Seitan Tikka Masala

It’s been a very hectic month or so here, and while I have been managing to feed us and keep us eating well, I was challenged to find the time to share those recipes with all of you.  Finally I’ve managed to come up for air, and what I have for you today is my favorite dish to come out of my kitchen recently … and the lovely thing is that it actually came off of our grill and, if I am not mistaken, this comes at a good time for all you who live in more temperate climates.  I am hoping that these early days of spring are bringing you all warmer weather, and a recipe for the grill is a perfect excuse to get outside and dine alfresco.

This recipe combines some of my favorite things: Indian food, kabobs, seitan, grilling, and eating outdoors.  Whip yourself up a batch and, while you’re standing over grill, smile at the fact that you are participating in a act of converting the tried and true conveyor of barbecue and seared meat products into  atrue blue vegan grillin’ machine.  Then, as you sit outside with a cool breeze at your back and you enjoy these kabobs with friends and family, hopefully you’ll be basking in the thought that “life is good.”  While you’re at it, grill up a batch of naan to serve along side your tikka masala.

This recipe was adapted from the cookbook The Food of India.

Enjoy!

Seitan Tikka

½ tbsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp garam masala
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
½ cup cilantro leaves
1 6 oz container plain soy yogurt

1 batch seitan dough (I used the simple seitan recipe in Veganomicon)

1.    Blend all marinade ingredients in a food processor or a high speed blender until smooth.  Season with salt to taste.

2.    Cut the seitan dough into bite sized chunks.  Place these into a bowl with the marinade and mix thoroughly.  Cover and marinade for 6-8 hours.

3.    Set your grill to medium heat/flame or heat your oven to 400F.  Grill, covered, for 10 minutes per side or roast on an oven rack above a baking tray for 15-20 minutes.

Seitan Tikka Masala

1 tbsp canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
¼ tsp cardamom
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 14oz can crushed tomatoes
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp garam masala
½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp brown sugar
1 14oz can coconut milk
1 tbsp ground almonds

1 recipe seitan tikka

1 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves for garnish

1.    Heat the oil in  dutch oven or heavy sauce pan over medium heat.  Add the onion and sauté until lightly browned.  Add the cardamom and garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the tomtoes and cook until the sauce thickens (about 5 minutes).

2.    Add the cinnamon, garam masala, chili powder, and sugar to the sauce and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in the coconut milk and almonds, then add the cooked seitan tikka.  Gently simmer for 30 minutes.  Garnish with the chopped cilantro.

Daring Bakers Challenge: Chocolate Flourless Cake with Strawberries and Coconut Cream Ice Cream

I must admit – flourless cake is not a favorite dessert of mine. It doesn’t even crack the top 25. I have never once ordered it in a restaurant, never picked it out of a bakery’s glass case, and never requested it as a special treat. What can I say? I am a carb lover, through and through. If I am going to have cake, you can bet there’s going to be flour in there. Ice cream, on the other hand, I could happily eat every day. I love my ice cream maker, but it has been sitting up on the shelf for so long that I was afraid it was starting to grow roots up there. I was glad to have an excuse to blow the dust off of it and put it to use.

As is usually the case, this month’s DB challenge was one that relied heavily on dairy. Veganizing the challenge was the easy part compared to what else I had to do with it:

Not use any refined sugars.

You read that right. No refined sugars. Several months ago I discussed my desire to cut back on refined sugars, but then the holidays came and I reverted back to viewing sugar as a food group all of its own. When Ash Wednesday rolled around this year, I decided to give up refined sugar for Lent. Of course, I left this DB challenge to the very last day (today) which means that it now falls under the “no refined sugar” rule. I was happy that it was cake paired with ice cream rather than one that relied on frosting or something else entirely sugar dependent.

