Potluck and Black-Bottom Blackberry Pie

I finally made it to one of Cristen and Miguel's potlucks at the invitation of a friend. I love vegan potlucks, especially if they're themed. This theme happened to be pie, which seems to continually have a big presence in my life. I'm kind of known for the pecan pies I make, and so I usually make those when I want to make pie, but I wanted to try something different and maybe a little usual. I decided to make a blackberry pie using frozen blackberries. When I looked in my baking cabinet, I found some high quality dark chocolate from when I was making truffles, and black-bottom blackberry pie sounded yummy so I got to work.

Last year during peak strawberry season, when I went to the farmer's market, the strawberry farmers would give me a few extra baskets of berries, so I had much more than I knew what to do with. I ended up making strawberry sauces, strawberry pies, and freezing the berries for later use or for frozen fruit slush. My favorite experiment from that time was a free form black bottom strawberry tart, made with phyllo dough, dark chocolate, strawberries and I think a little turbinado sugar. The flavors worked well together, but they are very separate and distinct, which kept them very intense. The technique was also extremely easy. On a baking sheet, I'd lay down one sheet of phyllo and brush it with safflower oil, then lay another sheet, that I'd turned 45° and brushed with oil, repeating and occasionally sprinkling or drizzling some sweetener over the last sheet. After laying down 25 sheets, I'd place broken chocolate or chocolate chunks in the center of the phyllo star in a circle approximately 7 inches in diameter. Then I'd lay 1 or 2 more sheets over the chocolate and strawberries that had been macerated in sweetener with a touch of lemon juice/zest. If the berries were particularly juicy, I'd add some powdered kuzu, then mound the berries in the center of the phyllo, where I'd previously placed the chocolate. Next, I'd fold the edges of the dough in to the center, leaving a large part of the strawberries exposed. If I used turbinado sugar, it would have been to sprinkle over the top of the dough for a sparkly, crunchy, sweet crust. I'd bake it for about 25 minutes at 350°F. When it cooled, the chocolate would get hard again, and the texture of hard dark chocolate with juicy soft berries and crisp phyllo always made me happy.

Since I had done that many times before, and it always came out beautiful and delicious, I thought I could use the same approach for a pie. Looking back I see my error. The pie was beautiful, but the blackberries and chocolate ended up co-mingling and being really rich. In addition, I served it hot, which amplified the richness. It's much better at room temperature. No recipe as this definitely needs tweaking.

The potluck was fun, and everyone was really sweet. We ate around a big bonfire, where Cristen and Miguel made hobo pies. The fire made me think about how we need to use our chiminea more often. I also got to see Vegan*asm, who I originally met at a different potluck, and it seems, I've narrowly missed before. She made super cute mini pecan pie bites, that kind of reminded me of baklava in that they were small and one was totally satisfying due to their sweetness and richness. As for me, I've learned that I cannot eat pie exclusively without becoming completely dehydrated.

I saw a few people taking pictures of my pie, but ironically enough, I didn't take a picture of the final product, so you'll have to be content with a pre-baked picture. Just imagine a more golden crust, and more blackberry juice oozing through the stars.


I mentioned that pie seemed to have a big presence in my life, so I wanted to share a few non-food pie-related tidbits:

-The gold box edition of Twin Peaks was recently released on DVD, and I really want it. I have a big crush on Special Agent Dale Cooper. If you haven't seen it, this is a great opportunity to buy it, add it to your Netflix queue, or check it out from your local video place. This is the first time the pilot has been available on DVD in the US, and the first time the original US version has been available. David Lynch made a deal with international markets to distribute the two hour pilot as a stand alone movie, which was how he was able to fund the series, so the international version has extra footage, including the identity of the Laura Palmer's murderer. This is why it wasn't the best introduction to a series based on the question, "Who killed Laura Palmer?"
Also, make sure to wait until after you see the series to attempt watching Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, or you'll be confused as all get out.

