Classic Ratatouille...

It had been way to long since my last blog entry, I realize that. I had hoped to get back to regular blogging after we returned from our Washington/Oregon Road Trip, but things were just hectic, and I didn't have the time nor the energy, nor the inclination to do much cooking, or blogging. I don't know if today will mark my return to blogging or not, but I did want to post this recipe that I made last week because I thought it turned out rather good, and who couldn't use more vegetables?

Classic Ratatouille

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
4 Garlic Cloves Minced
4 Large Tomatoes
1 Large Onion Diced
1 Red Pepper Diced
1 Yellow Pepper Diced
1 Medium Eggplant Diced
2 Large Zucchini Diced
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste Mixed with 1 Tbsp Water
1 tsp Sugar
1 Bay Leaf
3 Springs Thyme
1 Tbsp Minced Basil
1 Tbsp Minced Parsley
1-2 Additional Garlic Cloves to taste
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Black or White Pepper to taste


- Score a cross into the bottom of each tomato.  Plunge into boiling water and boil for 20 seconds. remove from the water and blanch in ice water. peel the skins away from the tomato, and chop the tomato. Reserve.

- Heat 1Tbsp Oil in a pot. Add the onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add the 4 garlic cloves, the red and yellow peppers. Cook for about 4 minutes and then remove the vegetables from the pan.

- Heat the second Tbsp of Oil in the same pan. When it's hot add the eggplant and cook for 4 minutes until beginning to brown. Add the zucchini and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the veggies are a nice deep brown.

- Add the Onion and Pepper mix back to the pot.  Add in the tomato paste mixture and stir well to combine. Cook for 2 minutes and then add in the tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, bay leaf, thyme and basil. Stir well and cover to cook for 20 minutes. Check the vegetables after 10 minutes and if they look too dry add in about 1/4 cup water.

- Mix the remaining 1 or 2 garlic cloves with the minced parsley. When your Ratatouille has finished cooking add the garlic/parsley mix and stir lightly just to combine.

- Serve your Ratatouille hot with crusty French Bread or Garlic Bread. Enjoy with a glass of red wine for good measure.

Vegan Mofo #30 - Taymer’s Eggplant and Seaweed Accras...

Vegan Mofo #30 - Taymer’s Eggplant and Seaweed Accras 

The Region - The Caribbean
The Book - Caribbean Vegan
The Author - Taymer Mason
The Recipe - Eggplant and Seaweed Accras
Page #60
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly 1 hour

Okay, so the finished product may not be pretty, and the photos don’t do it justice but please don’t let that stop you from making these delicious Eggplant and Seaweed Accras.  Since Eggplant is not my favorite vegetable this recipe never really appealed to me, it never stood out, but my opinion of it changed dramatically at the Toronto Vegetarian Festival. The Festival was back in the first week of September, and so my husband and I decided to shorted our stay in Montreal so that we could go. It was a great time but I’ll give you a full recap after Mofo. For now I’ll say that Taymer Mason herself was there doing a cooking demo. We went to her Demo on Sunday which was the last day of the festival and these eggplant accras were one of the things she made. Watching the demo I saw how quick and easy it was to make, and that got me curious about it. Then I tasted the finished product and was blown away. They were so freaking good! She served them with a slightly sweet nutmeg sauce that really brought them to a new level of awesome. I knew right then, still chewing the piece of Accra in my mouth that I would have to - HAVE TO - make these for Mofo.

Incase you don’t know what an accra is it’s like a savory fried fritter, usually fried and sold by vendors on the street as a quick and easy street food. Sometimes it’s eaten as is, and sometimes it’s eaten in a bread. The traditional way to make an accra is to use fish, but Taymer uses nori to get that fishy flavor and it works! Of course the day I made these I had something else going on the stove, and seeing as how I don’t like to deep fry things anyway I decided to taker her recommendation and bake them instead. That’s why they don’t look as good as on the cover of the book, or as good as they did in Toronto. When you bake them they don’t get that crispy brown shell but they’re still freaking good trust me!