I’m happy to report that the recipes came out quite well, though I would definitely tweak them if I were to make them again. The cake turned out chewy and very, very chocolately. Incredibly chocolately – a little too chocolately for my liking, but it would be a true chocoholic’s dream come true. The ice cream had great consistency and a yummy coconut flavor, but it would have benefited from a wee bit more sweetness. I would recommend adding some agave to the ice cream to make it just that much better of a companion for the rich chocolate cake.

Of course, that could be my jonesin’ sweet tooth talking.

Strawberries and Coconut Cream Ice Cream

1 carton Mori Nu silken tofu
1 14 oz can coconut milk
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sliced strawberries

1.    Puree tofu, coconut milk, brown rice syrup, and vanilla in a food processor or blender until smooth.

2.    Pour into ice cream maker and mix per manufacturer’s instructions (for my Cuisinart ice cream make I mix it for 30 minutes).

3.    Pour ice cream into freezer safe bowl, stir in strawberries, and freeze for at least 4 hours before servings.

Chocolate Flourless Cake

9 oz dark chocolate (I used three bars of Endangered Species Extreme Dark Chocolate)
½ cup soy butter or margarine
1 6 oz container plain soy yogurt
½ cup soy milk (or other dairyless milk) + 2 tbsp arrowroot powder
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla

1.    Preheat oven to 350F and grease a springform pan.

2.    Melt chocolate and soy butter in a double boiler over low heat until smooth.

3.    While the chocolate is melting, stir the arrowroot into the soy milk and whisk with a fork until completely dissolves.  Pour the soy milk mixture into a mix bowl, add the yogurt and vanilla and mix until well combined.  Add the cocoa powder and mix until smooth.   Pour in the chocolate mixture and mix on medium high for 2 minutes.

4.    Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before unmolding.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Required text for this month’s challenge:

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Work in Progress Wednesday

I usually have a number of things that I am juggling at any given time, so finding some things “in progress” to discuss is just about the easiest conversation starter one could give me!

When one of my favorite bloggers, Shellyfish, started a “Work in Progress Wednesday”  project to encourage fellow bloggers to share their artistic endeavors and crafty works in progress with one another, I immediately wanted to participate but hung back because – as many of you have noticed – midweek blogging can be a challenge for me.  However, after weeks of watching the participants’ works in progress transform, one by one, into works completed, I decided to find the time mid-week and participate because I, too, need to get some of these works in progress moving along to the finish line!

First I’ll share the food related work, and then, at the bottom, it’ll be the crafty stuff for those of you who are interested.

My garden (an edible work in progress):

In the Garden

Currently in my “winter” garden I am growing: basil, rosemary, 2 kinds of oregano, 3 kinds of mint, sage, eggplant, ancho peppers, zucchini, butternut squash, scallions, big mama limas, spinach, 3 kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell peppers, flavorburst bell peppers, anaheim peppers, false alarm habeneros, bush beans, a mystery squash that is growing out of my compost pile (I suspect pumpkin), and a wide variety of flowers.

My quilt (a inedible work in progress):

Quilt in Progress

This is a simple quilt made of 4×4″ squares of Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric.

And there’s this guy who hung around as I took pictures of the quilt but, as you can see, was not altogether interested in my project (I’ll try not to take it personally):

Cash

Isn’t he handsome?

If you like what you see with the works in progress, take some time to check out other Wednesday Works in Progress.  Also, while you’re cruising around the internet take the time to stop by and check out another awesome & creative blogger to see what Jes did with my humble little banana bread recipe. She’s provided you with your Sunday morning breakfast!

Naan

I love Indian food.  I first experienced Indian food in a small restaurant in Elyria, Ohio.   My friends Gitta and Heidi introduced it to me during the second semester of our freshman year at Oberlin.  That semester, I managed to bring my car to campus, despite restrictions on first years having their cars at school, we began to go on “big adventures” (as they seemed in those days) into the small towns that dotted the rural Ohio landscape southwest of Cleveland.  Once or twice a semester we would make it up to the big city, mostly to go to Coventry to shop, watch a movie at the cool little theater that would refrigerate your leftovers and feed your meter during the movie, and to eat some good Indian food.

