of the original eggs Benedict, neither of which include ole Arnold. My favorite of the two involves Lemuel Benedict, a Wall street broker from the late 19th-century. Lemuel was suffering from a hangover and supposedly ordered “some buttered toast, crisp bacon, two poached eggs, and a hooker of hollandaise sauce” at Waldorf Hotel in New York. The chef, Oscar Tschirky, was really impressed (by the guy's ability to fabricate such a magnificent meal whilst suffering a hangover - I'd be pretty impressed, too), and decided to put the dish on his permanent menu, after subbing an English muffin and Canadian bacon. Version 2 of this story is a bit less entertaining. Some rich lady, Mrs. LeGrand Benedict, was bored with her favorite restaurant's menu and demanded something new! I hope her tantrum was as wild as the one in my imagination.

For a vegan version of this breakfast classic, I looked to one of my favorite cookbooks of all time - Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Her recipe for Tofu Benny's marinates and lightly fries tofu circles (save the scraps for a scramble later on!) and she subs thick beefsteak tomato slices for the bacon. I used whole wheat English muffins and Isa's recipe for Hollandaise sauce (also from Vegan Brunch), and garnished with julienned basil. Super!!

Vegan MOFO - Day 2

Day 2 - Bartletts and Frangipane

Better late than never! I may be two hours away from the official start of the third day of MOFO, but I have my reasons. Firstly, my parents were visiting me from Florida this weekend, and since I haven't seen them in nearly a year, their arrival took precedence. Secondly, Louisiana experienced it's first taste of the upcoming autumn weather! Can you believe that it is currently 58 degrees F right now?! I couldn't get over such a drastic change in the outdoor air - I spent the majority of my day sitting outside in the sun, soaking in the not-so-skin-melting breeze. This is our first taste of fall, and I'm so excited to start using the oven to bake bread, roast vegetables, and cook with heat. In honor of this refreshing weather, I wanted to make something warm and comforting, and baking seemed like the perfect medium. Following my theme - Food Named after People - I choose to feed two birds out of one hand (a much better idiom, don't you think?).

 

Bit o' History: The Williams' bon chretien pear, commonly referred to as the Williams or Bartlett pear in the US/Canada is the most widely grown pear variety in most countries outside of Asia. The cultivar was acquired by a nurseryman named Williams in the 18th-century, brought to the US in 1799 and planted on an estate of Roxbury, Massachusetts. Enoch Bartlett acquired these grounds and, unaware of their pears' origin, he named them after himself! Eventually folks figured out that the Williams and Bartlett pears were the same cultivar and everything was dandy.

Pear Frangipane Tart - Vegan Pie in the Sky

My efforts to try and capture the cooling weather were a success, thanks to the fabulous duo - Isa & Terry! These ladies have just finished a trilogy of dessert cookbooks with Vegan Pie in the Sky, and several recipes are available for preview on The PPK blog. I chose to make the Pear Frangipane Tart.

Bit o' History: Frangipane is the term used to describe an almond pastry filling (and tart), named for the 16th-century Marque Muzio Frangipani of the Frangipane ("Breadbreakers") Family. Their name is said to have come from the fact that an ancestor was noted for distributing bread to the poor during times of famine. Throughout the Middle Ages, this family was ranked highly among the Roman patrician and were chief adversaries to high ranking political families.


Pear Frangipane Tart (unbaked) - Vegan Pie in the Sky

Like Isa & Terry preface, this tart is very fancy!  I made the suggested Almond Crust - one of the easiest pie crust recipes ever - and only needed 2 large Bartletts. The frangipane bakes into a soft and moist blanket, keeping those sweet pears warm on these cool autumn months. I forgot the brush the top with apricot preserves at first, but spooned some on just before serving. This tart was amazing and so simple! I would eat Frangipane from a bowl with a spoon - it was that good!



Pear Frangipane Tart - Vegan Pie in the Sky

Cookbook Challenge - Isa/Terry

Earlier this year I participated in my first Cookbook Challenge, hosted on the Post Punk Kitchen vegan forum. Each week a different cookbook, or cookbook author, is featured and participants will be cooking several recipes that they haven't yet tried. As a participant, I'll be posting photos and reviews of my selected batch of recipes at the forums as well as this here blog. This past week, any of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's or Terry Hope Romero's cookbooks were up for the challenge. Here's what I ended up cooking and from which cookbook the recipe originated:

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad - Appetite for Reduction

Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls - Veganomicon

Udon Noodles with Kale, Shiitakes and Miso Broth - Veganomicon

Marble Cupcakes - Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

 And it was all out-of-this-world delicious!