44 posts tagged “maple”
Time really flies. It's the middle of July now. I haven't been blogging much lately. I have a very good excuse this time. I was transitioning to Ubuntu Hardy (a very popular Linux distro) in the past two weeks. I was really busy configuring my system, getting our wireless network to work, and synchronizing the iPod Touch with my new Ubuntu system. I'm really excited about this move because I'm finally free of Windows and all the Windows woes. And I can cut our future expenses down - no more software purchase! And in the midst of setting up my own notebook, my husband's Windows Vista was actually wiped out by a serious and malicious virus. All of his files and his Windows system files were deleted after a reboot. We got no warning whatsoever from our expensive antivirus software. Yeah, what was I expecting a stupid little Windows program to do? The outcome is that now we are both using Ubuntu only. I guess Windows finally pissed us off enough. I'm certainly not gonna miss it.
Being inundated with setting up two Ubuntu systems, I haven't posted any food porn but I have been eating. Well, that goes without saying. I have been cooking, sort of. So this post may seem a little long.
The first photo is the Deep-Dish Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche. I saved the recipe from Vegetarian Times for several months before I felt perplexed why I hadn't made it earlier. It was worth the wait, I'm telling you. It's good for a summer dinner that will delight your taste buds, which keeps you refreshed and cheerful.
Here's a closeup that you can't miss. Oh, I really loved this quiche! It's also the first time that I have made a pie crust with whole wheat pastry flour. I enjoyed the whole process for a good reason then.
The second photo is the Lentil, Bok Choy and Potato Soup. The original recipe is Lentil, Spinach and Potato Soup by Carla of "But Did They Eat It?". I liked it very much, but didn't eat the leftover soup the second day. It's really not the soup's fault. I'm just going through a very particular food-crisis phase. I basically don't know what the heck I want to eat for the next meal.
Vox neighborhood. Until then, take care and God bless!
This is the best bread I've made out of my bread machine. I must confess that I haven't used it that much. It's still a new bread machine. But this 50% whole wheat bread is so doughy and fluffy that we can hardly believe the result. So here's the bread machine recipe.
2/3 cup unsweetened soy milk
2 Tbsp. water + 2 tsp. if the dough is too dry
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Use "sweet bread" cycle.
2 Tbsp. water + 2 tsp. if the dough is too dry
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Use "sweet bread" cycle.
This bread will be great toasted and slathered with vegan margarine.
The weather has been continuously capricious. Jumping from a long and bitter winter to a all-too-short spring, it suddenly feels like summer. I'm afraid that I'm still constantly shocked by the obvious effects of global warming. In this overly warm weather, all I want to eat is some fruit. I've already consumed many cucumbers and tomatoes and whatnot. Then I fancied a nice fruit pudding.
(makes 4 servings or 2 generous servings if served as breakfast)
I eyeballed everything when I made this pudding, so the measurements can be freely adjusted according to everyone's own preferences. I'm not even sure if this is the best way of making a vegan pudding. But it tasted great and I was left with no more fruit craving.
5 cups unsweetened soymilk
1 1/2 cups 100% natural coconut milk
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
3 cups frozen peaches
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
Add all the ingredients into a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and whisk constantly. Cook for about 7-8 minutes until the pudding thickens. Pour into a covered container and refrigerate at least 3-4 hours before serving. I just left it in the fridge overnight.
I also took some more photos of the lilies before I removed them from the vase. I guess this signified that spring was finally replaced by summer.
I haven't been such a good neighbor. I rarely have time to read blogs or leave comments, which I enjoy doing very much. I've got more than 630 new feeds in my Google reader. I feel like I'm getting busy again. Sometimes I really wonder so hard where all the time has gone. Especially when I continue to read In Search of Lost Time by Proust, I strongly believe I should at least start a quest called "Chasing the Lost Time". But I don't think I have the answer to my own question and I don't have the guts to really chase time.
Well, besides chasing time, I did some cooking. Or rather, I found some photos and had to post them here before forgetting what they were. The first one is Vegan Haggis (recipe by River of Bean Vegan). I didn't have scotch so subbed dark rum. It was quite interesting and satisfying. But we were not really in the mood for it, unfortunately.
Here's how it looked being plated. Well, I know I usually don't spend much time making the plate look nice. All in good time, I guess.
The second is my own 50% Whole Wheat Strawberry Pancakes. The batter is half all-purpose flour (2 cups), half whole wheat flour (2 cups), baking powder (1/2 teaspoon), unsweetened vanilla soy milk (1 1/2 cups) with apple cider vinegar (2 teaspoons), orange juice (3/4 cup), pure maple syrup (3 tablespoons), sugar free strawberry preserves (1 1/2 cups), vanilla extract (1 teaspoon), salt (1/4 teaspoon), olive oil (1/2 teaspoon). You basically sift flours, baking powder, and salt; add vinegar to soy milk to curdle it for 5 minutes; then mix the curdled soy milk with all the other wet ingredients. The last step is to combine the dry and wet ingredients together. The verdict? Great! Very much like spring. It satisfied my strawberry craving.
