Vegan Mofo- Ginger Apple Cupcakes w/ Peanut Butter Icing

Guys, I know I should probably branch out a little from cupcakes. Aside from being calory-laden and packed with sugar, they are ubiquitous in the vegan world and beyond.

But the thing is, I'm so good at them! Its like the one dessert I have on lock! I make pies on very special summer days, I occasionally make cookies, and I've been known to make a real size cake when the mood strikes, but there's is nothing that I can whip up in 45 minutes flat like cupcakes. Cupcakes, once you get the hang of them, are ridiculously simple and can be altered to contain whatever is clogging your kitchen- plums, fig jam, cashews, wasabi.... (Well, I haven't tried that last one.)

Anyways, the obvious reason for my comfort and ease in the cupcake realm is because of the by now infamous tome 'Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World' by the Moskowitz/ Romero power house. I mean, it hardly bears mentioning since you ALL have this book. And like many of you, having familiarized myself with some of the basic cupcakes recipes, I can now invent cupcakes at whim with simple substitutions and combos.

So yesterday I felt the need for some fall-apple goodness, and decided to alter the Gingerbread cupcakes I love so dearly, subbing out diced crystallized ginger with diced apple. On top of this spicy, apple-filled cake I piped the luscious, crack-like peanut butter icing that is now taunting me from my kitchen.

They are very delicious. And now I have 12 11 of them. Maybe it is really time to step away from the cupcakes. Luckily, my good friend SMP has gifted me with an awesome ice cream maker AND a vegan ice cream cookbook, so now I have the perfect excuse to branch out into new arenas...

Song of the Day: Ronald Jenkees- Stay Crunchy

Vegan Mofo: Homemade Pizza

There is something really great about being able to control your own pizza destiny. Once you have an excellent dough recipe and an excellent sauce, its like, the world is your oyster pizza! If you have some vegan cheese lying around you can toss that on, or whip up some tofu ricotta from Vegan With a Vengeance. Or you can make it all healthy green stuff, safe in the knowledge that it still won't be *too* healthy. You could throw on tempeh bacon, caramelized onions, pineapple, corn (like they do in Europe) or any other crazy thing and its still going to be awesome!

For this edition of pizza roulette, I topped my little monster with shallots, brocoli, spinach, mushrooms and, the real kicker: soy curls drenched in BBQ sauce. It was kind of like that BBQ chicken pizza that was such a hit back in the nineties. Except way better because it was vegan homemade!

I know you guys can search through my pages yourself, but let me just hook you up with the no-fail dough and sauce recipes I use and save you the trouble in case you are in the mood for some pizza yourself.

****
  Pizza Crust
-1 packet yeast
-1 and 1/3 cup warm water
-1 tsp. salt
-1 T. agave (or honey or sugar, if you swing that way)
-Approx. 3.5 cups flour (for use a mix of white and whole wheat flour)
-2 T. olive oil, plus extra for the bowl

1.) In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast into the water and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
2.) Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend together, kneading for 10 minutes, or until relatively smooth. At this point you can add in a bit more flour if its too sticky. (Nice to have an assistant on hand for that, since your hands will be covered in dough.)
3.) Form dough into a ball and place into a bowl that has been coated in oil. Set in a warm corner, covered by a damp cloth and leave it alone for an hour or so. (Pro-tip: My friend SMP let me in on a secret to quicker rising- just put your dough bowl into an oven along with a pot of freshly boiled water. The steamy oven will guarantee good a rise.)
4.) After time has passed, punch down the dough and divide into two balls. Leave one in the bowl and take the other one out, rolling out on a floured surface to your desired thinness and leaving some width on the sides for the crust. Transfer to pizza pan/ stone/ cookie sheet or just a rack.
5.) Top with toppings and bake in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.
6.) Repeat with the other ball, or freeze/refrigerate for later use as pizza, breadsticks, or calzones.

 Easy Tomato Sauce
2 14 oz cans Diced/ Crushed Tomatoes
1 small onion, diced.
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
1 tbsp EVOO
1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1.) Cook the onion in oil over medium-low heat for 4-5 minutes. Then add in garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Add dash balsamic to deglaze. Then add in the rest of the ingredients. Raise the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust spices, then, using immersion blender, blend until smooth.

Song of the Day: Universal Heartbeat- Julianna Hatfield

Vegan Mofo: Choco-Raspberry Cupcakes

 

Chocolate cupcakes with buttercream icing and homemade raspberry preserve filling, a birthday treat for a friend. Maybe not soul-food, but definitely heavenly. 

Song of the Day: The Shoes- Time to Dance

Sauteed Veggie Sandwich, Cupcakes, Eggplant Accras

Ahh, the ex-pat life. Where one day offers exhilarating discoveries (OMG Markthalle Neun has a vegan milkshake stand!) and the next day has you sobbing over ridiculously trivial challenges (OMG I can't understand my yoga teacher... wie sagt mann "Downward Facing Dog" auf Deutsch?!)

