Not Your Average 'Fu

This could just as easily be called Vegan Brunch: Preview Review or How I Became a Foodie. I want to take a little time to introduce my self: my name is Monique. It's pronounced with an umpty. No, wait. That doesn't quite work.

So my mother just finally started reading my blog. I know! No love. Anyway, we were talking the other day about how I absolutely loathed cooking as a child. My sister would always be right up under my mom and dad in the kitchen. Cooking bored me and I didn't understand it. In fact, I didn't start cooking until I began the process of going vegetarian. That involved mostly salads, processed foods, and the occasional veggie paella. Even when I went vegan, I stuck to the simpler cookbooks. Books that only required me to open some cans and add some prepackaged soy product. The first time I thought vegan cooking could be incredibly inspired was when I got Vegan with a Vengeance.

I picked it up at the bookstore because everybody was talking about it. I wanted to know what the fuss was about. After my squee settled down to a quiet calm, I panicked. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to pull any of it off. The recipes were simple enough, but would I be able to turn the omnis in my life into believers? I mean, as much as I don't care what omnis think about veganism...I want them to like my food. I want to place it on a table, hear their reaction, then see their eyes widen in disbelief that something so good could taste better than the best udder pus injected food. Yum!

And it worked. I did the menu for my wedding's rehearsal brunch three years ago. We cooked most of the food at home and brought it to my friend's house (who conveniently lived down the street from the venue). I don't remember most of the menu, but I do remember my friend turning to me and saying that the VWAV pancakes were "Hot fire!"

That, my friends, is when I became a foodie. This is the reason I will continue to purchase anything with Isa and/or Terry's name on it. The recipes they create have the ability to turn omnis into believers.

Last night I made it about halfway through Vegan Brunch. I basically read everything except the actual directions for the recipes. There's definitely some funny in there and tons of really good tips. I did manage to make one recipe, though. The Beer Battered Tofu (pictured above) is super simple and very tasty. It is fantastically crunchy. I plan to batter many, many things in my future. My batter isn't incredibly dark because I had a medium colored beer. I hit the poor, battered tofu with a splash of lime and topped everything with a simplified version of the corn salsa I talked about two posts down.

Simplified Corn and Pepper Salsa
1 cup fresh frozen corn, thawed
1 roma tomato, diced
1 smedium* orange bell pepper, diced (any color will do, but orange makes it purty)
1 green onion, thinly sliced
small fist full of cilantro, minced (1/4 to 1/3 cup depending on your fists)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt to taste

Place everything into a bowl or container and stir/shake to your hearts content. This is super good when ice cold. Also, I forgot the jalapeno and garlic this time...and it was still good.

My husband and I should go shopping sometime this weekend so a big review is coming. And maybe even a photo blog.

*smedium is a term coined by a friend of mine for when something says medium but is kinda small. go for a smallish medium pepper...or not.

Not in Kansas Anymore

Ever feel like you've stepped out of a black and white world and into a technicolor dreamscape?

Thanks to Isa, the UPS man just delivered a copy of Vegan Brunch!!! I'm going to pay my fortune forward and give away a copy soon, yo.

My first impression: this book is absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful layout. It's got pictures throughout the entire book which makes me giddy! I've read through the first part and it's super informative with that Moskowitz charm. I've already started my shopping list because I plan to have a marathon cooking session this week.

Do yourself a favor and buy this book. This will change the way vegans view brunch. It's no longer the time to eat hash browns and dry toast. Now we can grab a mimosa and cozy up to some vegan denver omelets.

Epic brunch post to come!!!

Memorializing Memorial Day Weekend

Yesterday, I felt completely wretched all day so I want to offer my deepest apology to Sunny Anderson for my previous post. In all the times I've poked at tv personalities, I never imagined any of them would read it...and I was completely mortified. I just want to take this time to make it clear to anybody reading this blog that the tone is incredibly light hearted. I don't take myself too seriously and I damn sure don't hate anybody (except for one ex boyfriend, but that's a different story). Now, I feel a lot better saying that.

I hope everybody had an absolutely fantastic weekend! I know I did. Even though we didn't have a grill, it felt like a barbeque weekend. After we finished the leftovers from our Jamaican meal, we had some coconut rice to use up. So, I made an eggplant recipe that I saw on Grill It! last week. It's pretty amazing. I used one large American eggplant instead of the Japanese ones. I also salted my eggplant to take the bitterness out. This is not the best picture, but the flavor was on point and super simple. Note: if you don't want to make a garlic paste, I suggest grating the garlic on a microplane...which is what I did.

Grilled Eggplant with Garlic Sauce and Mint
BY BOBBY FLAY (recipe originally found here)

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
4 Asian eggplants, halved lengthwise
Vegetable oil
Chopped fresh mint or cilantro leaves

Directions
Make a paste by smashing the garlic with a little salt and add to a small bowl. Whisk in the vinegar, soy, sesame oil, and red chili flakes.

Heat grill to high. Brush eggplant with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until slightly charred and just cooked through. Slice each half into 1/2-inch slices and place on a platter. Drizzle with the vinegar mixture and sprinkle with mint or cilantro.

Yesterday I made a sorta combination of the jackfruit carnitas and Vcon's baja tempeh tacos. I used jackfruit but flavored it with beer, olive oil, ancho chili powder, onions, garlic, cumin, and salt. I cooked it in the oven on 375 for about an hour and a half, adding more beer as the liquid was absorbed. I also made some more of Eddie G's tortillas, Isa's spicy pinto sausages, and Ani Phyo's red pepper corn salsa (substituted orange pepper and salted to taste). Served everything up with plenty of fresh avocado and beer. It was delicious.

Aaaaand...now I'm back to the rawness. Made a large batch of Ani Phyo's raw donut holes (added cocoa to half and cinnamon to the others). I'll be enjoying some of those babies with some cinnamon Dunkin Donuts coffee thanks to Kmouse's post where she mentioned cardamom coffee. I also have some leftover salsa so I see a big salad in my future.

Anyway, I promise original recipes super soon. I'm working on a mango ginger lemonade recipe and some strawberry colada paletas for a project that might be coming. I should know within two weeks. I am stoked!

Happy Tuesday everybody.