Grill to the Cheese and Soup

Oh heavenly combo, how I heart thee.  I  haven't had this bad boy in sooo long.  So, when I purchased the The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook (you get a little sample of it here) and made the colby cheese from it, I knew what I would be making.  And I must say it was pretty superb, even though my uncheese making skills have not been perfected.  The cheese turned into more of a spread than the block it should have been and was very mustardy.  I didn't have onion powder or dry mustard so I tried regular mustard to compensate, being the brilliant genius I am, using wet to replace dry, hence the spread like quality.  But, all in all, it fulfilled my craving.  

Pictured with this fine sandwich is a variation of the Classily Classic Tomato Soup I made.  The only difference is I used 2 red peppers instead of the tomatoes.  Mmmm, I wish I had some more right now.
Now for the teensy bit of sad news.  My well used, aged, little camera has given up on life and is rolling around in his death bed in pain.  I am going to try the hospital and I have a beautiful new camera coming for my birthday, but I will not get to fondle her until I am back in Canada for a visit in 2 months.  So, in the mean time I hope to fix my little dude and/or borrow a friends camera for posting.  I have a couple items still waiting to be posted as well, so i will swing them out soon.  I do wish I had a camera on hand since I still have been making all sorts of goodness, chickpea cutlets, microwave pumpkin bread, mock tuna rolls, to name a few.  I wil be posting the mock tuna soon, but not in roll form.  That will have to wait until new camera time.  Yay, can't wait. 

To finish with a couple food related quotes I likey:

"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all." ~ Harriet Van Horne

"If you ate pasta and antipasti, would you still be hungry ?"

"My hearse will be followed not by mourning coaches but by herds of oxen, sheep, swine, flocks of poultry and a small traveling aquarium of live fish, all wearing white scarves in honor of the man who perished rather than eat his fellow creatures."  ~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright. 

"Vegetarians have wicked, shifty eyes, and laugh in a cold calculating manner. They pinch little children, steal stamps, drink water, favor beards."  ~ J. B. Morton 

(It just makes me laugh.)

"If life gives you a lemon, make lemonade. However — if life gives you a pickle, you might as well give up, because pickle-ade is disgusting."  ~  Clifton J. Gray

"I can't believe you can get banned from a bakery for mispronouncing 'focaccia' !"    — Hikeeba.

Vegan 100

(I needed to put a picture with the post.  This is one I like, taken in a vegetarian restaurant in Bangkok)

I have been seeing the 100 list all over and figured I ought to put mine out there.  Better late than never as my moms would say :).  I believe Hannah from Bitter Sweet started the vegan 100.  Check her site out and her 100 list.  She has linked many of the foods listed that make question marks appear above your heads.  I had not heard of many of these either and I have a ways to go to have my 100 complete.  I think I have tried 41 of them.  But in all fairness I have only been vegan a year and most of my vegan time I have been in Asia, so I am not able to get my hands on some of these fabulous treats.  In due time, oh yes, in due time.

Well here is how this works:

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.  (I high lighted mine in green and the yet to try's are red.  I like the colours together, what can I say...and in no relation to christmas.)
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.  (I will try anything once, so no crossies here.)
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!

1. Natto
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79. Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough

Walnut You Like To Know

So here us where you have to suffer with my love of cheesy puns.


This post has been inspired by my friend K, who put me up to the challenge of making something with her ginormous bag of walnuts that had this odd smokey flavor. Here is what I came up with.

Walnut Taco Filling

1 1/2 c. Ground walnuts
1 1/2 tsp. Cumin
3/4 tsp. Coriander
2 tbsp. Soy sauce
Pinch of cayenne

The walnuts should be ground to have a chunky texture. Mix all ingredients together and set aside or refrigerate to let the flavors absorb. Then serve to your little hearts content. This recipe is credited to Sparks Recipes.

Next up mushroom walnut pate from Vegcooking.

Mushroom Walnut Pate

1/4 c. Water

3 -4 c. Sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 Sliced medium onion

2 Minced cloves of garlic

1 c. Mashed firm tofu

1/2 c. Walnuts

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Black pepper

1 Chopped or sliced green bell pepper

Cook mushrooms, onion and garlic in water until soft. Combine the veggies and tofu in a blender until all blendy and smooth. Add walnuts, salt and pepper and do the blendy thing again until very, very smooth. Let chill in the fridge before serving. Top with some green pepper. Vegcooking recommends serving it with french bread and green pepper. K ate it with crackers or veggies but prefered it alone. Eat it however you fancy.