They really are simple to make. It’s just eggplant, salt, oil, nori, onion, green onion, habanero, thyme, black pepper, flour, baking powder, and water. Baking time is about 25 minutes but I baked them an extra 20 just to get them extra crispy. As for the nutmeg sauce, well that’s not a recipe in the book. I sent Taymer a message on Facebook asking her what was in it because I’d loved it so much at her Toronto demo and wanted to recreate it. She replied that it was a mix she’d been whipping up for years that didn’t really have a recipe. Mayo, ketchup, mustard, nutmeg, sugar etc.. so I did my best to recreate it. It didn’t taste exactly like hers but it was still great. Loved the addition of nutmeg. If you own a copy of Caribbean Vegan and haven’t made these yet, do it and I promise you won’t be sorry.

Franco-Moroccan Inspired Eggplant, Squash and Tempeh Crumble...

Who doesn’t love a good crumble? On a crisp fall evening there are few better ways to end the night then with a warm homemade apple or plum crumble. Am I right? But, have you ever had a savory crumble before? Have you ever eaten crumble for dinner? Yeah neither had I, until I came across a savory crumble recipe in Beatrice Peltre’s ‘La Tartine Gourmande’ that caught my interest. I was so intrigued by the idea that I did a little internet research and as it turns out crumbles in general are thought to be of British or Irish origin, and have always been made in both sweet and savory varieties, although the sweet versions are far more common. Interestingly crumbles didn’t become a popular or widespread menu item until the second world war, when strict rationing of flour, sugar and butter made it nearly impossible for people to make pies since pie crusts require so much of the three rationed ingredients. Instead some ingenious people decided to make the pie filling and throw a crust-like mixture on top, and since it was so easy, and cheap to make it really caught fire. Cool right?

Anyway, crumble for dinner? I’d never considered such a thing before, but all this information really got me interested in trying one out for myself, the only thing I had to figure out was what kind of crumble to make. Peltre’s recipe used eggplant and squash and had a gluten-free crust and I liked the idea of those things. Eggplant and squash I both had on hand and they fueled my daydreams of warmer more hospitable climates such as those in the Mediterranean, the South of France, Africa and The Middle East. So I took that inspiration and ran with it, combining a mixture of Middle Eastern and French elements to form this super savory, slightly tangy, a tad sweet, flavor packed and decadent crumble. I kept the idea fo a gluten-free crumble topping because, well why the hell not? But I added cooked amaranth and nutritional yeast to make it a bit more substantial and to give it that creamy cheesy flavor that savory crumbles are suppose to boast.

I had no idea how this experiment was going to work out, but in the end I was more then surprised. This was definitely one of the most surprisingly delicious meals I’d made in some time. No matter how odd you might think the idea of a savory crumble is, the bottom line is that this worked. Plain and simple, it was so delicious that there’s no doubt you’ll go back for seconds! I know this recipe has a few steps, and it requires you to dirty a few different dishes but trust me when I say every ounce of effort is so worth it! So expand your horizons and give it a try.

Franco-Moroccan Inspired Eggplant, Squash and Tempeh Crumble 

For the Tempeh 

1lb Tempeh
1 Tbsp Fennel Seed
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp Ground Mace
1 ½ C Water + 1 Beef Bouillon Cube
3/4 C Red Wine

For The Crumble Topping 

2/3 C Finely Chopped Walnuts
1/3 C Millet Flour
1/4 C Brown Rice Flour
4 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1/4 C Amaranth Cooked in 3/4 C Water
1 tsp Ground Cumin
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
4 Tbsp Earth Balance
½ Bunch Parsley Minced

For The Crumble Filling 

1 Medium Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and chopped. Roughly 4 C
1 Medium Eggplant chopped. Roughly 4 C
4 Tomatoes Blanched, peeled and chopped
1 Large Yellow Onion Chopped
2 Stalks Celery Chopped
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
8 Garlic Cloves Minced
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Coriander
8oz Tomato Sauce
1 tsp Dried Rubbed Sage
½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1/3 C Chopped Sun-dried tomatoes
6 Tbsp Capers with liquid

To Make the Tempeh -

- Mix 1 Beef Bouillon cube with 1 C of water.

