Mom's Vegan Banana Bread

Where I'm from, banana bread is a staple. I know this isn't a very exciting recipe, but when a neighbor comes over for coffee or you need something to take to a friend when a pet has died, good banana bread is there for you. It may not be impressive, but it is familiar and comforting. It is the baking version of watching a favorite old movie - it makes you feel nice and you don't have to think about it. It's You've Got Mail.

It is also the traditional use for that last banana that got too soft before you had a chance to eat it - let leftover bananas get good and dappled-brown, then freeze them until you have enough to make banana bread. The full loaves also freeze really well, so double the recipe and have one to defrost when old Fido finally bites it.

This is my mother's recipe; she veganized it herself, too (the asides are mine), so she deserves full credit.

Mom's Banana Bread

Makes 1 loaf

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
5 Tbsp. Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
2/3 c. sugar
3 tsp. Ener-G egg replacer prepared with 4 Tbsp. water
1 c. mashed very ripe banana (about 2 bananas - better more than less, I think, so if your two bananas go a little bit over or you have 3 to use and they make up slightly more than this, toss them in. It will add more moisture, though, so compensate with a little more flour if you need to)
1/2 - 2/3 c. walnuts

Let all ingredients get to room temperature before combining.  Preheat oven to 375 and grease a loaf pan.

Thoroughly mix flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

In a separate bowl, beat the sugar into the Earth Balance with a mixer on high speed until it lightens in color and weight. Add the flour mixture bit by bit and continue blending until it's all added, then gradually beat in the egg replacer.

With a rubber spatula or spoon, fold in the banana and nuts until just combined, then pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly.

Bake 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool it in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing it to cool completely on a rack (if it is still to soft and hot when you try to unmold it, it is likely to break apart.)

Thanks, Mom!


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"Easy Like Sunday Morning" Vegan Carrot Cake Pancakes

There's kind of a funny story behind these pancakes. I was over at a friend's house, and she wanted a quick and easy dinner, so she decided to make pancakes. She sent her husband to the store for ingredients, and I begged him to pick up some carrots for me to snack on as well because I just didn't think I could take all that sugar. When he got back, my friend started joking around about how to use the carrots... and suddenly exclaimed, "can you make CARROT CAKE PANCAKES?"

As it turns out, I can.

That night, we looked in to plain vegan pancake recipes on line, and then I added spices, shredded carrot, and raisins, and what we came up with was pretty great. When I tried to recreate them at home, however, the incredible 6 tablespoons (!) of baking powder that the original recipe had required suddenly became a big problem. After several iterations, and a great deal of tweaking, here is my final recipe: perfected today, on one of the first sunny, temperate Sundays of the season, hence the name. A lot of the magic is in the technique; because the rising depends on the baking powder, so keeping those nice little bubbles intact is key. Read on...

"Easy Like Sunday Morning" Vegan Carrot Cake Pancakes

Dry Ingredients
     3 c. flour
     3/4 tsp. salt
     3 Tbsp. baking powder
     6 Tbsp. sugar
     3 tsp. cinnamon
     1 tsp. nutmeg

Wet Ingredients
     3 c. soymilk (plain, original, or vanilla, depending on how much extra sweetness you want. I work with plain, myself, but if you only had vanilla, you could decrease the granulated sugar a bit to adjust for it)
     6 Tbsp. oil
     2 tsp. vanilla
     1 c. golden raisins, rinsed to remove bits and stems, then soaked in hot water to soften them
     2 c. grated carrot, drained

Combine all the dry ingredients thoroughly with your hands, making sure to break up the little clumps that baking powder tends to form. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the vanilla into the soy milk, then do the same with the oil. When they're thoroughly mixed, fold in the carrot and raisins, combining well.

Preheat a pan to medium/medium high or a skillet to 375ish. If that seems too hot as you make your first pancake, go ahead and adjust to what you think is best.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour the wet ingredients into the well. Firmly and quickly fold the wet ingredients into the dry, using as few strokes as possible, but combining thoroughly. You should be able to do this rather quickly, and if there are a few little bumps, don't worry about it. Over-mixing will break up the bubbles formed by the baking powder and make your pancakes too dense and flat.

When your pan is preheated, spray with canola oil. The batter will be thick and a bit clumpy, so it will be tempting  to spread it to get it into a better pancake shape, but don't (I made this mistake a couple of times before I figured it out). Far better to try to control shape and thickness while pouring, again so you don't destroy the rise.

Cook until the edges are beginning to firm and the bubbles in the center of the pancake pop and the batter doesn't refill the hole (awkward to say; great way to judge pancake done-ness). Flip gently and cook for a couple of minutes until golden brown.

They will be a little more dense than normal because of the carrot and raisin, but they should have a good texture and rise. Cut open the first one and make sure it's done in the middle, and adjust your cooking time if needed. Serve with syrup, cashew cream, jam, agave nectar, or whatever strikes your fancy.

Enjoy!

P.S. I think you're going to get a book review soon, because I went to McKay's today (locals, you know what I'm talkin' 'bout) and bought a cookbook and a bunch of memoirs and essay collections by food writers, including Ruth Reichl, Calvin Trillin, Judith Jones, and Edna Lewis. Am Super Excited.


