Tempeh Dopiaza

This is my new BFF, Lord Ganesha: he's a Hindu deity who represents the power to remove obstacles and ensure success in human endeavors. Part human and part elephant, his hybridity signifies qualities useful and important to both: his large head symbolizes wisdom, understanding, and a discriminating intellect, his wide mouth represents the human desire to enjoy life in the world, and his big ears remind us that the wisest person is one with a great capacity to listen and to assimilate ideas. Among my gifts this past holiday was a splendid statue that - along with his accompanying incense - is a most welcome addition to our home, and as I head back for my second semester at Tufts (whose mascot just happens to be an elephant), it's nice to feel like Ganesha has my back.

I decided to feature him in this post because it's a new year, and this is my first curry of 2012! Ordinarily, we cook a lot of Indian food at our house, and after the barrage of traditional podginess that informs the whole Thanksgiving-Christmas juggernaut, it's nice to get back to popping up some mustard and cumin seeds. Dopiaza is a South Indian preparation meaning "(having) two onions," and it often features meat or prawns. Obviously that is never going to happen in my house or on my blog, but the dense, chewy texture of tempeh is particularly well-suited to stewy dishes like this, so when my partner returned from a trip to Toronto with several packages of the best commercial tempeh on the planet Earth (http://www.tempeh.ca/) it was time to have a go at it.

As is usually the case, I took a few traditional recipes and bent them to suit my personal will/taste/cupboard ingredients, and I also opted to chop the onions that form the sauce rather than puree them, for a bit more texture. But if you should prefer a smoother sauce, rock on: the time to do so is after adding the ginger and mint, and before the lemon juice. As with many curries, this gets better the longer it sits and the leftovers are even better than that first plateful, so it's fortunate that this makes a lot. We had it with Bihari green beans masala (recipe to follow) and saffron rice, and it made two ample dinners for 3-4 people and a couple of lunches besides. Yum.

Tempeh Dopiaza
Ingredients
~ 2 tbsp. canola oil, divided
~ 2 large onions
~ 1 small red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
~ 1/2 tsp. each: salt, cayenne pepper
~ 1 tsp. each: cumin seeds, mustard seeds
~ 1 tsp. each: salt, fenugreek powder, ground coriander
~ 1/2 tsp. each: asafoetida, turmeric
~ 1 tbsp. sugar
~ 1 tbsp. grated ginger
~ 1 tsp. dried mint
~ 1 tbsp. lemon juice
~ 1 tbsp. vegan margarine
~ 1/2 cup water (more as needed)
~ 1 8 oz. package tempeh, cubed

Directions
~ Chop one of the onions into thin crescents. In a skillet, add 1 tbsp. of the canola oil and fry the onions for a minute or two over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper, the cayenne, 1/2 tsp. of salt, and continue cooking about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
~ Cut the second onion into small dice. In the same skillet, heat the remaining tbsp. of canola oil over medium flame and add the cumin and mustard seeds; cook for about a minute, until they just begin to pop (be careful - don't shoot your eye out!).
~ Add the diced onions, the fenugreek, coriander, asafoetida, turmeric, sugar, and the remaining salt. Cook over medium heat with occasional stirring until the onions are very soft (about 10-15 minutes).
~ Stir in the ginger and the mint; cook for another minute or two.
~ Add the lemon juice, 1/2 cup water, the margarine, and the cubed tempeh.
~ Mix well to coat, cover the pan, and continue cooking for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and browns a bit.
~ Add the reserved fried onion and bell pepper and mix throughly. Taste for seasoning and cook another 5 minutes.
~ Serve hot over rice and/or with naan bread.

Black Pepper Biscuits

Happy new year! Here we are in the future - ain't it grand? Today's illustration is brought to you by the dual influences of the Sci-Fi Channel's annual Twilight Zone marathon and the lingering memory of the black pepper biscuit I had last week at Veggie Galaxy. "I'm Talkie Biscuit, and you're going to eat me!"