I lived in Boston twice for two short periods of time (about six months in total) and continued the love affair with Indian food that I had started in college.  Boston is home to some incredible Indian restaurants.  I very distinctly remember taking my first spoonful of a bowl of soup in an Indian restaurant in Brookline and, for the first time, fully understanding the meaning of “layering of flavors” as a multitude of flavors exploded on my tongue, one after another.  There was also an Indian restaurant in Coolidge Corner that was quite good, and another two in Harvard Square that I enjoyed, as well.

The second time that I lived in Boston, the summer just after graduation, I roomed with my friend, Liz, who had spent a life-changing semester abroad in India during college.  There were several Saturdays that summer spent in the kitchen making our own Indian dishes.  This was when the idea of home cooked Indian food because more accessible to me, and I began to develop a sense of how I could recreate some of these dishes on my own.

Fast forward to now.  I live on an island that until recently did not have an Indian restaurant of its own.  I would try to get my fill on trips to the Mainland, but Indian restaurants can sometimes be tricky for the vegan to navigate because many dishes are made with cream or yoghurt.  The ones that are amenable to vegan diets are willing to mark the dairy-free items on the menu or happily point them out to you.  While this makes eating in such places much less difficult, it still limits one to a few items on the otherwise expansive menu.  So, over the years, I’ve amassed several Indian cookbooks and have begun to rely on what I can improvise in my own kitchen.

Last week I was feeling the urge for a full Indian spread for dinner, and for me that included naan.  Naan is a leavened bread popular in North India.  This bread is traditionally baked in a tandoor (clay oven).  Tandoors get very hot, and it can be difficult to recreate the heat and cooking environment of a tandoor in a home kitchen.  As I considered this dilemma, I remembered a book I had glanced through about vegan grilling, which contained a chapter on breads.  Grills get very hot …. perhaps they could better mimic a tandoor than my oven could?

My mind was made up – I decided to bake my naan on our outdoor grill.  I adapted the naan recipe in The Food of India to make a vegan version and, after letting it rise for several hours, I divided the dough into five balls and stretched them all out into small disks.  I then brushed each side of the disks with canola oil, fired up the grill, and baked bread.  It took, in total, less than four minutes to bake up, and it tasted fantastic.  The texture was not identical to what you get in an Indian restaurant, but oh my goodness it was good.  And, I must admit, it felt pretty awesome to bake bread on a grill, like I had tapped into my inner (vegan) Bobby Flay.  I feel inspired to apply this newfound knowledge of grill-baking to other projects in the future!

Naan

2 ¼ cups flour
2/3 cup soy milk
1 tsp active dry yeast
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup canola oil
1 6oz container plain soy yogurt

1.    Place the flour, yeast, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.

2.    Heat the soy milk in a saucepan until warm.  Ina separate bowl,  whisk the yogurt and oil until well combined.

3.    Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk. Stir, and then add the yogurt mixture.   Mix well.

4.    Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Add more flour if the dough is too sticky.  Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 2-3 hours.

5.    Punch down the dough, divide into five balls, and stretch out into thin disks.  Brush each side with canola oil, and stack the prepared disks on a plate.  Bake the disks on a grill over medium flame/heat until the tops are puffy and the bottoms have begun to brown (about 2 minutes), flip and bake for an additional 1 ½ – 2 minutes.

Naan getting puffy

Naan browned

Naan ready for dinner

Coconut Lime Macadamia Nut Banana Bread

 

Hawaii has many, many bananas.  Anyone who has ever lived here can attest to the bounty of banana trees that permeate the yards and gardens of the islands.  Banana trees are incredibly low maintenance to grow, but they are high maintenance to maintain.  They grow prolifically in the mineral rich Hawaiian soil, full tropical sun, and Pacific rains, which is  exactly the challenge of attempting to tame them – they get big, bushy, and can take over if you’re not careful.  Most households with banana trees also have their banana tree machete to keep the trees at bay, to chop down the bunches of bananas when they are ready, and to hack away the trees that are past their prime.  We used to have banana trees of our own when we first moved to Maui, but now we are just the happy beneficiaries of the fruits of our neighbor’s banana tree labors.