The last thing is my first attempt at veganizing Buttermilk Spoon Bread. It's a hybrid of polenta, cornbread and a souffle. The original recipe is by courtesy of Nicole of Baking Bites again. The result was rather good but it's definitely a working process. The photo doesn't show the texture well. It was moist, cakey, and pudding-y all at the same time. I'll post the vegan recipe once I think it's perfected to my satisfaction.
I haven't been cooking, because I have to nurse Emma most of the time. She sleeps on my lap during the day so I more or less are confined to my chair. She might be getting slightly better. I didn't see her latest stool but I didn't hear any of the horrible gas and diarrhea sound. We'll see.
So the best food porn I can share is of pancakes. I made a stack of banana coconut cornmeal pancakes to de-stress myself. I smothered the pancakes with vegan margarine to get the extra fat as well as the comforting sweetness. The batter (to make 5 big pancakes) is basically all-purpose flour and cornmeal (1:1), one ripe banana (mashed), 100% natural coconut cream, unsweetened soy milk, maple syrup, two drops of olive oil, and vanilla extract. The batter can easily be thinned out a little to create crêpes instead.
The pancakes came out a little coarse, a little smooth, a little coconutty, a little refreshing, and a little like crêpes. I was really satisfied with the taste and texture.
Flavorful fruity pancakes are really nice and I can hardly resist them most of the time, but sometimes all I want is a stack of the old faithful buttermilk pancakes. They are fluffy and plain but they are so versatile that you can easily eat them together with some scrambled tofu or other savory dishes. I've been into flaxseeds lately so I added some flaxseeds into my vegan "buttermilk" pancakes to increase the nutritional value.
The batter consists of all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, flaxseeds, curdled soy "buttermilk" (soy milk with apple cider vinegar), maple syrup, vanilla extract, salt and baking powder. Buckwheat flour certainly added some subtle and pleasant flavor.
The batter consists of all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, flaxseeds, curdled soy "buttermilk" (soy milk with apple cider vinegar), maple syrup, vanilla extract, salt and baking powder. Buckwheat flour certainly added some subtle and pleasant flavor.
I can easily eat these pancakes with some roasted asparagus or garlicky greens. I'd like to dunk them in some soup too.
I have a whole bag of flaxseeds and I didn't want to grind my own flaxmeal this time. So I ended up with a stack of lemon flax pancakes. The batter simply consists of self-rising flour, oat flour, 3 tablespoons of flaxseeds, juice of three lemons, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and some unsweetened soy milk. The result? The tangy lemony flavor was balanced by the sweet and gentle maple syrup. With every bite, I got to eat some healthy and flavorful flaxseeds. What more can I ask for? Oh, maybe some more maple syrup drizzled on top and a bit of vegan margarine. And who said that we need eggs to make pancakes? Now even a super lazy person can make wonderful pancakes.
I'm not sure if anyone has already tried this flavor combo. I had two big oranges dying to be picked up and I was in the mood for some refreshing citrus flavor. Thus the orange pancakes were born. The batter was very easy to make. Half all-purpose flour and half oat flour. Maple syrup as the sweetener, with the help of some vanilla extract and plain soy milk. Freshly squeezed orange juice added the fresh garden smell and taste. I loved these mild and subtle orange-y pancakes. Next time I will use orange zest to strengthen the orange flavor a bit. Overall, it was a great experiment.
I haven’t made pancakes much in the past few weeks. I’m usually a huge pancake fan. I mean I can eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I haven’t been cooking lately but making a stack of pancakes doesn’t feel like work at all. So this is my new pancake mix: coconut-banana-cranberry flavor. The sweet and rich combination of coconut and bananas is highlighted and contrasted by the tangy cranberries. I highly recommend eating these pancakes with vegan margarine.
Coconut-Banana-Cranberry Pancakes
(makes 6-7 large pancakes)
Coconut-Banana-Cranberry Pancakes
(makes 6-7 large pancakes)
1 cup self-rising flour (or all-purpose flour plus 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/4 tsp. salt)
1 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup coconut cream
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla soy milk
1 over-ripe banana, mashed
1/2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 to 4 1/2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1/2 + 1 Tbsp. dried cranberries
1 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup coconut cream
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla soy milk
1 over-ripe banana, mashed
1/2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 to 4 1/2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1/2 + 1 Tbsp. dried cranberries
1. Sift the flour and oat flour with baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
2. In another bowl, mash the banana, and add coconut cream, soy milk, olive oil, vanilla extract and maple syrup. Mix well.
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients gradually. Mix the batter well. The batter should be runny but not too thin.
4. Use a paper towel to lightly grease the pan and then put it on medium heat. When the pan is hot, cook your pancakes away.
2. In another bowl, mash the banana, and add coconut cream, soy milk, olive oil, vanilla extract and maple syrup. Mix well.
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients gradually. Mix the batter well. The batter should be runny but not too thin.
4. Use a paper towel to lightly grease the pan and then put it on medium heat. When the pan is hot, cook your pancakes away.
For Valentine’s Day, I was courageous enough to make half a batch of Brooklyn vs. Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes (VCTOTW, page 65). My vegan pastry crème is not as clearly visible in the photo as in the cookbook but the taste is purely heavenly. My rich chocolate ganache frosting came out a little thinner than usual this time (probably because I had a heavy hand in measuring the soy milk) but what the heck. I’m still loving this batch of not-overly-sweet-and-super-rich cupcakes.
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