Get tickets here!

I can assure you that the food will be fantastic. Who can say no to an 8 course gourmet vegan dinner at a super fun (and secret!) location with an awesome band for only $35?

Hope to see you there!

Photo: Tangy Tangerine Baked Tofu Cutlets, a VCON test recipe.

I love trying new things. There has been much talk of crumpets over on the PPK forums, so this morning I did some research, threw a batter together, bought some cooking rings while it was rising and made crumpets like there was no tomorrow.

Crumpets are like a cross between a muffin and injera (a spongy, Ethiopian pancake that’s covered in tiny holes). They spend the majority of the time cooking slowly on one side, and the batter is contained within rings until it’s set. The yeast produces bubbles in the dough that make little holes when they escape, giving crumpets their characteristic look and texture.

I sprinkled these with cinnamon and sugar and put them under the broiler for a couple minutes; it was such a lovely breakfast! You can also eat them toasted with earth balance and jam. A special thanks to Amanda for the amazing jams she gave me!

You’ll have to wait until the cookbook comes out for the recipe. Rest assured that my testers have pledged to try it out and make sure that it’ll be worth waiting for! If you want to try something similar, head over to Cherie’s to take a look at her fantastic English Muffins. While the end result is different, the process is similar!

I also wanted to draw your attention to the new tabs up at the top – archive, favorites, and how-to. Check them out! I am working on adding a cookbook-like index (alphabetical and categorical), but as you can imagine, that will take a bit longer! It’ll be up within a few days.

Peanut Sesame Ginger Cookies from VCON

Sometimes I want to make a tasty side dish that I can start and forget about while I’m making the rest of my dinner. Anything roasted or baked tends to fall into this category. Throw it in the oven until it’s done! These potatoes were a big hit with us tonight, and I especially loved them because they were really simple to prepare.

Toasting the spices in the releases their flavor into the oil, and the fresh lemon juice does something magical to the whole thing. Not exactly a technical explanation, I know, but it balances the salt without being overpowering. Just trust me on this one!

I served the potatoes with naan and tamarind lentils, a test recipe for the PPK’s new cookbook. The lentils were tangy and sweet, perfect alongside the salty, lemony potatoes. I should eat more lentils, and this dish is a great way to accomplish that.

Thanks to Terry for the wonderful lentil recipe. I’m SO going to make this again in the future!

Three Spice Potatoes
Serves two

15 oz Russet Potatoes (about three medium potatoes)
3 Tbs Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Black/Brown Mustard Seeds
1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Tbs Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Scrub potatoes and leave skins on. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again to form four long wedges. Cut each wedge in half widthwise to make chunks. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large, oven proof skillet that has a tight fitting lid. Add spices and salt and mix well, until the seeds begin to pop. Add lemon juice. When the bubbling subsides, add potatoes and toss well to coat with the oil and spices. Make sure the potatoes are resting on their cut sides (as opposed to their skins). Cover and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and use a spatula to loosen potatoes from the bottom of the pan. Turn them so browned sides are up and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes, uncovered, or until potatoes are tender but still hold their shape.

When finished baking, squeeze a bit of extra lemon juice over the top and sprinkle with a dash of salt. Serve immediately.

This is a test recipe for VCON, the new PPK cookbook. I had never made blintzes before, and I must say, I’m glad these were my first ones! They are so delicious. The crepes are easy to make (imagine that), the filling is simple, and they’re pretty!

I served them with a simple mushroom gravy, some sour cream, and some fresh thyme. A little salad on the side made a wonderful meal.

The other great thing about these blintzes is that they are easily made ahead of time. If you fill and fold them up, you can cover them with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you’re ready to pan-fry them. I made them early in the day, so when it came time for dinner they just needed a few minutes on the griddle and they were done. It was so nice to be nearing dinner time having everything already prepared.

