Broth in a Bag (and other tips)

 A while ago I posted a recipe for vegetable broth.  And while that recipe is still good I've found a much cheaper way to make broth.  You know all of those veggie scraps you throw out, like the tops of onions and the ends of asparagus spears?  Those have lots of flavor!  So save them from the garbage and get the full bang for your buck with your vegetables.  I keep a gallon bag in my freezer for vegetable scraps.  When it's full I dump the scraps into my biggest pot, fill it with water, add some bay leaves and peppercorns, and simmer for an hour or two.  And then I have homemade vegetable broth for super cheap.  I pour the broth into some Tupperware containers, stick it in the freezer, and then I have vegetable broth whenever I want.  In the bag pictured above I believe I had the tops of some onions, kale stems, asparagus ends, carrot peels, garlic nubs, Brussels sprout leaves, and probably a few other things.  On top I threw in a handful of fresh chives I had that I had no immediate plans for, as well as bay leaves and peppercorns.  I never salt my broth because I prefer to salt for the individual dish.  
 

While we're on the subject of saving money let me tell you that I am a coupon girl.  It's a learned skill from my mom.  I shop for sales and always try to combine with coupons.  But some of the prepared vegan foods that I enjoy are somewhat expensive and rarely go on sale.  So what did I do?  I e-mailed the companies directly asking them to send me coupons.  Amy's, Follow Your Heart, Daiya, Tofurky, and Van's all gave me positive response and I've already receive the coupons from Amy's, Follow Your Heart, and Tofurky.  These companies want your business so you should shoot them an e-mail as well.  Let me know who you get a positive reply from!  Are there any other vegan companies that you like that I've missed?

Chopped Vegan Dessert Contest

When I heard that the Post Punk Kitchen would be hosting a Chopped Vegan Dessert contest I was incredibly excited.  But also kind of nervous.  I mean, how weird were they going to get with the ingredients?  But then I saw the four secret ingredients and I felt that this basket was meant for me.  I mean, beets?!  I'm Queen Beet.

My dessert using mangoes, beets, rice cereal, and unsweetened flaked coconut:

Mango Crisp with Coconut and Rice Cereal Topping, served with Beet Syrup and Whipped Coconut Cream

Beet Syrup:

• 3-4 medium sized beets, peeled
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon orange juice

Crisp Filling:

• 3 mangoes, peeled and cubed
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Crisp Topping:

• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegan margarine
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened flaked coconut
• ½ cup brown rice cereal
• ¼ cup oatmeal
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder

Whipped Coconut Cream:

• 1 can full fat coconut milk, placed in the fridge overnight
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

For the Beet Syrup:

Using a juicer, juice all of the peeled beets.  In a small saucepan add the beet juice, sugar, and cinnamon stick.  Simmer for about 20 minutes until the consistency of thick syrup.  Stir in orange juice.  Set aside while making crisp.

For the Crisp:

Stir together mangoes, sugar, and vanilla.  Pour into 8 inch round cake pan.

For the Crisp topping:

Mix together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and brown sugar.  Cut margarine into the flour mixture.  Stir in coconut, rice cereal, and oatmeal until combined.  Spread the crisp topping evenly over the mango filling.

Place the crisp on top of a baking sheet to prevent spill over in the oven.  Bake for 30 minutes at 375 until the top is golden brown.  Cool before serving.

While the crisp is cooling you can make the whipped coconut cream.  Carefully open the can of coconut milk without shaking it.  Skim off the full fat cream on top and place into a mixing bowl.  Add the powdered sugar to the coconut cream.  Beat with a hand mixer until creamy.  Spoon on top of cooled crisp and drizzle with the beet syrup.

Garlic Chive Biscuits

When I heard about the recipe contest for Earth Balance Mindful Mayo I knew I wanted to participate, but I really had no idea what to make.  You see, I really dislike mayo.  I seriously don't like it.  I have started warming up to things like potato salad, but seriously, it's really just not my thing.

But while searching the internet for inspiration I found a lot of recipes for cakes and other desserts.  So I knew if mayo could work in cake it could certainly work in biscuits.

