Original or Pseudo-Original Recipes

[Tim]

Ooh, that sounds like an excellent book. I'll probably pick that up.

[Hilda]

Tim wrote: "I've never really warmed up to Quinoa, but I might give that a try.

I'm thinking about veganizing my family's pierogies, but I'd need a good egg substitute. Plus, they're a lot of work. The fillin..."

I make pierogi with a homemade vegan cashew sour cream in the dough, but I've had good results replacing eggs in pasta doughs with 1/4 cup chickpea flour and 1/4 cup water, so I think that would work well in pierogi.

They are a lot of work, but worth it!

[Tim]

I've never liked sour cream, so I've never used it with pierogies. I can't use chickpeas, so I have to find a different alternative. I think I'll try ground flax seed and water as from The Garden of Vegan: How It All Vegan Again!. It's what I use in muffins.

[Lisa]

Tim, I've never liked sour cream either, so I've never bothered to try any vegan versions. Ditto cream cheese and mayo and many other foods.

I hope the flaxseed words. Otherwise, I guess you can experiment. So sad you have these challenges because chickpea flour is showing up in many recipes, and it seems to work really well for vegan eggs and other dishes.

Please report back. And maybe other members can give you ideas for foods to use if the ground flax seed isn't ideal.

[Tim]

If I do end up making them, I'll certainly report back. They're a lot of work so it's not likely to happen soon.

[[deleted user]]

Tim, be sure you rinse quinoa well in cold water in a fine mesh sieve. I know some people who didn't like it when they first tried it because they didn't know to rinse it. It's got a bitter natural coating that's eliminated by rinsing.

[Tim]

I've never prepared quinoa myself, I've only had it dining out. I assume that they rinsed it beforehand, but I'll keep it in mind if I make it.

[Manybooks]

Tim wrote: "I've never prepared quinoa myself, I've only had it dining out. I assume that they rinsed it beforehand, but I'll keep it in mind if I make it."

If you don't rinse it really well, I find that quinoa tastes rather soapy (I found that out the hard way).

[Lisa]

There is some no rinse quinoa out there, if you buy it in a box. If you buy it in a bulk bin, it definitely needs rinsing. If you buy it packaged it will say no rinsing necessary if that's the case; otherwise, rinse well. Gundula, That's it exactly. The first time I had it, it tasted soapy.

[Rachel]

Lisa wrote: "I think this recipe is based on the chocolate cake in Jennifer Raymond's The Peaceful Palate: Fine Vegetarian Cuisine, but maybe with more cocoa, a stronger chocolate flavor. But, this recipe was created by a vegan friend of mine, and for many years was the perennial birthday cake we used for our vegan birthday gatherings of a few of us vegans who got together. It would be a good potluck dish also: DELICIOUS VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE ..."

From Post #39 in this thread.

Lisa, I am making your famous vegan chocolate cake today for Jeff's 50th BIRTHDAY !!!

It's going to be my first time making it.

Any tips?

Plain chocolate cake is Jeff's favorite so I'm very excited and hoping it will be a success.

[Lisa]

Rachel, 50 is a big one. If Jeff likes plain chocolate cake, he's going to love this! And so will you and everyone else except those who don't like a lot of chocolate.

It's pretty straightforward. I'd just follow the directions. Once or twice I added more frosting but the recipe's amount is actually quite a bit as is.

Please come back and let us know how Jeff/everybody liked it. I hope it's a hit.

[Rachel]

thank you lisa!
do you recommend using plain white vinegar or apple cider vinegar in the cake?

[Lee, Unrepentant Eggplant Addict]

Rachel, you can probably use either one. I've used both in a similar recipe and can't tell the difference.

[Manybooks]

Lee wrote: "Rachel, you can probably use either one. I've used both in a similar recipe and can't tell the difference."

I wonder if balsamic vinegar would work (might give a neat taste).

[Lisa]

Gundula wrote: "I wonder if balsamic vinegar would work (might give a neat taste)."

Rachel wrote: "thank you lisa!
do you recommend using plain white vinegar or apple cider vinegar in the cake?"

