An American Vegan Kitchen Fave!

When I hear people whine about missing out on dessert as a vegan, I want to shove a pie in their face. This VEGAN pie. This is the Crispy Bottom Peanut Butter Pie with Chocolate Fudge Sauce from my favorite go-to vegan cookbook, American Vegan Kitchen. WARNING: this is a super decadent, peanut buttery, and fudgey nosh. You might have to sign up for diabetes supplies after eating a slice.

Just buy the book already. Amazon gave it five stars, and you know the internet does not lie. IMO, this book has the best selection of dishes for the newly vegan to fully enjoy the transition from meaty to meatless. With recipes like Sweet Garlicky Ribz, Fried Avocados, and Greektown Gyros, you'd think you were eating stuff from one of them there restaurant places that has a bunch of stuff hangin' on the walls. When I was on vacation, I made a bunch of stuff from this book and felt like I was eating out every day.

Post X-Mas Buzz

 Hope everyone had a great Tuesday. Nothing like an ol' Tuesday for opening gifts and hoggin' out on comfort food. Happens all the time.

I wish I could tell you I spent all my Christmases eating Chinese food and going to movies, but I didn't. I'm from an assimilated family and was raised with the holly jolly dysfunction of commercialism tied in with a splash of the baby Jeebus. So at our house, we celebrate both. To me, it's really all about the food!
I gotta talk about the chance I had to have some "me" time--went out for Indian food and tried Bhindi Masala for the first time. Woah, I never thought I could like curried okra, but I do!  My only regret is diving in before taking a picture of the uneaten meal. The local eatery Taste of India has plenty to eat if you're vegan. They label anything on their menu that's vegan with a big, fat "V" for vegan friendly. How cool is that?

And the holidays wouldn't be the holidays without something pumpkiny. I am a fan of these pumpkin cheesecake squares from Kittee's bake 'zine Papa Tofu-(I think it is out of print!)

Selfish plug: I removed captcha from my blog to encourage others to comment. I'm kinda sad that the only comments these days come from spammers. Ugh. So please, if you are a real person, leave me a real comment on any of my entries to cheer me up a little. 

On The Road Salad

It's that time of year: salad season! This salad ain't the prettiest of the ball, but it sure is tasty. And guess what else? You can throw this together no matter where you are, so long as you have a grocery store near by. I work in a group home where meat is on the menu every single day, three times a day. I've found a way to make some sides vegan so I can eat at the table with everyone else. I called this On The Road to note the portability of this little number-(hey ho my traveling salespeople vegans!), but also for our On The Couch Alcoholic buddy, Jack Kerouac. 

On The Road Salad

• 1 pkg salad mix-(get greener if you can. All we had was -ack- iceberg mix)
• 1 red pepper, chopped to bits
• 1 c. cauliflower, chopped to bits
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 1 c. bread crumbs-(check those labels for milk and eggs!) I make my own.
• 1/2 c. sunflower seeds
• 1/2 to 3/4 c. balsamic vinegar dressing

Mix everything together and enjoy. This doesn't store so well, so make sure to have seconds if you can. This is a nice salad to go with a meal of vegan bbq ribs and a baked potato.

And what about dessert? Well, this one isn't travel friendly unless you're crashing at one of them there hotel suites with a kitchenette. The crust from this recipe is from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak. I personally didn't like the crust recipe, so I'd recommend some other recipe. The filling is a snap!

Your choice of pie crust

Filling

• 1 c. sugar
• 4 kiwi fruits, peeled
• 1 c. water
• 1 T potato or corn starch
• 1 T lemon juice

Topping

• Sliced kiwis
• Sliced strawberries

Puree filling in a blender and boil until thick. Fill pie shell with the filling, then set in the fridge for a few hours. Top with sliced fresh fruit and wow your friends. There will be leftover filling, and that makes a great topping for ice cream, especially strawberry!

Portion Control, I Haz It.

Well, not really. I've been known to get up in the middle of the night and sleep eat. Hell, it's not even sleep eating--I'm awake and can't stand for the cookie jar to be full. For some strange reason, making cookies or brownies in a muffin/cupcake pan does the trick for me every now and then. It's a must for office parties or pitch ins. Otherwise, I'm making one giant cookie for me and cookie pellets for everyone else. True story.

So, are brownies cookies? No, so I guess I suck at that 20 days of cookie thing I've been aiming for. These are the Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. They are just as rad as they sound. Don't be fooled by the shadows in the photo, there's some heavy fudge on the bottom. (((((snickering))))) I typed "fudge on the bottom."This is for those vegan cheesecake doubters. Yes, you can has cheezcake.

MOFO Day #13 True Grub: Debbie is on V again

Poor Debbie Pelt. She leaves her super hot man Alcide for a scrappy moron named Cooter, and he gets her addicted to V. For the True Blood ignorant, V is the street name for vampire blood which heals most ailments, but also gets the user trippin' balls and strong as Lou Ferrigno. She gets her act together, attempts to build a life with Alcide again, and it's too late--he is in love with Sookay. Debbie just can't win. So what does she do?

