Vegan MoFo Day 31: Happy Halloween, and the End of MoFo 2008

Whew! The Vegan Month of Food draws to a close.... My posts have not always been well thought out, carefully edited, or decently photographed, but I have tried to keep them coming. Fear not - I have no plans to disappear behind a veil of turnip greens (although I do plan to attend Nashville's annual Turnip Green Festival - Nov 9 at the downtown Farmer's Market). Posting here will continue, although at a slower pace, at least until Isa rings the gong and decrees another MoFo.

My office is having a Halloween party and I'll be bringing cookies (see photo above - another fantastic test recipe from Terry), hummus (stereotypical...), and hot pepper jelly.

In other news, last night I was so excited to receive a box of Teese - more mozzarella and the new cheddar. Mac 'n Teese is mine! The linked recipe was simply perfect when made with Teese mozzarella (with green chiles tossed in) and it is even more perfect with the cheddar.

Thanks, readers, for coming along for the Vegan MoFo ride. That's all for now, but I'll be back soon.

Vegan MoFo Day 30: Spicy Butternut Squash

This year must have been perfect for butternut squash, as I have been totally overrun with the stuff from family, friends, and our community supported agriculture box. Thankfully, I like it and it keeps well.

I have been thinking soup, as kittee recently reviewed a very good-sounding recipe. I also pulled out Sublime Soups by Lenore Baum, a wonderful vegan/macrobiotic cooking teacher from Asheville. Her millet / butternut squash soup is one of my fall favorites. Then, in a flash of insight, I knew what I wanted: Jamie Oliver's spicy roasted butternut squash! (The soups will follow soon.)

You can find an exact recipe in The Naked Chef, but you don't need it. You split the squash open, remove the seeds, and then slice it into long spears (approx 8 of them - more or less depending on the size). In a bowl, mix up some olive oil with microplaned or pressed fresh garlic. Dump in a bunch of spices. The original recipe calls for coriander, oregano, fennel, chili, salt, and black pepper. Add to the list or subtract, whole spices or ground... you can't really go wrong. (OK, no whole black pepper, but beyond that...) Smear this mess all over your butternut squash spears. (See pre-baking photo above.) Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Sometimes mine take a few minutes longer. You want them to be tender and roasty. For dinner, we had these with rice and Vegan Dad burgers (from my stock in the freezer).

Vegan MoFo Day 29: Green Tomatoes

Heeding warnings of cold temperatures, we harvested all the remaining frost-vulnerable items from our little backyard garden, including a bunch of green tomatoes. When I was a kid, we would put all our green tomatoes in paper grocery sacks in the basement and they would slowly ripen. I am more likely to turn these into fried green tomatoes.



There are a number of different fried green tomoato philosophies. Lately, I have seen many FGTs that are completely encased in a cornmeal crust. Beyond the fact that these are likely to involve eggs (and thus be non-vegan), such a complete shell is contrary to the way I learned to make them. (I am equally opposed to encased okra.)



To make fried green tomatoes, my way, do this: Slice tomatoes, and toss with a mix of equal parts flour and cornmeal, with some salt and pepper. You can add other seasonings, and I often go for thyme and cayenne. Fry in a hot cast iron skillet with a thin layer of oil, until well-browned on each side.


I would be tempted to make a green tomato pie, but we have been very over-sugared of late (tester cookies and a delicious pear crisp from The Joy of Vegan Baking). If you are interested, most traditional green tomato pie recipes are easy to veganize, requiring only a substitution of vegan margarine or oil for butter - for example, this recipe looks very similar to that made by relatives of mine.

Vegan MoFo Day 28: Square Meals (a.k.a. George Burke Appreciation)

My early, tentative forays into vegan eating were much assisted by the publication of Simply Heavenly! - The Monastery Vegetarian Cookbook by Abbot George Burke. Not only is it a large and comprehensive vegan cookbook, but it also includes lots of information on unfamiliar ingredients and where to find them - which was incredibly valuable in a pre-internet era.

