Delicious Vegan Portobella Stroganoff

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This incredibly simple recipe is so tasty, your guests won't believe it's vegan!

I live in a house full of meat-eating enthusiasts, so I am always striving to trick them into eating vegan and vegetarian things. If my recipes are carnivore approved, then I know they are good enough for the rest of the world. This is a tried and true vegan recipe of mine; rich and creamy, sophisticated but simple. This can be whipped up and thrown on a table in less than an hour for a starving family, or become the talk of the neighborhood after your next dinner party. The best part about this dish is that it is pretty much guilt-free. There's virtually no saturated fats since you are using olive oil and imitation sour cream. The mushrooms are are good source of fiber and other nutrients, and if you use brown rice rather than white, you are including whole grains as well

Stroganoff

• 1/2 c olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced.
• 1 onion, diced.
• 3/4 c sweetish white cooking wine (I used chablis)
• 3 or 4 portobella mushrooms, sliced into strips.
• 1 tbsp of dill
• 1 tub of Tofutti imitation sour cream

Heat olive oil on stove over medium heat (in a pan, of course). Add in garlic and onions. Once the onions begin to turn translucent, add the wine and mushrooms and bring to a simmer.

 Once the mushrooms have cooked through, stir in the flour and dill. The mixture should thicken and lose its watery consistency. Fold in the imitation sour cream and serve over rice.

Enjoy.

Delicious Vegan Portobella Stroganoff

Mini Devil's Food Cakes with Amaretto Pastry Cream Filling and White Chocolate Glaze

These tiny cakes have a rich flavor and moist texture. They won't last long on your plate!

I've started a new job and haven't had as much time to devote to this blog as I'd like. This was meant to be posted last week in time for Valentine's Day, but didn't quite make it up in time. I hope that you will try it anyway, it's a chocolate lover's dream.

This particular cake went through several transformations in my head; epic layer cake, raspberry jam filling, cherries, strawberries, the list goes on and on. I decided on something small with big flavor, wanted some sort of ganache as a topping, and a pastry cream filling. It didn't dawn on me until later that I had created a pretentious Hostess cake! Despite the comparison, this is still a very elegant end to a romantic dinner.

I ran into a few problems with the recipes, which I adapted from a much-loved cookbook of mine: The Dessert Bible by Christopher Kimball. I have gotten a ton of inspiration out of this book, as well as many techniques, but for some reason certain things don't come out as described despite following exact directions. The glaze, for example, was supposed to be a thick white chocolate ganache, but turned out rather runny. I had to add cornstarch to the pastry cream, because despite heating it slowly but adequately for an hour and a half (whisking all the while until my right arm fell off), it was little more than a slightly thick sauce. I've made several changes to make this dessert out of 3 or 4 master recipes, and the final result was different that what I wanted but exquisite nonetheless.

Devil's Food Cake

• 1/3 c boiling water
• 2 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 1/8 c cocoa
• 3/4 c cake flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 stick butter, at room temp
• 3/4 c dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla
• 1 lg egg
• 1/4 c sour cream

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1.) Stir boiling water, chopped chocolate, and cocoa together in a medium bowl. Set aside. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder in another bowl and set aside as well. Preheat oven to 350. Place paper cups in a muffin pan and then spray with non stick cooking spray.

2.)Beat butter in large bowl on medium-high for 1 minute. Add brown sugar and vanilla and beat on high until light and fluffy (about 3 mins.). Pour egg a little at a time, and beat on medium-high for 30 seconds after each individual addition. Add sour cream and beat on medium speed until combined, about 10 seconds. 

3.)Stir water and chocolate mixture until smooth. Alternate pouring the chocolate mixture, the flour mixture, and beating on low for 10 second intervals until all is combined. Gently finish mixing batter with a rubber spatula.

