My partner in crime

I thought I should introduce one of my kitchen partners in crime -- Claire. She's a great help in the kitchen and even got for Christmas from some of our friends an apron/towel/oven mitt set.

She was asking me for a couple of days last week if we could make a dessert. I didn't have much on hand to make anything special, but I knew I had a random can of pumpkin in the cupboard. This kid LOVES pumpkin things. So we settled for pumpkin muffins.

Betty Crocker's classic cookbook had a recipe for pumpkin bread, so I did a variation of that (minus the nuts and raisins of course -- kids!). Anyway, I just though I would share some photos of Claire from that night. I think she looks right at home in the kitchen.

Mexican pizza

Actually, I'm not sure if that's what this four-layered goodness is supposed to be called, but that's what I'm going to call it. Last week my sister handed me a stack of recipes she ripped out of magazines in previous months and said, "Pick five of these to make next week."

This was number one on the list. I made it for her family, then made the same exact thing (but with soy cheese and a different kind of beer) at my home 2 hours later.

I'm PRETTY sure I remembered the recipe correctly from earlier in the evening.
Here it is!

Ingredients:
2 cans black beans
1 med onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (ribs and seeds removed for less heat)
1 oz. pkg frozen corn
4-6 green onions
1 12 oz. beer (I think whatever will do. I went with a PBR leftover from our last party)
1/2 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper
4 10-inch tortillas (I went with whole wheat)
1 Tbsp. oil (recipe asked for canola, but I used olive)
2 1/2 c. shredded cheese of choice (I went with 2 different kinds of Veggie Shreds)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, jalapeno, cumin and some salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes until onions are softened.

2. Add rinsed and drained black beans and beer. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil, then lower to med and cook for 8-10 minutes until liquid is reduced and there is almost none left.



3. Remove from heat, add frozen corn and most of diced green onion (set aside some for garnish at the end)




4. Get ready to layer in a 9" springform pan. Using the bottom of the pan as a guide, trim tortillas.

5. Place one tortilla in bottom of pan. Put 1/4 of bean mixture 1/2 c. of cheese. Repeat 3 times.




6. On top of fourth tortilla, place rest of bean mixture and 1 c. of cheese.




7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until cheese is melted and everything is heated through. Top with remaining green onions for garnish.

8. Remove ring from springform pan. Cut wedge slices.

(Ignore the bowl of goodness -- that's just leftover salad
bar toppings with some salad dressing as a side dish)

I ate sour cream with some of mine. My squeeze chose without. You could probably top with all kinds of stuff like salsa, guacamole, black olives or whatever you like!

Amazing food... at a sports bar?

Here are some excerpts from a blog i just posted about my afternoon in Downtown Berkley, when I discovered really good food at a sports bar! it's true:

I decided to go to the sports bar 24 Seconds. Originally, I had planned to go to my favorite pizza joint, Amici's (More about them later. There's so much I want to write about them, I haven't had the time to give them the focus they deserve), but they weren't open yet. So, I took Carrie's word for it that a sports bar would have plenty of vegetarian options.

When I walked inside, my ears immediately were assaulted by cranked up speakers blasting various sporting events. A bowl game here, a basketball game there. I don't think I ever truly adjusted to it, and still don't understand why it had to be THAT loud. But the other, sports-loving patrons seemed to be find with it, not to mention the 20 or so TVs that were plastered throughout the place.

BUT, Carrie was right -- lots of food to choose from. I ended up going with a side of the cucumber, onion, dill salad and a giant grilled vegetable salad for lunch. It had greens, pine nuts, Gorgonzola cheese, tons of grilled veggies including asparagus, mushrooms and tomatoes, and had a great citrus balsamic vinaigrette with it, and was served over toasted ciabatta bread points.

Who knew -- at a sports bar! I'd go back again for sure. Just maybe not during bowl game season...



Check out the full blog HERE.

I enjoyed turkey for Thanskgiving!

OK, not turkey. Turk'y. I have a vegan co-worker who bought the Quorn turkey roast from the "vegan" section of the grocery store, only to find out it has egg whites in it.

SO, she handed it off to me, a non-vegan, to test it out.
Quorn products aren't made of soy, or even vegetable protein. They're made of mycoprotein, a protein-packed fungi.

Nobody can explain it as well as the company can, so if you're interested in learning more, check out this info page of its Web site.

I pierced the wrapping, as instructed and baked it in a toaster oven for 30 minutes. After letting it cool for a few minutes, I unwrapped it and sliced it and found the most meat-like non-meat I have ever seen, tasted or been able to convince meat eaters to try.

I don't necessarily love eating "fake" meat, but I really couldn't believe it. It had a similar texture and was even dry like white turkey meat. While I think it would be amazing in sandwiches and other dishes, I sliced it up, got out the mustard and went to town.

I'm officially a convert -- now I just have to find a store that sells it, which shouldn't be too hard, because you can search by zip code on the Web site, which also has recipes and more.

Thanks, Mary!

Help Sugar Kisses!

Vegan-friendly Royal Oak bakery Sugar Kisses learned a few weeks ago that their building has been sold and they must move by the end of the year or close up shop, after 5 1/2 years at their Washington Avenue location.

In general, this would be a challenge, not to mention that bakeries often make the most profit at holiday time, so this makes the move especially hard to complete while hoping to keep the doors open.

