The End?

Well hey there friends and enemies!

Bet you thought I fell of the face of the earth, huh?

Bet you thought I'd been having all sorts of magical adventures, exciting hijinks, and feats of derring-do.

Bet you haven't even given it a second thought.

I won't lie; I myself am firmly in that latter category. It's been an impossibly ridiculous busy 6 months since last I posted. I haven't thought that much at all about cooking or writing or any of you. Sorry.

To re-cap:

1. There was the normal amount of summer ephemera, i.e. laying out at the pool, spending time with the family, flirting on the patio at Jackie O's, Brew Week, films with The Movie Buff, bike rides and runs etc.

2. Almost all of my close friends moved away from Athens. It was a summer of lasts, of going away parties, of box packing and truck loading, of tearful goodbyes.

3. I helped Roomie move all the way down to Miami, Florida. It was 24 hours of driving, followed by a whirlwind week of cleaning, shopping, unpacking, organizing, more tearful goodbyes.

4. Then I drove the whole way back by myself.

5. I decided that it was about time to start thinking about going back for my PhD. Researching schools, picking schools, writing statements, requesting letters, paying for transcripts, realizing I have to take the GRE again. I'm exhausted just typing it all out.

6. I am teaching 2 sections of Freshman Comp, a section of Writing About Culture, and a Learning Community for English majors. All of these classes had to be planned from scratch. New books, new assignments, new lectures. I haven't read a narrative book since April.

7. HoneyBunny moved back from the wilds of ANC AK to live with me in Athens. There were freakouts, there was melty, bloody fish, more freakouts, cleaning with a heretofore unheard of amount of baking soda, bleach, vinegar, and Febreeze.

There was very little time (or drive, if I'm being honest) to do any novel cooking and baking. I mostly stuck to the tried and true, oldies-but-goodies, that are already recorded for posterity here at "IVV."

Additionally, amid all the busy (or perhaps because of all the hustle-bustle) I let some other parts of my life get a little out of control.

In an effort to start fixing/facing those problems (and because I'm an self-disclosure junkie at heart), I'm starting a new blog and putting "In Vegan, Veritas" on hiatus for a while.

But don't get to excited just yet fans and detractors. You're not getting rid of me just yet.

Thanks for all the comments and support over the past year and a half. It's been super real, kids, and I've had a great time.

Be back soon.

The Girl With The Most Cake

I walked into my office the other day at the tail end of a conversation between my friends JenC and Mrs. L. JenC was feeling guilty about having to tell the bosses of her various part-time jobs that she wouldn't be able to work any more than she already was.

"It is difficult being an artist with a part-time job," she explained. "Everyone seems to assume that since the artist's real work (writing/creating/composing) isn't a 9-to-5 thing, they will be available to work whenever and for however long." I was inclined to agree. When I worked at the liquor store, it seemed as though I was always the first one contacted when someone else called off or couldn't work.


"Still doesn't make it any easier to say no," replied Mrs. L.

"And speaking of guilt and saying no," I interjected, "the peices of cake currently sitting on your desks are the product of a particularly stressfull weekend, most of which could have been avoided had I just said no."


I won't bore you with the details, friends and enemies. Let's just say my cousin, The Wild Child, came to visit for the mud-soaked, drunken debacle that is 7fest; and instead of two teenaged girls spending the night in my apartment, I had five, all of whom were spoiled, entitled, loud-mouthed, well, for lack of a better word, bitches.


A direct quote from the morning after? "Sorry we f*cked your shit up last night." Oh, well, that completely makes up for the fact that I spent 6 hours Sunday scrubbing the muck and make-up residue from my bathroom, vacuuming up so much mud from the carpets Roomie had to take apart and clean the vacuum, emptying beer cans, and doing loads of muddy towels, sheets, and blankets.


To relieve the stress all this caused me, I baked the following cakes. According to JenC, the first one was more than enough to ease her guilt over not working overtime. The second one definitely helped me forget most of the weekend and my cousin's reprehensible behavior.

Banana Cake with Pineapple-Buttercream Frosting
“The Guilt-i-nator”

for the cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) vegan margarine
¼ cup vegan shortening
1 ½ cups sugar
3 very ripe bananas, smashed (about 1 cup)
½ cup unsweetened soy milk
2 eggs worth of Ener-G egg replacer
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2, 9-inch round cakes pans.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using a mixer, cream the butter, shortening, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the bananas, egg replacer, milk, and vanilla. Beat at a medium speed until well-mixed and creamy.
With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet in thirds, slowly increasing the mixer speed to high. Beat until very smooth and well-combined.
Divide the batter between the two greased pans. Give each one a few hard taps on the countertop to get rid of any bubbles.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack. Let cool completely before frosting

for the frosting
1 stick vegan margarine (1/2 cup)
4 cups powdered sugar
1/3ish cups of fresh pineapple, pureed until very liquidy
½ teaspoon vanilla
yellow food coloring (optional)

Using the whisk attachment of a hand mixer, cream together the butter, vanilla, and two cups of powdered sugar.
Alternate adding the pineapple puree in thirds and the remaining powdered sugar. Don’t add too much pineapple or the frosting will be too liquidy.
Whisk in drops of yellow food coloring until the frosting is bright and pineapple-colored.
When the cakes are completely cool, smear a thick layer of the frosting on top of one of the layers. Place the other layer on top, and frost completely with an off-set spatula or knife.

Double-Chocolate-Blueberry Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting
“The Guilt Killer”

for the cake
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
¾ cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
¼ cup soy yogurt
1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh blueberry puree (from about 1 ½ cups blueberries)
1 cup vegan “buttermilk” (see note)

for ganache
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
1/3 cup vegan “heavy cream” (see note)
½ tablespoon corn syrup
½ tablespoon vegan butter

Note: To make vegan buttermilk: Place 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in the bottom of a one-cup measuring cup. Fill the rest of the way with full-fat soy or almond milk (do not use rice milk or low-fat milks; neither curdle right). Let the milk sit while you prepare the rest of the recipe, then use as you would traditional buttermilk.To make vegan heavy cream: Combine plain soy yogurt and full-fat soy/almond milk (at about a 2 to 1 ratio) until the mixture reaches the consistency of heavy cream. Between the cake and the ganache, this recipe uses one small (6 ounce) container of soy yogurt.

to prepare the cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan with canola or vegetable oil spray and set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt the 2 ounces of chocolate over a larger pot of boiling water (or use a double boiler. Let cool slightly.
In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, yogurt, and flax seeds until smooth. Add the cooled chocolate and whisk well. Set aside.
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Alternate adding the dry ingredients, the blueberry puree, and the prepared buttermilk to the chocolate mixture. Whisk until very smooth and combined.
Pour the cake batter into the Bundt pan and bake on the lower rack of the oven for about 40 minutes. A knife inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean but not dry. Don’t over cook or the cake will be too dry and burny.
Let the cake cook in the pan for about 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

to prepare the ganache
In a glass Pyrex cup (or other heat-proof dish) mix the chopped chocolate, corn syrup, and butter. Set aside.
In a small sauce pan bring the heavy cream to a boil (don’t let it boil too long or it will scorch).
Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate mixture. Cover with a dish towel or small plate and let sit for about 5-7 minutes or until all the chocolate has melted. Whisk briskly until smooth.
When the ganache has cooled slightly, pour over the cooled cake, using an offset spatula to help it drizzle down the sides. Let the frosted cake stand at least 30 minutes for the ganache to set before serving.

***

Neither of these cakes lasted long enough in my apartment to get photographed so you’ll just have to take my word that they were both as gorgeous as they were delicious.

And getting rid of the guilty feelings?

Piece of cake.

Oh Me, Oh (Cinco de) Mayo

One of my fondest Cinco de Mayo memories involves studying Classical Mythology over plates of fajitas on the patio of a busy Mexican restaraunt, dancing to Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" after leaving the fiesta, and watching The Raccoon take a test the next morning after puking in an OSUM bathroom.

