Brownies with a KICK

Last night I went to a New Years Eve party and wanted to bring brownies. Since I knew there would be numerous, yummy chocolaty choices, I decided to do something different. I am a fan of dark chocolate candy bars spiced with hot peppers and this was my inspiration. The result was a crowd pleaser and I was happy to discover that the brownie was still deliciously sweet but had a pleasant after burn. It wasn't too spicy. No one ran to the kitchen for a glass of water. If I had added more heat, I don't know if the positive reaction would have been the same. I guess if you tweak this recipe, know thy audience!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

You'll need 2 mixing bowls, one for dry, one for wet. If you don't have two big bowl, you can use a smaller one for the wet.

DRY BOWL (mix the following throughly):
~1 1/2 cup sugar (I like to use organic sugar)
~ 1 1/3 cup flour
~3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
~3/4 tsp baking powder
~1/4 tsp sea salt
~1/4 tsp ground habanero chile powder (I used the Spice Island brand which is SUPER hot, one little morsel on your tongue can be a fiery inferno to the faint hearted. There is also a warning label on the bottle! If I used cayenne, I would probably add more. Use your best judgement if you alter the type of chile powder.)


WET BOWL: 
Rapidly mix together: 
~ 2 tsp ground flax seed/ flax meal
~ 2 tbsp water
Now add the following and throughly mix together:
~1/2 cup water
~3/4 cup apple sauce (plain, not sweetened)
~2 tsp vanilla extract


Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredient and stir until batter is smooth. Pour into lightly oiled glass baking pan (8X8). Bake for 40 minutes. The brownies will come out VERY moist and gooey. If you like a more cake-like brownie, cook for a little longer. 


I topped the brownies with a couple of dried hot peppers and glazed the brownies with a mixture of powder sugar, vanilla, red food coloring and a tiny bit of water. Then I added glittery sprinkles. I used the hot peppers as a decoration but mostly as a warning device. None of the topping is necessary. 

Lime Coconut Cookies

For my husband's 40th birthday, I organized a (vegan) Jamaican theme party. Here's the flyer I made: 

If you read my last post, you'll know I've been hooked on coconuts! What better way to use coconuts than in Caribbean food. This was a great excuse for me to experiment with the flavor of coconut. One of my creations was a spin on a sugar cookie. I used lime and coconut, which resulted in a sweet but tart cookie. I iced them in Rasta colors (red, green and yellow) to coincide with the theme. 

NOTE: Since childhood, I've always enjoyed raw cookie dough more than actual cookies. This particular cookie dough was amazing raw! I think it would be great to use in a homemade (vegan) cookie dough ice cream, especially one made from coconut milk! 

DOUGH INGREDIENTS/INSTRUCTIONS: 

Using an electric mixer (I use a handheld one) beat the following until creamy: 

1/2 cup non-dairy butter

3/4 cup sugar

Now add the following to your mixture:

1 1/2 tsp egg replacer mixed with 2 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (see list below). After the dry ingredients are throughly mixed, add them to the wet ingredients and beat with the electric mixture until the dough forms: 

 1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 handfuls (or so) of raw shredded coconut

Divide dough into two balls, seal in plastic wrap and store in fridge at least a 1/2 hour. 

Bake at 350 degrees

Cooking time will depend on the size of the cookie. I used small cookie cutters, so my cookies only took around 6 minutes. Otherwise normal size cookies should take around 12 minutes or so. 

Throughly cool before icing (although they taste fine without icing)

BBQ Pulled Seitan

For my dinner parties, I typically come up with a theme and cook within it. My last dinner party was centered around Southern Comfort Food. Here are some of the dishes I created and served:

~Sweet Potato Pie

~Pan Fried "Chicken" (created from homemade seitan)

~Collard Greens, Sweet Corn and Black Eyed Peas cooked in southern spices

~Cornbread

~Potato, Leek, Corn and Black Bean Chowder (clear broth)

~BBQ Pulled Seitan over Brown Rice

My BBQ Pulled Seitan creation was the wild card of the evening and it turned out to be the most popular dish served. Although time consuming, it was well worth it. This dish took two days to make due to preparation, cooking, marinating and simmering time. This dish was created in total improvisation, but through the same ingredients I think a tasty variation of this is in your future.

There are several steps involved, but don't get intimidated. These steps are all pretty easy.

STEP ONE: MAKE SEITAN

PRE-HEAT OVEN: 350 degrees

In a food processor (with bread mixer blade) mix the following until it forms a dough (approx. 6 minutes).  ~~~~If you don't own a food processor, then mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and blend the wet ingredients in another. Then combine the wet and the dry and mix and knead until dough is formed.