I've also been trying to find a decent, quick and easy biscuit recipe for a while but nothing ever turned out right.  Until this recipe.  Which is amazing.  The first time I made them I spooned a generous serving of vegan sausage gravy on top.  Currently, I'm just snacking on one straight, warm from the oven.  They would also make a great dinner roll.  It's up to you.  Just promise me you'll try them.

Garlic Chive Biscuits:

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 4 tablespoons Earth Balance Mindful Mayo
• 1 cup Earth Balance soy milk
• 2-4 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Preheat oven to 350.  Gently whisk together the dry ingredients.  Add the mayo and soymilk and stir until combined.  Fold in the chives.  Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and spray with a little bit of cooking spray.  Drop in batter evenly until about two thirds full.  Bake for 30 minutes until the tops are golden brown.  Serve warm.     

I think other herbs, fresh or dried, would be good to.  Feel free to experiment and let me know how they turn out!  Just don't forget the mayo.

Key Lime Pie

As a native South Floridian I'm pretty serious about my key lime pie.  I only ever use one recipe, my mom's, for a very simple reason: it's the best.  I almost never order key lime pie at a restaurant because I'm always disappointed; it's never as good as mine. 

However, the family key lime pie recipe is certainly not vegan.  As it has 4 ingredients and 2 of them are super not vegan (eggs and sweetened condensed milk) I never thought I would be able to veganize the recipe successfully.  I always thought I would just have to find an already vegan recipe.  Well, thankfully that turned out not to be true.  See, I knew replacing the eggs would be easy (silken tofu, duh).  But sweetened condensed milk?  There is no such vegan thing.  But one day as I was reading that a fellow blogger made homemade vegan sweetened condensed milk accidently.  What a happy accident.

Vegan Key Lime Pie:

• 1 graham cracker pie crust (homemade or store bought, I certainly won't tell on you)
• 2 cans full fat coconut milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup pureed silken tofu
• 2-3 ounces Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice

In a saucepan over medium high heat simmer the coconut milk and the sugar for 30 to 45 minutes, until thick and the consistency of sweetened condensed milk.  Let cool.

Preheat oven to 425.  In a mixing bowl whisk together condensed milk, pureed tofu, and the lime juice until combined.  Pour into prepared pie crust.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Let the pie cool slightly, then place in the freezer for at least 6 hours.  Remove pie from freezer about 30 minutes before serving.  Slice and enjoy! (Be sure to put it back the freezer or you'll have key lime soup in a pie crust).

Yes, it's that simple.  And I really think the homemade condensed milk makes the pie even better, as the subtle coconut flavor goes so well with lime.  And soon I will have an even better version of this recipe: mini chocolate covered key lime pies. 

Eats in Italy: Part 3

While I do have more recipes planned they had to take a back seat this past week because my sister just had a baby, my first nephew!  He's a handsome and healthy boy and completely captured my attention for the past week.  So I'll get to work on new recipes now, but first I though I'd share yet another post of what I ate in Italy.

I'm a coffee drinker.  Occasionally I'll switch to tea in the morning when I feel a cold coming on, but I really enjoy coffee.  Well breakfast every morning in Italy was a cappuccino, some fruit, and some type of pastry.  My favorite was a croissant filled with chocolate and dusted with powdered sugar.  I'll give you the secret of how I actually lost 4 pounds while I was in Italy when I do my last Eats in Italy Post.

Two days after our spectacular meal at the vineyard we were whisked away to a medieval castle for lunch.  Castello della Serre is a medieval castle that has been beautiful restored and is now a luxury hotel.  We didn't stay there, but we ate there.  Oh yes, we ate there.  This meal was actually much more reasonably sized than any other meal we had, only three courses.  And it also stands out because the meal was entirely vegetarian.  Usually I had the same first course as every one and dessert was always the same, but I always had my own main course.  But not at the castle.  And you know what?  I didn't hear anyone complain that there was no meat on their plates.  The first course was marinated, roasted bell peppers and eggplant, and an eggplant parmesan.  Delicious!

The second course was really delicious and somewhat unexpected.  It looked kind of like a manicotti, pasta rolled up and stuffed with cheese and topped with tomato sauce.  But it wasn't pasta.  It was a crepe.  And inside was a filling of cheese and spinach.  It was wonderful, and as I stated before, I didn't hear anyone at the table whining about having a meatless meal.  

