Pizza and Wine

We found ourselves hungry and in the mood for booze last night so we made ourselves an awesome pizza from scratch. Unfortunately we drank a bottle of wine while we were cooking so the photo isn't the best.

We used a pretty basic pizza dough recipe but we made ours with whole wheat flour. We used jarred pasta sauce that we enhanced with sautéed shallots and garlic and several generous shakes of dried thyme and oregano. We topped our pizza with fresh basil, mushrooms, soy pepperoni and bell peppers. It was really the best pizza ever, despite our drunken cooking. Actually, maybe the drunkenness improved our enjoyment of the pizza.

Eggplant Adoration

If you love eggplant as much as we do you'll love this roasted eggplant and tomato panino as a mid week meal.



If you are interested in a fancier dinner time eggplant experience, these eggplant tomato stacks look great and they're a breeze to make.



We just sliced eggplants and tomatoes, brushed them with olive oil and roasted them in the oven at 450 degrees untl they started to brown. We then stacked our roasted veggies, sprinkling salt and black pepper and drizzling balsamic between each layer. We topped each stack with grated soy mozzarella and broiled the completed stacks to melt the cheese. We topped our finished stacks with basil chiffonade and served with a side of fresh spinach salad.

Mushrooms Love Wine

We've been doing a fair amount of cooking with mushrooms and wine and the results have been delicious. We veganized Michael Chiarello's Polenta Bites with Caramelized Mushrooms by using soy cheese, vegetable stock and soy creamer. We were too lazy to do the recipe's suggested presentation (which would have been more suitable for party snacks than dinner for two any way) but the meal was tasty nonetheless.



We also made a crostini dish inspired by this recipe with portobellos, cherry tomatoes and soy mozzarella.

Here's our vegan crostini recipe:

Ingredients:
2 Tbs soy margarine
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups Portobello mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
1/4 cup white wine
2 Tbs soy creamer (we used Silk non-dairy creamer)
1/4 cup soy mozzarella cheese (we used Follow Your Heart)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
baguette (sliced and toasted)
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced
2 Tbs soy Parmesan cheese

Heat butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and add the garlic. When the garlic becomes fragrant add in the mushrooms. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until the mushrooms become golden brown (approximately 10 minutes).

Deglaze the pan with the wine and then add the cream and cheese. Simmer until the cheese is melted and you have a thickened sauce.

Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley. Spoon the mushrooms onto the sliced bread and top with tomatoes and a sprinkle of Parmesan. Arrange the crostini on a baking sheet and broil until the tomatoes begin to brown.

Attack of the Killer Squid

Ever since the spring a package of vegan squid has been staring me down from the pantry. I bought it on a lark when we went to NYC earlier this year and went on a shopping spree in the May Wah vegetarian grocery, which has a veg version of just about anything under the sun. I bought the squid because it was there and I figured I'd find a use for it eventually. Finally, I gave it a purpose and tried my hand at calamari. I used a recipe I found on another food blog and it turned out surprisingly well. We served it with some homemade cocktail sauce and a completely delicious caponata-like dish from Cookthink.

Mini Italian

I adore miniature foods. They are both cute and easy to manage, and mini foods mean greater variety. I love tapas, sushi and dim sum because you get to try like 5 different things in one meal. This is also why I love cocktail parties. Who doesn't love hors d'oeuvre s?

For dinner Matt and I made two snacktastic Italian dishes. Albondigas (Meatballs in Garlic-Tomato Sauce) and Tuscan Mushrooms. For the meatball recipe, we used pre=packaged veggie meatballs from Whole Foods so we just used this recipe for the sauce. This was a predictably tasty and satisfying dish. I do not mean that in a bad way, but really what could possibly be bad smothered in tomato sauce and garlic? They are reliably delicious ingredients and a recipe starring the combo really would be hard pressed to disappoint.



As for the mushrooms, they were as delicious as they were beautiful. We used vegan Parmesan in place of the Romano cheese.



I've kind of gotten away from reading vegan websites, blogs and cookbooks. The mindset of vegan cooks is often too limited and things get repetitive. I have been able to find much more interesting recipes reading stuff from non-vegan cooks. I just replace their not-vegan ingredients with vegan versions. Doesn't work with a grilled steak so much, but I do not really want a grilled steak any way.

Pizza Minus The Dough

We made these miniature portobello mushroom "pizzas" for dinner. We just replaced the mozzarella with vegan mozzarella. It's a perfect mid-week meal since it's quick to make and just the right amount of food for two if you're serving it as a main course. I also liked this recipe because it gave me a reason to use my new grill rack which I am now madly in love with. I now want to emblazon all of my food with those fancy grill marks. Tofu, look out, here I come.

Dinner Party

We like to throw fancy dinner parties because it's an excuse to use our fancy entertaining gear and cook up elaborate meals. We also get to use our beautiful giant dining room table that seats up to ten.



For our first course we served roasted tomatoes over a bed of baby greens with home made croutons, fresh basil and braised garlic in a Zinfandel vinaigrette. The salad looked beautiful and had a refreshing, crisp, slightly tart flavor.



