Zuke Cake, for Easter

A quick zucchini cake bread for your skillet. 

So we've been having a lot of loving for your cast-iron skillet as you may have noticed lately. This recipe will make use of its loving heat radiance and create an awesome crust on the outside of this hearty and soulful cake.

Most cakes are light fluffy and sweet lttle darlings. This one is a bit on the side that will make you narrow your eyes and say, 'yes, I needed that.' Riffing on this simple recipe, veganize by substituting earth balance for the butter and two tablepoons Ener-G egg replacer slurried in a quarter cup of water for the two eggs. Pre-heat the oven with the skillet inside, chop finely the raisins along with some dates. Basically, add sugar to egg replacer to vanilla. Mix baking powder (3 tablespoons) with flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, onion powder, garlic, and a teaspoon of rosemary.

You will still be using the three cups of shredded zucchini mixed into the dough. And once the dough is done and mixed pour into the skillet, sprinkle sunflower seeds over top and sprinkle with some paprika. Bake for 30-40 minutes; it will sound hollow before it is done, wait until a toothpick goes in and comes out mostly clean.

Chicago in March

As March wraps up, and I tie off an inadvertant two-week hiatus from nomfg.com, I wanted to post some pics from Chicago. Beth and I recently ventured up in her new-to-her new car to visit my friends Paul and Maureen.

We had an awesome time up there. I think this was my third or fourth trip up to Chicago. The first time I went up I had an overwhelming urge to move there. I really love the place. I must say however, it is not easy being vegan in that town. Not because everyone isn't more aware of what's what and some good substitutions; not because I didn't get two amazing vegan reubens; but because if you're looking for a delightfully decadent, blissed out triple bypass, Chicago is a quick and dirty way to get there.

We checked out a co-op and a farmers market. The coop had copious bulk to buy.

It felt good to get out of good old Columbus. I have been stuck here since January. Not that I have any objections to good old Columbus, but it can get stifling to be anywhere for too long without freshing your eyes on a new city.

We ate ate Revolution Brewing Company, great beer and great vegan reuben. We had the reuben, seitan/cremini/smoked tomato sauce pizza, and black bean mole lettuce wraps. The reuben was tempeh based and as far as reubens go this was the kind that focused on the sauce;  very flavorful and well constructed. The smoked tomato sauce stole the show on the pizza and was enough to serve on its own; the crust was forgettable (case-in-point: I forget what kind it was). The black bean mole wraps were a tasty bit to sate any vegans palate.

Beth and I hoofed it over to Ukranian Villlage after we hit the Logan Square farmers market with Paul (a lot of nice, craft foods mostly not vegan). I got an awesome coffee at some cuban food stand on the way. We hit up Bleeding Heart Bakery. Voted best bakery of 2011, we were recommended to go there by some guy at New Wave Coffee when we asked if they had a vegan bakery. He was a bit misinformed, but not in any terrible way; they had some very tasty vegan items, but not in any kind of coherent way.

Ordering at a place that you know isn't vegan, but surprisingly has more than tofu and portobellas on the menu is always a delight. Hence the revbrew dinner being rad. My falsely high expectations kind of bore a kink into our venture to BHB. They had some great wild mushroom biscuits and gravy, and the roots skillet was tasty enough. Unfortunately, the two featured vegan donuts they had were both sold out, neither was terribly interesting anyway, but the chocolate cake standby was decent. In all, not bad, just lackluster. 

We also hit up the flying saucer diner. Paul and Maureen got some good looking stuff. We got some standard fare. Nothing crazy to report, but a nice place for the food. After establishnig some dietary restriction a funny thing happens. Once you've sat down and looked over restaurant menus a few dozen times, especially at a place you used to frequent, you develop this matrix-y feel for menus. On the one hand, not much on there accounts for food anymore. On the other hand, you begin to see the threads connecting disparate dishes, seeking substitutions to play with. While occasionally fun in the beginning, there is a cumulative feeling of deterrence that inhibits even looking at a menu. And no person with a restriction should ever expect that it is their sole burden; the servers can't necessarily feel like dealing with it every time, and restaurant owners certainly can't plot their menus around niche populations. 