And finally, dessert.  Now, I'll tell you something about myself.  I think you all know by now that I'm a dessert person.  My sweet tooth rules my body.  But did you know my all time favorite dessert is tiramisu?  Well, it is.  And I knew that I had to have it at least once while I was in Italy.  And oh my goodness.  This tiramisu...words almost fail me.  It was the perfect tiramisu, every element was simply perfection.  I ate almost the whole thing with my eyes closed thinking "I'm at a stunning castle.  In Tuscany.  Eating tiramisu.  What did I do to deserve this?"  And I will think about that piece of tiramisu for a very long time.  

While I do have some ideas for new recipes planned I would really like to take some requests!  So if you have any requests or suggestions leave a comment or e-mail me at blakebakesfl (at) gmail (dot) com!

Chocolate Chip Waffles with Strawberry Sauce

While I've enjoyed sharing pictures from my trip to Italy, and still have more of those to share, I thought it was high time to post an actual recipe.  I found the recipe for the waffles one night while stalking Food Gawker and Finding Vegan.  I no longer feel guilty about that activity since I have the whole summer off from academic responsibility.  And the motivation to make the strawberry sauce was simple; I was out of maple syrup and had strawberries in the freezer from the season's peak.  The waffles are great leftover, heated up in a toaster oven to keep them crisp.

Chocolate Chip Waffles, adapted from Mangia, Gioia!

• 1 cup almond milk (soy, rice, whatever you've got)
• 1 flax egg
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your waffle iron.  Add the dry ingredients in a large bowl and give it a quick whisk.  Mix wet ingredients in another bowl.  Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, don't over mix.  Gently fold in the chocolate chips.  Prepare the waffles according to your waffle makers instructions.  Serve with homemade strawberry sauce.

Strawberry Sauce

• 2 cups chopped strawberries, fresh or frozen
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.  Cook for five minutes or so, stirring often.  Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.  Once cooled, blend until you reach the desired consistency.  Spoon over waffles, ice cream, etc.  It keeps in the refrigerator for a week or so, if you let it last that long.

More recipes and Italy pictures coming soon! 

The Best Meal I Ever Ate (Eats in Italy: Part 2)

 The majority of day three in Tuscany was spent in a family vineyard eating the most ridiculously delicious meal I've ever had in my life.  The meal started with champagne and parmesan cheese.  The owner of the vineyard, where they make their own champagne, opened the first bottle with a sword.  So the meal literally started with a bang.  The name of their champagne is Bella Bolle, which means Beautiful Bubble in Italian.  And the champagne was beautifully delicious.  Then an enormous wedge of parmesan cheese was brought out and cut into chunks.  So we sipped champagne, nibbled on the cheese, and enjoyed the amazing view of the beautiful Tuscan vineyard.  And that was just the beginning.

The meal was served family style and our group of sixteen sat at two large tables.  The wine flowed and the food never stopped coming.  First several types of antipasti were passed around the table.  I of course, sampled all the vegetarian options which was almost all of the antipasti.  Pictured are a slice of typical Tuscan bread, two crostini (one with mushroom spread, the other with a spicy tomato spread), grilled marinated eggplant, and an artichoke tart.  The mushroom crostini and artichoke tart tied for my favorite antipasti.  It was all delicious.

Wild boar are a huge problem in Tuscany, as they love feasting on grape plants.  So they are widely hunted in the region.  Because of this, wild boar was a large part of the meal and everyone was served wild boar lasagna.  Everyone except me.  And boy was everyone else missing out, because the spring vegetable lasagna, filled with asparagus and zucchini, was incredible.  It was a little salty for my palate, but it was so good that I really didn't care.  At this point in the trip I began pacing myself at meals, because I realized I would be served crazy amounts of food, but I ate every last bite of that lasagna.  Every.  Last.  Bite.

After the lasagna, but before dessert, everyone else was served stewed and sliced wild boar, while I was served eggplant marinara.  It was good, but I only managed a few bites as I was stuffed from the lasagna, and I also knew dessert would be on it's away.  And this dessert...oh my god...The highlight of the meal, and until two days later when I finally had tiramisu, it was the best dessert I had ever eaten.  Ever.  It was a pear cake served with pastry cream and macerated strawberries.  Everything about it was perfect.  I requested the recipe and am excited to recreate it at home.