teriyaki burgers

DSC02621
Originally uploaded by meliroq

Mark earned a $50 gift card from Borders a couple of weeks ago. We now have three new vegan cookbooks in our kitchen :)

One of the books we bought was Veganopolis. The recipes look amazing and many are French-based. There's even a recipe for a vegan version of pan bagnat, which is a specialty in Nice. I still haven't tried it yet but hope to soon.

Last week, we tried to make the Roadhouse Vegan burgers. And by "we", I mean Mark. Unfortunately, some of the directions were vague and quite frustrating. Though the result was actually quite good (in fact, so good we're never buying store-bought veggie burgers again), Mark felt like he needed to tweak the recipe.

So, last night, he adapted the recipes from Veganopolis and Real Food Daily cookbooks. Then, he coated the cooked burgers in soyaki and browned them in our convection oven. OMG!!! They were delicious. And didn't even taste like veggie burgers.

He added baked fries & beans to the meal, with homemade barbecue and mustard sauce for dipping. I'm a lucky woman :)

online baking

Lately, Mark & I have been feeling it was time to spruce up our menu. We found several cookbooks, at Barnes & Noble, last weekend that we would like to add to our library but things are kind of tight right now. So, I found this blog, meet the shannons, from a link on facebook. We're basing tonight's dinner & dessert on recipes we found there. As well as the next few lunches & dinners ;)

I decided I'd try the Mexi Shells first. So far, it's slightly out of my comfort zone but I haven't tasted it (it's baking in the oven as I type this) so I'm not judging yet.

It has been remarkably easy to prepare though I admit I didn't form little balls & individually stuff the shells. Seemed like too much bother so I tossed everything in & coated them evenly in the tomato sauce. There wasn't any mention of garlic so I added a clove to the onion mixture (we like lots of garlic in our food). Oh, and I cut down on the amount of FYH Mozzarella, by approximately one-third.

For dessert, I chose the Carrot Cake Cupcakes. I know we have lots of cupcake recipes at our disposal but these looked scrumptious & we love carrot cake.

recreating mantécaos

Ever since I first traveled to Nice, in October 2009, I have been obsessed with finding mantécaos. Then, in June 2010, I was fortunate to visit Nice again & purchased a few packages of mantécaos. They were just as delicious as I remembered. Once back home, I set about searching for recipes online and have found a few that seemed similar to the ingredients on the package of Les Biscuits La Belle Boulange, which were available at the Monoprix located by the Nice Étoile.

Here is the closest recipe, translated into English:
The post date a little but this is not serious. I sought recipes of mantécaos (and not montecaos) in order to bring me closer to that which my Spanish mother-in-law did and fell on this post. I carried out 2 tests to fall on the good recipe (given by several) and especially on the good method.

500g of T55 flour
250g sugar (not ice)
250g of oil or molten lard extract
lemon zest
cinnamon

Put all the ingredients in a pot and to work quickly your fingers right time all to mix.
The paste must have same texture as that of fine sand with water at the edge of the beach.
Make balls of the size a large nut and to put them on a sheet or, better, a sheet of cooking or greaseproof paper.
Make a small indentation with your index finger and powder with cinnamon (very little) or drinking chocolate (that is me which I could not resist)
Bake for 25 minutes with 165° with revolving heat
When done, let cool and preserve them in a metal tin.

Do not:
* Work the paste too much because you will end up with dry biscuits
* Use an electric mixer
* Flatten the ball of paste too much before baking, they will take fine shape with baking
* To use a cold greasy substance, which is what I made the first time and anything to see with mantecaos

I adore these very simple biscuits that my children claim me for a long time, that points out their childhood to them of a Spanish granny.

I had to edit a bit from the online translation tool as it left bits of french mixed in that didn't make sense. For example: "j' made the first time" makes absolutely no sense at all! Should read "I made the first time".

The original French post:
Le post date un peu mais ce n'est pas grave.

Je cherchais des recettes de mantecaos (et non montecaos) afin de me rapprocher au mieux de celle que faisait ma belle-mère espagnole et suis tombée sur ce post.

J'ai fait 2 essais pour tomber sur la bonne recette (donnée par plusieurs) et surtout sur la bonne méthode.

500g de farine T55
250g de sucre (pas glace)
250g d'huile ou de saindoux fondu
extrait ou zestes de citron
cannelle

Mettre tous les ingrédients dans une terrine et travailler rapidement avec les doigts juste le temps de tout amalgamer. La pâte doit avoir la même texture que lorsqu'on touille du sable fin avec de l'eau au bord de la plage.

