I picked up this months Saveur magazine which is focused on breakfasts around the world. Let me tell you, few things have made me want to start eating meat half as bad as this issue. The food porn was in full effect with pictures of bacon, various breakfast sausages, egg dishes (I still hate eggs, always have), morning pastries, and various noodle dishes, to name just a few. I've pretty much lost the taste for meat, but still crave a lot of the textures. The snap caused by biting into the casing of a traditional sausage. The crack of crispy bacon, followed by the crumbling and blending of the buttery fat and the crispy meat. These textures I have yet to find in a veggie based culinary world. But this morning I did find a lovely substitution, though not a vegan one (it involves feta.)
My breakfast of champions:
small handful of Bulgarian feta
some sliced kalamata olives
sage honey (any honey will do, but the picant flavor and hearty undertones of this honey make it a real winner)
1 English muffin, split and toasted till the edges had browned and the entire thing was stiff and crunchy.
Take the toasted English muffin, top one half with a liberal slathering of sage honey. Top the other half with the feta and pop it into the microwave for about 10 seconds, or until the feta has fully melted. Once done, remove from microwave and top with the kalamatas.
I ate this along with a wonderful homemade Frappe that I made while the muffin toasted. Recommend started with the savory half first. This gives the honey enough time to soak into the dense English muffin and cause it to soften up a bit. Easy as hell, feels more indulgent than it really is (assuming you don't go overboard on the toppings.) The only thing I'd add is maybe some grapes to go along side. Other than that it has everything I was looking for in a breakfast. The crispness of the muffin, tang of the feta, heartiness of the kalamata, and the divine sweet of the honey. Washed down with ridiculously strong coffee? Yes please!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Vegan Thai Curry and Cookies!
I love Thai food. It ranks up pretty highly on my list of favourite ethnic foods, just below Greek and just above Jamaican and Mexican. Now, I loved Thai food before I even discovered the wonder that is curry. In fact I'm still relatively green when it comes to curries. I make a fierce Panang with tofu, use curry powder in my Jamaican Patty dough and obviously am a fan of curried ackees (as evidenced by my cooking video.) Thats about it for my curry experience. Yet when I saw the recipe for Yellow Curry with Pineapple and Peas by Nancie McDermott in her book Real Vegetarian Thai (which I picked up at the Strand on my recent trip to NYC) I knew I had to try it.
The end result of this dish is a very visually pleasing one. It has punches of red pepper and some refreshing bits of green to break up what would otherwise be a monochromatic (albeit happy sunshine looking) yellow dish. The pineapple does not stand out as much as I had thought it might, but this is a good thing. The subtle flavour of cooked pineapple blends well, but its the texture that makes the pineapple stand out when compared with the firmness of the potatoes. The overall taste is good, but I was not floored with it. I think my expectations were set a little high. This is not to say I won't make it again. It was exceedingly easy and rather fast. All in all it was finished in about 30 minutes, and I cleaned up as I went. Gotta love that.
Yellow Curry with Pineapple and Peas
1 can (14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk
1 to 2 TBL Yellow Curry Paste (I went with one and a half TBL yellow curry paste for this recipe as I like some bite but can't handle burning off my tongue with spice. If you still have to be told to adjust the spiciness to your liking then you probably haven't been cooking for long.)
12 oz potatoes, cut into bite sized chunks (The recipe says to peel them but I NEVER peel my potatoes because its a: tastier, b: more nutrients, and c: easier)
1 can (8 oz) pineapple chunks, drained
1/2 cup veggie stock
1 TBL brown sugar
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
8 oz firm tofu, cubed
1 red sweet pepper, julliened
1/4 lb snow peas
3/4 cup frozen peas (I ommitted these on accident)
Shake the coconut milk can well. Spoon out 1/3 cup into a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it thickens about 3 minutes.
Add the curry paste and cook for about 3 more minutes, mashing, scraping, and stirring often to soften the paste and combine it with the coconut milk. Add the potatoes and pineapple chunks and stir gentle to coat them with the curry paste. Add the remaining coconut milk, veggie stock, sugar, soy sauce, salt, and stir well. Bring to an active boil, reduce the heat to maintain a gentle boil, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Add the tofu, red pepper, and peas to the curry and stir gently. Let the curry return to a boil and remove from the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve hot or warm.
Serves 4 to 6
I firmly believe in having a little something sweet after a meal to cleanse the palate. A separately prepared dessert, a piece of fruit, a mint, anything like that. And for the longest time I struggled with what to have after Thai, Japanese, Indian, or any Asian inspired dish. Then Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero came to my rescue with their Peanut Sesame Ginger Cookie recipe from their book Veganomicon. I'm not a big cookie person. Never really have been. These are an exception. I LOVED these cookies. The peanut butter flavour is subtle enough to not overwhelm the delicate sesame notes, and the ginger is definitely present but not too aggressive. Even my friend who isn't the biggest fan of ginger really enjoyed these. I made some substitutions to the recipe out of necessity and will try to follow it to the letter next time to see how different the effect is. Not too sweet and featuring traditional flavours of the region these cookies really are the perfect following to your next Asian dinner.
