Sushi to go

I feel just like Molly Ringwald in the breakfast club when I eat sushi to go. I got stuck working late and had a good half hour to kill while waiting for my train, so since I was already starving, I went looking for a snack.

There are lots of places in Grand Central to get vegan grub and my latest find is Masa Japanese. They've got a couple of good vegetable sushi boxes. Today I got the "Track 5" which includes inari, a cucumber ume roll, a pickled vegetable roll, and a gourd roll. I also picked up some yaki tofu. Pretty darn tasty for fast food. I also discovered that I can blog from my iphone. So I can enjoy my exotic dinner on the train while blogging and listening to Air Supply. Now if I could figure out how to upload Photos to the blog from my phone then I'd really be in business. Thanks for keeping company on my ride home. Sayonara!

Eggplant parmesan

Eh, I've made it before and I'll make it again. I know it's not in season, but the eggplants at the store looked pretty good for who knows where they came from. Anyways, I'll remember that when I'm drowning in fresh local eggplant in the summer.The secret to a good eggplant parm is the frying. This time I did bother to salt, sit, and rinse, but honestly I've never noticed a difference. I find that instead of breadcrumbs, just a nice flour coating makes for a perfectly crispy eggplant. I also used the Tofutti mozzarella.

Eggplant parm

Eggplant:

1 Eggplant sliced lengthwise about 1/4 inch thick

1/4 cup flour (or more if needed)

1/4 cup soy milk (or more if needed)

Canola oil

Sauce:

2 TBS olive oil

2-10 cloves of garlic

1 big can crushed tomatoes

1 tsp salt

2 TBS sugar

1 TBS Italian seasoning

(a bunch of fresh basil if you've got it)

Soy cheese

Start with the sauce. Heat olive oil and saute garlic. Add tomatoes, salt, sugar, and seasoning. If adding basil chop up all the leaves and add it. Let simmer while you fry the eggplant.

Heat oil in a cash iron skillet until a droplet of water sizzles. You don't want it too hot or it'll burn before it's cooked. Dip eggplant slices in soy milk, then coat in flour. Cook two at a time for about 10 minutes one side, then 5 on the other. Drain on a cooling rack.

To assemble the ensemble...

I use mini loaf pans, but you can do this in any sized baking pan. Put down a layer of sauce to coat the bottom of the pan. Add Eggplant slice, top with sauce, then cheese, then repeat. Bake in the oven until the cheese is melty.

I like the mini loaf pans, because I can just heat up one serving in the toaster oven and voila, yummy Italian goodness.

Garden blend vegan burrito at Chipotle in Chelsea, NYC

Check out the Chipotle in Chelsea, NYC for a garden blend vegan burrito. The garden blend is vegan plant protein (I hear it's gardein) marinated in adobo sauce and grilled. It's a little on the spicy side, but in a good way. I recommend splurging for the guacamole to cool down the heat. This is the only location in NYC that's carrying the garden blend. There's a Chipotle across the street from my office, but I went out of my way to check out this burrito and I'm glad I did.
I like the way the store blends in with the rest of the block. Chelsea is a neighborhhod in NYC. Blossom is a few blocks away.

Mmmm. Fake chickeny goodness. The seasonings are really nice. Although I appreciate the usual vegan burrito at Chipotle, the garden blend gives you something to really bite into. I didn't test it out on any omnivores, but I don't think they'd be able to tell it's fake meat.
Currently this is the only location in NYC carrying the garden blend. There are a couple of Chipotles in Chelsea, so just to be clear. The Chipotle NYC location with the garden blend is 149 8^th Avenue between 17^th and 18^th streets. Apparently there's a location in DC serving it as well. I sent Chipotle a note to let them know how awesome it is to carry this and I hope they include it at all locations soon!

Gardein Parm - and who knew Tofutti cheese was good?

