Really Excellent Marinade

This is a simple post for a marinade I've been making for tofu and seitan.  It's tangy and just a little spicy, and can be adjusted accordingly. I've put it on veggie burgers and it's good with roast potatoes too! It's made with items I always have on hand: Pickapeppa Sauce, a great vegan Worcestershire sauce replacement (Worcestershire sauce has anchovies in it, FYI); Cholula Hot Sauce; and Soy Sauce.

I used some of the sauce to marinate baked seitan, and then made a vegetarian Reuben sandwich with the seitan:

 

Yum!

I wanted to share this sauce with you because I also discovered that it makes an excellent flavoring for seitan! Some of you might know of my troubles with seitan. I just can't give up on making it right. Well, my latest attempt to make a batch of seitan yielded some unusual results, so this post kicks off a series of posts documenting my experiments with seitan.  Stay tuned for recipes for seitan and one that uses seitan!

Yours in experimentation!

Really Excellent Marinade, Flavoring and Sauce
Makes about 2 Tablespoons of sauce--enough marinade for a block of tofu or a loaf of seitan
Takes 10 minutes

1 1/2 Tablespoons Pickapeppa Sauce
1/2 teaspoon Cholula Hot Sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Mix Together.  Tastes even better the next day.

Queen Elizabeth Cake

This might be the best vegan dessert I've ever made.

A few weeks ago, a friend mentioned a craving for something called Queen Elizabeth Cake. Her grandmother would make it at Christmas-time. I was intrigued, especially when I heard it was a date cake topped with a broiled coconut icing!

I did some research because of the name of the cake. There are many stories about the cake online. Some say it was a recipe made by Queen Elizabeth (there's debate about whether the younger or the elder), and the only cake she made herself!  Some stories say the recipe came together during the war. The cake contains a very little amount of butter or eggs, which would make sense if ingredients were rationed. Another part of the story is that the recipe was sold as a fundraiser.

I'm not sure what to make of all of these stories. It seems to be a very Canadian cake though as I can't find the recipe in British cook books. It's kind of like sticky toffee pudding in cake form.

When my friend made it, it was so good!  Really moist cake, dotted with dates, not too rich!  And the frosting was so good!  Creamy with lightly toasted coconut!  When I saw the recipe, I knew this cake would be perfect for vegan experimentation. It's a simple recipe, and the flavor comes from the ingredients, dates and coconut, not so much butter and eggs.

The vegan version is dense and moist, I upped the amount of dates from the original recipe, and substituted coconut oil for butter.

Enjoy!

Queen Elizabeth Cake

Adapted from Amy Murphy's recipe (Thanks, Nanny Murphy!)
Makes 1 cake

Takes 1.5 hours

For  Cake:

1 1/2 cups baking dates, coarsely chopped

1 cup boiling water

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chopped, lightly toasted walnuts (or pecans or hazelnuts or almonds)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon white vinegar

For Icing:

5 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp Coconut oil

1/2 cup dried coconut (I used unsweetened)

3 tbsp coconut milk (perfect to make alongside a thai curry or kuku paka)

In a heatproof bowl, pour 1 cup boiling water over the dates. Cover and let soak for 1 hour.

Mix the ground flax seed with the 1/4 cup of water.  Mix together thoroughly and let sit for at least 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Grease a square glass baking dish (make sure yours is broiler proof--mine wasn't, so I used a spring form pan, lined with parchment paper and foil.  I didn't do this on purpose, but I always end up ripping the lining, and thought a double layer to protect against the cake running out the bottom!)

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1/2 cup of nuts.

In another bowl, beat together coconut oil and sugar until well-combined and fluffy.  Add vinegar and the flax seed mixture and beat well. Add the dates and water and combine.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until it just comes together. Pour into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a tester comes out clean.

When the cake comes out of the oven, place an oven rack on the slot second to the top, and turn the broiler on high. Boil together in a sauce pan on medium high heat the brown sugar, coconut oil, dried coconut, coconut milk, and 1/4 cup of nuts. 

Boil for three minutes and quickly pour over the still warm cake before the mixture becomes hard. Broil for about 5 minutes, watching carefully to make sure the coconut doesn't burn.The frosting will bubble madly!

Take the cake out and let cool. You will have this pretty lacy topping for the cake.

 

Eat! It's even better the next day.

Stocking Up!

Happy New Year, dear readers!  I hope you had wonderful holidays and wish you the best for 2013. I made a resolution to blog more regularly, and here's my first step towards making that resolution a reality.  After some time away, I'm back in Halifax.  I had to restock the pantry and the freezer, and for me that meant making some vegetable stock.  It's so great to have on hand to make soups or sauces, and it adds just a little oomph to all those winter vegetable dishes when you swear you will never eat cabbage again! (I always do though).

