The Jolly Fox
Find Food & Frolic.
Violet-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes.
I bought some dried violets a while back from one of my favorite places, The Spice Station. I knew when I bought them that I wanted to put them into a baked good. I was thinking cake or cupcakes, but wasn’t sure on what other flavors to use or incorporate. I was thinking of vanilla, lemon or perhaps another possible fruit to pair with the violets (berries?). I was having the hardest time figuring out what to make.
Then I saw this incredible looking violet liqueur whilst browsing K&L Wine Merchants for the first time, which was a pretty cool booze shop. After reading the bottle, I decided to buy it. I figured it could help with my cake or cupcakes and make me a classy cocktail. Win, win.
After tasting the dried violets and the liqueur, I decided to do a Violet-Vanilla Bean Cupcake. I think lemon would be great as well, and I may make up a batch of those yet to see which are better. For now though, please enjoy this recipe for Violet-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes.
Violet-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
Ingredients:
2 c cake flour (I like King Arthur brand Unbleached Cake Flour)
3/4 c unbleached cane sugar
1/2 tsp unbleached sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp dried violets
1 c water
2 tbsp Earth Balance, melted
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp violet liqueur
1 vanilla bean, split down the middle and scraped
Method: Do not use a stand mixer or electric mixer of any type for this recipe. This batter is very delicate (sorry, I hate when recipes have this warning) and over mixing will make your cupcakes or cake tough. The cupcake will turn out denser than the average cupcake, but should not be chewy or tough.
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside. In a mixing bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients. For the sake of this recipe, let’s consider the vanilla bean part of the wet ingredients. Thoroughly mix the dry ingredients to make sure they are all incorporated together pretty well. Next, take another mixing bowl and whisk up your wet ingredients including the seeds scarped from inside of the vanilla bean. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and be careful to combine them using as few arm strokes as possible. Having some lumps is definitely okay! Fill your cupcake liners about 3/4 the way full and bake about 20 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center cupcakes comes out clean. I like to do one from the front row too, just to make sure.
I decided to do a Violet-Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting for these, but a nice fluffy buttercream would be just as nice.
Violet-Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
1/4 c Earth Balance, softened
1/4 c vegan cream cheese, softened (I like Follow Your Heart brand for this)
2 c powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp violet liqueur
Method:
Cream Earthy B and vegan cream cheese together with stand or handheld mixer. Incorporate the powdered sugar, about 1/2 c at a time. Once the sugar is mixed in, add vanilla and violet liqueur. If you’d like the frosting to be a little stiffer, refrigerate it until ready to use. I don’t use a ton of frosting, so I had some extra. Maybe use it for another treat, like vegan dunk-a-roos? (Use Annie’s Bunny Grahams)
Long time, No blog.
It’s been a minute since I posted anything. January turned out to be such a busy and crazy month for me. Anyhow, I am finally getting myself back in the kitchen and going to be making up a storm of treats in the near future. To kick off the treat storm, I decided to make two dozen cupcakes for one of my bestie’s birthing day celebrations. She decided to go with a taco bar, so I decided to go with Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes, dusted with powdered sugar, cinnamon and cocoa as well as Dulce Sin Leche Cupcakes with lots of the sticky icky caramel glaze and topped with the most finely shredded coconut I’ve ever seen. People seemed to enjoy them. I think we were all a little drunk by the time they started being eaten, but that just made them extra delicious, er, muy delicioso.
Photos by the amazing Danielle, who also made this crazy, awesome tasting jalapeno/cucumber/vodka drink. You can see it to the left in the photo below. I don’t even like vodka, but the drink was outstanding. Unbelievably cool and fresh, topped off with a nice lil kick. You couldn’t even taste the vodka (that’s my kinda drink) Maybe she’ll do a guest post with the recipe?!?! 😉
Vegan Spaetzle w/ Roasted Heirloom Carrots & Cippolini Onions.