- Crumble the Tempeh into a large pan, and add all the spices. Cover with the water/Bouillon mixture and the red wine. There should be enough liquid to cover the tempeh but it depends on the size of your pan. If it doesn’t quite cover add up to ½ C more.

- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer on medium or medium-low until all or most of the liquid has been absorbed by the tempeh. Roughly 20-25 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

To Make the Filling - 

- Heat the olive oil in the same pan you used to make your tempeh mixture. Add the onion, celery and garlic and saute for roughly five minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, black pepper and salt and cook for another two minutes.

- Add the blanched chopped tomatoes, the tomato paste, the chopped eggplant and the cubed squash. Stir to thoroughly combine, then cover. Over medium-high heat let the mixture come to a roaring simmer, let simmer for 5 minutes then stir, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer the mixture for another 25 minutes. Make sure to check frequently to make sure the liquid doesn’t evaporate and the filling doesn’t burn. If it is looking too dry add a quarter cup of water.

- After 25 minutes add the tempeh mixture into the pan, along with the sage, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir well to combine and simmer an additional 10 minutes until squash is nice and tender.

- Remove from heat, and spoon the mixture into a large greased casserole dish.

- To Make the Crumble Topping.

- While your mixture is simmering combine all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

- Melt the Earth Balance in the microwave, and add it into the dry mixture along with the cooked amaranth. Mix until nice and crumbly.

To Assemble and Bake.

- Preheat the oven to 400'F

- Spread the crumble mixture evenly over top of the filling in the greased casserole dish. Then place the casserole dish uncovered into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until filling is bubbly and topping is lightly browned.

- Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Then enjoy with a nice salad and a glass of sangria!

*** Note - If you need this to be soy-free you can replace the tempeh with Seitan. However if you need this to be soy and gluten-free you can try replacing the tempeh with a bean of your choosing. Either chickpeas or something hearty would be my suggestion.***

Restaurant Review: WOW Egyptian Fast Food in Carol Stream...

Last Friday before work my Husband asked me if I wanted to try a new fast food place that a co-worker of his had been raving about for some time now. Of course fast and food are not two words I ever want to hear put together in the same sentence and so I looked at him quizzically. After all if you drive around any Midwestern city you’d be inclined to believe that the only fast food it’s capable of producing is burgers, pizza, hot dogs, tacos and subs. Most of which are not very vegetarian - and even less vegan - friendly. Before I could object my husband explained that the fast food establishment in question was an Egyptian restaurant. Oh, well that’s a little different I thought. I love Middle Eastern food, as well as many North African dishes so I asked if he was certain that the place had vegetarian options. He handed me a menu that his co-worker had given to him, and when I saw the words “Vegetarian Platter” printed on the back I knew we would have to at least give the place a try.

So we went. From the outside the place has a very ‘fast food’ feel. It’s painted in bold primary colors and looks like it would be right at home sitting next to a McDonalds. The inside is a little kitschy, with pseudo-Egyptian designs, Hieroglyphs, and pictures of Egyptian Gods but the staff was very friendly and very welcoming. After looking over the menu both my husband and I decided to each get a vegetarian platter which contained 3 falafels, pita bread, hummus, baba ganoush, tahini sauce and Egyptian Salad. Then along with it I got a bowl of lentil soup, and my husband got a side order of fried eggplant. After placing our order we took a seat near the window and began to chat, though it didn’t take long at all for the food to come. Unlike regular fast food places the food here comes served on actual plates, with real cutlery, and the drinks come in actual glasses. From an environmental perspective I really appreciate this, because the waste and pollution of ordering one meal at a McDonalds disgusts me. I hate the disposable culture we live in. The side dishes however come in reusable plastic baskets lined with parchment paper. Certainly not as bad a s typical fast food place since the baskets are reusable but I would have preferred a small plate.