This abundance of bananas explains Hawaii’s abundance of banana bread recipes.  As you drive along any rural road in the islands you will encounter numerous road side stands and shops selling auntie’s or uncle’s homemade banana bread – guaranteed to be the best in the islands.  Everyone has their favorite.  Over the years, I have amassed a large number of banana bread recipes in my recipe binder and I happily have plenty of opportunities to try them all out.

 

 

I made this bread last week when we were gifted with a large bunch of bananas from our friend who lives next door.  It has a particularly tropical flair due to the addition of coconut, lime, and macadamia nuts.  It was adapted from an old Cooking Light recipe.  If you want to take it a  step further and dress it up for dessert, you can quickly whisk together some confectioners sugar and lime juice to create a glaze to spoon over top of warm slices;  garnish with coconut and sliced mac nuts and – voila! – fancy dessert.   Personally, I like mine plain and simple, but I will warm up a slice in the microwave and smear a bit of warm soy butter over it to enjoy for breakfast before skipping out the door to work.   The beauty of banana bread, in my opinion, is in its versatility.

 

 

Coconut, Lime, and Macadamia Nut Banana Bread
Makes 1 loaf

2 cups flour
¾ tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup soy butter or margarine
1/8 cup canola oil
3-4 mashed bananas
¼ cup vanilla soy yogurt
3 tbsp spiced rum
3 tbsp lime juice
½ tsp vanilla
½ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
½ cup chopped macadamia nuts

Extra flaked coconut to sprinkle on the top of the loaf

1.    Preheat oven to 350F.

2.    Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

3.    Cream together the soy butter/margarine and sugar with a mixer, then add the oil and mix until well combined.  Add in the banana, soy yogurt, rum, lime juice, and vanilla and mix until blended.  Add the flour mixture and mix at a low speed until just combined.  Stir in the coconut and macadamia nuts.

4.    Pour the batter into a 9×5 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray and sprinkle the top of the loaf with the extra flaked coconut.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5.    Cool for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack before removing from pan.

 

Around Maui

For the past few weeks our house has been filled with a bit more laughter and cheer as we’ve had some visitors come out from Pittsburgh for two separate visits (for some reason people seem to want to leave Pittsburgh during January…) – my dear friend Lena, followed by my sweet lil’ mother (“lil” because I’ve been taller than her since I was eleven and she’s so darn cute).    It’s wonderful having guests for so many reasons, and one of them is that we get to see Maui through our visitor’s eyes.    It is always a good thing, in my opinion, to step outside of the everyday and to see things through fresh eyes.

A Hawaiian Specialty

On the West Side

The Drive Home to Kihei from Lahaina

One of Many in the Harbor

Humpback Whale Breaching

Baby Humpback Whale

A Hawaiian Sunset

The Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookie

I would like to start this post by giving a shout out to the greatest football team ever to walk God’s Green Earth: the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In honor of the World’s Best Football Team, I bring you the World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookie. Each – the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chocolate Chip Cookie – really are the consummate players in their respective fields – professional sports and cookies. As a connoisseur of both, I do not use the term “world’s best” lightly; so rest assured that these are some seriously good cookies.

Last summer the New York Times published a writer’s quest to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie. After interviewing a number of famous bakers, the requirements for the perfect chocolate cookie seemed to boil down to this list:

1. Use good chocolate
2. Use a lot of chocolate
3. Sprinkle the cookies with salt
4. Serve them warm
5. Make ‘em big
6. Rest your dough for 36 hours

I had you until #6, didn’t I?

Let’s break down the list.