Ditto what Lee said, I think.

The vinegar in vegan baking, when used with soy milk, "makes" buttermilk.

I wouldn't go with balsamic. Seems too strong a flavor.

But I can't taste the vinegar used in vegan baked recipes which is why I like them. I don't like vinegar anywhere else.

I'm assuming you've made the cake by now Rachel.

Can't wait to see what Jeff (and you and everybody) thought of it. I hope it was good.

Rachel, What kind of vinegar did you end up using?

[Rachel]

HELLO FOLKS!

Yes, I made the cake !

And I took a picture!

Is there a way for me to post the picture in here?

What with having to clean the house, go grocery shopping, and make the other food items, I ended up not having time to make the cake for Jeff's birthday party. (Well, duh! Yes, I need to learn about planning ahead!) Luckily someone had brought a lone cupcake as a gift. So we put a candle in it and sang him happy birthday with the cupcake. Then we all enjoyed vegan ice cream with vegan chocolate syrup on top.

I had originally bought the ice cream (Trader Joe's Vanilla Soy Creamy) to go with the cake ... but the combination of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup was DROP-DEAD DELICIOUS! I was sooooo not expecting that. I guess it had been wayyy too long since I had enjoyed that simple dessert. So ... at least speaking for me personally, since I had that yummy ice cream with chocolate sauce, I didn't even miss the chocolate cake.

Then, the next day (Sunday) I baked the cake. After all, I had all the ingredients already. I baked it in two round cake pans, and I used Lisa's recipe for the chocolate frosting. And ... I decided to "play it safe" and use regular white vinegar. I greased the pans with Jungle Organic Non-hydrogenated Shortening and regular unbleached flour.

How did the cake turn out? Well, first of all ... the cakes rose up beautifully! When I took them out of the oven, and after letting them cool for about 10 minutes, each cake popped out of the pans perfectly. Hurray! It has been a long time since I've made any cake other than cupcakes, so I was very excited.

Then, I got kind of impatient waiting for the cakes to cool, so I decided to put them in the freezer. OOOPS! Big mistake! Within a few minutes, the slightly thicker cake split open into three pieces. Ha ha! Oh well! I got them both out of the freezer and put the split up cake on the bottom layer and tried to make it look "whole" by filling in with icing. And then I put the other layer top and frosted the whole thing. It looked okay, considering !!

I need to insert a picture, man! How can I do it?? :)

And we tried the cake the first night, Sunday .... it was sort of bland and just so-so. I put the cake (with the sealed lid on the cake keeper) back in the refrigerator. I was curious if the taste might improve the next day. Well, the next night (Monday), we tried the cake again, and this time, it was SUPER YUMMY! Jeff kept asking for "one more piece." Hurray!

So it is a very good cake! I'm not sure if the blandness the first night had to do with me putting the cake in the freezer for 5 minutes before frosting it, or if maybe it just need a day or so for the flavors to meld. I am looking forward to getting home tonight so we can have some more cake. :)

Thanks so much for the recipe, Lisa! For special occasions in the future .... my plan will be to make the cake the day BEFORE THE PARTY (a good idea anyway, duh !!!), and keep it in the refrigerator ... and then "rest assured" that it will be delicious on the next day.

Another tip, and something I would like to do next time, is to use some very high quality Dutch cocoa, like what Isa Chandra Moskowitz recommends for vegan baking. I used some Hershey's cocoa that had been in our cabinet for many years ... so it wasn't the freshest stuff. I bet the cake would be DYNAMITE with some really good cocoa.

[Rachel]

P.S.

Here's the chocolate syrup. Heat it in the microwave for about 20 seconds, then you have a warm gooey mess to pour on top of your ice cream.

http://www.scojuice.com/products/dess...

[Rachel]

Also, this is the sort of air-tight cake carrier I have.

http://www.amazon.com/Leifheit-23740-...

It's really good for keeping cakes fresh in the refrigerator.

[Lisa]

Rachel, I think it was putting it in the freezer and maybe using too old cocoa. I've had it right away and it tastes great, although I like it out of the fridge best because I like my frosting like candy.

