Sausage & Summer Vegetable Casserole w/Cheesy Polenta Crust

The next entry in my Great Recipe Challenge of 2012 is another recipe I had considered trying for my potluck the other week (see original version of the recipe here). Even though I didn't end up picking it, I think it actually ended up tasting much better than the recipe I went with! I brought it to my family Easter party this weekend, and received several compliments on the dish! This is definitely a winner, and I have to put a star on this recipe as one that will make it on my rotating list of regular meals.

A Decadently Dense Milk-Infused Chocolate Cake

This cake is officially our most delicious “failure” to date! We set out to make vegan chocolate tres leches cake, inspired by a cake that used to be on Cafe Ba Ba Reeba’s dessert menu. Unfortunately, it’s been off of the menu for years, and I’ve never had the chance to try it. However, a reliable source (in the form of David, my cooking challenge partner) insists it was their most delicious dessert and that it’s a crime that it’s no longer on the menu. So for the Tapas challenge, we set out to re-create this legendary cake.

What we ended up with, however, was a very dense, decadent chocolate cake that did not soak in the milk sauce. In essence it tasted like a flourless chocolate cake, even though we used flour; and although we made it with three milks, it failed to be a tres leches cake! However, it was very delicious, although perhaps slightly too chocolatey & decadent (according to David, who’s had Ba Ba Reeba’s version of the cake; I loved the chocolate level as it was!). I think we learned enough during this challenge that we should be able to successfully make it next time.

Never having made a tres leches cake before, let alone a vegan chocolate one, we used our web-savviness to look up recipes for tres leches cakes, vegan tres leches cakes, chocolate cakes, and any combination of the above. We ended up choosing to combine two recipes: one for a vegan tres leches cake, and one for a chocolate tres leches cake.

We used the vegan tres leches cake recipe for the actual cake, except adding in the ½ cup of cocoa powder that the chocolate tres leches cake called for. For the milk sauce, we followed the chocolate tres leches recipe. Since it was a non-vegan recipe, we had to substitute one serving of soy milk powder plus serving of soy milk for evaporated milk. For the condensed milk and heavy cream, we just used vegan alternatives which were ordered from Pangea.

The transition between the two recipes is almost certainly where our cake went wrong. The vegan tres leches recipes expressly states that the milk mixture must be boiling before pouring over the cake, otherwise it won’t absorb! However, since we were using the non-vegan chocolate tres leches recipe for the milk mixture, we followed its instructions to pour non-boiling milk mixture over the cake. The difference, however, is that the cake in the non-vegan recipe is not allowed to cool completely before the milk is poured onto it. In both recipes, either the cake or the milk was hot, allowing the milk to soak into the cake. When we combined the recipes, we poured a cold milk mixture onto a cool cake, which might explain why it didn’t soak properly.

When we try making this cake again, we’ll definitely heat the milk to boiling before pouring it onto the cake! We’ll also scale back the amount of cocoa powder we used, to allow the milk flavor to come through a bit more, rather than being overpowered by chocolate!

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Our Most Delicious Mistake Ever: A Decadently Dense Milk-Infused Chocolate Cake!
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 ¾ cups pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
⅓ cup Earth Balance whipped spread
1 cup vegan sugar
⅔ cup filtered water
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cider vinegar (unfiltered)
½ cup cocoa powder + xx cups water

For the milk sauce
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
⅓ cup heavy whipping cream

For the Chocolate Ganache
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla



Directions
Preheat oven to 350'F. Grease and flour an 8 inch cake pan. Line the pan with parchment.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate smaller bowl whisk salt, margarine, sugar, water, vanilla and vinegar until blended. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, whisking till smooth. Pour the batter into the cake pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Remove the cake and allow it to cool.

Cut the cooled cake in half horizontally so that it forms two thin layers and put the bottom half of the cake back into the cake pan and the top half in a separate cake pan. Punch holes in both halves of cake with wooden skewer.

Combine the ingredients for the milk sauce and pour evenly over the two layers. Allow mixture to soak into the cake for at least 30 minutes.

To make the ganache, in a small, heavy saucepan on medium heat, stir the cream and chocolate together until chocolate is melted and mixture is blended. Add vanilla and stir for 1 minute.

When ready to assemble, run a spatula around the inside of cake pans and slightly under layers to loosen. Be very careful, as cakes will be very moist and more difficult to handle.

Place the serving platter over one pan and invert, releasing the cake onto the platter. Pour approximately ⅓ of the ganache over the layer and spread with spatula.