Stewart and I split the leftovers for lunch, along with the rest of the grilled tofu on the last of the salad. I think these were the best leftovers I’ve ever had. They were most certainly were the prettiest!

I used a simple sweet miso salad dressing, one of my favorites, for the salad. If you’re interested, the recipe is after the cut!

Sweet Miso Salad Dressing
Dresses one head of lettuce

1 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbs Sweet White Miso (heaping)
1 Tbs Dijon Mustard (heaping)
1 Tbs Granulated Sugar
2 Pinches Salt
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

3-4 Tbs (approx) Peanut or Veg Oil
1 Tbs Hot Water

Add balsamic vinegar, miso, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper into a bowl. Use a whisk to mix ingredients thoroughly. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking constantly, creating an emulsion. Dressing should turn shiny and thick. Taste and re-season if necessary. Whisk in hot water to thin.

Let stand for a few minutes and whisk again before serving

I’m not as risotto-obsessed as you may think; this is another PPK test recipe. Lemongrass, ginger, basil, mint, shallots, lime, and all sorts of other tasty stuff. This one is stirred as opposed to baked. While I love the creamy texture of stirred risotto, I can never seem to cook it quite enough. The middle is always a little too dense since after 50 minutes of stirring I give up and serve it.

Oh well. It was good anyway! I’m excited to find a use for my leftover lemongrass. Any suggestions? (It’s dried.)

This is another test recipe for the Post Punk Kitchen’s forthcoming cookbook, Veganomicon. Her first book, Vegan with a Vengeance, is my all-time favorite cookbook. I can tell you honestly that this one will be every bit as useful, dependable, and amazing as the first. I swear they’re not paying me to promote the books. They’re just all so great!

This recipe, man, I can’t even tell you how much I liked it. It’s basically breaded, fried eggplant, stuffed with tastiness and tofu ricotta, then smothered with a delicious marinara sauce. I’d buy the cookbook for this recipe alone.

I know there are a lot of people who dislike eggplant, but I wonder how many of them have tried it fried or baked with olive oil. Eggplant really takse on a different character when cooked this way – it’s really quite divine. It’s buttery, soft, almost creamy, but it does take a lot of oil to get it that way. I think it’s worth it.

I’ve been making some other test recipes that I haven’t told you about yet. Here is a dessert and a quick bread:

Tea Poached Pears

Whole Wheat Soda Bread with Millet and Currants

I love appetizers. They’re so small, pretty and fun to eat. Every once in a while I like to make a meal out of them as a change of pace. I won’t be able to share the recipes for some of these, as I have sworn allegiance to The Post Punk Kitchen and am helping them test recipes for their third cookbook. I have to keep quiet. Secret recipes! How exciting!

The photo you heading up this entry is one such recipe; Chestnut Lentil Pate. What I can tell you about it is that it was my first time roasting chestnuts, and it was worth the two that exploded in my oven. They’re so much sweeter than I had imagined! How is it that I had never tried chestnuts before?

Four more appetizers after the jump!

Hijiki Caviar on Daikon Rounds

This recipe I adapted from two sources, Christina Cooks, and Cooking Light. I got the idea from Christina’s show, but followed the Cooking light recipe with the exception of the diakon rounds (that was Christina’s idea). I had never had daikon before and was totally surprised by it’s mild, sweet taste. I loved it, so I decided to use it as the base for this appetizer (instead of a rice cracker). I tried them raw and they were great, but decided to blanch them before assembling. That was definitely the wrong approach, as they lost some of their sweetness when blanched. If I were do to this again, I’d leave them raw.

The little slice of fresh lemon was a fun addition that really helped to balance the saltiness of the hijiki seaweed, which makes the “caviar” in this dish. I made the Lemon Tofu Cream that the cooking light recipe suggested, but it disappointed me. It just tasted like salty tofu that had some lemon and ginger in it, and was really soupy to boot. I ended up tossing it. Overall, this appetizer was cute and interesting, but the seaweed was pretty strong and takes some getting used to, at least for me.