-Pushing Daisies is my favorite show. I don't watch much TV, and most of what I do watch is online, but this is definitely a show that I'll watch on TV. It's a wonderful show full of heart. It's extremely cinematic, with beautiful long shots and close ups. It has a magic reminiscent of Amelie and other Jeunet movies, and a dark whimsy often seen in Tim Burton's work, especially Beetlejuice. The main character is often referred to as The Piemaker, and most of the action revolves around his eatery, The Piehole and his pie making business. I've never liked the term piehole as in "shut your piehole", since it always seemed uncouth and crass, but for some reason, I adore that they used that word as the name for the shop. The cast has three great Broadway actresses, and it seems that they will be utilizing their singing voices. Recently, they've sung snippets of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Birdhouse in Your Soul". It always bothers me that heartless, soulless, misogynistic shows like Two and a Half Men or King of Queens can stay on the air for 9 seasons, but shows with wit, originality or charm rarely last more than a season.

-I didn't remember my third tidbit, until I saw Megan the Vegan's post about Waitress, which comes out on DVD later this month. I've yet to see it, as it had a pretty limited run at local theaters, but R saw it and said I'd love it, it seems completely up my alley, and I love the writer, director and actor, Adrienne Shelly. Waitress is a movie about a young women in an abusive marriage who falls in love with another man. She works at a diner and makes pies based on her emotions, like I-Hate-My-Husband Pie, and Falling-in-Love-Chocolate-Mouse Pie. It's apparently a very charming movie, with a lot of sweetness and quirk.

Adrienne wrote, directed and starred in one of my favorite movies, Sudden Manhattan, and starred in another favorite, Hal Hartley's Trust. She was tragically murdered a year ago by one of the men renovating her building, when she complained about the noise. You may recall the news stories about the investigation of her death which was staged to look like a suicide. A foundation has been set up in her honor to help young women pursue their film making dreams.

VeganMoFo and Vegan Meatballs

I just heard about Vegan Mo(nth of) Fo(od) from Katie at Don't Eat Off the Sidewalk, and I think it's an awesome idea! I'm a few days late, and this is my busiest season (which is saying a lot), but I've been neglecting my blog so much, I want to try this.

Many things have happened since my last post, including R moving out. Over the summer, she fell in love with an old friend who lives in Seattle, and she decided to move there to be closer to him. They're very happy and in love, and I'm ecstatic for her, but I must say, I miss her an awful lot. In addition to not having our friend close by anymore, JD and I have been looking for a new roommate. It's such a process. We find a person who seems like a good fit, but they have a cat (JD's allergic), or a particular person loves the house, but they're....not so ideal. For example, one potential roommate said, "I know you said no hard drugs, but how do you feel about LSD, MDMA (ecstasy), Ketamine, shrooms or ______ (something I had never heard of)?" So...... we're still looking.

I finally met up with some of the VRA members, and it's true! They do rock! First, a few of the members came to the Persian Feast at Casa, which was extremely cool of them, then, there was a potluck/house show featuring Captain Number 1 and seamonster at the house of one of the members. Please check out these one-man bands and buy some music! Both guys were very nice and extremely cool. seamonster reminded me a lot of Colin Maloy of The Decemberists as far as nautical themes, vocals and song writing, with just enough Jeff Magnum to make me long for Neutral Milk Hotel. Captain Number 1 was a little more poppy. Also, Captain Number 1 incorporated a Light Bright into his show, and they used a toy piano and melodica, and I'm a sucker for those kinds of touches.

I had been planning on going to the potluck/house show for a while, but didn't know what to take, although I was planning on something with seitan. A friend came over for lunch that day, during which we made a big batch of nightshade-free red sauce (made with onions, carrots, celery, winter squash, herbs and beets) and she mentioned how the sauce smelled like her grandmother's marinara, in which her grandmother would cook meatballs for the grandchildren. Meatballs! That sounded like a great idea to me. I started thinking of ways to make both meatballs in marinara and Swedish meatballs.