I bought a spaetzle maker ages ago. Did I ever get around to using it? Nah. Yesterday, I was lying in bed sick and watching Food Network. Nice to know that whatever is plaguing me is not affecting my appetite….sigh. Anyhow, Guy Fieri was on and I don’t mean Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives. It was some other old show of his. He had some kind of German theme going on and was making schnitzel, spaetzle and veggies. Well, dude inspired me to finally use my spaetzle maker to make some damn spaetzle. I thought the roasted veggies sounded amazing as well, so I picked up some heirloom carrots and cippolini onions to get the job done. I ended up having a really delicious meal despite my being a sick mess.
Vegan Spaetzle
Ingredients:
1 c corn flour
2 tbsp soy flour
2 c unbleached all purpose flour
4 tbsp Earth Balance, slightly softened
1 1/4 c water or thereabouts
3 tbsp Earth Balance
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
2 tbsp vegan parmesan, optional
Method:
Bring a medium to large size pot of vegetable broth to a boil. While the broth is heating up, make the spaetzle. Combine all of the dry ingredients. Then cut in the Earthy B with a pastry whisk as if you were making any other kind of pastry dough. Then add the water. The dough should be moderately stiff. Now, to make the spaetzle you will need a spaetzle maker or potato ricer to push the dough through. Grab whichever one of those tools you have and begin to push the dough through into the boiling broth. I had to do mine in batches, so don’t overcrowd your pot. The spaetzle are done cooking when they float to the top of your broth. Make sure to take a strainer and remove them, as they are pretty yucky and gummy when overcooked. Add a really small amount of Earthy B or oil to the spaetzle once they are out of the pot to keep them from becoming one large mass.
Once the spaetzle have cooled a bit, heat the 3 tbsp Earthy B over medium heat in a saute pan or skillet. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute. Add the spaetzle and saute for a minute or two. Add parsley, salt, pepper, and parmesan if using and remove from heat. Spaetzle is now ready to serve 🙂
Roasted Heirloom Carrots and Cippolini Onions
Ingredients:
1 bunch heirloom carrots, the smaller, the better–green tops removed
about 1/2 lb cippolini onions, skins removed
1/4 white wine
1/4 c vegetable stock
2 tbsp Earthy B, melted
salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
Method:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place carrots (whole) on a baking sheet. Add the onions. If some of your cippolinis are big, cut them in half. Add remaining ingredients except for the parsley. Roast veggies in the oven for about 30 minutes or until tender. Serve beside your spaetzle and begin feasting.
Oyster Mushroom Po Boys & White Chocolate Raspberry Sage Tart.
Can I take a minute to talk about how much I love Alicia C. Simpson? Her books, Quick & Easy Vegan Comfort Food and Quick & Easy Vegan Celebrations are definitely both in my top 10 favorite cookbooks. Every recipe I’ve ever made of Alicia’s is always completely delicious and satisfying. She sort of inspired yesterday’s post about the weird lobster and yummy grits. My grits were actually an adaption of her grits recipe. There is a great recipe for lobster mushrooms and cheeze grits in Q&E Vegan Celebrations if you’re looking to recreate yesterday’s post; only better, because mushrooms are way better than that fake lobster. Anyhow, I’m really into Q&E Vegan Celebrations lately, mostly the Mardi Gras section. That chapter is chocked full of really irresistible southern recipes and I want them all in my mouth right now.
I decided to make the Fried “Oysters” and then make the “Oyster” Po Boy Sandwich, which both consist of deliciously crispy oyster mushrooms. The breading/dredging mixture is even gluten free! Rather than make the Ancho Tarter Sauce paired with the sandwich in the book, I stuck with the Cajun Spiced Horseradish dip/spread that is meant to accompany the fried oyster on their own. The fried oyster mushrooms were delicious on their own and were equally as good in a po boy sandwich. The cajun spices are so wonderfully aromatic that you get a lot of yummy spicy smells every time you go to take a bite.
After having eaten this delicious sandwich, I thought it was about time to remake the White Chocolate Raspberry Sage Tart, from Manifest Vegan. I had made this tart for a picnic back in July, but unfortunately it was so hot the day I went to serve it that it melted in the sun. The crust became soggy, the filling was warm and all around I was very displeased with it, mostly because of the heat, not the actual recipe. I also found that I made the raspberry topping much too tart and the sage also got lost. Some people who were at my picnic said they enjoyed the tart regardless of everything I thought was wrong with it, but I have been really wanting to make it again proper.
