Thanksgiving Extravaganza

So, Thanksgiving has now come and gone in my tiny Canadian kitchen. I see this one as my first adult Thanksgiving, since it was just me and my partner, at my apartment–no older family members around to take charge! Fittingly, since we were hungry before I started cooking, we ate a piece of pie first, like the 28-year-old rebels we are.
So, the dinner proper was mostly out of Gourmet Today, which gave me all the tools for turning two humble brassicas and some rice into a fancy turkey-less occasion. I made the Mushroom Risotto from the book, which was really fun because I’ve always wanted to try making risotto and I hadn’t yet. Which is nuts because every time I’ve tried risotto I’ve swooned, which I guess makes sense because I’m a lifelong rice lover. Of course, I used vegetable stock in place of chicken stock, Earth Balance for the butter, and omitted the parmesan. I thought omitting the parm might make the risotto a little less rich than I wanted it–you know how those Gourmet types use dairy as a shortcut for flavour and balance in their dishes!–but with the dried porcinis and Earth Balance and wine, I can’t even imagine a richer result.

Then we have the Cauliflower “Steaks” with Pancetta and Caper Berries. I omitted the pancetta, adding a teaspoon of sesame oil and a drop of liquid smoke to the sauce instead, and used drained pickled capers instead of salt-pack, and omitted the caper berries (I think that might have been overkill, considering the 1/2 cup of capers already in the dish!). Again, I used Earth Balance instead of butter in the sauce. The roasting of the “steaks” took way longer than the book said it would, which threw off my cooking schedule a bit (since I wanted to–and did–roast the brussels in the cauliflower pan once it was done and set aside). But overall it was a really tasty dish. Roasted cauliflower slabs with a salty lemony buttery sauce? Yes please!

Now, the pie. I went back to my old standby, Farm Journal Complete Pie Cookbook, determined to veganize one of their pumpkin pie recipes once and for all. The key, I found, was to become satisfied with a slightly softer filling than a traditional pumpkin pie, since I didn’t want it to be too tofu-y: I wanted clean pumpkin taste. I chose the Pumpkin Pecan Pie, with the description “Filling is a mellow golden brown, rich like an old gold coin.” Since my two favourite kinds of pies are pecan and pumpkin, I figured I couldn’t lose. And it turned out really well! If I were to do it again, I’d blend the silken tofu instead of lazily mashing it. It’s almost impossible to mask silken tofu into complete smoothness, as I found out.

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

unbaked 9 or 10 inch pie shell
scant 1 c. soft silken tofu, drained as much as possible, measured, then blended
2 c. canned pumpkin
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. powdered ginger (or just “ginger” as old cookbooks call it)
1/4 t. ground cloves
1 and 1/2 c. “milk”
1/2 T. ground flax
Caramelized Pecan Topping (instructions below)

Mix together blended tofu and pumpkin. Stir in sugar, salt, spices. Mix in “milk” and flax. Pour into pie shell. I covered the edges of the pastry with strips of tin foil, too, to prevent overbrowning, and removed them in the last 15 minutes of baking. Bake at 400F– it says 45 to 55 minutes, but I baked it for 60 mins, watching carefully for overbrowning the crust. Cool completely, refrigerate covered overnight (this helps set the filling). Next day, return to room temperature. Mix together 3T. Earth Balance, 2/3 c. brown sugar, 2/3 c. chopped pecans. Drop in spoonfuls over pie to cover. Broil until mixture starts to bubble, about 3 minutes. Don’t overbroil– they say it will turn syrupy. Cool and eat!

Next morning, fresh out of the fridge for breakfast!

Seitanic Jambalaya!

I’ve been wanting to make the jambalaya from Veganomicon for awhile now, and I was happy with it once I finally did. It made about a ton, as promised, and I had to freeze a bunch of it. Now, reheating frozen rice dishes is a tricky business: you can easily take the turn into Mushy Town. Which I did, the first time I tried with this. So, feeding my dear boyfriend late one night, I put more planning and thought into it and my efforts were rewarded (I served it with a mess of maple-walnut collards–thought up a dish by myself, and of course, didn’t take a picture nor post it.) Thoroughly thaw the jambalaya in its single-serving tupperware that you froze it in, then heat a bit of olive oil in a non-stick pan (non-stick is, I think, kind of required here) and dump in the jambalaya, spreading it out to maximize surface area. Let it fry and sizzle for a couple of minutes, and then start gently flipping it over in sections to brown other spots. Come to think of it, it’s a bit like cooking matzoh brie. Keep doing this until any water has evaporated and you have your desired level of moistness/brown-ness. The bonus of this method is that you get a few crusty little brown bits, which taste smoky and delicious in this dish. Now you can freeze jambalaya to your heart’s content!

Gallo Pinto!

Here you can see where I used the rest of that slaw (someone living alone really has to invest themselves in eating a large volume of cabbage so as not to waste a head of it!) The rest of the plate is Gallo Pinto, which was so delicious! Rice fried with black beans and the beans’ cooking water and vegetables. The red dots are a Mexican-style hot sauce. I could eat out of Viva Vegan! every day!

Beans ‘n’ Greens

I’ve been living out of a suitcase for about a month now… this has meant lots of hummus, cheeseless pizzas and veggie burgers. Don’t get me wrong, I like all these things, but by last night I was in dire need of some dark leafy greens and beans and rice, otherwise known as the Trifecta of Vegan Staffs of Life. It’s not the fanciest vegan showboat food I could make, but on a rainy, dark, fairly chilly day (just look at the lighting), it hit the spot. I braised the beans and kale in some Thai red chile paste and almond milk (an improvised sub for coconut milk that ended up being a bit too watery to make a true red curry) and some tamari. I still haven’t made a true shopping trip for my new apartment, nor have I unpacked my cutting board, so this was a very basic evening. And it marked my first night cooking rice on a gas stove! By the time I made another pot of rice for the leftovers tonight, I had found the knack– every new stove I work with, I have to find my stride with a pot of rice, and then anything is doable.