nom! nom! nom! blog

cracked is a little whack…

February 7, 2010 by Kris

Hello there!

I hope January was fruitful for everyone. Can you believe it’s February ALREADY?! 2010 is shaping up to fly by fast.

Other than being busy, not much has changed over here… my pistachio kick is still holding strong. I just can’t get enough of their complex aroma, flavor, color… nom. I have been eating a little too much pistachio pudding and looking for other ways to incorporate them.

Funnily enough, I heard about the big PR campaign to revamp pistachios after the samonella scare last year… and they have some questionable people at the helm of that campaign.

Hmm…

So what is this supposed to say about pistachio eaters? We’re dumb and low-brow?

Thankfully for the pistachios they sell themselves, so these silly ads shouldn’t slow them down. And some pistachio cake doesn’t hurt any, either.

I’m on this simple cake kick lately- no layers or elaborate toppings, just good old cake with a flavorful accent. This cake is dense, moist and rich and the aroma… ah! I know some people think that dark chocolate is reserved for pre-holiday baking, but to heck with them! While this would certainly make a delicious holiday cake, I’ll eat some dark chocolate anytime!

Pistachio Cake with Chocolate Sauce

1 cup ground pistachios
1 3/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 teas. baking powder
1/4 teas. salt
1- 8 oz. container soy cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/3 cups milk of choice (I used almond)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teas. vanilla

1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate
3 tbsp. milk of choice
1 tbsp. margarine

pistachios for garnish

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a 8 or 9 inch cake pan by greasing and flouring and/or lining the bottom with parchment.

In a small bowl combine ground pistachios, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese and some of the milk using electric beaters. Incorporate the remaining milk in batches. Add oil and vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients with the wet ingredients in batches until batter is just mixed. Spread into pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with just some little crumbs clinging to it.

To prepare the sauce, combine dark chocolate, milk and margarine in a double boiler and melt until smooth. Serve cake with warm chocolate sauce drizzled on and some pistachio garnish.

nom nom nom...

Posted in baking, recipe | Tagged cakes, chocolate, nuts | 11 Comments »

muffins on the boob tube

January 5, 2010 by Kris

Hey there! I was featured on a morning show here in Portland, talking about vegan baking in the new year. You can check out the segment here.

*sorry, it won’t let me imbed the video.

Yay, vegan baking!

Oh, and here is the recipe.

You Are My Sunshine Loaf (or Muffins!)

This bread is so bright and sunny you can almost feel the sunshine on your face. If California could be made in the form of a bread, this would be it. With its lovely orange color and citrus notes, along with sweet bursts of raisins, this is a welcome breakfast bread on the grayest days.

1- 1/4 cups all-purpose ﬂour
1 cup white-wheat ﬂour (or all-purpose ﬂour)
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded carrots
1 medium apple, peeled and shredded
1- 1/4 cups grain or nut milk
¼ cup oil
zest of 1 medium orange
juice of one medium orange
½ cup raisins
½ cup walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with margarine or oil.

In a medium bowl, combine all-purpose flour, white-wheat flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, combine shredded carrots, shredded apple and milk and mix until well-combined. Add oil, orange zest and orange juice. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in two batches until just combined. Gently mix in raisins and walnuts.

Spread batter in the loaf pan and bake for 60 to 65 minutes, until bread is golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a cooling rack until the pan is cool enough to touch, about 40 minutes. Run a knife around the outside of the loaf to separate it from the pan, and turn bread out of the pan to finish cooling on a rack.

If making muffins, bake in greased or lined muffin tins for 22-25 minutes. Follow cooling instructions for loaf.

Store leftover bread (or muffins) covered at room temperature.

Yield: 1 loaf, 10 slices or 12 regular sized muffins

*this recipe is slightly amended from the version in “The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes”. Please see this page for more information.

Posted in baking, video | Tagged breakfast, health, muffins | 8 Comments »

happy new year!

January 1, 2010 by Kris

Happy New Year!

Did you celebrate the New Year in any special way? Dinner, family, friends? Jim and I were feeling a little under the weather (sadly a New Year’s tradition with one of us, usually) so we laid low and watch reruns of Seinfeld on my laptop. So exciting.

As cliched as it is, it’s resolution time. Even when you aren’t into resolutions it’s hard not to feel inclined towards the idea of a fresh start. We all have things we’d like to try/do/improve upon and the beginning of a new year (and decade!) seems like a perfect time to reassess and take stock. So here goes:

Beautiful tattoo work by Ximena Quiroz of Skeleton Key Tattoo in Portland

1. 2010 will be the year I truly dedicate to my yoga practice. Some of you may know that I have been a serious budding yogi for some years now, but developing a true home practice and branching into the study of yoga history and theory has been lopsided at best. It has come in fits and spurts and always ends up falling back into asana sandwiched in between the other random things I let get in the way. This year I’m committing to a true, robust practice, integrating yoga into my daily life.

