Food Network Friday - The Sandwich King's Reuben Meatball Sliders

This week's Food Network Friday features a relatively new member of the Food Network line up: Jeff Mauro, the Sandwich King. I have a warm spot in my heart for Jeff as he is a fellow Illinoisian. I have to admit, I have yet to see his show, but I loved him on the Next Food Network Star. This week we are setting about veganizing his recipe for Reuben Meatball Sliders. Check out the wrap up over at Vegan Appetite.

I know this one was a really fun one for Tami over at Vegan Appetite as I don't think she has met a reuben she didn't love. I, on the other hand, was never a huge fan of corned beef, pastrami or sauerkraut in my younger years. I do have to admit, I am warming up. 

For this conversion I decided to take a little different tactic. Instead of making a veganesque meatball, I decided to use some marinated, breaded and fried tempeh. I attempted to make some rye slider rolls and they didn't work out. I tried a second batch of whole grain buns and topped them with caraway seeds with much better luck. Because I didn't use a rye type bread, I added some ground caraway seeds to the breading for the tempeh. The rest is pretty simple: buns, tempeh, 1000 Isla dressing and sauerkraut. Bam sliders baby! We chowed 'em down at Superbowl half time with some loaded tots (loaded with Teese cheddar, facon bits, grilled jalapenos and green onions). Yep, calorie overload. Delicious calorie overload.

Loaded Tots!

Tempeh Reuben Sliders

Makes 8 sliders

8 oz package tempeh (I used Westsoy this time because it is more square) cut into 8 squares

For the marinade:

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

1-Tablespoons pickling spice

1-teaspoon thyme

¼ teaspoon celery seed

1-teaspoon Louisianna Seasoning (not sauce) If not available any cajun spice can be subbed

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

6 oz. vegan lager beer

For the breading:

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup rye flour

1 teaspoon ground caraway (use 1/2 teaspoon if rye bread is used)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons marinade

3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk

1 teaspoon tapioca or corn starch

1000 Isla Dressing (see recipe below)

1 - 1 1/2 cups sauerkraut (depending on how much you like)

8 slider buns

Enough oil to come up 1/2 inch in frying pan.

Steam cut tempeh for 10 minutes. In a non reactive glass 8 x 8 or similar size baking dish stir together marinade ingredients. Place steamed tempeh in single layer in the pan with marinade. Marinate for at least 4 hours, overnight is best.

Heat oil to 350 in heavy bottomed frying pan or iron skillet.

Using two shallow bowls prepare your breading station. In one bowl, stir together panko, rye flour, ground caraway and salt. In second bowl stir together marinade, soy milk and tapioca starch with fork until well combined. Place tempeh (two pieces at a time) in soy milk mixture for about 30 seconds to absorb some of the liquid. Dredge in panko mixture until all sides are coated. Carefully slide into frying pan. Do not crowd pan. Fry until crispy and golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Repeat for any remaining tempeh. 

Warm sauerkraut in small saucepan. Slice slider buns. Spray with oil and toast on griddle or saute pan. 

To assemble: Place tempeh on toasted bun bottom. Top with 2 tablespoons or so of sauerkraut and 1 tablespoon 1000 Isla dressing. 

1000 Isla Dressing

Makes about 3/4 cup

1/2 cup Vegannaise or other vegan mayo
2 tablespoons organic catsup
1 tablespoon pimento stuffed green olives, chopped fine
1 teaspoon dill pickle relish
1 tablespoon fresh chives or 1 teaspoon dried.

Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Let sit for at least an hour before using. Will keep in fridge for about a week or two.

The return of FNF! - Paula Dean's Turkey Pot Pie

It's been a couple of months but we are back at it. It is the return of Food Network Friday's hosted by Tami of Vegan Appetite. Make sure to visit her blog to see how the other participants created their dishes for the challenge.

This time we are taking on Paula Dean by veganizing her recipe for Turkey Pot Pie. She loves to poo poo tofu and thinks nothing can be made without full cream butter, heavy cream and fatty meat. Despite these shortcomings, I do enjoy watching her. She has a very sunny personality. Her anti-vegetarian bent made this week's conversion even more fun.

My original plan was to not only veganize the butter queen's recipe, but to make a healthy version. I was super motivated to also make it a hand pie. While my intentions were good, once I got cooking I ended up abandoning both of my ideas. I found a box of vegan creamy portobello soup, so instead of taking the lighter road, I ripped open the box and forged on! The hand pies were still on the agenda...until my puff pastry decided to be uncooperative. So what the heck, I cut the pastry into strips and carried on.

I thought the proportion of cranberries was too much, so I reduced them to 1 cup. I used TVP chunks re-hydrated in water with Bill's Chiknish Seasoning. I had to play around with my puff pastry. I decided to serve this as a deconstructed pie. The filling was placed in small ramekins and garnished with puff pastry strips. Alternately you could make the lattices like she does in her dish, but I almost think that might make it too heavy. The cranberries provided the perfect hint of tart to mellow out the richness of the rest of the filling. I served it straight up. It was so rich, I knew I wouldn't be able to eat anything else with it. Look how pretty it is! Wouldn't it be lovely on your Thanksgiving table?

The verdict is in. I took samples of this too work for my anything but vegetarian co-workers. They were amazed at how "meaty" and really delicious this was. One guy even had seconds! I say that's another win for vegananizing another FN recipe!!!

Deconstructed Thanksgiving Pot Pie

2 cups water

2 teaspoons Bill's Best Chik'nish Seasoning

1 1/2 cups TVP chunks

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 stalks celery, diced small

1 medium onion, diced small

6 oz white or cremini mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 cup broth (using liquid drained from TVP)

1 - 16 oz container of Imagine Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

2 cups butternut squash, cut into 1/2" cubes

1 cup fresh cranberries

1/2 cup soy milk

1 tablespoon arrowroot

1 sheet puff pastry, cut into 1 x 3 inch strips

In a medium saucepan heat water and Bill's Best Chik'nish Seasoning to boiling. Add TVP. Turn off heat and let re-hydrate for 20-25 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place puff pastry strips on un-greased baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between strips. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and keep warm.