This year the festivities were a bit more low key (and actually a bit lonely, if I'm being completely honest). Roomie was on his way to Philadelphia and the Dad Vail Regatta; it was mid-term week for my friends still in grad school; LitFest was kicking off; I'm likely getting passive-agressively phased out of certain folk's company...

But don't cry for me, friends & enemies. I still had a pretty good time in the kitchen. I just have way more leftovers than I usually do following a holiday-themed dinner party. Plus, there were less dishes to wash! Mira siempre el lado brillante de la vida.

First Course/Nibbles:

Por supuesto, I made guacamole and salsa. I don't really have a recipe for either of these things - I just keep adding ingredients until I like the way the dips taste. I like my guac kind of plain, just red onion, cilantro, a little garlic, a little cumin and/or chipotle powder. Since I'm not a big fan of onion chunks, I'll usually pulse everything but the avocado in the blender before fork-mashing everthing together. For salsa I like white onion and jalapenos and poblanos. Depending on how chunky I want the salsa, I'll puree a few tomatoes in the blender for the base before adding more chopped tomatoes and the minced onions and peppers. I made the salsa the day before so the flavors could settle together a bit. The guac I made just before I wanted to eat it with some cheap tortilla chips. Muy bien.

Main Course:

Both these dishes are spins off of recipes from the "Fast Easy Fresh" section of this month's Bon Appetit. I hadn't been sure what I was going to make for Cinco de Mayo and had picked up the magazine at Kroger on a whim (well, not so much "whim" as "I'm going to need something to distract me from the 60 midterms I have waiting for me to grade"). Neither are expectedly "Mexican" but since I was my only dinner guest I was pretty sure I wouldn't mind. (I did not).

Arco Iris Ensalta Arroz

1 cup long-grain white rice

1/4 cup lemon juice

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 ears-worth of fresh corn kernels

1 orange bell pepper, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

3-4 peppadews, chopped (depending on how hot you'd like your salad, feel free to mix in some chiles or poblanos)

3 green onions, white and green parts, chopped

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 avocado, peeled and diced

Cook the rice for a few minutes less (or with 1/4 cup less water) then the package recommends to keep it from getting soggy (probably about 12 minutes). Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Set aside.

In a small bowl or Pyrex measuring cup (I seriously love those things when it comes to making dressings), whisk together the lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of the oil, and the black pepper. Set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet. Add all the corn, orange pepper, peppadews (and spicier peppers, if using), and zucchini. Saute for about 7 minutes or until all the veggies are bright and just starting to soften.

Mix the veggies and rice into a large bowl. Add the onions and cilantro and toss. Here you can add the lemon-olive oil dressing to the entire bowl and toss to coat, or dress each serving individually. Either way, top with the chopped avocado and serve.

Garlic & Tarragon Pinto Frijoles

This was originally a chicken-with-cream-sauce dish that did not call for beans. Behold! The power of The Veganification!

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped well

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, minced

1/2 cup vegetable broth, plus more for thinning/mashing

2- 15 oz. cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Heat the olive oil in a medium pot. Add the garlic and cook until just starting to get fragrant (about 3 minutes). Add the tarragon and cook until softening, another 3-5 minutes. Stir frequently so the garlic doesn't get too brown. Add the beans and broth. Using a wooden spoon, smash together with the garlic and herbs. Add more broth if necessary. You could also use a potato smasher but I didn't want my frijoles too liso.

I cooked up some green beans ($1.99 for 2 pounds pre-cleaned! Hooray for manager's specials at Kroger!) and asparagus to round out the meal.

To drink I just had some white wine. I'm not a huge fan of tequila (unless it's in shot-form with a cinnamon orange slice on the side) and since I was alone, I opted not to lug out the blender for margaritas.

***

There aren't many theme holidays left this quarter so I'll probably be making up a few of my own. "Finally Done Grading Day" and "Start of Summer Blockbuster Movie Season" both seem like as good a reason as any to celebrate with food and drink.

As always, fans and detractors, you're all cordially invited.

My Week In Film

So I'm over the hump; week 5 has come and gone. The birds are singing in the trees, I'm almost officially a lifeguard, there were several pedagogically successful days in a row. Yes, indeed. There's nothing but blue skies, warm weather, and promising student essays on the horizon.

And just what, you may be wondering, has got your favorite vegan in such an optimistic mood?

The Athens International Film+Video Festival, that's what. I just spent seven glorious days -- over 30 hours altogether! immersed in films, shorts, animation, documentaries, and (possibly most important of all) hot movie theater popcorn. The high from the latter alone is enough to make me forget about all the grading that goes along with student essays.

Here's how it went down:

Thursday:
"Das Weisse Band" (a creepy study on the nature of punishment set in pre-WWI Germany) with Roomie & "Sherlock Holmes" (starring the more-than-swoonworthy Robert Downey Jr.) over at Baker Center's Dollar Movie Night. Though neither were technically part of the film festival, both were quite good. For food I made a patent-pending Ginormous Salad. I take my jumbo-sized Tupperware bowl and fill it with every leafy green and fresh herb I've got in my fridge. Romaine, spinach, chard, watercress, lacinato kale, sprouts, diced radishes & their greens, shredded carrots, sliced mushrooms, green onions, marjoram, parsley, oregano, basil, mint, cilantro, thyme, and so on. It's usually enough salad to last for 3-4 days, depending on how hungry I am. I figured I'd be able to slack off on the cooking a bit if I made it on Day One of the Filmstravaganza.

Friday:
Due to the Icelandic volcano debacle, the first film I wanted to see was cancelled. I then proceeded to get laughed at for wanting to buy a single movie ticket. Not the most auspicious beginning but the free evening allowed me time to make the following salad/chunky dip. Serve it warm as a topping for rice or pasta, serve it cold with the raw veggies you've snuck into the theater in lieu of popcorn for an 11am screening.

Lights, Camera, Artichoke-Garbanzo Pate
adapted from the April 2010 issue of VegetarianTimes

2 artichoke hearts (I used the ones leftover from the ones I steamed a couple Sundays ago)
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 diced onions
1/4 cup diced pickles
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon capers
1 teaspoon yellow mustard

Combine everything in a blender or food processor. Pulse until the consistency of chunky oatmeal. Season with 1/4 teaspoon each of sea salt and black pepper if desired. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight to set the flavors.

Saturday:
After the Gridiron Gallop 5K, I head up to the Athena for the competition screening, "Movies For Slightly Older Kids." My favorite of the bunch is either "Pigeon: Impossible" or "A Dog Goes From Here To There." Immediately following is another series of shorts, "Poetry, Music, and Film." I liked the films "An Eyeful of Sound" and "Elephant Medicine" best. After the shorts I meet up with my BFF JSK to see "The Secret of Kells," a gorgeously animated Irish film, during which I eat the salad I snuck in. After the movie, I take a 2 hour break to finally shower off the 5K grime and eat some dinner (warm artichoke-garbanzo dip over rice and raw veggies). Then it's back up to the theater for the competition screening "Do Ask, Do Tell." Good films there include "Gayby" and "Never Too Late." Some of my students from the horror class I'm teaching show up around 9 and we all go to the "Thrills and Chills" show. Though none of the shorts were as scary as I expected, showing a trend in horror towards moral outrage rather than monsters and ghosts (there was quite a bit of necrophilia and crime),"Copelia," "tyle wody kolo domu," and "Herbert White" were all wonderfully creepy. I'm actually hoping "Copelia" gets picked up by a larger studio and turned into a longer film. It has the potential for the same creepy futurism as "I, Robot" and "Minority Report."

Sunday:
I don't get to see as many films as I'd've liked today (Roomie needed help with a massive cram session) but I do get to the "Mythological Tales" competition screening and the full-length film "Eyes Wide Open," a moving (despite the slightly over-symbolic ending) story about a forbidden relationship between to orthodox Jewish men in Jerusalem. The best of the myths include "The Moon Bird" and "O Pintor de Ceos." I eat PB&J's for dinner while going over glycolysis and the Kreb's Cycle with Roomie.

