Saturday, February 5, 2011

So, I had to try these cookie delights looked so yummy and looked like an attempt at a vegan oreo recipe. I made a half batch because we did not need a full batch of cookies sitting around!! I didn't have any soymilk left so I used coconut - though they didn't taste like oreos (partly because I didn't cut them thin enough and partly because they were coconutty!) but they were delightful! A half recipe of cream was enough for a full batch IMO - I don't like lots of frosting on anything! So, of course that meant I needed to make another half batch a few days later to use up the leftover cream! And I also used soymilk and cut the cookies thinner. They were good the second time too! They are a little like oreos but only slightly. The second batch didn't get crispy at all so not sure what happened there. Regardless, they are very tasty morsels!

Soy Milk's Favorite Cookies (adapted from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur)
Cream Filling:
3/4 cup veg shortening
3/4 t vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients until smooth and creamy - add the sugar gradually as you may need a little more or less to make it the perfect consistency. My shortening was super hard because it is sooooo cold here and I used a bit less than 3 cups.

Cookies:
1/2 cup veg shortening
1/3 cup vegan butter
1 cup sugar
3 T maple syrup or brown rice syrup
1/4 cup soy milk
1 1/2 t vanilla
2 1/3 cups flour
1/2 t baking soda
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 t salt

Cream shortening, butter, and sugar until smooth. Add remaining ingredients until soft dough forms. If too crumbly, add a bit more soy milk. Roll into a log and freeze about 15 min. Slice into 1/8 in slices and put slices on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 8-10 min. Watch carefully not to let them burn. After cooled, spread 1 t cream filling on one cookie and top with another. Repeat with remaining.

Variation: I had leftover cookies so I spread a little peanut butter on one and topped with another. Fabulous! Dare I say, perhaps better than the original recipe?!

In my pre-vegan days, I loved corndogs. Not that I ever ate them really - except on very rare occasions. Actually I can't remember the last time I would have had one. Except I did make them at home a couple times with refridgerated cornbread dough and hot dogs. Anyway - they have always been something I liked but never really ate :-) When I came across a vegan version, I just had to try them. I have made vegan hotdogs that were delish, but nothing like real hot dogs (thank goodness!). I tried a different recipe for the "dog" this time and it was actually a spicy sausage link recipe recommended for use as part of the corn dog. So, I gave it a try. The sausages were so flavorful - they had a lot of fennel which I love but it was too strong for Keith. They were not overly bready or "gluten-y" like some gluten-based recipes. I would use the sausage recipe for other things that call for sausage - I really liked it. I modified a Martha Stewart recipe for baked corn dogs and it turned out pretty yummy too. Again, only slightly reminiscent of corn dogs but I really enjoyed them and my hubby liked them too. Yay!

Spicy Italian Vegetarian Sausages (adapted from http://www.everydaydish.tv/index.php?page=recipe&recipe=109)

Makes 8 links
2 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1 1/2 t seasoned salt (I use homemade)
2 tbsp granulated onion
1 to 2 tbsp fennel seed, optional (I used 1 T)
2 tsp coarsely ground pepper, preferably freshly ground
2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp dried chili flakes, optional (I left these out because I figured too spicy for kids)
1 tsp ground smoked paprika (didn't use bc I didn't have any but I am sure it would be yummy!)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups cool water*
1 t garlic powder
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1. In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Whisk together the water, garlic, olive oil and soy sauce and using a fork, gently stir into the dry ingredients. Stir just until ingredients are mixed. If dough mixture is too dry, you can add another tablespoon of water or as needed.
2. Scoop 1/2 cup dough mixture at a time and shape into logs. Place logs on piece of aluminum foil and roll up, twisting ends. Bake at 325 for 30-40 min or until firm.

Corn Dogs (adapted from Martha Stewart online)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for dusting sausages
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2/3 cup milk
4 T ground flaxseed mixed with 6 T water
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
8 vegan sausages
Ketchup and mustard, for serving (optional)
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Make a well in center; add milk, flax mix, and oil. Mix just until combined.
2.Insert an ice-pop stick into one end of each sausage, leaving a 1 1/2-inch handle. Dust with flour; tap off excess. Using additional flour to coat hands, take dough and mold around the sausages until completely encased. Place on sheet; bake until golden, 20-25 minutes. Serve with ketchup and mustard, if desired.

This is a Korean Beef recipe that has long been a family favorite. I was determined to make a vegan version of it. My first attempt didn't turn out very nicely so I tried again with some changes to the cooking method and it was really yum. Even though it isn't the same as the original, it is a good substitute and we enjoyed it with veggies and sticky rice. Mmm!

Seitan Bulgogi
2 1/2 cups thinly sliced seitan (I used a seitan o' greatness-like recipe for this - the firm baked kinds works best. I wouldn't recommend using boiled seitan for this)

Marinade:
4 T sugar
8 T soy sauce
8 T sliced green onions
4 t minced garlic
dash of pepper
1 t plus 1 T toasted sesame seeds
2 T sesame oil
Combine marinade ingredients and add seitan. Marinate 2 hours (or more if you have time). Remove from marinade and reserve marinade. Place seitan strips on a grill rack and bake at 400 for 15 min. Turn slices over and bake additional 15 min. Remove from oven. Meanwhile, cook remaining marinade for 15-20 min over low-med heat. Serve seitan strips with marinade.