Now that I am really kind of a Berliner, by marriage and passport, I am feeling the pressure to get my sh*t together and stop being intimidated away from things like dentists and the metric system. Its time to face the German music (just not Wagner, please) and make a grown-up life for myself here.

However, one area where I am pleasantly caught up is in the kitchen. I know where to buy agar agar and miso, where to find vegan tamales, and how to navigate the baking aisle. I am even a regular at several farmer's markets. Thus, after a day of blustering through phone conversations or awkward interactions with librarians, I can still come home and enjoy something that reinforces that, to a very small extent, I know what I'm doing.

Above, for example, is a new sandwich creation. You know the magic sandwich, right? With the margarine+ nooch+ herb crust and various fillings? Well, above is a new take, with quick-sauteed spinach, mushrooms and peppers with a bit of balsamic as a filling. Totally takes lunch to another level. (Plus, hot sandwiches are crucial for your winter arsenal.)

 And clearly enough time in the kitchen leads to cupcakes. These ones were vanilla on vanilla, with fig filling and baby apricots on top.

I also recently acquired Taymer from Vegan in the Sun's cookbook, Carribean Vegan. It is totally jam-packed with things you will want to make, like jerk seasoning and Trinidadian doubles, but I had to start out with the eggplant accras- a riff on the little fried fish balls that are popular in that region, except with eggplant to sub for the fish. Taymer herself calls them her signature dish, and you can find the recipe on her website, here.  I made these for me and S. the other night and we dipped them in a little ketchup with lemon... it was like, restaurant quality. I highly recommend. They could be a great appetizer, but they would also be great for dinner with a side salad.

I'm definitely looking forward to making more from that cookbook, and continuing to reassert myself in the kitchen (before reasserting myself all over the rest of this country!!!)


Song of the Day: Dinosaur Jr. - Start Chopping

Back in Form: Cupcakes and Hoppin' Jimmy

 

Chocolate-Raspberry-Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

Whew! After what now seems like several years of wedding-related madness (but was actually only a few months) S. and I are finally, really and truly, married and legally resident and official and all that jazz. I am allowed, by God, my parents and the Ausländerbehörde, to stay in Germany for the time being and start living a normal, somewhat less precarious existence. This doesn't mean that everything is stabilized (still looking for a steady job, after all) but things are calm enough that I can actually do that ultimate house-wifey activity: cook!

My first and foremost obsession of late has been cupcakes. I received a handheld mixer as a wedding gift so I can finally make American-style icing, not this glorified whip cream that Germans dig so much. The other day my friend K. finished her final law school exams and held a big party to celebrate, so I whipped up some marvelous cupcakes inspired, natch, by the PPK cupcake tome we all know and love. I made one batch of chocolate and one of vanilla, filled with homemade raspberry compote and topped with lemon cream cheese icing. Big hits (especially with me- I ate like 10 in two days.)

I've also been really into Southern food lately, following our sojourn in the US South. I got a couple of neat Community cookbooks (more on that in later posts) and also brought back some crucial ingredients- liquid smoke, molasses, and creole/ cajun seasoning.

Hoppin' Jimmy with garlicky-spinach

So far, the most popular of my "experiments" (don't ask about Peanut-beurre-blanc) is my version of Hoppin' John. I really like this for a weeknight meal because, unlike with other beans, black-eyed peas only require a quick soak and not the night-before treatment. Also, you can jazz it up with loads of spices or keep it simple as a side dish for more elaborate meals. The authentic Hoppin John would be bare bones, with the inclusion of an actual bone, a ham hock, or some other meaty thing. Mine, obvs, isn't authentic because I added a sofrito and additional spices, so we will call it Hoppin' Jimmy after my vegetarian little brother who lives for beans.

 

 *****

Hoppin' Jimmy

1 cup black-eyed peas, rinsed and soaked for at least one hour

3/4 cup white rice

1 large onion, diced

2 bell peppers (any color) diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

2 tbs. tomato paste

1 tsp. liquid smoke

1 tbs. Cajun or Creole seasoning 

oil, water, salt, pepper

1.) In pot, bring black-eyed peas and enough water to cover them to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for ca. 1 hour, skimming off foam occasionally and adding more water if necessary, until beans are cooked through and soft.

2.) When beans are cooked to your liking, add rice and 1.5 cups of water to pot (less if there is still a lot of bean-cooking water.) Add some salt, bring back up to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer and cover.

3.) While the rice and beans are simmering away, add your onion to a medium sized, heavy bottomed pan with plenty of oil heated up to medium-low heat. When onions have slightly softened, add in chopped bell peppers and garlic and season with salt and pepper, plus the Cajun seasoning. Cook over medium heat until all vegetables have softened.

4.) Now, we combine. Give rice a check for done-ness, then a stir before adding in liquid smoke, tomato paste, and onion-pepper mixture, stirring gently to combine. Simmer for 5-10 more minutes until most of the liquid is cooked off and taste-test for any seasoning adjustments. 

Serve with greens and hot sauce.

