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...

Monday Morning Breakfast I

October is here, which means, among welcoming the cooler weather with open arms, that the blog-osphere just got a bit bigger - Vegan MoFo has officially started! Check out the Vegan Month of Food website if you'd like to learn more about this blogging extravaganza.

It's Monday, the first day of the week (take that, Sunday!), the first day of October, and the first day of mofo. What better way to commemorate all of these "firsts" than with the first meal of the day, breakfast! The credit for such an amazing first meal is due entirely to my boyfriend, Matt. He loves breakfast foods, and he isn't shy about it either.

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast - John Gunther

Behold! The quintessential American vegan breakfast: tofu scramble, roasted potatoes, toast, and...carrot bacon! There are a handful of vegan "bacon" recipes out there - utilizing tofu, tempeh, and eggplant - but I haven't seen one that used carrots. Matt sliced the carrots thinly and marinated them in tamari, maple syrup, and liquid smoke. Then he steamed and sauteed them until they were soft and the marinade had caramelized, making it nice and crispy.

Get your kraut on!

During my visit to Chicago in early October, I spent a lot of time in small bookstores and infoshops, browsing for some new reading materal. Quimby's was an awesome little shop full of unqiue books, comics, zines, and general schwag. I decided to pick up a copy of Sandor Katz's Wild Fermentation, and was not disappointed. I've read that zine cover-to-cover several times, and I'm really looking forward to working through the many recipes included. Since the only thing I've ever fermented was sourdough, I thought I'd start slow with the first and most notable fermented food: Sauerkraut!

Since this was my first attempt, I made a really small batch. As per Sandorkraut's recommendation, I mixed 2 parts green cabbage with 1 part red cabbage for a purdy pink kraut. You can slice or shred the cabbage however you like, just remember that larger pieces will take longer to break down. I went with larger slices and a few thin shreds. As you chop your veggies, add them to a large food grade bucket and sprinkle with NON-iodized salt (very important to use the stuff that isn't iodized, as it will inhibit the growth of good bacteria), repeating this process each time you add a new layer.

Pack the cabbage as you add more layers; I used a potato masher but clean fists will also do the trick. Continue to add-and-pack until you used up all the cabbage. Note that the resulting kraut will shrink to more than half the size of the fresh cabbage.

Once you've added all the cabbage, liberally salted, you'll want to top your veggies with a clean plate that fits perfectly snug into your container (I used the lid of another plastic container, which fit perfectly). Top that plate with a jug filled with water, or any other heavy item you have on hand. For the next day or so, as often as you remember, push the jug into the kraut as hard as you can. This will help the salt draw moisture from the cabbage, creating the brine in which the cabbage will ferment! After the first day, cover your fermenting cabbage with a cloth to keep away flys and dust. Every couple of days, I pressed mine back down to make sure the cabbage was covered with brine. After almost two weeks, it was ready!

It'll keep fermenting for another month or so (longer in cold weather), but once it gets super soft, it might not taste so good. I moved mine into the fridge and am so pleased with my first fermentation project. It was really easy!! As you saw before, I tried my first batch on a portobello Reuben sandwich.

Vegan MoFo Straggles On

While the official end of Veganmofo was this past Monday, I'm going to try and keep blogging as frequently as I can. I fell a little short last month, completing mofo with just over half of the scheduled 31 posts. Here's one named food (from my theme) that didn't make the cut, but will always hold a place in my heart.

This Reuben strays from the many vegan Reuben's popping up on every street corner. Instead of the usual plant proteins (tempeh, tofu, seitan), I've used juicy grilled portobellos sliced and seasoned with lemon pepper and nutritional yeast. Typically covered with a melted swiss, I opted for a healthier chickpea gravy to help creamify this sammy. Ruby kraut (made in my house by my hands!!) and quick-fix version of thousand island turn the taste of this Reuben around from wow to WOWOWOW! And yes, that is pumpernickel bread.

Since this sandwich was developed on the fly (once the kraut was ready, actually), I don't have a standard recipe, so feel free to go your own way (go your own waaAaay!) and dress it how ever you like! Also, can you tell I wrote this after 1.5 beers?

Chicago, Pt. 2

Here are a few more pictures from my trip to Chicago last weekend!


BBQ Seitan Sandwich from Handlebar



Buffalo Seitan Wrap from Handlebar



Breakfast Scramble from Revolution Brewing
Tofu, fried polenta, string beans, leeks, pesto sauce w/ dark rye



Breakfast drinks! I'm on the right with a Beermosa and Matt on the left with a dark bock.



Vegan MoFo - Day 14

Day 14 - Chicken Tetrazzini!

Like I mentioned before, I'll use any excuse in the book for more noodles. When I discovered that the heart-stealing chicken Tetrazzini was named after someone, I just couldn't resist!

Ok, so this isn't the most photogenic plate of food, but it sure is tasty! This dish is named after the famed Italian opera singer, Luisa Tetrazzini. I don't know much about opera, but I did learn that she was pretty famous for her phenomenal vocal abilities. Like the success of her operatic career, so too has this dish found wooed many munchers.

I didn't really follow a recipe for this, nor did I write anything down during the process. Basically, it's al denta pasta combined with sauteed onions, cremini mushrooms, carrots and peas, and tossed with a roux-thickened cream sauce and chopped almonds. I spread that mixture in a 2-quart casserole and baked for 30 minutes, until the tops was slightly crunchy. More almonds and a heavy sprinkle of nooch to complete!