VeganMoFo: Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs October 30, 2009

I had some extra Pepperidge Farm puff pastry in my fridge and decided that it was time to make something quick an easy with it.  I went to my sidekick, Vegan Brunch, and saw a tasty recipe for tempeh sausage pastry puffs and knew I had to try them.  Everything came together perfectly and I had a few of these for dinner the other night.  I loved the flavor of the tempeh sausage.  It was actually one of the best recipes for a quick sausage that I have ever tasted.  The flakiness of the puff pastry was the perfect bed for the sausage and it made them easy to just pick up and eat.  Finger food is my friend

Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs

Source: Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

8 oz tempeh, crumbled

1 package puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm brand is vegan), thawed

For the marinade:

1 cup vegetable broth

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp lemon juice

For everything else:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp fennel seeds, chopped

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

salt, to taste

olive oil for brushing the pastry

Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.  And the tempeh and let marinate for an hour.

When the hour is almost up, preheat a large pan over medium heat.  Saute the red bell pepper and onion in the oil for 7 to 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent.  Add garlic and spices and sate another 3 minutes.  Frain the marinated tempeh and add it to the pan.  Turn the heat up to medium hight and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400°F and start preparing you puff pastries.  Pout a little olive oil into a cup and brush a large baking sheet with olive oil.  Cut each pastry sheet into nine squares and set them on the baking sheet at least an inch apart.  Brush the tops of the pastries with olive oil.  When the tempeh is ready, taste for salt and remove from heat.  Top each pastry right in the middle with a heaping tablespoon of tempeh.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the pastries are nice and puffed.  Serve ASAP.

VeganMoFo: Tofu Benny October 28, 2009

Ever since I got Isa’s Vegan Brunch, I have been itching to make the Tofu Benny.  Just looking at the picture in the book makes me hungry.  This was the recipe that I wanted to post for the first day of VeganMoFo III, but I couldn’t find Black salt (Kala Namak) for the life of me.  I finally caved in and ordered it on Amazon, and actually received it pretty quickly.

I guess you could say that I have procrastinated writing this entry because I actually made it a few weeks ago.  Bad Monkey, Bad!!!

This recipe was actually very easy to make.  You only have to follow two rules: remember to marinate your tofu, and timing of the 3 different parts of the recipe.  I decided to go with the Diner Home Fries instead of the English Muffins as my base for the Benny, and they were fantastic and came together pretty easy.  I decided not to boil the potatoes.  Instead I placed them in a microwave safe bowl, added a little olive oil to the potatoes, cover the bowl  in plastic wrap, and set the microwave for 5 minutes.  This actually makes cooking the potatoes A LOT quicker than boiling and reduces the dishes

I marinaded the tofu overnight, so that the flavors had more time to develop.  When I opened the marinated tofu in the morning, it completely smelled like eggs.  I would attribute this to the use of black salt because the sulfuric smell added that extra goodness to the tofu.  If you make the recipe you really need to use black salt to bring it all together.  I think the marinade for the tofu would work great with a tofu scramble so that you can get the same flavor profile as eggs.  When everything was ready, I plated it and then sat down for brunch.

HOLY CRAP!!!!

This was fantastic.  The tofu totally had a flavor reminiscent of eggs.  Everything worked perfectly together.

VeganMoFo: Pumpkin Pancake with POM-Ginger Cranberry Sauce October 7, 2009

I didn’t think these bad boys were going to happen because I wasn’t sure if cranberries were in season in my area yet.  But lo and behold while wandering through the grocery store I spotted  the fresh berries.  At that moment, I knew that I would be eating these the next morning.

As I sit here writing this entry, I am actually eating these fantastic pumpkin pancakes with POM-Ginger Cranberry Sauce.  The sauce goes perfectly with the pancakes.  It is like a celebration of fall in my mouth.  Pumpkin, spices, tart cranberries, and a hint of sweetness.  Perfect   Both of these recipes are from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz; however, I did tweak the Cranberry Sauce a little.

