So What if it's a Repeat?

These are just so good, I had to make them again. This time, it's raspberries with rosemary. If you haven't tried this scone recipe, do it before the berries are out of season! You won't be sorry.

And here's another tester from Robin Robertson. This time, it's a chili dish. And it was fantastic!


Tonight's dinner: Pad Thai from VwaV

VeganMoFo Countdown: 4 days! I can't wait to read the creative posts that people write!

It's the Happy Anniversary to Us Guessing Game!

That's right, it's our Anniversary! Can you tell what year we got married? If you want to take a guess, post it in the comments. Whoever comes closest will get a prize.

So what year do you think?

Tempeh Thanksgiving Dinner (Recipe)

Thanksgiving German Tempeh Dinner

If Germany celebrated Thanksgiving, this is what they’d have to eat. Delicious tempeh stew seasoned with warm fall spices over a bed of roasted sweet potato slices. This is a hearty fall dish with stick–to–your- ribs goodness. It can also be made ahead and reheats well. If you do that, add a tablespoon or two of broth if it seems too dry. Besides the apples, the main part of this recipe is a one pot meal. Great for that busy time of year!

Thanksgiving German Tempeh Dinner
Serves 3- 4

1 8 oz package tempeh, steamed (optional) and cut in cubes

Marinade-
½ cup apple cider
1 Tbsp tamari
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
juice from ½ a lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp caraway
½ tsp allspice
¼ tsp cayenne
¼ tsp salt
black pepper to taste

Stew-
1 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup red onion, diced small
½ cup red pepper, diced small
¼ cup celery, diced small
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp caraway
1 tsp allspice
½ cup apple cider
pinch of grated nutmeg
2 cups sauerkraut

1 tart apple, cut in slices
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Make marinade and let tempeh marinate 1 hour or longer. To make stew, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in heavy bottomed soup pot. Take tempeh out of marinade (keep the marinade) and cook until lightly browned. Add red onion, celery and peppers and cook until onions start to look translucent. Add garlic and spices, let cook a couple of minutes. Deglaze pan with the apple cider. Squeeze some of the water out of the sauerkraut and stir it into the pot. Add the marinade and let simmer 15- 20 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed. Prepare the apples as described below, then add them to the stew mix.

For the apples, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in small frying pan over medium high heat. Lightly brown slices. When browned, remove from heat and add cinnamon. Chop them a little bit with your spatula, but don’t break them up completely. Add to the stew and stir in. The idea behind doing the apples later is so that they don’t turn to mush. Instead you get nice little chunks of apples.

Adjust seasonings and serve. We have it over Roasted Sweet Potato Slices. Peel 3 potatoes and cut in 1/8 inch rounds. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, ½ tsp cinnamon and ¼ tsp cayenne. Roast at 400 degrees 20-30 minutes, stirring once in a while. Don’t let them overcook or they’ll get too mushy.

Being a sauerkraut lover, I want to mention that the refrigerated section of the grocery store usually has really good quality sauerkraut in a bag. It's definitely better than canned or jarred.

One more note- I like to use Sam Smith's Apple Cider. It's really bright in this. Regular cider works great, too.

Tonight's dinner: Spinach Lasagna

That Sausage Recipe

Peach Pie

Finally, here is the sausage recipe from the other post. Do you want the good news first or the bad news?

The bad news is that I used berbere from Penzey's and you might not have that. For some mysterious reason, it's not on their website either.

The good news is that Kittee has a recipe posted on her site, if you're the type with a ton of spices in your life and very little patience or Penzey's access. While you're there, be sure to check out all her other great recipes! The first time I'd ever come across it was on Kittee's recipe site and apparently it's used a lot in Ethiopian cooking. I just checked out the Cook's Thesauraus, and the suggested sub is cayenne pepper. Sounds good to me! I'm sure it would be just fine in this recipe.

Now, Julie Hasson is the mastermind behind this sausage recipe. It's awesome. Really. I don't think I've ever seen a recipe that is so open to interpretations and always turns out! Isa has a version posted over at the PPK Blog, too. I've made them both and several others and they never fail to disappoint. These aren't overly spicy, but have a nice hint of heat. I love them with pasta dishes and on pizza, or along side some scrambled tofu.

Sausages
Makes 4
1/2 cup black beans
1 cup vegetable broth
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp tamari
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp fennel
1 tsp smoked paprika (I love this stuff)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp berbere (could sub cayenne)
1/2 tsp onion powder
black pepper

Now to paraphrase the directions. Both Isa and Julie have said it better than I will, so you can always check out their sites for better info, but here is the jist of it.

Have a steamer ready to go, with water boiling if you're using one of those cool old hippie steamers. Tear off 4 sheets of foil, about a foot long each.

