The Muenster at the End of This Blog

Wow.  I can't even begin to tell you how unfortunate the last 18 hours have been.  So, I'm trying to get some MoFo stuff taken care of before it starts.  That way I don't have to rush to do everything the day of.  So last night I was baking a cake for a friend's birthday.  Before I even began, my oven started smoking because something had spilled and was burning at the bottom.  I'm still convinced Era might have done it because I don't remember spilling anything.  Haha.

The first attempt at baking, I put the cakes in the oven and realized I had forgotten the sugar.  So I threw everything out.  Then I went to put the cakes in and one of my mini tester pans FLEW out of my hands and landed upside down in the oven.  So I finally made, frosted and decorated the cake.  Then I realized I misread the recipe and used baking powder instead of baking soda.  Good news is that I couldn't tell when I ate the tester.  I hope it's the same for the big one.  Then, and this is truly priceless, I ran out of sugar just when I was about to bake all the gingerbread and cakes for my haunted gingerbread!

I need a nap...or three.  I don't think I've been sleeping enough and it's all catching up to me right now.  Some good did come out of this craziness, though.  Last night I had a hankering for a sammich.  Only problem is that all I had was my 99 cent Yves turkey slices.  No bread, no cheese, no problem!  I baked the Beer Bread from 500 Vegan Recipes and made the Muenster Cheese from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook.  I am thoroughly in love with so many of the recipes in that book.  Plus the block cheezes are really easy to personalize.  I even forgot to add the tahini (yet another indication I should stay out of the kitchen) and it still tastes great.

muenster, beer bread, more muenster, sandwich

Instead of using regular paprika, I went for smoked which only added to the awesome.  If I take a long enough nap today, I think I'm going to make two more block cheezes just because.

Earlier this week, I went through and wrote down my calendar for MoFo.  Most of the days are filled out.  Here are some hints on what I'm doing for the first week:

Monday-All about Halloween.

Tuesday-Video about my favorite hangover cure.

Wednesday-I'm making something for the first time and it's gonna be crunchy.

Thursday-Shopping for bargains.

Friday-Dinner and a movie!  Seriously excited about this one.

Saturday-Taking a little trip to Belgium.

Sunday-Making snacks.

So excited!  I can't believe everything goes down on Monday!  Well, I have a ton of blogs to catch up with and need to take a nap or two.  Hope everybody has a great weekend!

Green Eggz N Hamm and PB&J French Toast Sticks

Green tofu and seitan ham just doesn't have the same ring to it.  Ha ha.  So, for VeganMoFo I was supposed to do a Food Network Friday featuring these two recipes.  It was funny.  I was actually watching Food Network that week (which I rarely do since my class started) and the show was about green eggs and ham and pb&j pancakes!  I was pretty stoked.  It fit in with my food memories theme, but I never got around to making it last month.

This morning I decided to make it finally.  Instead of spending a bunch of time veganizing the recipes, I just went with what I knew.  Plus, it took forever because I made pesto, seitan and pesto jack (more on that later) from scratch before I started making the scramble.  So I opted to make pb&j French toast sticks instead of the pancakes.

For the tofu, I made a scramble out of zucchini, spinach, and red bell pepper (for color).  I salted and sauteed the vegetables until soft and a lot of the liquid was gone.  Then I added the crumbled tofu and cooked for about 10 minutes more.  I turned off the heat and stirred in huge spoonfuls of pesto until it was geen enough for me.

I ended up using Isa's recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance.  I made two changes based on what I had.  I did 2 cups basil and 1 cup spinach.  I also did half toasted sunflower seeds and half toasted pepitas instead of the walnuts.  Era and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I wasn't expecting much from the French toast, but it was so freaking good!  Of course, this means that I didn't write the recipe down.  The batter was simple: So Delicious plain unsweetened coconut milk, some creamy natural peanut butter, chickpea flour, whole wheat pastry flour, cinnamon, and vanilla.  I've gotta recreate this stuff.