Burke has traced a complicated spiritual pilgrimage, as can be seen in his autobiography. At the time that this cookbook was published, he headed an independent sacramental christian community called the Gnostic Orthodox Church, apparently now defunct. Burke's Hindu influences (esp. Paramahansa Yogananda and Anandamayi Ma) have been important throughout his adult life. He and his community now follow a Hindu path as the Atma Jyoti Ashram. Today, Burke is known as Swami Nirmalananda Giri.


Simply Heavenly! is an unfortunate casualty of the transitions in Burke's community, and has been out of print for some years. It remains one of my favorite cookbooks, and I use it frequently. I have made Burke's recipe for Anadama Bread at least a zillion times. Thanks to Burke, I own (and love) a steam juicer which makes truly excellent broth, among other uses.

When I have leftovers that need repackaging, or random items that need using (tonight: some leftover chicken-style seitan, chopped up in a skillet with a little red bell pepper and bbq sauce), I often turn to his formula for "Square Meals" - an Americanized relative of the pierogi and the calzone. He provides a number of recipes for fillings, but you can use whatever you have. He also gives a separate recipe for a sweet dough, and a number of sweet fillings. As the book is out of print, and used copies are often hard to find and pricey, I will give you the basic recipe for savory square meals:


2 T yeast
1 c. warm water
1 t. unrefined sugar
3 T. vegetable oil
3 c. flour (white or whole wheat or a mixture)
1 1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1/2 t. onion powder
1/4 t. garlic powder

Mix yeast, water, and sugar, and let stand 10 minutes. (I don't find this waiting necessary, and usually proceed with the recipe without waiting for the yeast to proof. Your mileage may vary.) Whisk in the oil. Sift the dry ingredients together and slowly add to the wet. When well-combined, turn the dough out on the counter, and knead for a few minutes until you have a smooth ball. Roll out until approximately 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into 4 inch squares. Moisten all four edges of a square with water, and then put 1/3 cup of your chosen filling in the center. Fold in the corners toward the center (like folding an envelope). Pinch the center and the seams carefully to be sure they are sealed. Place on lightly greased baking sheet (or parchment, as in my photo), seam side down. Prick the top with a fork several times. You can brush the tops with oil or vegan milk if you want. Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes. These freeze well and make great work lunches.

Vegan MoFo Day 27: Thank you for my breakfast, Brendan Brazier

Some months ago, I bought a copy of The Thrive Diet by vegan athlete Brendan Brazier. I bought it on-line, following a friend's recommendation, and was a little worried that the book might be a commercial for the Vega products that Brazier formulated. I have never tried Vega, and it is not exactly in my budget. However, I shouldn't have worried, as The Thrive Diet is a very useful and solid book, containing excellent nutritional information and a wide range of recipes. While Brazier certainly mentions Vega, he makes it clear that you don't need those products to follow his program, and gives easy DIY recipes for making your own versions.

Even the quickest glance at this blog will demonstrate that we don't follow Brazier's diet recommendations with any great strictness. Nonetheless, we consume his smoothies very frequently for breakfast (ginger-pear in the photo above), and we also like his nutrition bar recipes (easy and better than any of the commercial ones). We haven't gotten too far beyond smoothies and bars, but I hope to do so, soon. He has some intriguing pizza recipes that beg to be made!

Vegan MoFo Day 26: I wouldn't call this fasting...

Most traditional religions include periods of fasting through the year, and the Orthodox Church is no exception. Orthodox fasting rules vary according to the season or holy day, but during some parts of the year the fast amounts to veganism (sometimes also excluding oil, which results in interesting low-fat and fat-free vegan recipes).

I'm not a fan of seeing vegan food as a cleanse or fast or detox or whatever. It's a satisfying and wholesome way to eat, period. Regardless, the Orthodox fasting rules have resulted in many (mostly vegan) fasting or Lenten cookbooks. Even regular Orthodox church-lady cookbooks usually include a large fasting section. Whenever I am near an Orthodox church or bookstore, I look for cookbooks, and now have quite a collection. (In Nashville, check out the Alektor Cafe and Bookstore - they usually have several in stock.)