#1 and #2 – Use good chocolate and lots of it.

The NYT article features a recommendation for the use of chocolate disks as opposed to the traditional chocolate chip because of how they melt – the disks will melt to create a more uniform strata of chocolate within the cookie rather than the isolated chunks of chocolate the chips create. Also, all contributors to the article strictly adhere to a cacao content of no less than 60%.

I’ve tried this recipe with both – disks and chips – and I will vouch for the use of disks over chips. You can find fancy chocolate disks online, but I found mine in the chocolate section at Whole Foods on a trip I made to the Mainland in November. I used the Noel Royale Buttons with 64% cacao content and was quite pleased with the results.

#3 – Sprinkle the cookies with salt.

Salt is used in baked goods to heighten the flavor of the other ingredients and to add a new dimension to the sweet. Salt is called for in this dough and then, just before you pop them into the oven, generously sprinkle the unbaked cookies with coarse sea salt – the grains will bake into the tops of the cookies and will adhere much better than if you try to sprinkle them post-baking.  MmmmmMMMmmmm ……

#4 – Serve them warm.

This really is a no-brainer. While some things do improve in flavor after a cool down period on a wire rack, chocolate chip cookies are so darn good warm because of the ooey-gooey factor of melted chocolate. Let the cookies cool just long enough so as to not scald your tongue – maybe 10-12 minutes – then break one of these in half and marvel at the perfect-looking ribbons of chocolate spanning between your fingers. Yum! These do, admittedly, taste amazing even at room temperature, but do be sure to enjoy some warm straight out of the oven!

#5 – Make ‘em big.

Again, this seems like a no-brainer, right – the bigger the better! That’s not always true, however, with mini- desserts being all the rage these days – some people will actually turn down a cookie for being too big. Incredible! But there really is a reason for super sizing chocolate chip cookies, and it’s not just so that we can make big pigs of ourselves. The bakers in the NYT article refer to it as the Rule of Thirds:

“First there’s the crunchy outside inch or so … A nibble revealed a crackle to the bite and a distinct flavor of butter and caramel. Then there’s the center, which is soft. A bull’s-eye the size of a half-dollar yielded easily. But the real magic … is the one-and-a-half-inch ring between them where the two textures and all the flavors mix.”

Making your cookies six-inch beasts will result in this symphony of textures and flavors.

#6 – Rest your dough for 36 hours.

The science behind letting the dough rest for 36 hours is that it allows the dry ingredients to fully absorb the wet ingredients. When you first mix the two together, your butter ingredient will act as a barrier between the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients. Let the dough rest for a full 36 hours, however, and that barrier is broken down and your wet ingredients get fully absorbed by the dry. This results in a cookie that has a greater depth of flavor; with caramel and toffee undertones from the brown sugar and a more fully developed appearance of brown when baked. The dough is also a bit more crumbly at this point and holds together much better when rolled into golf ball sized hunks and placed on your cookie sheet. They retain their shape better when baked and what you end up with is a perfect looking – and tasting – cookie.

I have made these several times, and a few times I cheated the 36-hour rule – once I rested the dough overnight for about 12 hours and another time I only rested the dough for about 3 hours. You will still end up with very, very good cookies that no one will scoff at – but the magic really is in that 36-hour rest period. 36 hours of rest = cookies that look too perfect to be true.

And that brings us to the recipe. What, in my opinion, makes this version even better than the original? The exclusion of animal products. Below is my cruelty-free version of the NYT original and I cannot recommend these enough. Make these for your Valentine and I promise you they’ll swoon. You can thank me later

Chocolate Chip Cookies
The original NYT recipe can be found here

Adapted from Jacques Torres
Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tbsp (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp coarse salt
2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups) Earth Balance (or other butter alternative)
1 ¼ cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp (8 ounces) granulated sugar
4 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp natural vanilla extract
½ lb bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content
Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream Earth Balance and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add canola oil, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Tropical Hot Sauce

It’s been a busy year thus far, but in a productive and positive way. I’m a big resolutions person: I love the hopeful anticipation and optimism of resolutions. They’re like little presents to yourself, wishes and goals for ways in which you can improve yourself and the world around you in the hopes of affecting positive change. One of my resolutions for this year is to more effectively maintain this space by posting at least bi-weekly. I know that it takes a conscious effort to consistently do something before it becomes habitual, and thus I have to be a bit more conscientious in implementing my resolutions so that what in theory seems like a good idea can, indeed, become practice.

