Now For a Journey Through Time and Space

The Mighty Booooosh!

Sorry.  I've just got Vince and Howard on the brain right now.

So,  I love this time of year.  The first week of June just begins summer for me.  June 3rd is our wedding anniversary and June 6th is my birthday.  Class is about to end...and it's cool enough to be outside.  Come late June, not a creature will be stirring outside (yes, not even a mouse).  So to kick off summer, we've been putting good use to our grill and enjoying some wine, beer, and liquor.

For Memorial Day, we made Mexican hot dogs.  Our friend, Roy, introduced me to them.  Just imagine the tastiest, messiest chili dog you ever did eat!  It's so effing good I don't know that I'll go back to my standby of mayo, deli mustard, and dill relish!

Traditional Mexican dogs are wrapped in bacon, grilled, and served on bolillos with a ridiculous array of toppings from beans to grilled onions to a variety of salsas.

The above featured wonder is gonna be a mainstay for Era and me.  I've read that these can be served in regular hot dog buns, but I recommend something sturdier.  This is so messy, we don't even pretend it's anything but a sandwich.  Below is how we built this bad boy:

• Warm bolillo smothered in Vegenaise (chipotle mayo will be tried next)
• grilled tofu dog
• soyrizo (homemade or store bought)
• meltable vegan cheddar (the above is FYH)
• grilled onions
• yellow mustard
• pico de gallo (our corner store sells pico with nopales in it!  HOLLA.)
• avocado

We served it with tots and Micheladas.  When the drinks got too spicy for me, I just switched over to ice cold beer.  Greatest Monday of all time.

To celebrate our anniversary, we went EPIC!  Era and I have been married 4 years, so we decided to do THE RETURN OF VEGAN CHEEZE TASTING.  Not as many cheeses this time, as they were all homemade.  So maybe it was epic lite.  Haha.

A horribly rushed shot of the table.  That wrinkle in the cloth bugs me so bad right now! :)

 

The centerpiece: Vegetarian Times' almond feta (covered in olive oil, balsamic, and black pepper) and The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook's white bean boursin.  Served with grapes and cucumber.

Focaccia, watermelon, blackberries, and black pepper water crackers.

Sweet and salty agave cheese spread minus the mint (an adaptation of this recipe)

Vegetarian Times' cheddar cheeze recipe served with sourdough crisps.  The seitan and olive stuff are Kittee testers!

So good.  I really liked the cheddar cheeze recipe.  It was amazing with mustard and seitan.  I suggest letting it sit for awhile so the lemon taste mellows, though.

Vegan MoFo III: A Gathering of Sorts

Today was horrible and that's putting it lightly.  It started with a phone call that completely made me sad/angry and continued to get progressively worse.  This was a day that I should have just stayed in bed and shut my phone off.  I did have a good three hours of positivity, though.  My husband and I decided to scrap the idea of inviting our friend over because of today's craptasticness.

Instead we had a lovely cheese and wine filled evening in our backyard.  When I was running through ideas for MoFo this year, one of you suggested that I do a vegan cheese tasting.  I don't remember who, but THANK YOU.  This was super fun and put me in a brighter mood until it was once again deflated.  But I'm living in the good right now!

I have a special fondness for wine and cheese.  Not because I'm particularly familiar with either.  My favorite wine is pinot grigio, I think...?  I hate dry wines and am not a huge fan of reds.  Sweet dessert wines are the devil and my favorite pregan cheese was pesto jack.  But the first Festivus my husband and I had was born out of a small social gathering that was meant to be a wine and cheese type thing.  The only problem was that my husband had invited a gazillion people and forgot to tell them it was a small thing and the huge party we planned was going to be the following week.  So here's to traditions being born and my San Anto fam!

There were 7 (!) types of cheeses.  4 were homemade and three were Sheese.  I gotta tell ya: the homemade won!  In the above picture, the tray at the bottom left contains a raw Cashew Cheese Au Poivre.  I never use rejuvelac because that takes too much work.  It's still cheesy, peppery greatness!  On that little tray, I also have fresh bread.  (Sidenote: that tray is a pea pod and I got it for a quarter at the thrift store.  HOLLER!).

This tray has a lot going on.  Starting from the top and moving clockwise: Port Wine Uncheese from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook, garlic and herb multi-grain crackers, Bleu Sheese, multi-grain crisp bread, Smoked Cheddar Sheese, more crackers, Sharp Cheddar Sheese, and more crisp bread.  The middle is a raw cashew Herb Cheeze.  I always salt this to taste because it doesn't call for much at all.

