Vegan MoFo: Upside-down Chili Bowl

Why has it taken me so long to realize that the freezer is awesome? It's the key to maximizing leftovers' potential. Freeze that shit before everyone you know gets tired of eating it. Wait six weeks, thaw it out, and smile because you'll have an awesome dinner without the kitchen mess.

During my chili cook-off recipe testing, I froze a lot of chili. This was some black bean pumpkin chili. In my book, chili just ain't chili without cornbread. It's usually served over cornbread, but this time I decided to see how things tasted on the flip side. Here's what came of it:

Corn muffin batter spooned over hot chili, cooked in an oven-safe bowl for 15 mins at 400F.

Today was my last day seeing patients in my office. I'm on call tomorrow, and a few hopefully women have told me that they're determined to go into labor before I leave the birth center. As of 7 AM on Wednesday morning, I am unemployed and can't freaking wait!

Me with some sweet ladies and babes I've helped get born.

Vegan MoFo: SOS! Send VitaMix!

Don't those pregnant women know I have MoFo to keep up with? Sheesh. I've had so little time to cook, and even less time to blog because there's a baby-birthin' bonanza on my hands. Do you remember the blizzards of Winter 2009/2010 that covered the mid-Atlantic in snow? Because people were home from work and couldn't drive anywhere, they spent their quality time getting pregnant. We're now knee-deep in the resulting "blizzard baby" births. It's great. After hanging up my catcher's mitt this morning, I had some time to make a proper brunch. 

This Potato and Tempeh Casserole is gooey and savory and noochy and downright nummy. It's a snap to whip up. The sauce comes together really nicely in even a brokedown blender like mine. She's a family heirloom. After all the buttons broke from over-use injury, my brother "Mister Mechanic" (nickname given to the four year-old who could fix your TV) made this lovely all-purpose, after-market RED button. Yeah, this is how I roll. And blend.

Easy peasy... just slice the tempeh and make the marinade. Microwave for like 10 mins:

Layer the nuked tempeh and sliced potatoes in pretty dishes given to you by friends:

Whip up the cheezy sauce in your ghetto-rigged and possibly dangerous appliance, and pour over the layers:

Bake, but then resist the urge to devour until almost room temperature. Please, please. Head my warning; it's so much better once slightly cooled and more congealed.

Project for the rest of the day: attempt to veganize the Libby's Pumpkin pie recipe. My mama and I are making vegan Thanksgiving for our wonderful--but very not vegan-- relatives and want to impress.

Question: Have you ever attempted to veganize a classic pumpkin pie recipe? How'd it go?

Also, what's your favorite pumpkin pie recipe? I need to know!

Vegan MoFo: Thanksgiving Beta 1.0

Few things are as good as coming home to a warm, home-cooked meal after a long day at work. There's a reason he's earned the blog nickname "Kitchen Kevin." After some gentle arm twisting, Kevin agreed to guest-post about the awesome stuffing he made a few nights ago. Without further adieu, Kitchen Kevin presents...

Chopped and seasoned.

Thanksgiving can be a challenging time for a vegan. I don't know about yours, but my family tends to give me a hard time about not eating the same things as they do. I try to be diplomatic, even when they don't... that's the hard part.

So this year, I've decided to show them how I do (rather than meekly eating double servings of side dishes). I'm going to whip up some kind of chickpea cutlet roast with mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy, but these are posts for another day.

My favorite part of the traditional meal has and always shall be the stuffing (with gravy, of course). I had a look at the ingredients list of the old faithful (Stovetop) box and I was appalled, though not surprised. There's a lot of stuff in there! Obviously I needed to learn how to make it from scratch... but there are few things in this world that aren't better made from scratch. So, I put that box of crap back on the shelf, bought a loaf of seeded Jewish rye, and scurried home to give this recipe a try.

Yeah! Put me in the oven!

It was great! It didn't take very long to make, and it tasted just like I think it should! I used Megan's veggie broth, and I added some sauted mushrooms to the mix and extra sage. Generous application of sage is critical, IMHO, to this as well as the requisite gravy.

 I also added extra veggie broth and made sure the stuffing was on the moist side, so it wouldn't dry out when I put in in the oven at 325 for 15 minutes.

The only thing I'll do differently next time is let the bread air dry for longer (more than 45 minutes, which is as long as it took me to make the stuffing and gravy). Megan suggested that throwing the bread in the oven briefly will speed up the processe when you're pressed for time.

Vegan MoFo: Special Delivery!

I try to remember to say that I "catch" babies, since I don't deliver the babies. Mom's deliver their babies. And Johnny Rads delivers some awesome pizza. (How's that for a segue? After a day of "catching," I've got babies on the brain.)

MoFo's had me cooking up a storm lately, but I was sick of the cooking-cleaning routine last night. The weather was unseasonably warm, and a the combination of bike ride/beer/pizza was too much to resist. Time to try some place new. Johnny Rad's was voted Baltimore City Paper's 2010 "Best New Bar." It's a pizza tavern with vegan goodies on the menu. Isn't their logo super cute and Black Flag-esque?