Anyway, a few days after Christmas, we finally got around to checking out this new addition to Cambridge's Central Square: a diner with a classic, old-school chrome and formica aesthetic and an all-vegetarian/vegan menu, and we were only sorry we hadn't done so sooner. I wanted breakfast (tofu omelet w/portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, and homefries), while my partner opted for a black bean burger. The burger arrived topped with two of the most epic onion rings I have ever stolen from another person's plate; so good were those onion rings, in fact, that I need to go back for dinner so I can have the house-smoked tofu fried in the same batter.

But, as noted above, what I really want to talk about is that biscuit, which may have been the most delicious one I have ever tasted. Considering my devotion to the herby specimens at True Bistro, this is saying' summat, and I've been excited to try my hand at recreating them for a week now. So I fired up the Google, cast about in my usual way, and decided that Bobby Flay's recipe looked plausible with a few substitutions. Within the hour we had a ginormous batch of flaky, baked goodness cooling on the counter. I dialed back Bobby's pepper a bit since my youngest isn't the hugest fan, but you should obviously adjust such things to suit your own personal taste. Not only did this recipe produce great biscuits, it is ridiculously easy; it had never occurred to me to use a food processor for biscuit dough, but I'll definitely do so from now on. So what are you waiting for? Get those fiery biscuits in the oven!

Black Pepper Biscuits
Ingredients
~ 2 cups plain, unsweetened soy milk
~ 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
~ 4 cups all-purpose flour
~ 4 tsps. baking powder
~ 1 tsp. each: salt, baking soda
~ 1/2 tsp. sage
~ 4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (more if you like)
~ 12 tbsp. cold vegan margarine or shortening, cut into small pieces

Directions
~ Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
~ In a beaker, combine the soy milk and the vinegar, mix, and set aside for about 10 minutes.
~ In a large food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sage, and 3 tsp. of the black pepper and pulse to combine.
~ Scatter the margarine or shortening over the top of the flour mixture and pulse a few times, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
~ With the food processor running, add the soy milk/vinegar mixture in a thin stream, until the mixture just begins to come together.
~ Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured counter, and roll into a 10 by 12-inch rectangle about 3/4-inch thick.
~ Use a 3-inch round cutter - I actually use the floured rim of a water glass - to cut out biscuits, and place them on a non-stick baking sheet. Press together the scraps of remaining dough, and repeat process until you've used it all up. (I got 16 biscuits from this recipe; your mileage may vary.)
~ Brush the tops with a little soy milk mixed with the remaining teaspoon of black pepper.
~ Bake at 450 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
~ Remove from the oven and serve hot as a side dish, with gravy, as part of Tofu Benedict, or (as I did), all by themselves.

Savory French Toast

I've really been enjoying getting back in touch with my kitchen mojo this past week or so, and the (temporary) leisure has awakened my (temporarily) dormant urge to experiment. Today's brunch/lunch was a perfect example, because it's something I've been wanting to try but for which I have had neither time nor energy: French toast that isn't sweet!

When it comes to breakfast foods, I rarely see the appeal in sugary things if there's a savory alternative. Don't get me wrong; I like a stack of pancakes with maple syrup just fine, but I'll get a whole lot more excited if those are potato pancakes or (better yet) black pepper biscuits with gravy. Every time we go to a place that does vegan brunch - of which there are increasingly numerous examples these days, thanks be to god - there's a plethora of French toast offerings featuring stuff like berry sauces, whipped cream, and (what??) chocolate chips, but there's a conspicuous lack of a savory version of this ever-popular breakfast staple. So it became apparent that if I wanted such a thing, I had to make it my own damn self.

To my knowledge, the closest non-sweet analogue is a dish served in the UK made from stale bread soaked in milk and beaten egg, fried in butter, and seasoned with salt and pepper. They call it by the refreshingly straightforward name "eggy bread," but since my version is ovum-free I've opted for "savory French toast" despite its cross-Channel spirit. The beauty of this is its versatility: we had ours with sautéed mushrooms and Hollandaise sauce (recipe below), but it would be great with asparagus, garlicky greens, roasted tomatoes, or anything you please. Then again, it would be fine served as is, or as an accompaniment to roasted potatoes, baked beans, stewed tomatoes, or tofu scramble. Bon appétit!