MIX THE FOLLOWING:

Dry Ingredients:

~1 cup vital wheat gluten*

~1/4 cup garbanzo flour (or soy flour)

~3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

~2 tsp onion powder

~ 1 tsp roasted garlic powder (or regular garlic powder)

~2 tsp paprika 

Wet Ingredients:

~ 3/4 cup water

~ 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

~ 1 tsp liquid smoke

~ 2 tablespoons tahini

In an 8x8 baking dish (lined with parchment paper) - press out your dough until it takes up most of the pan. Next do the following

• Bake in oven for 20 minutes uncovered.
• Remove from oven, with a basting brush apply BBQ-Sauce**
• Return to oven for approx. 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven, flip seitan and apply BBQ-Sauce.
• Return to oven for approx. 10 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool.

STEP TWO: MARINADE

After the seitan has cooled, take two big forks and pull/shred the seitan into little pieces. A combination of bigger pieces with stringy smaller ones is perfect.

In a lidded container mix up the marinade (add a little of each, for spicy sauce add more hot sauce, for sweeter sauce add more maple syrup, for tangy sauce add more BBQ-Sauce):

Maple syrup
BBQ-Sauce
Hot Sauce
liquid smoke
Mesquite Spice Blend (or BBQ blend spices)
Organic Blue Agave (optional)***
Ground Pepper

Then add the seitan and mix thoroughly so that the seitan is perfectly covered with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate. Shake up the seitan and marinade once in a while. If possible, marinade for at least 24 hours. 

STEP THREE: COOKING PULLED-SEITAN

In a frying pan saute in olive oil:

~1 large purple onion or sweet onion (chopped into small pieces) 

Once the onion is soft add:

~1 large spoonful of crushed garlic
~1 large or 2 small red bell peppers (chopped into small pieces)
~The marinated seitan

Cook until thoroughly hot.

In a mixing bowl combine the following (add a little of each, for spicy sauce add more hot sauce, for sweeter sauce add more maple syrup, for tangy sauce add more BBQ-Sauce and ketchup):

BBQ Sauce
Maple Syrup
Organic Ketchup****
Tamari or Soy Sauce
Organic Blue Agave (optional)
Water (one cup or more, depending on how saucy you want it)
Gravy thickener (add enough for the amount of water added)
Mesquite spices***** 
Ground Black Pepper

In a medium sized crock-pot scoop in the seitan mixture, then add the liquid, then another layer of the mixture and more liquid. Repeat until all the contents are in the crock-pot. Cook on low heat for a few hours. ~~~~If you don't have a crock-pot then simmer in large saucepan on low heat for an hour or so. 

STEP FOUR: EAT

Serve over brown rice. Collard greens makes a good side dish. 

SHOPPING TIPS:

*I typically use Bob's Red Mill's vital wheat gluten, but you can also buy this in bulk at places like WinCo and it is WAY cheaper. 

**I love Trader Joe's Kansas City BBQ sauce. It has a great taste and it doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup. 

***Agave syrup can add sweetness to nearly any recipe and is a good substitute for honey. I get it at Trader Joe's and it's pretty cheap. 

****I love Trader Joe's Organic Ketchup. It has only a few ingredients and doesn't contain any high fructose corn syrup. 

*****Costco has killer deals on spices. I got a great blend of organic mesquite spices and it was super huge and cheap. 

Thanksgiving Feast: Vegan stuffing

I hosted a vegan Thanksgiving at my house this year. There were 13 people total and a large variety of dishes. Unfortunately, I was so caught up with cooking and serving that I forgot to take pictures of the food (once again). My guests brought food as well, but this is what I prepared: 

Cornbread****

Sweet potato biscuits with cranberry spread

Shiitake gravy

Stuffing with apples, dried cranberries, mushrooms, pecans, walnuts and pineapple**

Seitan roast*

Zesty corn pudding

Herb, matzo and panko encrusted tofu cutlets

Cranberry sauce with apples and pecans

Pumpkin soup with curry, ginger and coconut milk

Brandy spiked-spiced hot apple cider

*I found an awesome recipe for a seitan roast. It turned out extremely soft and my meat-eating guests were very pleased with their turkey replacement. This seitan took many hours to prepare, but it was worth it. I made the version with tofu (not beans) and when I re-heated it I made a marinade of sesame oil and a mixture of herbs and dry spices. 

**VEGAN STUFFING: 

In a skillet, saute the following with olive oil until soft: 

- 2 handfuls of sliced mushrooms

- 2 celery stalks finely chopped

In a large mixing bowl add the following: 

- 10 ounces of herb flavored breadcrumbs***

-2 scallions finely chopped

-1 handful pecans finely copped

-1 handful walnuts finely chopped

-1 large can of pineapple (pour juice in bowl, chop pineapple if in large chunks)

-1 handful of dried cranberries

- 1 large apple chopped into little pieces (I always leave the skin on the apple)

-the sautéed mushrooms and celery

-1 cup of faux chicken stock 

-3 teaspoons of sesame oil

Mix thoroughly. If mixture isn't wet enough, add more stock. Place stuffing in baking dish and cover. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 50 minutes. Uncover after 15-20 minutes. Bake until top is crunchy but not dried out. 

