The REAL Royal Wedding (sans rant)

Ok, I know you've all been waiting for this. I've been tweeting about the Royal Wedding Viewing Party I was super excited about and look, it's almost a week later and I haven't posted pics or even a hint at what was cooked.

Granted, I ranted (like that rhyme?). And then I was traveling in Wisconsin all day yesterday.

So, really, this is my first opportunity.

So, I'll just get to it.

Maris from "In Good Taste" came over at about 6 on Thursday evening (I neglected to check my cellphone and when I finally did, saw that I had approximately 18 missed texts including one that threatened to give the pizza she was bringing away to a homeless man if I didn't respond). I was, of course, stressed about this party (i.e. gathering of 3 people), so wanted to start cooking RIGHT AWAY. Maris, being the calm and collected person that she is, wanted to relax...and drink wine...and watch Boy Meets World with Matt.

I went RIGHT to cooking.

I started off with the SCONES. I leafed through "Veganomicon" and found the recipe for Banana and Date Scones...which sounded quite British. So, I gave those a go. I also found a recipe for "Clotted Cream" (this might be THE most disgusting name for a food in the history of food) and whipped those bad boys up right quick (was that British?).

Here's a pic (using my NEW chip and chip bowl that I got from my shower!):

These were SO DELICIOUS. I am STILL eating them for breakfast and the banana/date combo was not only a winning flavor mixture, but also left the scones very moist and delicious.

Here's a link to the recipe, but the blogger was vegetarian and not a hard core vegan, so she used honey whereas the recipe called for brown rice syrup.

For the Clotted Cream, I mixed up 4 tablespoons of Tofutti Cream Cheese (which tastes like "mayonaise" according to Matt), 4 tablespoons Earth Balance and 2 tablespoons Confectioner's Sugar. This was delicious and made PLENTY as long as you don't like, douse the scones in the stuff.

So, then I wanted to make something savory. Now, I've never really been all that interested in British food...and actually had to ask one of my friends who lives in Leeds for helpful suggestions (thanks, Sarah!). I disregarded all of her suggestions (which were great), and decided to make Pasties. I've had these before, and they're basically like homemade hot pockets...or pot pies that fit in your hands.

I found this recipe for "Vegan Cornish Pasties" online and decided to give them a go.

These were...complicated.

I don't know if it was my fault (it was like 11:00PM which is about an hour past my bedtime and I had had a few glasses of wine...and Maris was distracting) or the recipe, but these were...awkward.

Exhibit A:

The dough just really did not work out. And I didn't even eat one until a few days after the event had past. I added a red pepper to the insides which I guess was nice, but really, I would NOT recommend making those. Granted, it might just be that my tastes do not match up with British food...

I pity the Brits if these pasties were an accurate representation of their cuisine.

I put ketchup on mine.

So, here we were with 2 of the 4 dishes completed. Maris had decided at the last minute to bring fish n' chips which turned out to be a Whole Foods version of Goldfish (ducks, actually) and sweet potato fries.

So all we had left was a tart Maris was supposed to make and the cake.

Oh the cake...

I'll post more about that tomorrow.

BUT, we were too tired (i.e. Maris didn't want to make the tart), so our menu was complete.

We fell asleep to the Lifetime Movie about Will and Kate, almost missed the ACTUAL wedding, and then I fell asleep promptly 30 seconds after Kate and Will kissed on the balcony.

Some party...

BUT, as I've said before, it's better to celebrate GOOD things than BAD, so I plan on doing the same for Prince Harry's wedding. Whenever that happens.

So, adobo means spicy? Since when???

In my continual quest to expand my cooking experience, I once again decided to make 2 count 'em 2 dishes for 1 meal. I decided to do a little spin on "beans and rice" but since nothing about that sounds all that exciting, I went to Veganomicon. That cookbook makes my boring little life ever so much more delightful.

I decided to make the Chickpea Quinoa Pilaf as the base and then top it off with the Black Beans with Chipotle Adobo Sauce. Sounded simple enough. Had all the ingredients. I thought it all looked like a winning combination.

So, I started with the pilaf. What the heck is pilaf anyways? Glad you asked, because I dictionary.com-ed that very question and here is what I found. Pilaf: a Middle Eastern dish consisting of sautéed, seasoned rice steamed in bouillon, sometimes with poultry, meat or shellfish.

Well, if that's the definition, then this dish really WASN'T pilaf since quinoa is not rice, and there was no bouillion, poultry, meat or shellfish...

So...this is now awkward.

Anyways, I cooked it.

And I screwed up.

Here's what I did wrong:
-I bought coriander seed. I'm a dumby. As I began cooking, I realized I neglected to note that the coriander seed needed to be manually ground. So, there I was banging on those little buggers with the bottom of a knife trying to simultaneously crush them while also not killing myself. I only half succeeded. Thankfully, Matt reminded me that we have ground coriander. I used that, and then promptly updated my wedding registry to include a mortar and pestle for moments such as this.
-I tried to go all old school and cook the dried chickpeas myself. Bad idea. They did not cook all the way and therefore made the whole meal quite labor intensive on the chewing end. Oh well...I tried.