While the TVP is rehydrating in a large saucepan (or small stock pot) over medium heat add olive oil, onions and celery. Saute until just soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add mushrooms, thyme, sage, pepper and salt. Saute until mushrooms start to release their liquid, about 3 more minutes. Stir in flour and nutritional yeast, stirring to incorporate. Saute for about 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and simmer until mixture starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. Whisk in creamy portobello mushroom soup, butternut squash and rehydrated TVP. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes until squash is tender. Add cranberries and simmer for about 5 more minutes. Whisk arrowroot powder into cold soy milk until dissolved. Whisk arrowroot mixture into squash mixture. Simmer until mixture thickens. Ladle stew into 1 cup ramekins and garnish with 4-5 strips of puff pastry. 

Food Network Friday - Slow Roasted "Pork" with Coconut Curry Sauce

I have been really struggling with motivation to go out in the flipping heat and grocery shop. I got into my car today and my thermostat said 120!!! Granted the outside temp was ONLY 113, but parking lot temps are much higher. I braved the crazy heat to hit up the Asian/International market to re-create this very flavorful and spicy dish from the Food Network website. 

Like many of my foodie/blogger friends, I don't usually shy away from hunting down specialty ingredients in the name of experimentation. Today's challenge was to try and find Chinese fermented black beans and keffir lime leaves. The leaves are not that hard to find, but this particular store has lots of herbs together. Some of them look very similar and the signs are in an Asian language of some sort. Thankfully there was a young man working in the department that helped me find them. The store is huge with shelves full of all kinds of sauces and other specialty ingredients. So it took me a good hour to get all of my goodies.

I did run across Jackfruit today. Most of the cans were the fruit in syrup. This dish needed some savory action. I was fortunate enough to find one brand that had the young fruit in brine. SCORE!! So I took my goods and headed out to the hellishly hot parking lot and gradually made my way back to the house. 

I got a phone call from Tyler about a bake sale she and her friends are holding tomorrow. I changed gears and baked up some goodies, so this is getting posted late. I'll post tomorrow about that and my baking class with Chef Tess Bakeresse. I've been wanting to check out her classes so badly, so I am super excited there is one tomorrow near my house.

I stuck fairly close to the original recipe. I substituted Jackfruit for the pork. It was my first time using this very interesting fruit. It is native to Southern Asia and is also used in Jamaica and as a substitute for meat in curries in Sri Lanka. If it's good enough for Sri Lanka, its good enough for me! It is an amazing food. It really absorbs the flavor of the spices and has a very meat-like texture and look. It is high in fiber and even contains some B vitamins!! The Jackfruit takes quite a while to cook. I used the cooktop method as I did not do my homework. Next time I think I'd use the slow cooker.

I stayed true to the recipe for the Coconut Curry Sauce. I was even able to find the recommended brand of yellow curry after some searching. I may have been slightly heavy handed on the curry, but not by much. I did use light coconut milk rather than full fat for no other reason than it is what I had in the panty. In hind site, it was nice to cut back on some of the fat. It didn't take away from the dish at all. For the rice I subbed brown jasmine rice for the basmati. I also decided to forgo vegan butter. The salsa was another matter. Because it was so late and I was feeling a bit lazy, I used ground cumin instead of toasting the seeds and grinding. I used 1 teaspoon. I also decided to use some hot hatch green chiles instead of the jalapeno and pablano called for. I had both in the fridge, but the others were already roasted...lazy little short cut. 

This dish had a lot going on both flavor and texture-wise. I love the heat from the curry and the chiles. There were a lot of components to it, but everything was pretty simple. This would really be a good weeknight meal if you use the slow cooker. The salsa can be made while the rice is cooking and there you go. A tasty, spicy, exotic meal in your own home on a weeknight no less!! It's been a while since I've done FNF. It's good to be back!!

Food Network Friday - Guy Fieri's Chicken and the Bodacious Bulb

Food Network Friday marches on. Check out the wrap up at Vegan Appetite

I am very late posting, but it was a very busy week last week. I didn't have much kitchen time. Tonight I took a crack at Guy Fieri's Chicken and the Bodacious Bulb.

For this recipe I think I used 7 pans! For the stock, I used Bill's Chickn-ish Seasoning, Better than Bouillon Organic Veggie base in 4 cups of water. I decided to roast the celery, carrots, onions and I added mushrooms and whole peppercorns. I put the roasted vegetables in the broth along with the garlic in cheese cloth. I did sub Earth Balance for the garlic oil so that I would have plenty for frying. Somehow I missed the instructions that said to put the garlic in the roux. This misstep made me miss out on some serious extra garlic flavor I'm sure.

For the chicken, I used tempeh. It was steamed first. Then it took a bath in some soy milk. It was coated with a mixture of corn starch and panko crumbs seasoned with granulated garlic, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Using the garlic oil to fry, the tempeh wound up with a really crispy crunchy crust. The coating was pretty awesome!

I did use the garlic cloves in some very tasty mashed potatoes. Those were made from red new potatoes whipped with the garlic cloves, a touch of Earth Balance, salt pepper and as an added bonus, I added some Bubbies horseradish to give them a little kick. The plate was finished of with some roasted broccoli that was tossed in a bit of the garlic oil, diced organic tomatoes, fresh parsley from the garden and the crispy fried sliced garlic.  I am usually a pretty big fan of tempeh, but for some reason even after steaming, it was a bit bitter. It might be better if it was marinated in something first. I think this might actually be better with marinated tofu. 

