Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

My old 1970's cooking notebook

In this post, I talked about my old cooking notebooks, particularly the one from 1973.  Well, it inspired a hankering for a very simple zucchini recipe that my mother used to make frequently.  It's so simple that it isn't really a recipe!  I didn't make it for years because it requires cheddar cheese and when I first became a vegan there was nothing decent in the vegan cheese department!  Even now, vegan "cheddar" is usually pretty bland.  I think the best one is Sheese.  I didn't have any in the house to make this recipe and was stuck with Tofutti Slices, but it still brought back memories!  Next time I'll use Sheese Strong Cheddar.  (Sheese Smoked Cheddar and Cheshire are actually my preferences, but they don't sell them in our local HF store.)


ANYWAY, TO MAKE THIS, simply take some small zucchini (4-6 inches long), wash, trim, and cut them in half lengthwise, steam them until almost tender, and then lay them out cut-side-up on a cookie sheet.  Slather on some tasty tomato sauce and top with vegan cheese (see remarks above).  Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. That's it!  We gobbled this down as kids!  (Yes, it was the 50's and 60's, but  we were California kids with a half-Italian father-- grew up on zucchini and greens!)

I think I'll update this, not only with vegan cheddar, but with roasting the zucchini with a bit of olive oil instead of steaming it-- since you have to turn on the oven anyway.


OH, AND I WANTED TO GIVE YOU A TIP FOR CUTTING DOWN THE TIME WHEN MAKING BROWN RICE.  
I've done this for years. Before you leave the house in morning, or as you go about your morning business, soak the rice in 2-3 cups of water per cup of dry rice. Soak for 2 hours to overnight. KITCHEN PICS:
We got a new stove the other day and I decided to take some pictures of my tiny kitchen.  It works for me, though-- everything I use often is at hand.  (Though we have a big freezer outside and a pantry/closet for alot of our food.  I keep some of the serving dishes and bowls, etc., that I don't use often in the dining area.)






Cheers!

Peanut Butter Lava Cake (with chocolate ganache filling)

We went to a great vegan dinner party with 2 other couples last night-- good food, wine, talk and company!  My contribution was the dessert.

(I also made a vanilla gelato, but my freezer seems to be sluggish and the gelato didn't freeze it sufficiently, so we used it as a sauce!)

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA’S VEGAN PEANUT BUTTER/CHOCOLATE MOLTEN LAVA CAKES

Serves 8-16

These individual peanutty cakes have a soft center of chocolate ganache that erupts in a rich, dark puddle from the cakes.  They are best served right out of the oven, but they can be quickly reheated in a microwave oven just before serving. NOTE: The molten lava filling has to be frozen for at least 4 hours first, though, so you can’t make these on short notice unless you have the filling in the freezer already.

Originally, this type of cake was a flourless cake based on eggs that formed a molten center when the batter was baked, or, rather, under-baked.  These days, more often than not, a rich cake batter containing flour is used and a frozen chocolate mixture is placed between layers of batter before baking.  This is the version that I started with to make a vegan version of this cake. 

**These cakes are baked individually.   Use ramekins, little soufflé dishes, giant (1 cup) muffin tins, ceramic coffee cups, 8 oz. custard or pudding dishes or custard cups—anything that holds 1 cup (8 oz.).  They should be generously greased with vegan margarine and placed on cookie sheets, not touching. 