I decided to use my basic seitan recipe, but to add less water, since I really wanted the balls to retain their shape and not get...blurry? edges. Adding less water did help, and they tasted amazing in my opinion, although they did NOT retain their perfect beautiful round shape. C'est la vie. While the meatballs came out great, the red sauce would not play nice with them, no matter how much tweaking I did. I mean, the sauce was perfectly serviceable, and I'm sure many people would have enjoyed the meatballs in the red sauce, but they looked like meatballs in a tomato marinara, and that's the flavor most people would expect, so the nightshade-free sauce seemed slightly off. I ended up serving them in a tomato marinara, to a great reception.

By the way, I couldn't think of a better name for these, and JD, who usually has a problem with people using misnomers like "cheesecake" for vegan desserts, which by definition have no cheese, however tasty they might be, only suggested "gluten balls" or "protein balls", both of which sound dirty to me, while my example of a fancier name, "neatballs", sounded dirty to him, so I welcome any suggestions (I apologize to this horribly long sentence!).

I made a HUGE batch, and had to pull out my giant skillet. Can you tell how massive this thing is?

Even in the massive skillet, I had to pan fry in two batches.

Wheat Gluten Meatballs
by Christina Terriquez

1/4 cup organic whole wheat or whole spelt flour
1 cup organic vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons organic tahini
2 tablespoons organic, unpasteurized shoyu
3/4 cup spring or filtered water or less

—brine—
3 cups spring or filtered water
2 inches dry kombu, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
4 teapoons organic, unpasteurized shoyu
1/4 small white or yellow onion, cut into big wedges
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised but whole (optional)
3-4 button or crimini mushrooms, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices (optional)

extra virgin sesame oil (or toasted sesame oil or olive oil)
alderwood smoked sea salt

Directions
In a medium sized bowl, mix both vital wheat gluten and flour.

In a small bowl, mix tahini and shoyu. Add tahini shoyu mixture to flour and mix well to incorporate. You should have a grainy texture. When thoroughly mixed, add 1/2 cup of water and knead well. If needed, add water, but add as little as possible, using no more than 3/4 cup total. Dough should be spongy, and elastic.

Divide dough into balls about the size of a quarter, as balls will expand while cooking.

In a medium saucepan, mix all ingredients for the brine. Gently place gluten in saucepan and simmer for approximately 30 minutes, adding water if needed.

When meatballs are cooked through, heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat, with a generous amount of virgin sesame oil and a shake of smoked sea salt. Pan fry balls, making sure to brown all sides. This is the step that really puts these over the top, and gives them the slightly oily mouth-feel of real meatballs.

Notes
Add meatballs and 1/4 cup brine to 1 cup of marinara or red sauce and simmer for at least 15 minutes. If desired, add 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder for a smoky kick.

Finished product: salty, savory, slightly crispy outside and tender inside.

Swedish meatballs to come later this month!

Attack of the Crepes!

Luscious Strawberries and Cashew Creme Crepes

Back when H came to visit, around the end of May, I started experimenting with crepes. It turns out that they are incredibly easy if you have the right tools! Luckily, in this case, "the right tools" all happen to be pretty inexpensive (excuse me while I momentarily geek out over gadgets, most of which have been in my kitchen for a while): a mesh sieve, colander, strainer or flour sifter; a well seasoned cast iron skillet, crepe pan, comal or flat griddle; a silicone brush; a crepe spreader (although an offset spatula may work, too); and a flexible stainless steel spatula.

The mesh sieve is for sifting your flour to make sure your crepes are light and lump-free. Mesh sieves are very useful in the kitchen as they can ensure your sauces, soups, sorbets, coulis, etc. are smooth and silky. You can also use it for rinsing dry grains or bean, or draining soaked nuts.

The skillet is where you'll cook the crepes, and cast iron is my favorite cooking medium: it conducts heat well so that food can cook evenly, it's durable as long as you treat it well, it takes on the best flavors and imparts them back into your food, it's naturally non-stick if it's well-seasoned, without being toxic (unlike Teflon....), and can be really inexpensive if it's a bare bones style. Of course, there are also the high-end enameled pieces of cast iron like Le Creuset which are pricey, but definitely worth it....they're just not for everything. While Le Creuset makes a crepe pan, I think it's unnecessary if you have a small kitchen or a tight budget.