This one didn't sing to me. It seemed very heavy and high in calories and the flavor was not as good as I expected (this could be partly because of the garlic exclusion in the gravy, and not the recipe). I'm not sure I'd go for this one again. It could be personal preference, or it could be that I have been eating way too much rich food the past couple of weeks and I'm over salted and burned out on rich stuff. Fred said he drank 6 glasses of water after eating this, so maybe my broth had too much sodium. My fingers are still puffy. But I did love the garlic oil, so that is a win.

Food Network Friday - Aarti Sequeira's Pretzel Crusted Steak with Mango Chutney Onion Gravy

It's time for a another Food Network Friday where a few of us food bloggers and food lovers take a recipe posted on the Food Network site and make an awesome vegan conversion. Check out what my other friends did by check out Tami's wrap up at Vegan Appetite! 

This week's Food Network Friday features new Food Network Star Aarti Sequeira. I have a tendency to pick chile laden and latin influenced recipes. This time I chose something that is not typical for me. Her recipe for Pretzel Crusted Steak with Mango Chutney Onion Gravy is far from typical. Am I glad we tried this one! 

The pretzel crust on this is super crunchy. I highly recommend using the unassuming pretzel for breading and frying. It adds a spectacular crunch. I did not have fenugreek leaves so I used half the amount of ground fenugreek in the flour mixture. I used soy creamer with flax seeds in place of the eggs. It is probably no surprise that I used seitan cutlets for the protein. I am working on a personal project that I needed to develop a beefy seitan recipe. I was able to have success with both. 

The onion gravy recipe called for 2 tablespoons of mango chutney. As it was my first full day back in the kitchen for a while, I was feeling particularly ambitious. Instead of using pre-jarred chutney I made Alton Brown's recipe for Mango Chutney and of course took the option of using hot curry powder. The gravy recipe called for 2 tablespoons of the flour mixture. I found this was not near enough. The gravy was far too thin for my liking. I let it reduce down quite a bit. My broth was a bit too salty, so the gravy was a bit salty. But still, it was really fantastic! I loved the hint of heat and ginger from the chutney. I chose to serve this with mildly spiced sliced sweet baked sweet potatoes, sauteed spinach and garlic and Israeli couscous with sliced almonds. I kept the side dishes simple and mildly seasoned because the gravy had so much flavor going on. It was a good call. The gravy kind of pooled on the plate and snuck into the spinach and cous cous. Oh happy mouth! It was delicious. 

This was an all day project for me; making the seitan in the morning, the chutney in the afternoon and putting it all together in the evening. You could easily sub tofu for the seitan and buy the chutney for a quick and special dinner. I recommend giving it a try as it was a big hit with my crew last night. My mom and sister are omnis and they were both in the clean plate club last night. There were not leftovers.

Food Network Friday - Emeril's Cowboy "Chicken" Casserole

This week the FNF crew took on Emeril Lagasse's Cowboy Chicken Casserole. I am an Emeril fan from way back (the early years anyway). His penchant for making decadent and flavorful dishes always made my mouth water. At first glance the ingredient list is a bit overwhelming. It is a huge list of ingredients, especially if you make Emeril's Southwestern Seasoning. As is my nature, I had to up the heat profile for this challenge. I am not going to list out the whole recipe here, because it still needs a bit of work. Honestly, I think this has great potential for being radically modified for my book project, so mum's going to be the word until I get it perfected.

Here it is just out of the oven.

I will tell you that for this first run I subbed Terry Hope Romero's steamed white seitan for the chicken. I subbed pasilla chiles for the green pepper, kept the seeds in the jalapenos, and added roasted Hatch chiles with the seeds in (in a much larger proportion) for the tomato mixture. I modified the seasonings so I didn't have to make the full recipe of Emeril's Seasoning. So while the original premise might have been the same as his original recipe, some delicious detours were taken.

A couple of notes on my conversion experience: first, I didn't have enough liquid left over to properly moisten the tortilla chips. They came out with a rather unpleasant funky texture. I had hoped to use 1/2 Daiya Pepper Jack and 1/2 Cheddar, but when I went to sprinkle on the Pepper Jack, it was moldy (EW), so I ended up using all Cheddar Daiya. At first I thought the filling needed more liquid as well, but it was actually really nice. I loved the spiced up version. I may even add more chiles and jalapenos next time! I made a smaller version and used an 8 x 8 square pan. I cut the cooking time to about 38 minutes. This was so rich and filling, I am betting you could serve about 8 people with the smaller version, especially if you serve it with a salad. This would make a great potluck dish.

Here you can see a nice shot of the creamy spicy filling.

Sorry for no recipe. But I know you creative cooking types can take that original recipe and create your own ridiculously decadent crowd pleasin' casserole from it!I am going to be up for hours I'm so full and I only had a small portion. BURP!!!

I've been having so much fun trying recipes from different cookbooks and doing FNF I haven't been creating my own stuff. I need to get to work on some new original recipes for you! Soon, my patient friends, soon!

Don't forget to check out Tami's wrap up at Vegan Appetite!!!

Last but not least, another shot in the pan.

Food Network Friday - Giada de Laurenits' Ligurian "Fish" Stew

This week's Food Network Friday was chosen by my friend Celia over at On Cardamom and Cast Iron. The following is my interpretation of Giada's Lingurian "Fish" Stew. This is a simple, rustic recipe that originally called for 1 1/2 pounds of fish.

Below is the recipe I developed for the "Fish". The kelp flakes gave it that sea-like essence.

1 - 20 oz block Wildwood Super Firm Tofu, sliced 1/4 inch thick width-wise

Marinade:
1/2 cup low sodium veggie broth
1 tablespoon Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 1/2 teaspoons kelp granules
1 clove garlic, minced

In a 9 x 13 glass baking dish, mix all of the marinade ingredients with a fork. Place tofu slices in the marinade in a single layer. Marinade for a least two hours turning half way through.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake tofu for 25 minutes, uncovered. Turn and bake for another 20 minutes until all of the marinade is absorbed and the tofu is very firm and almost dry. Cut into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch cubers. Set aside.