Since I recently received a case of Pomegranate juice from POM Wonderful, I decided to incorporate the juice into the cranberry sauce for a little bit more tartness.  I substituted half of the juice for the water and it worked out perfectly.  Also, I discovered I was out of fresh ginger so I used 1/2 tsp of ground ginger.

I never thought I was a fan of Pomegranate juice but once I tasted it it reminded me of a mixture of cranberry juice because of the tartness and grape juice because of the sweetness.  I guess I am a convert now.  An extra added bonus is that it can help lower LDL  (bad cholesterol), which I am currently trying to do at age 27.  Damn genetics and its fury little hands.

Back to the yumminess at hand.  If you don’t own Vegan Brunch, you need to get it now.  Especially since that is the only way you are going to find out how these pumpkin pancakes taste.  To give you some incentive I will provide you with my tweaked up version of the cranberry sauce.  Happy Eating

POM-Ginger Cranberry Sauce

Adapted from Ginger Cranberry Sauce in Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

2 cups fresh cranberries

3/4 cup 100% Pomegranate juice

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Mix together cranberries, juice, water, sugar, and ground ginger in a sauce pan. Cover and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat a bit and let simmer for about 10 minutes.   Uncover and let simmer until mixture is reduced by about half, 10 minutes or so.  Remove from heat and let cool for at least half an hour and stir in maple syrup.  Serve warm.

Vegan Adventure #27: Banana Rabanada (Brazilian French Toast) July 22, 2009

This post has been postponed for long enough

When I found out that Isa was coming out with Vegan Brunch, I was VERY excited.  I couldn’t wait until it came in the mail, and when it finally did the first thing I made was the Banana Rabanada.  It was very simple to make and it tasted fantastic.  The only thing that I might add to the recipe is 2 tbsp of sugar to the batter or when you eat the French toast just dump maple syrup on top of it.  Either way, it just needed a little bit more sweetness to it.  Perhaps my bananas could have been a little bit more ripe

Also, when sprinkling cocoa powder and cinnamon on the French Toast be very careful to dust the toast and not dump it on one side like I did.  There is nothing like a strong blow on the toast to dislodge the excess cocoa powder and cinnamon, and in turn blow it all over the counter.

Banana Rabanada (Brazilian French Toast)

Source: Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

2 very ripe bananas

1 1/2 cups almond milk (or your favorite nondairy milk)

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 stale baguette, sliced diagonally in 1-inch pieces

Cooking Spray

Slice strawberries and bananas for garnish

Blend bananas, milk, cornstarch, and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Spread out baguette sliced in a single layer on a baking pan.  Pour banana mixture onto the bread and flip sliced to coat.  Let sit for 10 minutes, then flip over and let soak for 10 minutes more.

Preheat a large, nonstick skillet (cast iron preferred) over medium heat.  Spray with cooking spray and cook about half of the soaked bread for 5 to 7 minutes on one side and about 3 minutes on the other.  When ready, the toast should be golden to medium brown and flecked with darker spots.  Keep warm on a plate covered with tinfoil while you cook the second batch.

If not serving immediately, cover the toast with tinfoil and place in a 200°F oven for up to an hour.

When ready to serve, mix together cocoa powder and cinnamon and use a small sifter to sprinkle generoudly over each serving.  Serve Rabanada with vegan butter and maple syrup, and topped with fresh fruit.

Tuesdays With Dorie: Blueberry Crumb Cake March 24, 2009

This weeks Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Sihan of Befuddlement.  They chose Dorie’s Blueberry Crumb Cake located on pages 192-193 in Baking: From My Home to Yours.  I would like to thank Sihan for picking this recipe.  I have actually been looking forward to making it.  I was really close to changing it to a Vegan recipe, since I have gotten back into some vegan cooking.  But in the end I decided that I wanted to try it the original way first.

Cinnamon Rolls January 28, 2009

For the past couple of weeks, I have wanted to make cinnamon rolls.  I actually had a yeast dough mix in the pantry that I needed to use since it was actually going to expire soon.  I planned on making cinnamon rolls with it and just kept putting it off and off and then finally one night I decided it was time to make the cinnamon rolls.