I had some eggplant that needed to be used, so I pulled down The Festive Fast: Greek Meatless Cooking in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition by Marigoula Kokkinou & Georgia Kofinas, a consistently reliable source of good ideas. I messed around with their "Baked Eggplant with Walnuts" recipe, altering it enough that I don't mind giving you the details of what I did:

Preheat oven to 400. Wash 1 lb eggplant, trim off ends, and slice lengthwise into thin slices. (As my eggplant were young and organic, I did not peel them. In retrospect, I suggest using 2 lbs of eggplant, as the recipe makes plenty of topping.) Drop the eggplant slices into boiling salted water for only 2-3 minutes, and then drain. Place them in a casserole dish, and sprinkle with salt and smoked paprika to taste. Pour a little olive oil over the eggplant, add about 1/3 cup of all purpose flour (or 2/3 if using the larger eggplant amount), and toss until combined. Bake for about 20 minutes.


Meanwhile, put 7 oz walnuts in the food processor with 4 cloves of garlic, 4 T red wine vinegar, and about 2-3 T water, and process until you have a thick paste. (To make it easy to peel multiple cloves of garlic, gather them on the counter, and give them a good smack with the back of a cast iron skillet to loosen their dry outer skins.) Spread the walnut paste over the top of the eggplant casserole, lower the oven temperature to 350, and bake for 20 more minutes. Enjoy!

Vegan MoFo Day 25: Freezer Time!

Grow Peace tagged me for the freezer game, so I have to show you my scary freezer. I'm afraid I cram it full of stuff, and sometimes forget what is in there. We also have a lot of houseguests, so I find welcome and unwelcome surprises - such as the two boxes of vegan frozen waffles, gluten-free and regular/flax.

Other items of note: frozen tofu (which I just transformed into the very tasty Tofu Nuggets from Don't Have a Cow No. 4), leftover soup, the inside sleeve of my ice cream maker, Rice Dream ice cream, a single peach-vanilla popsicle, corn on the cob from my mother's garden, a Folgers can full of Cafe Najjar, a bag of Sunergos Coffee, a bunch of different kinds of nuts, and a big bag of Vegan Dad burgers. We almost always have Vegan Dad burgers (TVP, tempeh, and/or sausage varieties), and some version of the famous Julie Hasson steamed sausages (which are in there, but hidden behind other things) in the freezer. The sausages are useful for so many things, and the burgers make a quick work lunch choice.

Many of the bloggers I read seem to have been tagged already. I don't have time to sit here and search for more! So, if you are reading this and have not been tagged yet, show us your freezer!

Vegan MoFo Day 24: Hot Gluten, Nashville Style

Every town has its own crazy food, if you look for it. Nashville has the usual array of Southern specialties, but there are also a few "only here" items, chief among them being Hot Chicken. It is not just spicy fried chicken. Keep reading.

If you grew up here, you have surely had Hot Chicken in the wee hours of the morning. Most of the establishments which serve it (including Prince's, the originator) stay open all night. It is a food that seems most compelling when one's judgment is impaired by alcohol or other substances. I've had it in my head to veganize this, and last night was my first try. I'm quite pleased with the results. With a little fine-tuning, I may enter a vegan version in next summer's Music City Hot Chicken Festival. You can still set yourself on fire with no animal cruelty and no cholesterol!

Non-Nashville people, in order to understand Hot Chicken, you need to watch this film. Sorry for all the meat in it, but it's a very well done film and will teach you what you need to know. Once you have educated yourself about the subject in general, here's how to make your own vegan version at home:


First you need vegan meat. I made Joanna's Chicken-Style Seitan Cutlets, which worked well. You want your vegan meat and your breading to be very plain. You will be adding enough flavor in due course. (There is at least one place in town that marinates the meat in hot pepper sauce before frying, but that is insane overkill.) Joanna's cutlets are quite thin when made as directed, which results in a high breading-to-gluten ratio. If you are going to make your Hot Gluten really really hotttt, you may want a more substantial cutlet to help balance it. You could make a thicker version of Joanna's recipe, or go with something like the DEOTS chicken-style seitan, or the Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon, or even steamed tempeh.


Once you have your vegan meat, dredge it in self-rising flour. (If you don't have self-rising, you can add 1 1/2 t baking powder and 1/2 t salt to a cup of all purpose flour.) Don't go adding seasoning to the flour - plain, plain, plain. Heat up some oil in a cast iron Dutch oven and fry away. You will see mine above. When done, put the fried gluten on a brown paper sack to drain.