For the rest of the recipe I stayed pretty true to Giada's recipe. The only modification I made is that I cut the oil back to about 1 1/2 tablespoons and added 1 1/2 teaspoons of capers with the vegetables. I used Clos du Bois Chardonnay for the wine. We both loved the sauce. It was rich with tomato flavor. The carrots added a nice texture, color and flavor. We both agreed that we'd like more of the sauce, so next time we will probably double the sauce (or at least increase it by half). I think the capers really elevated the flavor of the dish.

For the bread, I found a lovely vegan ciabatta at Sprouts market. I sliced it into 1/2 inch thick slices. I made an herbed olive oil and brushed that on to both sides of the bread and baked it for about 20 minutes. I let it cook a wee bit too long, so it was super crunchy and a bit hard. I love it, but Fred said it would have been better a bit softer. It would have made an outstanding base for bruschetta as it could hold up to some liquid.

Check out Tami's wrap up off all of the participants later today at Vegan Appetite. Keep cooking my friends!!

Food Network Friday - Chile Relleno Burgers

This week's challenge is a recipe for Chile Relleno Burgers from Food Network Magazine. Chile Rellenos have been an obsession/addiction for me for quite some time. I no longer partake of the cheese, but in the day I went to many Mexican restaurants in search of the ultimate Chile Relleno. My love was the regular cheese stuffed variety. Not that I couldn't appreciate them stuffed with other goodies, but the true test of authentic goodness and skill of the recipe creator was reserved for the cheese only version. In my trials I had some super eggy messes, grease bombs, some with almost no chile in them (REALLY?), naked, sauced, baked, you name it.

After several years of researching, my favortie ended up hailing from a small taco shop whose employees spoke little or no English, the music was so loud you couldn't hear yourself chew and, well, lets just say it was always questionable whether they might pass health inspections. They had the perfect coating/chili/cheese ratio. Depending on who was cooking on any given day, the fried beauties would be served with a heavenly light tomato sauce. You never knew what the spice level of the chiles would be. Some days they would be very mild. The next time they would almost blow your head off. I think part of the allure was the mystery of what you were going to get that day. One thing was always consistant; they were always delicious! Ah, but I digress.

My happy relleno memories made this a must try conversion for me. The original recipe calls for beef and cheese. It is technically not relleno (stuffed). As is my often M.O., I took the liberty of modifying this one considerably to be something that would make it a bit more authentic and a lot more my own. First it was important to develop the burger itself. I had yet to develop my own burger recipe, so I figured no time like the present. The burger, while very tasty and delicious, has some textural issues, so I won't be posting the recipe. It is still a work in progress. I used the flavors of mushrooms, onion and soyrizo to give you an idea of the flavor profile. The texture is too soft, so I am going to rework it and maybe even come up with a gluten free version. I will share with you the method and maybe some day soon I can share a workable recipe. After developing the burger I used a 1/3 cup scoop and portioned out 8 scoops. Each portion was shaped into a ball and flattened between two sheets of parchment paper to about 1/4 " thick and 5" rounds. Then about 1 1/2 tablespoons of shredded Italian Daiya were placed on the round leaving a 1/2 inch rim around the outside. On top of that one roasted and peeled chile was placed (also leaving the 1/2" around the outside edge. Then another one of the rounds was carefully placed on top. The edges were pinched together to keep the tasty goodness safely inside. The burgers were then grilled for 6-8 minutes on each side.

While they were grilling, I sauteed a mixture of thinly sliced mushrooms, pablanos and onions seasoned with my own taco seasoning mixture. The whole shooting match was served on top of some yummy whole grain buns with fresh avocado slices and tomatoes slices. I HAVE to get the textural issues remedied, because hot damn were these tasty!

The real beauty is on the inside.

Don't forget to check out all of the other creations at Vegan Appetite!

The 2011 Return of Food Network Fridays!!!!

It is no secret that I adore the Food Network. It is to me what ESPN is to Fred. I love to watch so many of the shows and I definitely have my favorite personalities. Even though I no longer consume meat, I still love the many flavors and techniques I learn about on the Food Network. It is a lot of fun to re-create the dishes in a more compassionate and sometimes much healthier version. Thankfully some of my fellow vegan food bloggers feel the same way.

We are firing up the 2011 version of Food Network Friday (FNF) this month. This time I got to select the recipe. I was farting around on Facebook and Food Network posted this recipe for Chile Relleno Burgers. I have been contemplating developing my own veggie burger and I'm also toying with the idea of writing a vegan cookbook or 'zine. Well more than toying, actually. I have had a dedicated team of testers testing recipes for me for a while now. But that is for another post. There now I've said it in blog-land. This should put some fire under me to get creating again! This gives me the perfect excuse and enough time to play around with creating the ultimate spicy burger.

Back to the challenge at hand. For those of you who have been reading for a while, you already know the FNF drill. For some of my newer readers this is how it goes down. Someone picks a Food Network recipe. We each make our vegan version of said recipe and Tami over at Vegan Appetite posts a wrap up of all of the awesomeness on her blog. This month the deadline to get your recipes to her is February 10th. You can always send it earlier. She will post a wrap up on Friday, February 11th. If you haven't participated in this before, you really should. It is a lot of fun to come up with creative recreations of Food Network favs. I love seeing what everyone else comes up with! Open wide take a bite and join us in the fun!

Food Network (Friday) Challenge - Anne Burrell's Braciole

Well we are at it again. Food Network Friday is morphing. I am going to call it Food Network Challenge, so that I can post on any day! I don't think I have ever attempted anything of Anne Burrell's before. This week the crew took on her Braciole recipe.  Check out Vegan Appetite for every one else's creations. This reminds me of an Italian version of Roulade. Admittedly, I didn't want to head to the grocery store today, so I took some liberties with this recipe.