Using your hand or a spatula to hold second layer in pan, invert onto frosted layer and carefully lift pan away. Set the cake on a rack over a jellyroll pan and pour the warm ganache over the cake, smoothing with a spatula to completely coat top and sides of cake.

Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes and scape any excess frosting from the jellyroll pan back into the saucepan.

Heat excess frosting, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly and again pour over the cake, smoothing with a spatula over top and sides. Refrigerate until glaze is set.

Let cake stand at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh strawberries or dust lightly with powdered sugar.

An Emeril-Inspired Tortilla Espanola

This dish turned out ridiculously AMAZING! A Spanish tortilla is actually an potato-filled omelet rather than the small flatbreads we normally think of. Just about every tapas place I've been to has its own version of Tortilla Espanola (also sometimes called Torta Espanola). Most are filled with potato and onions, and served with a garlic aioli. We went a step further and added some vegetarian chorizo, a very flavorful sausage that is usually made of pork. Honestly, I feel like our version didn't lose anything by subbing the soy version for the meat. It was THAT delicious!

This is actually one of the few challenge recipes we've done that we didn't try to veganize. We figured we'd see if the vegetarian version worked, then if there was still interest, we'd veganize it in the future. Since this DID end up going well, we will definitely be trying one or more vegan versions that (hopefully) won't end up just being scrambled tofu!

For the recipe itself, we adapted a recipe from the kitchen of one of my favorite chefs - Emeril! Here's the link to the original recipe. We made two major changes. The first, obviously, was to substitute soy chorizo for the meaty variety. I'm a huge fan of Melissa's Soyrizo, but I also know Trader Joe's also has its brand, as well as a few others. The important thing, I think, is to make sure to get the kind that resembles ground sausage, rather than varieties that are more solid and resemble sausage links. Here is what we used:

Our second change was done more to save time and energy than anything else. We decided that instead of peeling and slicing our potatoes thinly, we would just use reconstituted freeze-dried hash brown potatoes. These were unseasoned and uncooked, so we just used them as if they were raw potatoes that we had shredded ourselves. It worked like a charm! Obviously, if we ever made these for a party or for guests, we would go through the trouble of using real potatoes; but in a pinch, this worked great! To give you an idea, here's a picture of what we used:

The greatest thing I love about this recipe is how it would be so easy to incorporate into my routine. It's actually pretty healthy for you, especially if you substitute eggbeaters for the eggs, and maybe use a combination of Melissa's Soyrizo and Upton's Naturals Chorizo-Style Seitan, which has more protein and less fat than Soyrizo. Also, using the hash browns makes this dish very quick and easy to make! I could see myself making an omelet every Sunday evening, and then having an awesome breakfast all week!

Anyways, now that I've gone on and on about how I love this recipe, here it finally is:

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Tortilla Espanola
Inspired by Emeril:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/spanish-style-potato-and-chorizo-omelet-with-a-garlic-and-pimento-mayonnaise-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:
¼ cup olive oil. divided
4 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into ⅛-inch slices, about 3½ lbs
OR 1 -4.2 oz carton dehydrated hash browns, reconstituted (3 cups shredded potatoes)
1 large onion, chopped
7oz vegan chorizo
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic
pinch red pepper flakes
1 recipe Garlic Aioli (recipe to follow)

Directions:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add potatoes alternately with the onions, a little at a time & stirring as needed, until all the potatoes and onions are in the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender but not brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. In the same skillet, add the vegan chorizo with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook over medium-high heat, breaking up the sausage pieces periodically, until browned, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. In a large bowl beat the eggs until slightly foamy. Add the salt, garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Add the potato-onion mixture and the chorizo to the eggs; stir gently to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes.

4. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over high heat in a clean 9 or 10-inch nonstick skillet and, when very hot (smoking), add the egg-potato mixture. Using the back of a spoon or a spatula, spread the potatoes evenly in the skillet, pressing down to condense. Reduce the temperature to medium-high and cook, shaking the pan often to prevent sticking.

5. When the omelet begins to brown underneath, invert a plate of the same or slightly larger diameter over the skillet and, working quickly and very carefully, invert the skillet to release the omelet onto the plate. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet, then slide the omelet back into the pan and cook until beginning to brown on the second side. Continue cooking the omelet, flipping occasionally, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Transfer the omelet to a platter and set aside to cool.