Anyway everything smelled delicious and so we dug in. I ate my soup first, and it was quite good. It was blended and smooth, no chunks like a typical lentil soup might have. Though I thought it was slightly under seasoned - I would have added garlic - it was enjoyable, particularly because Friday was cold and a hot soup is always appreciated in such a climate. Next I tried the humus and the pita, both were fantastic. The pita was so soft and delectable and the humus rich but not overpowering. The Baba was also very good, in fact one of the better Baba’s I’ve had. Sometimes I find Baba bitter, and whenever I order it, or make it at home it’s hit or miss, but this one was great. Next I tried the Egyptian salad which was a combination of chopped onion, cucumber, parsley, and tomato in a vinaigrette, that was also very good. Last the falafel’s which I thought were pretty good, with a nice spicy kick. Although I think I make better falafel at home, but that might be because I prefer my falafel baked and these were fried. I think these were also made with fava beans while I just use chickpeas. Anyway overall they were good and they tasted great dipped in the humus, the baba, and with tahini drizzled over top of them. Oh and of course I can’t forget my husband’s side order of Fried Eggplant! Oh my goddess were they good! They were only lightly fried. When I hear the word fried I expect ‘deep fried’ of which I am not the biggest fan, but these were not deep-fried. They looked as if they’d been fried in a skillet with some olive oil and so they didn’t have that grease taste. They tasted clean, and they were super juicy. I would definitely order them again.

Though the restaurant is not vegetarian - they have chicken and beef - they are pretty vegetarian friendly and they’re certainly serving up food that’s healthier then the typical fast food fare. Aside from the dishes I’ve already mentioned for vegetarians they offer a falafel meal, a falafel wrap, a baba sandwich, a fried cauliflower sandwich. A side of fried cauliflower, pickled vegetables, rice, tabbouleh, fries and a few other things I’m sure I’m forgetting.

Overall though I’m not a fast food person, and don’t particularly like to spend my time in fast food places I think this is a place I wouldn’t mind going once in a while. Certainly it’s nice to have something healthful, and ethnic close by for those ‘in a hurry’ days when you really don’t want to cave and get a $6 veggie sub from Subway, or a $8 Veggie Fajita Burrito from Chipotle. The prices at WOW are actually very reasonable, for the food that my husband and I ordered plus a Mango Juice it only costed $18, and though it might not look like a ton of food in the picture it kept me extremely full all afternoon-evening at work, so that I didn’t eat anything in the hours that I was working. - A big achievement. It really is true what they say about quality not quantity and with WOW unlike other fast food places you can tell that the food is fresh. It tastes fresh, and it tastes clean. It doesn’t taste like it’s full of salt, sugar, and fat like all other fast food places. My only two complaints - and I suppose they’re not exactly complaints per say but opinions - is that I think the order of pita bread should be larger. They give you a large amount of humus and Baba and so it could use a bit more bread. Also I would like to see something a little more exotic on the menu. Though all of this food is commonly eaten in Egypt, it’s also commonly eaten in other parts of Northern Africa and the Middle East, it would be nice to see something on the menu that is a True Traditional Egyptian Dish, but that’s me. Otherwise this place is great, and so if you’re in the area I highly recommend you stop in!

EDIT - We enjoyed WOW so much the first time that we ate here again the following Friday. The Fried Cauliflower Sandwich was just too much for me to resit not trying and so My husband and I stopped in again before I headed off to work. Now let me tell you, everything we ate the first time and the second time was delicious but that Fried Cauliflower Sandwich was absolutely to die for! The flavor was amazing, it is literally one of the best things I've eaten out in some time. The sandwich is made with fired cauliflower florets, Egyptian Salad, and Tahini Sauce and the entire thing is contained in a big pita. After one bite I was totally hooked, and because I love Humus so much and because we ordered some to go with our meal i dabbed a little of that in my sandwich too. I'd have to say that this second time around the humus was even better, and even creamier. We ordered a full humus order and 2 orders of Pita bread to split between us, and let me tell you we probably could have ordered 4 orders of pita bread because it sure was a lot of humus!