Faire des boules de la taille d'une grosse noix et les poser sur une tôle ou mieux un tapis de cuisson ou du papier sulfurisé.

Appuyer juste un peu avec l'index et saupoudrer de canelle (trés peu) ou de chocolat en poudre (ça c'est moi qui n'ai pas pu résister)

Faire cuire 25 minutes à 165° à chaleur tournante

Les laisser refroidir et les conserver dans une boite en métal.

Ne pas faire :
* trop travailler la pâte sinon vous vous retrouvez avec des biscuits secs
* utiliser un robot
* trop aplatir la boule de pâte avant cuisson, ils prendront la bonne forme à la cuisson
* mettre un corps gras froid, c'est ce que j'ai fait la première fois et rien à voir avec des mantecaos

J'adore ces biscuits tout simples que me réclament mes enfants depuis longtemps, ça leur rappelle leur enfance auprés d'une mamie espagnole.

I'm also interested in trying the recipe, with vanilla sugar, located at this website: sucrissme.com

I will post updates once I try both recipes.

haricots vert avec moutard vinaigrette et vin chaud

<--- purchased at Monoprix, Nice FR


Ever since I went to France last month, I can't stop thinking about yummy haricots verts and the vinaigrette it came with. Here are a few recipes I've found that seem similar to the ingredients I read in the labels.

from francethisway.com



Dijon Mustard Salad Dressing

10 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
large pinch of salt
pepper

Balsamic vinegar or lemon juice can be used instead of the white wine vinegar - use only 1-2 tablespoons of these instead of the three for vinegar, and increase the amount of olive oil by a couple of extra spoonfuls.

Put it all in a jam jar, put the lid on, and shake enthusiastically. You might want to put it in a posher container before putting on the table.

from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

* 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (I would use white wine vinegar)
* salt and black pepper to taste
* 2 teaspoons French mustard (Maille Dijon Originale)

Preparation method

1. Start with a little seasoning - add salt and pepper to a glass. Add the oil, followed by the balsamic vinegar. Add the mustard and mix until it has a lovely creamy consistency. That's it!

Cook's note
For a twist - try adding a little dried basil, or use a nut oil instead of olive oil. Always use 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar - and put the oil in first!



<---- vin chaud, avec canelle, from Cafe Richard's





Aussi, I'd love to recreate vin chaud. Brandi & I had this drink, several times, while in Paris. It's now one of my favorite cold-weather beverages.

I found this recipe, from bellaonline, which seems quite promising:





Vin Chaud - French Mulled Wine Recipe

Mmmmm, this recipe begins by using Beaujolais to create a perfect cold weather treat.

Almost every wine drinking country has its own version of mulled wine. In France is is vin chaud, which features more fruit flavors than other recipes. The addition of cardamom adds a unique taste.

Ingredients

* 2 bottles of Beaujolais
* 1 cup of cassis
* 1 Tbs orange zest
* 1 Tbs lemon zest
* 2 cinnamon sticks
* 5 whole cardamom pods
* 5 whole cloves
* 6 allspice berries (or 1/2 tsp ground allspice)
* 1 tsp nutmeg

Directions

1. Pour the wine and cassis in a large pot.
2. Add the orange zest, lemon zest, and all spices.
3. Heat the wine until it just begins to simmer.
4. Lower the heat and allow to steep with the spices for 20-30 minutes.
5. Serve in punch cups or mugs. You may wish to garnish with lemon slices and cinnamon sticks.



Update:
I found a site, saveurdujour, that carries Amora mustard so I ordered the 3 jar package. With S & H, it came to $31.10 but still a bargain compared to traveling to France. It's pricey to order but I can't go back to any other moutarde after tasting this.

mostly yummy "cheese" cake

I've been craving cheesecake. So far, I've not tried any vegan version until yesterday. I found the recipe on Thursday, at vegweb.com, and my hubby baked it yesterday.

I followed most of the tips that commenters left behind, such as not adding water to the Ener-G Egg Replacer and only using half the juice from a lemon. Unfortunately, the batter was much too thick to blend in the blender & Mark had to add a tablespoon of water. The crust was also a challenge. One, I couldn't find any honey-free graham crackers. Two, the cookies I did choose were hard to spread over the pan. Oh, and we baked the "cheese" cake for the maximum time, at 35 minutes.