Here comes the hot part. You need a hot pepper paste, which you can make in advance. I tried two versions. First, I veganized this year's winning recipe, by simply subbing vegan shortening for the lard. Then, on impulse, I made a second paste out of 3 T Indian chili powder (which is mostly ground red peppers), 1 T + 1 t coconut oil, 1/2 t salt, and 1/2 t unrefined sugar. The second paste did not taste Indian or coconutty at all. It still delivered the same knockout blow as the cayenne paste, but with a little more grace. See photo above.



Put on gloves. While the fried gluten is still hot, gently rub on the desired amount of paste. Fingertip action works well. You don't want to break the breading. Try to be very even - no remaining globs of paste (as such a glob would kill you if you suddenly met it in your mouth). Use much less than you think you need to. Traditionally, you want the whole thing to be dark red, and this happens pretty quickly, even with a very light application. Warning: Even "Mild" hot chik'n is "Hot" by any other standard.


Place your Hot Gluten on a couple of pieces of bread. We used french bread as that is what we had, but that is an outrageous heresy. Spongy nutrition-free white bread of the Wonder Bread / Bunny Bread sort is traditional. After applying hot paste to the first side of the gluten, you can flip it onto the bread to work on the second side, so that some of the hot red greasiness of the first side runs into the bread. Finally, throw a few slices of cucumber pickle on top. Some people go for a spicy pickle, but that's c.r.a.z.y. Regular pickles will be fine. There is a contingent that believes in mayo, so feel free to apply a little Vegenaise if you see fit. I didn't get a photo of our assembled Hot Gluten - it was (appropriately) late and it went fast!


Enjoy carefully, and with respect. As Ms Andre says in the film, "It's a cleansing, and we need it."

Vegan MoFo Day 23: Testing, testing

Last night was devoted to a first round with a french bread test recipe for Peter Reinhart's next project. I still have a lot of dough, so will be baking more (and working on improving my shaping) later in the week. (Report: So very good, and the best crust I've made in a home oven.)



I enjoy recipe testing for cookbook authors. I wind up trying recipes that I would not have picked out of the published book. I also learn new tricks and techniques. Thanks to all my cookbook- and cookzine-writing friends for the opportunity!

Bonus MoFo: Bluegrass Soy Sauce in The NY Times!

While this is the I-40 Kitchen, and not the I-65 Kitchen, I heart our neighboring state to the north, the beautiful Commonwealth of Kentucky. It's less than an hour away, I was born there, and I have family in Louisville.

I was so delighted to open The New York Times food section on-line today, and find an article on Bluegrass Soy Sauce, a small-batch soy sauce made in Kentucky. Go read about it, and buy yourself some. It's really good stuff. PS... the company also makes bourbon smoked paprika...

Vegan MoFo Day 22: Some of my favorite things...

... Louise Hagler recipes, french fries, and the American Miso Company!

Louise Hagler lives just down the way at The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee. She has been churning out creative vegan food, and cookbooks, for almost 40 years! At a class a couple of months ago, she told us how excited she and her colleagues were, in the early 1970s, when they first figured out how freezing tofu would change the texture. It is hard to believe that such knowledge is so recent, and that the innovators are still working on vegan cuisine today!

Above you will see the Spicy French Fries from Louise's book, Miso Cookery: miso, garlic, chipotle, and other things, smeared onto french fries and baked in the oven until crispy. Need I say more? To make it even better, we used local organic miso from the American Miso Company in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, not far from Asheville.

Vegan MoFo Day 21: Postal Blessings from Tofu Queen

So I think we all know by now that I'm fond of swap boxes! Today brought some great treats from the lovely and talented Tofu Queen! I wish you could smell the coffee! The beans are a wonderful heirloom type. (What should I do with them? Suggestions for a Tofu Queen Dinner are welcome). Thanks to the late day glare in the photo, you can't see how beautiful the olive oil is. Fun, fun, fun! We shall make delicious things!

See, children, drunk posting on Facebook leads directly to heirloom beans!