The silicone brush enables you to keep your hot crepe pan well lubricated without having to worry about melting the bristles. I'll admit I was skeptical when I first saw the thick, rubbery bristles of a silicone brush. I though, "How in the world is that thing supposed to hold any oil, or agave nectar, or heaven forbid, a lighter liquid like soymilk?" And then I tried one. Immediately, I was hooked. Silicone pastry brushes are, in my opinion, the only way to go. Have you ever made baklava? If you use a plastic bristle pastry brush, the firm bristles catch and tear the delicate filo, and if you try using a soft natural bristle brush, you'll inevitably end up losing bristles in your baklava, which sure is appetizing! And the best reason to use silicone brushes is that they don't melt when you're working with heat, as silicone brushes have high melting point, usually around 500° F.

I'm sure the benefits of a crepe spreader are obvious, so there's really nothing for me to add.

Finally, there's the super thin and flexible stainless steel spatula. These are amazing tools. Perfect for flipping pancakes or crepes, moving hot cookies from cookie sheet to cooling rack, flipping burgers, tempeh or tofu in a cast iron skillet, or even for moving a cake from a square cake pan to a cooking rack. I certainly don't advise you to use any non-stick coated pans, but if you do, you'll want to avoid the stainless steel spatula, and instead opt for one of the nylon versions.

So, now that you know what the utensils do, I suppose you'll want a recipe and some pictures.

Simple Crepes
Christina Terriquez

1/2 cup organic whole wheat flour, or more if needed
1/8 teaspoon unrefined sea salt, SI brand recommended
organic safflower oil
3/4 cup organic unsweetened soy milk or rice milk

Directions
Sift flour and salt into a small bowl.

Mix 1 teaspoon of safflower oil and soy milk together, then whisk into dry ingredients. Batter should be about the consistency of melted ice cream, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time if needed. Set batter aside.

Lightly brush safflower oil onto a griddle or cast iron skillet and heat to medium–high heat. Pour 2--4 tablespoons of batter onto hot skillet and quickly spread batter into thin round. Gently flip crepe in a quick, fluid motion and cook just until crepe is set. Crepes should be beige and flexible, not golden brown or crispy. Remove crepe from pan and repeat until all batter has been used. Brush more oil onto pan if needed.

Variations
-Fill crepes with fresh fruit and cashew créme for a simple but elegant brunch.

-Fill crepes with cooked tempeh, steamed asparagus or sautéed mushrooms for a savory meal.

The crepe recipe is pretty easy and straight forward, so I'm showing you some of my favorite ways to enjoy crepes. I think my favorite of all were the Crepes with Wild Asparagus and Shiitake Béchamel and the Luscious Strawberries and Cashew Créme Crepes: both of these dishes were gorgeous and delicious, but they also had very complex flavors and textures while being clean and simple. The Luscious Strawberries and Cashew Créme Crepes are something I would never order at a restaurant, but oh. my. god. were they amazing!

Quinoa, Teff and Corn Timbal with Appled Beets, Zucchini, Carrot, Candy Cap and Sugar Snap Pea Sauté, and Tempeh Crepes with Chives and Béchamel

For tempeh: simmer tempeh in water, shoyu and oil for 20 minutes, or alternately, steam tempeh for 20 minutes, then marinate in shoyu and pan fry until crispy.

For béchamel: heat olive oil in a skillet and mix in flour to make a white roux. When flour is well incorporated into oil, add unsweetened soy milk and whisk until sauce/gravy texture is achieved. Season with sea salt and/or shoyu and herbs or pepper if desired.

For Tempeh Crepes with Chives and Béchamel: wrap 2-4 pieces of tempeh up in each crepe. Covered with béchamel and garnish with chives.