Using your fingers, crush, mush and mash the black beans. When they are totally mooshed, add the other ingredients in order and mix with a fork. Then divide it into 4 gobs on the foil and shape into about 5 inch logs. Roll it up in the foil and twist the ends. Steam for about 40 minutes. You can eat them right away, refrigerate or freeze them! I don't happen to have a picture of the sausage, but they all look pretty much the same!














Oh yeah, and that peach pie picture up top has nothing to do with this post. I just didn't want to post picture-less. Here are even more gratuituous pictures. I'm lucky to be a tester for Robin Robertson and these are some of her recipes. Vegan Fire and Spice is one of my favorite cookbooks, so I'm really excited.

In the oven right now: Seitan Deli Slices from Yellow Rose Recipes. I'm not normally a big fan of baked seitan, but I thought I'd give it a try. I'm really anxious to try her boiled version.

Cookbook Challenge - Yellow Rose Recipes

Thai Bowl Variation

Over at the PPK, we've been doing a Cookbook Challenge to motivate us to use our cookbooks more. When I say more, I mean for actually making recipes instead of just flipping through and drooling. This idea has been working out really, really well for me. I'm one of those people who can get a little overwhelmed by a cookbook. I see too many choices and want to make everything so I end up making nothing. So this Challenge is the answer!

Up top is the Thai Bowl. I love just about any Asian food and this one is no exception. I couldn't get mung bean sprouts, so I subbed in some sugar snaps for crunch and added some tofu. The sauce really makes this dish and is well-balanced.

Other new recipes from this week:

Cajun Tofu with Green-wa

I'd been meaning to try this tofu ever since the book came out, but never got around to it. The coating gives a great crunch and a spicy (but not too spicy) flavor. Joanna says she likes it over pasta and that's what I'll try next time. It seems like the textures would work well together. On the side is green-wa. I'm still struggling with liking quinoa and this has so much going on that you don't really think quinoa when you eat it. That's a good thing, in my book. In back are some fried green tomatoes.

Beer Battered Seitan with Lemon Pepper Chard

The batter on this really takes it the next level! So good! I don't eat a lot of fried food, but for this, I'd make an exception. I really want to try some onion rings in the beer batter, too. If you haven't tried it yet, it's time. The greens are nicely seasoned but not overwhelmingly so. Now I'm itching to try the new Chicken Seitan recipe on the Yellow Rose website.

Jalapeno Corn Cakes

These totally exceeded my expectations and believe me, I had high hopes. With a little EB and a drizzle of maple syrup, these would be a great way to start any day. By the way, they are the most beautiful pancakes I've ever made.

I can't wait to see what next week's cookbook will be!

Cinnamon Rolls and Cocoa Raspberry Muffins

Cinnamon Rolls (tester)

You just know this is going to be a good post. Baked stuff always makes for great blogging. These are the latest and they're both testers for Vegan Brunch.

These rolls are so good! Isa does something that I haven't seen in any other cinnamon roll recipes. I'm not going to spill the beans, but it really gives these rolls an extra special boost.

Cocoa Raspberry Muffins (tester)

Chocolate and raspberries just go together. There are no two ways about it... and this muffin show them both off in all the right ways.

Just to prove (ok, maybe not prove) that life isn't only about baked goods, here is one more from the Voluptuous Vegan Cookbook Challenge Week from the PPK. The key to this is roasting everything (a lot like the Paella) which really brings out the flavors and makes it a snap to prepare. It was better the second day, making it an ideal make-ahead meal for company or any time!

Seitan Bourguignon from Voluptuous Vegan

Tonight's dinner: a version of the Thai Bowl from Yellow Rose Recipes. Get ready for a blog post of some of my latest cooking from YRR for this week's cookbook challenge.

Easy as Pie- Peach Crostata (Recipe)

For a quick dessert, you can't beat a crostata. With it's wonderful crust and a delicious crumble, topping it is a super easy end of summer treat. Make the most of the fruit you have available. It would work with just about anything. If you use super juicy fruit, you may need to increase the flour in the filling a little. Or if your fruit is on the tart side, increase the sugar a little. An apple version with brown sugar is in my future.

Peach Crostata with Blackberries
Dough
1 cup flour
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup earth balance (1/2 a stick)
1/4 cup shortening (1/2 a stick)
3 Tbsp cold water

Filling
1 # peaches, to make about 4 cups when cut
1/2 cup blackberries
1Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp orange juice
1/4 tsp salt

Crumble Topping
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp canola oil

Use the food processor for the crust, or do it the traditional way by hand.
Place all the dry ingrdients in the food processor and pulse a few
times to mix. Dice the earth balance and the shortening and add it to
the dry ingredients. Pulse until it looks like small pebbles. Add the
water all at once through the feed tube. Pulse until combined, but stop
right before the dough forms a ball. Pat out into a disk and wrap in
parchment or plastic. Refrigerate for an hour.