OK, I didn't realize I miss cheese singles. You know the ones individually wrapped in plastic. I picked up some Gardein tuscan breasts and wanted a little cheesy topping, but the store I was in didn't have much in the way of fake cheese options. So I took a chance and picked up some Tofutti Mozzarella slices. The tofutti slices are good just plain, but melted really nicely over the gardein in the oven.The sauce that the tuscan breasts come in is just OK. I needed sauce to serve with spaghetti anyway, so I made a really quick marinara consisting of a big can of crushed tomatoes, 1 tsp salt and 2 Tbs sugar. I added a few good shakes of italian seasoning, and just heated up.

I added a dash of black truffle oil just because it's awesome, and had a good hunk of garlic bread on the side. Yummmm.

Not your mom-mom's Mac & Cheese

It's a good thing I can't watch the Oscars (thanks ABC and Cablevision) because I'm studying for a test tomorrow. It's insurance and I keep falling asleep when I try to read it. Anyways here's to diversions like blogging and cooking....

Last week I stopped in the bodega in my building for a snack and bought some Ritz crackers but when I tried to spread on some tofutti cream cheese they all totally fell apart. I was crushed. So I was trying to think about what to do with a bunch of ritz cracker crumbs. A quick internet search including ritz and vegan lead me to Lindy Loo at Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit and a lovely recipe for Mac & Cheese topped with Ritz. I followed the recipe, but I still don't see why you need to make the white sauce and cheeze sauce separately. Anyway, it was still easy and I only had half a box of elbow macaroni, so I only used 1/2 the cheese sauce and the extra pan came in handy for mixing.

The verdict? This is some super awesome mac & cheese. Too bad I don't have any stewed tomatoes or it would be just like grandma used to make. Well, not my grandma, but everyone else's mom-mom I knew growing up in Delaware.

Candle 79 NYC Restaurant Review

I'm only going to say it once, then I'm going to let it go. When you make a reservation at Candle 79, ask for a table by the window or a booth. If it's busy or last minute, then sure, the section upstairs in the back is OK, I mean it's still the same awesome food, but the ambiance can be a little underwhelming. This is the second time I've had a reservation and got stuck at the crappy table. Our waitress was awesome, and gave us dessert on the house, so that made it better. Especially since it was amazing vegan cannoli, but I'll get to that later.

Here's the (sorry, flash) photos. Cocktails, wine, apps, dinner, dessert, tea and espresso. I got the specials and the ninja got the most normal stuff on the menu. He loved it.Mmm cocktails...They both have sake. The one on the left has spiced something, and the one on the right is the French 79 and has champagne. The point of cocktails is that you don't remember what's in them. Yummy.

Eh, here it is off the menu...

The Lexington: orange-ginger spiced sake, port reduction, champagne, lemon, agave
French 79: sake, apricot nectar, lemon, black currant, agave, champagne float

With the cocktails we got a little jalapeno cornbread. Now for the apps, I got the special which was an artichoke risotto. This was really nice. Creamy and full of flavor. The chips in top are zucchini. The Ninja had the mushroom ravioli. This was really lovely. The little bits on top were kind of bacony and the sauce was rich and creamy. In fact when he asked me if I wanted to try it he said, "oh, you can't have this, it's got cream in it," and I said "um, duh, we're at a vegan restaurant, I can eat ANYTHING!" Yay!

Menu description:

BUTTERNUT SQUASH & WILD MUSHROOM-SPINACH RAVIOLI: cashew ricotta, garlic cashew cream, tomato sauce, truffle oil, sautéed broccoli rabe, crispy capers

The wine was a Chilean malbec/cab. Nice. Ah the seitan piccata. Signature dish. The seitan was perfect. Nice density, lightly fried to perfection. I've made this dish from the Candle Cafe cookbook and I really liked it. Now that the ninja knows he likes it, I'll have to try it again. Usually he turns his nose up at my fake meaty things, but he's been talking about how much he liked this all week. At the restaurant he even turned around and recommended it to the people at the table next to us who were having trouble deciding. I think that's a big thumbs up.

