Poached Pear Frangipane

Happy Christmas! This is something I just recently discovered: frangipane. And, I'm addicted! It's a simple mixture of almonds, sugar, egg and butter, but I veganized it (with delicious result). It follow the typical frangipane mix of almond meal, white sugar and a bit of vanilla. I substituted flax seed and xanthan gum instead of egg and refined coconut oil for butter.

This is my favourite vegan hack: ~2T flax seed to 3T water (or almond milk) blend until creamy with an immersion blender. It makes a decent egg replacer. I've made vegan chocolate chip cookies with this trick and nobody could tell the difference.

Place the ingredients in the food processor and blitz until creamy.

The next part to this dish adds a festive nature to it: pears poached in pomegranate juice. First, peel and core the pears and place in a shallow skillet with a portion of pomegranate juice. Over low heat, allow the juice to begin simmering, and spoon over the pears.

When they're a nice colour, remove from the pan and allow to cool. Then, slide lengthwise and place in a prepared tart shell. I already had one in the fridge.

If I had to do it again, I'd have made the frangipane thicker, and I'd have put the pears on top of the filling. It was delicious all the same.

Bake at 350F until the filing is set, ~45min. I like to dust it with icing sugar and serve it with pomegranate kernels and a sprig of mint.

Roasted Stacked Potatoes

I saw something similar and decided to try this.  They turned out alright, but it was a lot of work.

First, I used a cutter to create small cylinders of potato and then I ran them through the food processor to slice them thinly.

Then, I coated the slices with olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.  Stacking them in a cupcake tin, I baked them at 350˚F until they were tender.

Allow the potatoes to cool slightly and pile a few into a stack; garnishing with tomatoes, basil and thyme.

Glazed Chocolate Cake [Vegan]

I love cake!  I've never really tried to make a vegan cake - I always thought it'd be kinda gross.  But, since I'm determined to make delicious vegan food, I decided to give it a try.  I used a recipe from the book:  The Joy of Cooking Cocoa Devil's Food Cake.

I made the following alterations: Coconut oil instead of butter, flax seed instead of eggs, soy youghurt instead of dairy; half the sugar and extra cocoa powder.  I also added a bit of baking powder to make sure it raised well.

While it's baking, I made the glaze.  It's composed of dark chocolate, Earth Balance, corn syrup and Silk creamer.

Pour the glaze over the cake and garnish with mint and pomegranate.

Goulash braised Cabbage

This is a perfect warm and filling dish for the winter months.  It's like a goulash, but without the meat.  Of course, it's possible to add fake meat, but I like to let the natural flavours of the ingredients stand on their own.

I use a seasoning mix of caraway seeds, garlic and paprika.  To add extra umami dimensions, I use just a bit of tamari sauce.

Begin by sauteing the caraway seeds in olive oil.  Toast them lightly and keep a watchful eye since they can burn easily.  To the hot oil and caraway, add chopped onions, celery, carrots and peppers.  Allow them to soften, but not brown - browning can add bitterness.

Then, add shredded or chopped red and white cabbage.  I also like to add a can of stewed tomatoes since fresh ones are hard to come by in the winter.  Fill the pan with enough water so that the mixture is submerged.  Add a bit of salt to suit your taste, keeping in mind that the stew will reduce while cooking.  You can always add more salt to finish the dish, but you can't take any out.

Bring the stew to a boil and then reduce to a low simmer.  Continue cooking until the cabbage is tender.

I like to serve it over rice!

Vegan - Gluten free Apple Crumble

This is one of my go-to dishes for my vegan and gluten free friends. It's got that classic nut-oat crust and an easy fruit filling.

First, add to the food processor the quick oats, nuts and a bit of salt. Chop until a fine crumbly texture and then add enough water to make a thick paste. Press the dough into a pan - it may be easiest to roll it between parchment first. Trim the dough around the edges to provide a uniform appearance. Bake the crust for about 15 minutes at 400˚F. Remove from the oven and place sliced apples on the dough-lined pan. Sprinkle over top a mix of oats, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Bake for about 30-45 minutes. The dough is quite different from regular flour dough, so keep an eye on it.

If I had to do it again, I'd use more apples. All the same, it's a nice sweet dessert.

Chickpea Curry Burger on Turmeric Rolls

A (fairly) quick and easy vegan burger: Curried chickpea on a turmeric biscuit.