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Crepe Use #2: Gateau with Walnut and Pear, Topped with Pear-Infused Whipped Cashew Cream

I recently purchased a crêpe pan - a 9-1/4-inch, French-made, solid steel crêpe pan- and a lot of culinary hopes rested on its performance. I was emotionally invested in my success as I attempted this recipe recently at the home of a friend, who no doubt doesn't appreciate what I did to her kitchen (but has been very gracious and pretended not to care). As you may remember from my last crêpe blog, and before that from the latke blog, I tend to get angry at food when it doesn't perform well, and if it is in a solid state, I tend to stab it with any handy utensil. Usually my audience for this is limited to my dog, who sits back and waits for me to drop something she can eat, but one of the hazards of cooking in someone else's home is that they have to witness your tantrums, too. And so does their dog. Sorry, Lindsay and Magic.

Any time you're working with a new pan, there's a getting-to-know-you period. My crêpe pan and I, we had a smoky, sticky, burn-y first outing, but with a little bit of practice and lots of temperature adjustments, we finally started to turned out some beautiful crêpes, and overall, the gâteau came together very nicely, don't you think?

My new pan isn't non-stick, and doesn't need quite the level of heat that my old pan did, so I ended up working with very light oil and medium heat (I know, right?!). In classic crêpe making, you tend to heat the pan up very hot, until it's smoking, then picking it up, adding batter, quickly swirling the batter around the pan, and returning it immediately to the heat to cook for about 30 seconds until flipping. I had much better luck at medium, letting the pan fully reheat in between, then holding the pan at about a 45 degree angle and adding the batter from the top, then swirling carefully, then keeping the pan off the eye for about 10 seconds to let the heat disperse into the crêpe and cook the bottom more evenly. Once that has happened, I returned it to the heat, flipped it after about 30 more seconds, and cooked the other side for about that long. Et voilà!

Before you begin this recipe, note that there is some prep time; the crêpe batter needs to be made and the cashews soaked the night before, the cashew cream needs to chill for a couple of hours to firm up, and the pear-water will need to simmer for a while, too. But with a little planning, this shouldn't be any trouble.

Sweet Crêpes

Note: Depending on how many "practice crêpes" you'll need to make, and how large you want your gâteau to be (and how large your pan is), you may want to double this recipe. I did, just to be safe, and ended up needing them all after my initial new-crêpe-pan failures.

1 c. cold water
1 c. coconut milk
1 1/2 c. flour
Egg replacer equivalent to 4 eggs, prepared according to package instructions
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
5 Tbsp. melted Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
a pinch of salt

Pour liquid ingredients into a blender. Blend at low speed, adding dry ingredients slowly in small amounts while the blender is running (through the hole in the lid), then drizzling Earth Balance in as well. When all ingredients have been added, blend for about a minute, then store in the fridge overnight, or at least 2 hours, to let the gluten develop and let the air bubble out. When ready to use, follow directions above. Don't try to use too much batter at once; most pans should take between 1/8 and 1/4 cup.

Walnut and Pear Filling

1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
Agave nectar
2 large pears

Finely chop the walnuts, and combine with agave until thoroughly coated. Add a little more agave and a little bit of water, adjusting each until a syrup forms with the nuts. You'll need to be able to spread the mixture, so that's the consistency you're going for. Either dice or very finely slice the pears, depending on your preference and their texture. Cover the pears if you're not going to use them immediately. Reserve the pear cores and any remnants for the cashew cream


Pear-Infused Whipped Cashew Cream

1 c. cashews, rinsed and soaked overnight
Pear remnants, simmered slowly in 4 c. water until reduced by about half
1/4 c. agave nectar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. refined coconut oil, melted

Place cashews in a blender, then pour pear-water over them until they are just covered. If that isn't enough liquid to cover the cashews, add a little more water until the cashews are barely submerged. Blend, beginning on a low speed and working your way up to the higher speeds. Cashew cream should become perfectly smooth; there should be no perceptible graininess. Once it is the right consistency, reduce the speed and drizzle in agave and vanilla. Once the cream is thoroughly blended, up the speed a bit and slowly drizzle in the coconut oil, continuing to blend until it is thoroughly emulsified. Transfer to a container and chill for at least 2 hours.

 
Once you've made all your crêpes, find a serving plate and place a nice, big crêpein the middle. Pile on a couple more, spreading a little agave nectar (thinned with a little water, if necessary) in between to help them bind to each other. Decide how you want to distribute your filling, depending on how many crêpes you have, and plan ahead. 2 layers each of pear and walnut work well. When you reach the level where you want your first layer, spread  half of your walnut mixture, stopping about an inch and a half from the edge. Place the next crêpe on top, gently pressing down to solidify the gâteau and to seal around the edges of your layer of filling. Add a couple more crêpes, then repeat with a layer of pears. Repeat until you're out of filling, then add all your remaining crêpes, brushing with agave in between and gently pressing occasionally. when you're done, you can let it sit for a bit or cut immediately, serving with a drizzle or a dollop (it depends; mine was unexpectedly more of a drizzle this time, mostly because I didn't want to wait to chill it) of the cashew cream. Enjoy!

