The rest of Sunday's image dump

The pickled peppers were so good, that they warranted their own entry. But I wasn't going to subsist solely on pickled vegetables... I mean, I could. I'd have one bad case of dehydration of malnutrition though.

I took out the newest issue of Vegetarian Times from my local library about two weeks ago. First of, it shocked the hell of me that my tiny local branch had this magazine in the first place. Secondly, well, it shocked the hell of me that my tiny local branch had this magazine. Anyways, sweet I thought, and checked it out, along with some gay erotica and splatterpunk paperbacks (hey Poppy Z. Brite, how's it going). The librarian lady gave me a weird look (obviously not the first one I received).

So, Vegetarian Time is a pretty decent read for vegans. I'd estimate about 2/3rd of the recipes could be easily veganized, and all the other ones (mostly backed good) can be modified with a laborious trip to Whole Foods or experimenting with the chemistry of ground flax or something like that. Surprising though, the first recipe that truly appealed to me is an user-submitted one in the editorial section.

So, here it is. Vegan carrot cake.



I added lemon juice to the icing for some tang.



Didn't have any walnuts, so I used a combination of pecans and Brazilian nuts (which I think taste gross if eaten alone).

I reserved half a roasted red pepper for topping a pizza I made. I used a very popular dough recipe from vegweb.com made with wholewheat flour and the addition of rosemary. I topped it off with some "white sauce"... hrm... humus, haha. Then, I caramelized a large onion with some seasoned TVP grounds, and steamed some spinach. I added those, with a layer of sliced black olives.







That's my lunch for the week!!! Together with that carrot cake, great fuel for writing this week's mid-term exams.


Embrace the incoherency...

A new favorite in the household

No, we are not replacing the dog.

It's pickled roasted red peppers! I'm really glad that last Sunday was fair, so I took advantage of the good weather and the (now very rare) free time to do some cooking, and take some decent pictures of course. Not that cooking is a rarity. Actually, cooking all of my meals is mandatory for survival, haha. I used to fret about dinner everyday after I come home, but now I plan my meals, cook only one or two days a week, and eat reheated leftovers for the rest. Yay!

Right then, carry on- for those of you who like your food porn with a twist of BDSM:



Can you hear those hot babes scream? Yea? Can ya? Well, I could... or it was the smoke alarm going off.



I swear to god this picture looks like a profile of smoked salmon. That creeped the hell outta me.



And in we go to the cauldron.



Along with some Fleur de sel.



Dump in the acid to get rid of the bodies. Mmmm... bodies with garlic, rosemary, oregano, dried hot chili peppers, and demerara sugar.
Let them sit for two days (that's today!! Hooray!)
It's a delicious keeper :)


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Do I see

a new anime about making noodles?!


What?
IT'S NOT THAT RIDICULOUS.

Via SeriousEats.
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Fall's bounty

"2. Kabocha: If ye ol’ American orange variety of the pumpkin is starting to bore you, there’s always the Japanese version! It’s an election year; I say let’s try to reinvent the local varieties before looking abroad."

Number two on Serious Eats' WJS's Ten Foods to Eat This Fall, and unfortunately the only thing on the last I have in my produce drawer... My mom insisted on buying them for some reason. OK, never mind, they were on sale at T&T. I was scratching my head about what the hell to do with them, but luckily, salvation occurred in the form of a recipe from Veganomicon (underlining, courtesy of my English teacher) : Kabocha-Udon Winter Soup (ignore the Winter part). I'll make a batch of those tomorrow afternoon.

I need to try some rutabaga and quince, next.

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Obligatory brag

Be still, my beating heart... I totally wasn't expecting my first food-blog contest entry to get anywhere, especially not first place...!

Thanks Nick! Let the good times roll (like a pig in peanut butter... wait, that's me).



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The cake is a delicious lie...

My house smells like chooooo~colate, at almost midnight on a weekday.
Thank you Dessert Mag.

