One week of VeganMoFo and graham crackers

Dear Alton Brown,

You have let me down. I hate to say it but it’s true. I have always loved your clever mix of science and culinary adventures. I love learning the history of carrots and the chemistry of preserves. I guess graham crackers just aren’t your thing though. I followed your recipe with as much accuracy as possible. Do you know how difficult it is to measure 3/8 oz of graham flour? It’s not easy. I diligently followed your instructions but things just weren’t adding up. When my dough should have been forming a ball, it was still a slushy paste. I gave in and added a bit more flour. Instead of getting closer to this ball of dough you promised, my food processor started to smoke. Moving on. Soon enough my apartment smelled of baking cinnamon and I thought all was not lost. Right as the timer went off I opened the oven to discover…

…my graham crackers burnt to a crisp. How could you lead me so astray? I put my faith in your exactness and I expect simple perfection in return.  Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is. Next time, I’ll trust my graham recipe needs to the vegan bloggers.

Sincerely,

Alix

Mushroom & garlic tofu ravioli

It’s official. Making ravioli makes me feel like a real cook. A chef even! I’ve made pies and crepes and hundreds of cupcakes, but this did it. Ok, so I did make one mistake in the process which made the end result not as pretty as I would have liked, but they still tasted amazing.

I started out using this homemade pasta recipe. I got a little excited at the market and got a few different flours so I’m going to try a semolina flour version as well. For the filling, I sauteed some chopped baby bella mushrooms in olive oil and some white wine, with just some salt and pepper and a touch of basil.

I wanted to add some tofu ricotta, but I realized I didn’t have all the necessary ingredients. Then I got a little carried away with the minced garlic (as usual). So it’s more like garlic tofu ricotta. That is not at all a bad thing.

Garlic Tofu Ricotta

7 oz firm tofu (about half a container) drained and crumbled

3 cloves minced garlic

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp tahini

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp onion powder

Put all ingredients in a bowl and combine using a fork.

After rolling out two sheets of the pasta dough, spoon on a little of both the mushrooms and tofu, trying to stay in a grid pattern as much as possible. Cover with the second sheet and seal in the filling with your fingers, starting in the middle as to not make air pockets. Cut each square with a pie cutter or sharp knife.

Cook in a medium pot of boiling water for approximately three minutes, being careful not to split any holes in them. Definitely don’t put them in a bowl before you put them in a pot and let them get all stuck together. Who would do something like that? Definitely not me! I’m a pro! Oh wait….

White Russian Cupcakes

Do I really need to describe these? White Russian in a cupcake. I’m just gonna go ahead and give you the recipe. Beware this frosting is deadly.

White Russian Cupcakes

Kahlua batter

½ cup soy milk

½ tsp white vinegar

1 ¼ cup flour

1 Tbsp corn starch

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp oil

½ tsp vanilla

1 tsp coffee extract

2 Tbsp Kahlua

1 tsp vodka

Cream batter

½ cup soy milk

½ tsp white vinegar

1 cup + 2 Tbsp flour

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar

4 Tbsp oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp vodka

White Russian Frosting

1/4 cup Earth Balance

2 Tbsp Kahlua

2 tsp vodka

1 – 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°. Fill cupcake tray with liners.

The trick with this recipe is to make both batters at the same time. That means mix all your wet ingredients and all your dry ingredients for both batches simultaneously and then combine them both together. That means you should be working with four bowls.

Mix soy milk and vinegar and set aside. Combine all the dry ingredients for both batters in two separate bowls. In two more bowls, combine all wet ingredients adding the soy milk mixture last. Mix the wet and dry for the Kahlua batter until there aren’t an noticeable lumps. Divide between the 12 cups. Then mix wet and dry for the creme mixture and fill the cups the remaining 3/4 full.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool on a rack completely.

For the frosting, beat the Earth Balance until smooth. Add the Kahlua and vodka and beat until fully combined. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and beat until smooth again. Add more powdered sugar as necessary. A note on this, I used the soy free Earth Balance which is not as dense as the regular stuff so I used 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar, I imagine only 1 cup will be needed though normally. Also, double the recipe if you want to pipe the frosting.

Eat these suckers (but don’t eat too many)!

 

Veganmofo day 4:Spaghetti Squash Sunday

So, I’ve never had spaghetti squash before. It is one strange vegetable. A squash that peels apart into strands of spaghetti. Imagine that. This fall I thought I’d try my hand at one. They seemed fairly simple to prepare, just cut open lengthwise, poke a few holes in it and bake, cut side down for 45 minutes to an hour at 375°. No one mentions how hard it is to cut these things in half. Not easy at all. With a little bit of difficulty though, I finally managed.

I also put about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of the baking sheet to help soften it. When it is done, you should be able to insert a sharp knife into the outside easily. Remove from the oven and let cool enough so that it can be handled. Scoop out seeds with a spoon and discard. Then comes the fun part.

Using a fork, scrape down the flesh of the squash lengthwise. It will come out easily in strands. I then sauteed the squash in some Earth Balance with minced garlic, basil, salt, pepper and chervil. Though it may seem like you have a great deal of squash, it cooks down significantly.

I wanted to add something else into the mix so I also added some baked mochi. I had bought a package of brown rice mochi at the store thinking it was a very different thing than what I got. The mochi, when baked, puffs up kind of like a pastry, but has a sort of gelatinous explosion from it’s center. It’s very strange. I threw my strange mochi puffs in with the squash as it browned in the pan.

The bizarre combination actually tasted delicious. The mochi had a very light flavor and gave some volume to the dish, making it more filling without complicating it. The squash is rich and autumnal. It isn’t as dense as other squashes but still has the same texture. I’m still intrigued and want to try some more recipes with it; perhaps a casserole.

Veganmofo III, day 3

I was going to take the day off from blogging this weekend and just stick with blogging every weekday, but instead I’m going to show off the awesome lunch I had today. Flore Cafe has been having themed all you can eat buffets on the weekends for $10. Today was vegan soul food including mac and cheese, black-eyed peas, collard greens with tempeh, cole slaw and a corn muffin. What could be better than all you can eat vegan macaroni and cheese? I ate 2 1/2 plates of food, so I think I got more than my money’s worth. The cole slaw was honestly the best slaw I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t even particularly like cole slaw but I wanted to eat tons of this stuff. It was fresh, crunchy and sweet. So good. Sunday, they have their  all you can eat vegan brunch which I highly recommend.They have some great vegan french toast and seitan cutlets. There honestly isn’t a better brunch deal out there.