I'm not going to give it all away, but I bet you can guess she caves and gets back on the V. She forgot that she entered the Renard Parish Bake Off in Bon Temps and had mad plans to win the contest with her Mississippi Mud Pie Bars. But she's too high to think straight, so she puts this together.
Pray tell, does she win? C'mon--of course she doesn't. Hollywood writers require that a minimum of one character on a premium cable series be perpetually miserable, and that lucky gal is Debbie. One of the judges was Maxine Fortenberry and she knows her Mississippi Mud Pie. No one ate these, so I grabbed the pan and made a mad dash back to Indiana.

They're not bad, easy to put together, and I bet you have the ingredients on hand right now. Go look for yourself. Are they there? Yep, I thought so.

Debbie is on V Again Dessert Bars

Prepare yourself by not giving a shit. Are you there? Good.

Get an 8x8 pan

• 1 package of Newman O's or Oreos
• 2T canola oil
• 1 c. chocolate chips
• 1/2 c. tofutti better than cream cheez or a vegan heavy cream
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• 4 overripe bananas

Run the cookies through a food processor, mix with the oil and press into the 8x8 pan. Puree the overripe bananas and cr. cheez or vegan heavy cream with the vanilla and pour on top of crust.

Put that in the freezer and freeze. Debbie has no idea how long to do this because she was sidetracked by her jealousy. And the V. Mostly the V.

When you know the bars are frozen, get the chocolate ready and melt it in a double boiler, with your microwave, or with a blow torch--the chocolate should be melted.

Pour mixture over the frozen bars and spread quickly. You're gonna have some science on your hands and it will get hard real quick. (((giggling))) I typed "hard."

Stick back in freezer and pull out about 20 minutes prior to serving. Cut bars with a bowie knife. If the bars look a little desperate, they're perfect! Devour with your friends.

Are you ready for True Grub?

Are you ready for this?

I'm an excited kind of gal myself. I don't recall a holiday that involved food or gifts where I didn't whine so bad that my parents caved and gave me a little treat before the big day. So that's what Momma Jen has for you: a little pre-MOFO celebration of sorts.

As you know this year's theme is True Grub: I Wanna Chew Good Things With You. I'm hopelessly in love with the premium cable show True Blood, adore Alan Ball, and am plowing my way through the actual books by Charlaine Harris. What's this show, you say? It's another television drama with vampires, except the cast is way hotter and there's tons of sex. And vampires. Did I mention there were vampires?

There's an entire thread dedicated to the show in the Living Room of The Post Punk Kitchen. Isa mentioned that someone should do a True Blood Blog. I took the muse and ran like Sam Merlotte himself when he's doing his post-shape shifter streaking thing.

Pray tell, what signature dish will don Miss Sookie's name? Did I get ballsy enough to make a Hunter's Pie? I dunno, but I did make a vegan goat tongue and giggled the whole time I made Alcide's Comeback Sauce.

And what noshling shall be named after King of the Bill? I don't want to give everything away, so you're going to have to tune in EVERY SINGLE DAY in OCTOBER for Vegan Mofo. Tell your friends about it too, so you can help me meet my 1 MILLION HIT GOAL by the end of the month. I'm giving the FoodBuzz money to two local charities.

And now, I'll leave you with a recipe I made about a month ago:

Lafayette's Red Velvet Brownie Bites

1/2 c EB OR 5 T of canola oil-(NOTE-I don't always have EB around the house. If you go this route, note they'll be a bit crunchier on the outside, but very soft n' chewy on the inside.)

1 1/2 c. beet sugar
1 t vanilla
2T flax seed meal+ 6T warm water, set aside
1 1/4 AP flour
1/4 t. salt
3T cocoa powder. The better the powder, the better the bite.
1 1/2 T red food coloring
1/2 c. melted chocolate chips

First things first, get some nice music going and put those chips on a double boiler. Take the vanilla, sugar, flax seed eggs, oil and mix. Mix in the food coloring. It will look very creepy.

Take your dry ingredients: flour, salt, and cocoa and sift. There's nothing worse than biting into something with cocoa lumps in it. Sift it! I'm watching you.

Preheat the oven for three fiddy, and get a mini cupcake pan out lined with papers. Mix the wet with the dry. Now add that melted chocolate. It will be super thick. Spray a measured tablespoon with canola oil and put measured T scoops in each mini muffin liner. Don't over fill! Set the timer for 10 minutes and check on them with a tooth pick. Set the timer for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean. Dollop the top with your favorite cream cheese icing. NOTE-don't freak out if they're a little hard on the outside, they're nice chewy, n' fudgy on the inside.

I have not tried this, but I double dog dare you to make the brownie bites Brujo Brownie Bites in honor of Lafayette's boyfriend, Jesus. To do this add 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t cayenne pepper, and a pinch of clove powder. I know I'm doing this next time. I'm also going to play around and see if I can go old school and make red velvet without red food coloring.

After all, it's what is on the inside that counts.

Regular ol' chocolate cake with some ganache, right? WRONG! Gluten free, delicious, moist, and...
full of yummy vanilla filling. I couldn't wait for it to cool. I ate it immediately. A friend of mine told me these were so good she almost creamed herself.