For our second trip my Husband ordered the Vegetable soup which he said he liked a lot. I took a little taste and it was pretty decent, though I opted to go with the lentil soup again. Now I don't know if anyone read my review and took my suggestions to heart but the lentil soup this time around was fan-freaking-tastic! really the flavor was amazing, it had a good amount of garlic and it had whole cumin seeds right in it. I loved it!

For my husband's meal he got the Falafel Sandwich which I didn't try because I had enough food of my own to eat, but he said it was fantastic. I could tell he really loved it because he'd devoured it in what seemed like seconds. Then to wash it all down we each had a hot Hibiscus tea which was really good. I love Hibiscus tea, and for me the tea at WOW was just the right combination of tart and sweet.

As I said before I highly, highly suggest you try this place out if you're in the area, the food is really phenomenal  I know my husband and I will probably stop in every now and again. Next time I look forward to trying the Baba Sandwich and the Tabbouleh.

PS: I also love how on the t.v. in the background they play the t.v. sketch comedy show “Just For Laughs” This is hilarious to me, because it’s such a stable of my childhood. I mean who grows up in Canada and doesn’t know about Just for Laughs really? The Just for Laughs festival in Montreal is only the second largest comedy festival in the world, after all. I haven’t actually seen the show in years, and I didn’t even know that it aired in the U.S. so to randomly see it on the t.v. at an Egyptian Fast Food restaurant - très bizarre - kind of made my day! 

WOW Egyptian Fast Food
105 Stark Dr, Carol Stream, IL
(630) 690-4969
Hours - Mon-Thur - 10am-9pm
Fri-10am-10pm
Sat-11am-9pm
Sun- CLOSED

PPS: Please excuse the shitty cell-phone pics.

Colleen's Tempeh Eggplant Pot Pie...

A few days ago I made the most delicious post pie. Now I’ve never really been a big fan of pot pies. The thought of eating greasy meat stuffed into a crust, with root vegetables and peas in a salty, gooey gravy doesn’t really get my mouth watering. I suppose since I was never a fan of that sort of pot pie, that once I became vegan I saw no need to try and veganize one, or eat a vegan pot pie. However despite any aversion I may have towards the pot pie category as a whole, something about Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s recipe for Tempeh and Eggplant Pot Pie really called to me. I’ve owned this book for several years, and I’ve been wanting to make this recipe ever since, but for one reason or another it just never happened. Then last week I bought my first set of Ramekins and I instantly thought - what better recipe to christen them with but this?

I’ll admit that even though I’d been dying to make this for some time I wasn’t at all convinced that I was actually going to like it. Of course there’s only ever one way to find out if you’ll like something or not and so I decided to take the chance. It’s a super easy recipe and comes together really quick which for me was an added bonus.

First you start by steaming tempeh and eggplant together. While that’s going you saute onions - I also added garlic of course - then you add spices like fennel and red pepper flakes, - I added smoked paprika also - tomato sauce, and capers and let it simmer. Add the steamed tempeh and eggplant and let it simmer a bit longer. While that’s going you make your biscuit dough, and once everything is done you divide your filling into the ramekins spread some biscuit dough over top and bake, voila! Super easy right?

And let me tell you, I was worried about not liking them? Well they were incredible! Seriously one of the most delicious savory ‘pies’ I’ve ever eaten. In fact my husband and I loved this recipe so much we were happy that it made six pot pies, so we had some for dinner the next night as well. For a quick and easy side I served these pot pies along with some Brussels Sprouts that I seared in my cast iron pan with a bit of olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and a few droplets of agave nectar. Delicious, and my husband and avid sprout hater even had a few sprouts too!