Using the ratio 3:1:2 (flour:coconut oil:almond milk), portion out the ingredients.  Add a bit of flax seed, nutritional yeast, onion powder and turmeric.  If you're not using self raising flour, be sure to add a bit of salt and baking powder.

Cut the chilled coconut oil into the flour - a food processor makes it easy.  Mix the seasoning ingredients into the milk and add it to the flour.  Gently work the flax seed, seasoning and milk into the flour.  Be careful to not over mix or it will make the biscuits tough.  Shape into rolls and top with sesame seeds.  Bake at 350˚F until light brown ~25 minutes.

Start with chickpeas, pecans and almond meal, oatmeal and flax seed.  Season with tamari sauce, curry powder, onion powder, garlic powder, smoky and salt.  Add all the ingredients to a food processor.  Blend until smooth, adding a bit of water if needed to make it smooth.

Shape into patties and fry.

Build the burger.  I used lettuce, avocado, tarragon, basil, savoury soy youghurt, tomatoes and red onion.

Apple Cinnamon Ice Cream [vegan]

Frosty Fall treats!

First, peel and dice a couple apples.  Add them to a skillet with a bit of coconut oil and saute until they have softened.  Set aside and let the apples cool.  Return the skillet to the heat and add a bit of non dairy milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, apple cider, cornstarch and a dash of salt.  Heat the mixture until thickened.  Sweeten with sugar and add chilled non-dairy milk and soy creamer.  Silk makes an excellent creamer.

All the mix to refrigerate until very chilled ~38˚F.  Then pour the liquid mix into an ice cream freezer.  When the ice cream begins to develop, add half the apples.  Just before the freezing process finishes, add the last half.  This keeps them from getting pulverized, allowing for some chunks of apple.

Serve garnished with fresh apple, mint and a stick of cinnamon.

Stone Fruit and Ginger Galette

This is a mix of delicious and easy.

I like this gluten free crust made from ground nuts and oats.  It's hearty, rustic and fairly easy to make. In a food processor, mix the nuts (pecans, almonds and walnuts) with quick oats and a bit of salt and sugar.  Run the food processor until the mix is finely chopped and crumbly.  Then, add enough water to bring it together in a soft dough.  Since there's no gluten, it doesn't really need to rest.  Place between two sheets of parchment and roll out.

Prep the stone fruit.  I chose a mix of cherries, apricots, plums and peaches.  Add to a bowl with fresh grated ginger, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch and a pinch of salt. Place the fruit on the dough and distribute evenly, leaving a generous border.  Fold the dough inward to enclose the fruit.  Place the galette on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350F for 30-45 minutes.

I like to serve it with accents of fresh fruit and Swedish pearl sugar.

Frosted Cinnamon Square Biscuits

Kinda like cinnamon rolls, but quicker; cinnamon biscuits!

Start out with the 3:1:2 ratio [flour:fat:liquid] and then add some flavour: a bit of coconut sugar, cinnamon and salt.  I used fresh ground wheat flour, coconut oil and almond milk. Mix the dry ingredients and coconut oil in the food processor.  Blend until crumbly and then add the almond milk.  Blend a few more seconds to combine the ingredients, but stop as soon as they're combined.

The magic of square biscuits, there's no need to roll out and cut these.  Simply press the dough into a parchment lined pan and then score lines.

Bake at 350F until the top is browned ~25min.

While they're baking, mix a cinnamon drizzle topping: icing sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, almond milk and a pinch of salt.

Allow the biscuits to cool until they're warm to the touch and then drizzle with the topping.

Baked Brains! (Baked Cauliflower)

The perfect thing for Halloween.  Baked brains, but really it's just pizza over a whole head of cauliflower.

Start by setting out the spice profile: basil, onion powder, salt, garlic and oregano.  Stir it in the tomato paste and mix thoroughly.  Wash and shake dry a head of cauliflower.

Spread the spiced tomato paste on the cauliflower and cover with thinly-sliced vegetables.

Bake at 350F for 30-45min.  Doneness can be tested when a knife can be easily inserted.

Slice and serve drizzled with olive oil and sliced green onions.

Apple Cobbler

It's apple season!  I kicked off the season with this simple apple cobbler.

I like to use a blend of apples to get nuanced flavour from each cultivar.  Peel, slice and add to a skillet with a bit of oil.  Saute on low heat until they begin to soften.  Add a bit of sugar, cornstarch, orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract.  I also added a bit of molasses.  When they're soft, place in a greased cast iron skillet.

