Quickles! Quick Daikon Pickles

I love Guu Izakaya, a Japanese Izakaya-style restaurant in Toronto.  Last time I went, I had a mixed pickle appetizer that reminded me how much I love pickled Daikon.  (In Banh Mi, especially).  These pickles are dead easy to make.  All it took was:
1 med Daikon, cut into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices.
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup of vinegar (rice vinegar is preferable, but white vinegar is what I used this time)
1/4 tsp salt

Toss the sliced Daikon with the salt in a bowl, and allow it to  sit for 20 minutes or so.  This pulls a lot of the water out of the daikon.
Rinse the daikon and squeeze the excess water out of it, then place it in a jar with a lid.
Add the vinegar and sugar to the jar, and adjust either to taste.
At this point, I added several drops of food colouring to the vinegar solution, because the pickles I have in Japanese restaurants often have a vibrant pink colour.  If I had had a beet, I would have added a slice of it to the jar and it would probably have achieved a nicer, more natural result.
The shape of the cells in the Daikon really stand out when you add something coloured to the liquid.
Enjoy!

Vegan Coconut Caramels

Last weekend I went to Montreal, where I tasted delicious American made coconut caramels.  Looking at the ingredient list, I was convinced that I could make these myself.  There were only 4 ingredients: Cane sugar, brown rice syrup, coconut milk, and sea salt!
So, with the help of DicedTomato, and some minor adaptations, Caramels were made!  
I'm not super happy with their firmness (this might have happened because I don't have a candy thermometer) but goddamn, are they delicious.
What's in them?
1 cup of cane sugar
1/2 cup of brown rice syrup
less than 1/2 cup of Earth Balance (salted, otherwise add a little salt)
1 cup of coconut milk 
a pinch of sea salt

First I simmered the sugar and the syrup on medium/medium-high heat, not stirring, for about 10 minutes.  It got darker, reduced by a small bit, and when I swirled it, I could no longer hear any sugar granules.
In another pot, I warmed the coconut milk and melted the Earth Balance.  Then I removed the sugar from the heat and added the coconut milk mixture, stirring it in quickly and well.  Then the pot went back on the stove and bubbled away for probably another 15-20 minutes, while I stirred it frequently.  Because I have no candy thermometer, I tested it for doneness by dropping a small amount in a bowl of very cold water.  If it dissolves in the water, or forms a string, it's not ready yet.  When it starts to form itself into a soft ball that holds up when you touch it, it's about ready.
Following DicedTomato's instructions would probably be a better idea if you have access to a candy thermometer.

I then poured the mixture into a lined, greased baking tin (if you have a silicone baking tin, you can skip the lining probably and just grease it) topped it lightly with kosher salt, and let it set overnight.  This morning I still found it a bit too soft to cut, so I put it in the freezer for a few minutes, and then used a sharp knife to make rectangles.  Oh man, I like these.  Next time I will try coating them with chocolate (maybe making a little ball or square).
yaay!

Baby's First Benny!

Just a quick note to share the pride (mixed with shame).  I made my first Eggs Blackstone at home!  Now, I haven't had eggs or fish in my fridge in nearly six months, but the other day I got an uncontrollable craving for my favourite breakfast dish, and thought I'd tackle it myself.

I deleted the rude thing on my counter for you

Verdict: tricky!  I have a lot of respect for those who work the brunch shift at restaurants, and crank out dishes like this every day.  The timing of having everything ready at once is very delicate, and I'd worked up a sweat by the time I could finally sit down and eat.  Would the eggs be too runny?  The salmon too cold?  Would the Hollandaise get clumpy?
So I proved to myself that it can be done and- although I'll never do it again-I was quite proud of myself :)
Do you really need a recipe for this?  
Buy some smoked salmon!
Make some toast!
Make some hollandaise (2 egg yolks + 1 tbsp lemon juice stirred constantly over low/med heat until it's "saucy".  Then add 1/4 cup of butter or earth balance and stir like crazy until all is incorporated  Add salt. pepper and chili powder or paprika to taste.  Use IMMEDIATELY!)   
Poach two eggs!
Combine and eat!
Nap! (You deserve it)

Homemade Makgeolli! (Korean Rice Wine)

I did it!  I made my own booze :) 
I had this drink in S.Korea when I visited in 2009, and haven't been able to find it in Canada.  A wonderful story about this rice wine: I visited the local Korean grocer after watching this video, armed with the names of the ingredients I needed.  I asked the old Korean man at the store for 'Nuruk' (wheat yeast) and he pointed me towards a shelf and quizzically asked "Makgeolli?".  We both had a laugh when we realized that he and I both knew I was going home to make hooch.  Then he showed me a bag near the Nuruk that read 'Makgeolli Mix'!  There's already a kit with rice, yeast, and a filter bag that you can buy to make your own Makgeolli!
Delicious!