If you don’t already own a copy of Colleen’s “The Vegan Table” you should order one, this recipe is worth it, as are the many, many other things I’ve made from this book over the years.

Vegan Mofo #16 - Colleen’s Muffuletta Sandwich...

Vegan Mofo #16 - Colleen’s Muffuletta Sandwich 
The Book - Color Me Vegan
The Author - Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
The Recipe - Muffuletta Sandwich
Page # 245
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly 40 minutes, but most of that time is inactive.

Who doesn’t love roasted vegetables? I know I freaking love them! There is something so amazing about them. You don’t need sauce, or dressing you just pop an assortment of veggies into the oven with a little olive oil, a dash of salt and pepper and something absolutely wonderful comes out. It’s easy, clean, delicious and oh so satisfying. That’s how I felt about this sandwich. It’s full of super simple ingredients and doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to throw together and yet it’s so mind-blowingly good.

Though I’d of course heard of Muffuletta sandwiches before I’d never actually had one before making Colleen’s version. Originally I hadn’t intended to make this sandwich for Mofo, but just before Thanksgiving I was starting to feel burnt out on sandwiches, specifically the really heavy ones and I was just craving something simple. I also had some homemade white Panini rolls left over that I needed to use, plus a sad looking zucchini and a small eggplant. I had all the making’s of the Muffuletta and so there was no better time to give it a try, and you should too.

So first things first you need to roast up some veggies. You need a zucchini, an eggplant, a sweet onion, a red bell pepper and a tomato, or a couple of bell peppers and tomatoes if you like a little extra. You slice them thin toss them with oil, salt and pepper and let them do their thing in the oven. Meanwhile you make a Tapenade of green olives, kalamata olives, capers, garlic, celery, parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes, olive oil, red wine vinegar, green onions and a little more salt and pepper.

Then when the veggies are ready you spread the Tapenade over both sides of your bread of choice - a thick crusty bread or some homemade rolls would be best - layer in your veggies and chomp away. Colleen recommends that you refrigerate the Tapenade for an hour or two to let the flavors meld but I didn’t bother, and it tasted great just as it was. A perfect late afternoon lunch or light dinner.

Vegan Mofo #9 - Terry’s Eggplant Torta Sandwich...

Vegan Mofo #9 - Terry’s Eggplant Torta Sandwich 

The Book - Viva Vegan!
The Author - Terry Hope Romero
The Recipe - Eggplant Torta Sandwich
Page # 54-55 Pickled Red Onions on Page #43
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly an hour

Viva Vegan is a fantastic cook book that I never use enough, that’s why Mofo is so fantastic. It almost always forces you to use cook books you never use, or ingredients you never think about. It forces you to get creative and do things you wouldn’t normally do. There aren’t many sandwich recipes in Viva Vegan but of the few there are I chose to make the Eggplant Torta for several reasons. 1) My husband loves eggplant and I don’t cook it often enough. 2) A friend of a friend had just bestowed upon us two large and lovely eggplants. 3) It sounded amazing!

The sandwich is super simple. First you marinate the eggplants in lime juice, olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, oregano and cumin. Then you roast it until it’s all nice, soft and juicy. Then you layer it on some thick sandwich bread or rustic rolls with pickled red onions, chipotle mayo, lettuce, avocado, tomato, refried beans, and sliced pickled jalapenos. Making the pickled red onions is super easy and I highly recommend it. It’s just thin sliced red onion boiled for thirty seconds then run under cold water. Then you dump them in a mason jar with some lime juice, salt, sugar and vinegar, and let it marinate. The refried beans you can make from scratch too and Terry has a recipe in her book for that. I however opted to use canned refried beans. Maybe that’s less impressive but my husband is not a bean person, certainly not a refried bean person and so I wasn’t going to make a huge batch of from scratch beans just for myself. Say what you like about canned beans but it worked just fine.