So, after deciding on the edits I was going to make, I went ahead and came up with a winner this time. I used an entirely different topping/jam recipe, fruit sweetened rather than with sugar, and opted to add my sage in fresh, after the jam had cooled. I used my own homemade white chocolate and cashews as called for the filling and left the crust recipe as is. I am happy to report that I’m really happy with how it turned out this time. The filling was cold and creamy and very lightly sweet, the chocolatey crust was perfect and the topping came out just as I imagined. It’s still raspberry and has that hint of tartness, but comes back sweet and the sage is there, but ever so subtle. LOVE. And gluten free! I’m not sensitive to gluten, but I love incorporating gluten free foods and meals into my diet. Variety is awesome. 🙂
“Lobster” & Cheddar Grits.
By far, the weirdest thing I have eaten since becoming vegan was this completely bizarre vegan lobster.
It was made basically out of soy and starch, but when I saw it, I felt like I had to try it. After all, I am a fan of those crazy vegan shrimp… I decided that the best way to cook this was with Earth Balance, paprika, garlic, parsley and some other spices. I served it on top of some cheddar grits to a couple of friends. The verdict? We all thought the lobster tasted okay, but was pretty terrible, texturally speaking. It was overly firm and chewy, nothing like the texture of lobster. In the future, I’ll stick with lobster mushrooms as a lobster substitute, which is fine by me; they look and taste amazing and are a lot healthier than the soy beast pictured above. The grits on the other hand, were outrageously delicious. I like to use a mix of veggie stock and non-dairy milk (organic rice milk this time) to cook the grits. I also added a handful of shredded vegan cheddar.
Happy New Year.
Hey. Happy New Year.
Now that that’s out of the way, I can’t believe that I did a post of broccoli and cheddar and forgot to talk about quiche. What….was I thinking…..As soon as I realized this terrible mistake, I immediately made a Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche. I used the filling recipe for the broccoli quiche in Vegan Brunch, but added some shredded cheddar style Daiya. How much to add is up to you. I used a crust recipe from the amazing Spork Sisters. I love their quiche crust recipe because it is relatively low fat compared to other crust recipes. Most recipes will basically have you make pie dough, with two whole sticks of Earth Balance etc. The Spork recipe just has a small bit of oil and a couple of other secret ingredients that make it delicious.
Broccoli & Cheeze: Forever Friends
Broccoli. Ahh, my dear friend broccoli, member of the cabbage family and filled with nutritional goodness. Broccoli is the basically the greatest. It’s great tons of different ways, but my favorite way to eat broccoli is with a generous helping of cheddar style Daiya. Broccoli and Daiya are great in baked potatoes, risotto, creamy broccoli cheddar soup, baked into an individual wild mushroom and rice casserole….you know, the possibilities are endless.
This recipe can be found in Jenn Shagrin’s book, “Veganize This!” I know I’ve posted about her before, probably several times actually, but she’s one of my favorite cooks and I love her recipes. This is one is no exception, it’s amazing.
This is one of my all time favorite recipes as well. It’s just a simple creamy broccoli cheddar soup. There is a really similar and absolutely delicious recipe for broccoli cheddar soup in “Skinny Bitch in the Kitch“. If you don’t have that book, just Google “broccoli cheddar soup” and you can basically come up with something pretty similar by just swapping out the non-vegan ingredients for vegan ones. I don’t usually add carrots to this particular soup, but they do add great color and nutrients.
Risotto. You can basically put anything in it and it will be good. To make this, just use the basic risotto recipe that can be conveniently found here and instead of adding radicchio/tempeh pancetta, add a generous helping of Daiya and some freshly steamed broccoli.
I wish I had a big glorious picture of a cheezey, broccoli stuffed baked potato, but I don’t. I always devour them like a beast before I can take a picture. Next time, that’s what I keep telling myself.