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Crispy Herbed Potato Stack

Crispy Herbed Potato Stack
I was going to try a recipe for herbed scalloped potatoes and at last minute decided to do something fast and easy. I made up the recipe and it was yummola! I layered sliced russet potatoes in a baking dish, drizzled with olive oil, and then sprinkled with coarse sea salt, fresh ground pepper, basil, rosemary, paprika, and garlic powder. Then I baked them at 425 fr about 45 minutes. They were crisp and very flavorful!

My thrown-together salad today - after discovering I had no leftovers for lunch!

Tamale Fixings

Tamale Fixings
Plain pintos (for Keith), pintos, corn and onions; corn, jalepenos and Daiya; mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and chard

Making these was a bit time-consuming but kinda fun! They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped - the outer tamale part (not the filling) just wasn't as flavorful as tamales I have had in restaurants. I have another recipe I will try for the dough next time. Tamales are one of my favorite foods so I won't give up on this one!

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes
I modified one of my favorite pancake recipes to make it vegan and then I added blueberries. Turned out quite yummy. Soymilk sours and thickens well - very similar to buttermilk. I have been really impressed with it's ability to substitute for real buttermilk.

"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes

Egg replacement for 1 egg
1 1/4 cups soured soy milk (put 2 T vinegar into a 2 cup glass measuring cup. Add enough soy milk to equal 1 1/4 cups)
2 T canola oil
1 cup flour (I wouldn't recommend whole wheat or whole wheat pastry - it really takes away from the fluffiness of these pancakes)
1 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
Blueberries, optional

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Heat griddle pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Sprinkle blueberries on pancakes after ladling onto griddle. Cook just until golden on both sides.

Veggie and Seitan Lo Mein

Veggie and Seitan Lo Mein
Overall, this was fabulous! However, I don't think the seitan added much so I would just leave it out next time. The lo mein also needed about double the sauce so I would simply do that next time for added flavor. This was especially spicy and yummy with some Sriracha drizzled on top. I made our favorite veg egg rolls to go with this and it was truly a Chinese treat!!

Veggie Seitan Lo Mein

I really did my own thing for this recipe so I am just going to outline the instructions and include the sauce recipe. I heated oil in a large skillet and added 3 minced cloves of garlic and about 1 cup of half-moon cut onions (I was out of green onions but next time I would use green onions as I like them a lot in Chinese food) and about 1 cup matchstick-cut carrots. After about 5-6 minutes, I added about 1/4 lb of whole green beans. I cooked these veggies until tender. Meanwhile, I cooked a 16oz package of chow mein noodles. Once the veggie mixture was cooked, I poured the sauce on the veggies, heated through and tossed with the noodles. Next time I would double the amount of sauce and have adjusted amounts below to reflect double recipe.

Sauce (Source:Adaptable Feast)
3 T soy sauce
3 T rice wine (I used 3 T rice vinegar and 1 t sugar as I didn't have any rice wine)
3 t sugar
4 T black bean garlic sauce
Mix all ingredients and toss with above mixture.





Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth

Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth
Pretty yummy. I found that steaming the wontons worked much better than the recipe suggestion to boil them. The broth was very mild and a bit too mellow for us. Still pretty yummy though. I added extra veggies to the wontons and scallion to the broth. The seasoning in the wonton filling was quite tasty!

Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth (Source: Vegan Yum Yum)

(As usual, I modified several things so it's not exactly the recipe in Vegan Yum Yum!)

1 cup chopped broccoli
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 T oil
1 t fresh ginger, minced
1 clove fresh minced garlic
1/2 t hot chili sauce (such as Sriracha)
1 t hot Chinese mustard
2 T plus 1 t soy sauce
4 cups water ( I think this might have been more flavorful had I used vegetable broth or faux chicken broth???)
6 slices fresh ginger
1 T mirin (I used a splash of cooking wine as I didn't have mirin)
1 1/2 t sugar
2 t rice vinegar
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup chopped scallions
16 wonton skins

For filling: Heat oil in skillet and add broccoli, ginger, garlic, carrot, onion and cook until veggies are crisp tender. Add chili sauce, mustard, 1 t soy sauce and stir to combine. Remove from heat and set aside.

To make wontons, take one skin and place in diamond shape. Fill with 1-2 t filling. Fold in half to make a triangle and moisten edges with water and pinch sides to seal. Set triangle in front of you with point up and take the 2 side points and bring them together in front to cross. Set aside and prepare remaining wontons. When finished, place wontons in a steamer basket and steam over pot of boiling water until translucent.

Meanwhile, in a pot, combine remaining ingredients (except wontons) and simmer 10-15 min.

Place 3-4 wontons in bowl and ladle broth over wontons. Serve.