*****

Song the Day: Soko- I'll Kill Her

Recipes from The Inspired Vegan- Beans, Greens, Yams, Molasses Cake

I believe I have expressed my fondness for Bryant Terry on this blog before, and his first cookbook Vegan Soul Kitchen is now somewhat of a classic (according to me.) SO when I heard he had come out with a new cookbook, The Inspired Vegan, I knew I had to rush out and get it. (And/ or, wait 6 months until I was back in the US to grab it.) Happily, while on my honeymoon I had the chance to go to one of my ALL-TIME-FAVORITE places in the whole country, Charis Feminist Bookstore in Atlanta, GA, and they happened to have a copy sitting on the shelves! And that's not exactly a coincidence, because much like Charis, the book is packed with fascinating info about art, music, and social justice. The menus are dedicated to different themes and people that interest Terry, like Shirley Chisholm, Grace Lee Boggs, and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, and interspersed with his own memories and interests, while giving information for those who are interested in further reading or volunteering for different causes. In this respect, it is much more than a cookbook. But just in case you have no interest in politics, history, music, the environment, or history (HA), you can still enjoy the recipes, which range from Southern soul food to Asian fusion to African cuisine. For me, being interested in all of those things (and how!) its the perfect drool-worthy cookbook that also inspires you to go beyond the pages and find out about all the cool people and movements he mentions.

I picked out a few recipes to cook for me and S.'s one month anniversary: black eyes peas in garlic ginger braised mustard greens, (or in my case, chard) and molasses, miso, and maple candied sweet potatoes. I served it with white rice rather than the suggested forbidden black rice, and it was totally delicious. The greens and beans were spicy and flavorful but still subtle in comparison to the juicy sweet potatoes that were bursting with strong flavors. Despite being an objectively healthy meal, this was still special occasion-type food that was really exciting to prepare and eat. We ate the meal with 'Dark & Stormy' cocktails, a mix of strong ginger beer and dark rum that is my new favorite special occasion cocktail.

For dessert I made another recipe from the book, ginger-molasses cake. (Its supposed to have walnuts but I didn't have any so I served it with peaches.) This was super easy to make with ingredients that most vegans would have on hand, and turned out really moist and delicious while still tasting very sophisticated and "different." It also looks like chocolate cake so its a fun way to trick guests. :)

I have no doubt that I'll be cooking plenty more from this tome and I hope that Terry keeps 'em coming.

Song of the Day: Fela Kuti- Water Got No Enemy

Vegan Mofo: BBQ and Cupcakes

People constantly ask me what the difference is between Germany and America. I usually say that its not all that different, that socio-economic and cultural factors make more of a difference than the actual country you are living in, bla bla bla until the person gets bored and walks away. But if really pressed, I'll talk about the food.

First off, we've got the bread. Americans don't have one standard, but in general we like it relatively soft and fluffy with a crust. Germans, on the other hand, like bread that is as healthy as humanly possible. I'm talking coarse brown, sour bread with 15 different kinds of seeds and grains so big you can make them out from across the room. Just try to give a slice of Wonderbread to a German, I dare you.

The second thing is, Germans (and Belgians, and Dutch...maybe French too) think its totally normal to eat chocolate for breakfast. As a kid I sometimes indulged in Cookie-crisp cereal or the like as a treat, but in general chocolate is more a dessert thing to me... not so with the dozens of breakfast products here created with chocolate. You've got spreadable chocolate, chocolate flakes to sprinkle on buttered bread, even muesli at health food stores contains chocolate. Dream come true, right?

Anyways, there are many other scandalous food habits of the Germans that I could expose for you today (bread and cheese at every meal! 6 cups of coffee a day! beenkuchen!) but I don't want to ruin the mystery. I, meanwhile, steadfastly maintain my American way of life as best I can. This week, that meant BBQ'd soy curls for lunch (above) and chocolate cupcakes with no proper icing. (Shortening is apparently not a part of the daily diet. Will bring back 6 tubs after Christmas...).

As I always say, Germany isn't better or worse than the US, just different. And they both have something to learn from one another. For instance, let's introduce icing to Germany, and they can teach us about chocolate for breakfast... pretty soon, we've got inter-cultural breakfast cupcakes. Ah, a world without borders. :)

Vegan Mofo: Not-Elvis Banana Bread

Frequently, when at a little shop or something, I come across something that is named after Elvis. More often than not, this item contains peanut butter, bananas and chocolate. I even used to order a milkshake in college that had chocolate, coffee, peanut butter and bananas, all called an Elvis milkshake! Guys, this is not biographically accurate!

I have been to Graceland. (I even stayed at the Heartbreak hotel, which may be in the running for the most surreal place in America.) Anyways, what Elvis apparently liked was peanut butter and bananas, grilled in between two slices of bread, with a couple of slices of bacon. (Its even in the Elvis Presley Cookbook.*)  No chocolate. No coffee. Please, let's keep his legacy pure.