Other than those incidents, the "pilaf" turned out alright. It was a little bland though. Thank God the beans took care of that...and then some.

I then went on to the Black Beans with Chipotle Adobo Sauce also from Veganomicon.

This recipe seemed super easy. But this is where the real trauma sets in.

It's no secret that Matt and I love spicy food. We add "Rooster" Sauce to everything and even request "Extra Spicy" in Thai restaurants. So, we basically exist thinking that we must double if not triple the spicy factor whenever we cook from a recipe.

This recipe called for 2 chipotles in adobo sauce.

We used 6.

I almost threw up it was so spicy.

We were both sweating and I had to lie down after eating to allow for recovery.

Aycarumba. Never again.

Otherwise, this stuff was great!

Here are the beans cooking away...

And here is the sauce of Satan:

And here is the final product. Honestly, isn't this just beautiful (I hate it when people talk about food like this, but I get it...it really was pretty)?

I think I may need to try this recipe again, only with the called for number of adobos.

Here's the recipe for the Quinoa Chickpea Pilaf from Veganomicon:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped finely (about one cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon coriander seed, crushed (spice grinder or mortar and pestle)
fresh ground pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup quinoa (rinsed well)
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups cooked)
2 cups vegetable broth (or reconstituted bullion)

Directions:

In a small stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions in olive oil for about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes.

Add the tomato paste, coriander, cumin, black pepper, and salt; saute for another minute.

Add the quinoa and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the chickpeas and broth; cover and bring to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, lower the heat to very low, cover, and cook for about 18 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water; stir occasionally.

Fluff with a fork and serve.


And here's the recipe for the Black Beans with Chipotle Adobo Sauce, also from Veganomicon:

Ingredients:

Beans
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 bay leaf
3 cups cold water
1 large onion, peeled and halved
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Chipotle adobo sauce
1 large onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
2 tablespoons adobo sauce

Directions:

Combine the beans, onion, bay leaf and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then let boil for 1 minute. Lower the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes, until the beans are very tender and about half the water has evaporated. Remove the bay leaf and onion before serving.

While the beans are cooking, prepare the chipotle adobo sauce: In a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion is very soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the chipotles and adobo sauce, cook for 30 seconds, and remove from heat.

Allow to cool a few minutes, empty the sauce into a food processor bowl, and briefly pulse until a chunky sauce forms. You may also use an immersion blender to do this. Serve the sauce drizzled over individual servings of beans.

Sprouts and Shrooms

I'm back from traveling. Again. This time, I hope to be able to actually unpack my suitcase and leave it stowed in my closet for at least 2 weeks, but we shall see. Boston was great and I had a few great vegan meals (and a few not so great, but that's ok...). I adore Chicago, but I would have to say that Boston is moving into a pretty solid second place to Chi-town. Loved it.

Anyways, before I left, I tried to make a crapload of food since I wouldn't be around (Matt needed sustenance beyond pork chop sandwiches from the 24-7 diner down the road) and I wouldn't have a chance to cook before heading off to the East Coast. In case you didn't know, cooking is a stress reliever for me (i.e. I started this blog 6 months before my wedding, and I'm pretty sure it's the only thing getting me through these final weeks), and in case you also didn't know, I'm TERRIFIED of flying. Like, when it was at its worst, I would have to cover my face with some form of cloth to keep myself from hyperventilating. Now I just pop a few "happy pills" that the lovely docs have given to me and things are almost manageable. That is, unless there's turbulence, or I see a bolt on the wing of the plane coming off...

True story. And it was Southwest.

But I digress.

I wanted to do some cooking to calm my nerves prior to flying, so I decided to do an actual meal, not just a one-pot dish like I'm apt to do. So I picked two veggies that I love and decided to make them BOTH. I picked Brussel Sprouts and Portabello Mushrooms and used the recipes from Veganomicon.

Let's start with the sprouts.

I love brussel sprouts and think I've gotten close to perfecting my own recipe, but I'm never against trying new methods of elaborating upon perfection (I think sprouts are perfection in and of themselves). So, I tried this recipe called "Cornmeal Masala Roasted Brussel Sprouts."

These were...not good. And I say that with a heavy heart. I have loved almost everything I've made from Veganomicon and also love sprouts, so it was a sad day in the kitchen. To be fair, I did mess up a little.

Here's what I did wrong:
-I didn't have chickpea flour, and I thought "hey, I have some dried chickpeas, why not just put those in my food processor and make my own flour like I did with the oats?" Well, friends, not a good idea. I think I stopped grinding before doing any serious damage to my food processor, but we'll have to see when I need to use the sharp blade again. I ended up using normal flour.
-I didn't use any lemon juice.

The flavor was just, not good. It smelled like Thanksgiving in my house as I was cooking, which was unexpected, and the chunks of seasoning were bland and grainy. I really expected much better from this recipe. Oh well. Also, WAY too much oil used on these most delicate buds of nature (I wax poetic when I think of sprouts...).

At least they looked pretty.