I made AVK seitan. I separated the seitan in two equal portions and tried two different methods. I will get into that later.

For the stuffing, I did an empty out the fridge version.

1 3/4 cup stale bread cubes

1 2/3 cup unsweetened soy milk

1/2 cup rehydrated soy curls (in veg stock), corsely chopped

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 cup Mushroom and Walnut pate (leftover from a test recipe)

6 oz. fresh organic spinach, chiffonade

2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup Daiya Italian blend cheese

1/4 cup vegan parmesan

Salt to taste

1 recipe AVK seitan dough, uncooked, divided in half. One half was portioned out to 4 equal portions. The other was left whole.

To make stuffing:

In medium sized bowl pour soy milk over bread cubes. Let milk soak in. In 10" iron skillet over medium heat saute soy curls in olive oil until just starting to brown. Add soy sauce, maple syrup, and liquid smoke. Saute until dark golden brown. Add pate and heat through. Add spinach. Stir in then turn off heat. Once it cools slightly add to bread mixture. Stir in pine nuts, Daiya and vegan parmesan. Set aside until ready to stuff seitan.

For the first version, which may be the only version that works, I took each of the four portions of the dough and flattened them into rectangles. I spread 1/8 of the stuffing on to each rectangle and rolled each one jelly roll style. The ends were sealed to keep the stuffing in. Each roulade/log was wrapped in aluminum foil, leaving enough room for expansion. The roulades were then placed in a steamer pan for 1 1/2 hours. The roulades were cooled unwrapped and placed in the freezer to cool and firm up. In the mean time I started the sauce.

I followed Anne's recipe pretty closely. Because I didn't have to braise beef for 2 1/2 hours, I reduced the amount of water to only 1 cup. I found the sauce to be pretty boring, so I added a parmesan-ish cheese mix from some other testing I am doing. It still didn't have as much flavor as I would like. But I left it as is. The stuffing had lots of flavor to make up for it. In the mean time the roulades had chilled. I placed them in the sauce pot and let them simmer for about 20 minutes. The roulades were removed from the pan, sliced and plated over penne pasta. The sauce was ladled over the roulades. I sauteed up some fresh carrots, zucchini, broccoli, and mushrooms with garlic, italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Simple but perfect for this dish.

Here is a little bit better shot of the Braciole roulades.

It was tasty, but for the time involved, I'm not sure I'd do it again. The stuffing with the mushroom pate was absolutely amazing. I need to find another use for it! If I did make this again, I'd make sure to jazz up the rather boring tomato sauce by adding more Italian style spices and more crushed red pepper.

My other version was a dream of using my solar oven to bake up a large stuffed roast. I was not able to get the oven over 275 today and it just wasn't enough to get it done, sadly. I did roll the larger roast like I did the smaller ones. It is still in the oven. We'll have to see if it can be saved after the epic fail in the solar oven...to be continued.

Food Network Friday - Tyler Florence's Double Dipped Fried "Chicken"

We're at it again. Once again another Food Network Friday is upon us. Tami at Vegan Appetite is once again hosting and posting various interpretations of an American classic!

I've been really excited about Food Network's new show The Great Food Truck Race hosted by Tyler Florence. Coincidentally, I have had a wicked craving for one of my pre-veg closet addictions, fried chicken. I love that crunchy crust and oh so tender and delicious inside of fried chicken. Of course by this point in my veg journey, I'm certain chicken would gross me out. To satisfy my craving and to pay homage to Mr. Florence, I selected this month's FNF recipe. We're trying our hands at veganizing his Double Dipped Fried Chicken recipe. I did have to take a few liberties...well probably more than a few...to come up with what I have to say is a crazy, crunchy, tasty, delicious version. 

Double Dipped Fried Seitan

Makes 6 Cutlets

6 chicken style seitan cutlets

1 cup unsweetened soy milk

1 1/4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Louisiana Hot Saue

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

fresh cracked pepper to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Canola oil for frying - 1 - 1 /2 inches deep in a 12" iron skillet

I recommend using simmered seitan cutlets here to get the right texture. Make sure they are drained and patted dry of excess liquid. Combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar together. Let sit 10 minutes to curdle. In a shallow baking dish (I used an 8x8), combine soy milk mixture and hot sauce. Let seitan cutlets soak in liquid about 5 minutes per side. 

In a shallow bowl combine flour, panko crumbs and remaining dry ingredients. 

Set up your breading station like so:

Dip the cutlets in the flour mixture and make sure they are coated with breading. Then dip the cutlets in soy milk mixture again and re-dip in flour mixture again. Let coated cutlets sit for another 10 minutes to let liquid dry out just a touch. This will help coating stay on in the oil.

Make sure your oil is heated to about 350. You don't want it too hot or too cold or you won't get that perfect, crunchy coating. Gently and carefully add the cutlets to the hot oil. Do three at a time so you won't overcrowd the pan. Fry on each side until golden brown. It should take somewhere around 5 minutes per side. Remove cutlets and drain on paper towel lined dish. Fry remaining 3 cutlets. These can be served right away. I just ate a cold cutlet. Oh man are these good!!! Total picnic food. Nomnomnomnom. I actually think these are better than the non vegan version I used to love.

You're going to get two different shots of these, because they were so beautiful, they almost brought a tear to my eye.

I decided to make it a completely Tyler Florence influenced dinner. I made a slightly healthier version of his Horseradish and Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes. I halved the recipe, used 1/2 the amount of sour cream called for. The potatoes were simmered in leftover seitan broth. This allowed me to cut back on the amount of Earth Balance by 1/2 as well. Dang these were good. I loved the horseradish kick. Very easy and really good results. 