6. Slice and serve either warm or at room temperature with garlic aioli.

Snowpocalypse Mardi Gras Jambalaya!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!!! Next week, I’m headed down to New Orleans with some triathlon friends to do the Mardi Gras Marathon and ½! To celebrate, we decided to have a mini-Mardi Gras party. Of course, being triathletes, this means we meet for our usual weekly indoor bike ride together, followed by Mardi-Gras-inspired healthy food! One friend made her version of vegetarian gumbo, and I volunteered to make a jambalaya!

Ok, so I’ve never made jambalaya, so I didn’t know where to start. The only thing I knew was that I wanted it to be vegetarian and quinoa-based. I figure I’d do some recipe searches and see what came up. Unfortunately, the vegetarian quinoa-based jambalayas didn’t appeal to me, so I just went searching for GOOD jambalaya recipes. I happened upon a few by Emeril that received high ratings. Though none were vegetarian, I tried to dissect the ingredients, seasonings, and methods he used in his more popular recipes, and tried to see where I could make substitutions and modifications.

In the end, I chose to combine two of his recipes that were very similar. One was duck-based, while the other was chicken- and ham- based. Both recipes called for shrimp and andouille sausage. So I decided to omit the shrimp, and just go with mock duck, chicken-style seitan, veggie ham, and the Field Roast Mexican Chipotle Sausage. Here are some pics of the cut-up ham and pan-frying sausage:

However, the huge Snowmageddon of 2011 hit before I could restock my pantry with a few of the things on my grocery list. Luckily, I had most of what I needed, so I just used what I had rather than what I’d planned. Instead of a half cup each of green and red peppers, I just used the lone red pepper I had in the fridge. Also, since Whole Foods wasn’t open, I couldn’t get my usual chicken-style seitan, so just used the tofu in the fridge. I cut them into 1-inch triangles and dry-fried them. Ended up working great!

The last thing on my list that I didn’t have was canned mock duck; but I had a few packages of smoked veggie duck in the freezer that I decided to use instead. Here’s a picture of the duck I ended up going with. The canned variety already comes in small, bit-sized chunks, so I had to slice this one into smaller pieces. I may have sliced it a little to thinly, as it fell apart a little in the dish. In the future, if I don’t go with canned, I would do ½ to 1-inch pieces.

The only other modifications I made was omitting the cayenne pepper and black pepper in the recipe, making it optional, since the Essence of Emeril already contained both. Since I wasn’t familiar with the heat tolerance of many of our guests, I decided to keep it safe by leaving out the extra spice. If I were making it for myself, though, I would definitely add them back in! I also omitted the white onions from the recipe since one of the party hosts doesn’t tolerate onions too well. Again, that’s something I’ll leave in the recipe, though, to add back in when just making for myself! Oh, also, I forgot to bring cut-up green onions and parsley to dinner; I was supposed to add them in at the very end, but I forgot to bring them to my friend's house. It was totally fine without it, though!

Honestly, this turned out waaaay better than I imagined! I can definitely see myself making this again in the future, and perhaps with the variations I’d originally intended. This was definitely an Emeril WIN!


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An Emeril-Inspired Snowpocalypse Mardi Gras Jambalaya
Ingredients
1-14oz package of firm or extra firm tofu, drained, pressed, & cut into ½-1 inch pieces
½ cup vegetable oil
2- 10oz packages vegetarian duck, sliced into 1-inch pieces
½ pound vegetarian ham, cubed (I used Veri Soy)
2 cups chopped yellow onions
½ cup chopped green bell peppers
½ cup chopped red bell peppers
½ cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Emeril's Original Essence, recipe follows
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme leaves OR 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
2 cups peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
3 bay leaves
6 cups chicken-style or regular vegetable broth (made with NO chicken!)
3 cups quinoa
1 pound vegetarian andouille or other spicy smoked sausage, diced (Field Roast Mexican Chipotle)
1 cup chopped green onions (green and white parts)
½ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley


Directions
Dry fry the tofu by cooking over low to medium heat in a non-stick skillet. Flip tofu when browned on one side, and repeat on other side. Remove from heat and set aside when golden brown on both sides. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

While tofu is cooking, Heat the oil in a large heavy pot or cast-iron Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the duck and ham, and cook until browned. Remove meats from heat, leaving as much of the oil behind in the pan as possible. Add onions, bell peppers, celery, salt, and the Essence. If using cayenne, black pepper, and dried thyme, add it as well. Stirring often, brown the vegetables until they are caramelized. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pot to loosen any browned particles; it may be necessary to add a little water to remove particles from the bottom of the pan.