In the middle of this tray is the White Bean Boursin from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook.  Also included: Spice-Roasted Almonds, red grapes, olives, dark chocolate and dark chocolate w/ crystallized ginger, pickled okra, and figs.  I bought the chocolate from Fresh and Easy.  They have this GIANT 1 lb, 1.64 oz chocolate bar.  I had to get it.  The ginger was calling my name too.  Ginger is my favorite!  The pickled okra is just because.  I don't think it goes well with wine, but the brand was Taste O' Texas or something hilarious like that so I bought it.  They were a little spicy.  And soooo good.

Basically, Era and I just sat outside drinking and talking for hours.  It was fun and something we don't do nearly as much as we should.  I highly recommend doing a cheese tasting.  It's so much fun to make your own and a hell of a lot cheaper.  So I'll get to the good stuff.  Here's my countdown to the number one cheese I had tonight.

7. Port Wine Uncheese-Blech.  This was so disgusting.  Granted, I hate red wine.  However, I usually don't mind if red wine is in something.  However, all the flavor combos made for a slightly sweetish red wine beany spread.  Roll that around in your mind.

6. Bleu Sheese-No.  I don't like it because it kinda reminds me of what I imagine plastic would taste like.

5. Sharp Cheddar Sheese-Not bad.  Not the greatest thing though.  I'm going to try it melted.  Wait.  Does Sheese melt?

4. Herb Cheeze-This is really good.  Super smooth and creamy.  Really good on the crisp bread.

3. Smoked Cheddar Sheese-I honestly had trouble telling the difference between this and the sharp cheddar.  I've had this one before and remember it being much smokier than it was.  Still good.  Love it on crackers or by itself.

2. Cashew Cheeze Au Poivre-This stuff is seriously amazing.  It is so cheezy AND raw.  I love it.  Plus the pepper adds a really good punch.

1. White Bean Boursin-Absolutely no contest.  It's the umeboshi paste that does it.  Such a salty tang (hee hee).  I love this stuff on bread.

Well, folks, there you have it!  So ends holiday week.  Tomorrow begins food memories.  Yay!

LA Meetups and Procrastination

Why hello there!  I am such the slacker right now.  This is a quick-ish post to let you know that I realize I didn't live up to what I said in my other quick post.  Hee hee.

So.  Basically, I got sick.  It was really bad for a week.  I have great reason to believe that it had something to do with mass consumption of gluten, so I am trying to take that out of my diet slowly.  I've also set a year long plan to change my diet and exercise regimen.  I was doing well before I got sick and kinda just stopped.  So, now I'm starting up again.  I hope this will make my food porn so much more fresh and so clean, clean.

I promise some photos tomorrow of some stuff still lodged in my camera.  I've got ideas for six shows that we are hoping to shoot within the next month or so.  We'll see how that goes.  School just started and I'm taking a class so I may get busy.  I will try my hardest to blog more often.

Word to yo motha.

Other than that, I went to a lovely potluck in LA last weekend.  We were celebrating Fughawzi's (PPKer) 18th birthday.  I also met another PPKer, RageAndLove.  Everybody was awesome!  The food was great, though my tamales were so not bomb.  Two things I sometimes forget when I'm rushing: never serve untested things to others and always taste your food before serving.  I tasted a mini tamale that I made, but it tasted nothing like the bigger ones.  So next time I'll redeem myself.  And LA vegans are cool people.  They told me I had to get my hands on some Daiya and I am in love.  That stuff is greatness.  I was getting down on some quesadillas!

Okay.  More to come tomorrow.

Nut Cheeze

Is this thing on? I've been avoiding this blog out of sheer laziness for two months. It is such a pain to get photos off my camera because of this archaic laptop. Anyway. Since last I wrote, I have become mildly obsessed with nut cheezes. I'm trying to vary my diet because of a former soy dependence. Plus, making my own cheeze is so much cheaper it's pretty disturbing.

So I decided to make a raw muenster cheeze out of cashews. I consider it my own recipe, but it was adapted when I thought about combining the recipe for basic cashew cheeze from The Raw Freedom Community and the muenster recipe from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. I tweaked a lot of things for what I consider a better flavor. The end result was a huge 3 cup block of cheezy greatness! Just a warning: this recipe is incredibly time consuming. It could take up to three or four days if you make your own rejuvelac.