Fred was in charge of making Tyler's Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Almonds. The only changes we really had to make is substituting Earth Balance for butter. We used peeled sliced almonds because that was what we had on hand. I could have eaten a whole giant bowl of these. The sweetness of the caramelized onions and the nutty flavor of the toasted almonds was outrageously good. I'm going to be making this again for sure. Actually all three of these recipes are keepers. OK folks, I'm going to go hide somewhere and eat the rest of the pan. Burp! Happy Friday!!!

Don't forget about the Men Who Cook Challenge and Giveaway!

You have until September 7th to get in on the fun. 

For details on how you can win your free copy of 

American Vegan Kitchen

Click here!!!

Food Network Friday - Rachel Ray's Reuben Mac and Cheese

Welcome to another Food Network Friday! Oh and today is lucky Friday the 13th! Me and my food fanatic buddies tackled a recipe from Rachel Ray this week. This week's recipe was chosen by the one and only Liz from Cooking the Vegan Books. Liz is a huge Rachel Ray fan so she selected her Reuben Mac and Cheese for this week's challenge. See what everyone else came up with at Tami Noyes' blog Vegan Appetite.

This recipe was truly a challenge for me on many levels. First off, I am not a huge fan of saurkraut, almost to the point of being a hater. Hate is a strong word and one that I always tell the younsters they should not use. So I should probably take my own advice. Let's just put it in my not so favorite file. Because I took creative license with this recipe, I cut the saurkraut down to just 1/2 cup. This allowed a bit of the flavor to come through without offending me. I will go step by step through my process. I am going by memory, since I left my notes elsewhere. I will update the recipe if I find errors later on.

The first challenge was to come up with a tasty substitution for corned beef. It would have been far too easy to just use seitan. But I wanted to go outside of the box a bit on this component. Here is what transpired. On day one I took two large portobello mushrooms, cleaned out the fins, sliced them very thinly and laid them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. I made a corned "beefy" marinade (recipe to be posted later) and poured over the mushrooms. The sheet was covered with another cookie sheet to keep wayward flies from dining on the delectible morsels. This was placed outside for 8 hours to semi-sun dry. Hey, there has to be some advantage to 110 degree weather!!! I say semi-sun dried because they were still a bit moist. You don't want them to totally dry out. The mushrooms can be used immediately or stored in the fridge for 2 days. The mushrooms are the most time consuming part, but most of that is inactive drying time. The mushrooms make this dish, so I promise when I can find where I wrote down the ingredients, I will post the recipe and prep pictures, pinky promise. They rock. I think they would be extra special on a reuben sandwich where they can be more of the star.

Once the mushrooms are ready, the rest comes together fairly quickly. I'm doing this from memory, so here goes:

Portobello Reuben Mac n Cheeze

1/2 pound ziti or corkscrew pasta
2 slices toasted rye bread, ground into bread crumbs (see note)
1/4 cup loosely packed parsley, corsely chopped
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon corn starch
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1 1/2 cups Daiya Italian Blend cheeze, divided
1 recipe Corned "Beefy" Portobellos
1/2 cup saurkraut
1/3 cup vegan 1000 island dressing (I used a test recipe from Carla Kelly)

Set up your mis en place (get everything out and ready to go). This will go quickly once you get started.

First cook pasta according to package directions to al dente.

While pasta is cooking, prepare the topping. In a food processor grind dried rye slices, chopped parsley and smoked paprika.

Mix soy milk and cornstarch together in cold medium sized sauce pan. Heat over medium heat stirring frequently until thickened, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Stir in mustard. Add 1 1/4 cup Daiya and stir until it starts to get melty.

By this time the pasta should be done. Drain pasta and return to pan. Stir in sauce, mushrooms, kraut and 1000 island dressing.

Pour into lightly oiled 8 x 8 pyrex pan. Spread bread crumb mixture evenly over the top. Sprinkle eavenly with remaining Daiya. Place under broiler for 2-3 minutes until top looks a little bubbly. Do not leave under broiler too long, lest you have a pyrex explosion. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Dish out and eat up!

**Update** This dish is getting mixed reviews. Fred didn't like it at all. He actually said that he ususally likes most of my experiments and that I rarely bomb, but this one might just be one of those bombs (or something close to that). I'm on the fence, but I have to agree 100% that this is not one of my favorite creations. Maybe it's just me, but I think the combo of ingredients with the pasta just doesn't work really well. I've had much better Mac and Cheese. But who knows you may think it's awesome. I DO think the mushrooms and 1001 Island Dressing would rock on a regular reuben-esque type sandwich. I will experiment with that in a later post.

OK kids, here is you PSA for the day. Try to avoid cooking when exhausted. Also try to avoid moving too many things off of the counter at once. If you do not heed this warning, this could happen to you and your kitchen. It is a sad moment when almost an entire recipe of 1001 Island dressing meets its untimely demise this way. I have to admit. I thought this was hilarious, but I'm glad Fred wasn't home to witness this. He never reads my blog, so my secret is safe!

Taking on the V-con Pt.8 - Mac Daddy and a Vcon mini-review

I'm a little late to the party. But I was invited (ok, I totally begged to be invited) by Rikki Cupcake of Seitanic Vegan Heathen to join her and two of her awesome friends, Courtney and Katie, to take on Veganomicon. What does this mean? It means a whole lot of yummy. It also means that each week we will be making a recipe from Veganomicon and posting our results and witty commentaries on our blogs.

Let's go back to 2006 for a moment. I was then looking to change my diet and lifestyle. I had grown more than a little leery of the meat producing monster of an industry. It is no secret that the animals are pumped full of antibiotics to keep them alive in unhealthy, awful living conditions long enough to get to slaughter. Add to that the fact that they are also pumped full of growth hormones to make them grow unnaturally large in a short amount of time (with hormones that may very well cause breast cancer). As a breast cancer survivor, I am always researching ways to prevent a reoccurance or other health issues. So I started searching the internet to find out more about vegan cooking.