This recipe is the only one where the walnut smokiness was not eliminated or enhanced. But hey, I am sure non smoky walnuts would do the trick.

Candied Walnuts

2 c. Walnuts

1/4 c. Soy Milk

1 tsp. Cinnamon

3 tbsp. Margarine (vegan variety of course)

1/2 c. Sugar

2 tsp. Vanilla Powder

Heat everything but walnuts until nice and thick. Mix with walnuts until well coated. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Mine turned out a little runny but yummy (I think it would be great over soy vanilla ice cream). The recipe is approximate, feel free to play with measurements.

These lovelies took a little bit of trial and error. When I found the Tofu-Walnut 'Meatballs' recipe I knew I wanted to try my mom's style swedish meatballs. I loved them as a kid and have made them plenty of times with fake "meaty" (ie. tvp or store bought variety) meatballs.
Well, the slight problem is these 'meatballs' are not a durable and a lot softer then the other variety. So when I made them to follow mom's recipe they turned into the bolognese sauce you see below. It also probably did not help that they needed to bake it the sauce where i tried to make them in my ceramic pot on the stove. Either way tasted good though. This here is the tweaked version of the original recipe.

Glazed Swedish 'Meatballs'

Tofu-Walnut 'Meatballs

(I pretty much followed these to a tee from the site above)

2 c. Chopped walnuts

1 Chopped onion

1 Shredded carrot

1 Chopped green pepper

4 Chopped cloves of garlic

Olive oil

12 oz. Cubed soft tofu

Sesame oil

1 tbsp. Spicy mustard

1 tsp. Oregano

1 tsp. Basil

2 c. Bread crumbs*

Sauté walnuts, onion, carrot, pepper, and garlic in olive oil. In a large bowl, mix cubes of soft tofu with sesame oil, mustard, oregano, and basil and sauté ingredients. Add enough bread crumbs to make a moldable mixture. Shape into balls and sauté. Do not be afraid to use extra olive oil to saute these. They need it to make them firmer. This recipe made about 30 balls.

*I made my own bread crumbs by lightly toasting some bread then grinding it in a blender. About a half loaf will give you 2 cups.

Swedish Glaze

(adapted from my mom's swedish meatball recipe)

1 c. Organic ketchup

5 tbsp. Worstershire sause*

1 tbsp. Brown rice syrup

1-2 tbsp. Brown sugar

2 tbsp. White vinegar

Bring ingredients to a boil and then simmer a few minutes or throw in the microwave for awhile. Brush or pour glazed on 'meatballs' Throw them in your toaster oven or, if you are fortunate enough, your conventional oven and bake for 15 minutes until brown.

*Since I am unable to get vegan worstershire sauce here I used this recipe from cooking with rock stars. It is superb.

Now this be the bolognese sauce made on, as my mom would call me, a beautiful accident. Basically go through the painstaking process of making the delicious tofu-walnut meatballs. Then immerse them in swedish meatball sauce and cook until mushy :)
I will post the recipe for the actual swedish meatballs when I can make them properly and get my hands of fake meatballs that will hold together in liquid. But feel free to contact me sooner if you want to make this "beautiful mishap" or a variation of it and i can tell you what i used.

Korean Eats Continued

I love this place.  It is my second favorite eats in korea so far.  You basically make your own rice paper rolls.
You dip the rice paper in this pretty pink water.
Dress with these sauses,
and fill with these, as well as grilled mushrooms and garlic.  It comes with pork but I get mushrooms instead.  The people that own this place are the sweetest ever and try to accommodate in any way they can.  After you filled yourself on rolls they make a rice noodle soup to eat at the end.  I now keep this in mind when I go, save a little room, that way I am able to walk out rather then less gracefully roll out.

This is my favorite place in Korea, Todem Dubu, which means tofu house.  The best tofu I have ever tasted is from there.  The soup is shown above before cooking.  the tofu that is in it is plain but it is normally tri-coloured like the one below.  This soup is a bit spicy and served with a bunch or side dishes.  A few of my favorites are below.  Everytime you go you get a different assortment of sides, sometimes they are the same, but you can never know.  They do have meaty/fishy sides too, but it is the most variety I have had here aside for a buffet.