I hope that all of you are also enjoying a wonderful start to 2009. If you, too, have been a bit lax on your resolutions, just pat yourself on the back for having too much fun in the new year to focus on resolutions and resolve to do better from here on out. After all … tomorrow is another day.

I had to give some consideration to what would be my first post of the new year. I have several on deck, but should I start with something sweet? Something savory? Something suited to cold nights? Finally I thought, why choose at all? I want it all, and I want it now. So here it is: something sweet, something savory, something to warm your toes on those cold winter nights, something to give a kick to your tropical soiree ….. it’s homemade tropical hot sauce.

Recently I had an abundance of poblano peppers in my garden that I decided were destined to be more than just a supporting player in a dish. I decided to make them the main attraction by making some hot sauce from scratch. This was my first experience making hot sauce and I was surprised by how easy it was. After searching the internet for some inspiration and good ol’ fashioned how-to, I found this recipe that I used as my starting point.

In the end, I decided not to strain my sauce. This made for a nice, thick sauce that I was able to use both on food and as a dip. I especially like it as a dip – put it in a small bowl surrounded by bite size crackers and veggies and serve it to a crowd (just be sure to set aside some for yourself or you will be completely out of luck!) Just be sure to plan in advance – this sauce gets better with age, so allow it to sit in the refrigerator for at least one week for the best flavor.

It was only in recent years that I developed a tasty for spicy foods.  I do, however, still register on the wimpier end of the heat spectrum – at Thai and Indian restaurants I opt for the “mild plus” heat option.   This sauce will please palettes at both ends of the spectrum: my heat lovin’ partner in crime raved about this sauce but it was mellow enough that I thoroughly enjoyed the flavor of the sauce straight up on crackers and veggies.   What more can you ask for in a hot sauce?

Tropical Hot Sauce

1 ½ cups white vinegar
1 tbsp salt
½ tsp curry
½ tsp grated ginger
¼ tsp ground allspice
4 cloves garlic
3 sage leaves
I cup poblano peppers
½ cup chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
½ cup sliced green jalapeños (I used the jarred variety)
½ onion
1 mashed banana
1 chopped mango

Combine all ingredients except vinegar in a food processor and puree until smooth. Pour into a pot and whisk in the vinegar until well combined. Cook on slow simmer for one hour. Run through a straining bag or food mill for a more traditional hot sauce, or leave as is for thicker sauce/dip. Refrigerate for at least one week to allow the flavor to develop.

2008 at the Outpost: the Year in Review

December 31st is a day to take stock of the year passed, a day to celebrate our gems and recognize our challenges in order to capitalize on these opportunities for improvement in the coming year.  I personally enjoy this occasion to formally recognize one year’s passing and ready myself for the possibilities of the year ahead. Isn’t that really what is at the heart of the celebration of the New Year:  all of the possibilities contained within the yet unturned pages of the new calendar?  Possibility, if it were an emotion, could easily be hope – the thing that drives us, lifts our spirits, and makes us look towards the future with enthusiasm and gratified anticipation.  The new year is a blank slate upon which we can write our hopes, dreams, and goals.

Come January 1st, however, we should not sweep the previous year under the rug – we should enter the new year armed with the accomplishments that were celebrated, lessons that were learned, and growth that incurred during the previous twelve months.  In that spirit, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you all our favorite recipes from the Outpost for 2008.  These recipes will definitely be making repeat appearances on our table in 2009.