In my quest to cut down and eventually eliminate meat from my diet, I stumbled across this interesting and colorful forum the Post Punk Kitchen. While the PPK may not have completely transformed my life, it certainly transformed my kitchen! Well maybe it has transformed my life a little too. Shortly after I started lurking on the forum, Isa Chandra Moskowictz author of Veganomicon invited me to be one of her testers. The love affair with Vcon had begun. The recipes in this book range from simple to fancy pants and everything in between. Isa is a magical godess with flavors, textures and spices. Even if you aren't vegan or even vegetarian these recipes are awesome. As I was testing many of my unsuspecting omnivorous friends ended up being taste testers. They will tell you that her recipes are top notch for any occasion.

This week's recipe is for Mac Daddy. I tested a shit-ton of recipes for this book and somehow missed this one during testing, so I was pretty excited to try something new. This is a take on baked mac and cheese. I hesitate to even say that, because it will set up unrealistic expectations. I think it is more of a creamy, lemony, macaroni casserole. I used elbow macaroni made with Jeruselum Artichoke flour. The texture was perfect for this dish. It was pretty easy to pull together. You can cook the pasta while making up the cheezy sauce. Realistically you could probably get this ready for baking in about 15 minutes. It took me longer because I happened to be on the phone with my MIL. The reason I mention this is because it was such an easy recipe I could make it while discussing hot air ballooning and several medical procedures. So if you are not a whiz in the kitchen, this recipe is for you. I chose to make a version with kale. I had some to use up and I loves me some greens.

I liked this dish very much, but it wasn't true passionate love that I have for some other dishes. That whole unrealistic expectations thing got the best of me. The texture is so so so good. It is creamy, inviting, and filling. But I personally felt it was a bit heavy on the lemon flavor. This can easily be remedied by reducing or eliminating the amount of lemon added when mixing in the pasta. That is the only criticism I have and it's not so much a criticism as a personal preference I suppose. Because this is so easy and makes a hearty amount, I would def recommend trying it yourself. It's a great dish for potlucks or feeding a big, hungry crowd. Great for weeknight too! Next time I make it I will reduce the amount of lemon. I'm also going to add some fire roasted diced tomatoes because that's how I roll.

I'm so excited to be part of the Taking on the V-con gang. Thanks for letting me play!!!

This must be mac and cheese month because this months Food Network Friday Challenge is a remake of Rachel Ray's Reuben Mac n Cheese. So check back in next Friday, August 13th for more carby goodness!

Food Network Friday - Guy Fieri's Spicy Cherry Ribs

I don't know why, but I really love to watch Guy Fieri's shows. Especially Diners, Drive In's, and Dives. He makes me want to take road trips to little divey gems all over the country. This weeks FNF challenge was to veganize his Spicy Cherry Ribs recipe. I had a lot of fun with this challenge. I decided to go way outside of the box and do an Asian/Southwestern infusion plate. I strayed a bit from Guy's original recipe by replacing Sriracha hot sauce with chipotles in adobo to give it a Southwestern flair. After all we do live in the heart of the Southwest.

I figured my cohorts and I would probably do similar sauces, so I wanted to attempt to make this remake shine with some interesting accompanying components. There are a lot of different components and flavors going on in this dinner. I started off with the Chipotle-Cherry Glazed Smoked Tofu and Tempeh. Then things really got interesting.

To run with my Asian/Southwestern vision I decided to try a really cool variation of tamales. First I wanted to make a tamale type filling without spending a load of time or adding all the shortening and fat to the filling. I made an interesting polenta filling complete with shiitake mushrooms and hatch green chilis. The polenta can be enjoyed on its own, but man is it good as eggroll filling! To round out the flavor and heat profile, it seemed a good idea to do a creamy sauce for the eggrolls to tame the chipotles down a bit.

Now we can't have dinner without some veggies. I'm totally in love with baby bok choy (Asian) these days. Today at the farmers market there was some kick booty sweet corn (Southwestern). I made a simple glaze by using an all natural jarred hoisin sauce. I used 1/2 cup of the hoisin, 1/2 cup veggie broth, 1 teaspoon tamari, and about 1/2 teaspoon Sriricha. The corn was sliced into 1/2 inch wheels and par boiled. Then both the corn and the bok choy were grilled and brushed heavily with the hoisin mixture just long enough to get the bok choy to el dente stage. Make sure not to over cook. It should still have a bit of crunch.

Chipotle-Cherry Glazed Smoked Tofu and Tempeh

8 servings

1 - 12 oz. package tofu

1 - 8 oz package tempeh

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

dry rub:

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 recipe Cherry Chipotle Glaze (recipe below)

Chopped scallions for garnish

Sesame seeds for garnish

Slice tofu into equal rectangles. Cut tempeh block in half. Take each half and slice it down the middle to make thin rectangles. Cut each rectangle on a diagonal to make 8 total triangles. Steam tempeh for 10 minutes. Let cool enough to handle. Place tofu and tempeh in smoker with pecan chips. Follow smoker directions. It should take around 15 minutes to smoke. You can buy pre-smoked if you'd like.

Make rub by mixing all dry spices. Reserve 1 teaspoon rub for East Meets Southwest Tamale Eggrolls (recipe below).

Once tofu and tempeh are cooled, brush both sides with mustard. Coat each side of tofu and tempeh with dry rub. Place on a deep rimmed baking sheet. Let sit out at room temperature for 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350.