It wasn't until recently that I had ventured to a restaurant that was not only 100% vegetarian, but utterly accomodating to vegans as well. Basically everything had a vegan substitution, and what had been a restaurant I didn't previously terribly enjoy immediately became a sanctuary. Thanks Whole World! Sounds dramatic because it is. I didn't feel like some burden to the server or proprietor, and they likely only thought I was an idiot because of normal things, like my hair. All of a sudden I had options, tasty ones, not simply made options by mounds of daiya!

This was my experience at the Chicago Diner. It had all of the diner goodness of the flying saucer, none of the overwrought punky schtick of BHB, and a simple straight forward menu with a million options, or what felt like it anyway. I guess it was more of a feeling of getting comfort food in a comfortable environment peppered with vegan agitprop than anything else. Don't get me wrong BHB, if somebody asks if their theme looks good and stuff, then I have to say they nailed it. I think I am just too spot on in that demographic and target audience to feel like I'm anything but under a microscope being there. It's like no-brow art swallowed itself.

Disclaimer: I'm straight spoiled on Pattycake Bakery. It's right down the street from me, a totally vegan bakery, and more punk than any Edna Hardy Punk Rock motif might permit. But I guess if you've got a motif, and an onerous budget, and you need to compete with your signage...

The Chicago Diner served up good coffee (I bought the mug here), a hot plate of nachos, the best vegan reuben I've had thus far (seitan-based, widely reviewed; focused on the meat part fo the stack and did fantastic), and a great avocado/bac'un wrap. It may not have been $20 a plate food, but neither were the actual prices. Everything was reasonable and nothing bore the vegan tax (that little paper cut of fifty cents to a dollar fifty that activates the 'vegan optional' option). Of all the places, Chicago Diner is definitely the one that will live on the most vividly. There were six of us, which meant a forty minute wait on a busy night; not too bad. They had comfy accomodations in a tent out back. The other four, all omnis, were reasonably pleased with their items as far as I could tell.

Chicago is great. Paul is moving soon, back to Youngstown, so I am unsure about the state of visiting. But we got in about 20 miles riding in the city, did some amazing karaoke (its been about a year or so since my last try). Good feels, definitely going to make a point of visiting Chicago Diner in the future.

Did you celebrate Pi Day?

I celebrated with a Banana Pudding Pi. And in spite of how good it was might have had troubles with it. It was from the cookbook Vegan Diner: Classic Comfort Food for the Body and Soul . I will post a review soon now that we've done four recipes.

Kale & Sweet Potato Pizza

Well hello there aren't you a naughty little thing? So good to see you. I want to introduce you to some people. Okay?

So I am still using the Emeril deep dish dough recipe; it works well and can easily be loafed into bread. The results yield a flexible dough that rises nicely. This time I used semolina flour instead of corn meal (which allowed me to make corn bread out of the Necronomicon). I actually preferred the crunch of the corn meal in the dough, and may try a half and half of the corn meal and the semolina.

In a follow up, then to the Sarson Ka Saag pizza and the Vegan for Lent pledge (this is pizza recipe one of five), here is a next pizza recipe. This one is also pretty easy going and doesn't have any ingredients you can't get at a supermarket. It has more pan work than the others, but pretty good work flow for timing. The pizza itself is a nice savory sweet and salty pie.

Start about forty-five minutes into the dough rising. Chop up a large yellow onion, and get into caramelizing it. I like to use my cast iron skillet. The labor of love that is properly caramelizing an onion is largely balanced on dehydrating the onion while raising the temperature gradually to heat the sugars, catalyzing caramelization and maillard reactions.

There are no great shortcuts, adding water inhibits both, salt can help to dessicate the onion by drawing out the water through osmosis but still you must stir all the more frequently as there is less of a buffer to keep from burning the onions. Slicing thinly and small increases surface area for sugar to heat all the more directly. But both salt and slice only shorten the time and love minimally, so take the time to put care into those lovely onions rather than try too much to rush them. (I have found that if you need to go do something, you can toss them in the oven at 200'F to have them hold their temp without needing to stir for a bit.)

Once they are nice and caramelized you can toss on a bunch of chopped kale and turn up the heat to high. Douse with a hearty dose of either braggs aminos or tamari, add a quarter cup of water, stir, and cover for five minutes to steam the greens. Remove the lid and add a splash of balsamic and a half cup of red wine.