At each box there is a link "(some html is ok)" and it gives directions for images/pictures:

image: (Width must be 0-400, Height must be 0-1000, alt is a description of the image. All three are optional, but recommended.)

Personally, I've never gotten the hang of it, but my friend Jeannette sent these instructions/I don't know if the formatting will cancel itself out, but here I'm trying:


Here are two abbreviations I have to use to get this explanation to work properly:

lt <
gt >

It’s a two-step process, but easy once you get the hang of it.

Open two browser tabs in goodreads: one on your photos page, and one on the discussion thread where you want to place a picture. Open the photo that you want to post (just click on it so you see it there, full-sized). In the other tab, in the comment box click on (some html is ok). Find the string that starts with lt img and ends with / gt, highlight it and copy and paste it into the comment field. So you have the following:

lt img src="http://www.goodreads.com/image..." width="40" height="100" alt="description"/ gt

in the comment field. Delete the goodreads URL, leaving a matched set of “”
Go back to your photo, right mouse click to “copy image location”, come back to between the “” in the comment box, and then paste your image location in there, using ctrl-v, or paste. You will want to adjust the numbers for width and height. Start with numbers around 300. Use the preview option at the bottom of the comment to see how your photo will display.


ETA: Try to follow Jeannette's instructions or follow the ones at the (some html is okay) link. I'd love to see a photo.

[Lee, Unrepentant Eggplant Addict]

I need to get me one of those cake carriers! I usually leave my cakes out and the icing tends to get pretty melty and soft.

[Lee, Unrepentant Eggplant Addict]

Thanks for those instructions, Lisa. I've never successfully posted a photo in a thread yet and it's embarrassing.

[Lee, Unrepentant Eggplant Addict]

Rachel, I'm glad your cake was a success! The chocolate cake recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking is also fool proof and extremely simple. No beating, one bowl, you can't screw it up. But I agree about the cocoa, I think you need to get some fresh stuff.

[Lisa]

Lee wrote: "Thanks for those instructions, Lisa. I've never successfully posted a photo in a thread yet and it's embarrassing."

Speaking of embarrassing, I can provide the instructions, but I've yet to do it either. I really should try it.

[Wiebke]

Tonight we are having Thai Red Curry

What you need:

Thai red curry paste
Coconut milk
Lemon grass
Crunchy peanut butter
Oriental veg (I just buy a bag of frozen)
Cashews (much simpler) or alternatively deep fried tempura battered tofu chunks
1 red chilli, thinly sliced

Nice with coconut rice or noodles and very filling. The peanut butter and lemon grass give it another dimension. This is so quick and easy and ready within minutes.

[Lisa]

Wiebke, That sounds delicious. I love Thai peanut sauce.

[Lee, Unrepentant Eggplant Addict]

I'm so thankful for those Thai Kitchen curry pastes. They, along with a can of coconut milk can really save the day! I make what I call the "end of the week curry pot" with all the veggies (especially cauliflower) left over before shopping day.

[Manybooks]

Lee wrote: "I'm so thankful for those Thai Kitchen curry pastes. They, along with a can of coconut milk can really save the day! I make what I call the "end of the week curry pot" with all the veggies (espec..."

I like those as well, yum.

[Val]

Lee,
can you believe it, until now I've *never* had the joy of getting my hands onto one of those curry pastes!!! They don't seem to exist here, so I can't wait to get to try it out in the US!

[Lee, Unrepentant Eggplant Addict]

Val, you will be so happy when you get back to the States. There are so many great products to help you cook!

[Val]

I can't wait, Lee!!!
As much as I don't want to rely on processed food and know, I could (and can) do well on the basics like beans/grains/veggies/fruit and am at least lucky to get a few things like tofu every once in a while, I do know it's very limited here and will probably feel like a kid at a candy store once we're back! LOL

[Lee, Unrepentant Eggplant Addict]

It's nice to have access to different products. When we were in the States this summer, I finally got to tasted some of those Field Roast sausages everyone raves about. They were pretty tasty!

[Lisa]

Lee, That pesky leftover cauliflower is perfect in curry! (I love cauliflower all ways but it;s especially good with curry spices.)