Brush each side of tofu and tempeh with Cherry Chipotle Glaze. Pour remaining evenly over tofu and tempeh. Cover pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes and remove foil. Bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven. Plate 1 piece of tofu and top with 1 piece of tempeh on each plate. Garnish with thinly sliced scallions and sesame seeds. Serve with East Meets Southwest Tamale Eggrolls (recipe below)

Cherry Chipotle Glaze

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 cup diced red onion

3 tablespoons fresh minced ginger

2 cans red cherries in water, drained

1 tablespoon blue agave

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons tequila

2 chipotles in adobo chopped (do not remove seeds)

1 1/2 tablespoons adobo sauce (from chipotles)

1 1/2 teaspoons dry sherry

1 1/2 teaspoons brown rice vinegar

4 tablespoons low sodium tamari

In medium saute pan over medium heat saute onion ginger, cherries, agave, and garlic in sesame oil until mixture thickens. Deglaze with tequila. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Put in blender or food processor until pureed. Return to pan and let cool to room temperatre. Can be stored in fridge for up to 3 days.

East Meets Southwest Tamale Eggrolls

8 eggrolls

1 cloves garlic minced

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

3/4 cup thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon low sodium tamari

2 roasted hatch chilis, seeded and chopped small

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon reserved rub mix from recipe above

1/2 cup coarse corn meal (polenta)
8 Vegan egg roll wrappers

1 recipe Creamy Coconut Eggroll Sauce (recipe below)

In a medium saucepan heat toasted sesame oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds until it becomes fragrant. Add mushrooms and tamari. Saute until mushrooms are soft. Add hatch chilis. Saute for 2 more minutes. Pour in vegetable broth. Turn heat to high and bring mixture to a boil. Slowly pour in polenta whisking constantly. As mixture thickens switch to a wooden spoon and stir until polenta  thickens and get fairly stiff but not hard. Immediately assemble eggrolls. Using vegan eggroll wrappers, take one wrapper putting corner closest to you. (it will look like a diamond). Spread about 3 tablespoons of polenta mixture across the wrapper as pictured. Fold both sides over the end of the mixture. Take bottom of the diamond and wrap over the filling an roll egg roll style. Put in glass baking dish covered with a damp cloth. Repeat with remaining 7 egg roll wrappers. If you have never made egg rolls before, click here for a really nice pictorial on how to do it.

Heat canola oil to 350 in 10" iron skillet. Test with eggroll wrapper. It should bubble and cook very quickly. Carefully place 4 eggrolls at a time in the oil. Drain on paper bag topped with paper towel. Keep warm in warm. Fry the remaining  eggrolls. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons sauce on plate. Cut each eggroll in half diagonally and place over sauce. Serve immediately.

***The polenta/tamale filling is also excellent on its own***

Creamy Cocunut Eggroll Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

1 cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon arrowroot

1/4 teaspoon 5 spice powder

3 tablespoons hot salsa

1 teaspoon mellow white miso

In a small saucepan over medium heat whisk together all ingredients until miso is dissolved. Heat until sauce reduces by about 1/4 and thickens a bit, whisking frequently. Turn heat off and start assembling eggrolls. Sauce is best served at a little above room temperature.

For dessert I decided on something simple and summery, but still taking on kind of an Asian theme. I made Terry's Favorite Almond Cookies from Veganomicon. They are similar to those yummy almond cookies you get in Chinese restaurants. I made them into ice cream sandwiches using Coconut Bliss Maraschino Cherry flavor. Perfect for the summer heat. 

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK VEGAN APPETITE TO SEE MORE AWESOME VERSIONS OF GUY'S RECIPE!

FNF - Rachel Ray - Spring Chickn Towers

Spring Chickn Towers with Asparagus and Lemon Dijon Sauce

Hey gang, it's Food Network Friday again. If you're new to the blog, this is a fun challenge we try to do once a month or so. We pick a Food Network recipe and do a vegan interpretation of that recipe. Each entry is posted at Tami Noyes' sight Vegan Appetite. Check it out!

If you are a Rachel Ray fan, I have good news for you. I've been able to veganize and reduce the fat for this recipe just in time for swimsuit season. As a side note, I don't usually like to use prepared meats and such, but it seemed to work well for this recipe. It makes it fast and easy. This recipe boasts only 287 calories per serving and about 12.7g fat. It comes together fairly quickly for an easy and fancy weeknight meal.

3 Servings

12 - 16 oz extra firm tofu (1 package), pressed
3/4 cup Daiya Italian Blend Cheeze
6 Yves Deli Ham slices
1 lb fresh asparagus trimmed to 4 inch pieces
1 cup low sodium vegetable broth
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
juice of 1 large lemon (approx 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup loosely packed flat leaf parsley, chopped
pinch white pepper


Slice tofu block into 3 equal rectangles. Take each section and slice into three equal thin rectangles. If you prefer, you can use cookie or biscuit cutters to make fancy shapes. Smoke with apple or alder wood for 15 minutes. You can use right away or refrigerate for up to 2 days. As an option, you can purchase pre-smoked tofu.

Steam or blanch asparagus until just bright green. Do not overcook. You want it a bit firm and crisp. Keep warm.

Start sauce by mixing 1 cup cold water, bullion, lemon juice, and arrowroot in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk frequently until sauce thickens. Turn off heat. Stir in dijon mustard and parsley. Keep warm.

Preheat oven to 450.

Cut small hole in middle of tofu and ham slices for asparagus spears if desired. If you prefer you can serve asparagus on the side. If your tofu has been chilled; on griddle or in iron skillet, warm apple smoked tofu and ham slices. Once warm layer in iron skillet or other oven safe dish sprayed with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Layer by first putting slice of tofu, then 1 slice ham cut or folded to the size of the tofu, then carefully layer shredded Daiya Italian blend (approx 2 tablespoons per layer), repeat and finally top with last slice of tofu. If you are putting the asparagus in the tower, put two small spears cut to approximately 3-4 inches in length in the hole.

Once the towers are layered in the pan, bake for 5-8 minutes until cheese starts to melt.

While the towers are baking, spread sauce evenly over 3 plates. Place cooked towers in the center of sauce. Garnish plate with remaining asparagus spears and quartered cherry tomatoes (optional).