I wish each and everyone of you a very happy, healthy, joyous, and prosperous 2009.

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

The Best of the Outpost in 2008

Working from the top left to bottom right:

Danish Braid

French Yule Log

Green Papaya Salad

Crepes

Small Tarts

Jambalaya Stuffed Eggplant

Pineapple Poppy Seed Ice Cream

Fesenjan

Pumpkin Pie

Lemon Gems

Noodle Kugel

Seitan Pot Roast Brisket

Raw Papaya Banana Pie

No Piggies in Blankets

Roasted Butternut Squash, Potato, Apple, and Caramelized Onion Bisque with Pepita-Poblano Garnish

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Enjoy!

Daring Baker’s Challenge: French Yule Log

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I read this introduction to this month’s Daring Baker’s Challenge:

“This month’s challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.”

Why the pleasant surprise? For one, I had been hoping to make a Yule Log this holiday season and this DB mandate was just the kick in the butt I needed to make it happen. Two, a French Yule Log differs from its genoise and buttercream counterpart in that it is a frozen confection – perfect for a holiday treat on Maui.

Perusing the 18 page document that contained the recipe did, admittedly, give me pause. A French Yule Log contains no fewer that six elements, which include a ganache, a mousse, and a – gulp – crème brulee. Good grief – yet another recipe that would attempt to bully me around my kitchen with its decidedly un-vegan swagger! This dessert is layer upon layer of eggs, butter, heavy cream, and gelatin. It was going to take one heck of a makeover to make this girl the belle of the vegan ball.

This recipe involved the six required elements all layered together into one frozen cake like dessert. This month’s hosts, though strict in their requirement that all six elements be included, left a lot of room for freedom in flavor choices. I decide to give my Yule Log a Maui flavor with coconut and macadamia nuts. Upon doing this recipe again, I may try to flavor the custard with coconut milk instead of vanilla, and I might try to incorporate some fruit flavors into it – mango, papaya, banana, guava, or lychee would be especially nice and would compliment the coconut, macadamia, and chocolate already present in the log.

For past DB challenges I have veganized the recipe straight from the original; this time, however, I decided to call upon several resources to assist in the makeover: my favorite vegan confections cookbook (Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) and my trusty kitchen companion, Google. Element by element, here are the choices I made:

Element #1 –Dacquoise: I utilized the recipe as was written, only subbing in Ener-G “eggs” along with some baking powder and apple cider vinegar (to give the cake a wee bit of lift) for the three eggs that were called for.

Element #2 – Dark Chocolate Mousse: I considered subbing in a vegan chocolate mousse, but instead I utilized a vanilla custard recipe that I used in these tarts back in February. I really love the flavor of this custard and I wanted something to lighten up the other chocolate elements included in the Log.

Element #3 – Creme Brulee Insert: My jaw dropped at this one. I was a bit stumped as to how to create a vegan crème brulee, so I took to Google and a search for “vegan crème brulee” returned with this recipe. Vegan Visitor is a blog that I frequently read so I was more than happy to give it a go (I was really happy that I did – I look forward to making this recipe again on its own and “brulee-ing” it the next time.).

Element #4 – Praline Crisp Insert: This involved making praline paste. I used the praline paste recipe from our July DB challenge, only this time I replaced the hazelnuts with macadamia nuts in order to create a more “Maui” flavor.

Element #5 – Ganache Insert: I used the chocolate ganache recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Element #6 – Dacquoise: I again utilized the creative expertise of Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero and used the chocolate buttercream frosting recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

This recipe involved numerous steps, produced a lot of dirty dishes, and required two days to make. That said, it was all well worth it. This dessert is pretty darn impressive – and, I’ll let you in on a secret: unless you decide to tell them, no one will know that it’s vegan. I promise you. Serve it to your most discerning “vegans must only eat nuts and berries” loved ones and bask in their stunned expressions when, after gobbling up a slice, you share the secret with them.