And therefore, this quickbread recipe, containing chocolate, peanut butter, and bananas (and no G.D. bacon) will be called "Not-Elvis Banana Bread" in hopes that I can start a trend of titular honesty in baked goods.

******
Not Elvis Banana Bread

2 C. all purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
pinch salt
3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1 and 1/4 C. soymilk
1 T. applecider vinegar
1/4 C. oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 C. smooth peanut butter, melted
1/3 C. chocolate chips
(I omitted sugar from this recipe as I felt the bananas would be sweet enough, but feel free to add in 1/3 C. granulated sugar if you like it sweeter.)

1.) Preheat oven to 375 F. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and vinegar. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
2.) After milk has thickened, add in bananas, oil, vanilla extract and sugar (if using). Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir together until "just mixed". Gently fold in chocolate chips and peanut butter, just carefully stirring so you can still see swirls of peanut butter.
3.) Pour batter into a loaf pan, or muffin tins if desired, and place in middle rack of oven. A loaf takes about 45 minutes, muffins take somewhat less time, but either way remove when top is golden brown and a toothpick placed into the center comes out clean.

***************

*And by the by, now I really want to purchase and veganize the Elvis Presley Cookbook, the menus look AWESOME.

Song the Day: Elvis- Heartbreak Hotel

Vegan Mofo: Baking up a storm

There's nothing I like better than spending a weekend morning in the kitchen making baked goods with whatever is left in the cabinets. I would say it feels a bit like playing housewife, especially when S. is in the other room hard at work and I am in the kitchen measuring cups of flour, but its a little pathetic to be "playing" anything at 28, let alone "housewife" when half of my friends are younger than me and married. So, we could say that rather than "playing" I am "being" a house-girlfriend, while simultaneously consciously and consensually reproducing a socially enforced gender role and thus fulfilling my Butler-ian feminist obligations. How 'bout that?

So anyways, the food! I made bagels! I've made them a zillion times before, (and here is a recipe) but this time they were different because I forgot the sugar! So, that was an innovation, of sorts, and they taste a little sour, but not necessarily in a bad way. And like many baked goods, after making them 5 times you can make them with your eyes closed so they aren't really a pain in the ass anymore. Try it, "T's 5X Method" on anything that you don't know how or don't like to do. It really works.

Song Movie of the Day: The Stepford Wives (the original, 70's version)

Cherry Clafoutis...?

If you had the choice between working at a job that was frequently disgusting but kept you busy, or at one that was mind-numbingly boring but done in relative comfort, what would you choose? I've been pondering this from a purely intellectual standpoint lately because, in fact, I don't have to choose. I have both jobs, one after the other, every day.

Yes, friends, I've picked up another job. Following my humiliating but somewhat entertaining morning cleaning-lady job, I go to a fancy office building and conduct hours of phone calls to mostly disconnected phones in Latin America, in the hopes that one of them will take a survey. Its a dull job, but someone has to do it (or do they...?) At any rate, with these two super jobs combined, I should be able to fund a summer in Budapest (or back surgery, whatever comes first.) But on the other hand, it doesn't leave a lot of time for cooking. Or eating. (Dude, I'm going to be totally rich AND skinny!)

However, I did attempt one kitchen coup, with mixed success. So I finally made this clafoutis recipe from Vegan Visitor that I've been wanting to try for like, 3 years. Actually, literally that long, which I realized trying to dig up the recipe and seeing it was from 2008. But it had ingredients that I could largely reproduce, and feeling sophisticated, I decided to give it a try.

It was.... weird. Sort of a large chewy pancake filled with a sweet tofu mousse that doesn't ever really set (and I cooked this baby for 1 and 1/2 hours.) I mean, it was good, but I just wasn't sure I did it right. The inside is a cottage cheese consistency, owing to the curdled soy milk and silken tofu mixture, but it wasn't reminiscent of any desserts I'm familiar with. My non-vegan friend thought it was like a big milk-rice pancake, and loved it. I also thought it was fairly decent (obviously, because I consumed almost the entire thing in 1 hour), but just not totally sure it was clafoutis. I will have to try the whole experiment again to see if this is the way its meant to be.

At any rate, the whole clafoutis experiment is kind of like my two jobs. Pretty sure its a step in the right direction, but not something I can take out of the oven and call a "career".

Breakfast of Champions... or cleaning ladies

Now that I actually have a job (my dream job, as a cleaning lady in a kindergarten) my weekends have taken on extra significance. I used to be happy eating a little bread and jam, but not anymore... now I have to clean out my fridge and eat huge, epic, brunch-like feasts on Saturdays and Sundays. It just makes my celebration that I don't have to use a mop that day all the more enjoyable. This weekend, I made tofu scramble for the first time in, it feels like, years. (In fact, I think it has been years...) This is partly due to the fact that I *finally* found some local tofu that doesn't have the consistency of feta cheese, so now I have to eat it everyday in some form. The above pictured foray back into scrambled tofu territory brought me back to my college days,when me and my 3 roommates would often cook together and tofu scrambles were pretty much standard on weekends. (This was before I mastered pancakes.) Just a bit of tofu, some red peppers and onions, and a bit of turmeric and thyme, and you are cooking with gas. (Or electric. Whatever.)