One afternoon of work makes a freezer full of stock, and really, you can use any vegetables you like.  Best of all, nearly everything I used came from the farmers market, the only exception being the spices and celery. I like stronger onion-ish flavors, so I use both leeks and shallots, but you could just throw one onion in. I don't like carrot to be too overpowering in my stock, but if you love carrots, throw more in!  Mushrooms, potato peels, if it's hanging out in your refrigerator and you like the taste, it can go in stock.

I'm planning on making a faux chicken noodle soup soon, stay tuned!

Vegetable Stock
Makes about 14 cups of stock
Takes 1 hour of active cooking, plus simmering and cooling

4 carrots, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
5 leeks, sliced
2 shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
10 twigs of thyme
10 peppercorns
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
10 stalks of parsley
16 cups water

In a large stock pot, heat some olive oil on high heat.  Add carrots, celery, leeks, shallots, garlic, thyme, peppercorns, cloves and bay leaves.  Saute for 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are beginning to caramelize.  Add parsley and water.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes.  Let cool, and portion into containers.  Will keep in refrigerator for about 3 days, or in the freezer for a couple of months.

Christmas Cake: Day 2

I made two Christmas Cakes!  They are soaking up whiskey and waiting for Christmas and, hopefully, not growing any pathogens. I'll post an updated picture when it comes time to pour a little more bourbon on them this weekend.  Every Sunday between now and Christmas they get a little drink!

Christmas Cake
Adapted from Felicity Cloake's Recipe

Takes 1 hour + 2 hours baking + weeks of waiting
Makes 1 cake

1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon butter, very soft or melted
1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon muscovado or dark brown sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice (a suggestion: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon clove + 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg; you can also use pumpkin pie spice if you have it)
1/4 cup ground almonds
zest of one lemon (an unwaxed one if possible)
1/4 cup blanched almonds
Boozy Fruits

Preheat oven to 280 degrees fahrenheit.

With two layers of parchment, line and butter an 8 inch cake tin, or what I like to use is a 1 1/2 quart Corning bakeware or similar casserole type dishes. Trim the excess parchment.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking in each until fully incorporated. This will take some time, but when you are done, your batter will look very smooth and rich. Add boozy fruits and their juices, lemon zest and almonds, and stir until just combined.

In another bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, mixed spice, ground almonds and a pinch of salt. 

Fold flour mixture into butter mixture until just combined.

Pour into prepared cake tin and create a hollow with your spatula. This trick prevents a dome from forming on your cake!

Bake for one hour.  Cover loosely with tin foil and bake for 30 more minutes. Check to see if it's done (an inserted fork comes out clean). If it's not, cover again, and bake in 10 minute intervals until cooked. Each cake took approximately an extra 40 minutes for a total baking time of 2 hours and 10 minutes.

Let cool completely. When cool, poke holes almost all the way through the cake.  Brush with whiskey.  Wrap in foil and keep in an airtight container. Brush with whiskey, around once a week until Christmas!

Stir it Up!: Christmas Cake, day 1

This is the second year that I am making a Christmas Cake.  Known to some as fruit cake, this is not at all one of those bizarrely dry cakes with bits of bright red and green candied something in them. This is a very moist, rich, boozy cake with lots of real fruit.  Just a tiny slice of cake is so good with a cup of tea around 4 pm, when it is starting to get dark, and you just aren't ready to have it be nighttime already. I love real fruitcake for not being too sweet, and being actually fruity, not in a bright, summery way, but in a serious, winter way. It's a very companionable cake, for the quiet, contemplative time of year.

It's also a party cake, though, because it really is full of booze!  If you're going to make it, use something that you like to drink. The alcohol helps preserve the cake and gives it flavor. 

I spent one fall in London (the first year of this blog), and the woman I was living with started making mincemeat for pies in November. I was very impressed, and couldn't imagine planning to cook that far ahead. Last year, I really wanted to make a christmas cake, but, poor planner that I am, I started the week before and I fed it a little whiskey every day leading up to its unveiling on Christmas Day. It was delicious.

This year, I am starting on "Stir Up Sunday".  Not at all sure that this is a real thing in Britain, but I like the idea of it a whole lot better than Black Friday which is a very real thing here in the US.  Stir Up Sunday apparently has its roots in the Church of England, which marks the last Sunday before Advent as a day to: 

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I guess Stir Up Sunday hasn't been an entirely religious event for awhile, because in 1849, an observer marked little boys changing these words to:

Stir up, we beseech thee, 

The pudding in the pot: 

And when we get home, 

We'll eat it all hot. 

Phiz (Hablot K. Brown), "Paul Goes Home for the Holidays"
from Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son (1848–9)
image from Victorian Web.

In addition to its religious meanings, Stir Up Sunday now seems to be a day to make mincemeat for Christmas pies, to start Christmas puddings, and to start a Christmas Cake. We may not have a Christmas tree, but we have a little Christmas Cake starting in our house!  My stirring up will be to write some blog posts between now and the end of the year!  I'll be blogging the progress of the Christmas Cake, and maybe you want to start one too. First steps: the fruit and the bourbon.