Add tofu, duck, ham, the tomatoes and garlic to the vegetables, stirring thoroughly to allow spices to coat evenly. Cook, stirring gently, until the tomatoes give off some of their juices, about 2 minutes. Be careful not to over-stir the mock meats, as they may break apart if handled too roughly. Add the quinoa and bay leaves to the pot. Stir for 2 to 3 minutes to coat evenly. Add fresh thyme if using, and broth. Stir to combine, then cover. Cook over medium heat for 15 to 17 minutes, without stirring, or until the quinoa is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.

If desired, brown sausage in the tofu pan; otherwise, use cut-up sausages directly. Add sausages to the cooked quinoa at the end of cooking and mix thoroughly. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the green onions and parsley, and serve.

Chef’s Note: It’s best to use a pot with a glass lid in order to better monitor the quinoa without disturbing the pot. If most of the liquid has not evaporated after 15 minutes, remove lid and stir thoroughly to make sure the broth is evenly distributed through the dish. Replace cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes. This should help the quinoa absorb the remaining broth.

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Essence of Emeril
Ingredients
2 ½ tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.


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In case you were wondering, here were the inspiration recipes I used:
Clean Out the Ice Box and Freezer Jambalaya
Mardi Gras Jambalaya

Fennel Spiced Flatbread

Once upon a time (I'm thinking sometime late January/ early February of 2009) I took a cooking class at The Chopping Block on the north side of Chicago. The name of the class was "So.... You're Dating a Vegetarian", and was geared toward date-night recipes that a non-veg might serve for their new vegetarian significant other. Of course, I think most of the class was filled with veg-heads who wanted to figure out new dishes to cook for themselves. While most of the recipes we learned that day were unremarkable (eg, most veggies already know how to make a curry stir fry!)... but this one stood out, and we used it for our Holiday Dinner in both 2009 and 2010 :)

I'm just posting the recipe as written below. However, to veganize it, instead of using goat cheese we used a tofu-based homemade vegan bacon instead. While it's not a sub for goat cheese, we thought it gave the dish a nice smoky flavor. For the 2009 holiday party, we used The Girl and the Fig Apricot Fig Chutney, which they used in the class. However, for the 2010 dinner, we couldn't find it anywhere, so we made up our own recipe based on the ingredients list. It turned out really well! The recipes for both the Tofu Bacon and the Apricot Fig Chutney each get their separate posts :)

Fennel Spice Flatbread with Apricot Fig Chutney and Goat Cheese
1 cup water, between 110-115 degrees
pinch sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/3 cup bread flour
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, lightly cracked
2 tablespoons fennel seeds, lightly cracked
One 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and lightly mashed
Apricot Fig chutney as needed (The Girl & The Fig, or homemade)
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled (we used Vegan Bacon instead)
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped

Sprinkle yeast on top of water in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir gently until dissolved. Allow to proof until slightly foamy and aromatic to ensure yeast is alive, about 5 minutes. Add oil, 1 cup of each flour, and salt.

Mix on medium low speed with a dough hook until incorporated, scraping down sides as necessary. Add remaining flour, coriander and fennel seeds, and chick peas. Knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5-6 minutes. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead a few turns by hand and shape into a ball. Place dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap on top of bowl not touching dough. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled, about 60-75 minutes, or in refrigerator overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rub a sheet tray with olive oil. Spread the dough out onto the tray, stretching it until it reaches the edges and corners. Optionally, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt for extra flavor & crunch. Bake until just golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and spread with the fig and shallot chutney. Top with the goat cheese and rosemary and return to the oven just until the cheese is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Cut into squares or triangles and serve warm.

Notes

• Adding a pinch of sugar to the warm water will help the yeast grown. Do not add enough to change the flavor.
• For the fennel and coriander seeds, crack with mortar and pestle. Do not use ground. If you must use ground, halve the amount.
• For our class, they ran out of the Fig & Shallot chutney, so she used Apricot and Fig chutney. Preserved fruit or any other types of sweet or savory chutney would also work well with this recipe.
• If the dough is allowed to rise overnight in the refrigerator, bring it back to room temperature before rolling & baking.

Cassoulet, Lake Style!

My friend Lake and I invented this dish together as a joke. We were playing a game of diplomacy, and I was France. The only French food I could think of to bring to snack on during this 8-hour game was brie... Hardly substantial! And not vegan, so Lake couldn't even have any :( So I suggested to Lake that we make a cassoulet, which is a French peasant stew made of duck, sausage, bacon, and beans. Seeing as three out of the four main ingredients were most decidedly non-vegan, it should have been a funny joke that ended there. But alas, I piqued Lake's curiosity, and he took my joke as a challenge. We ended up making cassoulet for the party by subbing vegan ingredients that he generally had on hand anyways! After a few tweaks, he optimized the recipe and posted it on his blog! It was his Mesomorph-Optimized Vegan Cassoulet Recipe that we used as the main dish for our 2010 Holiday Dinner.