Stuffed Mushrooms with Herbed Cream Cheese

This recipe I made up on the spot, and I was really happy with it. If I had over-thought it, I probably would have ruined it. All I did was mix some vegan cream cheese with some spices, salt, parsley, and cubed multigrain bread. I stuffed it into little button mushrooms and baked it for about 30 minutes, then dusted with smoked paprika before serving. They were creamy and a little sweet – I’ll definitely make these again! The recipe is for only 8 of these little lovelies, but I imagine it will easily double, triple, quadruple or whatever you need if you’re cooking for a crowd… just taste as you go!

Stuffed Mushrooms
Makes 8 Mushrooms

8 White Button Mushrooms, peeled with gills removed
1/4 Cup Tofutti Cream Cheese
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sage
1 Tbs Fresh Parsley, chopped fine
1 Slice Multrigrain Bread, toasted and cubed
Olive oil
Smoked Paprika for dusting

Mix cream cheese and herbs together until well blended. Add breadcrumbs and toss to coat. Stuff each mushroom generously and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350º F for about 20 minutes until mushrooms is dark, soft, and is moist around the bottom. Dust with paprika before serving.

Broccoli Polenta with Mushroom Dill Sauce

The Broccoli Polenta is another top secret but tasty test recipe, but the sauce is mine so I’ll share the recipe for that!

Simple Mushroom Dill Gravy

5-6 White Button Mushrooms, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Earth Balance
1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Tbs Fresh Dill, chopped and packed
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Celery Salt
1/2 tsp Mushroom Stock Powder
1 Cup Soymilk
1-2 tsp Soy Sauce (Tamari)

Saute the mushrooms in the olive oil until soft. Remove from pan. Melt earth balance over a low heat. When completely melted, whisk in flour to form a roux. If the earth balance is super hot, the flour will cook immediately when it hits the fat and form little lumps. You can avoid this lumpiness by making sure it’s not too hot when you add the flour.

Add all the spices to the roux and combine well. Slowly add the soymilk in, whisking to incorporate. Add tamari. Turn heat up and whisk until sauce is thickened. Serve immediately.

Acorn Squash and Black Bean Empanadas

The last test recipe I’ll share with you are these empanadas. An empanada is basically a stuffed pasty. They can be filled with all sorts of things, and this particular filling of black beans and roasted acorn squash was divine. They also make great finger food for parties, I took mine to a superbowl bash and everyone ate them right up, almost to the point of fighting over the last one!

That’s a lot of appetizers! If you’re planning a party in the future, I hope this gives you some ideas. If you love appetizers as much as I do, though, you shouldn’t ever wait to throw a party to have them.

Here is the first batch of candied lemon peel – my test group. The simple syrup I used began to caramelize at the end of the candying process, causing the little stars to be gummier than they needed to be, and perhaps ruining their shape a bit. I’m almost ready to do batch #2, hopefully I’ll avoid that problem next time!

Dinner tonight consisted of roasted butternut squash, sauteed cremini mushrooms, and hashed brussels sprouts with poppy seeds and lemon. The brussels sprouts came from Orngette and they were great. I added a touch more salt than she calls for, but other than that I followed her recipe exactly.

The squash is simply roasted with some olive oil, cinnamon, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and sugar. I sliced it diagonally before baking, letting the spiced olive oil seep down into the cuts.

They were baked at 350º until soft, then held in a 200º oven until I was ready to plate. The sugar creates a nice sweet crunch, and the slices make it cook a bit faster.

The mushrooms were cooked in olive oil, salt, oregano and thyme over high heat. They were finished with a splash white wine (since I already had it open for the sprouts), and a drizzle of balsamic and some cracked black pepper.

Everything went over well, but Stewart said that he prefers my other sprout recipe over this one. Since I’m an equal opportunity sprout lover, I’ll take ‘em any way I get ‘em.