Now this sandwich is a total mess to eat but then that’s part of the fun isn’t it? I also love that it uses simple ingredients. Real, whole foods not all of that ‘vegan this’ or ‘vegan that’ in this recipe, just good ole’ wholesome veggies. Though if you were so inclined I’m sure the sandwich would also be good with a bit of nondairy sour cream or nondairy cheese, but I liked it as it was. There was just such an amazing array of flavors in this sandwich. You had the spicy jalapenos, the rich creamy beans, the deliciously soft and moist eggplant, with the tart onions and the creamy spicy mayo. The only non whole food was vegan mayo but you could always make your own mayo instead of getting store-bought for an even more unprocessed meal.

This has definitely been one of my husbands favorite sandwiches so far, me too actually. It is simply divine and I know I’ll be making it again and again! Of course besides just being mouth-watering good it’s also super pretty to look at! Eat the rainbow right?

The Big Easter Post...

Gluten-Free Raspberry Buttercream Cake

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Sunday was Easter of course, and while the holiday has no real religious significance for me I will take any excuse to host or attend a social gathering. Particularly one in which decadent food is present. My husband and I went to my mother-in-law’s cousins home as we do each year and it was lovely as always.

Before the celebrating could even begin of course I was busy as a bee, working half of Saturday away in the kitchen. Then getting up at six thirty on Sunday morning to continue. Several days earlier my friend J informed me that she’d be brining a spanokopita from Isa’s book Vegan with a Vengeance, and a kale coleslaw, the recipe for which she found online. Perfect for our little mixed vegan/vegetarian party of five. While I was quite happy about this I was also a little caught off guard, as I’d been planning on bringing a main dish myself, and you simply can’t have two main dishes with no sides. Not in my world anyway and so I decided I would have to rethink my plans. Though I’d been thinking about what to make for weeks I still hadn’t really come up with anything I felt entirely sold on. However with J brining spanokopita, combined with my heritage I thought why not jump on the Greek theme?

Potatoes with Lemon and Oregano

So after a bit of careful thought about what would travel well and what wouldn’t I decided on two dishes, both of them traditional and delicious. The first dish I settled on is a longtime favorite of my husbands and I’ve made it quite often in the past. "Patatoules sto fourno me rigani" also known as Potatoes with Lemon and Oregano. The other dish was a new one for me, but I’d been craving eggplant and so it seemed perfect. "Melintzanes tiganites me tomata" also known as Fried Eggplant with Tomato Sauce. Unfortunately for you I didn’t get adequate pictures of either of these dishes for you, but since the eggplant was such a hit I’ll be making it again in the future and will post the recipe when I do.

My plate, Lemon Oregano Potatoes, Spanokopita to the right,
Kale Coleslaw above, and Fried Eggplant to the left.

J thought it was a bit funny that we were eating Greek Food for Easter, and I guess considering what Americans normally eat it was definitely a divergence from ‘tradition.’ However I pointed out that people celebrating Easter in Greece were probably eating similar foods, and in reality I felt a much greater connection to spring, and the pagan traditions of Ostara - the Saxon Goddess for which Easter is actually named - eating our Greek inspired meal then I’ve ever felt a connection to Jesus by eating a traditional American or Canadian Easter feast. I felt a much greater connection to the earth and to my ancestors, and I was filled with life and a vibrant love for the stories of Ostara, Ishtar and even Persephone all of whom have had a big hand in shaping what we today consider part of our "Easter traditions" but that’s a long, long story for another day entirely.

Mocha Cream Cheese Brownies - see the marbling along the top?

For dessert I decided to make brownies instead of the cupcakes which seem to have become my custom over the past couple of years. I went with two different batches one the "Mocha Cream Cheese Brownies" from Lane Gold’s book "Vegan Junk Food" and the "Banana Split Pudding Brownies" From Isa’s "Vegan with a Vengeance" both turned out fantastically, and were both very well received. I have to say the Banana split pudding brownies were a particular stroke of genius on Isa’s part because when you bite into one your almost at a loss - I mean is it a brownie or is it pudding? As J so elegantly put it "It’s a brownie on the outside, and pudding on the inside." Indeed, they certainly seemed to be the favorite.