This tofu is tre yum.  Lightly fried (but no greasy) and served with some soy.

Lotus root in a sweet syrup.

These mushroom are killer.  You get them everytime.  Also, I am missing the picture of the soft tofu they bring at the very beginning.  Mmmmm served with a sort of sweet, but light soy sause.

    Last is Pat Bean Soo.  It is a traditional Korean dessert served only in the summer months.  It is normally made with shaved ice, sweet red bean, fruits, jelly and milk.  I got mine minus the jelly and subbed in soy milk for cows milk.  I had to bring my own, which is the little green carton you see.  It is nothing short of amazing.  They also put dry cereal in this variation.  Kristin got hers with green tea ice cream but admitted she liked mine more.  You can see how happy we were to be eating this, especially with the heat.

Some of My Favorite Korean Eats....

This is Sambap, which is a healthy rice pot eaten with a variety of veg and side dishes.  You start by getting the rice served in the lower left corner pot.  You empty out most of the rice in a separate bowl (lower right) except what gets stuck to the pot, then you fill the hot pot up with rice water and set aside.  You eat the "rice soup" last as a sort of dessert.    For the rest you take a leaf of some variety (my fav is the boiled cabbage) and you put some rice in it with bean paste and whatever side is vegan friendly and eat.  I frequent this place and the ladies are so sweet they make me a separate non seafood soup.  It is a type of doen jang chigae that i posted earlier and it rocks.  I put the bulky part of the soup in the leaf wrap too.  It is awesome.  (You may be able to see some fish further back in the photo, please ignore, for it was not apart of my meal)
Next up is spicy noodle a.k.a. hangover cure.  It is great, a huge pot of homemade noodles with mushrooms, onions and potatoes.  Then once you eat most of this enormous pot they fill your bowls with the remaining in order to create a delicious rice ensemble in the bottom of the pot.  Sorry no pic of it.  They usually put egg in but if i partake they leave it out.
This here is Kristin and her favorite korean meal.  Chung Gook Jung.  I like to describe it as a jazzed up bipbimbap.  You take rice, the tofu bean stew (close up below), veg and bipbimbap sauce (a thick red somewhat hot pepper paste) and you mix it all together, while enjoying the homemade not hot but not iced tea and side dishes.
Mmmmm tofu bean stew....
This is Kristin and I and the oh so yummy rice balls.  We have a few matching photos because we are cool like that.  You will only get subjected to one or two.  But for real rice balls rock.  Glutenous rice with a sweet red bean filling.  The red/brown ones in the middle are my fav, covered in cinnamon.  The others are coated with sesame seed and green tea something or other and something else.

Simple Stir Fry with a Kicker

Here is a nice and simple stir fry with a bit of a punch.  I wanted to post one last time before my friend kristin from Canada gets here.  Between work and fun there will not be much time for blogging, but i will be sure to update on our food adventures.  Will be in Japan for a few days so hopefully i remember to photograph the food...mmmm....Be back at the beginning of august, unless i can squeeze a post in sooner.  I have walnut recipes gallore, but i will detail that later.

My Simple Stir Fry with a Kicker

2 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil

3 c. Veggies of choice*

2 c. Cooked brown rice

Soy sauce (to taste)

1 Minced clove of garlic

1 tsp. Basil

Cracked pepper

1 c. Cubed extra firm tofu

The Kicker

Korean pickled hot peppers + juice 

(use desired amount, I ended up adding more to it once it was finished and being devoured.)

* I used onions. carrots, celery, hot pepper and zucchini.

Saute veggies (except zucchini) for 5 to 10 minutes.  Add tofu, zucchini, basil, cracked pepper, garlic and some soy sauce, saute another 2 to 5 minutes.  Then add the brown rice with a bit more soy sauce.  Cook another 5 minutes.  In the last minute of cooking add the pickled peppers and juice.  Finitoed.

I am sure other pickled peppers would work too.  The ones I used were whole (so i chopped them) and in a dark brown juice.  A friend gave them to me and i am so glad she did.  I started adding them to other dishes like mock chicken burgs and such.  They jazz up food nicely.

Soupathon is On!

