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.
Vegan Crème Brulée Experiment
I decided to embark on the wonderful challenge of making vegan crème brulée. This has always been one of my favorite desserts, but I never considered trying to make a vegan version myself. I wanted to try to use a cashew base instead of relying on tofu, as I find that often desserts that have a subtle flavor and a good deal of tofu can some times be too plain. After mixing my first batch, I tested the uncooked custard before it went in the oven and it had a very strong cashew flavor. Since I had extra of all the ingredients, I thought it would be best to try another batch with a different recipe, to make a less intense version. Here are the results and recipes to go along with them.
Vegan Crème Brulee v.1 ¼ cup silken tofu ½ cup sugar 1 cup raw cashews ¼ cup Mimicreme or soy creamer 2 Tbsp corn starch 1 Tbsp vanilla 1 tsp lemon
Vegan Crème Brulee v.2 1 cup silken tofu ½ cup sugar ½ cup raw cashews ¼ cup Mimicreme or soy creamer 1 Tbsp corn starch 2 Tbsp vanilla 2 tsp lemon
The process for each version is nearly the same, version 2 just has to cook a little longer.
1. Preheat oven to 325° Place your dishes on a cookie pan. Depending on your dishes, this will make 4-6 servings.
2. In a food processor, blend the tofu until it is smooth. While the processor is still running, add the sugar and let blend until smooth before adding the cashews and soy creamer together. Blend until there are no chunks, this should take a few minutes. Finally, add the cornstarch, vanilla and lemon, blending until everything is combined.
3. Pour the custard into your dishes and place in the oven. Cook for 15-20 mins for version 1 and 25-30 for version 2. The outsides will be slightly firm and centers still slightly soft.
4. Let cool to room temperature and then place in refrigerator. Refrigerate for approximately 2 hours or until cold.
5. Sprinkle with sugar, enough to make a thin layer over the top of the custard. Use a butane torch to caramelize the sugar. If you don’t have a torch, you can try putting them under the broiler for a few minutes.
I was impressed at how good these were. Both have a strong cashew flavor, but it isn’t overwhelming. I believe this is mostly due to the flavor of the Mimicreme which is also made from cashews/almonds. I think next time I’d like to use a generic soy creamer to make it a bit lighter. Version 1 was much denser. The flavor was smoothed out when it baked and was very pleasing and rich. Version 2 was lighter and creamier but wasn’t quite as custard like. Back to back, they didn’t have major flavor differences, they did have the same ingredients after all, it was mostly just a difference of consistency and intensity.
I have only had one vegan crème brulée ever, which was amazing, so I know that a fantastic vegan version is possible. These were really good (I’ve eaten 3 already!) but I know they could be even better. This is one experiment I won’t mind repeating.
Donut Fever or mini donut disaster
This all too common ailment afflicts nearly as many as the flu, but it can be even more devastating to vegans who cannot easily satisfy their donut craving. Recently a friend of mine fell victim to this affliction, and a very rare strain known as mini-donut fever. As you may know, the only cure is to eat donuts, in this case mini-donuts. So we set out on a mission to make our own vegan mini donuts using the recipe from Vegan Yum Yum as a starting place.
It should have been an an easy enough task, with a clear recipe to follow, but things did not go as planned. Plain baked donuts are good, but blueberry sounded even better so we threw in a handful of wild blueberries to the batter of our first batch, but the batter was already looking awfully wet. We carried on, hoping for the best. The best was not so good. Despite the recipe saying that you should not grease the pan (it was non-stick anyway) the donuts stuck horribly, and because the added berries, fell apart when you tried to remove them. They still tasted rather good though, so we ate a few of the ugly bits.
Round two, we added more flour and greased the pan. This batch came out better than the last but as they sat out, became rather crunchy. I would still consider these fairly successful. We glazed them with a blueberry juice glaze which was fantastic and so pretty.
Next we decided to go for some pumpkin spice donuts. This time we abandoned the recipe completely. Bad idea. While these donuts had the correct consistency, fluffy and light, the flavor was just off completely. There was neither enough pumpkin nor spice. Three out of three taste testers agreed, these donuts tasted like…hay. Yep, you got that right. They tasted like dried grass. I’m sure you could pass them off to some unsuspecting health-food type, but that is not what we were interested in. We had already frosted them before we realized that they tasted so bad, so at least they looked pretty.
The unfortunate side effect of this endeavor is that I’ve now come down with donut fever myself. Look out for some more (hopefully more successful) donut making in the near future.
Also get ready because it’s almost time for Veganmofo 2009. I can’t wait to get cookin’. Last year’s veganmofo really inspired me to work harder on this blog and get it going from something that I did only for myself to something I shared with people.
Yeasted breads
I haven’t been sleeping very well lately. I know it is because I’m jet-lagged but the past week has been a little strange. It has contributed to a wonderful development in my home though. When you wake up at 3 am and your fridge is empty, it makes perfect sense that you should bake some bread. Right? I thought so. In the past week I’ve been experimenting with some yeasted breads. I can’t help but still get a thrill when they rise up like magic.
Perhaps the most delicious and filling was the rosemary focaccia. I used the recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking pretty much exactly as it was written. This loaf was dense and yet fluffy, moist and salty and completely packed with rosemary flavor. The one time I’ve made focaccia before it was not nearly this thick and wonderful. I want to eat a million sandwiches off of this stuff. The crust has a light oiled flavor and the olives compliment the whole thing quite nicely.