Monday:
Week 5 starts and I encourage all my students to go to the Festival with the promise of extra credit. I do see many of them at the films which boosts my pedagogical ego. As for me, I see the shorts, "The Continuing and Lamentable Saga of the Suicide Brothers" and "kleine liebe," and the film "The Man Came and Took Her" in the afternoon. After teaching, I return for the "Animation" competition screening and a nice big bag of popcorn for dinner. Despite the fact that I was seated in a sea of pretentious art school kids, I managed to enjoy all of the cartoons. "Fuzzy Insides" and "Skylight" are my favorites.

Tuesday:
I have a freak-out moment today where I realize how much time I've spent indoors the past few days. So when I finish teaching, I opt for a really long bike ride and several glasses of wine. I don't think I even turned the TV on today, that's how visually over-stimulated I felt. Instead I treat my ears to the forthcoming The New Pornographers and Josh Ritter albums, both of which are streaming at NPR.com until they are officially released.

Wednesday:
Finally the ash has cleared from the European skies and I get to see "Nymph," a Thai re-imagining of the Daphne myth. It's a 90 minute movie with maybe 6 pages of dialogue so it was a little atmospheric. Still really good.
Later in the day, I show my favorite film of all time, Labyrinth, to my freshman comp class. I have been using it as a teaching tool for several quarters now with varying levels of success. I don't care how much the students may laugh, I will continue to show it. Show me someone who can't appreciate David Bowie in tights, singing & dancing with Muppets, and I'll show you a blind, tone-deaf liar.
Then it's back to the Athena for the 7:15 showing of "Fish Tank." Other than the mylar balloon at the end, it was a very good film. Once again, I'm too lazy to do anything but eat popcorn for dinner.

Thursday:
This morning I watch the 2003 version of "Willard" as a part of my own personal, quarter-long horror film marathon. In my horror class, I show the animated graphic novelization of the Stephen King short story, "N," which my students had read over the weekend. The last full-length film of the Festival for me is the simply great Greek movie, "Dogtooth." It's an absurd look at control and coming of age and the scene with the cat might be the highlight of the week for me. Then I meet up with The Raccoon and my friend The Film Buff to see the last screening of the week, "Best of the Fest." There were about 20 shorts and all were spectacular. "My Beast Friend," "Banana Bread," "Wonder Hospital," and "The Commoners" were my favorites from there.
To snack on in the theater, and to celebrate the end of a week well filmed, I made the following candied nuts. After my weight in salted popcorn, I was really in the mood for something sweet.

That's A Wrap Rosemary Candied Almonds
inspired by a recipe in Martha Stewart's Living, May 2010

2 cups raw almonds
2 tablespoons demerara sugar
2 tablespoons vegan margarine
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl, combine 4 teaspoons with the sea salt and set aside. In a large skillet, combine the butter and honey until melted. Add the remaining sugar and cook until the mixture just starts to bubble. Lower the heat and stir in the almonds with a wooden spoon until well-coated. Remove from heat and stir in the rosemary. Spread the almonds onto the cookie sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with the sugar-salt mixture and put in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely before eating. A bit of advice? Taking a small bag to the theater will keep you from eating the entire trayfull.

***

And so endeth AIF+V Festival 2010. Coming up? More movies (Nightmare on Elm Street remake!), a concert, Cinco de Mayo, 12+ hours of student conferences, the Lit Fest, and (hopefully) some cooking.

Definitely some cooking.

Aquaphiliac

I am currently training to be a lifeguard. It was about time really. I was in swimming lessons or on a swim team almost every summer for the first 13 years of my life. I currently swim laps 3 times a week, sometimes as much as 2.5 miles a day. I love the water. Under it, through it, laying out next to it; I don't think I could be happy if I didn't live near some kind of large body of water.

So when I came home from my first lifeguarding class Saturday night, hungry and tired from a 12 hour day of first-aid/CPR training and rescuing passive victims from the bottom of the deep end, I appropriately chose a seafood-based dish to veganize.

The original dish was sauteed octopus served with fermented black bean sauce and miso vinaigrette. Even if I wasn't a vegan I don't think I'd keep octopus on hand, nor do I live near enough to the creepy Chinese groceries with the skinned rabbits in the windows to acquire fermented black bean paste on a whim. But the flavor combinations in this recipe were just too good not to experiment with. And so, despite the fact it was 10 o'clock at night and I was covered in chlorine and bruised from being backboarded, I fired up the burners and whipped up this delicious meal.

Mocktopus Wild Rice Salad with Black Bean Pear Sauce and Miso Vinaigrette

from Food&Wine, January 2010

for the rice (note: cook each type of rice separately)

1 cup wild rice, cooked according to package directions

1 cup jasmine rice, cooked according to package directions

for the Black Bean Pear Sauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 shallots, chopped fine

1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/2 a jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 cup pears, peeled and chopped

the juice from 1 lemon

2 green onions, green parts only, minced

for the miso vinaigrette

1 tablespoon miso (I had mild red in the fridge; the original calls for white)

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons room temperature water

sea salt & fresh ground pepper (1/8 teaspoon-ish or to taste)

to prepare

In a medium sauce pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the beans and cook for about 3-4 minutes.

Add the garlic, ginger, and shallot and cook for another 5 minutes or until the shallots are soft and translucent. You may want to add a little water and/or oil here if the beans are starting to stick too much to the bottom of the pan.

Add the bell pepper and jalapeno and cook until just starting to soften.

Stir in the pear and give the whole thing a few really good, mashing stirs to break up the pears and the beans a bit. The sauce is going to be a bit pink-ish and about the consistency of guacamole.

Turn off the heat and squeeze in the lemon juice. Stir in the green onions and cover. Let sit while you make the vinaigrette.

to make the miso vinaigrette

In a small bowl combine all the ingredients except the salt and pepper and whisk with vigor. Taste and season appropriately. This could be made up to 3 days or so ahead of time; just be sure to bring it back to room temp before serving.

***

To serve this, I chopped fresh spinach into ribbons, mandolined a large carrot into discs, and striped them on a large dinner plate. Using an ice cream scoop, I placed the rice (two wild scoops, one jasmine) on the carrot stripe. I spooned the black bean sauce over the rice, then perpendicularly drizzled the miso over the spinach and rice.

The above recipe made about enough to plate like this 4 times (depending on the size of your scoop). Since I was only feeding myself (yes, I plate this extensively when I'm eating all alone in my apartment. It's better than 30 cats and stacks of newspapers), I had plenty of leftovers for the next week. Suggestion? Cut up a few plum tomatoes, mix with the cold, leftover bean sauce and serve with tortilla chips and a cold one.

The perfect short-cut dinner for that night when, even though Sex Week went so well and you were sure you'd turned a corner and connected with your students, even the usually-participatory students are sitting there with their arms crossed over their chests refusing to talk, and the others are practically glaring while theatrically checking the time on their ubiquitous cell phones.

Week 5 here I come.

Talk Dessert-y To Me

I was beginning to despair, friends and enemies, that my newest crop of English 151 cherubs would never warm up to my hyperactively Socratic, spastically dialectic, sarcastically erotetic, often inappropriately no-holds-barred style of teaching. It was week three and things were looking bleak. Participation was low, blank stares of indifference were high. I was seriously contemplating hiring a one-armed man to teach my lessons for me.


My current lesson/syllabus is organized around several large, nebulous concepts: home, anger, the self, death, fear, etc. As a class we discuss the rhetorical power behind those ideas, looking at texts, both written and otherwise, which illustrate that power in action. The students in turn write/create their own texts using what they've learned. This model has been working pretty well for me (Fall '09 was spectacularly successful), but there's always the exception to the rule.