I've re-typed the recipe here for easier scale-up & scale-down. For the holiday dinner, we increased the proportions by 50% and had plenty of leftovers! Clearly, this is a very large recipe, as it yields 22 servings!

Lake's Mesomorph-Optimized Vegan Cassoulet
Ingredients:
2 carrots, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes (28 oz)
8 tablespoons avocado oil
4 boxes Lifelight Smart Bacon, with strips pre-separated and cut into 1-inch squares
4 cups diced onions
2 cans imitation duck (20oz total), w/liquid reserved
2 cans imitation chicken or 1.25 packages chicken-style seitan (20oz total), w/liquid reserved
6 cans cannellini beans (90oz total), drained
8 links Field Roast Italian Sausages, cut in half lengthwise, then in 1-in chunks
215 grams breadcrumbs
spices to taste; suggestion is a blend of equal parts herbs de provence, oregano, basil, & parsley

1. In a large pot or wok, add chopped carrots and diced tomatoes (including liquid) and heat to boiling and simmer until carrots are soft. 2. In a separate, large frying pan, add 8 Tbsp avocado oil and heat on high. Add cut & separated SmartBacon. Stir occasionally until about half of the squares just begin to blacken on the edges. 3. While Bacon is browning, add onions to the tomato/carrot mixture. Stir and allow onions to cook through. Add the reserved liquid from the imitation duck and imitation chicken. Stir once more and allow to continue on high heat. Remember to stir the pan-frying bacon periodically to prevent burning. 4. Dice the imitation duck and chicken into small chunks (1/2-in cubes) and stir into the simmering vegetable mixture. Add drained cannellini beans and stir again. 5. Once Smart Bacon is crisp and browned/blackened, transfer into the large vegetable/bean pot with tongs, leaving as much avocado oil in the frying pan as possible. Be careful of sputtering that may occur when transferring the hot bacon into the simmering liquid! If it becomes a problem, first transfer cooked bacon to a plate to allow to cool before transferring to bean & vegetable pot. Stir well. 6. Add Field Roast chunks to the retained oil and allow to pan-fry on high heat. Stir periodically until browned around the edges. Once sausage has browned, transfer entire contents of frying pan into the large pot. Again, be aware of sputtering; if the frying pan contents are too hot, allow to cool slightly before transferring into pot. Mix well and turn off heat. 7. In a separate bowl, mix 215 grams of carbohydrates in the form of breadcrumbs with spices to taste. The spices may be chosen on personal preference, but I suggest a mixture of equal parts herbes de provence, oregano, basil, and parsley. Use roughly four parts breadcrumbs to one part herb mixture by volume. Mix well. 8. Transfer individual portions into ramekins, or entire portion into casserole dish for serving. Top with breadcrumbs & spice mixture. Yields 22 servings at 405 calories a serving.

Chocolate Truffles, Now We're Cookin'!

As I mentioned in the Truffle Challenge post, I got this recipe from a truffle-making class at Now We're Cookin' in Evanston. We veganized the recipe by simply using vegan versions of the ingredients and following the recipe as written. Can't get any easier than that! For our holiday dinner, the flavor combinations we went with were Vanilla coated in powdered sugar, Black Truffle Salt coated in cocoa powder, Black Raspberry liqueur coated in silver sugar sprinkles, Peppermint coated with crushed candy cane, Sea Salt coated in macadamia nuts, and Balsamic Vinegar coated in hazelnuts.

The only real major glitch we had with the recipe was in making Vegan White Chocolate truffles. We tried following the recipe using vegan white chocolate chips, but while they melted as promised, they did not re-solidify readily, even when frozen. Luckily the dark chocolate version worked so well, the white chocolate ones were not missed! (As a side note, remember when making vegan dark chocolate truffles, be sure that the ingredients list does not contain any milk or milk derivative!)

We also encountered a few other minor issues that weren't as fatal as the white chocolate fiasco. First, when coating truffles with any type of sugar-- in our case, the powdered sugar and candy cane bits-- it's important to realize that the truffles will absorb the sugar. Therefore, if you plan on storing them before serving (they will last a month in the freezer), allow for an extra generous coating, otherwise they become a sticky mess! It may also be worth it coat them again right before serving.