Thanks to Lindsay Lanois for the gâteau inspiration, collaboration, coffee, mimosas, and for the use of her kitchen!

What do you feed someone you need to impress?

Recently, my brother brought his girlfriend home for a visit. We'd met her before, but I hadn't really had a chance to get to know her at all. I wanted to make her feel welcome, so I decided to prepare a late lunch for all of us on Sunday out of a new cookbook I'd just gotten, The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook by Tanya Petrovna. I selected a tempeh pâté, a caesar salad, and "Le Benedict Florentine" sandwiches. I never made it to the salad, because I got so wrapped up making the sandwiches, which were very labor-intensive for the output. In between marinating and baking tofu, preparing the Hollandaise, steaming asparagus, and frying the fake canadian bacon, I prepared the pâté, which turned out to be the real star of the meal.

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Tempeh Pâté from The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook by Tanya Petrovna (paraphrased)

1 8-oz block of tempeh, cut into about 8 pieces

Combine:   1/3 c. soy sauce or liquid aminos
                  2/3 c. water
                  1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger (you can keep a ginger root in your freezer for use any time)
                  1 clove garlic, chopped

Saute tempeh pieces in a little bit of oil until brown, turning until browned on all sides. When they are finished cooking, pour soy sauce mixture over them and let it simmer for a couple of minutes, turning so that the tempeh pieces absorb the mixture evenly. Pull them out, drain if needed, then chop as finely as possible. Then, combine with:
                        1/4 c. vegenaisse
                        1/2 c. chopped green onions
                        1/2 c. chopped dill (dried is fine, too - probably about 1-2 tsp?)
                        1/4 tsp. sea salt
Mix with a spatula; then, if you want a smoother texture, blend with a stick mixer or food processor.
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One delightful thing to do with this pâté is to make little puff pastries, or "French Love Bites" as they are charmingly named in The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook. I made those for brunch this morning along with the plain pâte, and both were completely devoured. Even the most conservative eater in the group grudgingly came back for seconds and thirds.

And yes, my brother's girlfriend loved it, too.

I have a little bit of history with stuffed mushrooms. When I was in high school, I worked for a caterer, and when there were left-over crab-stuffed mushrooms, I would pop those babies like candy. Later, on a first date, I ordered stuffed mushrooms that were bathed in some heavenly sauce, and I was so enraptured that my date suggested I "get a room." Suffice it to say, I have high standards when it comes to this particular dish. I used the leftovers of my last batch to make a sample batch of stuffed mushrooms. I had some baby portobello caps laying around, and I wiped them (I'm sure you all know this, but don't wash mushrooms...ever....which is why it's good to buy organic ones. Just wipe them down with a towel) and removed the stems, then chopped and sauteed the stems with garlic and olive oil, then added them to the pâté with some homemade bread crumbs to bind, then stuffed the mushrooms and baked them in an oiled pan for 15ish minutes at 375ish... and they were miraculous. I ate THEM ALL. Well, I gave one to my roommate, but I ate the rest. Don't judge.I'm sure there are lots of delicious ways you could tweak this recipe to stuff mushrooms, puff pastry, etc. No doubt substituting sage and rosemary would be delicious with a higher concentration of bread crumbs (fresher bread, rougher cut); I would even like to try something with some snap, like a bit of olive or caper. The richness of the pate should balance even relatively strong flavors with moderate to high acidity, but I'll report back when I've tried that.

Moving on, the "Le Benedict Florentine" sandwiches worked out well. Some credit for that belongs to my dad, who is quite a good baker, and I used thick, toasted pieces of his rich white bread to anchor this mix of textures. One problem I had was that the marinade for the tofu was too strong, or I marinated for too long, or just cooked it for too long (at such low temperatures, the tofu never changes consistency, but just absorbs more marinade and releases more water, distilling the flavor). The sandwich is composed of lemon-garlic marinated tofu, Hollandaise, steamed spinach or asparagus (asparagus! asparagus! It's so much more dramatic looking and holds up so well), fake canadian bacon, tomato, and some nice sturdy bread. Of all these, the only one worth reporting to you is the Hollandaise.

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Hollandaise Sauce from The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook (paraphrased)

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 c. soymilk (plain, unsweetened)
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. turmeric
pinch white pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
cornstarch, arrowroot, or kuzu for thickening (more on this later...)

Heat oil in a saucepan and saute shallots until translucent and lightly browned. Put shallots in a blender with 1/2 c. of the soymilk and blend well. Pour back into the pan and whisk in other ingredients, except for your chosen thickening agent. Mix 1 Tbsp. cornstarch or arrowroot with 1/4 c. water, then add little by little, stirring until thickened.

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The only problem that I had with this recipe was that I tried to use the same amount of arrowroot as the recipe required of kuzu, which was too much, giving my Hollandaise a slightly jelly-like consistency. Take it easy with the thickener, add gradually, stirring consistently. Then drizzle over something delicious and serve hot. I'll be on the hunt for more uses for this classic tangy-creamy sauce, and I'd appreciate your thoughts...

Tempeh Pate