Enter "Sex Week." Yes, as it is for so many of life's problems, sex was the answer. Finally, finally, finally! I got my students to participate actively in class! I got a nice back and forth dialogue started! I got everyone to say at least one thing in a single class meeting! Finally I got them thinking critically about the world around them! (well, at least the sexual part of it). Is this a cheap sensationalistic ploy to shock my students into participation? Quite possibly; but the way I have it worded above sure sounds pedagogical, don't it? Plus, when it comes to teaching a night class Spring quarter, a 'W' is a 'W' so I'll take it.


The assignment, then, was to find an example of sex being used unexpectedly (for advertising, in a movie, in a song, etc.), write an brief essay applying the rhetorical concepts we'd covered in class to the unexpected sex, and then bring it to class for discussion. One such example was "The Sex Diet." This is a book that recommends having more sex as a way to increase your aerobic activity. It also suggests approaching the meals you eat as though you were making love for the first time ("So, like fumbling nervously in the dark with your eyes closed?" I ask my class, "That would certainly make getting food in your mouth difficult." They laughed. I laughed. The discussion continued successfully).


And so, in honor of "Sex Week" I give to you, my sexy fans and detractors, a ménage à trois of almost pornographically delicious desserts. Eat them in celebration of classroom successes. Eat them like it's your first time. Eat them off of someone you love (or at least who's name you know). Eat them to forget about the dismal lack of actual sex involved in "Sex Week."



Almost Raw Strawberry-Chocolate Yes, Oh, Yes Pleasecake
This recipe is an "IVV" original that was born after I failed to successfully veganize my Mom's delicious scotch shortbread cookie recipe. The dough was too dry to roll out so I turned it into crust instead. As such I'm a little unsure of the exact baking time. I just kept an eye on it and took it out when the whole thing looked golden brown and cookie-ish. Note also that the individual parts of this dessert can be made up to a week in advance. The crust will keep for almost two weeks if tightly covered; the pleasecake topping will keep for a week in the fridge, as will the strawberry-chocolate sauce.

for the crust
1 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 cups flour

for the pleasecake
2 cups raw macadamia nuts, soaked 3+ hours
1/4 cup raw honey
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup raw coconut oil (plus a bit extra for greasing the dish)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

for the topping
2-3 ounces dark chocolate (I used Ghiradelli's 100% cocoa baking bar)
1-2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
1/4 - 1/3 cup strawberry puree

to prepare
In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the flour cup by cup until all mixed in. The dough with be pretty crumbly so you may need to moisten your hands with a little water and work in the last bit of flour by hand. Cover with saran wrap and chill while the nuts are soaking. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan and press the chilled dough evenly into the bottom. It should be about an inch thick or so all around. Bake up to 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely before assembling/adding the toppings.

While the crust dough is chilling/baking, prepare the pleasecake and strawberry topping. In a blender or food processor, combine all the "cheesecake" ingredients except the water and lemon juice and pulse to mix up. Slowly add the liquids, scraping the sides if needed, until the mixture resembles smooth oatmeal. Pour onto and smooth evenly over the cooled crust. Place in the freezer for at least three hours.

While the cake is freezing, prep the chocolate-strawberry sauce. Fill a medium saucepan with about 3-4 inches of water and bring to a boil. Place the chocolate in a smaller saucepan and hold over the boiling water to melt. (You can also do this in a double boiler if you have one). When the chocolate is almost fully melted, add the agave/honey and stir well. Pour in the strawberry puree and whisk together until the mixture is very hot. Remove from heat and let cool before using as a topper for the pleasecake. Alternately, you could swirl some into the pleasecake topping before it is fully set. Either way, save some of the sauce to swirl elsewhere after you've finished dessert.

Hot & Heavy Sweet Potato Ice Cream with Red Wine Syrup

inspired by a Food&Wine.com recipe-of-the-day

for the ice cream
1 cup soy cream (recipe below)
1 cup sweet potato puree (about 1 large sweet potato, skinned, baked, and mashed)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon each, ground cinnamon and ginger
1/4 teaspoon each, ground nutmeg and cloves
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the soy cream
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened soy milk (Pearl is a very good brand)
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons agave syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Mix everything together in a blender on medium speed for about a minute and a half. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

for the red wine syrup
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons warm water
3/4 cup red wine (I used Ghost Pines Merlot)

to prepare
In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the soy cream, sweet potato puree, soy milk, water, and brown rice syrup. Add the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, spice, and salt). Whisk together and bring to a just boiling. Remove from heat and whisk constantly for about 5 minutes or until all the lumps are smooth and the sugar is dissolved. Press through a strainer if you really want to get fancy. Place in a airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Stir in the vanilla extract and mix in an ice cream maker for about 25 minutes (according to manufacturer's instructions). Remove from the machine and place in an airtight container. The consistency of the ice cream now will be a bit like soft serve. Certainly edible. If you would like something more solid to wrap your lips around, place the container in the freezer for up to three hours, checking intermittently for texture.

While the ice cream is in the machine or solidifying in the freezer, make the red wine syrup. In a small sauce pan combine the sugar and the water. Bring to a boil, occasionally stirring. Let cook for about 5 minutes WITHOUT stirring until an amber carmel starts to form. Lower the heat and add the red wine. Stir well to disolve the hardened sugar. Let cool to room temperature before serving. (Note that this will keep for over a month in the fridge so you can make it well in advance of the ice cream. I recommend just keeping some on hand. You never know when you might be faced with something you'd like to coat in alcohol-based syrup.).

Serve scoops of the ice cream with generous drizzles (downpours, really) of the red wine syrup. A sprinkle of finely chopped pecans would be pretty good too.

Surprisingly Seductive Tropical Fruit Parfait
inspired by/veganized from a Sophie Dahl recipe in the March 2010 issue of "F&W"

for the sorbet-ish topping
1 cup Malibu rum (or other coconut rum)
1/2 cup demerara sugar
10 ounces of chopped pineapple
1 container plain soy yogurt (about 6 ounces)
1 cup light coconut milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice


for the salad
2 cups papaya, peeled and chopped
1 cup kiwi, peeled and chopped
2 cups mango, peeled and chopped
2 starfruit, chopped


In a small sauce pan, combine the sugar and rum. Bring to a boil, stirring often to dissolve all the sugar. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until reduced to 3/4 cup. Let cool.
In a blender, puree the pineapple and 2 tablespoons of the coconut syrup until almost completely smooth. Transfer 1/4 cup of the mixture to a medium bowl. (Save the rest for pina coladas and banana milkshakes the next day).
Into the bowl with the pineapple, whisk in the yogurt, coconut milk and lemon juice. Pour the mix into a 9x9 glass baking dish and place uncovered in the freezer. Every 15 minutes or so for about an hour and a half, remove the dish and stir up the mixture with a fork or whisk to break up the clumps.
While the sorbet is freezing, peel and chop all the fruit into bite-sized pieces. For the starfruit, save a couple of star-shaped slices to place on the rims of the serving glasses. Mix together in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
To serve, layer the fruit and sorbet in tall glasses and serve with the slice of star fruit on the rim.



***




I don't know about you kids, but I think a cold shower is in order.

How Green Was My Dinner?

Those of you who know me (or who have taken the time to read all the way down to the "About Me" section of my FB profile) know that my favorite color is green.

It also ended up being, quite accidentally, the unofficial theme of Spring Quarter: Week 2's menu. I didn't do much cooking last week (there's only so long one can stretch out Syllabus Day before the actual teaching has to start) but I managed to make a couple of very nice dinners.

I also had a gloriously shining moment of sheer genius.

Yes, those are rubber bands holding a cooking magazine to the cupboard door above my sink. Yes, it freed up precious and much-needed counter space. Yes, I made Roomie get up off the couch to come bask in my amazing cleverness. Yes, I'm sure someone has already done/invented this. No, I don't care.

The first dinner of the week was adapted from the back of a Hodgson Mill spaghetti box. It was originally called "Winter Green Pasta" but this made me think about toothpaste and gum, and what pasta might taste like so-flavored. Highly unappetizing.

