9 Days of Valentine's: Part 8...

And on the eighth day we broke from our French/Italian inspired menu and went Spanish with Paella. I can’t say I ever ate paella before. As I’ve mentioned I wasn’t a big fan of seafood growing up, and my exposure to Spanish food was limited to mostly Tex-Mex creations. Even when I grew up and started cooking for myself I never found the idea of Paella all that exciting. But a vegan paella? Well, why the heck not?

I used the recipe from Annie and Dan Shannon’s book “Betty Goes Vegan” It was simple and thought there were a few separate steps the recipe actually came together relatively quickly and without much fuss. I liked that. I’ve seen other vegan paella recipes that are either ultra simple - to the point of not needing a recipe - or way too complicated. The Shannon’s recipe seemed to have just the right level of down-home comfort, mixed with fancy-complication.

Now, in case you didn’t know outside of Spain paella is considered the national dish of Spain, though most Spaniards consider paella to be a regional Valencia dish. Paella has a long history in the country with ancient roots, and many variations and stories or origin - considered by food historians to be a union of two important cultures Roman, and Arab. There are three common types of paella - and variations on each. One is the traditional Valencia Paella, containing meat, greens, and beans. Seafood Paella which contains seafood, and vegetables. Then Mixed Paella which is more of a ‘free-style’ dish that can include anything from meat and seafood to greens other vegetables and beans.

I would classify the Shannon’s recipe as Paella Mixto, since it used Vegan Shrimp, Vegan Italian Sausage, Rice, Artichoke, Faux Chicken and Wine Broth, Red Bell Pepper, Garlic, Green Beans, tomatoes and spices. One of the classic features of paella is also that when cooked over an open flame the rice on the bottom of the pan gets crispy and this is the most prized part of any good paella. Of course when you bake a paella - as the Shannon’s recipe does’ a crispy rice crust is harder to come by, but the paella was still delicious, and I’m a bit grateful for the non-crispy rice. I have too many old fillings I’d be afraid of cracking on rock-hard kernels of rice.

So, this was my first experience both cooking and eating a paella. I fond the experience of cooking it really enjoyable. I loved every minute in my kitchen preparing the vegetables and vegan meats, layering everything together and smelling it as it baked. There was something really satisfying about creating and eating this ancient dish for the first time, like I was inspiring some Roman-Moorish alchemy in my kitchen. However despite the fun I had cooking, I did not find the dish to be as delicious as I’d hoped. I don’t think this is the fault of paella in particular or the Shannon’s recipe specifically, I think this has more to do with the fact that I don’t think I’m really all that fond of Vegan Shrimp. They’re too realistic for me, they’re too much like actual shrimp that it kind of creeps me out. Since I was never big on seafood to begin with, the fact that they’re so real isn’t really a selling point for me.

That being said I would most definitely make paella again, and I would even use the Shannon’s recipe again but next time I’ll leave out the vegan shrimp and replace it with more sausage or some vegan chicken instead.

Check back tomorrow to see what we had on Day 9 our final day of celebration. I’ll give you a hint, it’s Italian!

Vegan Mofo #23 - Mark’s Tofu Scallops with Saffron Herb Butter...

Vegan Mofo #23 - Mark’s Tofu Scallops with Saffron Herb Butter

The Region - France
The Book - The 30 Minute Vegan’s Taste of Europe
The Author - Mark Reinfeld
The Recipe -Tofu Scallops with Saffron Herb Butter
Page # 82
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - About 30 minutes

Can I make a confession? Never in my life has there ever been a day where I thought to myself “You know what would be good right now? Scallops.” Ew, yuck, ick! Even when I ate animals and fish scallops were never on the menu. I hated them, absolutely, positively despised them. I thought they were one of the most disgusting things you could put into your mouth - right up there on my gross radar with oysters and veal. - I know people go gaga for these little sea creatures but I never understood the appeal. To me they had the texture of rubber, the flavor of the sea, and a mildly sweet aroma that I found somewhat off-putting. I think I only ever ate scallops twice in my life.

Strange then how veganism changes a person, and opens whole new worlds of possibility. I don’t mean to say that now that I don’t eat animals anymore I crave to try scallops again quite the contrary. It seems that it’s precisely because of the fact that I’m vegan that I want to eat a scallop, not because I miss scallops but because vegan scallops aren’t scallops at all, you dig? In his recipe Reinfeld uses tofu in place of the scallops, and I love tofu you see, so cooking it using the method usually reserved for scallops, and slathering it in a ‘buttery’ herb sauce that is common when serving scallops appeals to me.  As is often the case most people are more interested in the things they put on their food then the actual food itself - Omnivores are particularly guilty of this - and so I was particularly intrigued to try Reinfeld’s saffron herb butter sauce. As for what Scallops have to do with France I’m not entirely sure, and Reinfeld doesn’t say. Although seafood is popular in France and the French are particularly well known for their culinary ingenuity when it comes to sauces and particularly ones based on butter so perhaps this is enough to warrant the inclusion of this recipe in the French chapter. Who knows, but either way it was a delicious meal.

Now, I didn’t go through the trouble of cutting the tofu into little scallop rounds. I figured what was the point? Besides I don’t own any cookie cutters - small or otherwise - anyway. Instead I cut my tofu into squares and then marinated them in the olive oil, cayenne, and lemon juice mixture, before baking them until golden. As the tofu bakes you make your butter sauce which is a mixture of vegan butter, saffron, garlic, white wine, lemon juice, marjoram, and thyme. Once the two are complete you plate your tofu scallops, drizzle some sauce over them and garnish with fresh minces parsley and voila! You have a lovely plate of Hors d'oeuvre! Bon appetite!

So now you’re wondering how they taste. Well, I can’t tell you that they taste like scallops because they don’t. Scallops are disgusting and fishy and these delicate little roasted tofu bites are neither of those things. I think the tofu, and the roasting of it mimic’s the texture of a scallop pretty well, and I love the tart, tangy lemon flavor from the marinade they go into but if you’re looking for a dead-accurate vegan scallop you’ll be disappointed. However adding a bit of kelp powder or nori into the marinade might help on that count. As for the herb butter it is simply magnificent, and it tastes absolutely divine when poured over the lemony tofu cubes. Simply a perfect combination.