And, they need some help! There are three ways we can help them:

1. Give them your business! They have a packed menu full of breakfast stuff (Scones, coffee cakes, etc.), cookies and cupcakes, candy, granola bars and much more. They have vegan and gluten free items. They also have a light lunch menu of soups and more and serve fair trade organic coffee.

2. Buy gift certificates -- you can purchase gift certificates to give as holiday gifts. Them getting the money up front will help them with the move.

3. Donate! They have PayPal set up on their Web site if you just want to give them a few bucks to help.

You can check out their menu, buy gift certificates or donate by going to their About section on their Web site.

And pass it on!

Coffee Mug Chocolate Cake!

Ok, so this post is just for fun. Gooey, (not vegan) chocolate cake fun. A friend e-mailed this recipe to me and I knew it was something Claire would love.

Even though I told her Sally e-mailed me the directions, she said, "You should get a job cooking. You love cooking, right?" After she finally tasted the gooey mess, she said, "Now you really should get a job cooking."

Step 1. Get a large mug and spray it with cooking spray.

Step 2. Measure 4 Tbsp. flour and 9 Tbsp. hot cocoa mix into mug



Step 3. Crack an egg into the mug and mix as best you can.



Step 4. Add 3 Tbsp. water and 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil. Mix thoroughly until all dry ingredients are wet. Be sure to scrape the bottom to get all the flour and cocoa!



(Here we added some marshmallows and mini chocolate chips, but they all melted during the "baking." But, they were still melty and good.)



Step 5. Microwave on high for 3 minutes*. During microwaving, the cylinder of cake will rise out of the mug. As soon as the microwave stops, it will slink back into the cup.



* I looked at it and the top looked all sticky and wet so I thought it wasn't done and put it in for another minute. Four minutes was fine/didn't overcook it, but it still was wet looking after 4 minutes but was thoroughly cooked. I think 3 would have been fine.

Step 6. Turn over cup and tap until the cake falls out onto the plate. It will be extremely hot -- look at the steam! (And the bits of flour I didn't get quite mixed in.)


Step 7. Add any toppings, frosting, etc. you might like. We went for more marshmallows, chocolate chips and some chocolate sauce.





Step 8. Enjoy! Claire (and dad) tell me it was delicious.



Since I don't like chocolate, I decided to make one out of my Ghiradelli white chocolate hot chocolate. Having never had white chocolate cake, I have nothing too compare it to, but it was a pretty good little treat!

Indian Pot Pie and Mango Chutney

My co-worker Christa is a wealth of information about and creator of delicious, amazing food. The problem? She's so talented she often "wings it" and doesn't have an exact recipe. This always works out well for my taste buds but proves a bit more challenging when it comes to replicating one of her creations.

Here's a "recipe" for her mango chutney, along with a "recipe" of my own for my new "Indian Pot Pie" -- which I made up after craving samosas when Christa brought a similar tasting dish to work, along with her amazing chutney.

Christa's Mango Chutney

Ingredients:
garlic
onion
green pepper
red pepper
scotch bonnet hot peppers
jalapeno pepper
1 whole pineapple
2 whole mangoes
Looza pineapple juice
1-2 lemons or limes + the zest of 1 lemon or lime
honey
hot sauce
curry
salt
pepper
chili powder

1. Finely, finely, finely dice garlic, onions, sweet and hot peppers and saute while chopping up pineapples and mangoes.

2. Add fruit and any juice you've got on your chopping board, then add some of your Looza pineapple juice (she likes that brand because it's pulpy and good).

3. Add lemon/lime juice and zest and add pineapple juice as you go along as needed.

4. Add honey and hot sauce. She likes to use jerk hot sauce for its spices. If you are using regular hot sauce, you may want to add some cinnamon, nutmeg and/or coriander to the pot.

5. Add some salt, pepper, curry powder and chili powder to taste.

All of these ingredients are to taste, so sample your chutney as you go along and add what you think it needs. Cook it down until the fruit is broken down and its somewhat gelatinous.

Indian Pot Pie
3-4 redskin potatoes, peeled and diced (small!)
1/2 lg. white onion, finely diced
1/2 packet of yellow curry paste (comes in plastic packet in a box in the Thai section of the store)
frozen peas
15 oz. can of coconut milk
2 pie crusts (if using store bought, use the kind that are rolled up in a box so you can use in a bigger dish than a pie plate)

1. Saute potatoes in a bit of oil, then add onion. When it's sticking too much and annoying, add coconut milk (remember to shake the can before you open it!)



2. Add about half the packet of yellow curry paste, which I imagine is 1-2 Tbsp. (Notice my freezer bag in the background to collect all my scraps for my next pot of veggie stock!)

(And yes, that's a monkey veggie peeler. You should be jealous)

3. After this cooks down for a while and is pretty thick and the potatoes and onions are soft, add frozen peas. Eyeball it. I put in 1/2-3/4 of a small box of frozen peas.



4. Use your own homemade dough or biscuits, OR store bought cannister biscuits or pie crust at this point. The first time I made these, I used Pillsbury Grand's biscuits and made individual pockets that baked up all puffy and delicious.

In the interest of time, the second time I made this, I took a 2-back of rolled up pie crusts, put one in the bottom and up the sides of a 9 x 9 square glass pan, poured in the filling, the put the other crust on top and crimped the sides together.


5. Bake until the crust looks golden brown.



6. Serve with mango chutney (don't have any pics of the chutney!).

7. Enjoy!