Not-Mint Pasta

1 pound spinach spaghetti (or other long pasta)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

2 green onions, green and white parts, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup vegetable broth

1 pound fresh spinach, sliced in ribbons

2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed into 1/4 cup cold water

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet or frying pan. Add the ginger, onions, and celery. Cook over medium heat until just beginning to soften. Don't brown. Add the salt, broth, and spinach. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until all the veg is cooked to your liking. Stir in the cornstarch-water mixture. Cook until the mix is hot again (don't boil or the cornstarch will get all clumpy-thick).

Drain the cooked pasta and return to the pot. Pour the veggie mix in and stir well to coat. Serve with more cooked veg (or dump a can of tuna on top like Roomie did).

***

The next dinner was more prep-intensive, but since this was my Sunday Supper, I didn't mind spending an extra couple of hours in the kitchen. Next time I'll probably make some of the pieces parts ahead of time just to have on hand.

What took a bit of time was my first-time experimentation with steaming some artichokes. I brought about 3-4 inches of water, a quarter of a lemon (squeezed into the pot, then tossed in), bay leaf, 2 crushed garlic cloves, and 1/4 cup white wine to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Then I just put the artichokes in, covered, and let steam the 45-60 minutes I was making the rest of the dinner. They turned out pretty good served with the following dipping sauce (and now I have two artichoke hearts to turn into something else delicious!)

Quick & Tangy Dipping Sauce

3/4 - 1 cup vegan mayo (regular or fat-free)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3-4 basil leaves, chopped very fine

1 teaspoon cheater garlic

1 teaspoon vegan parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast (optional)

salt & black pepper to taste

Whisk everything but the salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Taste, season, whisk again, and serve.

The main dish was a variation on a broccoli recipe from the April 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times. It's a broccoli pesto that contains no basil. Weird, huh? But since technically the word pesto is Italian for "pounded" (by way of the Latin "pistare" ie: mortar & pestle), I guess it really doesn't matter what you're pounding as long as it turns into sauce you serve over pasta.

Bresto Orrecchiette

sounds fancy, don't it?

1/2 cup raw, slivered almonds

2 cups broccoli florets

1 1/2 cups loosely packed flat-leaf/Italian parsley

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup mint leaves

4 teaspoons lemon juice

grated zest from 1 small lemon

5 big garlic cloves

drained capers (for serving)

16 oz. orrecchiette pasta (or some other little pasta shape (farfalle, gemelli, conchiglie) that will hold up to a nice thick sauce)

Steam the broccoli in a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes or until just soft and bright green. Rinse under cold water, drain, and set aside.

In a food processor or blender, pulse the almonds, parsley, mint, garlic, and lemon zest. Note that if you are using a blender, it will help if you chop up the garlic and herbs first.

Add the broccoli and lemon juice and pulse/blend again, scraping the sides as needed.

With the blender/food processor running on low-medium, slowly add the oil. Blend until the mixture is smooth but not liquid-y. You may need to add a little warm water if it seems like it's getting to thick, especially if you're using a blender.

(You could stop right here and just stick the bresto in the fridge for a couple days. Return to room temperature before mixing with the pasta, though.)

Boil the pasta according to package instructions (don't overcook!). Drain and return to the pot. Add the bresto and stir well to coat. Scoop into shallow bowls and top with as many capers as you like. If you don't like capers, you may want to throw a teaspoon or so of sea salt into the bresto.

***

I'll warn you now, friends and enemies, there's a good chance I won't be cooking anything during Week Three. I have my first round of response papers to grade, Roomie's first big away regatta is coming up, my first lifeguard course is this weekend, my cousin The Wild Child is coming for an OU street Fest....

...actually, I'll probably need to cook, just to stay sane.

Unbelievably Vegan

Though I love the effort required to make something from scratch (and the satisfied, semi-smug feeling I get from doing so), there's something to be said for convenience foods. Something quick you can whip up without pulling out every tool in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, most of those foods don't have vegan counterparts - or at least not any that are readily (and/cheaply) available.

Understandably, then, I get pretty excited when I find something that is conventional, quick, stocked regularly at Kroger, and vegan. These items often surprise the non-vegans in my life, for many of whom vegan = weird.

So I've decided, everynowandthen, to include a post about some Unbelievably Vegan foods.

Oreos? Kroger Cinnamon Graham Crackers? Swedish Fish? Fritos? Vienna Cremes? Pilsbury pizza dough?

All vegan. All quick to eat and easy to find.

Today's Unbelievably Vegan delicacies are the Duncan Hines Classic Yellow cake mix and Creamy Homestyle Frosting (Classic Vanilla and Chocolate). If you read the labels carefully, you'll find many mixes and frostings are vegan. Soy- and vegetable-based fats have a longer shelf life than true dairy products and are often cheaper.

Though the cake mix itself is vegan, it requires three eggs. Enter flax seeds and the Goo! they create. I mixed two tablespoons whole golden flax seeds and one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds with nine tablespoons of warm water in a glass measuring cup. Let sit for at least 40 minutes, or until the Goo! starts to form. Then prepare the cake mix according to the box instructions. The end-result cupcake is a little more moist, more prone to falling apart in your hand than a conventionally made cupcake, but the taste is pretty much identical.

While the cupcakes are baking/cooling, divide the vanilla frosting and dye it various colors. Decorate and spend all the time you saved using pre-made mixes enjoying the looks of incredulity on people's faces when you tell them the cupcakes are vegan.

Note that the M&M's on top of the cupcakes are not vegan. I was just trying to use up some of the candy from the Easter goodie bag The Raccoon gave Roomie in a way that didn't involve my eating it all in one sitting. Plus, they look really cute like this, don't you think?

Easter Feasting

Despite the fact that I didn't make the trip up to Cleveland to spend Easter with my extended family, I had a pretty nice holiday weekend. A massage, fresh-cut daffodils, a kick-ass soloist plus the chance to catch up with one of my favorite ex-students at Mass Sunday morning, and of course, cooking & baking.

When deciding what to make for Easter dinner, I knew it had to be simple. I didn't want to spend all day in the kitchen since I had plenty of prep to do for my classes. Plus, I didn't want anything too filling as I was looking forward to ending my Lenten dessert embargo.


Soup to the rescue!

And what better to make my soup with than at-its-peak-of-deliciousness asparagus?

Nothing better, that's what. And nothing cheaper either, since asparagus is currently on the swindle at Kroger. The following dish is my own personal spin on a mish-mash of recipes from Food Network, VegWeb, and other online cooking resources.

Easter Sunday Cream of Asparagus Soup

2 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, tough ends discarded, cut in half
6 tablespoons vegan butter
2 good-sized shallots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 scant teaspoons dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon dry vermouth

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with salted ice water. In batches, cook the asparagus in the boiling water until just soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the ice water with a slotted spoon, then to a collander. Pat with paper towels to remove any excess water. Reserve 7-8 cups of the asparagus cooking-water. Take about 2 dozen of the asparagus tips, chop very fine, and set aside. Chop the remaining asparagus into bite sized peices.
In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrot, and celery. Cover and cook until soft (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add the flour and cook for another few minutes.
Add the reserved cooking water and bring to a boil. Toss in the bay leaf and thyme. Lower the heat, cover, and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the bite-sized, chopped asparagus and boil again. Remove from heat and let cool (15-25 minutes).
Remove the bay leaf from the soup. Working in batches (or using an immersion blender) blend the soup until very smooth. Return the puree to the pot, stir in the parsley and finely chopped asparagus tips. Add the vermouth and salt, stir, and bring to an almost boil.
Serve with fresh black pepper, some Crumb's birdseed bread (if you're lucky enough to live somewhere it's available) and lightly steamed zuchinni and snow peas.