So I have decided to start making some soup.  Marvelous time, I know, since the sweltering heat of summer is just kicking.  But when you want soup, you want soup.  The first round is a triathlon of sorts, mainly due to the three soups in this post.  The next meet will be held at another date in the near future perhaps when it is a bit cooler.  I hope you enjoy.

Szechuan Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

2 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil

1 Chopped medium onion

2 Minced cloves of garlic

1 tsp. Curry powder

1/2 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Ginger Powder

1 tsp. Thyme

1/2 tsp. Dry basil*

1 tsp. Chili flakes (or to taste)

3 c. Water**

3 1/2 Chopped large carrots

2 Chopped medium sweet potatoes

3 tbsp. Soy sauce

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

2 tbsp. Peanut butter (not generous)

1 tsp. hot sauce (optional)

 

Saute first nine ingredients for 6 to 8 minutes, until onions are soft, in a medium to large sauce pan.  Add the next three ingredients, plus 2 tsp. Soy sauce and salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes until all vegetables are very soft.  At this point blend in a blender and return to sauce pan.  Add peanut butter, hot sauce and remaining soy sauce and cook another 5 to 10 minutes.  You may need additional water if you find the consistency to thick.  I would probably add more next time to make it soupier, as you can tell by the photos, quite thick, but lovely.  You can top it with some chopped cashews or peanuts.  Ideally, I would have topped it with vegan sour cream but I do not have any and have not found a good way to make it here yet.  If you have, do try.    

*Fresh basil would be even better if you have it. About 1 to 2 tsp. chopped.

**Use vegetable broth if you have it, I did not, but water works famously.

The next soup is my veganized Doen Jang Chigae which is actually a korean bean paste stew.  But it is more soup like to me, so I'll label it soup.  Looking at the pictures it does look stewy~thick soup~stewp?  Anywho, it is very delicious and simple.  Some have compared it to a ass kickin miso.  I'll let you decide

Doen Jang Chigae

1 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil

1 Sliced hot green pepper

1/2 Chopped medium onion

1 Chopped large carrot

1 Chopper stalk of celery

1 Minced Clove of garlic

2-3 tbsp. Korean soy bean paste*

2 c. Water

1 tbsp. Korean chili flakes (or to taste)

1/2 Chopped cabbage

1/4 Chopped bell pepper (red or yellow or both)

1/2 Chopped medium zucchini

1/2 c. Cube extra firm tofu

*I used sunchan doen jang which is a brown paste with no added oil.  Some are red and with oil, I am sure it would work just as well, but perhaps with a different taste.

Saute the first six ingredients for 8 to 10 minutes, in a medium pot.  I used a stone pot on a gas stove, how it is traditionally made, but I have made it in a regular sauce pan and it works well too so do not fret.  Add bean paste and cook for another minute.  Then add the water and chili flakes, cook another couple of minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes cover.  No need to bring to a boil in stone pot.  I do briefly when using a regular one though.

Now to tomato some soup or soup some tomatoes.  Mmmmm, how I loved tomato soup growing up, the Cambell's variety, with what I called butter fingers for dipping.  Basically, it is just sliced bread with butter cut into strips or 'fingers.'  This soup which is much healthier and heartier kind of reminded me of soup from the past.  The recipe, more or less, is from Persistent State Vegetarian and it goes like this:

Classily Classic Tomato Soup

1 tbsp.  Extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. Whole wheat flour

2 tbsp. Water

2 Chopped stalks of celery

2 Chopped medium carrots

1 Chopped medium onion

2 Minced cloves of garlic

1/2 c. Tomato paste

1 tsp. Dried basil (2 tsp. fresh if you have it)

Salt and Pepper

1 c. Water

3 Chopped very ripe tomatoes

1/3 c. Soy milk

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Make a roux by mixing the flour and oil in heated sauce pan. It will make you soup thicker as it cooks.  Drop in the next five ingredients in and cook 5 to 10 minutes.  Add tom paste and basil, cook two more minutes.  Then add the chopped tomatoes, water, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook another 10 to 15 minutes until all veggies are quite soft (especially if blending).  Next, add the soy milk and cook 3 minutes longer.  Now it is time for the blend and return to the pot on low heat.  Here is where you make the gastrique, which is just caramelizing the sugar with the vinegar until syrup like.  Pour into the soup. Stir and eat.  I found the gastrique really kicked the soup up a few notches from damn good to amazing.  I hope it makes your tummy happy.