Peanut Sesame Ginger Cookies
Makes 42 (I halved the recipe when I made them and they came out perfectly)
2 1/4 cups flour, all purpose, whole wheat pastry, white whole wheat, or any combo of these.
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated vegan shortening, softened
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (I used reduced fat just cause I like the consistency better)
1/4 cup brown rice syrup (I used agave because I didn't have brown rice syrup)
1 1/4 cup sugar (I used half light brown sugar half white, to make the cookies chewier and to make up for the lack of brown rice syrup) plus additional sugar for rolling (I rolled mine in turbinado sugar instead of white)
1/2 cup soy milk (used vanilla almond milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
5 ounces candied ginger, diced finely (it was so hard to not eat this before using what I needed!)
1/3 cup each white and black sesame seeds, or 2/3 cups of just one kind.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease two cookie sheets.
Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon, and set aside.
In a large bowl, use electric beaters to cream the shortening until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the peanut butter, rice syrup, sugar, soy milk, and extracts. Continue to beat until creamy, 4 to 5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon stir in the flour mixture, then add the candied ginger and stir until a very firm dough forms. You can use your hands toward the end to mix the dough (I found my dough was too sticky at this point, possibly from halving the recipe, so I added flour 1 TBL at a time until I had a stiff but tacky [not sticky!] dough.)
Roll scant TBLs of the dough into walnut size balls. Roll each ball in the sesame seeds, then roll in a little sugar and place on a prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie.
Flatten the balls just slightly (she says its optional, I think its most likely vital) and bake for 10 to 11 minutes for chewy cookies (I opted for 10 minutes and got perfect cookies,) up to 14 for firmer, crunchier cookies.
Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to remain on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.
The end result of this dish is a very visually pleasing one. It has punches of red pepper and some refreshing bits of green to break up what would otherwise be a monochromatic (albeit happy sunshine looking) yellow dish. The pineapple does not stand out as much as I had thought it might, but this is a good thing. The subtle flavour of cooked pineapple blends well, but its the texture that makes the pineapple stand out when compared with the firmness of the potatoes. The overall taste is good, but I was not floored with it. I think my expectations were set a little high. This is not to say I won't make it again. It was exceedingly easy and rather fast. All in all it was finished in about 30 minutes, and I cleaned up as I went. Gotta love that.
Yellow Curry with Pineapple and Peas
1 can (14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk
1 to 2 TBL Yellow Curry Paste (I went with one and a half TBL yellow curry paste for this recipe as I like some bite but can't handle burning off my tongue with spice. If you still have to be told to adjust the spiciness to your liking then you probably haven't been cooking for long.)
12 oz potatoes, cut into bite sized chunks (The recipe says to peel them but I NEVER peel my potatoes because its a: tastier, b: more nutrients, and c: easier)
1 can (8 oz) pineapple chunks, drained
1/2 cup veggie stock
1 TBL brown sugar
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
8 oz firm tofu, cubed
1 red sweet pepper, julliened
1/4 lb snow peas
3/4 cup frozen peas (I ommitted these on accident)
Shake the coconut milk can well. Spoon out 1/3 cup into a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it thickens about 3 minutes.
Add the curry paste and cook for about 3 more minutes, mashing, scraping, and stirring often to soften the paste and combine it with the coconut milk. Add the potatoes and pineapple chunks and stir gentle to coat them with the curry paste. Add the remaining coconut milk, veggie stock, sugar, soy sauce, salt, and stir well. Bring to an active boil, reduce the heat to maintain a gentle boil, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Add the tofu, red pepper, and peas to the curry and stir gently. Let the curry return to a boil and remove from the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve hot or warm.
Serves 4 to 6
I firmly believe in having a little something sweet after a meal to cleanse the palate. A separately prepared dessert, a piece of fruit, a mint, anything like that. And for the longest time I struggled with what to have after Thai, Japanese, Indian, or any Asian inspired dish. Then Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero came to my rescue with their Peanut Sesame Ginger Cookie recipe from their book Veganomicon. I'm not a big cookie person. Never really have been. These are an exception. I LOVED these cookies. The peanut butter flavour is subtle enough to not overwhelm the delicate sesame notes, and the ginger is definitely present but not too aggressive. Even my friend who isn't the biggest fan of ginger really enjoyed these. I made some substitutions to the recipe out of necessity and will try to follow it to the letter next time to see how different the effect is. Not too sweet and featuring traditional flavours of the region these cookies really are the perfect following to your next Asian dinner.