These rolls turned out fantastic and they were so easy since I already had a mix for the yeast dough.

Almond Croissants January 19, 2009

Lately I have been craving the almond croissants that my boss makes every once in a blue moon on Saturday mornings for the employees.  I watched him prep them one day and they are so easy it is CRAZY!!!  First he uses store bought croissants.

Yeah you would think that since he is a pastry chef that he would make them, but NO.

Then he slices them open and brushes them with a simple syrup, which I left out the first time and they tasted perfectly fine.  Next fill them with frangipane filling (almond cream),  and put the top back on.  Spread some filling on the top and sprinkle with some sliced almonds.  Place in a preheated 350°F oven and bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.  Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy.

Vegan Adventure #14 September 22, 2008

Remember awhile back when I posted about vegan biscuits and gravy.  That was adventure 7 if I am not mistaken.  I had mentioned a vegetarian restaurant that I used to frequent back in college that had some vegan offerings on their menu.  One of their offerings that I was always curious about was scrambled tofu.  My friend Stack use to go there and everyone that he was with used to complain when he got the scrambled tofu.  I always wondered what it looked like and tasted like.  I guess one day I should go back and order both of these dishes for breakfast and see how they measure up to Isa’s versions.

My curiousity got the best of me and when I finally go my nutritional yeast in I knew that I had to try my hand at some Scrambled Tofu.  It was very simple to make and it smelled fantastic when it was cooking.  I also made some spicy potatoes to go along with it.  I learned a trick from my Cooks Country Magazine a few years back when it comes to pan frying potatoes.  If you cut them up and microwave them in a bowl covered with plastic wrap it will cook the potatoes and you just brown them up in the skillet.  I used to go through the trouble of steaming them first and then putting them in the pan.  The microwave is A LOT faster.  This also works if you want to make roasted potatoes too.  When you take them out of the microwave toss them with seasoning and throw them in a 350°F oven until brown and toasty.

Everything turned out great and very tasty.  Since I was the only one eating the scramble there was no way that I could eat something that serves four in one day.  I decided to save some for the morning and I heated them up and they just weren’t as good as they were when they were fresh from the skillet.  So I guess next time I will make what I need.  The recipe would be pretty easy to scale down

Spicy Potatoes

Courtesy of Pastrybrush

2 small Yukon Gold Potatoes, 1/2 dice

1 tbsp olive oil

1-2 tsp cajun seasoning

Put the diced potatoes in a microwave safe dish and place plastic wrap over them.  Cook on high power for 5 minutes.  Heat oil in a medium skillet on medium heat.  Add the potatoes and sprinkle on the seasoning.  Cook until the potatoes begin to brown and crisp up on the outside.  Serves one.

Vegan Adventure #9 September 8, 2008

Todays Vegan Adventure is a breakfast one. I wanted to make the “Fronch” Toast ever since I saw the picture and the ingredients that it contained. To accompany it I was going to make the Tempeh Bacon because I had some Tempeh left over. I was just about to open the tempeh and marinate it when I opened Vegan With A Vengeance and realized that I didn’t have apple cider.

Bummer, maybe another time.

Vegan Adventure #7 September 3, 2008

Back in college, I used to always go to this vegetarian restaurant. They had the best breakfast in the entire world. I would stick with my usual scrambled eggs over spicy potatoes and a homemade biscuit as my side. Every once in awhile I would mix it up and get cheese or salsa on the eggs, or go the Belgium waffle route, or just plain oatmeal with raisins, walnuts, and brown sugar (when I was trying to be healthy). I loved their coffee too. The restaurant actually had a coffee house/bakery around the corner. and you would know when the fresh biscuits and bread came in because they literally brought them through the front door still on the sheet pan . The place was nice, small, and had the friendliest people working there. I miss it.

Every time I went in there I would look at the menu like I usually do and noticed that they had a few vegan options. One of which was vegan biscuits and sausage gravy. I always wanted to try them, but was scared. When I saw this recipe for the same thing in Vegan with a Vengeance I knew that I had to make them the first time I had a chance.