PS. A note about Daiya; I like Daiya. It’s my opinion, that it’s the best meltable and best tasting cheese substitute available for melting. I have tried Teese, and unfortunately, am not a fan due to texture. I do love Dandies though! I also love Follow Your Heart’s vegan mozzarella and jack cheezes, but like to enjoy those unmelted, like in caprese salad. I have also come to enjoy Daiya unmelted on cold sandwiches. And, anyone who knows me knows that I love Cheezly‘s white cheddar, but those cheezes are so hard to come by that I save them for really special occasions like world’s most decadent mac ‘n cheeze.
Vegan Peppermint Bark.
I make my own white chocolate for this. It’s really easy if you can get ahold of some good food grade cocoa butter. Then it’s just a matter of powdered sugar and some flavor, like vanilla bean or extract or what-have-you. If you need measurements, here is a foolproof recipe for you for vegan white chocolate. If you don’t want to make your own white chocolate, you can just melt down some vegan white chocolate chips…which typically have to be ordered online. Sometimes vegan white chocolate chips take a while to melt, but stir them around and give them a little time.
The rest of peppermint bark making is a snap. Line a small rimmed baking sheet with parchment or silpat. Melt some dark chocolate and pour it onto the baking sheet. For extra minty delicious, add a little peppermint extract to the chocolate before pouring it. Wait for the chocolate to harden. To expedite, put it in the fridge or freezer. Then, melt your white chocolate and pour that on top of the dark. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes; they have some organic and all natural ones at Whole Foods. Put back in the fridge to help solidify. Once solid, start breaking the one big piece apart into subsequent smaller pieces. I have no rhyme or reason for the way I break it up. If you’ve used parchment instead of a silpat, you can try cutting nice looking squares.
Sorry I don’t have exact measurements, but I’m confident you guys can eyeball it and be fine. 🙂
Vegan Peppermint Bark
Risotto w/ Radiccho & Tempeh Pancetta.
So. I know I promised the risotto yesterday, but I am a filthy liar so here I am today with the recipe for you. But first, I would like to tell the world how much I am completely in love with radicchio. Radicchio is a leaf chicory and can be eaten raw in salads, or in a multitude of ways cooked. It’s really outstanding when grilled and is great sauteed. I like to add it to cheeseless pizzas with leeks and other goodies. It has a bitter, spicy taste when raw, but those flavors mellow out with heat. Either way, it tastes absolutely amazing and I love it.
This recipe is a really simple, basic risotto recipe that anyone can make. You’ll add the radicchio and pancetta afterward.
Risotto w/ Radicchio & Tempeh Pancetta
Ingredients:
7-8 c No Chicken Broth (Imagine Brand, Better than Bouillon, Edaward & Sons)**
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 package tempeh bacon, homemade tofu pancetta, or homemade tempeh bacon
1/2 c yellow onion, finely chopped
1 head radicchio, thinly sliced–If you want to be extra fancy, buy a 2nd head and use the whole leaves to serve the risotto in.
3 c arborio or carnaroli rice
1 c dry white wine
2 tbsp Earth Balance
salt & freshly cracked pepper to taste
Method:
First, pour all of your stock into a saucepan and heat it up. Bring it to a low simmer, and keep the heat on low. You just want to keep it warm.
Next, heat the oil (over med heat) in the pot you’re going to use to make your risotto. If you’re using tempeh, add that to your pan first. If your using tofu pancetta, keep it warm and set it aside–you won’t be needing it until the very end. Cook tempeh, if using, for about 3-4 min. Next, add your onion and saute an additional two minutes. Add the radicchio to the tempeh and onion and continue to cook for about 2 more minutes until the radicchio is tender. Transfer this mixture to a separate bowl and set aside. Try to keep in a warm spot, so it doesn’t get too cold.
Add a bit more oil to your pan if it’s become dry. Not too much, start with 1 tbsp and add more if you need it. Add the rice. Toast the rice in oil for about 3 minutes. The edges of the rice will become translucent, but you should still see a white dot in the center of each grain. Add your wine, and stir until completely absorbed. Now for the stock! Add your stock one ladleful or 1 cup at a time, stirring after each addition. Stir until each cup or ladleful is absorbed before you add any more–but keep in mind that your rice should never look dry. Keep up with this process until all of your stock is used up. This should take about 20 or so minutes.