Daffs for the flower arrangement courtesy of the Athens' Farmers' Market
and my BFF JSK's backyard

For dessert I made a Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie. Roomie l-o-v-e-s LOVES strawberry-rhubarb pie. I had to give him a half-pie limit or there would have been none left for me at all. For this pie I tried a veganized (cold Earth Balance sticks instead of butter) version of Martha Stewart's pie crust. Since I don't have a food processor, I did everything by hand, utilizing what my Mom called "Great-Gramma's Cuisinart" as she lent it to me. Since I've never used a processor or stand mixer to make dough, I can't really compare the two, but I kinda like the amount of elbow grease necessary doing things like kneading and cutting by hand.

Here's my recipe for the pie filling:

2 - 2 1/2 cups each, chopped strawberries and rhubarb
2 tablespoons minute tapioca
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
a pinch or two ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all the above ingredients in a large bowl. Let sit while you are preparing/chilling the dough. Roll out a little more than half the dough for the bottom crust and place in a 9-inch dish. Pour in the fruit filling. Roll out the remaining dough and slice however you choose to top the pie. I used my carrot cookie cutter for egg-stra Easter awesome-ness.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. The edges on my pie were getting a little dark around the 25 minute mark but the fruit wasn't bubbling, so I covered it with foil for the last 15 minutes or so.
Serve warm, topped with a spritz of Rice Whip.

***
And so, friends and enemies, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

P.S. Now that Lent is over (and all the most delicious of fruits are coming in season), I'll be making more of the sweet stuff so stay tuned!

First Week Eats

One week down, nine to go loyal readers!

I hit the ground running this, my last Spring Quarter in Athens, when I was asked to teach a second class - one I'd never taught before! - at the very last minute. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to do it (and super excited to get a chance to teach my horror syllabus to a more advanced class) but it certainly added to the craziness of the first week of classes. Learning 55 new names and faces, dealing with print-on-demand-only and sold-out books, a dozen add/drops, pink slip requests, finalizing syllabi and library sessions...


And somewhere in that chaotic mix I had to help Roomie figure out his class schedule, try and find time to hang out with The Kid, and deal with The Raccoon (who is occasionally staying with us while she trains to be a yoga teacher).


Oh, and eat every now and then as well.


Because it's been so hectic, the dishes this week have been of the one-pot, stew variety. They have not, however, been any less delicious. The first is from Food & Wine online. I'm a fan on Facebook so every day I get at least one recipe, and often a link to a series of themed meals/recipes in my NewsFeed. My recipe, made Monday night, is adapted from one of F&W's"Dinner Tonight" suggestions.


Adjuncterrific White Bean & Chard Stew
pretty easy on the ol' Group III pocketbook, too


2 pounds of swiss chards, stems & leaves, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons cheater garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 16 oz.can (two cups) chopped tomatoes
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
about 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt


Steam the chard (in a pan with about an inch of water or in a microwave basket-steamer like I have). Drain and pat with a paper towel to remove excess water. Set aside.
In a large pot, heat the oil. Add the garlic and the red pepper. Cook for a few minutes until fragrant.
Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add the beans, lower the heat, and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add the chard and simmer for another 5 or so minutes. Season with the salt and serve with some crusty bread and a fruit-forward red wine.


This stew fed Roomie and I quite well for about two days (I doubled the original recipe so there would be leftovers, served it over angel hair pasta the second night). But by Wednesday the fridge needed restocked. Enter my, "bday-gift-to-myself" jar of tandoori spices from Whole Foods, and my, "xmas-gift-to-myself" jar of saffron threads from Williams-Sonoma. Thus was born the following dinner (and the beginning of a days-of-the-week food poem).

Woah-ful Tandoori Stew with Saffron-Jasmine Rice
"Wednesday's meals taste like woah!"

for the rice
as much jasmine rice as you care to eat
2-3 saffron threads per 1 cup of dry rice

for the stew
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons tandoori spices
1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 bag frozen, chopped okra

for serving
raw spinach, chopped flat-leaf parsley, sliced tomatoes

to make
Prepare the rice according to the package instructions, adding the saffron when you pour the rice into the boiling water.
While the rice is cooking, heat the oil in a large pot. Add the onion and the tandoori spices and cook over medium heat until the onions are soft.
Add the cauliflower and stir to coat the veggies with the oil and spices. Cook until the cauliflower is just starting to soften.
Add the tomatoes and bring the mix to a boil. Stir in the okra. Bring to a boil again, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the vegetables are soft/defrosted and cooked all the way through.

Serve the stew over a bed of rice and spinach ribbons. Top with the chopped parsley and tomato slices.

***

I kept myself fed the rest of the week with leftovers and a mix of alcohol and raw veggies.

I finally got both my classes mapped out, all the pink slips signed, books ordered, and BlackBoards set up. I even have about 60% of my students' names learned!

I also managed to help Roomie register for his classes, spend an evening with The Kid, and chat for more than 30 seconds with The Raccoon.

If these trends continue? It should be one hella-excellent quarter.

Knot Inspired

Hello friends and enemies. Long time no post. Why is that, you might be wondering? Well, other than being busy moving back to Athens, planning Spring courses last minute, and my birthday, I can sum up my lack of writing in two words:

NO INSPIRATION.

*dramatic sigh*

It's not that I haven't been in the kitchen. I spent Spring Break at my parents' house (the kitchen of which I've spent many posts lauding) while all my usual kitchen companions were off galavanting for the week. This left me plenty of room and plenty of time to be whipping up some vegan delights.

And I did. I experimented (with mixed results) veganifying my Mom's semi-famous Scotch Shortbread. Inspired by Liddabit's Beer&Pretzel Caramels, I tried my hand at making both pretzels and caramel. I cooked a few off-the-cuff, whatever-was-in-the-fridge, one-pot casseroles that all turned out delicious.

But that's just it. There's no real story behind anything that came out of my kitchen in the past week. I wanted to make something. I gathered the supplies and tools to do so. I made the something. It turned out edible. I cleaned the kitchen. The end. Certainly not the stuff great blog posts are made of, that's for sure.

So to tide you all over until my inspiration returns from Spring Break, here's a pictorial of my pretzel-making as well as a link to the Alton Brown recipe for pretzels that I used. My only change to the recipe was omitting the egg wash before baking. I simply brushed with water and used regular coarse sea salt (instead of pretzel salt). Procedural changes include kneading the last couple cups of flour in by hand (since I couldn't find my mom's mixer's dough hook attachment) and using a large pot instead of a roasting pan to boil the pretzels. I wasn't making long sticks so I didn't need that large a pan.

Jessie the Dog has a nstily adorable habit of wanting to be right-up-ons wherever you happen to be in the kitchen. This requires some creative space managment while rolling out your pretzels.

This is the pretzel dough. It rose just like it was supposed to and was delightfully sticky. I was pleased.

Boiling the pretzels. I made little pretzel nubbins (possibly to be coated in caramel) so I could boil many at a time. Then I decided to get fancy and make some pretzels that looked like pretzels.

These I could only boil two or three at a time. Don't worry if they un-knot in the water. just smoosh them back together on the tray.

The deliciously golden-brown finished product. I probably could have cooked these even longer, but I didn't mind the slightly chewy center. Whatever strikes your pretzel fancy.

Gettin' Patty

St. Patrick’s Day is my third favorite holiday. Maybe it comes from spending almost 10 years in a school with “The Fighting Irish” as a mascot. Maybe from having an Irish first name. Or that my favorite color is green. Maybe, since I was supposed to be born on March 17th, my love of St. Patty’s was preordained!

Whatever the reason, St. Patrick’s Day is yet another wonderful reason to have a folks over for a themed dinner and plenty of drinking. Enter The Kid, who, despite having an 8am exam the next morning, helped make a respectable dent in my Irish beer supply.

Rounding out the guest list were The Raccoon and Roomie.