For the filling,peel the peaches and cut into 1/8's or so. Since it's a rustic look,
they can be kind of chunky rather than skinny slices. Add blackberries
(or blueberries or whatever) if you're using them. Toss with the rest
of the filling ingredients and set aside.

For the topping. Mix the dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Add the oil and work it
with your fingers until you get little clumps.

Preheat oven to 450 and line your baking sheet with parchment.Roll
the dough out to about an 11 inch circle. Again, no need to obssess...
since we're being rustic. Place it on the baking sheet and top it with
fruit. Keep the fruit about 1 1/2 inches in from the edges, so you can
fold them over. Fold them over and pat them down, sealing any tears
with wet fingers. Top with the crumble topping and bake 20-30 minutes,
until golden brown and the fruit looks done.

I have to say, this crust is one of the best I've ever made, vegan or before. It's
definitely a keeper. While not the easiest to handle (mine tore a
little), it's flaky and rich tasting. Be sure to use a lot of flour
when you roll it out, just to be safe.


Tonight's dinner: maybe the Vietnamese Seitan Baguette from V'con, one of our all-time favorites.

Apparently I'm having some layout issues and I can't figure out how to resolve them. Sorry about that.

Savory Tempeh Puffs (Recipe)

These are so good. And easy. As an added bonus, a lot of it you can make-ahead. As an extra special added bonus, it makes great leftovers, too!

I borrowed the "roast everything" technique from Voluptuous Vegan. It makes things so simple and it really brings out the flavors of the vegetables. Once the chopping is done it comes together quickly. I hate to do this to you, but it's yet another one of my recipes that looks more complicated than it is. If you read it through, you'll know just what I mean.

Savory Tempeh Puffs
serves 6

1 8 oz package tempeh, steamed and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp tamari
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Vegetables
1/2 cup cut carrots, (1/2 inch rounds)
1/2 cup cut parsnips (1/4 inch rounds)
1/3 cup cut green beans (1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup cut red pepper (1/4 inch pieces)
1 cup mushrooms (I prefer creminis), quartered or cut to about 1/2 inch pieces
2 Tbsp brandy (or white wine)
2 Tbsp vegetable broth)
1 Tbsp tamari
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

All together now:
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup sliced shallots
2 Tbsp diced celery
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup broth
2 Tbsp brandy (or white wine)
2 Tbsp soy cream or soy milk
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp mustard
1 Tbsp maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

6 pastry shells (Pepperidge Farm)

Really, it's easy. First off, toss the tempeh with the other ingredients in that section and set aside for at least an hour. When it's time to roast, place them in a parchment lined baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 375.

For the vegetables, combine the liquid ingredients. Line two small baking dishes with parchment paper. Mix the carrots and parsnips in one and the green beans, peppers and mushrooms in the other. Put 3 Tbsp of the liquids in each vegetable pan. Toss them around.

When the hour is up, roast everything at once, stirring every 10 -15 minutes or so. The tempeh needs to roast about 1/2 an hour, til it starts to get a little crispy. The carrots and parsnips take 1/2 an hour, too. But the mushrooms/peppers/green beans only take about 15 minutes. You want the vegetables just done, so keep an eye on them as oven temperatures come into play here. When they're done, just take them out and set aside.

Start baking the pastry shells about 20 - 25 minutes before you want to eat.

When everything is roasted, heat the oil in medium size pan. Saute the shallots and celery for a few minutes, then add the garlic, stirring until fragrant. Then add the all the rest of the ingredients (including all the roasted stuff) and let simmer about 10-15 minutes until heated through and most of the liquid is absorbed. Check the seasonings.

To serve, pop the tops off the shells and fill with about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the tempeh mixture. Place the top back on and serve. We also like this over baked potatoes or israeli cous cous, too.

This would be a great dinner party dish, too. Since so much can be done ahead of time, you could even enjoy your company!

Fusion Fredo (Recipe)

Everybody has their own take on alfredo sauces. This happens to be my latest greatest version, boosted with some greens and seitan sausages. It would be wonderful hangover food if anybody ever has a need for that kind of thing. It comes together fast and tastes awesome!

Fusion Fredo
3 - 4 servings

8 oz fettucini
3 Tbsp oil
1/3 cup onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp tarragon
1/2 tsp thyme
1 cup soymilk
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup broth
1 Tbsp white miso
black pepper and salt to taste
4 cups spinach
2 sausages*
small amount of oil

Start the water for the pasta and cook according to directions. I like fettucini for this because it really holds the sauce, but whatever would work.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and saute the onion. When it's almost cooked, add the garlic and herbs. Stir for a minute, then add in the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes (it will look pastey) to get rid of the flour taste. Add the milk and yeast, whisking and let simmer a few minutes. Add the broth and the miso. Check the seasonings and just keep warm.