Savory French Toast
Ingredients
~ 1.5 cups plain soy milk
~ 1/2 tsp. each: salt, paprika, marjoram, dry mustard
~ A few generous grinds of fresh black pepper
~ 2 tbsp. corn starch
~ 1 cup chickpea flour
~ 8-10 slices stale or lightly toasted baguette
~ Canola oil or cooking spray

Directions
~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
~ In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except the bread and whisk thoroughly. The batter doesn't have to be totally smooth, but everything should be well combined. Place two slices of the bread in the batter and let it sit for a few minutes.
~ Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray or a very thin coat of canola oil.
~ Add the soaked bread to the pan and cook on each side for about 3-5 minutes, until miraculously brown and crispy; as you cook the soaked slices, put two more in the batter to await their turn in the pan.
~ Adding more oil or cooking spray as necessary to prevent sticking, continue until all the bread is cooked, transferring the finished slices to a baking sheet to keep warm in the oven.
~ Serve hot as is, or topped with sautéed mushrooms, asparagus, leafy greens, or whatever you like. If you're feeling fancy, you might also drizzle on a nice sauce like this hollandaise (think of it as the new maple syrup).

Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
~ 3/4 cup raw cashews
~ 2 cups plain, unsweetened soy (or other non-dairy) milk
~ 1/4 tsp. saffron threads
~ 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
~ 1/2 tsp. each: salt, turmeric, dry mustard
~ A few grinds of black pepper
~ 1 tbsp. Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
~ 1 tsp. tarragon
~ 1 tbsp. garlic, minced
~ 2 tbsp. flour
~ Juice of 1 lemon

Directions
~ Heat the soy milk almost to boiling, add the cashews and the saffron threads, and allow to soak for 30 minutes.
~ In a food processor, combine the milk/cashew mixture, the nutritional yeast, salt, turmeric, mustard and pepper. Blend thoroughly until smooth.
~ In a saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat, then add the garlic and tarragon. Saute briefly before adding the flour to make a roux.
~ Raise the heat to medium, then begin gradually adding the blended milk/cashew mixture, stirring continually.
~ Cook about 5-7 minutes, continuing to stir, until heated through and thickened; if the sauce gets too thick, add a little water to thin it out to the consistency you like.
~ Remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice, and serve hot.

Neo-Classic Green Bean Casserole

I'm baaaaack! Having successfully completed my first semester of PhD School (as we like to call it), I'm now on break for a few weeks, which allows me to feel totally justified in rattling some pots and pans. This is A Good Thing, since A. I love to cook and have really missed it, and B. Christmas dinner happens at our house. So, like this multi-tasking lady about to baste what appears to be a levitating Tofurky, I donned my pearls, cocktail dress, and festive holiday apron to reassert Absolute Sovereignty over the domestic space. (Except that my festive apron reads, "Come, woo me, woo me; for now I am in a holiday humour, and like enough to consent." It's also a full rather than half-apron, because I am a slob.)

This year's menu included maple glazed carrots, roasted potatoes, mushroom gravy, Field Roast in puff pastry, and - something new! - green bean casserole. Now, having grown up in these great United States, I could hardly have reached adulthood without being aware that many people consider this an indispensable part of a holiday meal, but it never appeared on the table when I was growing up. (Ditto for those canned sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top.) In fact, until yesterday, I'd never even tasted green bean casserole because, with all due respect to the makers of Campbell's Soup, French's Fried Onion Rings, and whatever other packaged foodstuffs comprise this seasonal delicacy, it sounds kind of gross.

So obviously I had to make it, right? But what I had in mind was a sort of bionic green bean casserole. I wanted to make it better than it was: better, healthier, less...canned. I hunted around online a bit, and finally settled on two recipes as general models: one from Martha Stewart and one from someplace I've already forgotten, which doesn't really matter since I'm constitutionally incapable of following a recipe to the letter anyway. Basically I got some ideas for proportions, cooking times and temps, etc., and then made it taste the way I wanted. And guess what? The way I wanted turned out to be excellent! So excellent, in fact, that what started as a quixotic, semi-ironic twist on an American "classic" will very likely be making future appearances on my own British/Greek/Canadian holiday table. And not a can opener in sight. God bless America, and God bless us, every one! (NB that the sweet potatoes with the marshmallows will in all likelihood remain unexplored territory, because I mean damn.)