For the record, I don't have a gluten intolerance or anything, I just like to try my hand at GF baking because many of my peeps live GF and I wanna show off for them. These noshables were spectacular. Imagine a warm oreo fresh out of the oven that melts in your mouth and spikes ye olde blood sugar. Uh-huh.

Food Blogger Friday, I haven't forgotten about this! The xgfx.org blog is where I snagged the recipe for those cupcakes, but you've heard about that blog, haven't you? I thought so. You're cool like that. Well, kids--how about these?

Vegan Explosion- How can one ignore a blog with a title like that? I came across this one looking for a vegan tortilla recipe. Since I don't have a tortilla press, mine looked more like chapatis, but they were mega-Streisand awesome.

Happy. Healthy. Life- More food photography to covet. She's smart. Lots of DIY stuff. Rad.

Oreo going to eat that sandwich?

O.S.I.M. gonna eat that sandwich! Here's another creation from Celine and Tami's upcoming sandwich cookbook. I finished making this at night, so I had to use a flash. I really, really need help with my food photography. I know much of this can be remedied with a nicer camera. Oh seasoned bloggers, what do you do?

The answer to most of my questions is to eat. This sammie was so huge, I had no qualms about splitting it with a friend over a cup of coffee and good conversation. This is called the Oreo Wafflewich. Do I really need to describe this for you to want to eat a chocolate devil food waffle sandwich with vanilla icing? I didn't think so. I see you drooling.

So I've decided I'm not going to be a big tease and let y'all know about my Vegan MOFO plans. I figure it will help traffic so I can reach my 1 million hit goal during MOFO.

Since MOFO is during October, one would naturally assume that having a month long theme about spooky food would be a good idea. How about a month long theme dedicated to one of the best vampire dramas on premium television? That's right kids, you're going to get some TRUE GRUB. I was inspired by Isa and our mutual fascination of True Blood. I have been toiling over this for a few months now, making huge messes in the kitchen, and will be blogging about some very traditional Louisiana cuisine and gory food that has been veganized to the max. Are you excited? I am.

Go tell as many people as you can that you know a chick who can veganize a pork rind casserole.

Frankenfood

A-ha, gotcha! You thought it was going to be some sort of rant about genetically modified food, right? Wrong. There's another kind of Frankenfood in my world: a combination of a couple recipes and some extra PITA vegan flair to make it come ALIVE...ALIVE! Don't get me wrong, all individual components of this delicious monster are fine on their own; however, when working together as a team they are scary AMAZING. I'm talking about "Puttin on the Ritz" kind of awesome.

Several posts ago, I wrote about having an in-home bake sale to absorb incidental expenses at Vida Vegan Con. It was a great time and I plan on doing it again around the holidays. I'm thinking I might like to donate the money to a charity.

The belle of the ball was the banana split muffins. I pulled this off by taking the lower fat banana muffin recipe from Veganomicon. After they were done baking and had cooled for 15 minutes, I took a clean thumb and poked holes in the middle.

From there I filled each hole with a strawberry pineapple topping made of fresh strawberries, fresh pineapple, corn starch, and agave nectar. I kept stirring it on med. heat until it looked like pie filling.

Once the filled muffins cooled completely, I filled a sandwich bag with the chocolate frosting recipe from Ricki's whoopie pies on xgfx.org. I'm so in love with that frosting. I would never think to use sweet potatoes as a base for frosting! I lovingly placed dollops of the frosting on each muffin, and crowned them with two walnut pieces and a fresh cherry. Yay!

The best part was no one flavor dominated the other. It was a perfect medley of banana, chocolate, and tart strawberry/pineapple/cherry. This muffin was a fine tuned engine. I don't know for sure, but I'm willing to bet it is a little better for you than a fried doughnut.

There's no "I" in team!

Do you like the new look of PITA Vegan? Great. That's your next hint for my Vegan MOFO theme. Just to clarify, there aren't any votes for my one million hit goal. You just need to tell people to tell people to shout it from the roof tops to visit my site every day in October. Multiple times, even if you think my food is gross-which it so ain't.

Foodgasm!

Don't tell me: you just got dumped, you didn't get that promotion, and you didn't win the lottery. All hope seems lost. There-there, sit for a spell and have one of Aunt Tami and Celine's tasty peanut butter n' brownie sandwiches. Here's a cold glass of almond milk to wash it down real good. Feel better?

Photo by Kelly Peloza

So yeah, I basically made this face after I took a bite of that tester cookie. That's the contorting face of a joyous foodgasm. Want the recipe? Too bad, you'll have to wait until it comes out on teh interwebz. It's a cookbook full of nuthin' but sammiches: open faced, closed faced, stuffed, and dessertified.
This is the cookie you have when you want to give up on everything, when Aunt Flo comes to visit, or have some sort of event that can only be healed with the salve of something decadent. Don't worry about going off the deep end either, one cookie takes care of your ills. Thanks for reading, I'm gonna take a nap.

Photo by Kelly Peloza