Asparagus in Crepes with Wild Mushroom Béchamel

For Wild Mushroom Béchamel: reconstitute dried wild mushrooms and slice, or wash and slice a mix of fresh wild mushrooms. Sauté mushrooms in olive oil with a bit of shoyu or tamari. Remove cooked mushrooms from pan, add more olive oil and mix in flour to make a white roux. When flour is well incorporated into oil, add unsweetened soy milk and whisk until sauce/gravy texture is achieved. Add mushrooms back into sauce and season with sea salt and/or shoyu and herbs or pepper if desired.

For Asparagus in Crepes with Wild Mushroom Béchamel: blanch or lightly steam asparagus. Fill crepes with cooked asparagus and roll crepes. Pour hot béchamel over crepes.

Crepes with Wild Asparagus and Shiitake Béchamel

For Crepes with Wild Asparagus and Shiitake Béchamel: Blanch or lightly steam wild asparagus. Stuff asparagus into crepes, cover with shiitake béchamel and garnish with fresh, ripe tomatoes and scallions or chives.

Fresh Fruit and Cashew Créme in Crepes

Cashew Créme: soak approximately 1 cup of cashews in filtered water overnight. Drain water, purée with a pinch of sea salt, sweetener or your choice (I use agave nectar) and a small amount of water if needed. You can season with vanilla beans, vanilla extract, lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon or any combination thereof.

To prepare Fresh Fruit and Cashew Créme in Crepes: slice or dice fresh seasonal fruit or your choice you can use one variety or many (I used blackberries, pineapple, and mango). Fill crepes with about 1 tablespoon of cashew créme, 3 tablespoons fruit, and roll closed. Garnish with fresh mint, fresh fruit and/or cashew créme.

Luscious Strawberries and Cashew Créme Crepes

Luscious Strawberries: Slice berries and macerate in fresh squeezed orange juice, liquid sweetener of your choice (like agave or maple syrup), or for super luscious berries, a little maraska and/or amaretto liqueur and a bit of raspberry jam. In this case I opted for the super luscious variation, which was divine!

To prepare Luscious Strawberries and Cashew Créme Crepes, fill crepes with about 1 tablespoon cashew créme, add some berries, roll closed, top with more berries, a generous amount of berry liquid, and an extra dollop of cashew créme.

Blackberry Crepes

Blackberry Crepes: Fill the crepes with fresh blackberries and a touch of blackberry or raspberry jam (I was lucky enough to have some homemade blackberry jam from JD's mom), roll up crepe, top with a few more berries, and dust with powdered sugar, brown rice syrup powder, or drizzle with maple syrup or agave nectar.

Vegan Ceviche

Vegan Ceviche

A few months ago, my boss asked me to come up with a few vegan versions of seafood dishes, and ceviche was at the top of the list. Ceviche is a Peruvian seafood dish where raw seafood is marinated in citrus juice, usually lime juice, until it is "cooked". It's traditionally eaten with fried plantain chips or tortilla chips in the summer.

Growing up, the most common types of seafood I had were frozen fish sticks and canned tuna made into tuna casserole, and by "most common types of seafood", I mean the seafood we had maybe 3 times a year. I think I've had shrimp cocktail maybe twice in my life, but never any other kind of shellfish, no fresh fish, and certainly not any raw fish, so I have never had authentic ceviche.

It always seems difficult to try to create a dish that mimics something you've never had, but really, this was a snap. My immediate reaction was to use mushrooms, since they have such a distinct texture and flavor, but I decided to try an experiment and see if tofu would work, since I know many people who are not fans of fungi. Just before I went shopping, I saw Bazu's post about her ceviche, which uses hearts of palm to beautiful visual effect, so I thought I'd try that as well. I decided to experiment with four versions: tofu, frozen tofu, mixed mushrooms, and hearts of palm.

In the end, each version had its own set of pros and cons, and I realized that a combination would work best. For example, some of the mushrooms get a bit toothsome, which is how I imagine calamari or shrimp would be in ceviche, while the tofu is nice and tender, and if you use frozen tofu it absorbs a ton of flavor. The hearts of palm are beautiful and an ingenious addition, giving a slight visual nod to calamari, but also lending the dish a nice flavor and texture.