The sausages take about 5 minutes. Cut into about 3/4 inch disks and saute in a small amount of oil.

Around now, the noodles should be done, so when they are just drain them. Put them back in the cooking pot along with the spinach and stir for a couple of minutes until the spinach wilts a little. Add the sauce and make sure the whole shebang is heated through. Top with sausages and serve.

*I'm playing with the sausage recipes from Isa and Julie Hasson. Those recipes are incredible! My adaptation pictured just shakes up the spices a little and is almost exactly like I want it. When it is, I'll post it. But you can't go wrong with the basics of this recipe. If you haven't tried them yet, what are you waiting for?

Vegan Snuggles

We went to our local natural foods store (local = 1 hour away) yesterday, and look what they had. They usually have a few vegan desserts and other baked items, but rarely anything this interesting. There were 3 kinds: cinnamon nut, apricot and raspberry. We got the cinnamon and apricot and they were really good! I'm so excited about it that I had to share. They're from Mustard Seed Market in Solon, Ohio.

Testers- Waffles and Sausages!

That Isa. She really did it this time. I had an old food splattered recipe that I had printed out from a co-op site many years ago (1993, I think....and I'm not kidding) that was for raised waffles. They were really good, but had 4 eggs and a ton of oil in them. I tried veganizing the recipe myself, and they were also really good. But when Isa asked if there was anything the testers really wanted to see in the new cookbook, of course I said yeast raised waffles. I knew her version would blow mine out of the water. Happily, I was right. Spiced apples on top and a some cherry sage sausages on the side. These are the lightest, crispest, bestest waffles ever.

Not only are there cherry sage sausages, but also chorizo style! They don't look all that impressive straight out of the steamer, but man, they are so good! We had some on pizza last night. Spicy and fantastic.

This week, we also had seitan pepper steak. I need to tweak the recipe some, but it photograhped well, so here you go.
Tonight's dinner: the last two chorizo sausages in a pasta dish with greens.

Summer is Winding Down

Or at least it is on the calendar even if it isn't on the thermometer! Last night's dinner was like summer on a plate. I made those chicken seitan steaks we like so much, topped with the onion and parsley persillade. Persillade (said with a French accent, of course), is just onions, parsley, salt and pepper. It's light, flavorful and kicks arse (said with a British accent) on the seitan steaks. I know what you're thinking, it can't be as great as I'm making it sound. I've got two words for you: try it!

You can't tell from the picture, but it's the very best corn on the cob we've had all year. So good, that I'm afraid to buy it one more time and be disappointed and scared not to in case I'll be missing out.

And this is a version of Panzanella (said with an Italian accent). Who knew I was so good at accents? Anybody? Surprise! It's lettuce, heirloom tomatoes and garlicky croutons all tossed with a lemon and olive oil dressing.

Tonight's dinner: Seitan Bourguignon (said with a French accent, further proof of my accent-ability) from Voluptuous Vegan. I told Jim we're starting a new tradition. For his real birthday, we had just what he chose for dinner. Pasta and Beans, if you were wondering. Here's the new part, then I get to cook a second birthday dinner for him with what I'd choose to celebrate. In a way, I feel like I get to make two birthday dinners for myself this way (the one for my birthday + the one for his = 2 for me), but he fell for it.

Paella with Roasted Tomato Sauce and Garlic Aioli (Cookbook Challenge)

from Voluptuous Vegan

I've wanted to make paella for a long time. I'd never even tried it anywhere and it seemed like a really fascinating dish. With the Cookbook Challenge going on over at the PPK, it was time.

The recipe looks like a lot of steps, but it really isn't as complicated it looks. The sauce is mostly just roasting tomatoes and onions, the tempeh is roasted and so are the cauliflower and chickpeas. That leaves making the rice and sauting the other vegetables and throwing it all together. Oh, and the aioli! Definitely make that. Once the garlic is roasted it only takes a few minutes.

I only changed a couple tiny things about the recipe. For the tomato sauce, I seeded my tomatoes when I cut them and didn't bother putting the finished sauce through a sieve. It really didn't need it. The other thing is the rice. My rice took twice as long to cook as the recipe said. The recipe calls for it cooking without a lid except for the last five minutes. I've never cooked rice that way before and it took a looooong time and a lot of extra liquid. That said, it makes incredible Spanish style rice. But I think that's more due to the extra ingredients than it is to the cooking style.

This cookbook has a lot going for it. There are loads of techniques that can be adapted to other ideas, parts of recipes that you can apply to any meal. I'm looking forward to making more from it now that I finally tried my first recipes. The book really seems intimidating, and I speak from experience. I've had it for months before ever trying anything. But now I'm looking forward to making several of the recipes. It's like a new cookbook all over again!