4.)Pour batter into muffin cups, filling about halfway. This cake batter seems to rise very well, and you want an even, small, squat cylinder rather than a cupcake shape. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until center of middle cupcake springs back when lightly pressed with the flat side of a fork. Cool on wire racks for 15 mins, then remove from muffin cups and cool completely on racks.

Amaretto Pastry Cream

• 1 c half and half
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• pinch salt
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice
1.) Heat half and half in a small saucepan until it begins to simmer.
2.) Meanwhile, whisk eggs, sugar, flour, and salt in a medium sized heavy bottomed saucepan for one minute, until light and fluffy. Add 1/2 c hot half and half to the egg mixture, whisking constantly but gently. When mixed, slowly pour in the remaining half and half, continuing to whisk slowly.
3.) Place pan over low heat and, whisking constantly but gently, heat until mixture thickens, 4-7 minutes. Continue whisking for another 3 minutes or until the floury taste is diminished. 
4.) Strain custard into a small bowl, add almond and lemon juice (or 2 tbsp amaretto liqueur if you rather), stirring gently. Smooth top with rubber spatula and place wax paper over surface. Refrigerate until needed.
*I had a lot of problems getting this to thicken up, despite following directions exactly. I just added cornstarch a little at a time until it was my desired consistency.

 Using a pastry bag or bottle with an injector tip, squeeze pastry cream into the middle of each cake from the top. Allow to set upright for now, but you will flip them over before pouring on the glaze. 

White Chocolate Glaze

• 4 oz white chocolate
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1.) Chop chocolate into small pieces. 
2.)Bring cream to a simmer in saucepan. Add chocolate and cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let sit 8 minutes.
3.)Add vanilla and stir gently until mixture is smooth. Let cool until tepid.
Pour glaze over top of each cake, allowing it to coat the sides. Let cool, and store in refrigerator. If you prefer an actual ganache, you can melt down chopped white chocolate with a couple spoonfuls of whipping cream and a tbsp or so of butter in the microwave 10 seconds at a time until smooth, stirring after each time. This should come out much thicker. 

First and last pictures were taken by my talented best friend, Sarah Clark. You can see more of her work or contact her regarding pricing here.

Mini Devil's Food Cakes with Amaretto Pastry Cream Filling and White Chocolate Glaze

Home Made Naan and Super Easy Veggie Curry

The Indian food restaurant in my city closed a few years ago. Ever since then, I've made sure to eat at one every time we travel. Unfortunately, this does not do anything to help my cravings for curry and naan on an almost daily basis at home. I've made both Thai and Indian curries before, as well as other Indian dishes, but the one I'm posting today is sort of a hybrid of both. I have more complicated and authentic recipes that I will post later on, but for now I thought I would do this one as it is a nice introduction to this sort of cuisine.

Curry is a term used to describe dishes popular in Indian Cuisine as well as all over Asia, and even parts of Africa. Its original meaning is basically some sort of meat and/or vegetables cooked in a gravy and eaten over rice or served with bread. Surprisingly, it was the British who invented curry powder. Most people associate the word with spices, and while there are as many different variations of spices used in curry as their are families in India, most curry powder is made with spices such as turmeric, fenugreek, coriander, red pepper, cumin, ginger, and clove in varying measurements. You can also find curry pastes at your local asian market. These are similar but have noticeable differences from Indian Curry, such as the use of kaffir lime, galangal (thai ginger), and lemongrass. Thai curry is usually available in 3 different colors; red, yellow, and green, although there are panang and massaman curries to be found sometimes as well. Yellow is similar to Indian curry, because of the turmeric, which is what gives it color. Red and Green get their color from the different chiles that are used to make them. The three curries have varying flavors, and most store-bought pastes have the option between hot and mild. There are many other varieties of spices used in different curries all over the world, including cinnamon, peppercorns, cardamom, mustard seed, shrimp paste, white pepper, garlic, chile oil, poppy seeds, anise, coconut, and curry leaves. 