Sunday I took advantage of the bulk of frozen blueberries in my fridge to whip up some banana blueberry pancakes for S. and I... they were gone before we had finished our first cup of coffee.
Not being satisfied with that carb feast, I also whipped up some sesame-poppyseed bagels to enjoy throughout the week (or, lets be honest, through Tuesday) so that my weekday breakfast can have a little flair as well. As you can see, they turned out lovely, even in my cold kitchen. (Ever since I got the tip to keep rising dough in the oven with a bowl of hot water, I haven't had nearly so many disappointing dough experiences. Thanks, SMP!)

Now, feeling fortified from the weekend, its on to the freezing, mop filled days of the working week... let's hope Spring comes soon...

PS: I added a recipe index, as much for my use as for yours, as well as a page with some photos from my travel. I didn't do an "about me," as blogger suggests because, well, don't the posts say it all?

song of the day: Kanye West- All of the Lights

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Hello my nice relaxed and calm blog friends. What, you're not all sitting in your warm houses baking cookies, content with the fact that you have purchased all presents and just waiting for the next lovely holiday party? Well, that's how I imagine you, in stark contrast to yours truly, who is rushing around in a steadily-building panic trying to accomplish every last thing before leaving for the US tomorrow. I'm facing such queries as, should I send all Xmas cards before leaving, so that people get the thrill of a genuine "Luftpost" from Germany, or should I save money but add to my packing by doing it in the US? And how many more presents can I buy today that say "Berlin" on them, to prove that I've thoughtfully been thinking of my American friends all year and not just buying them shit from Target?

I'm not asking for advice here, because basically all of these are unanswerable questions, the real solution to which is: go back in time and do it last week, saukerl!

But last week I was calm and relaxed, having dinner parties and making bagels and cinnamon rolls. Speaking of which, I can officially confirm that the perfect menu for non-vegan parent types is:
-Moroccan carrot dip from V'Con and bread
-A big garden salad with pears and homemade balsamic dressing
-Wild Mushroom Risotto

Cheap, filling, and not full of mysterious (to parents) ingredients like "chipotles" or "tofu".

And previously I finally got around to making Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, but this time I wasn't leaving it up to online recipes and just went ahead and gave it the old college try on my own. The result? Not too sweet, puffy and cinnamon-y rolls that were great out of the oven with a glass of soymilk, and even better in the next days reheated in the microwave. So here's my recipe, but as a warning I've only made these once so results may vary. (And here's more of a Joy of Cooking-style recipe format, to test it out.)

Hopefully, you are in a less hectic place than I am and have time for such pursuits!

***************
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

-1 packet yeast
-1 Tbs. sugar
-1/4 c. warm water

1.) In a large bowl, combine yeast and sugar then stir in warm water. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to "proof" the yeast.

-1 C. pureed pumpkin
-1/4 tsp. cinnamon
-1/4 tsp. nutmeg
-2 Tbs. maple syrup
-2 Tbs. veg oil
-1/4 C. soymilk
-pinch salt

2.) In a second bowl, combine above ingredients with a fork.

-3.5-4 C. all purpose flour

3.) Add pumpkin mixture to yeast mixture and sift in about 3 and 1/2 cups flour. Knead for 10 minutes, adding in more flour until you have a relatively smooth, not-too-sticky ball. Put ball in bowl that has a drizzle of oil, and flip to coat.
4.) Special tip from my friend Sara for better rising: Put rising bowl inside of another larger bowl containing rather hot water. Let rise for about an hour.

-3/4 C. brown sugar
-1/2 C. chopped almonds, pecans, etc.
-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

5.) When dough has risen, punch down and let sit for another 10 minutes or so. Meanwhile, mix above ingredients for the filling.
6.) On a lightly floured surface, place you dough ball and sprinkle with flour. Roll dough out to a large square of about 1/2" thickness. Sprinkle with your filling mixture, then carefully roll from the bottom, until you have a large "tube". You don't have to be much a perfectionist about this, in my opinion, you can manipulate the ends if they aren't perfect.

7.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees (175 C) and lightly oil or spray a brownie pan. With a sharp knife, cut tube into roughly 2" pieces and place them into pan, smooshing them against eachother if necessary. If outside dough is too floury, brush with a little bit of soymilk.

-1 C. powdered sugar
-2 Tbs. soymilk

8.) Bake rolls for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and meanwhile whisk together above ingredients to make a nice glaze. Drizzle glaze over finished rolls and consume with soymilk and a holiday movie.

**********

So the next time you hear from me I will be in the USA, hopefully eating large amounts of Thai and Mexican food! Good luck to anyone else embarking on holiday travel, and tchüss for now, Berlin!