Remove the onions and the kale to cool off, allow the remaining liquid to reduce. Slurry 1 teaspoon of cornstarch in 1-3 teaspoons cold water (or better, you would use arrowroot or tapioca starch for acidic sauces like these).

Preheat the oven to 450'F. Start a second, small fry pan at medium heat to toast some spices (paprika, cumin, coriander, ancho powder); once toasted cover with a quarter cup of olive oil. Saute some finely minced garlic in the oil and spices then remove once softened and pour into a small bowl. Stir the slurry then whisk into the reducing wine sauce. Continue to reduce until it turns into a nice glaze. Pour off into a spouted measuring cup.

So the dough recipe yields two shells. I cut the risen loaf in half, tossed until round, punched until flattened out, tossed to round some more, then press into a greased pie pan (I used a 14" heavy aluminum pizza dish).

Brush the dough shell with the oil, spices, and garlic; chop and cover with parsley. Top with the onions and kale, then the roasted sweet potatoes. Sprinkle on some toasted sesame seeds (or fresh toasted walnuts if you have any). Sprinkle on daiya as you like, and then drizzle with the wine sauce reduction.

Now the option here is to either brick or not to brick the pizza. This recipe crisps up quite nicely in the aluminum pan. That said, if you are paranoid or utterly convinced nothing is as good as stone bricked pizza, you can pop a stone in while you pre-heat the oven.

A pizza brick will make it harder to heat the oven, and use up more gas. That said, it will also stabilize the temperature as it is a heat sink.

The brick will not necessarily yield a better crust for a thick crust, but for a thin crust it is almost obligatory.

Anyway, the way I test dough is to lift it in the pan and scrape the bottom with a metal spatula. When you can hear the dough's tooth at the tip, and feel it in your fingers, it works to brick it.

Bricking the pizza the entire time is another option, but I find it easier to go in a pan as it allows you to infuse the outside with fat and ensure a crispier, moist crust. I find a wholly stoned pizza to be drier, though even crispier to a crunch. Works well with corn meal dusted shell bottoms. Anyway, here are my results after about 10 minutes at 450'F, then 12 at 375'F.

My results betray that I burtnet the potatoes. They were over-roasted to begin, but the second baking killed them dead. I also over sauteed the garlic and had a few crispier bits. No big deal in either case, and not symptomatic of the recipe. This is a savory, sweet, & salty pizza that chews big and brings a smile to sweet and salty lips. I topped mine with a smidge of sriracha to give it added spice.

(Look at those air pockets!)

Tofu Scramble: Shiitake Saturday Edition

So my awesome Aunt Lisa just posted that I've got two cousins who dig on tofu. I'm going to have to scrape my site and clean up everything tagged tofu (most updated, not all silken recipes included when used as a sauce). In the meantime, here is a quick and easy tofu scramble for weekend mornings.

Tofu scramble is easier than it looks, and best done in a cast iron skillet with a beautiful non-stick seasoning. Mine is great, but Beth's here is just jaw-dropping beautiful. A skillet is a work of love, and hers could go in the Louvre.

To cut tofu for a scramble*: get a block of extra firm tofu (non-silken, texturized), (although not necessary it is preferable if you have the time) you can begin by pressing the tofu (press between two heavy cutting boards or stack some books evenly on top of the one and squeeze out excess liquid in the tofu), turn sideways on the long narrow side, cut down the middle for big chunks or twice for small but keep in a stack, rotate onto the biggest side, cut into quarters longwise and eighths widthwise. Using less than extra firm can yield subtle differences in frying, experimentation is always rewarding.

To spice: hit your tofu with at lest turmeric and a nice dose of applewood smoked or sulphery black salt (kosher, sea, and table salt work too in descending order of preference). Cumin and other chili powder constituents are good to add. I also like a hearty dusting of mustard powder. Last, and not always necessary, you can dose it with some cheesiness by adding nutritional yeast. As with all of these spices, check for a place with a bulk herbs section or a specialty ethnic foods market as they will have cheaper spices than a supermarket. Black or smoked salt will come at a premium at a supermarket especially, and nutritional yeast is typically only available at health food stores at a reasonable price ($8 per pound for a big bag is what I usually pay, if you are paying more than fifty cents per ounce you're getting ripped off).

