"beef" stew

It’s true, it’s not winter, which is usually the stew season, but I haven’t cooked in a few weeks (was out of town for a week, and who cooks when they’re out of town?) and, quite frankly, last week I just didn’t feel like cooking. And I still don’t really feel like cooking. But there’s something to be said for that. When life gets you down, and motivation is scarce, sometimes the best thing to do is to go look at beautiful local produce at the farmers market, choose some ingredients for comfort food, and make yourself get in the kitchen (of course, this really does only apply if you actually enjoy cooking, but, you get the point).

So, with a black and white kitty trouncing behind my footsteps, and Gogol Bordello on the stereo, I made the seitan, made the stew, and drank a beer. And therein lies a little bit of happiness.

“Beef” Stew (WSCC 126)

Faux Beef (La Dolce Vegan: 288)- times recipe x2

2 large onions, coarsely chopped

4 cups broth (I use rapunzel vegan bouillon)

1 ½ tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp pepper

6 medium red potatoes, cubed

6 carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained (I use fire roasted)

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

Really, I suppose you can use whatever “beef” you wanted. Was toying around with Gardien’s new beef tips, but I would need 2-3 packages I think, and besides, I wanted to make the seitan fake beef from La Dolce Vegan.

Take your “beef” and onions and brown them using a little bit of olive oil in a heavy skillet. Don’t go as far as to caramelize your onions though!

Combine the broth and the remaining ingredients into a stockpot and bring to a low boil. Add the “beef” and onion mixture and bring heat down to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Spoon up in lovely bowls and enjoy. Comfort in a bowl.

Blue Plate Special #1: BBQ “Chicken” Nuggets and Slaw

First of all, I didn’t realize tonight’s dinner would make my whole house smell like apple cider vinegar. It does. Nor did I realize that I was going to have to stock up on cider vinegar and vegan Worcestershire sauce to make it through the Whistle Stop Café Cookbook. I do. But as I sit here with my belly full and the tang in the back of my jaw beginning to soften, I’m perfectly happy to stock my cupboard full with both if it means I’ll be eating like this!

First, I made the “chicken”, using Sarah Kramer’s faux chicken recipe from La Dolce Vegan. It was first foray into making seitan, and it was much easier to make the “chicken” chunks than I had imagined. Excluding a few mock meats, I will be using seitan for the bulk of these recipes. Tastes good, is pretty easy to make, and is seriously about 5 times cheaper than buying premade mock meats. I then laid out the chunks in 2 quart glass baking pan, poured the below BBQ sauce over them, covered the pan in foil, and baked in the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Modified “Aunt Bess’s Barbecue Sauce”

Whistle Stop Café Cookbook (WSCC pg. 70)

½ cup water

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup soy free earth balance

2 tablespoon cane sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1 ½ teaspoon salt (I used black lava, gave for a more earthy taste)

¼ teaspoon chili powder

1 small drop liquid smoke

1 thick slice lemon

1 thick slice peeled white onion

½ cup ketchup

Combine all the ingredients except ketchup in a medium saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce and simmer halfway covered for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and take out lemon and onion pieces. Stir in the ketchup.

This is not a thick BBQ sauce, and while it is quite good, I think a dash of chipotle, and adding in 1-2 tablespoons of agave at the end would really just take it over the top. Maybe molasses. I also used yellow mustard, as that’s what I had in the house. That was a huge mistake. Likely should have used dijon. Will try that next time.

For the slaw I quite simple made Fannie Flagg’s slaw as the recipe instructed (WSCC pg. 135) which I’m not sharing, as I think it’s rude to just post other people recipes, but it’s pretty close to this. There’s half an onion blended in the sauce, and the sauce is blended in the blender, so it’s not quite the same, but you get the idea. Prior to making this slaw, I had no idea people even made slaw without miracle whip, but I’m sure glad southerners got it right first and left me nothing to improve. This stuff rocks! Especially when it’s served with tater salad, corn on the cob, and on an actual blue plate. Yum!

Proof this project is crazy!

So (confession time) when I picked up Julie Powell’s book Julie and Julia a little over a year ago, I was inspired. Not because she decided to cook her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but because she had finished cooking her way through the beast of a book. When my wife and I saw the movie, she looked me in the eye and said “You should veganize that cook book.” And in truth, I mulled it over, but the fact is, I really hate French cooking. Not all of it, but on principle it’s just so damn stuffy. No thanks.

So, here I am a year later, still wanting to veganize a cookbook. The Joy of Cooking? Maybe, but I want something more... regional. I want an adventure like being a north-westerner transplanted into the Deep South (not once but twice) has been an adventure. See– there’s just something about the south… and if I’m living in the US and not in the Pacific Northwest, this is where you’ll find me.

What do you do when you are a lesbian foodie living in the south looking to for a good challenge of a cookbook to veganize? Well, you do what I did of course. You remember Idgie Threadgood and Ruth Jamison and The Whistle Stop Café, and you order a slightly used copy of Fannie Flagg’s Original Whistle Stop Café Cookbook and think, “I can do this!”

Of course, then I actually opened the cookbook and boy, are we in for one hell of a ride. Now, I’ve already decided to make most of my own mock meats, and I know I have a good base of recipes in my cupboard to use as a spring board, from Soy, Not Oi to Venganomicon; La Dolche Vegan to Great Chefs Cook Vegan and more. And I feel confident most of these recipes I can do. But when I get to veganizing “roast possum” and “sunshine salad,” which, as far as I can tell is Lemon Jell-O with carrots, pineapple, and walnuts served on lettuce with mayonnaise, well, I get a little bit scared (not to mention nauseous) but I know, armed with my deep fryer, the wealth of knowledge in my cookbook cupboard, and the spirit of Idgie, I can do this. Stay tuned.