Raw Muenster Cheeze
3 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight (8-12 hours)
2 tbsp rejuvelac (or water)
Juice of 1 small lemon (about 2 tbsp)
3 acidophilus capsules (just the powder, discard the capsule part)*

¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp tahini
½ tsp onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ tsp dry mustard
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp ground caraway seeds

paprika

Drain and rinse soaked cashews. Blend in a food processor or high powered blender until fairly smooth, scraping down sides along the way. Add rejuvelac, lemon juice and acidophilus. Blend until smooth, then scrape into cheesecloth and place in a strainer positioned inside a bowl. If you do not have cheesecloth, I have used a fine mesh strainer and placed a paper towel over the nut mixture. It works fine. Let this sit overnight.

Add remaining ingredients and nut mixture into a food processor. Blend until everything is incorporated.

Take some plastic wrap and spray/brush with oil. Sprinkle with paprika and place the wrap in whatever mold you want. Carefully spoon the nut mixture into the mold and cover with wrap. Place in the fridge and wait several hours for it to firm up.

This is best if let to sit in the fridge uncovered for a few more hours, in order for the outside layer to harden and the flavors to meld.

Enjoy with raw crackers, tortilla chips, or whatever you like!

*Acidophilus can be found in a health store in the vitamin section. It is often used as a yogurt starter. You could also use a bit of miso instead.

Above is a variation of Ani Phyo's raw Black Pepper Cheeze. I subbed in a cup of sunflower seeds, soaked them and the cashews, and added miso and tahini. I also covered it like her red pepper patty variation. Ultimately, I've decided I hate sunflower seeds in cheeze. Like...alot. But it looks pretty.

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.

Tofurky Day Redux

It's December already! What the hell? November went by so friggin fast.

And now I present to you the ultimate in Thanksgiving leftover sammiches:

Take two pieces of bread. Slather cranberry sauce on one side and dijon mustard on the other. Place tofurky (or equivalent) on the side with mustard and stuffing/dressing on the side with cranberry. Top both sides with mashed potatoes and gravy. The key is to use minimal ingredients. And serve with pickled okra, which is my latest obsession.

I hope everybody's holiday went well. I spent mine with my husband and family. We did Thanksgiving at my parents. I brought pumpkin baked ziti, the newly revamped and veganized Onion, Pepper, and Spinach Quiche Bites from Vegetarian Times, and some cookies.

The quiche bites were a huge hit. I'm happy to say that the changes I made were most excellent in a Bill and Ted sorta way.

Quiche Bites
1 Tbsp olive oil
nonstick spray
2 Tbsp bread crumbs (I used Panko)
1 10oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of liquid
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
3/4 cup grated white cheddar Cheezly (or whatever cheeze you like)
1/2 cup blended silken tofu
1 tsp arrowroot powder
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 tsp salt
16 2 inch square crackers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 glass casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and coat the bottom and 1/3 up the sides with the bread crumbs.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and bell pepper, cooking until soft. Add the spinach and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and place in the casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheeze.

In a food processor or blender, add the silken tofu, arrowroot, almond milk and salt and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture over the veggies and cheeze. Be sure to smooth it down and let it soak into the casserole.

Bake 45 minutes to an hour, until the casserole is a golden brown color. Cool completely before slicing into 16 pieces. Serve warm or at room temperature.

On Saturday, my husband and I had our own vegan Thanksgiving. I made a lot of recipes from the Nov 08 Vegetarian Times. We had tofurkey, pumpkin cornbread stuffing (idea stolen from Wes and made from Crystal's cornbread recipe), roasted sweet potatoes, champ, DEOTS gravy with mushrooms added, VT's green beans with walnuts and shallot crisps, VT's classic chestnut soup with marsala mushrooms (pictured above), VT's cranberry-pecan salad (also pictured above), and the holiday cranberry sauce from Vcon. Twas delicious.

I also made the lemon bars from Vcon after I made a pie from My Sweet Vegan that turned out horribly for me. The lemon part of these bars would make fantastic jello shots. Just sayin'...

Perhaps my greatest discovery this week was white Russians made with soy nog. Thanks, Pamela! I also found Seagram's espresso vodka at the liquor store and it has changed my life. LOVE!

Happy Holidays y'all!