Neo-Classic Green Bean Casserole

The Filling
Ingredients
~ 2 lbs. green beans, trimmed and snapped in half
~ 2 tbsp. Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
~ 1 large onion, diced
~ 1 tbsp. minced garlic
~ 1 lb. mushrooms, sliced (I used baby bellas)
~ 1 tsp. each: salt, sage, marjoram
~ 1 tbsp. vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
~ 2 tbsp. flour
~ 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
~ 2 cups mushroom gravy (homemade is always good, but Imagine brand is vegan if you can't be arsed)

Directions
~ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit and coat a 9 x 13" casserole with cooking spray.
~ Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with cold water and ice cubes; set aside.
~ In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and the beans, return to a boil, and cook 5 minutes, until they are bright green but still retain a bit of crunch.
~ Drain the beans in a large colander and transfer immediately into the ice bath to stop them from cooking. (This is called "shocking," and I imagine it must be as applicable to the green bean experience as it is for those crazy feckers who go skinny-dipping every New Year's Day.)
~ Drain the beans again and set aside.
~ In a large, deep skillet, melt the margarine and sauté the onions over medium heat about 4 minutes.
~ Add the garlic, mushrooms, the seasonings, and the Worcestershire sauce. Cook another 6 minutes or so, until the mushrooms have given up their liquid.
~ Add the flour and the nutritional yeast, stir to coat, and pour in the gravy.
~ Add the cooked green beans, combine thoroughly, and remove from heat.
~ Transfer to your prepared casserole and make:

The Topping
Ingredients
~ 1 medium onion, chopped
~ 2 tbsp. flour
~ 1/4 cup canola oil
~ 1 cup panko crumbs
~ 1/4 cup vegan parmesan (optional, but nice)
~ 1 tsp. each: paprika, parsley

Directions
~ Toss the onions with the flour to coat.
~ In a skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat and fry the onions in batches, turning frequently, until crisp and golden (not brown!). Remove to paper towels to drain and cool.
~ In a food processor, combine the drained, cooled onions with the remaining ingredients; pulse a few times until blended.

And now....
~ Sprinkle the topping evenly over the green bean mixture, cover with foil, and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until bubbling.
~ Remove the foil, raise the heat to 425 and cook another 5-10 minutes, until the topping is lightly browned. (Watch to be sure it doesn't burn.)
~ Remove from the oven and allow to rest a few minutes before serving.

Adopt a turkey!

Apologies for the lack of recent posts; things have been busy, busy, busy! I hope that I'll have a bit more time to cook (and to blog about it) once the winter break arrives, but right now it's time for my annual plug for Farm Sanctuary. As the air gets cooler, the days get shorter, and the holidays approach, lots of people start thinking about turkeys. And we are no exception: we love them! With this year's round of festive occasions - and meals - practically on our doorstep, it's disturbing to think about all the animals who suffer so needlessly to fulfill people's skewed notions of what constitutes a "celebration." Every autumn, we gird our loins for the inevitable onslaught of moronic advertising, masturbatory foodie rhetoric, and ham-handed - you should excuse the expression - "jokes" about tofurky, People Eating Tasty Animals, etc. (To say nothing of the whole "But turkeys are stupid" rationale: #1. Wild turkeys are not stupid! They have mad skills appropriate for turkeys; the fact that these aren't necessarily mad skills according to human standards is irrelevant. #2. If intelligence is the criteria for who gets eaten in our society, there should be a lot more cannibalism. Just sayin'.)