***I don't like making my own bread crumbs. If you're like me, you've probably hunted high and low for vegan breadcrumbs. I found some at my local grocery store by Arrowhead Mills, however they only started carrying them days before the holiday. 

****I LOVE Trader Joe's cornbread mix. Instead of eggs, I use flaxseed meal that's whipped with water and I sub the milk for soy milk. Quick, easy and tastes really yummy. 

Edible (Buckwheat) Vegan Brains

I finally found some clear pics of the table/food from my vegan cult movie party. Since it's almost Halloween, I thought these would be fun to share.

One of my favorite dishes I made for the party was edible brains. 

I cooked buckwheat noodles (rinse them under cold water) then tossed them in a marinade (soy sauce, sesame oil, hot chili oil, sesame seeds, rice vinegar, finally chopped scallions, garlic, ginger, etc).* Then I put the noodles into a brain jello-mold (spray light coat of oil for easy removal). I let this chill in the fridge for several hours. The brain popped out and held its shape. It looked pretty disgustingly real.

*For marinade, I typically use around 1 tablespoon agave, 2 teaspoons of chili sauce, 2 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil, a few shakes of hot chili oil, 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari, 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp of ginger, 1 tsp garlic powder, a few shakes of sesame seeds and a couple of scallions finely chopped. This is really approximate, as I usually make my marinades from scratch and just throw stuff in a bowl and taste as I go.

Compassionate Thanksgiving

I've been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving; not just the yummy food I'm looking forward to (Tofurky, stuffing, mash potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc) but all the turkeys that have lived a life of misery only to be slaughtered for human consumption. As a kid, Thanksgiving was one of my favorite holidays. I loved how nearly every dish you could smother in gravy. Also, it was a holiday where everyone got together to eat and hang out. I'd starve myself all day until the big meal and then afterwards go into a food coma as the bloated-comatose dudes watched football. 

Last year I didn't even want to deal with Thanksgiving, so my husband and I went down to San Francisco for the holiday weekend. We had an amazing 5 course vegan feast at Millennium.  However, this year I've been thinking more and more about the turkeys and how I want to help them. I think my efforts are going to be three-fold; I want to raise awareness of the atrocities towards turkeys, raise funds to donate to a poultry sanctuary and lastly put on an entirely vegan Thanksgiving party for my vegan and non-vegan family and friends. I'm sure I will get a lot of resistance from the non-vegans; after all they wait an entire year to eat their tryptophan laced meal. I am going to start my campaign now, so that these non-vegans have time to contemplate their actions this holiday. 

Learn more about Turkeys (picture from UPC website)

In regards to the menu, here's what I've come up with so far (these are basic descriptions): 

- Pumpkin Curry Soup

- Whole Wheat Stuffing with sweet onions, mushrooms, apples, dried cranberries, pineapple and (maybe) walnuts

- Mushroom Gravy

- Corn pudding

- Sweet potato casserole (includes organic maple syrup and pecans)

- Chunky Cranberry Sauce 

- Mash Potatoes with dill and parsley 

- Tofurky Roast (purchased from store - FYI: Trader Joes has the BEST deal on these!!)

- Field Roast (purchased from the store)

- Cobbler (not sure of the fruit yet) with Rolled Oat topping

- Pumpkin Pie (this I think will be purchased at New Seasons since they make such an awesome vegan version)

- Salad 

- Green veggies (not sure as of yet)

- Corn Bread

and more....

Cult Movie Night At My House With Bloody Mary's

Back in May I had another Cult Movie Night at my house. The theme this time was Body Parts; due to the three films that were shown (Blood Feast, Re-Animator and Motel Hell). There were no animal body parts (this was purely a vegan event) - just human (fake, of course). I made a giant spread which included Bloody Mary's, scones, various dips, stuffed potato skins, polenta fries, seitan ribz, peanut butter cookies, cold seasoned buckwheat noodles (shaped in a brain jello mold), etc. I also made Kamikaze shots served in test tubes. 

I detest REAL violence, but I LOVE horror movies. Here is the flyer I made and some pics of the table (the lighting is a little weird due to the black lights) but most of the food was gone by the time these pics were taken. 

VEGAN BLOODY MARY'S

I served my Bloody Mary's in a creepy punch bowl with skulls on the sides and a ladle shaped like a hand (bones only). I had eye balls (non-edible, similar to ping-pong balls) floating on top. You could use this idea for a Halloween Party. 

I wanted the Bloody Mary's to be spicy. I would advise you add the spicy elements a little at a time and sample as you go so that you get the perfect balance for your palate. 

Here's what I put in it: 

Tomato Juice

(vegan) Worcestershire Sauce

Fresh ground Pepper

Wasabi Powder

Cayenne Pepper

Various hot sauces

Sea Salt

Lemon Juice

Vodka

Sliced lemons to float on top 

Garnish (optional and served on the side)

Sliced Lemons

Sliced Limes

Oversized Stuffed Green Olives

Celery Sticks

Sea Salt

Coarse Black Pepper

Hot Sauce

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