2. Potty-mouth begone! It may come as a surprise, but I am the owner of a serious potty-mouth. I can even make Jim shake his head and he works at a car dealership. My goal is to tone down the cussin’ to well-placed expletives that accentuate what I’m saying rather than make me look like I have a limited capacity to express myself.

3. I’m going to start working on another cookbook. A full-on, real meals and the whole she-bang cookbook, not just desserts. I do have a focus, but I’d rather not say anything right now. Things are still in the early stages and with this, yoga and my day job, I’m going to be busy and probably very absent from the blog-o-sphere. I will probably turn into one of those twice-a-month bloggers for some time. But I will definitely keep you guys up on the progress, as well as put a shout-out when I’m looking for some testing assistance.

And now, for some food. When I was a kid, I ate a lot of Jell-o products. While it grosses me out to think of eating it now, I have very fond memories. My grandfather would make cherry Jell-o with cans of fruit cocktail suspended in them and boxes of Jell-o pudding and my great-grandma was the queen of fancy multi-layered Jell-o molds.

Recently I was overtaken by a craving for pistachio pudding. I’ve recently become a pistachio eating fool, but this memory of eating a creamy, pistachio flavored food seemed confusing to me. Did my grandpa make pistachio pudding? Does pistachio pudding even exist? It sounded weird. Sure enough, a cruise down the pudding aisle revealed the pistachio pudding does exist and the quest for a homemade version began.

A quick survey of the internet showed that not many folks have bothered to make such a thing at home. Most recipes were cringe-inducing dishes involving packages of pistachio pudding and buckets of Cool-Whip. Blorch. I was on my own.

I almost cried when I tasted it, so creamy and delicious, it was like being punched in the face by nostalgia, but even better than I remembered.

Pistachio Pudding

1/2 cup shelled pistachios, finely ground (I used a coffee grinder that we use exclusively for nuts and seeds and it worked great)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. corn starch
2 cups milk of choice (I used soy for the fat content)
1/4 teas. vanilla

Grind up pistachios and best as possible. You could also try a blender, but I did mine in batches in a coffee grinder. In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch until well blended. Add the ground pistachios and mix. Slowly whisk in milk. Cook pudding on medium/high heat, whisking often, until it comes to a light bowl. Whisking constantly, let lightly boil for about 2 minutes. Lower heat and continue to whisk constantly for 5-8 more minutes, until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. If you’re having problems with the pistachios clumping up a bit, you can always blend a little with a handmixer. Remove from heat and add vanilla, mixing well. Transfer to heat resistant bowls. Let cool completely before eating.

Makes four 1/2 cup servings.

Posted in blah, cooking, recipe | Tagged cookbook, nostalgia, nuts, resolutions, yoga | 12 Comments »

a review and vegan baking on the tv…

December 30, 2009 by Kris

I’m in love.

I adore Portland. I love it so much that even thought Seattle has superior Asian cuisine and Mighty O Donuts, I am still always happy to see the Portland skyline when we arrive back in town, home of my beloved Blossoming Lotus, Proper Eats, Black Sheep and many, many others.

Enter Thrive, a newish (1 year old, maybe?) vegan restaurant in Seattle, conveniently located in our family’s neighborhood. It’s primarily a raw restaurant, with it’s only cooked food being some grains included in some recipes. The decor is warm and inviting. You can purchase some of the ingredients in bulk while you’re there. The service is incredible, so friendly and warm you’d think the workers were on something.

And they are! They are on their incredible, crave-inducing food that almost created an embarrassing When Harry Met Sally scene, as I had to keep shushing Jim as he exclaimed and made yummy noises with concerning gusto. It’s that simple kind of food, healthy and whole foods based, that explodes in your mouth upon contact. Lots of places can make food healthy, but to make a nutritious meal borderline (food)pornographic takes talent and they’ve got it at Thrive.

The pictures aren’t so hot, as I was more concerned with stuffing my face than photographing the food, but you’ll get the drift.

Boutenko’s Best smoothie- not quite as green as it normally is (I’ve had it twice now) as they were out of kale, but SO delicious and refreshing. Made, of course, in a Vita-Mix. Vita-Mix represent!

This is the Awaken Bowl, a base of Bhutanese red rice and quinoa with raw zucchini, carrots, scallions, veggies, marinated spinach, avocado and nori with a side of sesame-ginger sauce. This meal is so amazingly satisfying and complex, it blows my mind.

Okay, I know this picture is terrible, but we got dessert to-go and it was taken under the dome light of a 24-year-old car. So all things considered, it’s a great photo.