For the main course I made Colcannon a traditional Irish dish (it even has it's own theme song!), the recipe for which I got from the delightfully old-school “Vegan Handbook”

1-2 pounds of potatoes, diced
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
2 leeks, green & white parts, sliced thin
1 cup unsweetened soymilk
1 small head of cabbage, diced (about 4 cups)
2 tablespoons vegan butter
½ teaspoon mace
1 tablespoon cheater garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Cook the potatoes and parsnips in boiling water until tender
While those are cooking, combine the milk and the leeks in a small saucepan. Simmer until the leeks are soft (but be careful not to boil the milk too much or it will start to separate).
In a larger sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage and cook until very soft.
Drain the potatoes and parsnips. Add the garlic, mace, salt, and pepper to the pot and mash very well. The mix should be very creamy.
Add the milk and leeks. Mash again to distribute the leeks.
With a large serving spoon, mix in the cooked cabbage.
Serve warm with a side of cooked veg, a glass of the very interesting DogfishHead Red&White, and a slice of the following bread.

Guinness Bread
note that this bread is technically not vegan since Guinness uses isinglass to clarify their beer. I’m not the kind of vegan who cares about things like that, especially on St. Patrick’s Day.

2 packages of dry yeast
½ cup very warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
6 ounces Guinness Extra Stout
2 tablespoons agave syrup
1 tablespoon vegan butter
2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 ½ cups (scant) white flour

Mix the sugar and yeast with the water in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
Heat the beer, butter, and agave in a small pan. When warm, add to the yeast mixture and stir well.
Add the whole wheat flour to the yeast-beer mixture and beat with a fork until combined and sticky. Stir in the caraway seeds, salt and ginger. Mix well to evenly distribute.
In half-cup increments, add the white flour, mixing & kneading well between each addition.
Once all the flour has been incorporated, knead the dough until it no longer sticks to your hands (about 3 minutes).
Shape into a round loaf and place in a well greased 9-inch round cake pan. Cover with a damp towel and let rise somewhere warm for about an hour. (I let it sit on top of the oven while I made the soda bread).
Bake the risen bread at 350 for 30 minutes or until it sounds hollow when you flick it with your finger.


Though we didn't eat any of it on St. Pat's, I also decided to make a vegan soda bread. When I start baking - especially when there's alcohol involved - it's sometimes hard to stop.


Soda Bread

also from "Vegan Handbook"

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
¼ cup currants
1 cup unsweetened soymilk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix the soymilk and lemon juice. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the caraway seeds and currants.
Pour the now-curdley milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well until it turns into dough.
Knead the dough right in the bowl, adding flour as needed until it no longer sticks to your hands (about 2 minutes). Shape into a round loaf.
Place into round, greased baking pan (the smallest one you have). With a floured knife, cut an ‘X’ into the top of the loaf.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes in the pan before re-cutting the cross on top and breaking it open a little bit to fully cool

(thanks to The Kid for helping with the last step)

And to finish the meal, My Goodness, My Guinness Spice Cake

2 cups dark brown sugar

1 cup hot water

1 cup room temperature Guinness Extra Stout

2 tablespoons vegan butter

2 cups of dark raisins

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

In a medium-sized sauce pan, combine the sugar, water, stout, butter, raisins, salt, and spices. Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool to room temperature.

Note: Oh. My. Goodness. This mixture is seriously amazing. Like can't-stop-licking-the-pan, fighting-over-who-gets-the-spoon amazing. There are some potentially deadly stout caramels in there somewhere. The Kid suggested turning it into pecan pie. In my opinion, Guinness should be as much a kitchen staple as salt & pepper.

Sift together the flour, powder, and soda in a large bowl. Add the cooled stout mixture to the bowl and stir well. Pour into a 9x11 glass baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. (Mine actually got a little bit dark around the edges so next time I may try a metal pan or playing around with the baking time/temperature).

Then end result of my Irish feast? A room full of smiling eyes and a sink full of completely cleaned plates.

Slainte!

3.14159

I love pie!

It's such a happy food, don't you think? I even like to say pie. Go ahead and say 'pie' right now.

Right now. Out loud.

Say it a couple of times for good measure.

Pie.

Pie pie.

Pie, pie, pie, pie, PIE!

Can't do it without smiling a little bit, can you? Hell, try just thinking about pie without cracking at least half a grin. Impossible.

And so, because Sunday was Pi Day, I decided remedy the fact that I had heretofor never baked a pie and whip a few up. The results were nothing short of a-freaking-mazing.

I-Love-a-Blueberry, I-Hug-a-Blueberry Pie

for the full effect, listen to this song on repeat while baking

4 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup warm water

3 tablespoons tapioca granules

1 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

1 Easy-Peasy Pie Crust (recipe below)

Mix the first five ingredients together in a large bowl. Let sit, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the pie crust.

Easy-Peasy Pie Crust

makes 2- 9 or 10 inch pie crusts

2 1/2 cups + 1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 cup light olive oil (use the best quality olive oil you can)

1/4 cup cold water

Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl.

Add the oil and water and mix with a fork until combined.

Divide the dough in two. Roll each ball between two pieces of wax paper until large enough for your pie dish.

Place one crust in the bottom of your dish, trimming the edges.

Slice the other crust into strips and lattice the top until it looks like pie.

(This is about the time I was hip-hip-huzzah-ing in my empty kitchen. I was pretty excited about the fact that my pie looked like pie.)

Pre-heat the oven to 375-425 degrees (my oven in finicky). Line the middle oven rack in with tinfoil (when the filling bubbles over, you won't have to clean your oven!) and set the pie on top. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling.

For my St. Patrick's Day Feast (full story coming soon!) I made a cherry pie (same recipe as above, subbing in two packages of frozen cherries [thawed, with juices] for the blueberries and water) and cut the top crust with a heart-shaped cookie-cutter.

They look sort of like four-leaf clovers, no?

For Roomie's impending trip to South Carolina, I'll be making a strawberry-rhubarb pie. I have a graham cracker crust (Funny thing: Graham crackers - not vegan. Graham cracker crumbs - not vegan. Pre-made, Kroger-brand, graham cracker crust - vegan) just begging to be filled with some sort of vegan chocolate and/or peanut butter mousse.

Pie, pie, pie, pie, PIE!!

Vegan in the Rye

**A Story of Context**



My Pap has a building down on E. 71st Street in Cleveland. When I was a kid, we called it "The Shop." It was a combination storage facility and headquarters for Pap's pool company. The rooms were a maze of old toys and furniture, empty muriatic acid buckets full of scrap metal and pipes, pool cleaning equipment, ladders, and more. It smelled of chlorine and motor oil, the radio was tuned to the polkas or WRMR, and the fridge was full of RC Cola, Squirt, and Tang.

Down the block was the Hostess factory/outlet. Pap never bought bread or snackcakes from the store. He went down to Hostess. To this day, I still don't think I've ever had a fresh mini-powdered-sugar donut. But Pap always had a stash of Ho-Ho's and Twinkie's for my sister and I to unroll/suck the filling out of, down The Shop


Along with the donuts and Susie-Q's, Pap always bought loaves of rye bread. Thin-sliced, just a smidge stale, Beefsteak Rye bread. It made the best salami-and-mayo sandwiches eaten kinda warm after sitting in Pap's truck all morning. Cold Honeybaked ham sandwiches at midnight on Christmas Eve have to be served on rye bread. There is no more excellent a Sunday morning breakfast than extra toasted rye slathered with way too much butter.

Rye bread tastes like "The Shop" and it tastes like Pap standing at the stove frying eggs in bacon grease and it tastes like being 7 years old.

**End Story**

Obviously I have a soft spot in my heart for rye bread. So the other night, when The Kid mentioned the amazing salted rye bread served at his previous place of employ, I took it as a sign from the Carbohydrate Gods demanding I bake up some rye bread.