I topped it with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and some cherry preserves.  I love breakfast so freaking much!!!!

Back to the pesto jack...I got it in my head to tweak The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook's jack block uncheese.  Last year I made the pepper jack, but I remember it being too oniony.  Plus, I wanted to try to make it feel less jellied.  The result wasn't great.  It wasn't bad, but I upped the cashews and didn't change the other spices enough so the flavor wasn't as well rounded as I'd like.  The texture was better than I remembered though.  I'll post some pics tomorrow.

More Cheeze Please

Ever bought something and gone "Are you serious?" I recently did a huge order from Pangea. I purchased Dr. Cow's Cashew Cheese, Mozzarella Cheezly, and Cheddar Teese. Dr. Cow's was around 7 dollars. Imagine my shock when I opened my package and saw this:

Just so you know, many people have told me I have freakishly small hands. That 3 oz piece of cheeze didn't even cover my entire palm. I find it to be ridiculously overpriced and will be making my own raw cheese from now on.

The flavor was creamy and tangy. There was a slightly sour aftertaste, which really made it taste like cheese. I was never a connoisseur of cheese, but it was slightly funky like walking past the cheese section in Central Market. The product description compares it to good artisanal cheese.

In conclusion, Dr. Cow's is incredibly expensive but tastes damn fine on Triscuits.

Another thing my husband and I fell in love with over thanksgiving break: Lachesis' alfredo stroganoff. By far THE best alfredo sauce I've had. So good. Super creamy and thick. Great flavor.

I'll leave you with a picture of the pepper jack I made from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. It has a nice, delicate shred and melts beautifully. It tastes awesome in potato and bacn tacos. I don't recommend eating it alone because the mustard and onion flavor is pretty powerful.

Inept Couriers and Easy Cheezy

It's that time of year again when almost every package I order gets lost. My local post office is filled with idiots who constantly deliver mail to the wrong house. I have lost numerous comic books this way. The latest thing is: a cd I ordered has gone missing. Then a netflix dvd disappeared. And all I got was this cellophane bag with my torn netflix sleeve in it. Now UPS let me down. Good thing my neighbor from a street over delivered it to me. It was filled with Vitasoy Chocolate Peppermint Soymilk, Papa Tofu and Vegan De Guadalupe. HOLLA!


The first thing I created was a veganized version of the Onion, Pepper, and Spinach Quiche Bites from Vegetarian Times (Nov/Dec 08,pg 38). I don't have a finalized recipe and probably won't until Thanksgiving. Changes I made: FYH monterrey jack for the gruyere, 1/2 cup blended silken tofu plus 1 teaspoon arrowroot for the eggs, and soy creamer for the milk. I also baked it for an hour because it took that long to brown. The result was good, but kinda sweet. Because the peppers and onions have natural sweetness, I plan to use unsweetened almond milk next time. Also, I will most likely be using Cheezly because people rave about it. I suggest letting these cool in a fridge completely before slicing. Serve at room temperature or hot.

Next up, I made some stuff from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak. Pictured below is the White Bean Boursin. I've never had boursin so I don't know how close it is. This was good though. Herby goodness, creamy, and salty. The umeboshi paste adds a tangy and salty punch. It couples with the creaminess of the white beans and really has a cheesy taste. I advise pairing this with unsalted things. It works great with baguettes and cucumbers.

I also made the Gruyere from the book. Never had gruyere before so I don't know if it compares. What I can say is that it was noochy, bitter from the tahini, and zingy from the lemon. It was good if you like nutritional yeast. It was pretty great in the French onion soup I made. And look how gooey:

Finally, I adapted Crystal's queso recipe and made chili con queso. I omitted the Rotel, added a bit more liquid and added crumbled chipotle sausage. I like this version more with a spicy Italian sausage because it reminds me of the stuff my mom used to make.

I'm getting back into food blog mode. There will be much commenting tomorrow. Also, I will be making pepper jack. Expect to see an original pesto jack recipe in the near future.