For the salad I got to use my new "ring mold." You will notice that in upscale eateries food is often arranged in a perfect cylindrical mound. They accomplish this with the use of a mold. You probably need a specialty cooking store to get one so I sort of made my own by cutting the top and bottom off of a clean empty water bottle. It worked out very nicely.

For our main course we served a rich and robust Chianti "Beef". I used this recipe but replaced the mutton with Morningstar Farms veggie steak strips. All of my omnivore dinner guests raved about the meal so I guess that is an endorsement for the substitution from an unbiased source.



For dessert I served white chocolate brownies with green tea cheesecake swirls. To make the brownies vegan I made my own white chocolate and used earth balance margarine instead of butter. I replaced the eggs with 2 Tbs cornstarch and 2 Tbs soy milk for every 1 egg. I also used vegan cream cheese. My white chocolate loving company really enjoyed these.

I also made Napoleons which were delicious and beautiful. Recipe follows...



Cake:
3/4 c sifted white flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbs cornstarch
1/4 c soy margarine
1/2 c sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c soy milk + 2 Tbs

Preheat oven to 400 F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cornstarch. beat in butter using an electric mixer on low speed. Then beat in the sugar, vanilla and soy milk. Lightly oil a muffin pan and fill each muffin cup about 1/3 of the way with batter. (You will get about 12 cups filled) Bake your cakes for about 12 minutes or until inserting a toothpick in the center comes out dry. Once they come out of the oven allow them to cool.

While your cakes bake and cool prepare your chocolate ganache frosting and strawberry sauce. For strawberry sauce combine 1 cup fresh strawberries with 2 1/2 Tbs sugar and 1/2 tsp lemon juice in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. For the chocolate combine 2 Tbs soy margarine, 3/4 cup vegan dark chocolate, 1/4 cup + 2 Tbs vegan heavy cream (I use Alpro Soya Creamer), 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Place all ingredients except vanilla in a sauce pan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.

Turn cooled cupcakes out onto a cutting board. Slice the rounded tops off of each cake. Take 1 cake a spread strawberry sauce on top of it, top that cake with another cake and then cover the whole thing with the chocolate ganache frosting. Garnish with crushed hazelnuts, sliced strawberries and small dark chocolate wedges. You should end up with 6 mini layer cakes. I serve mine with a swirl of strawberry sauce.

Calzones

Matt and I had sundried tomato and basil calzones for dinner. The recipe was in the Vegetarian Times cookbook and calzone recipes are easy to come by so I'll just share a few pics:

Long Time No Post

I've been terribly neglectful on the food blogging front but Matt and I have been really busy and not cooking every day. My parents are coming to visit us from Florida and we have been trying to get our act together around the house. But enough about that, here's what we've been making:

Last week, I got some purple scallions. Aren't they pretty? I made a miso soup with them. Matt and I have been out for Japanese food a few times in the last two weeks and we've decided that we can no longer enjoy ordering miso soup in restaurants because it is like a bowl of pond water compared to the miso soup we make at home. If you love miso soup give this recipe a shot, you'll never view restaurant miso soup the same way again.

We've been doing a lot of cookbook cooking. We made Balsamic Glazed Mushrooms and Garlicky Greens with Tahini Dressing from Vegan With A Vengeance. Both recipes were really good although my pictures of them didn't turn out as nicely as I would have hoped.



We also tried out a few recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. We tried the Cappuccino cupcakes which were good but not amazing. If I were to make them again I think I'd skip the coffee flavored pastry cream filling in favor of something that had more of a flavor contrast to offer. We also made the Tiramisu cupcakes which were really good but if you are looking for a more true-to-the-original tiramisu experience this tiramisu recipe is the way to go.



Lastly, Matt and I had friends over on Friday and I made some really good chickpea bruschetta. I regret that I did not write down the exact proportions of my ingredients but I don't think this is the kind of recipe you really have to measure to get right.

Ingredients:
6 vine ripened tomatoes, chopped (with their juice)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
balsamic vinegar to taste
olive oil to taste
salt to taste
a bunch of fresh chopped basil
a bunch of fresh chopped oregano

I combined all of the above in a bowl and stirred it up and then spooned the mixture onto a loaf of sliced toasted French bread that had been rubbed with garlic.

Pasta Imposter

Since Matt and I are trying to watch our calories this week, I came up with this low calorie version of spaghetti with chunky tomato sauce. Matt, who adores pasta, remarked that the eggplant substitute was almost like noodles. Mission accomplished!

To make this dish you will need:
1 large eggplant
1 Tbs garlic, minced
1 cup onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut into very thin strips
3/4 c diced fire roasted tomatoes
3/4 cup white button mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup tomato sauce
1/2 bag of baby spinach
2 Tbs fresh oregano, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
salt and black pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and as it heats peel the skin off of the eggplant with a vegetable peeler. Once the skin is removed peel the eggplant with a peeler so that you produce long thin strips of eggplant. Once the entire eggplant is in peels arrange it on a baking sheet covered with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle salt over the raw eggplant (arranging the eggplant on the baking sheet in layers is fine). Bake the eggplant for 15 minutes.