Menu description:
SEITAN PICCATA: creamed spinach, grilled potato cake, oyster mushrooms, lemon-caper sauce I got the seitan special, which was beautifully fried seitan with a portabella mushroom and roasted vegetables in a mild chipotle sauce. This was also really good. There were two pieces of seitan and I couldn't quite finish both but I still almost took the last little piece home it was so good. Holy cannoli, batman. I do miss cannoli. Not with this around. This was fantastic. The ice cream was coconut chocolate chip.
CANNOLI: vanilla cream filling, vanilla chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate drizzle

Kudos to the ninja for being a good sport. Especially since this turned out to be his birthday dinner and all. So Candle 79 is a safe bet if you visit NYC and want to take your omni friends out to dinner to show them the true excellence of vegan food.

Going the distance...Cake!

I made a banana bunt cake. 'Cuz that's what I do when I've got really ripe bananas. It's going the distance. Well, the distance from here to work tomorrow. When I make a cake, I make extra little ones in silicone cups so I can have my cake and eat it too.I also made some garden fresh pizzas while I was watching Olympic hockey. The sauce was from the garden. Last summer's garden. Late in the summer I finally borrowed my mom's dehydrator and saved a few pieces of summer. Just what I needed in this wintry weather. The tomatoes were from mom's garden and the eggplant and peppers from my CSA. On the left is some dried tomatoes and on the right cubed and dried eggplant. The tomatoes were in slices, so I cut them up with some kitchen scissors. OK, so the shitake mushrooms weren't from the garden, but next year I'll have to dry some 'schrooms. Red and green bell peppers on the right.This is the sauce on the pizza dough. I added follow your heart Mozzarella because that's the best vegan cheese available in the stores near me. I do enjoy tease and daiya. I ran out of cheese, so I made a roll out of the extra dough. It's trying to sneak into the photo.

Cake:
Banana Bundt Cake

The wet stuff:
1 cup canola oil
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup soft tofu
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp orange extract

The dry stuff:
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder

The banana stuff:
2 cups smashed ripe banana (about 4)
1 cup strong coffee

Preheat oven to 350 and grease bundt pan.

In a medium bowl (or this cool sifter thingy,) mix all the dry stuff together.

In a separate bowl, mix the mashed banana and coffee together.

In a large bowl, beat the oil and sugar until most of the sugar has dissolved. Add tofu and blend thoroughly. Add extracts.

Alternately mix in 1/3 dry mix, then 1/3 banana, and repeat until all incorporated, but don't over-mix.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan 10 min, then turn out onto cooling rack.

Once cool, you can eat as is, or make a quick glaze.

Quick glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 TBS soy milk

Blend together with an electric mixer and drizzle over cooled cake.

He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich...*

Now for some weird Britishish food. Vegemite, Marmite, and Bovril. Honestly, I can't really taste the difference between Vegemite and Marmite, but both are full of b12 goodness. The Bovril is the drink version. It's kind of like Marmite bullion. Surprisingly tasty. Gluten-free toast with "mite." Vegemite on the left; Marmite on the right. The consistency is a little different, and I'm sure there's some subtle taste difference, but I can't tell them apart. It may look like chocolate nutella or something, but I assure you this salty, yeasty topping does not resemble chocolate in taste. The Bread is Ener G gluten free, dairy free bread. It has a shelf life of about 6 months. I would have used it earlier, but I was kind of fascinated to see how long it would last. The special packaging is the "preservative" and you don't have to keep it in the freezer like other gluten free breads I've seen. The packaging got puffier the longer it sat around. For gluten-free bread, this isn't half bad. It tastes a little healthy, but otherwise is good. Here's some snowy photos of my neighborhood.Big tree that decided to lose a few branches in my yard.This is the footbridge I take on my walk to the train. It's much scarier at night when you think the Headless Horseman might be galloping up behind you. I live in Sleepy Hollow, so don't think that couldn't happen. OK, Headless Horseman aside, here's some actual danger. Just past the bridge there was a downed tree fallen on a power line completely blocking the road for anyone downhill from it. I just kind of walked around it to get home. The snow was pretty, but knocked out my cable for a couple of days. Cable is back on now, so I've got to go catch up on some Buffy I DVRed.
Buffy is on Logo -they're at the beginning of season 3. Apparently it's on MTV also. Buffy season 8 volume 6 comic is out next month. Even if comics aren't your medium of choice, if you're a Buffy fan, I highly recommend checking them out. It starts where the show ends. My mom is reading them now.*For anyone who didn't live through the 80's, the title "He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich" is part of the lyrics to "Down Under" by Men at Work. I had no idea what a Vegemite sandwich was until many years later. I once named our corporate volleyball team "Vegemite Slamwich." It won an award.