Normally I would recommend that you make your Indian curries by mixing your own spices, and getting a feel of what each taste is and what you like more or less of, but today is all about quick and easy. I used store-bought curry powder, if you can get this item in bulk from a natural food store, I would. I also added a couple tablespoons of Thai red curry paste to mine, but it is not necessary. The yogurt can be substituted for coconut milk, which is found in Asian curries, but has an exquisite flavor. I didn't really take exact measurements of everything, curry is kinda forgiving in this area. I mostly just grab my favorite veggies and sautee them, adding spices as I go to taste. Thanks to the serrano peppers, this has a pleasant amount of heat to it, if you'd like a mild curry omit them. If you want to swap out different vegetables, please do. Feel free to add meat if you are a carnivore, chicken tastes great in this, as does shrimp. I made a HUGE pot, because this is leftover gold! If you are only making for 2 or 3 people, halve everything.

Quick and Easy Veggie Curry

• Oil for Sauteeing veggies (preferably olive oil)
• 2 small green serrano peppers
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 onion diced
• 2-3 Tablespoons Curry Powder (more or less to taste)
• 2 Tblsp red Curry paste
• large bunch broccoli (I chopped both the flowers and the stalk)
• 2 packages of mushrooms rinsed
• 1 large yam
• 2 Zucchinis
• 2 or 3 cups plain nonfat yogurt

Chop all of the veggies into thick chunks, set aside. Heat oil in the bottom of a large pot, and when it is hot add the chiles, garlic, and onion let them cook until the onion starts to turn translucent, Then add in the curry spices and stir. Once it's begun to simmer, add the veggies a little at a time, stirring to coat them all with the curry/oil mixture. At this point, you can add water so that there is a sufficient amount in the bottom of the pot to let the vegetables simmer. Be careful not too add too much, the veggies create juice while they cook and too much water will make your curry soupy. Cover and allow to simmer on low until the vegetables have cooked through, but are not mushy. Once the veggies are cooked, fold in the yogurt until evenly mixed and remove from heat. Serve over rice with Naan.

Naan

Naan is traditionally a leavened Middle Eastern flatbread baked in a tandoor, or clay oven. It tastes like heaven, and should be eaten a minimum of 25 times a day with everything. When naan appears on a table, angels sing in the background. It sort of has the consistency of a mix between a fat tortilla, a pita, and pure bliss. It is sort of complicated to make if you are using a traditional Indian recipe, and if you have a tandoor in your house then I am moving in with you.

I have modified this recipe in a few ways. It is a little different than the naan most of you are used to having at the restaurants, but is every bit as good and tastes amazing with a curry (or anything you might be eating). I use baking powder rather than yeast, and cook it on a cast iron griddle rather than in the oven. If you choose to bake this, that is fine, just be sure to turn your oven to about 500F. It doesn't take very long to cook them, just wait for them to puff up and brown a little. Many recipes will tell you to turn your broiler on, and this certainly helps you with getting that magnificent brown bubbling effect. It's a matter of choice, really.

Ingredients

• 4 c flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups plain nonfat yogurt
• a bowl of melted butter for brushing on the naan

Sift dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle. Mix all wet ingredients into another smaller bowl until combined; pour into well in flour. Stir with a spoon until it becomes difficult, then begin to knead dough with your hands. It will stick at first. Continue kneading until the dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Put a damp towel over the bowl and place in a warm place will it will not be disturbed. Let sit for an hour or two (if you have the time, you can leave it up to 4 hours).

Remove dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Separate into little balls the size of plums. Flatten them out one at a time into disks, then roll until about 1/4 - 1/8" thick. Don't worry if they aren't in perfect circles, because I think that may be impossible. Place them on a greased skillet, brushing the exposed side with the butter and flipping over, do this a few times until both sides have browned bubbles and are cooked to your liking. Remove from griddle and brush with butter. Store wrapped in a clean dishtowel while you cook the remainder of the dough.

Enjoy!

Home Made Naan and Super Easy Veggie Curry