Why the stunned expressions? This dessert is seriously decadent. It really is numerous desserts all wrapped up into one chocolate frosted confection, desserts which, on their own, are all decadent and rich: custard (mousse), crème brulee, praline, ganache, etc. Leave it to the French to decide to pile it all onto one plate in one very pretty package! (Gotta love the French!) As you really only need a tiny sliver to enjoy it(I recommend accompanying it with a nice cup of coffee or tea), you can serve a crowd with just one Yule Log. This is definitely not a “Wednesday-after-work” sort of dessert – this is a special occasion dessert. I highly recommend that you bookmark this dessert and trot it out at your next special occasion to entertain a crowd.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go paddleboard myself around the ocean to burn off the calories consumed in the making of this dessert!

French Yule Log

Element #1: Dacquoise Biscuit (Almond Cake)

½ cup + 1 tbsp almond meal
2/3 cup flaked coconut
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Ener-G “Eggs”
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp granulated sugar

1. Finely mix the almond meal, coconut, and the confectioner’s sugar. Sift the flour into the mix.

2. Beat in the “eggs”, baking powder, and vinegar, then mix in the sugar until combined.

3. Grease a piece of parchment paper and line your baking pan with it. Spread the batter onto the parchment paper to an area slightly larger than your desired shape (circle, long strip etc…) and to a height of 1/3 inches.

4. Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes, until golden.

5. Let cool and cut to the desired shape.

Element #2: Vanilla Custard (in place of Dark Chocolate Mousse)

Recipe can be found here.

Element #3 Dark Chocolate Ganache Insert

I used the Chocolate Ganache recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Note: Because the ganache hardens as it cools, you should make it right before you intend to use it.

Element #4 Praline Crisp Insert

3.5 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1 2/3 tbsp Earth Balance
2 tbsp macadamia nut praline paste (recipe can be found in this post)
1 cup Rice Krispies

1. Melt the chocolate and EB in a double boiler.

2. Add the praline and the Rice Krispies. Mix quickly to thoroughly coat with the chocolate.

3. Spread between two sheets of wax paper to a size slightly larger than your desired shape. Refrigerate until hard.

Element #5: Crème Brulee Insert

Vegan Visitor’s recipe can be found here.

Element #6: Chocolate Icing

I used the Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Garnish:

1/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1/3 cup flaked coconut

Toast in a dry skillet over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until golden. Keep a close eye – this can go from toasted to burnt very quickly.

Assembly:

The order of elements is:

1. Dacquoise
2. Custard
3. Creme Brulee Insert
4. Custard
5. Praline/Crisp Insert
6. Custard
7. Ganache Insert
8. Dacquoise

1. Cut the Dacquoise into a shape fitting your mold and set it in there.

2. Spread one third of the Custard component on the Dacquoise.

3. Take the Creme Brulee Insert out of the freezer at the last minute and set on top of the Custard. Press down gently to slightly ensconce it in the Custard.

4. Spread second third of the Custard component around and on top of the Creme Brulee Insert.

5. Cut the Praline/Crisp Insert to a size slightly smaller than your mold so that it can be surrounded by Custard. Lay it on top of the Custard you just spread into the mold.

6. Spread the last third of the Custard component on top of the Praline Insert.

7. Gently spread the Ganache Insert onto the Custard leaving a slight edge so that ganache doesn’t seep out when you set the Dacquoise on top.

8. Close with the last strip of Dacquoise.

9. Freeze until the next day.

The Next Day:

10. Unmold the log and set on plate.

11. Cover the cake with the frosting. Gently press the toasted coconut and macadamia nuts onto the tops and sides. Return to the freezer.

To Serve:

Transfer to the refrigerator no longer than 1⁄2 hour before serving as it may start to melt quickly depending on the elements you chose.

Run a sharp knife under hot water, wipe off the water, and use to make slicing the log easier.