When the rice is tender, remove from the heat and add your Earth Balance, salt and pepper. The Earth Balance and broth both have salt in them already, so keep that in mind when adding additional salt. Now go ahead and grab your other goodies, radicchio, “pancetta”, onion mixture and add that to your risotto.
**I find Better than Bouillon and Edward & Sons both delicious, but very salty when used as directed. When I use either brand, I use about half or so as much bouillon than is called for to make 1 cup. I believe it’s 1 tsp per cup for BtB and half a cube for E&S. So, I use 1 tsp for each 2 cups water for BtB and 1/2 a cube for each 2 cups of water for E&S. Try them out and see how you feel. 🙂
Hello There.
Why hello there blog. I am quite sorry I have been neglecting you. I had these wonderful dreams that I would be posting all sorts of December treats and recipes and goodies and things. And now it’s halfway through December. I haven’t even made Christmas cookies yet. Alas. Well, I do plan to make it up to whoever is kind enough to read my little blog here. I have a recipe for Risotto with Radicchio & Tempeh Pancetta that I will be posting tomorrow. For now, I’m just going to share a little bit of what I’ve been eating lately. I haven’t cooked or baked much in the past two weeks, but I did manage a few tasty items.
French Onion Soup
I’ve only made a vegan version of French Onion Soup once. I don’t know why it was just that one time, as it’s soooo good. I loved it in my pre-vegan days and I was happy to welcome it back into my belly once more. I made a no-beef broth, and then slow cooked some onions for about 6 hours. Then I ladled the soup into these little oven-to-table crocks that I have and topped them with some crusty French bread and some Cheezly. Then under the broiler they go!
Since it’s gotten relatively cool for SoCal, I decided to continue making soup and made this Creamy Pumpkin Soup w/ Tarragon and Sherry from Veganize This! Ms. Bianca from over at Vegan Crunk made it too! I love going to her blog and checking out what she’s up to and what she’s been cookin’. I can’t wait to get her Southern themed cookbook. I love me some vegan southern comfort. So, this soup was like drinking perfectly warmed orange velvet. It was so rich and creamy. The spices and tarragon balanced out the sweetness of the pumpkin and sherry perfectly. Get Jenn’s book and make this soup!
After all of the soup, I decided to then focus on rice. Haha, I didn’t really decide, it just sorta happened. I decided I wanted to share my recipe for Risotto with Radicchio and Tempeh Pancetta, but needed to make it, photograph it and eat it of course to make sure it’s still good enough to share with fellow risotto lovers. And because risotto isn’t enough rice for me, I decided to make the Chai Spiced Rice Pudding Pie from one of my newer cookbooks, Vegan Pie in the Sky. Honestly, it was way too much rice, but I just really wanted to make sure the risotto was perfect and then I just really wanted a to make that pie. I had leftover gingersnaps from other crusts I had been making and I wanted to use them. And I also had all of the other ingredients on hand. So, the Chai Spiced Rice Pudding Pie was made and it was grand. Oh, it was grand.
Mmm. Pie. So, this pie consisted of a chai spiced rice pudding created on stovetop, with the finest of chai teas (but of course) with some added golden raisins. I decided to top my pie with a light dusting of cinnamon because I love cinnamon.That goodness was nestled inside a gingersnap cookie crust. After the pudding cools, you put the pie in the fridge and it sets up really nicely. After all, it isn’t really pie if it doesn’t hold a slice.
Next up I made these Purple Potato & Zucchini Latkes from SporkOnline. The recipe is actually for mini latkes, but I went ahead and made mine normal sized. They’re topped with a lemon chive sour cream which was perfect for these. You can access the recipe for these guys on SporkOnline if you’re already a member. If not, you can become a member and instantly be eating latkes too. Well, maybe not instantly, but you can be eating these pretty fast. 
The Jolly Fox 