Val, I feel very lucky living in a very vegan friendly city in the U.S. I have occasionally done mail order food too, from various vegan companies.

[Val]

Lee,
I'll have to try those too! Though I'll have to admit, the longer I'm vegan, the less appealing seems to be food that tastes too close to the real thing!.. The other week I was super hungry while grocery shopping (big mistake, I know! LOL) and bought those frozen vegan meatballs and a fresh roll, which I made for lunch w/tomato sauce a la Italian sub and while it was good, I had to literally tell myself that the meatballs are NOT really meat! They tasted so real!.. (I won't buy them again!) I know, it might sound crazy, but I can't handle that! LOL

Lisa,
yes, I imagine your 'neck of the woods' is really a great area to live in being vegan, huh? ;)

[Lisa]

Val, I'm very lucky, yet I still yearn to go to NYC and other areas that are even better.

And, I'm like you, Val, I don't like to eat any food that reminds me of meat. I tend to like foods/dishes that are naturally vegan. The exception is desserts, and there I really appreciate the various dairy and eggs substitutions.

[Val]

Lisa, I can understand that! ;) I'm sure one day you can make it happen! (And when you do, let me know! It's just a 'hop' from PA! ;) )

I agree on the desserts! As much as I love fruit, there's just something comforting about baked vegan goods! ;)

[Lisa]

Val, You'll definitely have to make some side trips.

Vegan candies and candy bars ain't so bad either. ;-) And every type of vegan dessert is now good. Yum!

I also like Earth Balance spread (vegan butter) but I've stopped buying it by itself. Bad for me and with the palm oil especially bad for the environment, and also then bad for the habitats of wild animals.

[Val]

O yes, Lisa, I absolutely will! :)

I can't wait until I get my hands on some vegan candies and such. Though I for sure will have to make it a point to *not* have it in the house! LOL

Other than the organic (and vegan) Smart Balance spread I can't get anything else here so every once in a while that's what I use on my bread.. I'm sure it's probably just as bad as the Earth Balance, environmentally & for the wild animals, huh? :(
I have to see if I can find Bryanna Clark's post again of how to make your own vegan 'buttah'! It wasn't as complicated as one might think!

[Manybooks]

Lisa wrote: "Val, You'll definitely have to make some side trips.

Vegan candies and candy bars ain't so bad either. ;-) And every type of vegan dessert is now good. Yum!

I also like Earth Balance spread (vega..."

I really bothers me that Earth Balance uses palm oil. For me, that is absolutely horrible (so much of the Borneo rain forest has now been replaced by palm oil plantations, and for me, personally, that is worse than if I buy organic butter, but I usually just use olive oil, I have not had butter in my fridge for years, but the earth balance thing makes me livid, especially because the name of the product is basically misleading, palm oil, unless it is naturally harvested, is not at all ecologically sound, sigh).

[Val]

Gundula,
I agree on the misleading title a 100%! I would have never guessed it if I wouldn't have read about it on FB through some campaigns! :(

[Manybooks]

Val wrote: "Gundula,
I agree on the misleading title a 100%! I would have never guessed it if I wouldn't have read about it on FB through some campaigns! :("

I saw a documentary on this and then afterwards, I just happened to check the list of ingredients on my tub of "earth balance" (wow, was I surprised and angry).

[Lisa]

Gundula, I agree 100%. I found out about the palm oil issue late, but I'm acting my conscience now. It's such a shame, although maybe that's why it does taste like butter. But I wish they'd experiment with different, more earth friendly, formulas.

Though for me animal products are always worse than plant products re cruelty issues. So, I'll eat hidden Earth Balance on a rare basis but I'd never eat butter.

Olive oil (and maybe canola oil for desserts) is the way to go for health anyway.

I'm sure I get occasional palm oil in vegan desserts but if there is a label and it's there I don't eat it. If it's vegan and not labelled I still do.

Val, I don't know the ingredients of Smart Balance so I don't know whether it's as bad or not, but it's definitely 100% fat. ;-)

[Val]

I hear ya!!!