Song of the Day: Cracker- Duty Free

Shivering in the Kitchen

Ah, my first real winter in Berlin. So far I've been torn between thinking, "Bah, I hate this weather, these gray skies, the fact that I can't understand Celsius enough to figure out what to wear, I hate this continent! winter!" and thinking, "SNOW! Pretty." But I suppose so long as I can reconcile myself to a lot of time spent indoors wearing German military grade long-underwear, I will eventually make it through to the other side. (I guess you can only imagine how I look sitting around all day in men's long underwear, swearing at the cold and applying to an ever broadening selection of jobs. Its pretty damn attractive, let me tell you.)

In the meantime, I'm trying to bring in sunshine via baking! What you see above is yet another batch of bagels (although that one has no hole, interesting) topped with peanut butter, bananas, and a drizzle of maple syrup, the very best thing about winter. I also attempted to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls the other day, as promised, but oddly the dough never rose! I tested the yeast so it should have, and I'll have to chalk this one up to the mysterious different flours in this country and their vastly different rising properties. Oh well.

Another delicious recent meal was the potato-mushroom enchiladas (rather than kale) from Veganomicon complimented, just for fun, with Venezuelan black beans and Orange rice from Viva Vegan. This wasn't exactly the kind of meal that you whip together in a few minutes, but I had some hungry friends coming over and suspected that Enchiladas alone would not do. (I usually make two batches and its still not enough for a small group.) I may have used every pot and pan in the kitchen, but everything turned out delicious- spicy, savory and sweet. And let's face it, as an unemployed and freezing cold American I have lots of time to spend in a nice toasty kitchen.
Song of the Day: The National- Conversation 16

From the Archives:
More Bagels!
More Enchiladas!
More Viva Vegan!

Muffins and Performance Art

Although Berlin and DC are not entirely dissimilar, there are some major differences that can't be explained just by language or culture. For example, why do Germans like the band eels so much? Why do they largely prefer to roll their own cigarettes? Why is there such a bottomless pit of fondness for performance art? And why, oh why, do they have thousands of baked products of every type and assortment, but barely pay any attention to such classics as muffins, bagels, and cupcakes?

I've been trying to correct this by keeping lots of muffins and bagels around to tempt my friends and roommates. (Cupcakes, unfortunately, are out of reach at the moment as I have no hand-mixer for frosting.) The other day I made non-plum muffins for once, instead using apples and lots of cinnamon and topping them off with peanut butter caramel, in an act of mindless rebellion to use up the last drops of my precious Canadian maple syrup. However, I wasn't really able to spread the gospel of muffins since I ate almost all of them. But whatever.

As for the performance art affinity, I have gotten the opportunity to get an inside perspective, since I am actually participating in some today and tomorrow! Yes friends, I will stand in a dark auditorium, while ambient electronic music blasts from the speakers, and my colleagues and I will hold up large drywall pieces that we slowly spin around every 5 minutes. It is very meaningful, not mention tiring.

And although I have no idea what the hell the point is of this exercise, I am doing it anyways. First of all, because it is ART! And second, because I am getting paid 50€. I expect that this will make a large impact on the scene here, and I will hopefully become a very famous performance artist. And then I will be able to afford gallons of maple syrup and make as many muffins as I like! I'll let you know how it goes...

Song of the Day: Art Brut- Formed a Band

In search of simits

When I traveled to Istanbul I was totally enchanted. Aside from the dreamy, dusty city, the food was fantastic and totally vegan friendly. But one item in particular captured my attention, probably because they were so ubiquitous and affordable: "simits," these round, kinda-crispy, sesame covered breads that you can find everywhere. Vendors sold them everywhere out of large baskets, and you could see students, tourists, and little old ladies eating them happily with butter or cheese and a cup of the ubiquitous sweet tea.

Here in Berlin, with a substantial Turkish population we also have plenty of simits. I could buy one for less than a euro at any given shop or at market places, where they are piled into huge stacks alongside other Turkish breads. (I often eat them with fancy mustard like a pretzel, as a German twist.) However, I really want to make them myself! First, because I want to make a bunch to eat all week since they keep well, and second, because I want to have a handy recipe for those times I'm not in Berlin or Istanbul, or to share on the vegan interwebs.

So the other day, I interrogated a vendor for his secret recipe, as carefully as possible given my crap German. It went something like this:

Me: Hello, these are simits, yes? I have allergic. Do they eggs inside have?
Vendor: No, naturally not, no eggs.
Me: Do they milk have?
Vendor: No, these are simits, they aren't made with milk.
Me: So, then, water, flour, and.... yeast? Or bake powder? I want have cooked them at my house.
Vendor: Very complicated recipe, better just to buy some from me, all fresh.

Hmmph. The woman at the store downstairs (which also sells them) gave me a similar run-around, and seemed a little pissed that I wouldn't just buy one. So, before alienating more people, now I've resorted to baking small batches of recipes I find online, and so far I've reached a few conclusions:

1. Definitely yeast and not baking powder.
2. The outside is brushed or dipped in something sticky to make all the sesame seeds stick, and its not soymilk.