Another consideration if using hard candy is crushing them to the correct size. Crush it too small, and they become powdery and cause they truffle to become a sticky liquid if left too long before eaten. If the pieces are too large, they do not coat the truffle very well; this same issue also applies to using crushed nuts.

Anyways, without further delay, I present you with the recipe, with my notes on vegan subs and a few other minor corrections, below:


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Chocolate Truffles
Yield 18 large or 24 medium

1 1/8 cups bittersweet chocolate; 7 oz by weight (check ingredients for milk)
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1/2 stick butter (Earth Balance sticks)
1/3 cup heavy cream (unsweetened MimicCreme)
pinch salt (optional)
flavoring (options to follow)
2 Tbsp cocoa or powdered sugar

Chop chocolate and butter into small pieces. You may melt it slightly either in a double boiler or microwave, being careful not to overcook the chocolate; alternatively, you may simply let the hot cream melt the chocolate in the next step.

In a small nonreactive saucepan, heat cream to a boil. Remove from heat, strain, and pour over chocolate. Let sit about 2 minutes. Add flavoring, then begin stirring. Continue stirring until the mixture becomes a smooth shiny mass. If the mixture still has lumps of chocolate, place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until the lumps disappear.

Chill about 30 minutes until solidified enough to work. To form the truffles, pipe (with a pastry bag), scoop, or roll into balls by hand.

To finish, place the truffles in a ziplock back with cocoa or powdered sugar and shake to coat.


Flavor Options may include:
Sea Salt (1 Tsp)
Cinnamon (1/2 tsp)
peppermint extract (1/2 tsp)
vanilla (1 tsp)
citrus oil/extract (1/2 tsp)


Chef's Note:
-If using whole spices, tea, citrus zest, or other flavorings, you will need to infuse them into the cream. To do this, stir the spice/flavor into the heated cream before you add it to the chocolate. Remove the pan from heat to steep for 10-15 minutes (infuses the flavor). When enough flavor has developed, reheat the cream to boiling, then strain and add to the chocolate. Stir well before chilling.
-If using liquid flavorings, add after chocolate has melted. Stir well before chilling
-If using nuts, dried fruit, etc, stir in at the very end before chilling.

-When piping truffles, remove ganache from refrigeration slightly earlier than indicated since it is easier to pipe when still soft.
-When scooping truffles, allow ganache to harden completely. Dip scoop in hot water periodically to allow for easier forming.

Poached Pear Salad

This salad is simple, beautiful, and delicious--perfect for entertaining! We served this as the second course of our 5-course holiday dinner, and it was a huge success. We even veganized it by substituting Blue-Style Sheese for bleu cheese. The presentation is pretty, and the dressing is light and refreshing!

My friend's mom got the recipe from some caterers, so it makes for a pretty large salad :) Obviously, you can scale up or down according to your needs. In addition to veganizing the recipe, we did a few other substitutions and modifications as well, which I've listed in my notes below.

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Poached Pear Salad
24oz California field greens
96pc sun dried cherries
96pc toasted walnuts
6 whole poached pears 1/2 fanned
12oz crumbled amish blue cheese
12pc edible flowers
honey sherry vinaigrette (see below)

Honey Sherry Vinaigrette
1/4 cup sherry vinegar (have also used champagne citrus and white balsamic raspberry vinegars)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
salt and pepper to taste


Notes
Instead of counting out 96 cherries, we just used a 5 oz bag. It didn't seem like a lot, so we probably could have used more. We also didn't count out the walnuts; we probably used 8oz or so, which was perfect.

Rather than poaching the pears, we just sliced them into fans, and served 1/4 of a pear per person. It turned out pretty good--I thought the fresh pears made it very refreshing and light!

As I mentioned before, we substituted the Amish bleu cheese with vegan Bleu Sheese (we used a 4oz box). We served the sheese separately so people could choose how much to add to their own salad; however, we did toss the salad with the vinaigrette (also pictured below) just before serving.

We used 2 boxes of edible flowers, which is about double what the recipe calls for. I thought it looked perfect that way!

We couldn't find sherry vinegar, so we used a citrus champagne vinegar instead. It turned out really delicious.

My friend's mom had pomegranate molasses in stock, so we didn't have to buy it. Apparently it's hard to find, though. She said the best bet would have been to go to a Middle Eastern grocery store.

The vinaigrette can be prepared beforehand. We made ours the night before.
Toss the cherries, flowers, and walnuts (and cheese, if desired) together before tossing with the greens & dressing.