Another project was a basic french loaf. This was the simplest of the batch but still satisfying. It was plain but great for toast. The crust was fairly crunchy as I tested out the technique of throwing water in the oven to steam it. I was impressed for it being such a basic loaf that it really was so good. This was also the quickest to prepare, easy to turn to in a pinch.
When I was researching tips to make my french loaf, I discovered that everyone in the bread making world seemed to be crazy about this No-Knead recipe from the NY Times. Of course I had to try it as well, despite it having a rising time of 20 hours total. Everything I read, promised me a light interior with a beautiful crunchy crust. I was not let down. I must admit that I definitely messed up this recipe. At hour 12 or so I could see that my dough was definitely too wet. Being that it had been rising for so long I just decided to go ahead with it anyway and hope for the best. Though I know that something was off, just by looking at the dough, it still tasted amazing. It was insanely good and very easy to assemble, despite my mis-measuring somewhere. If you have the foresight to put this together a day in advance, it is well worth the wait.
Vegan Italy
Last week Shawn and I went to Italy! He was the best man in a friends wedding that took place in the town of Cortona. It was an amazing trip, a beautiful wedding and an awesome experience all together. I love Italian food as much as the next person but I have to say I was a bit worried about getting meals that were totally vegan especially since I don’t speak any Italian whatsoever. Quite the contrary to what I had feared, I had some truly unforgettable vegan meals.
The wedding was a full two day event with multiple five course dinners, not to mention lots of wine, hor d’oeuvres, and breakfast treats. Lucky for us, we had our own special vegan menu. The majority of the meals were vegetarian to start with and minor adjustments were made to accommodate us. Everything was insanely delicious. All the vegetables were so fresh and delightful. The tomatoes were like nothing I have ever had before and courses dressed with olive oil were to die for. I still can’t get over how delicate and fresh everything was and how well all the flavors complimented each other.
After the wedding, we spent the remainder of our time in Rome as neither of us had ever been before. We managed to see a great deal of the city by foot, on bicycle and on a brief Smart car tour (which I’ll get back to later). We walked through the Colosseum, hiked through the ruins of the Roman Forum, drank beer on the Spanish steps and threw coins in Trevi Fountain. It was a bit unreal. And of course we sampled some of the city’s vegan offerings. Our first stop was the Beehive Cafe. This small vegetarian restaurant, located inside the Beehive Hotel, is cute and comfortable. They have a handful of vegan options and a very accommodating cook who helped us put together our meal. They use a sliding pay scale and no set portion size so you only get what you want to eat and only pay what you feel you should (of course there are recommendations).
We started with a large vegetable soup filled with zucchini, peas, tomato and orzo. This soup was unbelievable. This could possibly be one of the best soups I’ve ever had. It was hearty and rich, full of vegetables but not overly heavy. There was a touch of sweetness to it and each vegetable was able to shine. I could eat this soup for days. In fact I could go for some right now. Paired with some fresh bread this stuff was like heaven.
We also got a plate of hummus, vegetable patties, salad and some mixed vegetables. The hummus was also superb. There were two different veggie patties available the day we went and we chose one with chickpeas, nuts and spices. They were a little bit crunchy on the outside but soft and perfectly spiced on the inside. I really enjoyed the flavor of these but they were a bit dry on their own. I would have preferred these as actual veggie burgers but they were quite good mixed with everything else on the plate.
I highly recommend trying this place if you’re in Rome as it has a really nice atmosphere and they are very helpful and speak English too so that’s a plus. The food is unique and well thought out and is a good alternative to traditional Italian meals.
We also tried the only other vegetarian restaurant that I new of: Il Margutta. We stopped here for lunch, where instead of their normal menu, which has it’s own vegan section, they have a buffet with options of how many add-ons you’d like. While I enjoyed the food here and thought it was well crafted, I wasn’t blown away. Looking back, I would have preferred to order one dish than sample a bunch. I will say the seitan in one of my dishes was really great, but I only had a small serving. We decided to get the dessert option (despite the fact that I was convinced they weren’t going to have a vegan cake) and they did in fact have both a chocolate and carrot cake. These cakes were obviously made of quality ingredients and were overall pretty good but they were a bit grainy and oily. I was happy to have them anyway but they weren’t amazing either. I will say this place was packed for lunch and it was a pretty good deal overall, whereas the dinner menu is much more pricey.
Just for a second though, let’s talk about my favorite thing in Italy: ESPRESSO. I am without a doubt a caffeine addict. I make myself a soy latte every morning and usually can’t get through the day without something in the afternoon as well. I also have a fairly sensitive stomach, which means me and coffee don’t really get along. Through the years I’ve found ways to manage this like drinking espresso instead of coffee, always having it with soy milk, etc. In Italy though, I am able to just have espresso with a bit of sugar and I’m set. It’s so rich and delicious and doesn’t have the same caffeine jolt as the stuff over here. It is more flavorful and much less abrasive. It baffles me that people don’t want to drink stuff this good here and instead prefer bitter, watery coffee. It is a mystery! In any case, I had a week of sweet deliciousness and feel so lucky that I did.
But wait there’s more…come back tomorrow for a surprise find of a fully vegan restaurant and adventure tour that ensued…