To fry: a good prep is to dust with some flour and corn starch first, it's not 100% necessary, but if you're frying on high it can help really well. This will help to improve its crispiness. Anyway, heat a heavy bottomed pan (e.g. cast-iron skillet) with some vegetable oil to high heat. Dice an onion and saute until translucent. Drop the tofu and saute until brown but still spongy, don't worry much about it sticking or tossing it too much with a wooden spoon. Ideally, you will have a crispy crust with a soft interior. The point here is to (a) dry out the water from the tofu, (b) and (b) to season with pan liquids. As you cook, splash occasionally with soy/tamari sauce, or other flavorings. Also, for a whole block of tofu, a nice drizzle of no more than a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil (the dark one) will give the dish a nice toasty punch. Now you could just walk this guy to the finish and call it an awesome, tasty day.

But we're going to keep going. Bland tofu is bland. So far it's seasoned and hopefully you got a good browning out of it, so you're ahead of the game. Let's make it interesting.

*Back it up to the beginning, just before you cut tofu. Take a handful of dried shiitake and sundried tomatoes. Soak in some water then drain and puree once softened.Toss with a big hanful of chopped parsley. Shred a carrot using a peeler, then cross cut with a chef's knife and add o parsley/tomato/mushroom mix. As tofu begins to spot up with brown, add mix to the tofu. Add additional herbs at this point in the cooking to help cut out browning.

For more food, add some tomatoes to the pan to roast. Either you can use fresh tomatoes with a nice generous rub of olive oil, or you can use drained whole tomatoes (obviously the former will taste better than the latter, but if you're loooking for just a good old serving of veggie grab a can). In either case, add to the pan once the tofu is about half done and turn to keep from browning. The fresh tomato will obviously require more attention, and better results; watch for the skin to get saggy, once saggy all arond pull and plate it. Be sure to do a quick drizzle of olive oil about half way through and a happy handful of various herbs like thyme, rosemary, basil.

So plate the tomatoes, toss everything else in the pan together, finish browning. Done. Enjoy

Vegan for Lent? The Adherent's Sinful Menu of Guiltitude

Ok. I want to be an advocate for Vegan for Lent. Do you like your Meatless Mondays? Are you Catholic? More Catholic-y than the average Catholic? Does not using contraception give you a boner? Ha! I'm getting a new oven Saturday, and I'm going to break it in quick.

Anyway, for any casual drive-by hits, I want to state up front that I want to help you achieve your goal of Vegan for Lent in the most Catholic of ways; by following the letter but not the spirit of the law!

SO: Up next-

• Can't give up pizza now can you? Now it typically doesn't have fish on it, so it's not like it is a big deal for Catholics to give up as a meat alternative. But it has cheese so if you're vegan for lent it won't help. However, to get started I've already got some quick easy recipes posted.
  • My Promise to you: 5 more combinations made and posted. Different styles of crust. I'm not the hugest tapioca starch fan, so they will be better than just tomatoes and dough smothered in Daiya.
• No chicken wings for watching the MLS openers? No buffalo sandwich bites for March Madness? That's insanity! I may not watch any sports on a regular basis, but I am Catholic'ly born and raised and I respect the rites and ritual significance of food and spectating. And I eat food.
  • My Promise to you: Bar food goodies, all vegan
• BUT THIS IS ALL JUNK FOOD!
  • My Promise to you: I will post more of it, all vegan. It will probably all masquerade as junk food, but I don't really like to eat shitty-for-you food, and I don't really like to make it either. And you'll at least be avoiding bits o' animal cholestrols.
• Praise jeebus.
  • My Promise to you: Catholic born and raised, but I'm 100% atheiagnostignostanti-theistic, and 100% all vegan. So 100% no proselytizing on behalf of religion, just doing some vegan outreach.

Got any particular things you'd like to see on the Adherent's Sinful Menu of Guiltitude? Did I miss a big sinful category? Let me know, I'm always down for pretending to clog an artery. Haha! At first I animal cholesterols, and then I lol-sterol.