Christmas Cake--Step 1: Boozy fruit

adapted from Felicity Cloake's recipe

1 cup dried currants
1 cup sultanas (golden raisins, preferably the big ones)
1/2 cup (about 6) dried smyrna figs, chopped
1/2 cup dried plump cherries (not the super shriveled ones)
1/2 cup candied orange peel or mixed peel, chopped
1 Tablespoon candied ginger, chopped fine
1/2 cup whiskey or bourbon 
a splash, Grand Marnier, if you have it around

Stir it up! Let sit for one day, until you are ready to bake the cake.

Spicy Cashews

Rajbhog Foods makes Indian sweets and snacks on the East Coast.  When I lived in New York, a couple of times a year I would head to Jackson Heights for a big grocery shopping trip to buy Indian vegetables and lentils and spices.  There were smaller Indian grocery stores nearer to my apartment, but it was always worth the trek to be surrounded by south Asians and the languages and the smells.  And there was always a good lunch!  I would often bring back sweets, like the cashew katli or the special burfi, and always, always the spicy cashews!  I am not sure what goes into them, but they are the perfect snack, a little spicy, a little salty, so good!

Other versions do not come close to those Rajbhog spicy cashews.  Sometimes you will see spicy nuts that look like Flaming Hot Cheetos, covered in atomic red powder and just wrong. This is a really good approximation, not too spicy, just a little sour, and just a little of that black salt sulfur.  You can buy citric acid in most big grocery stories in the spice aisle. It's also an essential ingredient for preserving tomatoes.  Black salt is harder to find, and I've only bought it in Indian grocery stores.  It goes into all kinds of foods, especially chaats!  And some people sprinkle it on fruits.  Once you try these spicy nuts, you might find a use for the whole bag of black salt...

Cashews are expensive.  You can use raw peanuts or any nut you like, really.  You can adjust the spice blend to your taste.  If this isn't spicy enough for you, lower the amount of salt.  Too spicy!? Substitute paprika for half of the chili powder.  Maybe you want to throw in some black pepper, or cumin, or smoked paprika! 

Spicy Nuts

Takes 15 minutes

Makes enough for a party

1 teaspoon black salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon citric acid

2 cups raw cashews
oil
 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grind the black salt, chili powder and citric acid in a mortar so that it is a very fine powder.

Coat the cashews in oil, grape seed oil or something else that doesn't have a strong taste. Spread out on baking sheet in a single layer, toast for 5 minutes, mix them around, bake for 2 minutes more, mix them around and bake for a further 2 minutes.  You want them to be evenly browned.

Turn the cashews out onto paper towels.  Coat with half of the spicy powder and toss around so the nuts are evenly coated.  Let cool completely.

Keep the rest of the spice mix until it's time to make spicy nuts again.  The cashews will keep for a few weeks in an air tight container.  But you will eat them before you start to wonder if they are going bad.

Socca

This is my new favorite recipe, a great snack that is sort of like a cracker, sort of like a crepe, sort of like a flatbread.  I get especially excited about it because it's made of chick pea flour and therefore gluten-free!  Readers will know that I am always trying to make food that the largest amount of people could eat.  This is the best kind of inclusive eating, a snack that stands on its own and no one misses what isn't there.

It's also an incredibly easy and forgiving recipe.  The only thing you need to remember is 1 cup of chick pea flour (called besan in many Indian languages and available at any Indian grocery store), and 1 cup plus of water.  Sprinkle the salt and the black pepper in.  Give it a good glug of olive oil. Experiment with spices or herbs.  Mark Bittman throws onion into his recipe. No matter what you try, it will be delicious.  I promise.

Socca

Based on David Lebovitz's recipe

Takes 15 minutes (plus waiting for batter to rest)

Makes enough for 8 people

1 cup chick pea flour (besan)

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons water

3/4 teaspoon salt

freshly cracked black pepper

11/2 Tablespoons olive oil

Mix all ingredients together to make a wet, runny batter, about the consistency of crepe batter.  Let sit for at least two hours or even overnight.

Turn on broiler (high if you can control the temperature), and put a lipped baking tray in the oven to get hot.  Cover with olive oil and pour half of batter in, swirling so that pan is evenly coated.

Let cook for 5 to 7 minutes, turning the pan so it gets evenly browned (I prefer my socca browned not burned, but it has to get crispy!  Those are the best parts).  My oven is very uneven so I turn it every 2 minutes.

Turn out onto cutting board and cut into pieces.  Eat immediately!  And make the second pan, scraping out stuck bits, pre-heating the pan in the oven, covering in olive oil.

Share with friends if you have to, but I've been eating an entire pan by myself!