PIF gift of awesomeness. Truffles and marmalade and jewelry, oh my!

Vegan blogger friends rock. Amanda of Gemusings sent me a super amazing array of homemade gifts. Chocolate truffles filled various flavors from hazelnut to mint (yes, I ate them all) in a cute decorated wooden box. Orange ginger marmalade which I slathered heavily on some toast. Wicked yummy, I could have eaten it with a spoon. A handmade origami gift box and a very pretty beaded necklace. Oh, and an oh so cute photo of Squirrelly.

Thanks Amanda!

Easy Tofu Rancheros

Mmm Mexcellent. I like a good savory breakfast/brunch item. These tofu rancheros fit the bill nicely.

Tofu Rancheros for one

1 TBS corn oil (or annatto oil for a nice mexicany color)
2 TBS onion
1 green chili (I used canned)
1/4 block tofu (the bridge tofu pressed overnight in the super awesome tofu Xpress*)
1 tsp adobo seasoning
1/4 tsp black salt
1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 cup salsa (I used Zukay mild salsa viva)

2 corn tortillas

In a small skillet (cast iron if you've got it), saute onion and chili in a little corn oil until softened. Add the adobo seasoning. Add broken up pieces of tofu and add black salt and turmeric. Cook about 5 minutes until tofu is warmed. While tofu is cooking toast 2 corn tortillas to get warm and just a little crispy. Move tofu mixture to one side of the pan and add salsa to the other. Heat salsa for 2-3 minutes to warm and reduce any excess liquid.

Place warmed tortillas on a plate and top with tofu mixture, then pour on heated salsa. Enjoy with a little chipotle vegenaise (1/2 canned chipotle chopped and mixed with 2 TBS Vegenaise) or tofutti sour cream.

Enjoy!

*Just so you know, I don't get awesome free stuff from any of the vendors I'm pimping on my blog. It's just an honest appraisal of the products I've found, purchased, and use. I obviously like cooking gadgets and I grocery shop as a hobby. If anyone wants to send me some free stuff to review I'm all for it.

I did get some POM juice last year, and I noted that they sent it to me. And Frito Lay sent me a coupon, but that's because I sent them a message that I was really happy they made vegan Doritos. I don't think they're reading my vegan blog.

Weird Japanese food - "Pickled Eggplant ith Mustard Paste" and the tofu Xpress

I picked up some "Pickled Eggplant ith Mustard Paste" in the prepared food section of my local Japanese market Nijya. Yeah, I know it's "with" but the packaging said "ith" and I think typos in food translations are funny. Not that I could begin to say this in Japanese...there's a ka ra shi in there but the rest of it, I have no idea. A quick google search tells me that karashi is the mustard and the dish is called karashinasu, but anyway, this pickled eggplant in mustard sauce is decidedly weird. However, weird didn't stop me from eating it. For some reason I was in the mood for mustard. There was plenty of sauce, so it gave that burning sinus sensation similar to a wasabi high. Although it looks like its probably meant to be one of those cold side dish items, I threw it on top of some sushi rice to cut the mustard. I'm also pressing some tofu in my new Tofu Xpress. This gadget is totally cool. It helps to have good tofu. This is the bridge tofu which I adore and is made in Connecticut.
The photo is right after I put the tofu in. It'll be about half the size in about an hour and more like a quarter the size if I leave it overnight. Then I just break it up and add it to a little peanut oil in a small cast iron skillet, add a dash or so of soy sauce, and some hot chili oil. Sometimes I add a little sake to the pan to deglaze if the little tofu bits starts to stick to the bottom. Serve over hot sushi rice.