After a brisk four mile bike ride, pretty much everything on the menu sounded awesome. They have Teese available for veganizing any meat-free pizza, but there's also a vegan cheese-free pizza called the Templeton. Isn't that a great name? It makes me want to have a veritable smorgasbord. We put Teese on a pizza with mushrooms, black olives, arugula, marinara, salt, and olive oil. The crust was killer and neared perfection. Unlike my former favorite vegan pizza place here in Bmore, they actually got the Teese melty. So good. So, so good.

If ever you're in Baltimore, definitely check this place out.

(Logo and Natty Boh photos are property of Johnny Rad's, FYIz.)

Vegan MoFo: Enchilada Pie

I've been wanting to make this for weeks now. It's Susan V's Mexican Lasagna. I had a bottle of Trader Joe's enchilada sauce and a can of their authentic refried beans (both vegan) just burning a hole in my pantry!

Susan's recipes are great. They're usually pretty simple, quick, use basic ingredients, and are fairly healthy. I don't think I've ever had one of her recipes flop on me, which is sayin' something for low-fat, vegan cooking!

In the interest of not having a surplus, I halved the recipe and made in a pie pan instead of a 9x13. After all, can't have too many leftovers when there's so much more food-creation and blogging to do!

Other alterations include: used a can of diced tomatoes (drained) since tomato season is d-o-n-e.  Used whole onion, whole green bell pepper, and whole jalapeño for the halved recipe.

Vegan MoFo: Bubbie Baby's Mandel Bread Recipe

As a follow-up to yesterday's post about veganizing my Grammy's mandel bread, I'm finally organized enough to share the recipe. Like biscotti, mandel bread can accommodate many different additions. Family favorites include candied ginger, dried cherries, cranberries, almonds, and pecans. The main difference between mandel bread and biscotti is vanilla vs. almond, respectively. Grammy's recipe used a dash of orange juice too, but I subbed with a couple drops (literally, drops) of orange extract. It's optional.

What makes these really tasty is their toastiness. If you can read the last 2 lines of the handwritten recipe, Grammy says to "Toast with fire for 10 min." I like that part.

Bubbie Baby's Vegan Mandel Bread
(adapted from family recipe and V-Con Biscotti)

1/3 cup soy milk
2 T ground flaxseed
1/2 cup sugar, heaping
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
drop or two of orange extract, or a tablespoon of orange juice
1 cup all-purpose flour + 2/3 cup WW pastry flour (or all AP if you prefer)
2 T arrowroot powder or cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Cinnamon and sugar from dredging

PREHEAT TO 350F

• In a large bowl, combine flaxseeds and soy milk. Whisk briskly for 30 seconds. 
• Add sugar, oil, vanilla, orange juice/extract and stir to combine.
• Sift in the dry ingredients and stir just until the dough is formed.
• Fold in your fruit and nuts.

• Briefly knead the dough.
• Line the baking sheet with a piece of foil or parchment (this makes things easier later.)
• Form the dough into a long loaf, roughly 12x4 inches.

• Bake for 30 minutes at 350F.
• Remove from oven and transfer the loaf onto a cutting board. This is where the foil/parchment comes in handy.
• Let cool for about 30-40 mins, until firm. During this time, heat oven to 375.
• Very carefully slice the cooled, firmed loaf into 1/2-3/4 inch thick slices. A sharp knife helps is essential. Use firm, confident slices. Don't be tentative or try to saw the loaf-- this causes crumbles!
• The slices are fragile! Carefully dredge the cut sides in cinnamon/sugar and place them, crust side down, on the baking sheet.
• Toast with fire for 10 min!
• (This means bake at 375 until slightly browned.)
• Let cool on the baking sheet, then store in a sealed container to retain crispiness. 

Blog faux pas, reusing yesterday's photo. Sorry!

Vegan MoFo: Hey, Good Lookin'!

What ya got cookin'?

Southgate Publix. Lakeland, Florida.

I'm a third generation down-home cook. My Grammy made some dang good food. She used to move around the kitchen, preparing local produce from the "curb market" and crooning Hank Williams songs. She was a Southerner and a Jew, so all that fresh produce wasn't weighed down with bacon and ham-hocks like so many traditional southern veggie dishes.

Grammy had her own arsenal of special recipes that she'd perfected over the years. They weren't from a book. Maybe some were shared from relatives on handwritten scraps of paper. Most existed in her mind and were enjoyed on the occasion that you came to visit. For me, her classic is Mandel Bread. It's a traditional Jewish cookie, similar to biscotti and very adaptable. When she passed away, her legacy was distributed via photocopies of some handwritten recipes that someone had coerced her into recording. Her Mandel Bread is part of the collection.

I haven't made the non-vegan version of her mandel bread. After a consultation call was placed to my mom, I attempted veganizing the recipe. I loosely used Isa's V-Con Biscotti recipe for veganization purposes. It seemed an appropriate source, since Isa is my go-to for vegan Jewish cooking.

Bubbie Baby's Mandel Bread

I don't know what my Grammy would say about vegan mandel bread. I won't say mine is as good as hers, but they share an important quality: I can't stop eating them!