Peanut Sesame Ginger CookiesMakes 42 (I halved the recipe when I made them and they came out perfectly)
2 1/4 cups flour, all purpose, whole wheat pastry, white whole wheat, or any combo of these.
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated vegan shortening, softened
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (I used reduced fat just cause I like the consistency better)
1/4 cup brown rice syrup (I used agave because I didn't have brown rice syrup)
1 1/4 cup sugar (I used half light brown sugar half white, to make the cookies chewier and to make up for the lack of brown rice syrup) plus additional sugar for rolling (I rolled mine in turbinado sugar instead of white)
1/2 cup soy milk (used vanilla almond milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
5 ounces candied ginger, diced finely (it was so hard to not eat this before using what I needed!)
1/3 cup each white and black sesame seeds, or 2/3 cups of just one kind.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease two cookie sheets.
Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon, and set aside.
In a large bowl, use electric beaters to cream the shortening until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the peanut butter, rice syrup, sugar, soy milk, and extracts. Continue to beat until creamy, 4 to 5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon stir in the flour mixture, then add the candied ginger and stir until a very firm dough forms. You can use your hands toward the end to mix the dough (I found my dough was too sticky at this point, possibly from halving the recipe, so I added flour 1 TBL at a time until I had a stiff but tacky [not sticky!] dough.)
Roll scant TBLs of the dough into walnut size balls. Roll each ball in the sesame seeds, then roll in a little sugar and place on a prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie.
Flatten the balls just slightly (she says its optional, I think its most likely vital) and bake for 10 to 11 minutes for chewy cookies (I opted for 10 minutes and got perfect cookies,) up to 14 for firmer, crunchier cookies.
Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to remain on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
My perfect meal.
There is no one perfect meal. With so many options and things to take in consideration what might be a perfect meal for one may as easily be someone else's offal. And I'm not talking nose to tail eating here people. But this past summer I found my perfect meal: A bowl of deli style thick brown lentil soup with ungodly amounts of fresh ground pepper paired with toasted pita wedges graced liberally with sea salt. This can or can not be served alongside thick as mud Greek coffee and a glass of water, no ice. I haven't had a truly standout bowl of this brown gold since my boy Drossos left the Plaka I work at and headed back home to his tiny Greek island. Hopefully the upcoming trip to NYC will rectify this.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Wrapping up my eMusic monthly downloads.
So the new billing period was looming on my eMusic account and since I have around 839MB free space on my computer, $600 to my name, and a 15 day trip to NYC planned to start Sept 7th I decided to use up the last 80 or so downloads I had available. I then sadly suspended my eMusic account until I get back from the NYC so I can put the $50 towards the trip (or an external harddrive, or an iMac, or a pony while I'm still dreaming.) But I did get some choice downloads!
Without further ado here's
What I got most recently!
Au Verbs
I found this album while purusing eMusic (a site I love because of the vast international/gypsy/underground bands available.) They're from Portland which I count as a plus, and they are being compared to Animal Collective which I count as a having no real influence on me whatsoever since I don't really know AC. I will say its some different ass music, but I'm enjoying it. So far the only tracks I've gotten into are "Are Animals" and "rr vs. d" I dig it, and I'm sure after an evening in the dim lit atmosphere of my room after partaking in a little ganj I'll really dig it.
Breathe Owl Breathe Ghost Glacier EP
This is a different type of album for me to listen to. Its slower. Kinda folky. I have a feeling its going to really grow on me.
Dr. Dog Fate
I'd have to say of all the downloads this is the one that I am most excited to have found. I'm not gonna lie here. I love music but I'm not as educated in it as I'd like to be. So when I say that the songs "Hang On" and "The Old Days" have this feel about them, reminiscent of the 60s, I'm kind of stuck at that. I don't really know what to say about it other than this album is catchy, beautiful, and different from anything I've found in a while. And can anyone tell me what song starts with the same piano style as is heard in "The Old Days?"
J-Live Then What Happened
I love Hip Hop like this. I just downloaded all of these albums yesterday so I haven't had much time to listen to these yet and as far as this album is concerned I'm stuck on "One to 31" which is the first track, but so good I keep listening to it.
Let's Wrestle In Loving Memory of...
Hrmm...a punkish type of album found its way in. Its cute, its fun, but I doubt if its gonna get heavy rotation.
Miss Platnum "Give Me the Food"
Ah Miss Platnum, I love you you beautiful, goofy, heavy set, Romanian hip hop chica. I've danced around like an idiot many MANY times to "Come Marry Me" much to my brothers chagrin. "Give Me the Food" was apparently a very popular song on the radio over in Bucharesti, RO. And we all know how much Central and Eastern Europeans love their pop musicians. With that said this song is not to be taken seriously. She talks about how she loves fried chicken, butter, fat, cream, sugar, and just eating fat crap in general. But she does it with zest and it is kind of fun. But if you want to check her out, YouTube her video for "Come Marry Me feat. Peter Fox."