The tofu express may seem like an indulgence when you can just pile stuff on top of tofu to squeeze out the water for free. But..if you've ever had a cast iron skillet come crashing down unexpectedly off your tower-of-heavy-objects-style free tofu press, you'll be glad all you have to do it turn the little knob on this little spring loaded gadget. It fits in the fridge easily so you can leave over night or all day to have pressed tofu ready when you want it.

Perfect cup of cocoa

What goes with snow? Cocoa!

Who needs prepackaged cocoa mix when it's so easy to make a super rich chocolaty cup of cocoa from a few standard baking ingredients.

1. Take out your favorite mug and fill it with milk (soy, almond, whatever you've got.)

2. Take out a saucepan and turn heat to med-low.

3. Take a heaping spoonful of unsweetened cocoa powder and add it to the pan.

4. Pour a small amount of the milk from the mug and whisk it together with the cocoa powder adding a little at a time until it is dissolved, then add the rest of the milk.

5. Add about a teaspoon of sugar to taste. You don't need too much sugar; you'll get more chocolate flavor if it's less sweet.

6. Continue whisking a bit to whip in some air until it is hot and bubbly.

7. Pour hot cocoa back into your mug, and top with some marshmallows (I used the rest of the Dandies)

8. Relax, watch the weather channel, and hope for a snow day.

Of course if you embrace newfangled technology, you could do this easily in the microwave, too, but it won't get you as warm and toasty as standing over the stove whisking your perfect cocoa.

Enjoy!

Cupcakes for Haiti - Bake sale at Vegan Drinks NYC tonight

Golden cupcakes and chocolate buttercream frosting from duh, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I'll be at Vegan Drinks in NYC tonight where we're having a bake sale to help the relief effort in Haiti.

Veganism is the new tastes like chicken

Veganism is the new tastes like chicken was in the vanity card from an episode of the Big Bang Theory earlier this season. I still think it's funny...and totally appropriate for tonight's dinner.

I know there are two camps of vegans. The ones who are grossed out by the mere mention of fake meat and the others who wish everything tasted like bacon. I think you know what brand of vegan I am. So, if you're tired of eggplant Parmesan and want some chicken Parmesan that tastes like chicken parm I highly recommend trying some Gardein Tuscan breasts. No joke. Tastes like chicken. I assure you, no chickens were harmed in the making of this dinner.

I topped my Tuscan breast with some cheezly mozzarella that I had shredded and frozen for just such a needs-to-be-topped-with-cheese occasion. You can't really tell from the photo, but the cheezly isn't exactly "melted" but it is soft and melty. This was good since it stayed on top of the Tuscan breast and even got a little browned on top. The pasta is a nice dried Italian pasta. Worth the extra few bucks. Homemade sauce and the topping on the spaghetti is a mix of pine nuts and nutritional yeast. It's really quite yummy.

Freakin' awesome brunch at Counter NYC

Had a lovely brunch at Counter in the East Village yesterday afternoon. This was the Mean Green Mary. Despite the dandelion greens and other good for you additions, I think I got a little tipsy.We shared the potato latkes. The condiment was a pear compote. Fried potatoes. So scrumptious.

This was the East Side Burger. Seitan and mushroom pate with some soy cheddar on top. Tasty, but kind of fell apart a bit when you took a bite. Eh, who cares, it's one of the better flavored veggie burgers I've had in the city.

Mmmmm biscuits with vegan sausage gravy. This was really yummy. Not too salty and just the perfect amount of sausage gravy. I'll get this again.

And what's brunch without a little dessert? This awesome brownie a la mode features a vanilla nut based ice cream. Yum!