Bonus MoFo: A Small Nod to the Iron Chef Challenge

Once again this weekend, I had no time to summon creativity and do the VeganMoFo Iron Chef Challenge, but it did motivate me to try the Peanut Cheeze as a sushi filling - really tasty!

Vegan MoFo Day 20: Peanut Cheeze

PPK readers may recall my earlier experiment with the "Chedda Polenta" recipe in the Seven Secrets Cookbook by Jim and Neva Brackett. This is a vegan cheeze based on peanuts and cornmeal. (Gluten-free and soy-free people, take note: this cheeze is for you.) My first try was tasty, but looked a bit funny, as I put it in a loaf pan that was too large. This time I used my smallest individual mini-pan: much better, and the texture is also improved.

As with most vegan cheeze, this is not going to mimic dairy. But it is very tasty in its own savory right. A few recipe notes: I used smoked paprika instead of regular paprika, because I love it (and have to be physically restrained from putting it in everything). Next time, I will probably reduce the baking time by a few minutes. You can see in the photo that the edges are a little crumbly. For the peanuts, I used plain, store-brand, salted, roasted peanuts from the snack aisle. (Watch ingredients, as some brands of roasted peanuts include gelatin. Bizarre, but true.) I cut the salt in the recipe slightly, as the peanuts were already quite salty.

This is good on crackers, shredded into tofu scramble, or (as above) in a sandwich with struan, vegenaise, arugula, and tomatoes.

Vegan MoFo Day 19: Lemon Pickle (for Kittee)

Kittee is an avatar from the exalted cosmic dimension of Vegan, bringing kitchen wisdom to the rest of us. When she recently blogged about Indian lemon pickle, I decided I had to make some. Besides, pickles are this weeks's DIY challenge at the PPK Forums. I used the recipe from Dakshin, which she suggested - easy and scrumptious (and SPICY!).

Bonus MoFo: Music & Molasses Festival

This morning I stopped by the annual Music & Molasses Festival. If you are in the Nashville area, it is running all weekend. The Guenther family is there, demonstrating the traditional method for making sorghum molasses. (If you have received sorghum in a swap box from me, this family probably made it.) You can see the cane and the cooking process above, as well as cookbooks and a sorghum popcorn ball.

The cookbooks are from the National Sweet Sorghum Producers and Processors Association. From the Sorghum Treasures cookbook, here is the popcorn ball recipe, veganized (the original has butter):

3/4 c. sorghum molasses

3/4 c. sugar

1 T. vegan margarine

1/2 t. baking soda

Cook the molasses and sugar over low heat until the firm ball stage (250). Add the margarine and baking soda. Pour over approx 8 quarts of popped popcorn. Dip hands in cold water and form balls.

If you go to the festival, get a sorghum sucker. They are vegan and tasty (and the recipe is in the book).

Vegan MoFo Day 18: Sourdough Biscuits

Whatever you are doing now, please stop. You have a new mission if you choose to accept it: Sourdough Biscuits. These are not traditional sourdough - they have a weird pre-ferment that (in our veganized version) involved soy yogurt and commercial yeast. Given my cultural background and location, I can be picky about biscuits. These are flat-out fantastic. If Southern biscuits got together with dinner rolls and had a baby, this is it.

Not too long ago, I bought a baking video made by the aunt of a friend of a friend. It's not vegan, but most of the recipes are veganizable. Think whole (peeled, cored) apples, wrapped in crust and baked in a deep bath of syrup. Not health food, but really good - and well-demonstrated with lots of tips and tricks. This odd biscuit recipe intrigued me, and I decided to try veganizing it. Here's what I did:

The day before, mix up 2 cups of soy yogurt, 2 cups of all purpose flour, and 1 T yeast. I used FarmSoy yogurt, as it is delicious, local, and contains only organic soymilk and live cultures. Cover this, and leave it out on the counter for approximately 24 hours.

When ready to make biscuits, mix 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 T baking powder, 1 T unrefined sugar, and 1/2 t salt. Work in 1/2 cup of vegan margarine or shortening. (I used Earth Balance. If you are avoiding palm oil products, I think almost anything would work - probably even a mild oil like canola, as she used very soft butter in the demonstration.) Then add 2 cups of the "sourdough" pre-ferment, and stir until just combined. The dough will be sticky. Turn it out on a floured counter and knead for just a minute or two - not much.