Mocha Cream Cheese Brownies

To top it all off I also decided to make a cake. Brownies just didn’t seem lavish enough and I’m nothing if not an over-achiever. So I chose to make the Gluten-Free Raspberry Buttercream Cake from Emily Mainquist’s book "Sweet Vegan." While I’ve made a gluten-free baked good here and there, I’ve never made a gluten-free cake and so I was a bit worried about it to say the least, but it looked so good I just had to try it. The recipe calls for a large amount of potato and tapioca starch in addition to white rice flower. There things I’ve never worked with and when I dipped my fingers into the bowl of mixed dry ingredients I couldn’t help but think it felt like a big bowl of cornstarch. That immediately set me on edge, but I continued. Once the wet ingredients were mixed nto the dry I have to say it didn’t make me feel much better. The batter had a strange feeling to it, and a rather starchy taste when I licked some off the back of a spoon. I was nervous, but I’m not GF expert and so I thought I’d leave it in Emily’s obviously capable hands and see how it turned out.

Banana Split Pudding Brownies - look at that tasty banana layer on top!

The biggest advantage you can bring with you into the kitchen is faith. Faith in your own ability, and faith in the author of whatever cook book you happen to be using. You have to have the faith that it’ll all work out, but also the intelligence to be able to alter things when needed, and the humility to leave them alone in a moment when you might be unsure. It’s a fine balance I think, and can be hard to judge but I figured In this case Emily had more experience and so I went with my gut and let her recipe take the lead. Though I’ll admit I did add more raspberries then were called for but that’s simply a personal preference.

When the cake came out of the oven I was very unsure. It didn’t have the same feel as a normal cake, and it looked a bit dried out even though I baked it for the exact time specified. The edges were a bit golden thought the rest of it was as white as it had been when I pushed it into the oven. A tiny voice in my head wanted me to put it in longer but reason won out with the argument that it didn’t matter what it looked like now because it would be frosted the next day. So I left it as was.

Yum Raspberries!

Sunday morning I made the frosting, using soy milk instead of the water recommended and then I generously frosted the cake, decorating as I went and adding the remaining raspberries in a pattern I found pleasing to the eye. In the end it turned out far better then I ever could have hoped and it was the universal favorite. By the end of the festivities only one tiny slice remained! I was both relieved and overjoyed - when it comes to baked good I really don’t like to disappoint.

Interestingly my Greek potatoes and fried eggplant were also a big hit amongst the non-vegans/vegetarians. It sure was a good thing I’d had the forethought to make sure I served the five of us first before anyone else was ready to eat otherwise we might not have gotten any food at all. J’s Spanokopita was delicious and I liked it very much although I think were I to make Isa’s recipe I would make a tofu feta beforehand rather then just simply use plain tofu. As the spanokopita was lacking that sharp salty bite associated with feta. J’s kale coleslaw was also really delicious, I’ve no idea where she got the recipe but it was brilliant. It reminded me a lot of Christmas thanks to the seasonings of clove, all spice, and cinnamon. It also had a kind of Caribbean feel to it probably do to the bit of smokey heat from the smoked paprika.

By the end of the night we were all stuffed and exhausted which is exactly how you should feel after a big holiday meal.

Oh and I nearly forgot. To kick-start the day I made a delicious breakfast for my husband and I. A Mediterranean Tofu Scramble - playing on the Greek theme - which was absolutely fab! I’ll post the recipe and some pictures of it for you all tomorrow, but for now - homework!

Mediterranean Tofu Scramble

PS: I wish I’d taken a picture of the inside of the cake, it was so pretty dotted with fresh raspberries, but It went so fast I didn’t get the chance!