Serve, and enjoy!

The Field's Pot Pie, A Chicago Holiday Classic

A great holiday tradition for many generations of Chicagoans is to go see the holiday display at Marshall Field's. One of the most famous Field's food items (besides Frango Mints) is Mrs. Herring's Chicken Pot Pie, served in the Walnut Room on the 7th floor. It's still being served there, even though Field's is now Macy's. . . but as a tribute to the Chicago Holiday tradition, we made a vegan version of the Marshall Field's Chicken Pot Pie.

For the recipe, we substituted chicken-style seitan for the chicken, Smart Balance w/flax for the butter, soy milk for the milk, and a concoction of oil, salt, and sugar for the egg wash. I've noted what we did in italics below.

It turned out AMAZING, just as good as I remember it. The only thing we thought needed tweaking was the egg wash, to make the crust shinier. But the taste was dead on! We're definitely going to be featuring it as the main course at our holiday dinner party next weekend.

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Mrs. Herring's Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients

Chicken and stock ingredients
1 (3 1/2 pound) frying chicken 2 1-lb packages of chicken-style seitan
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 small onion, halved
2 teaspoons salt

Pie crust ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter Smart Balance w/Flax, diced into 1/2-inch cubes (best to chill cubes in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before using)
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
3 to 4 Tbsp ice water

Filling ingredients
6 Tbsp unsalted butter Smart Balance w/Flax
1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
3 carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal
3 celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups soy milk
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup dry sherry
3/4 cup green peas, frozen or fresh
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Egg wash
1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water
oil w/salt & sugar

Special equipment needed
6 10-ounce ramekins
(We used 8 7-oz ramekins because that's all we had. We had a lot of the filling left over because we didn't have enough ramekins.)

Method

Cook the seitan chicken and make the chicken stock.
Combine the seitan chicken, carrot, celery, onion and salt into a large stock pot. Add cold water until just covered and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes. Remove the seitan chicken from the pot and let cool for 15 minutes. While the seitan chicken is cooling, continue to boil the remaining water and vegetables in the pot. When the chicken has cooled enough to touch, strip away as much of the meat as you can. Place the meat on a dish, set aside. Return the chicken bones to the stockpot and [Since we were working with seitan, we didn't have bones to work with.] continue to boil, on high heat, until the stock has reduced to a quart or quart and a half. Set aside 2 1/2 cups of the stock for this recipe. The remaining stock you can refrigerate and store for another purpose.
[In the future, we're going to omit this step and just use the "stock" that the seitan comes with instead. Or use/make veggie stock.]

Prepare the pie crust dough.
Combine the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the chilled butter cubes and pulse 5 times to combine. And the shortening and pulse a few more times, until the dough resembles a coarse cornmeal, with some pea-sized pieces of butter. Slowly stream in ice water, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough sticks together when you press some between your fingers. Empty the food processor, placing the dough on a clean surface. Use your hands to mold into a ball, then flatten the ball into a disk. Sprinkle with a little flour, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days, before rolling.

Prepare the filling.
Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large skillet, melt butter on medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery, and cook until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add the flour and cook, stirring, one minute more. Whisk in 2 1/2 cups of the chicken stock. Whisk in the milk. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the chicken meat, thyme, sherry, peas, parsley, salt and pepper and stir well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Divide the warm filling among six 10-ounce ramekins.

Prepare the crust.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a little less than a quarter-inch thick. Cut into 6 rounds, slightly larger than the circumference of the ramekins. Lay a dough round on each pot pie filling. Fold the excess dough under itself and use the tines of a fork to press the dough against the edge of the ramekins. Cut a 1-inch vent into each individual pie. Use a pastry brush to apply an egg wash to each pie.

Line a baking sheet with foil, place the pies on the baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6.

Mustard & Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts

Here I am again, reporting about another one of the recipes I learned from my Vegetarian Thanksgiving Class at the Chopping Block. I was going to wait until I try each recipe out myself before blogging about it, but then I realized it might take a while ;-) Anyways, this edition will be about the Mustard & Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts--arguably my favorite dish that day!

I'm a HUGE Brussels sprouts lover, as well as an avid fan of maple syrup and all types of mustard. So yeah, this dish was right up my alley! However, the friend who I took the cooking class with normally hates Brussels sprouts and mustard. . . And he loved this dish. So it obviously rocks, which means you have to go home and try it out right away!!! The sweetness of the maple syrup used in the glaze really cut the bite from the sprouts and the mustard, and all three flavors worked well together.