I ground a bit of organic red wheat and used it for a basic biscuit dough recipe.  I didn't add any sugar, but probably would next time - sugar helps the dough brown as it bakes.  It's easy to cover the apples with the dough by using a dough scoop to parcel out the topping.

Bake at 350F until the top is done.  I sprinkled a bit of rolled oats on top because oats, brown sugar and cinnamon are amazing together.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

The garden is slowing down, but there are still lots of peppers.  I roasted a few and added them to my usual hummus recipe.

The base is chickpeas, red pepper, onion and lemon juice.  Start by grilling or roasting the peppers and onions.  They're ready when the skin slides easily off the peppers.

I season my hummus with sea salt, smoky paprika, sesame seeds, sriracha, onion powder and garlic powder.

Chuck it all in a blender, or food processor, and blend until smooth.

Thai Curry From Scratch

This is probably my favorite food. Well, I don't really keep favourites, but this is top ten. A properly spiced thai dish is a pinnacle of human sensation. Thai food isn't always sharply 'hot,' rather contains the primal elements of good taste: sweet, savoury, slight acidity, umami and pungency. The fragrance of the cuisine cannot be overlooked or understated. Jasmine rice, citrus, ginger and richly flavoured vegetables/herbs create an unmatched aroma.

Here I plate an inverted arrangement of curry and cashews, beset with jasmine and black rice.

First, start sauteing the extra-firm tofu on low heat with coconut oil.  Turn every 5 minutes until tofu is chewy.

Home crown chili makes this fresh - as well as kaffir lime leaves from my tree and fresh pulled shallots.  I added a bit of salt and peanuts and bashed them in the mortar.

Bash the end of a lemongrass stalk and chuck into a pan with a can of full-fat coconut oil.  Add the bashed curry paste and lime juice or tamarind paste to pan as well.  Simmer the coconut milk mixture until slightly thickened and add in fresh veg.  I like sliced carrots, peppers, diced tomato and green onions.  Dice the tofu and add in.

Plate and serve with rice, cashews, thai basil and fresh grated coconut (unsweetened).

Vegan Lasagna

I'm so busy this week, but I wanted to post this. Vegan Lasagna!

So many vegan lasagnas only use tofu instead of ricotta. It's alright, but it's not great. So, I still used tofu, but the base was grated cauliflower, tamari sauce, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, onion powder and a smidgen of smoky paprika.

I started by preparing the base and then crumbling in the extra-firm tofu. Set it aside while grating the rest of the veg: broccoli, peppers, courgette, carrots and the non-woody stalks of asparagus.

Then add those greeted veggies to a heated pan with olive oil and sauté until tender. This helps reduce the water content and helps build flavour. I was in a rush, so I used canned pasta sauce.

I decided to grill the aubergine instead of grating it. So, just in a hot skillet, I seared it with a bit of olive oil. The spinach also seemed to be too good to chuck through a grater, so I wilted it quickly with olive oil. And salt! Carefully season everything after it's been reduced/seared/sweated.

Sometime when all of this was going on, I boiled the lasagne noodles. You could totally go gluten free, but these are just regular wheat noodles. Either way, be sure not to over cook them. Just soften them - ultra al dente? They'll get more cooking in the oven.

Then, begin building the dish: layer sauce, noodle, spinach and then "ricotta" filling until the dish is almost full. Be sure the top layer is sauce, and that the noodles are fully covered - otherwise they get hard and dry. Then arrange extra veg on the top. I think this makes a nice addition to any lasagna. I topped it with asparagus spears, tomatoes, olives and more grilled eggplant.

Bake for about 30-45 minutes.

I served it with a fresh sprig of basil and a drizzle of aged balsamic and olive oil.

Gazpacho

Gazpacho has the reputation of being an awkward dish.  It's not always well received - after all, it's cold soup.  The first time I tried it, I was in Paris and decided, "I'm never coming back to this place!  They can't even heat up soup properly."Thankfully I got over my Parisian aversion and I learned to actually like gazpacho!

I started with tomatoes, red onions, bell peppers, chili pepper and basil - all harvested from the garden. First, peel, half and remove the seeds from a medium cucumber.  Then coarsely dice the cucumber, tomato, onions and pepper.  Be sure to very finely mince the chili pepper - any remove the seeds unless you're really a fan of spice. Pile it all in a food processor with the basil, a bit of salt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Blitz it up until it's soupy, but not a fine puree.  There should be a bit of texture.