I made small biscuits, as that is what I wanted, but in the DVD, Bonnie Hamilton demonstrates making big tall ones. However you do it, cut the biscuits out, place on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rest for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425. Bake 12-15 minutes until they look done.

In the DVD she gives more details and tips, and instructions for how to keep the pre-ferment going. Not to mention a bunch of other good recipes!

Vegan MoFo Day 17: When your superpowers are running low (a.k.a. Thursday night)...

Even vegan superpowers sometimes run down. When you've worked all day, early-voted, walked the dog in the rain, and have bills to pay and laundry to do.... well, your display might be showing only one bar of power. I've noted quite a few MoFoers posting quick weeknight meals, and this is ours, tonight:

Sweet Potato Oven Fries: I don't have to tell you how, do I? (Chop, olive oil and salt, 400 til done)

Crispy Tempeh Bits: After the manner of Mark Bittman in How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, but upgraded with some amazing Oregon-made chili-garlic sauce, which I scored in a trade with Julie. Crumble the tempeh in a hot skillet with some oil, salt, and pepper, cook till crispy, season to taste.

Greens and Noodles: After the manner of Joanne Stepaniak in Vegan Vittles, but simplified, and with the protein cut out as we had the tempeh. Chop the greens (in this case, a mix of tatsoi, kale, and turnip greens) and boil until soft (15 minutes or so). Add a big handful of udon noodles and cook until done (12-13 minutes). Drain and then toss with some olive oil, soy sauce, and ume plum vinegar. I added some liquid smoke, too. Check out Joanne's book for a more complex (and delicious) version, and a number of variations.

I did all of the above while emptying and reloading the dishwasher, paying bills, cleaning up after myself, and playing with the dog. A healthy, fast dinner, made from stuff we had on hand!

(PS - Ume plum vinegar is the best thing ever in greens. All homage to Gabrielle Mittelstaedt former head chef of the much-missed Peaceful Planet restaurant in Nashville for pointing this out to me.)

Vegan MoFo Day 16: Community Supported Agriculture

We are halfway through the Vegan Month of Food!

Today is the weekly pick-up day for our Community Supported Agriculture box. If you are not familiar with how CSA works, you pay a local farmer at the beginning of the season, and then receive a box of fresh produce every week (or every other week, or however your farm's plan works). Today's box includes turnip greens, tatsoi, bell peppers, eggplant (read: more caponata), arugula, sweet potatoes, zucchini, butternut squash, radishes and tomatoes.

CSA is a great way to support local farmers, and to eat in a local/seasonal way that does not involve shipping food around the world. The cost is very reasonable when you consider the amount of produce you receive over the year, and the quality. Our CSA, Delvin Farms, offers both a regular season (May - October) and a Nov-Dec extension for those who want the kale, sweet potatoes, and winter squash to keep flowing through the holidays. I am always excited to see what vegetables, fruit, and herbs each week will bring. It can be a challenge to use (or preserve) everything, but it prompts me to try new recipes and helps to ensure we eat lots of fresh vegetables. We split our box with the neighbors which also helps. If one household is unified in dislike of a vegetable, the other household can take it.

If you are in the greater Nashville area, you can find information on local CSAs here. Asheville area readers can look here. For the rest of you, google should do it.

Vegan MoFo Day 15: Cookies and Wine

So, Terry is a genius. We made a biscotti test recipe for the cookie book that she and Isa are working on. I have to take some of these to work today before we eat them all.

We enjoyed the biscotti last night after dinner with a glass of muscadine wine. Muscadines are a thick-skinned grape that is native to the southeastern United States. They come in red/purple, and in a greenish/bronze variety called scuppernongs. My great aunt had muscadine vines in her back yard, and I ate many of them as a child. It is a different experience from eating other grapes, as the skin is too thick to eat, so you are only after the innards. It can get messy, but it is fun.

Aunt Cora was a strict Baptist so she only made jelly and juice from her muscadines. However, many other people in the South turn them into wine. The kind Bryophyte recently procured some local North Carolina muscadine wine for us. It's fresh, grapey, sweet, and best when chilled. If you like dessert wines, you will enjoy it.