Next time, I think I'll try it at 30 minutes and maybe add water to half the "eggs". Oh, and maybe order some truly vegan graham crackers.


Here are the pics:


Mark, pouring the batter into the prepared pie crust.



all ready to go into the oven



fresh out of the oven & golden brown



the finished product, ready to eat.

"twix" bars

One of my twitter buddies posted a link to a recipe for veganized twix bars a few days ago. I've been thinking about them ever since. Today, I attempted to make them, with limited success. At least they taste good. But, I think the effort to make them outweighs the result. This may be the only time I ever make these.


I struggled to get the shortbread to roll out properly.



Though the recipe suggests scoring the dough, I cut the squares into "fun-sized" pieces.



the squares, spread with caramel right before I popped them into the freezer.



the finished result.



after I bit into the bar, you can see the chocolate layer and the caramel underneath.

dinner at a Santa Cruz taqueria

We took our niece to Santa Cruz, for a fun beach outing. As there was nothing too vegan-friendly on the boardwalk, we stopped at this local taqueria and had a very good vegan meal. I ordered a taco plate which was larger than I thought it would be and slathered in creamy guacamole.

pizza pizza!

Mark, my talented hubby, baked these pizzas from scratch (that includes the dough & sauce). The result was delicious. I particularly enjoyed the addition of jalapeno pepper instead of bell pepper. It gave the pizza a nice kick.


a pizza waiting to be baked.



the first result, before I ate half of it.


the last pizza, with slivers of jalapeno pepper.

VF vegan bake swap 3/09

I've been in a funk this year & baking has not been one of the things I've been wanting to do. However, I did sign up to be in the VF bake swap and the deadline was looming. So, I was inspired to bake 3 items for my recipient. These two recipes, from La Dolce Vegan, are ones I had never used before and was happy with the results. The other item was my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, which I've posted on here before.


Cinnamon Doughnut Holes, still cooling & before I glazed them.



Wolffie's Chocolate-y Moist Brownies, prior to the drizzling of chocolate ganache.

bakery cupcakes

We had a vegan meetup at the end of February 2009. Martha brought these cupcakes from a bakery in Santa Cruz and we all decided they looked like boobs. I snapped this pic of Joe's hands about to grab some cupcake (it was funny, at the time). The cupcakes were tasty, if a bit dry. I think I'm spoiled by my own baking.

chocolate babka

In my search for a veganized brioche recipe, I found this chocolate babka recipe. Mark baked these and the result was delicious.


babka, in two sizes.

a cruelty-free thanksgiving (2008)

Since it was just Mark & I celebrating the holiday this year, we toned it down and kept just the essentials.




the pecan pie, fresh from the oven.


our simple meal of Field Roast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and veggies.



this year, there was no Soyatoo or Hip Whip to be found, so we had our pecan pie with a scoop of vanilla rice cream. It was yummy.

bite-sized cinnamon rolls

Mark likes to tweak this recipe nearly every time he bakes them. This time, he was inspired by a work potluck to make the cinnamon rolls smaller. Now, this is our preferred way to bake them.


proofing the cinnamon rolls, before they go into the oven.



the finished result: with "cream cheese" frosting, caramel, and pecans.

peanut butter chocolate heavencakes

a from VCTOTW, using the Basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe & adding a peanut butter cream and chocolate ganache frosting. I've never made a dessert that required piping the filling in and it showed. Next time, be more aggressive with filling.



filling the cupcake.


topping the cupcake with ganache.

soup & sandwich

Now that it's officially autumn, we can bust out hearty meals. This soup, Kathleen's Mom's Tortilla Chip Soup, is a recipe from La Dolce Vegan. It's the first time we've tried it. We modified it slightly (by adding extra black beans) but kept the full amount of chili. It was very good. Especially for my currently ill hubby.

The sandwiches are made with vegenaise, dijon mustard, spinach, cucumber, tomato, avocado, and Field Roast slices) with Tings and picle spears on the side.

Very hearty.

snobby joes & tater tots

We thought we'd try the Snobby Joe recipe, from Veganomicon. Mark baked the buns from scratch. We added slices of vegan rice cheese on top of the open-faced joes, with a side of baked tater tots.

It was okay. Very lentil-y.

celebration cupcakes

Technically, these are the Basic Chocolate Cupcakes with Fluffy Buttercream Frosting, from VCTOTW. The red & blue sugar sprinkles and the fact that Barack Obama was elected President-elect are what makes them "celebration" cupcakes.