I find it's best to serve chilled, but not ice cold.

Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo

This was a surprising delight.  I found a red pepper recipe from Minimalist Baker (amazing blog).  I had red peppers in the garden.  I was inspired.

First, break down the red peppers and coat with olive oil.  Then, broil, roast or grill until the skin is charred.  This should help it slide off easily.  Mix the peeled red peppers with a few cashews, tamari sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, nutritional yeast and a bit of salt.  Cover the mixture with water and puree in a high speed blender.

Prepare a portion of brown rice pasta to just-before-al-dente.

Add the blender mixture to a hot frying pan with a shot of olive oil.  Allow to bubble and reduce until slightly thickened.  Then, add a scoop of the starchy pasta water and the noodles.  Continue to simmer until the pasta is finished cooking.

It's a very rich and savoury-sweet dish.  I love it!

Squash Blossom Cornbread

Squash blossoms are one of those unique treats. They're not particularly flavourful, but they're a delicacy of fragility. They last less than 12 hours, so working with them requires a fresh supply and an early morning harvest. Although they don't impart much flavour to this dish, they add a unique look.

First, I collected the blossoms from garden in the morning.  It's important to work fairly quickly since they'll wilt and become unusable.  Carefully flatten (but don't crush) them.  Mix a corn bread batter: cornmeal, almond milk, eggs, olive oil, salt and baking powder.

The trick to really great cornbread is a preheated cast iron pan.  When preheating the oven, place a cast iron skillet inside.  When the preheat cycle is over, remove the pan, add a generous glug of oil and then add the batter.  Immediately, the bread begins cooking and bubbling.  This creates a rich, thick and crispy crust.

I like to give cornbread a savoury edge by adding rings of red onion.  Finish the batter by placing the squash flowers atop the batter, drizzle or spray with olive oil, and return the skillet to the oven.

It's ready when the top is golden brown.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

If you follow me on the twitters or the instantgrams, you know I harvested a pile of tomatoes. When I saw a fresh portobello at the market, I knew I had to put them to good use, along with the other great veg from the garden.

First, dice the veg and saute it in olive oil.  Continue cooking until they're reduced and softened.  Prep the mushrooms by washing or peeling them and removing the stem.  I also like to coat the mushrooms with olive oil to prevent them from getting too dry and leathery.

Fill the mushrooms with the vegetable mixture and bake at 400F for about 15-20 minutes.  Allow to cool and serve with fresh herbs, I like basil and oregano.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Confit byaldi - Variation on Ratatouille

My favourite vegan french dish: Ratatouille!  It's also one of my favourite dished because I grow all the vegetables in my garden.

First, slice the squash, zucchini and eggplant.  Then, dice and fry in olive oil; the peppers, tomatoes, shallots and onions.  Once the onions and peppers are softened, spoon the mixture in a baking dish.  I chose to use small oven-safe dishes but really any baking dish will work.

Then, layer the sliced vegetables in an overlapping, alternating pattern.  Be sure to cover the entire baking dish.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top.

Wrap, or cover, the baking dishes with parchment paper (not wax paper).  This keeps the vegetables from drying out in the oven.  Bake at 350F for about an hour.  Remove from the over, let cool and refrigerate over night.

The next day, remove the parchment and cover the top with tomato sauce.  Admittedly, I used tinned tomato paste with fresh sauteed vegetables to make the top sauce.  I had only green tomatoes and those don't make an attractive sauce.

Return the sauce covered ratatouille to the oven for ~15 minutes to reheat.  Serve while it's still hot.  It's amazing on its own, but also goes well with rice and salad.

Matcha Doughnuts

Doughnuts are always a hit!  These are made from organic spelt - ground in the vitamix.

After grinding the flour, the first step is to make a dough: Water, flour, yeast, coconut oil, yeast and sugar.  I let it ferment in the fridge overnight to increase the flavour complexity.

Then, kneed and add enough flour to make a workable dough.  Sometimes, at this stage, I add a bit of baking flour to make the doughnuts really expand when fried.  Let it rest about 15 minutes to relax the gluten then roll to quarter-inch thickness.  Using cookie cutters, cut into doughnut shapes.  Allow the dough to raise for ~15 minutes to before deep frying at 350F.

When they're done frying, drain excess oil and cover in matcha-sugar while still hot (half-teaspoon of matcha powder in half-cup of sugar).