I think I'll try to create Bryanna's 'buttah' recipe soon! Well.. latest when we're in the US and I can get certain ingredients (like soy lecithin and xantham gum).

http://vegan.com/recipes/bryanna-clar...

[Lisa]

Val, Thank you SO MUCH for that link. I'm going to share it. I might try it, though I'm trying to eat lower fat. I'd rather save fat for desserts, though this will work in desserts so...

[Manybooks]

Lisa wrote: "Gundula, I agree 100%. I found out about the palm oil issue late, but I'm acting my conscience now. It's such a shame, although maybe that's why it does taste like butter. But I wish they'd experim..."

Actually, a spread based almost entirely on olive oil would be the best way to go (for both health and taste, but then I love the taste of olive oil and I have been using olive oil for all of my baking recipes that call for melted butter for years because it just tastes better to me). And Lisa, I would not have know about the palm oil issue if I had not watched that documentary (I think it might have been one of the David Attenborough ones, but I'm not sure). The thing is, just like one can get organic olive oil, I am sure that organic, naturally/ecologically sustainably grown palm oil could be encouraged and promoted (I mean, many of us buy fair trade chocolate, so why not do something similar with palm oil, it might make the vegan spreads more expensive, but I think protecting the environment is more important).

[Lisa]

Gundula, There are vegan spreads based on olive oil, but I'd rather just use the olive oil as is.

Yes, I buy fair trade chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, etc. I don't know whether or not palm oil can be a sustainable food, but if it can be, i also would like to see a fair trade and sustainable palm oil available.

[Manybooks]

Lisa wrote: "Gundula, There are vegan spreads based on olive oil, but I'd rather just use the olive oil as is.

Yes, I buy fair trade chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, etc. I don't know whether or not palm oil can..."

I guess if they only use the oil, it might be problematic, but if the whole palm tree could be used, it might work (even better, if the oil could be harvested without having to cut down the trees, but I'm just musing here, "don't know much about biology" ).

[Val]

You're very welcome, Lisa! :)
I try myself to eat rather more low fat as well (re-reading my McDougall & 'Eat to live' books as we speak ;) ) so I'm not sure how 'urgent' it is for me to make this.. BUT the rest of my family has gotten completely used to the vegan spread and even Hubby doesn't even ask for 'real' butter anymore, so I might try for their sake eventually!...

Wow, Gundula, you use olive oil in baking recipes too? I get local fresh EVOO (the next harvest will be here in ~November) and love it, but I can't see myself using it in non-savory dishes! ;)

[Manybooks]

Val wrote: "You're very welcome, Lisa! :)
I try myself to eat rather more low fat as well (re-reading my McDougall & 'Eat to live' books as we speak ;) ) so I'm not sure how 'urgent' it is for me to make this...."

I once made a sweet French bread that called for olive oil instead of butter, and I got kind of hooked on the taste (but yeah, if I baked for others, I would likely need to think of something else). But for me, I have always detested the smell of melted butter, even melted vegan butter, so extra virgin olive oil is a good bet (it is also amazing on mashed potatoes).

[Lisa]

Extra virgin olive oil is amazing in mashed potatoes, yes!

I buy an olive oil that's very peppery, though supposedly it's both peppery and fruity, but it's tastes peppery to me, so I'd have to get a more fruity oil for sweet dishes. Mine wouldn't work, though I LOVE it in savory dishes.

it's very expensive but I don't often use oil so I buy only one or two bottles a year, about one every eight months or so. If you frequently use olive oil it might be too pricey.

http://www.mcevoyranch.com/the-ranch/...

I'm not sure which kind I get but it's $20 at the store. I think I probably get what they call the traditional. (http://www.mcevoyranch.com/index.php/...) I'd love to try them all.

I guess they're a tad pretentious but I've never tasted a better olive oil.

[Val]

Wow, Lisa, that's quite a price! LOL (Right now we're really spoiled and pay for several liters of olive oil, freshly pressed, just a few $ [Euro]! I've never tasted any cleaner and more rich oil before in my life!!! That'll be certainly something I'll miss once we leave here!)