Here's the recipe:

Cornmeal Masala Roasted Brussels Sprouts from Veganomicon

8 tbsp. peanut oil
1 1/2 lbs. brussels sprouts
2/3 c. cornmeal
3 tbsp. chickpea flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch cayenne
Fresh lemon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread 2 tbsp. of the oil on a baking dish.

Trim and wash sprouts, then lightly dry. Place in a medium bowl and sprinkle with 1 tbsp. of the chickpea flour and some salt. Mix with your hands, making sure that all of the sprouts are thoroughly covered.

In a large bowl, mix cornmeal, remaining 2 tbsp. chickpea flour, salt, garam masala, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne if desired. Add the remaining 6 tbsp. of peanut oil and mix. Add the sprouts and mix with your hands until all are coated.

Place sprouts the oiled dish. Scrape out any extra of the cornmeal mixture in the bowl onto the pan.

Place dish in oven and bake sprouts 25 minutes, or until golden brown and tender, removing briefly to turn approximately every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place in bowl, topping with crunchy bits. Squeeze fresh lemon over the sprouts and serve.

Thankfully, the mushrooms were AWEsome. And pretty easy.

I did a few things wrong with these bad boys as well, however.

Here's what happened:
-I didn't have enough wine to cook with, so I substituted some red wine vinegar and mixed it in with the leftover wine driblets I had. This didn't seem to mess with the flavor, in fact, it made the flavor more pronounced in my opinion, which I loved.
-I had to go to yoga, so I let these shrooms marinate for about an hour and 20 minuted rather than just 20 minutes. This also did not seem to ruin anything, in fact, I believe it helped the flavors POP more.
-Didn't have any tin foil (I hate it when that happens), so I used parchment paper. Not sure what that did.

These were yum. And pretty.

Here they are, marinating their little hearts out.

Here's the recipe, also from Veganomicon.

Roasted Portabello Mushrooms

Ingredients:

2 big or 4 smaller Portobello/flat mushrooms.
1 tbsp olive oil.
2 tbsp soy sauce.
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar.
1/2 cup (125ml) wine
2 cloves crushed garlic

Directions:

Mix all the marinade ingredients together. Stab the topside of each mushroom a few times with a fork, then turn them gill side up in a baking dish or casserole, and pour some marinade into the top of each mushroom so it pools. Pour the rest all over them mushrooms and into the dish. Let it sit for about 20 minutes while you heat the oven at 400F.

Cover the dish in foil and bake for half an hour, then flip the mushrooms over and cook uncovered for another ten minutes.

On an unrelated note, were these shrooms marinaTing or marinaDing??

Here's the finished product/meal!

Tomato Soup and Brussel Sprouts!

As a child, my favorite meal was my Mom's tomato soup and grilled cheese. My grandmother made me one of those books that has your name in it and talks about things you love and are relevant to you, and at the end of the book when the heroine (your's truly) returned home, she ate a celebratory meal of grilled cheese and tomato soup. At least I think I'm not making this whole thing up...there was a hand on the cover of the book.

Anyways, what I'm trying to get across is that I loved tomato soup. The Campbell's version. And up until this whole vegan thing took off, I ate Campbell's tomato soup once a week. Now, I've cut back. Mostly because a) I'm not sure Campbell's tomato soup is vegan and b) if the condensed stuff IS vegan, I'm not sure substituting soy milk for cow's milk will get the job done.

So, I went to the internets in search of some tomato soup. I found this recipe on vegweb by "yabbitgirl."

I made it a little differently because I had other vegetables on hand (i.e. I added a lot more celery). I also plopped some of my leftover silken tofu into the mix to attempt to creamify the soup.

Unfortunately, this soup was not ideal. BUT, I do have to admit, things got a little crazy as the transfer of the hot liquid soup to the food processor got underway. That's my LEAST favorite thing to do in the world, I'm pretty sure. Someday I'll have a hand mixer...someday.

I added a bunch of spices and unfortunately, this just could not live up to the Campbell's soup in my mind. But maybe if I could get to the place to accept this tomato soup for what it was, I would like it, but I'm working on it.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I made some BOMB DOT COM brussel sprouts.

Matt told me that I have a gift with the sprouts.

He's a keeper.

And this is MY OWN RECIPE! This is huge, folks, HUGE. Now if only I knew how to measure things out.

I think I had a pound of brussel sprouts. I trimmed them up, and sliced them into quarters (this were big suckers).

Then I heated up some olive oil and balsamic vinegar over medium heat in a pan. Once the oil was hot, I tossed in the sprouts and started to cook them down. I added some beer mustard (had it in the fridge), some seasoning salt, soy sauce, cayenne pepper, and some additional balsamic vinegar to taste but this is really up to you. I just adore the flavors of mustard and balsamic vinegar together. It took about 20 minutes for the sprouts to soften, but I didn't want them too soft, so that's a matter of taste. As the final shazam, I tossed some Panko breadcrumbs onto the sprouts.

So delicious.

And here was the meal.

That's Earth Balance on vegan bread (I will someday attempt my own vegan bread. Today is not that day).

That's also Matt's finger on the plate. He hates taking pictures of food because it slows down the process of getting the food into his stomache.

Anyone have any good CREAMY tomato soup recipes out there?