Spring Forward Salted Rye


5 cups white bread flour, divided
1 package active dry yeast
3 cups warm water
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
2 tablespoons salt
2 cups rye flour
coarse sea salt (for sprinkling)


Sift together 2 cups of the white flour, the yeast, and the water in a large bowl. Cover and set in a warm place (on top of an oven set to 200 or so worked marvelous for me) for 1 hour.
Stir in the oil, caraway seeds, and salt. Add the remaining flour (white and rye) 1 cup at a time until the mixture becomes dough.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 15 minutes or until it no longer sticks to your hands.
Set in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a warm, wet towel and let rise for an hour in a warm place. The dough should double in size. Then punch down the dough and let rise for another hour (or stick in the fridge overnight like I did and continue baking the next day).
Shape the dough into two loaves and place on baking sheets lined with parchment papers. Cover with damp towels and let rise for another 30 minutes.
Right before baking generously sprinkle and pat down into the top of the bread the coarse sea salt.
Bake the loaves in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until deep brown. Cool for 20-30 minutes on a wire rack before slicing.


***


It wouldn't be lying to say that the addition of salt to a loaf of rye bread is the best invention since, well, sliced bread. I'm interested to try other kinds of salt, especially the pink Himalayan kind (which is usually extra coarse) or something flaky and more delicate.


This bread was great with leftover vegetable soup as well as with some hastily cooked up Pesto Hash (onions and peppers sauteed with leftover pesto and cheater garlic, mixed into cooked spaghetti squash).


It's also flavorful enough to be served with nothing but a glass of cheap red wine.



A loaf of bread, a jug of wine...all that was missing was the thou.

I'd Like To Thank The Academy

I have three kinds of memories: Real, Storied, and Gilded. The former are those things that I actually remember happening to me, say, those things that have happened in the past fifteen years or so (though there are some before that). The latter come from pictures or stories that I have heard/seen so many times, I feel as though I remember them. When I relate Storied Memories, I tell them with such detail and elan (yes, elan) that it can be hard to differentiate, even for me. Favorite/often-told Storied Memories eventually become Gilded, meaning I veer from the Story and tell it how I'd like it to have happened or with more detail than even the original picture provided.

In my earliest Storied Memory I am 5 days old. I am fussy and won't stop crying and my first-time-Mom is alone in the little apartment she and The Doc have out in Pasadena. While trying to feed me/quiet me, my Mom turns on the 54th Academy Awards. There are more awards given out back then, so the show lasts almost 5 hours. In my head I have Gilded this memory with my Grampa K's rocking chair, philodendrons hanging from the ceiling in macramed and beaded plant holders, white built-in bookcases full of most of the old medical books that currently surround me as I sit typing in my parent's library, balloons and flowers in the periphery. Also Gilt is the idea that it was somehow the awards ceremony (seeing Katharine Hepburn for the first time? The Chariots of Fire soundtrack?) was able to calm me and whenever my Mom tried to leave the room or put me into my crib I would start to cry again. And let me tell you this is not the face of a baby with whom you want to mess.

Is any of that true? I'd say about 63% of it is mostly true. But it's a fun story and I get to tell people that I've been really into films since the day I was born. It's not just hyperbole - it's an honestly true Gilded Memory!

***

And so the Oscars have a special place in my heart. I mean, what’s not to love? Gorgeous people dressed in millions of dollars worth of clothes and jewelry, making speeches ranging from heartfelt to histrionic, trying to look humble/contain their rage in the face of a win/loss.

Since this year’s Oscars fortuitously fell on the same weekend as The MCHS Gala Auction, an event for which Roomie, The Raccoon, Kev, and The Doc would all be home, it seemed like the thing to do to turn last year’s impromptu dinner party into an annual event.

On the menu this year:

Nibbles:
Homemade pesto and a jar of store-bought artichoke tapenade served with multi-grain and pumpernickel breads.

Salad:
Spinach tossed with mandolined carrots and mushrooms, chopped kalamata olives, and raw pumpkin seeds; dressed with Roomie’s Favorite Vinaigrette.

Main Course:
Caliente Fennel Spaghetti
Big Pot Sauce (BPS) over rotini and/or Ohio City Pasta spinach linguine
Cooked zucchini

Dessert:
Mom-made chocolate and yellow cupcakes frosted by The Demon Baby (for the non-vegans)
Champagne (for everybody)

Cooking this time around was a group effort. Both Roomie and Kev like to cook and I’m an excellent delegater. They made quick work of chopping and sautéing everything for BPS.

Roomie and I used to make BPS once a month before I moved down OU for grad school. Probably because we don’t have the lovely large pots that my Mom does, we had not made BPS in over a year, opting instead for the convenience of jar sauce. It’s kind of a garbage recipe (we put in whatever we’re in the mood for) but here’s the basic recipe.

Big Pot Sauce

enough to freeze, but really too good for leftovers

3-4 tablespoons olive oil
3 large shallots, diced
1 medium-large onion, diced
5-6 garlic cloves, chopped
½ tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon anise seed, crushed and divided
1 cup red wine
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1-2 green peppers, chopped
4 – 28 oz. cans of whole plum tomatoes, pureed
1 – 16 oz can of tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
4 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2-3 tablespoons flat-leaf, Italian parsley, chopped

In a very big pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and ¼ teaspoon of the anise. Saute until the onions are very soft and translucent, stirring often.
Add the peppers and the wine.

Cook until the liquid has reduced by about half and the pepper are cooked through.
Puree the plum tomatoes in a blender (1 or 2 cans at a time, depending on the size of your blender), and add them to the pot. Add the tomato paste and stir until everything is incorporated.
Add all the fresh herbs and the last 1/4 teaspoon of anise. Stir well. Raise the heat and stir continuously until the sauce is just bubbling. Reduce the heat to low and let sit, covered, until you’re ready to eat. The longer it sits the more awesome it gets.

While the boys set the table with the salad, nibbles, and Oscar ballots,

I went to work on the spicy fennel dish.

Ever since using fennel for the DPD! I’ve been itching to use it again. I’m not a huge fan of black licorice (and brushing my teeth with Tom’s of Maine Fennel toothpaste might be the closest I’ve ever come to projectile vomiting) so I always assumed I wouldn’t like the real veggie. That I found it amazing was a delicious surprise.

Caliente Fennel Spaghetti
adapted from the January 2010 issue of Bon Appetit

2 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 red jalapenos, seeded and diced fine (see note)
2 cups fennel, sliced thin (1 or 2 large bulbs)
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ cup vegetable broth
4 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped and divided
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1 pound spaghetti

Note: the Kroger in Marion only had green jalapenos so I bought these cute little red guys that looks a bit like evil strawberries. They were simply labeled “hot peppers.” They tasted great without too much heat, but you could probably use any kind of red, hot pepper you’re in the mood for. Red pepper flakes and sriracha can also be added at the table for more heat.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, salt, and the chiles, sautéing for about a minute. Add the fennel and cook until it starts to soften.
Pour in the broth, 2 tablespoons of parsley, the lemon juice, and fennel seeds. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the fennel is really soft. Remove from heat.
While the fennel is cooking, boil the pasta according to package directions. Drain (reserving a cup of the cooking water just in case the mix is a little dry at the end. I didn’t end up needing it.) and return the pasta to the pot.
Uncover the fennel mixture and return the skillet to high heat. Cook until almost all the liquid is absorbed.

Add the fennel to the pasta in batches, stirring in between to evenly distribute. Sprinkle with the last of the parsley and serve.

***

Award for Best Quote of the Night went to The Raccoon:

“What’s this?” she asks holding up a fork-speared piece of fennel.
“Um. That’s the fennel. This is Caliente Fennel Spaghetti.” I have only said this about 60 times over the course of the evening.
“Yeah, but,” she pauses to chew, swallow and stare at some Red Carpet action. “I thought fennel was a seed.”
I choke-laugh a little on the water I’m drinking. “News flash! Seeds grow into plants!”

Roomie and Kev tied for Best Kitchen Helper.

The Doc swept the Cleaned Plate division.

And for me? Well, it was an honor just to be nominated.