Above you see the first attempt, which was definitely tasty with black tea but not quite right and missing the requisite deep brown crust. I have a feeling that it could be a few drops of pomengranate syrup diluted in water, from some vague references. Anyways, the simit mystery is not solved yet, but I will keep at it, until I can enjoy a lovely vegan treat with tea and soy margarine without leaving the house. (Lofty goals there, I admit it.)

Well, if any of you readers are aware of a perfect simit recipe out there, let me know. If not, I'll keep laboring after them myself, which I'll admit, is not all that bad of a way to spend an afternoon.

Austerity Measures: Baking

So you may have heard about the austerity measures introduced in Europe that many are protesting these days- cutbacks on government spending designed to reduce debt. Unfortunately, we are also participating in my household- not just to reduce debt (ha) but because there is no more money to spend. Turns out getting a job isn't as easy as I'd hoped... nevertheless, I am prepared! From a whole year of insanely cheap living in Brussels I have honed my skills for cheapest of the cheap living. And one of my favorite tactics to eat inexpensively but not feel overly deprived is to use lots and lots of flour. Pancakes, bagels, muffins, pierogies, and more can be had majorly on the cheap, especially if you keep a well-stocked pantry leftover from more profitable times. Not to mention when you are making something with dough, you are usually getting something you can eat all week. And of course, baking is also fun. :)

So in the spirit of saving dough through dough, I have 3 recipes to offer (as opposed to the usual none). First, the delicious Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles pictured above are from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar! and the recipe can be found (along with a helpful video) on the Post Punk Kitchen website, here. I'm not usually the biggest cookie person (more Team Cupcake, if you must know) but these were so amazing its ridiculous. They are made with very simple ingredients that you already have and I don't even want to tell you how quickly they disappeared.

Next up, here is a recipe for *slightly healthier* bagels that are a nice treat with peanut butter and bananas, or soy cream cheese.
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Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

-1 packet active yeast
-3.5 Tbs sugar, or sub out 1/2 with agave nectar
-1.5 C. warm water
-2.5 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 C. raisins (or cranberries)
-1.5 C. whole wheat flour
-2.5 C. flour (Europeans: I recommend Type 1050 for bagels)
-2 tsp. salt
-1/2 c. oatmeal flakes

1.) Combine yeast and water in a large bowl and let sit for 5-10 minutes, until starts to bubble.
2.) Add in both kinds of flour, salt, sugar, raisins, and cinnamon. Knead together for 10-15 minutes, using additional flour if necessary, until dough is less sticky but not completely dry, and relatively smooth. (The raisins might want to fight their way out, but stick them back in.)
3.) Drizzle a bit of vegetable oil in a large bowl and place dough inside, flipping to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or plastic wrap and set somewhere sunny. Let dough rise for at least an hour.
4.) In the meantime, set up your bagel workshop. Here's how it should look: on one side you have a large floured surface that you can roll the bagels on. This is right near the stove top, where you have a large pot filled with water. Then, a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and finally a plate filled with the oatmeal flakes.
5.) So, after an hour, bring the large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and preheat the oven to 400(f) or 200(c). While these items are heating up, you get to form the bagels! Punch the risen dough down and divide into 8 separate balls (for big, huge bagels) or 10 for smaller ones. On your floured surface, roll each piece into a loose ball, flatten a bit in a thick circle, and pierce a hole through the middle using your thumb. Smooth out a bit and place on floured surface.
5.) Now its time to boil the bagels. On one side, you have your floured surface with 8-10 bagels. In the middle you have the boiling water. On the other side, a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Lower bagels (carefully!) two at a time into boiling water, and let boil for about 3 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Remove each with a slotted spoon to cookie sheet and repeat with the next batch. As soon as bagels are cool enough to handle, dip quickly into oatmeal.
6.) When all bagels have been boiled and dipped, place cookie sheet in oven and cook for 15-20 minutes (depending on your oven and bagel size.) They should be golden brown and fully raised. Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack until ready to eat!

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And finally, here are some lecker muffins bedecked with plum and a hint of ginger that one can enjoy using tiny baby plums or regular sized ones.

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Plum and Ginger Muffins

2 C. Flour
1/2 C. Sugar
1 Tbs. Baking powder
1 Tbs. Soy Flour
1 C. Soymilk
1/4 C. veg oil
Pinch salt
1 C. plums, peeled and diced into small pieces
1 Tbs. Ginger, diced into very small pieces

1.) First, preheat oven to 400(f) or 200(c) and line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
2.) Next, deal with your plums. If they are very small plums you don't have to bother peeling them, but for the larger ones go ahead because the peels can be a tiny smidge bitter. Slice in half, remove pit, and chop into smaller chunks.
3.) Peel a large chunk of ginger and dice or grate into very small pieces, a tablespoon's worth. Mix together with plums.
4.) Mix together wet ingredients then sift in dry ingredients. Stir until everything is wet, then add in plums and ginger. Stir until "just mixed" then ladle into muffin tin, filling each cup a little more than halfway. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.