Nรดze Songs on the Rocks
French-electro-euro-dancedisco? Eh. Some of the songs are fun "Danse Avec Moi" and "You Must Dance" but I think that this music needs about two vodka cranberries and some lime wedges paired with it if I'm really gonna get into it. So far it's the album I'm digging the least.
Panda Bear Person Pitch
Downloaded this because it was recommended to me and highly reviewed. I also had just the perfect number of downloads left. I haven't listened to it yet.
eels "Jelly Dancers"
This was a glorious little find on an album titled Dimension Mix- a Tribute to Dimension 5 Records which features some of my favourite musical artists of all time like Beck, the eels, Cibo Matto, etc. Now if you know me then you know I lurves me some Gypsy/Balkan/Jewish/Middle Eastern styled music. You'll also know that the eels were my favourite band for 10 years until Gogol Bordello eclipsed them this past year. And here we have E (lead singer for the eels) giving us his take on the gypsy music scene. And. I. Love. It. The only problem with this song is there is really no climax like you'd have in the more traditional styles of music.
Without further ado here's
What I got most recently!
Au Verbs
I found this album while purusing eMusic (a site I love because of the vast international/gypsy/underground bands available.) They're from Portland which I count as a plus, and they are being compared to Animal Collective which I count as a having no real influence on me whatsoever since I don't really know AC. I will say its some different ass music, but I'm enjoying it. So far the only tracks I've gotten into are "Are Animals" and "rr vs. d" I dig it, and I'm sure after an evening in the dim lit atmosphere of my room after partaking in a little ganj I'll really dig it.
Breathe Owl Breathe Ghost Glacier EP
This is a different type of album for me to listen to. Its slower. Kinda folky. I have a feeling its going to really grow on me.
Dr. Dog Fate
I'd have to say of all the downloads this is the one that I am most excited to have found. I'm not gonna lie here. I love music but I'm not as educated in it as I'd like to be. So when I say that the songs "Hang On" and "The Old Days" have this feel about them, reminiscent of the 60s, I'm kind of stuck at that. I don't really know what to say about it other than this album is catchy, beautiful, and different from anything I've found in a while. And can anyone tell me what song starts with the same piano style as is heard in "The Old Days?"
J-Live Then What Happened
I love Hip Hop like this. I just downloaded all of these albums yesterday so I haven't had much time to listen to these yet and as far as this album is concerned I'm stuck on "One to 31" which is the first track, but so good I keep listening to it.
Let's Wrestle In Loving Memory of...
Hrmm...a punkish type of album found its way in. Its cute, its fun, but I doubt if its gonna get heavy rotation.
Miss Platnum "Give Me the Food"
Ah Miss Platnum, I love you you beautiful, goofy, heavy set, Romanian hip hop chica. I've danced around like an idiot many MANY times to "Come Marry Me" much to my brothers chagrin. "Give Me the Food" was apparently a very popular song on the radio over in Bucharesti, RO. And we all know how much Central and Eastern Europeans love their pop musicians. With that said this song is not to be taken seriously. She talks about how she loves fried chicken, butter, fat, cream, sugar, and just eating fat crap in general. But she does it with zest and it is kind of fun. But if you want to check her out, YouTube her video for "Come Marry Me feat. Peter Fox."
Nรดze Songs on the Rocks
French-electro-euro-dancedisco? Eh. Some of the songs are fun "Danse Avec Moi" and "You Must Dance" but I think that this music needs about two vodka cranberries and some lime wedges paired with it if I'm really gonna get into it. So far it's the album I'm digging the least.
Panda Bear Person Pitch
Downloaded this because it was recommended to me and highly reviewed. I also had just the perfect number of downloads left. I haven't listened to it yet.
eels "Jelly Dancers"
This was a glorious little find on an album titled Dimension Mix- a Tribute to Dimension 5 Records which features some of my favourite musical artists of all time like Beck, the eels, Cibo Matto, etc. Now if you know me then you know I lurves me some Gypsy/Balkan/Jewish/Middle Eastern styled music. You'll also know that the eels were my favourite band for 10 years until Gogol Bordello eclipsed them this past year. And here we have E (lead singer for the eels) giving us his take on the gypsy music scene. And. I. Love. It. The only problem with this song is there is really no climax like you'd have in the more traditional styles of music.
Spicy Curried Ackee and "Buttered" Callaloo.
Kelsey Kinser's Hungry Soul Vegan Kitchen - Spicy Curry Ackee
This was the first cooking video and I feel its horribly awkward. Expect more to come.
This was the first cooking video and I feel its horribly awkward. Expect more to come.
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