potato coconut corn chowder

potato coconut corn chowder

1 T olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 small potatoes, cubed
1 t cumin (heaping)
1 vegetable bullion cube
3 c water (or enough to cover vegetables)
1 tiny (5.6 oz) can of coconut milk
1/2 t dried rosemary
1/2 c frozen corn
5 leaves fresh basil
freshly ground pepper & salt to taste
oystermushrooms

directions: In a medium sized pot, heat oil and add in diced onion, red pepper, celery and garlic. Saute until soft and stir in the cumin. Add in potatoes, bullion cube and water. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until potatoes are done, about 15 minutes. Add in coconut milk and rosemary and use a potato masher to mash down the potatoes and vegetables. Add in corn and fresh basil and grind in some pepper and add salt to taste (if necessary). Serve in 2 large bowls.

about this recipe: holy shit! i thought i would never be able to find a good vegan chowder. most always call for an absurd amount of heavy cream to get it chowdah'd. so when i found this recipe online a few months ago, i was a little hesitant. i put it in the archives to wait for a cold fall day to try it out. fast forward to today and a coconut craving that cannot be suppressed and i thought, "hey why not give this a shot". glad i did! the only downside to this recipe was that it doesn't leave much for leftovers so i'll have to double, if not triple, this recipe in the future! the original recipe does not call for mushrooms, but i added these in anyway, and if you do the same you won't be disappointed!

recipe & image courtesy of everybodylikessandwiches.com

in other exciting news!

my kitchen is getting a new counter space this weekend. this in turn means more dabbling in the baking arena... i'm thinking mini-apple pies (ha!), possibly pear as well, along with a new take on the vegan donut! 

habanero peach cobbler

Two healthful basics - fruit and bread - are provided in each serving of this desert.

1/2c. sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
a dash of cayenne
4 cups (6 medium) sliced peaches
2-3 diced habaneros
1 teaspoon lemon juice



3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup all-purpose flour*
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup soymilk

* if using self-rising flour, omit baking powder & salt

 
directions: Heat oven to 400 degrees. mix 1/2c. sugar, cornstarch, cayenne and cinnamon into a 2-quart saucepan. stir in peaches, habaneros, and lemon juice. cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. boil and stir 1 minute. pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole; keep peach mixture hot in oven.

cut shortening into flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, the baking powder and salt until mixture resembles fine crumbs. stir in milk. drop dough by 6 spoonfuls onto hot peach mixture.

bake until topping is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. serve warm.

about the recipe: when i picked up a bucket of habaneros at the farmer's market for $5, i had no idea what i was going to do with them all. i looked up salsas and jams and all sorts of fun projects. then it hit me one night at work - peach cobbler. the dash of cayenne in with the cinnamon was my own addition. i believe i added a touch of cinnamon to bread mixture as well. i was worried that adding diced habaneros into the mixture would make the desert peachy until i got a bite of habanero, but i was wrong! the peaches absorbed in the heat of the habanero in a surprisingly pleasant way. my favorite part baking this was taking advice from my friend carlos and listening to It's Clobbering Time & the rest of Blood, Sweat, and No Tears. I mean seriously, who would want that in a clobbler?

from the book:
Betty Crocker's Cookbook
7th Printing, 1982
isbn 0-307-09800-1

holy mother of kombucha!

Check out the size of my SCOBY! Gonna make me a shit-ton* of kombucha! i shall name thee xerxes!

* metric measuring

what's more american than donuts?

directions: here!

about the recipe: when i saw this recipe on the Dainty Squid blog, i knew that i had to try baking once more! and what better time than as a celebration of our great nation. the most exciting part for me was that i used natural means for the food coloring! i used red cabbage for the blue & beets for the red, isn't that fun?

unfortunately, as you can tell... the beet-coloring was the only one to stick. the middle was supposed to be the blue (from cabbage).

directions for the food coloring: i used a bunch of beets (beet bunch) for coloring, but you can also use a can of beets. i cut up the stems, removing the leafy green, and cut up a few of the beets. i filled the pot with water until the beets were covered. then boiled them and waited for the water to become very red. after about a half hour i strained the juice into a cup and composted the remainder. i then added a tablespoon of vinegar as it's supposed to help the color set. oh that reminds me! ha: when making the donuts, i didn't add any vinegar as i was mixing the beet coloring in and didn't want extra vinegar in the recipe. they turned out great!

overall great. would bake again! next time i'm going to try to make a coconut glaze. oh the donuted possiblities!

update!

Hello friends!

It's been a while since I've updated, but now that I'm back from my 2 part month long vacation, I'm ready to get back where i belong, in the kitchen. Plus the Minneapolis Farmer's Markets are in full bloom; what better way to get back on the vegan-cooking-ball than fresh local produce.

Somethings i plan to do with this blog in the near future:

- Import recipes from my notebook recipe book
- Use more recipes, online & elsewhere.
- Use those vintage cookbooks!

If all goes according to plan (and sanity) I shall have two new recipes up by the 5th of july!... until then,

happy uhmerricka.

{source}

chocochipcookiesss.