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Hmm, and speaking of baking, time to go take out the next round of bagels...

Tyranny of tiny plums

So we are still fairly flooded with cheap and tiny plums (the "mirabellen" variety, to be exact) here in good old Berlin. They sell for almost nothing at markets, come in our weekly CSA basket, and sometimes, you even find them on the streets. So I have been trying to come up with new uses for them other than the ubiquitous plum cake. Well, actually, we made a plum cake too. (A beautiful one!)

I used the fancy cake recipe from the Urban Vegan cookbook (I really urge you to go out and grab that cookbook if you can, its jam-packed with greatness) and put a layer of golden mirabellen jam in between layers, with more plums on top. Boy, was this sweet. (Maybe a little too sweet?) But then again, we served it on Rosh Hoshanah, so too sweet is good. My friend SY was there and had a professional touch that made a simple cake just stunning- she knows all the tricks for making food gorgeous. Unfortch, I didn't get a pic of the finished product, but then, that's how it always is on holidays. (It was a nice celebration though, as seen below.)

In other plum related news, I made a salad with some gorgeous fennel we also got in our basket and some arugula: it was basically caramelized fennel, chopped plums, arugula and homemade balsamic vinegar dressing. Very rich and delicious.

And finally, I made some plum and ginger muffins to hand out in language school. In my opinion, these were a little bitter or something with a strange aftertaste, so I will withhold the recipe until I can perfect them. But they were pretty and good, just not absolutely perfect. (Next time they will be!)

I am pleased that I now have a variety of options for getting rid of the tiny little plums everywhere, but I must say that now I'm ready for the next challenge... maybe pumpkins?


song of the day: Belle and Sebastian- Sookie in the Graveyard

My blueberry days

Above: half-eaten rooftop brunch featuring blueberry-banana pancakes, brunch potatoes, pretzels, mustard, beer, coffee, apfel shorle, and lots of strange and German non-vegan things... (weisse wurst not pictured, shudder)

Below: another blueberry pie, devoured withing mere minutes of this photo being taken by a pack of hungry houseguests.



Ahh, summer.

Summer Pie Madness

Why, when it is hot enough to melt off my make-up, do I suddenly have the urge to make pies? It is not to please my boyfriend, who is completely indifferent to most sweet things I try to force on him. Its not to get rid of all the extra fruit I have growing in my non-existent orchard. I guess its just because when I look at a peach or carton of blueberries, I instantly envision bubbling fruit surrounded by a sweet flaky crust and topped with some ice cream. Let's just say I have a one-track mind.

However, I do not have the skills to match it. Check out this disaster of a blueberry pie.

Well, it wasn't so bad. The blueberries were lekker. But the crust was not much to see, mainly because I could not master keeping it flaky in such warm weather. I kept re-rolling it, only to find it harder and harder to put it into the pan without it breaking. And then when I did, of course, it was overrun by out-of-control blueberries, so that it was more like some kind of neglected pandowdy or something.

But for the lovely, and tiny, peach pie you see framing either side of the page, I took the great advice of the lovely Urban Vegan and just basically did not mix the dough AT ALL. Just the tiniest bit. And it turned out so lovely! (Her cookbook is just full of such tips, btw.)

I topped it with some quick cashew cream and the whole thing was just marvelous for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Didn't last much longer than that.) I'm also lusting for some cherry pie, but I really need to find someone who likes sweets more than my boyfriend, because I cannot continue to eat these things all by my lonesome. (Not a good reason to break up with him, but I'll be sure to bring it up in some upcoming fight. "You never eat my pies!" I'll scream...)



Song of the Day: My Bloody Valentine- Strawberry Wine

Random Foodage

Its been a busy couple of weeks here in Berlin. Between writing my dissertation, working (or mostly watching work get done) on our new apartment, and watching Germany's AMAZING ascent in the World Cup, there hasn't been a lot of time for more than delicious vegan currywurst from Vegetarian Diner at Goerlitzer Park. However, I did manage to make my Chipotle Plantain Enchiladas once more, this time relying on 3 tbs. of chipotle powder (still delicious) and to pump out some much needed bagels.

Although bagels are becoming more common at specialty stores in Berlin, I still love my Vegan Brunch recipe the most. This time I topped them with a mix of sesame and poppy seeds along with a little paprika. Perfect with avocados and tomatoes for a lunch at the library. :)

Another library lunch winner? Making a variety of leftover-producing little dishes that compliment eachother. I made a quickie beet salad- with chunks of roasted red beets and fresh grapefruit in a dressing made with grapefruit juice and agave nectar. Then, I made a broccoli salad with toasted sesame seeds, reduced orange juice, a little soy sauce, fresh ginger and sesame oil. (Toasted sesame seeds are so tasty! Like popcorn... except miniscule.) And then finally I made a huge batch of red lentils and rice with caramelized onions from V'Con. This was great, but I should have upped the onion content, because that's really where the magic comes from.


And now, back to work!

Song of the Day: The Mary Onettes- Lost