This dessert… there are no words. Jim likes really traditional desserts, a piece of cake or a cookie. He’s not much a “fancy” dessert person. This is a slice of chocolate strawberry swirl mousse pie. All raw. MIND-BLOWING. I don’t normally like to share desserts, but the slice was generous and very rich, so I was happy to split it with Jim, who was eagerly spoon-fed as he tried to keep it cool while consuming said mousse pie while driving and keep us on the road. This was literally one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. Period.

So while Portland is where my heart is, Thrive has lodged itself firmly in there and I’m gladly making space.

And in other news… I’m going to be on TV next week! A local morning show, AM Northwest on KATU news, will be featuring little ol’ me on a morning segment next Tuesday on vegan baking as a New Year’s resolution to a healthier and friendlier lifestyle. I will post the link to the show once it’s up. Horray for vegan baking!

Posted in blah | Tagged greens, raw, review | 9 Comments »

holiday wrap up

December 28, 2009 by Kris

Oy.

I’m feeling the post-holiday impact. True, we still have New Year’s to ring in, but the giant feasts, present wrapping and family wrangling are behind us. It always leaves me feeling simultaneously wistful and grateful.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. I got completely spoiled in the kitchen by the wonderful Jim. I received a set of pots and pans that I’ve been wanting for some time now, but couldn’t really justify splurging on. I had very specific things I wanted in a set (stainless, tri-ply, no non-stick, glass lids) so when I came across a set that met my desires, it seemed too good to be true… but I didn’t really need them. They are a great deal though, very high quality but not too expensive. Not wanting to play with fate and have them go out of production, Jim got them for me, along with a stocking full of fun kitchen gadgets I can’t wait to play with.

Did you do any fun holiday baking?

Like these delicious Cranberry Almond Squares from Baking Bites… (veganized with applesauce for the eggs). I also added a little almond extract to make them very almond flavored.

Some Lemon Drop Cookies…

The often imitated but never rivaled Chocolate Peanut Butter Shells (my favorite!)

Some Spice Spiked Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

Some Chewy Chocolate Peppermint Cookies topped with some Chocolate UFOs from Trader Joe’s.

All were safely stowed away into festive tins for our co-workers to enjoy!

What treats did you indulge in?

Posted in baking | Tagged cookies, gifts, holiday meals | 8 Comments »

interview on toronto veg association podcast!

December 17, 2009 by Kris

Check out my interview on the Toronto Vegetarian Association podcast. The TVA has an awesome website, so be sure to check it out and subscribe to their podcast!

Posted in cookbook | 3 Comments »

oh fudgies!

December 8, 2009 by Kris

{unrelated sidenote: I am getting very low on my own stock of The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes and I don’t plan on reordering. If you want to purchase an autographed copy (along with nom! nom! nom! buttons!) in time for the holiday and before I run out, you might want to click here. Shameless promotion over.}

I had a startling realization the other day. About brownies.

See, brownie texture can be a touchy subject amongst brownie lovers. Some people like a thin, chewy brownie, some people like a thicker, cake-like brownie- you can see where a debate might arise. I have one recipe for each respective group in my book, in my bid to create world peace via baked goods.

But I forgot one group.

I don’t know how it happened, but the fudgey brownie lovers were left out of my equation. Back to the drawing board! But, alas, a perfect dense, intensely fudgey brownie was made and how the impending peace can begin.

If you or yours like fudgey brownies, you are going to love this recipe. I used to align myself with the chewy folks, but now I’m rethinking this whole thing. And they aren’t too terribly unhealthy… Well, you will note that there is a lot of sugar in this recipe, but that is indicative of the chemistry of a brownie, which requires sugar at least equal to and normally greater than the amount of flour. This ratio is necessary for the proper texture, otherwise you just have a dense cake. They have a special ingredient contributing to their fudgeyness. No one will ever guess unless you tell them…

Fudgie Wudgies

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened baking cocoa (preferably Dutch pressed), sifted
6 tbsp. margarine, melted
1- 15 oz. can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie puree)
2 teas. of vanilla
2 teas. instant coffee granules (optional, but definitely add that sumpin’, sumpin’)

3/4 cup flour
1/2 teas. baking powder
1/4 teas. salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans (yay, debris!)

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan or line with parchment.

In a large bowl, mix together sugar and cocoa until cocoa is mixed in. Add melted margarine and mix until mixture begins to get clumpy then add pumpkin puree. Add vanilla and coffee and mix well to break up any clumps and to dissolve the coffee. I highly recommend using electric beaters, it will also help with the dry mixture.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry to wet and mix until combined and there are no clumps. Add chocolate chips and pecans.

Spread into prepared pan and bake for 35-38 minutes or until top of brownies looks set and a toothpick comes out with a fudgy coating, but not wet with batter. Let cool completely (or for as long as you can stand it) before serving.