You'll notice in the pictures I didn't use cucumbers or tomato, although they are mentioned as optional ingredients in the recipe; I've been having a terrible eczema/psoriasis outbreak this summer, so I've been using tomatoes very sparingly, as nightshades can aggravate any inflammatory disease. However, tomatoes would be a great, colorful addition, especially if you used various heirloom tomatoes, or a combination of yellow pear and cherry tomatoes. Additionally, if eaten in the summer, tomatoes can be very cooling. Oh, and I simply didn't have any cucumber on hand.

Textural Close-up of Vegan Ceviche

Vegan Ceviche
Christina Terriquez

Yields: 4–8 servings

1 cup organic red onion, diced
1/2 cup organic cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1 medium organic tomato, seeded and cut into 1/2” cubes, optional
1/2 medium organic cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2” cubes, optional
2 pinches unrefined sea salt, SI brand recommended
1 teaspoon umeboshi vinegar
juice of 5 organic limes
8 ounces hearts of palm, sliced 1/4” thick
8 ounces organic soft tofu, frozen overnight, then thawed and cut into 1/2” cubes
1/2 cup organic oyster mushrooms, cut into 1/4” thick slices
1/2 cup organic button, crimini or wild mushrooms, cut into 1/4” thick slices
1/2 cup organic fresh shiitake mushrooms, cut into 1/4” thick slices
1 tablespoon organic unpasteurized shoyu
1–2 tablespoons organic agave nectar
1 organic avocado, cut into 1/4”–1/2” cubes, optional
1–2 tablespoons organic hemp oil, optional

Directions
In a glass bowl, mix red onion, cilantro, tomato and cucumber, if using, sea salt, umeboshi vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of lime juice. Marinate for 1–2 hours.

Meanwhile, in a separate glass bowl, mix hearts of palm, tofu, mushrooms, shoyu, agave nectar and remaining lime juice. Marinate for 1–2 hours.

Add onion mixture to mushrooms mixture, add avocado and hemp oil, if using, and adjust seasonings.

Spoon into individual servings in martini glasses, and garnish with additional fresh cilantro. Serve with fried plantain chips, tortilla chips, or water crackers.

Variations
-For a more pronounced cooling effect, add 1–2 cloves minced garlic to onions before they begin marinating.

-For crisper cucumbers, add them at the last minute instead of pickling them.

-Add diced celery just before serving.

-Instead of freezing tofu overnight, press it for 30 minutes, then blanch or steam it for 15 minutes and cool before marinading.

Notes
-You could use all oyster mushrooms or all shiitake, but I wouldn't recommend using all crimini or button mushrooms as they tend to get a little bit...soggy. I really like the textural differences you have when you use a combination, too.

August Updates

The Art of Vegan Sushi

I've had a busy summer, with two out-of-town guests (H, of course, and M, JD's sister), taking classes and teaching them, creating a class worth of raw desserts, painting and decorating the house, a new Harry Potter movie AND the final Harry Potter book, the National Poetry Slam, hosting two potlucks, a broken radiator and transmission hose, unusual monsoon-like conditions, trying to keep a garden alive despite outrageous bugs due to said monsoon-like conditions, plus fighting off a bout of food poisoning, AND a cold....but I have been cooking. And I will be posting some recipes.

Upcoming recipes/posts to look forward to:

Simple Crepes with Asparagus and Shiitake Bechemal

Raw Lime Tart

Raw Raspberry Cashew Creme Tart with Chocolate Mousse

Raw Peaches and Creme Tart

Fusion Tempeh with Triple Sesame Rice

Strawberry Limeade

Spiced Cauliflower, Paratha, Red Lentils, and Curried Sweet Potatoes over Basmati

Roasted Vegatable and Polenta Napoleons

Luscious Strawberries and Cashew Creme Crepes

Raw Black Forest Cheesecake