Below I've copied down the recipe they gave us, along with the corrections and modifications she made in class. In bold, I've listed any further modifications I'd like to try when I do the recipe myself! If I ever do them, I'll do a follow-up report ;-)

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Mustard and Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts
1 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed
3 tbsp unsalted butter [Smart Balance or Earth Balance for the vegans & dieters]
3 tbsp walnut mustard [Possibly sub walnuts + dijon since I wasn't able to pick up any walnut mustard]
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup vegetable stock

Heat a deep skillet with a tight fitting lid over a medium flame until hot. Add grapeseed oil [or olive oil. . . apparently grapeseed oil is better for high heat cooking, though] and sauté the Brussels sprouts for about 2 minutes or until lightly caramelized. Add the butter when halfway cooked.

Add the remaining ingredients and toss to coat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until the Brussels sprouts are just tender when pierced with a knife, about 10 min. If the sauce has not reduced to a thick glaze, remove the lid and continue to cook until reduced. Note: The recipe has never worked as written, and the sprouts always end up overcooked when we try; therefore, we always skip the step in which the sprouts are covered, and always cooked them uncovered.

Apple, Sage, and Quinoa Stuffing

This is amazingly delicious! I learned this recipe at the Vegetarian Thanksgiving Class I took at the Chopping Block last Sunday. I enjoyed the recipe so much, I made a modified version of it for my family Thanksgiving party.

This recipe is delicious as is. However, it's just a little butter heavy. In the future, I'd probably skip or ease back on the butter, or use a vegan substitution. I'd may also skip the sugar for the squash. I think squash is good enough by itself without extra sweeteners! For my Thanksgiving party, I just used cut-up butternut and acorn squash (readily available at Trader Joe's!) and mixed it in with the stuffing. I thought that'd be a more pot-luck friendly way to serve it, rather than having stuffed individual squash halves.

I've re-typed my modified version of the recipe they gave us in class. I've added changes and improvements based on my notes in class and what I've done so far. I've also included my own further improvements that I'd like to try out in italics, and well as additional information from the notes that I took during the class.

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Apple, Sage, and Quinoa Stuffing
For the acorn squash:
4 acorn squash [or 2 lbs cut-up squash]
1 stick butter, room temperature [skip or use sub like Earth Balance]
3 tbsp brown sugar [This could also be skipped. Maybe use cinnamon instead?]
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375.
Cut the squashes lengthwise and remove the seeds so you have a hollowed out squash. [Obviously you skip this step if you have pre-cut squash pieces] Mix together the butter, brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Generously smear the insides of the squash with the butter mixture, and bake on a parchment lined sheet tray until fork tender, about 40 minutes. Set aside.

For the stuffing:
2 tbsp butter [or Earth Balance]
1 shallot, minced
2 braeburn or gala apples, small dice
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups quinoa
4 cups vegetable stock (low sodium)
1/2 c golden raisins
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp sage, chiffonade

Heat a heavy pot over medium heat and add the butter. Gently saute the shallots until softened, about 1 minute. Add the apples, curry powder, cinnamon, and cayenne and quinoa. Cook an additional minute to toast the spices.

Add vegetable stock, golden raisins, salt, and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook for 15-17 minutes, or until all of the stock has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and allow to steam an additional 5 minutes. Fold in the fresh chopped sage, fill the roasted squash with the stuffing [or mix squash into the stuffing, if using cut-up pieces], and serve.

Here is a picture of the stuffed squash they served us during our cooking class:

And here's a picture of the version I did for my family Thanksgiving party, where the squash was in the stuffing:

Notes from class:

• Cut off a small piece from the side of the squash to help it stand up.
• Parchment paper is oven-safe.
• Keep fresh herbs longer by rolling them in damp paper towels in the fridge. They should keep for 2 weeks.
  
• When taking the squash out of the oven, baste it with the liquified filling that accumlates in the middle.
• When cooking the shallots, we want them to stay white. Keep them cool by lowering the heat. This is sweating them, NOT caramelizing them.
• Dried herbs are oil soluble and should be added in the beginning of the cooking process.
• Fresh herbs are water soluble and should be added at the very end. The longer they cook, the less flavor they will have.
• Toast the quinoa dry with the oil and spices to pick up the flavors.
• Dutch oven--large soup pot with cover
• Sage--has woody stems that we don't want in the stuffing.
  
• Chiffonade--ribbons
• Fluff up the quinoa when it's done to make it look nicer.