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...

Vegan Sauerkraut and Mushroom Pierogi!

  

I was cat-sitting recently, and thought: 'Why don't I cook something wonderful in the kitchen while I spend time with the little kitty?' I gathered the gear to make vegan pierogi for the first time and headed to Edie's place to spend the afternoon with Poppers. These Pierogi were easy to make (although they took quite some time to assemble) and tasted delicious!  I got the recipe from this site, and was pleased to find a 'traditional' pierogi recipe that happened to also be vegan.  It was worth all the work!

"It's so hot" Vegan Carrot Cake

Since it's 40 degrees with the humidity...I decided to bake. I chose the photo on the left even thought there were better ones because it seems to express the hazy Toronto heat of the past few days.

I had some beautiful dark purple and pale yellow carrots and decided to make a vegan carrot cake. With a whole handful of substitutions and omissions, I roughly followed a recipe from Group Recipes. The bones of it are located here, but I skipped the ginger and swapped the apple juice for orange and omitted the nuts and glaze and opted instead to top the whole thing with sugar.

Now for a complaint. Why is it that I have to create a google search half a mile long to get a vegan recipe without egg replacer, flaxseed meal or some other weird thing? Just give me the basics, PLEASE!

Stay cool,

liz

Japanese Cold Noodles - Hiyashi Chuuka

These noodles are awesome. They travel well, (I took them on a picnic to the island) are a filling and healthy meal, and they're dead simple.

Cook one serving of chinese-style noodles (the kind that come on in 4 or 6 pack bricks) al dente, then rinse thoroughly and drain.

Chop any combination of vegetables, tofu, fake meat, or real meat and place on top. Essentials are thinly shaved cucumber (done with a peeler) and tomato.

Add a squirt of mustard to the side of the dish.

Assemble a sauce of 1-2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tbsp stock or water, 1-2 tsp sesame oil, 1tbsp tahini or ground sesame seeds, and 1 tbsp vinegar (all ingredients can be adjusted to taste). Add some pickled or thinly shredded ginger, and assemble right before eating. Nom!!

Four Pie Date

Got together with Edie this weekend to dispatch of some Rhubarb in her freezer, and to take advantage of the new crop of Ontario Strawberries. Three hours and a bit of sweat and blood, and we ended up with four beautiful pies.
We loosely followed an old Betty Crocker sixties recipe for the crust:
5 cups of flour
6-7 tbsp ice water
2 tsp salt
1 and 2\3 cup of butter

The filling was about two pints of strawberries and 5 cups of rhubarb with several cups of sugar added. Man, what a joy. We split one between the two of us :)

Mushroom Risotto

I finally made risotto! You'd think that since my parents are both Italian, I would have made this before, but I've never eaten it with my family. It was delicious, and very easy to make.
I soaked dried shitake in boiling water for a few minutes, then sauteed onion in olive oil. I added the rice and sauteed it until the oil was mostly absorbed and the rice translucent, then I added the mushrooms and their liquid. After that, I added vegetable stock one ladle at a time, stirring constantly. Once the stock was absorbed, I added another ladleful and stirred it in. I repeated this for about 20 minutes, until I had used up all of the stock. Amazingly creamy, and delicious!