(makes two dozen two inch cookies.)

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. canola oil
1/4 c. nondairy milk
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. all purpose flower
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teapsoon salt
3/4 c. chocolate chips (i used carob chips)

directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

Mix together sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important that you don’t get lazy about that step. Mix in the vanilla.
Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips.

For 3 inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 13 minutes until they are just a little browned around the edges. I usually get 16 out of these so I do two rounds of eight cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

NOM THOSE FUCKERS.


fun fact: i'm horrible at baking. so when i found this recipe on tumblr my first thought was "hey i'm a horrible conventional baker, maybe i'll be a great vegan baker." turns out that this is only half true. i'm an alright vegan baker. the cookies were good, but a little greasy (i think next time i'll add more flour / less oil) and flat as pancakes. i don't blame the last part on the recipe, but on my absolute failure as a baker. this might be coming from cookie jealousy as my grandma makes the best most beautiful deliciously plump cookies on the planet. i was hoping that her skills would have skipped a generation, as my mom is no good at baking too, but alas i've seemed to have inherited my mothers bad baking genes instead. i think the next time i try these i'll either a) use an egg replacer combo vs. canola oil or b) change the oil/flour ratio and use self rising flour or my final option is to c) marry a baker.


p.s. anyone out there know a good cookie recipe? i'm open for suggestions.

introducing...

the newest addition to the vegan vintage cookbook library

The Playboy Gourmet by Thomas Mario

1st edition, published 1973

447 pages of pure sexy deliciousness including a chapter on coffee. i picked this up at savers today after spotting it a few weeks ago. the introduction ends in a poetic manifesto of sorts:

"If bachelors, in the midst of women's lib yet feeling compatible with its aims, still enjoy advantages over women in the kitchen, they use these advantage not to prove they're vainglorious Escoffers among the distaff side but for the very opposite end - to draw women as well as men together warmly, to crack the same bottle, to share the same sumptuous trencher. Play Boy's major food guidelines and recipes are blueprints towards that end."

oh, playboy, what would women's lib have done without your kind gratitude for the equalization of the sexes? anyways i'm hoping this new anthology of sexy recipes will help me score with the ladies.. and men alike.

soft soya cheese

2 1/2 c. soy flour
3 3/4 c. water
juice of 2 lemons

cheese cloth

directions: blend together flour & water and bring to a boil. cook gently for several minutes and stir in the lemon juice. leave to cook. pour into a muslin cheesebag and hang above a bowl. next day remove the cloth and season the cheese with salt, pepper, garlic & herbs, or sweeten with pineapple cubes.

about the recipe: i only made a half batch of this and look how much it made! it's very soft and crumbly much like a parmesan cheese. the process overall was fairly simple and little effort which is nice. i ended up using salt/pepper, garlic & onion powder and some oregano in my spices. plus i added some roasted garlic in there to stink things up! i think this would work well in a vegan lasagna with tons of vegetables... looks like i'm making a lasagna sometime soon... and here are some fun "process" picture for making the cheeze.

from the book:
Bean Cuisine by Janet Horsley
2nd edition, published 1993
isbn 1-85327-072-5

garbanzo tofu pâté

1/2 c. chickpeas, soaked & drained
2.5 c. water

4 tbs tofu
4 tbs soy yogurt
1 tbs lemon
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil

+ spices

 
directions: cook beans until soft. drain & mash well. combine all ingredients and adjust the seasoning to taste. add a little extra soygurt if the mixture is too stiff. place in a dish and garnish. serve with toast fingers and a light salad or as a sandwich spread.

about the recipe: my first vintage recipe! i bought this book at a used bookstore back in my hometown a month or two ago. it has a lot of amazing recipes in it that i'm excited to try (at least two more by the end of the week)... moving on, this pâté makes an excellent sandwich spread. i doubled the recipe to make the amount below because i had 1 cup of chickpeas that needed to be used up. the recipe calls for a little too much lemon juice - which is predominantly what i taste when i eat it. however, it goes really well with the tomato-basil bread my roommate picked up the other day. i used fresh basil instead of bulk for an extra kick and added some Berbere and Chipotle as my seasonings. i let it sit overnight and then ran it through the food processor which helped make it look more consistent.

from the book:
Bean Cuisine by Janet Horsley
2nd edition, published 1993
isbn 1-85327-072-5

manipesto destiny!

1/2 c. pasta
1/2 can garbanzo beans
1/2 c. premade passive aggressive pesto from the ppk.
some red pepper & red onion

directions: Cook pasta and beans accordingly.  i ended up cooking the pasta and then adding in the beans halfway through. dice red pepper and red onion. once the pasta and beans are done, drain them. add them to the pesto mix in chunks to make sure they blend well. then i added the peppers and onions.

about the recipe: this isn't from any recipebook, but i wanted to try a vegan pesto and threw this together based on what i had in the kitchen. next time i'll probably not add the onion, but instead some black olives. i was going to add avacado, but mine aren't ripe yet.

clusterfcuk chili

my very own, one of a kind, homemade vegan chili recipe!