Excuse me while I go and burn my friggin' tongue off :9

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Where'd all the PB go?

Why, to the Vegan PB & J Sandwich Ice Cream, of course.

For Peanut Butter Boy's Great Peanut Butter Exhibition #4... the theme is no-bake! How exciting! I can't wait to see what wonderful entries the other contestants have whipped up.

Yes, the "sandwich" comes before the "ice cream".


Makes 1 scant quart

3/4 cup peanut butter (I used smooth natural no-salt sugar-free)
3 cups soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt (I used fleur de sel. Reduce amount if using table salt; omit if using salted PB)
1 tbsp. agar agar (from Asian grocery stores)

1/2 - 3/4 cup jam, any flavour (I used strawberry)
2 slices whole-grain bread, crusts removed (or keep them, your call) and torn into small pieces

In a saucepan, bring the soy milk and sugar to a gentle boil over medium heat. Add the agar agar and stir, for a few minutes until completely dissolved. Remove from heat.

Stir in the peanut butter and salt, if using.

Cool the mixture to room temperature. It should resemble a pudding-like consistency. Refrigerate it overnight.

After removing from the fridge, stir the PB mixture vigorously and pour it into your ice cream machine. It doesn't take very long, about 15 minutes, so this is great for the impatient (aren't we all?)

When the ice cream is ready, fold in the jam and bread piece by using a wooden spoon, or alternatively, adding the ingredients in small batches while operating the motor intermittently.

Yay! Totally vegan PB & J sandwich ice cream. I wish I could write more in terms of instruction, but m' afraid this really can't get any more simple. I'm very pleased with the texture. I've always stayed away from non-dairy ice cream before becoming completely vegetarian, but now that I have no choice other than to embrace it... this isn't bad! In fact, it's pretty awesome. I've always been scared of the "soy/rice/hemp/almond aftertaste" in mock-dairy, but I gotta admit, this isn't far from the real thing, if not better than.



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BC. (C is for 'cookie', that's good enough for me) (actually, no cookies)

BC Eggs
BC Dairy
BC Strawberries
BC Blueberries
Gordon Campbell





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The fireplace is on and we're eating frozen yogurt.

It's bloody cold in here... I'm reduced to wearing fuzzy slippers. Vancouver weather usually pampers me, but this year it's highly unreasonable. Either that, or I'm used to complaining every year this time rolls around (or anytime... yea, definitely anytime). But that's OK, a little bit of home-made frogurt makes everything much betta.



I've been really holding out on taking good pictures, with the weather like this. I really hope the sun rolls out around BC Day, because I'm gonna be fixin' something special for Gordon Campbell.

Recipe and nutrition after the jump.


Low-Fat Bittersweet Chocolate Frozen Yogurt
Serves 8.

3 cups plain yogurt (I used a whole 750 gram container, fat-free) *see note
1 1/2 cup milk (any kind, I used 1%)
1 tbsp. starch (I used tapioca, but cornstarch or arrowroot powder is fine)
1 cup cocoa **see note #2
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla or 1 vanilla bean

You will need an ice-cream maker for this! Am I evil for telling you this now?
I have a Krups GVS1 that makes 1 quart at a time.

The day before, throw your ice cream maker in the freezer (turn it to the coldest possible setting to avoid any disappointments the day after... this happened to me).

Dump your yogurt in a few layers of large cheesecloth, tie off the ends (throw away the keys too!) and let it strain in a wee, lonely corner of your fridge. Set a bowl underneath it to catch the whey which we will chug later when no one's looking . Leave it alone for a good few hours or overnight. When it is ready, you'll end up with a little less than two cups of the creme de la creme.

In a sauce pan, stir in the milk, cocoa, starch and sugar over medium heat. If you're using vanilla bean, throw it in right now. Get ready to stir like crazy folks, do not let your eyes or that spatula leave the pot of good stuff. If you do burn your pot, some boiling lemon juice during the clean-up should do the trick. When the mix starts to boil gently, remove from heat and stir for one more minute. Congrats! We just made chocolate pudding and if you're like me, steal a big spoonful right now. Remove the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds.