Anyway. Several years ago, a post by Susan over at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen, inspired me to do something more positive than snapping off the television and muttering darkly to myself: participating in Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project! To quote their web-site: "Since 1986, this program has encouraged people to save a turkey at Thanksgiving through sponsorships that help us rescue animals and provide care for them at our sanctuaries, as well as educate and advocate for turkeys, and other farm animals, everywhere." This year, we're sponsoring Elizabeth, the avian namesake of my historical heroine, and for a mere $30 (probably about the same price as one of those wretched, pathetic carcasses filling the freezers of the local grocery stores this week), you can sponsor one of her friends, or even adopt a whole flock for $210. So go ahead, adopt one of these fine specimens of the genus Meleagris gallopavo; you know you've always wanted to!
http://www.adoptaturkey.org/

Savory Autumn Crumble

Today's recipe is some seriously autumnal stuff. It's the brainchild of an October Sunday when, after a weekend of nonstop reading and grading (oh, midterm: exactly WTF is your problem?), I was A. starving, and B. incapable of doing any more work.  The happy result was this crumble, which is like the product of a wholly unsanctified - yet passionate - union between a savory casserole and a dessert: the dish that dare not speak its name!

Savory Autumn Crumble
The Filling
Ingredients
~ 1 cup brown lentils
~ 3 cups vegetable broth
~ 1 tbsp. olive oil
~ 1 tbsp. vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance)
~ 1 big onion, diced
~ 2 large carrots, diced
~ 2 stalks celery, diced
~ 3 medium potatoes, cubed
~ 2 tbsp. minced garlic
~ 1 tsp. each: sage, marjoram, parsley
~ 1/2 tsp. each: salt, thyme, rosemary
~ Lots of black pepper
~ 10 oz. package mushrooms (about 4 cups sliced)
~ 3 medium apples, cubed
~ 1 tbsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
~ 1 tsp. Marmite
~ 3/4 cup frozen peas
~ 2-4 tbsp. flour

Directions
~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit, and coat a casserole dish with cooking spray.
~ In a saucepan, bring the stock to a boil and add the lentils. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 20-30 minutes, until the lentils are quite tender. Remove from heat and set aside. (NB the lentils will cook more quickly if you've soaked them for an hour or two beforehand.)
~ In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil and margarine and sauté the onion, celery, and carrot over medium heat for about 3 minutes.
~ Add the potatoes, garlic, and dried seasonings, and cook another 5 minutes, stirring often.
~ Add the mushrooms and apples, stir to combine, and then cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes, until the mushrooms have given off their liquid and the vegetables are getting tender.
~ Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, Marmite, frozen peas, and the lentils with whatever is left of their cooking liquid. Stir to combine, then mix in the flour. (You want enough flour to make a gravy, but not so much that the filling becomes too solid; remember, it still has to bake!)
~ Transfer the filling to your prepared casserole while you make...

The Topping
Ingredients
~ 1.5 cups flour
~ 6 tbsp. cold vegan margarine or shortening
~ 1/2 tsp. each: salt, sage, black pepper

Directions
~ In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, sage, and black pepper.
~ Chop or grate the cold margarine into the flour mixture, then rub the whole mess together with your fingers until it resemble coarse crumbs.
~ Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the filling, then bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, until the topping is crisp and golden.
~ Allow to cool briefly before serving.

Great Pumpkin Banana Bread

I feel like I'm totally tanking on MoFo this year, but in the current circumstances, it's a wonder we aren't living on toast (yet). This afternoon I had a few over-ripe bananas and a bit of time between a pile of reading and jumping into my car (again) to collect my kid from his school and then drive to mine, so I thought I'd whip up some bread. Here in New England, October=pumpkin, so I tossed in some of that, too, and within an hour: voila! Banana pumpkin bread: quick, easy, and yet completely sincere.

Great Pumpkin Banana Bread
Dry Ingredients
~ 2 cups white whole-wheat flour
~ 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
~ 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
~ 1 tsp. baking soda
~ 1/2 tsp. each: salt, cinnamon
~ 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
~ 1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Wet Ingredients
~ 2 very ripe bananas
~ 1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
~ 1/4 cup canola oil
~ 1 tsp. vanilla extract


Directions
~ Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
~ In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.
~ In a separate bowl, mash the bananas, and then stir in the remaining wet ingredients.
~ Add the wet mixture to the dry, and combine thoroughly, being careful not to overmix.
~ Transfer the batter to your prepared loaf pan, and bake at 350 in the center of the oven for 45-60 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted comes out clean. (Ovens vary; mine tends to be a bit slow, so keep an eye on things.)
~ Allow to cool in the pan at least 20 minutes before slicing.