While the eggplant bakes coat a large deep frying pan with cooking spray, and cook the garlic and onions over medium high heat until the onions start to soften. Add in the bell peppers and tomatoes and cook for a few minutes more. Then add the mushrooms and tomato sauce, cooking until all the vegetables soften. Stir in the spinach and herbs, allowing them to wilt. Remove from heat and add the salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, arrange a pile of eggplant on a dish and top with the tomato mixture. Serves 3, 175 calories per serving.

What I've Been Eating

I have not been creative. I've been following recipes to a T but I took pictures any way because everyone loves food porn...

On Wednesday we made Tofu with Peanut Ginger Sauce.

Surprisingly Matt gave this recipe higher marks than I did. It wasn't bad but I think the spectacular curry from earlier this week kind of ruined other recipes for me since it was so very good. It was hard for the peanut tofu to compete. It's also possible that I set myself up for disappointment because I have such a great affection for peanut butter that I expect all things that involve it to be amazing. I did find that a considerable amount of cayenne was necessary to make this dish enjoyable.

On Thursday I tried Fat-Free Vegan's Eggplant Pancakes Florentine.

I liked this recipe very much, it had loads of garlic which I adore and I was able to use fresh herbs from our container garden which I am always happy to do. I got to use our oregano for the first time this season, which has been growing like a champ. For this recipe I found adding more flour than recipe called for and some cornstarch to the eggplant batter was necessary to get my pancakes to hold together. If you try this recipe and have trouble that's what I suggest adding.

Stuffed Swiss Chard

This hearty Italian meal serves four.

You Will Need:
1 package veggie ground beef (we used Smart Ground)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 medium shallots, diced finely
1 handful of basil, chopped
1 handful thyme, chopped
1 handful oregano, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
8 large Swiss chard leaves, stems removed
2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
Parmesan cheese (optional)

In a large bowl combine the veggie beef, the bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon of shallots and 1/2 of the basil, thyme, oregano and garlic.

Spoon some of the ground beef mixture into the center of each chard leaf and place each filled leaf, seam side down, into a large skillet. (You will probably be able to fit about 4 stuffed leaves into your skillet at once.) Once you have about 4 leaves filled with the ground beef mix, pour 1 cup broth into the skillet, cover and bring to a boil over high head. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the stuffed leaves for about 8 minutes. Then, using a spatula, remove the cooked stuffed leaves from the skillet and set aside (cover them with a lid or foil to retain heat). Repeat this process with the rest of the stuffed leaves and the rest of the vegetable broth.

While your second batch of leaves cooks up, heat your oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the rest of the shallot, red pepper, black pepper, and the rest of the herbs and garlic. Cook about 1-2 minute and then add the can of tomatoes. (If you have any of the veggie beef mix left over this can be added in as well.) Cook for about 8 minutes, adjusting seasoning to taste.

To serve, put your rolls on a plate and top with the tomato sauce mixture. Garnish with cheese if you like.

Vegan Tiramisu

For weeks I obsessed about vegan tiramisu. I'd tried vegan recipes in the past and came up with nothing good. This last time I was determined. Now there is a recipe floating around online for vegan tiramisu already and I gave that a shot first but here is what happened:
- the sponge cake came out kind of bitter and crumbly, even though it cooled a long time, cutting it caused it to break up.
- the "mascarpone" came out really runny.

So I tweaked that recipe and combined it with some other recipes and here is my successful version of vegan tiramisu. First make all the components of the recipe as follows.

Sponge Cake:
(Based on recipe I found online by Candace Naomi Sakuda)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 1/3 cups water

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth and free of lumps. Pour batter into a greased 9 inch pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool complete and then slice it into lady finger shaped strips. Put the strips on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 18 minutes.

"Mascarpone"
8 oz Soy Cream Cheese (I used toffuti's vegan cream cheese)
1/4 cup soy sour cream (I used toffuti's vegan sour cream)
1/4 cup vegan cream (you can try silk coffee creamer but I used Alpro Soya Heavy Cream which you can buy here)
2 tablespoons Amaretto
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon agar (this is a vegan gelatine, I found some at a Korean grocery near my house but if you do not have that kind of thing near you you may have to buy some online)

Bring heavy cream to a boil in a small sauce pan and then dissolve the agar into it and allow it to cool to room temperature. Combine the cream/agar mix with all the other ingredients above and beat well. Put the mix in the fridge to set for several hours.

Coffee/Liquor Dip
1 cup expresso
3 tablespoons amaretto
3 tablespoons sugar

Combine these ingredients and put in the fridge to cool.

Topping
1 high quality dark chocolate bar, grated (store in the refrigerator)

To assemble the dessert dip the "lady fingers" you made into the coffee dip and lay them in a large deep dish. Pour the "mascarpone" over top of the cake. Sprinkel the "mascarpone" with the grated chocolate and then chill the entire dish in the refrigerator for an hour or until you are ready to serve.