Posted in recipe | Tagged baking, brownies, chocolate | 18 Comments »

by popular vote…

December 6, 2009 by Kris

You asked and so you shall receive.

Here is the rough recipe for the chickpea tart that I made for Thanksgiving. This was literally “a little of this, a little of that”, so please know there is tons of room for interpretation.

Savory Holiday Tart

1 recipe pie crust, minus sugar (I used white whole wheat flour to make it more savory)

1 medium onion or 2-3 shallots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cremini mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
white wine
thyme (finely chopped)
rosemary (finely chopped)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
soy sauce
balsamic vinegar

margarine
3-4 cups of pearl onions, skin peeled (You could also make regular caramelized onions to top, if you don’t want to deal with the pearl onions)
sprinkling of sugar

Make pie crust per directions. Wrap and let chill in fridge.

In a large skillet, saute onions and garlic in some oil. Add mushrooms and cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms are cooked down. Drain off any liquid. Add chickpeas and saute for about 10 minutes on medium stirring often and adding splashes of wine to deglaze the pan as needed. Add nutritional yeast and herbs to your liking (I used about 2 tbsp. of thyme and 2 teas. of rosemary. Add a nice splash of soy sauce, about 2 tbsp, and a small splash of balsamic vinegar, about 1 tbsp max. Mix to combine and spoon mixture into a food processor. Process while adding more wine as needed and scraping down the sides of the processor, to make a mixture like a thick pate. Set aside.

In a pan, melt a about 1-2 tbsp. of margarine. Add peeled pearl onions. Sprinkle with a little sugar and cook on a medium heat, stirring often, until onions are translucent and they begin to caramelize, about 15 minutes. Add wine as needed to deglaze.

Remove pie crust from oven. Press crust into the bottom and sides of a 12- inch tart pan. You may not use all of the crust, depending on how thick you make it. Spread in chickpea mixture and smooth with a spatula. Top with onions.

Bake at 400 covered with tin foil for about 45 minutes, then remove foil and bake for an additional 10-15 or until top is set. Let tart sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

You can easily prep this recipe the night before and refrigerate it, drive 5 1/2 hours in holiday traffic and bake it upon arrival. I feel about 95% confident that you could also bake it the night before, cool and refrigerate and then reheat it in a 350 oven for about 15-20 minutes with tin foil on it.

Posted in recipe | Tagged beans, holiday meals | 6 Comments »

thanksgiving wrap-up

November 29, 2009 by Kris

There are plenty of good things to be thankful for this time of year- an awesome husband, good fur kids (even if we do mostly refer to them as “the jerks), a great new job, my health- but what I truly appreciate and am humbled by my husband’s family.

I know that the holidays can bring out the worst in families when it comes to being veg. Jokes about turkey and ham, constant harassment about what you eat, what you don’t eat and open judgment are things that many people have to contend with on top of whatever other family baggage you may carry around. Oy.

I am thankful that my husband’s family was happy to eat a vegan Thanksgiving dinner and was fine letting me take charge and cook a large majority of it- as I was happy doing so and hauling it the 3 hours north to Seattle.

Our centerpiece this year was a chickpea/white wine/ herb/ caramelized onion tart.

Jim gets mad at me because I have this bad tendency of making things up as I go along, which was the case with this. I had an idea of what I wanted, but no recipe, and just kind of threw it all together and hoped for the best. I know it will catch up with me some day, but for now as long as the outcome is tasty, I will dismiss the potential fears and keep playing.

My sister-in-law’s awesome cranberries. If you think “Meh, a cranberry is a cranberry” you haven’t had these babies.

Cremini mushroom gravy.

Roasted yam/onion/bell pepper dish courtesy of my S-i-L. Nom.

Stuffing. Made from a mix because I’m lazy like that and honestly like it better that way. Jazzed up with onions and celery. Can’t remember what brand… one of the organic ones.

Browned “butter”, sage and butternut squash quinoa.

“Better-than Breadsticks” from The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes.

Mashed ‘taters.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheezecake. My ganache cracked, which made me sad, but it was really good.

“Cinn-ful Apple Cake” from The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes, served with leftover cranberries for OMG goodness.

“No pumpkin pie?” you ask? Hey, don’t be such a skeptic! For as much as I love every other incarnation of pumpkin, we’re not big pumpkin pie people in our family, so I decided to forgo it for other yummy delights. I assure you, despite this suspect expression, there were no complaints.

Posted in blah | Tagged holiday meals, thanksgiving | 14 Comments »

your (not really) burning questions answered

November 22, 2009 by Kris

So far I have only found one typo in the book- not too shabby. Unfortunately for you all, it’s on a recipe that has been very popular this time of year, the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I have created a page for general FAQ’s and anything related to the cookbook. Check it out and let me know if there are other questions you’d like answered or added, or if you find any other typos in the book.