BoozDay Tuesday I

It's Booze-day Tuesday!

Day two of my vegan mofo means a day full of spirits, bubbles, vino, booze! Today I'm exploring food made with alcohol, particularly beer. Surprisingly, I've never made or tasted beer bread. After a quick perusal of the interwebz, I realized just how easy beer bread would be. Frankly, I'm dumbfounded as to why I haven't made beer bread before, considering how much I love beer and bread. The result was well worth the five minutes it took to throw together, and an hour in the oven is hardly a long time when you're busy playing video games with your boyfriend (you remember the breakfast wizard, right?)

 

I chose something I had on hand, a Southampton Keller Pils. I thought a pilsner would be good for my first beer bread, as it is generally a lighter beer and would result in a more basic flavored bread. I definitely plan to experiment with darker beers, like a stout, and even some flavored beers - I can't stop eyeing the pumpkin ales rolling into the liquor shop around the corner!

Above is the dough, which came together like so:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar

Mix your dry ingredients and then add a 12 oz beer of your choice. Mix until combined and add to a greased loaf pan. Drizzle the top of your dough with 1/4 cup melted vegan butter (I used earth balance) or olive oil and bake for one hour in a 375 degree oven. Voila!

And it was good! It was slightly sweet, very soft, and had a very crunchy top. I chose a really basic recipe, but I think this bread could be vamped up a number of ways - dill & cheddar, pumpkin spice (with that pumpkin ale I mentioned earlier), garlic, etc. 

I paired my (huge) chunk of beer bread with a convenient boxed soap. I've never tried this soup before, but I enjoyed it. It was a little thin, so I added some boiled potatoes and carrots, and topped it with basil and cashew pieces. Not pictured is the half-empty bottle of wine - it's wouldn't be booze day without one.

So readers, do you have any suggestions for incorporating alcohol into food? What are some of your favorite dishes in which your pour on the booze?

Vegan MoFo - Day 12

Day 12 - Earl Grey Tea

If my partner Matt weren't so busy playing Witcher 2, I'd ask him to write this post. Afterall, his favorite tea just happens to be today's MoFo feature!

Earl Grey tea with a splash of frothed soymilk

Before I divulge the wondrous experience that is a cup of Earl Grey, let me be the first to complement the creator of the mug you see pictured. Anne Marie’s Pottery shop on Etsy make some of the most well crafted tableware I’ve seen. For Matt’s birthday, I purchased a mug she made especially for left-handed men fashioning moustaches. It’s amazing and I kind of wish I had a thick ‘stache just so I could experience this mug honestly. At any rate, Earl Grey tea is especially enjoyable out of mugs…

Bit o’ History: Earl Grey tea is brought together by combining black tea with the oil of bergamot, a citrus fruit. It’s a very popular blend found in any half-decent café* and is the most common type of tea in the US and England. It’s named after Charles I Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. In 1806, Charles I was given the title of Earl Grey, but died only a year later. His son Charles II (the 2^nd Earl Grey) is actually the one who went on to have a tea named after him! Many theorists believe Earl Grey II received the tea as a gift from the Chinese – the actual inventors of the tea.

When browsing the shops for Earl Grey tea, I try to look for brands that use Chinese black tea leaves over Indian black tea. Narien and Lupicia are great quality tea merchants that have online stores if your local grocer doesn't carry them.

Cheers!

*Let’s not confuse good tea with the shavings found in most grocery stores these days.