If you're using vanilla extract, mix it in the pudding, then fold in the strained yogurt. Give them a good, vigorous stir and forget about the whole thing in the fridge for another few hours or overnight.

Now, the yogurt should be chilled and your ice cream maker should be ready. Go ahead and dump that bad boy in, and watch as the fro-yo goodness unfold before your eyes in no time, well, I wish 20-30 minutes.

Right out of the ice-cream maker, it has a soft-serve consistency. Some people prefer theirs more firm, so go ahead and freeze it for an additional 30 minutes before serving.

I served mine with some homemade maple creme anglaise (as a part of special BC Day fixin's for Mr. Campbell) which I will post later.

Per serving:

173 Cal, 2 g total fat, 1.2 g sat. fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 93 mg sodium, 35 g carbs, 3.2 g dietary fiber, 28.4 g sugar, 8.7 g protein

Note: I find strained plain yogurt makes just the right tanginess. Greek Yogurt is too tangy for my taste, but if that's your thing feel free to switch it up.

Note #2: The cocoa powder is really what gives the bitterness (but also chocolate goodness!) to the recipe. Some people may find it too strong, and should either reduce that amount or increase the amount of sugar.




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C&PB Granola Bars

Ah, peanut butter and chocolate, possibly the greatest combination of flavours in the existence of humankind, but feel free to argue. Though these can't beat eating peanut butter by the spoonful (or even better, off your finger straight from the jar), they make a great on-the-go breakfast or snack. Plus, licking the spatula at the end is the best part.

You can get away with any kind of peanut butter here, but I only found Jif in the cupboard (Skippy fans and natural PB elitists, hold your critisms). But, feel free to use that extra-crunchy or organic natural.


Recipe and nutrition after the jump.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Makes one dozen.

1/4 cup milk (any kind, I used 1%)
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar (or sweetener equivalent. I used Splenda, will try maple syrup next time)
1/4 tsp. salt (more, if sweet and salty is your thing)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup beanut butter (I used Jif Smooth)
2 cups oatmeal (I used quick-cooking)

Combine milk, cocoa, sugar (or sweeterner), salt and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

Mix in the peanut butter and mix it well (I had to microwave it for about 30 seconds after adding the PB)

Finally, add the oats.

Line a 8 x 8 square pan with plastic wrap, hanging over the edges. Spoon in the granola bar mix and smooth it out. Chill in the frige, for 2 hours or overnight.

To cut the bars, lift the plastic wrap out (aren't you glad we did that) and use a large chef's knife.

Each bar:

with sugar - 320 Cal, 12.2 g total fat, 2.7 g sat. fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 153 mg sodium, 49.2 g carbs, 3.7 g fiber, 36 g sugar, 8.1 g protein

with sweetener - 191 Cal, 12.2 g total fat, 2.7 g sat. fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 153 mg sodium, 15.9 g carbs, 3.7 g fiber, 2.7 g sugar, 8.1 g protein

with 1 1/2 cup amber maple syrup - 294 Cal, 12.3 g total fat, 2.7 g sat. fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 157 mg sodium, 42.3 g carbs, 3.7 g fiber, 26.1 g sugar, 8.1 g protein



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The first Cooks post is about dog food? The Ya celebrates five with cookies.

I saw a very interesting cookie recipe at Farmgirl Fare weeks ago. Though the inner-health freak prevented me from making these, I didn't hesitate to click on the original recipe link (pour les chiens) because with a name like that, who can resist!

Alright, bananas... check (courtesy of my freezer), honey... check, flax seeds... check! Let's get to work. These look and smell very much like cookies for humins! Though I can't attest for that myself, I'm sure they're delicious... as least according to Yaya. Next time, I'll try it with maple syrup so I can have some too ;)


MOAR PLZ.
Happy birthday!


Embrace the incoherency...