Vegan Rice Flour Thumbrint Cookies!

This is a slightly adapted, well-loved jam cookie recipe. As I prepare to move, I try to eat up everything in the pantry so I don't have to move it.  This is how I ended up with rice flour cookies.
These cookies are dead easy to make.  They're made of just under 1 cup of rice flour which is combined with just under 1/2 cup of margarine that's been creamed with 1/4 cup of sugar and a tsp of vanilla.
They're allowed to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes, then rolled into 15-20 small balls and pressed flat, with a small dollop of jam in a thumbprint in the middle.
Bake these beauties at 350 degrees for 15-30 minutes (they're done when they start to go slightly brown, and how long it takes depends on how large you made them).  Enjoy!

Vegan Millionaire's Shortbread!

Caution: chopped chocolate is dangerously delicious!

Keep stirring!

Almost there!

Here we go!

This dessert was a delicious pain in the butt.
Okay, I exaggerate.  It wasn't so bad, but I am certain that it's not very good for you.  It's full of sugar and Earth Balance margarine, and Soy Creamer (which I will never buy again because it is terrifying).
Still, if you want to make an oldschool dessert, or get that 'you're frigging kidding it's vegan?!' reaction, this is a great dessert to make.
I have no pictures of the final product because, frankly, I'm embarrassed at how it looked.  The thick, set chocolate got hard in the refrigerator and shattered when I tried to cut into it, leading to broken, dusty shapes a co-worker called 'parallelograms'.  If I were to make this again, I'd probably them just after they'd set in the refrigerator instead of waiting until the next day.
The process is basically this:  make shortbread by combining 1/2 cup of Earth Balance or other vegan margarine, 1/4 cup of sugar, and just under two cups of flour (I mixed regular flour with 1/4 cup of rice flour). Press this stuff into a small baking pan lined with wax paper.
Bake at 400 degrees until golden (just keep an eye on it, it could be 15 minutes or closer to 40, depending on the thickness and your oven).  Take it out and let it cool. 
Then:
Combine another 1/2 cup of Earth Balance with 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1.5 cups of vegan cream in a heavy-bottomed pot.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium and allow the mixture to thicken and get dark.  It will take awhile, and you have to stir vigilantly the entire time.  My friend Edie and I took shifts on this one.
When it's thick, amber coloured and greatly reduced, remove it from the heat and continue to stir for a minute or so.  Then pour the guk over the shortbread and gently spread it. 
Refrigerate until set.
Then:
Melt just under 2 cups (about 20g) of chopped chocolate in a double boiler.  When it's melted, pour it over the set cookie and caramel, and spread evenly.
Let them shits cool again.
When it appears fully set, gently lift it out of the container by the edges of the wax paper and try to cut it into squares.  This is where I failed, so I wish you better luck.
Also: you'd better share this or you and your tight-ass jeans will be sorry!

Doenjang Jjiggae - Korean Soybean Tofu Stew!

Spent another portion of the week cooking with youtube.  This week I spent trying to get over a flu-type sickness that hit me over thanksgiving. When I started feeling a little better, I thought that a spicy, bubbling Korean stew would be a good way to get a load of nutrients and feel comforted.  
This stew is about as easy as they come.  
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, quartered
1 tsp chili flakes
1 medium potato, chopped into large chunks
Roughly 1 cup of coarsely chopped vegetables (I used a combination of zucchini, Broccoli, Red pepper and a small amount of Brussels Sprouts)

Everything is thrown into a pot (a Korean stone pot, if you have one) and just covered with water.  Turn them shits up to med-high, and when it starts boiling, add 1-2 tsp fish or vegetable stock powder and 2-3 tsp Korean Soybean paste or Miso.  If you like it hotter, at this point you can add some hot pepper paste to the mix.
Simmer until bean paste dissolves.  Then add about a half package of medium firm or soft tofu, chopped into 1 inch cubes.  Gently submerge them and allow them to heat.
Once they're hot, you're done! Garnish with sesame oil if you like and serve over rice, quinoa, or by itself with a lovely salad.


Om nom nom nom...