Chocolate Molten Lava filling:

4 oz. bittersweet or semisweet organic dark dairy-free chocolate (eating chocolate or chocolate chips are fine)

1/2 cup plus 7 teaspoons vegan creamer OR rich soymilk or nut milk

4 teaspoons agave nectar, maple syrup, brown rice syrup,or organic corn syrup

1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Cake:

1/2 cup    peanut butter, smooth natural  

1/2 cup    vegan butter  

1 cup    brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup    organic light granulated sugar  

1/2 cup    medium-firm tofu OR firm to extra-firm silken tofu, mashed  

1 tablespoon    egg replacer powder  

1 teaspoon    pure vanilla extract  

1 and 1/4 cups    whole wheat pastry flour  

1 and 1/4 cups    unbleached all-purpose flour  

1 tablespoon    baking powder  

1/2 teaspoon    salt  

1 cup    nondairy milk 

To Make the Chocolate Molten Lava Filling (make at least 4 hours ahead of baking time):

Melt the chocolate gently with the creamer or milk and syrup in a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat.   Whisk until smooth.  Add the vanilla and let cool until tepid.  (This will seem runny, but don’t worry!)

Spray an ice cube tray with oil from a pump sprayer. Fill 8 of the ice cube cups with the chocolate mixture, distributing it evenly.  Freeze for 4 hours, or cover and freeze for up to a month.

To make the cake (make this just before baking): Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Have the cups or ramekins for the cakes prepared as noted above**.

Cream together the peanut butter and vegan butter, using a stand mixer, electric beaters or a food processor. When smooth, add the sugars and beat well again. Add the tofu, egg replacer and vanilla and beat again until very smooth.

If using a food processor, scoop the mixture into a mixing bowl.

Whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt well in a smaller mixing bowl.

Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the flour mixture, and beating just enough so that you don't see the flour or milk anymore between additions.  Divide the batter in half by scraping the batter into a 2-qt. measuring pitcher/batter bowl.  Level it off, figure out exactly what half of the batter amounts to and scoop that top half back into the original bowl.

Divide the half of the batter evenly into the prepared cups or ramekins.  Gently place one of the frozen chocolate cubes in the center of each (on top—don’t force down) and then top evenly with the remaining half of the batter.

           

Bake in the center of the oven until puffy and set, and slightly cracked on top, about 40 minutes.  Test on the side of one of the cakes with a cake tester or toothpick.  

Let cool in the pan 10 minutes, then loosen carefully and overturn onto individual dessert plates.(This is quite rich, so 1/2 a cake might be enough for light eaters!)

Serve hot with topping of your choice— a vanilla nondairy “ice cream", is particularly good, but a vegan whipped topping is also a good choice.

The cakes cans be reheated by microwaving them for 30 to 40 seconds.

Enjoy!

I had a craving for pho the other day and thought it also might be the perfect antidote for the over-eating at Thanksgiving-- not that I had that problem (we had our Thanksgiving in October), but we were overeating while I made all those dishes to photograph!

According to Vietnamese pho experts, pho is "noodles in soup", not "noodle soup".  You're supposed to have plenty of the savory broth to drink after you eat the noodles, etc..  Also,  I have it on good authority that pho is not really pho unless you use beef or chicken (not turkey, pork, etc.), BUT there is a dispensation for vegetarian pho (which is called Pho Chay).  Pho Chay is usually made with tofu (or tofu and mushrooms), but I decided to make it with thin slices of my Seitan Steak (that recipe is in my new book, World Vegan Feast.   However, you can use any favorite "beefy seitan", or beefy Chinese TVP strips, or commercial "steak strips" or "beef strips" instead.  Since gluten "mock meats" have been common in Asia for centuries, I'm hoping that this doesn't take my soup out of the real pho realm!

Choices for "beef strips":

My Beefy Seitan Steaks (that recipe is in my new book, World Vegan Feast)


Chinese TVP "Beef" Slices 


Commercial "beefy strips" or "steak strips"-- there are several brands available.

You could also use "Beefy Soy Curls®" (recipe at link):


The green onions for the garnish should be the green part only, and sliced very thinly on the diagonal (not chopped) and the onion should be sliced paper-thin with a mandoline slicer.  Cilantro is the most common garnish, but Thai basil and mint are also used (and I generally use one of these because DH dislikes cilantro).

This soup is so comforting on a cold day! And yet you have all the crunchy fresh sprouts and herbs to add sunshine to the meal!


Printable Recipe

Cheers!

Cheers!