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

HAPPY EASTER!

As you probably know from reading this blog, our casual "vegan dinner group" of 5 vegan Denman Is. couples gets together every now and then to share good vegan food, wine, companionship and conversation. Last night we had a fabulous vegan Easter/Spring dinner. It had an Italian theme this time. (Unfortunately, on couple could not make it-- we missed you, Rudy and Ellen!)

Here are some pictures:

My contributions: 
  
My seitan ham and Squash and Cranberry Mostarda 

  
Squash and Cranberry Mostarda-- the only changes I made in the recipe were white wine vinegar instead of champagne vinegar, and kabocha squash instead of butternut. I wanted to make a mostarda to make my seitan "ham" fit better with the Italian theme. A mostarda is an Italian relish-- sweet and spicey-hot-- that is usually made with a variety of dried fruits.  I only had dates, raisins and cranberries in the house.  I went looking on the internet for something mostarda-like that I could make with what I had around, and found this great recipe, which was delicious with the "ham".  It would be good with smoked tofu, too!

 My seitan "ham"

  
My crusty artisan no-knead bread baked in pots


Smaller version of Pastiera Napolitana Vegan (Neapolitan Easter Grain & "Ricotta" Pie)-- see recipe and better pictures at this blog post. My pictures of the cut pie I made for last night did not turn out.  here's a photo of a slice of the larger-sized pie I made last year:
 
Last night we had some of Pelka's organic frozen strawberries with the pie.


VIEWS OF THE TABLE:











CLOSER VIEWS OF THE FOOD:


 
Sarah and Gord's wonderful spring greens salad with baby green beans, zucchini, arugla, and tomatoes in a lemon, garlic and olive oil dressing-- couldn't stop eating it!


 
Pelka's Fennel and Mushroom Pasta in Cashew Cream sauce-- delish!


 
Pelka's terrific kale with pine nuts


 
My bread with a bowl of Fireweed's delicious olive spread to slather on it!


 
Fireweed's gorgeous  and mouth-watering stuffed portobello mushrooms with asparagus.


 
Everyone except DH, who took the picture, ready to toast and eat!


Thanks to Pelka and Rob for hosting us!


Have a wonderful holiday ushering in Spring!

The second offering in my intermittent meatless loaf "series", recipe below.

  Blossoms we used for my Mom's memorial, from my cousin Chris's house in Vancouver.

I'm sorry to be late with this weekly blog post (can't do more than that right now-- book edits!) We just returned home from Vancouver, where we had a memorial for my late mother, Eve Tonge Urbina. It was a good occasion, with laughter as well as tears, lots of family, and some friends I hadn't seen for many a year.  It was a family project: My sister Karin and her husband Allen planned it from the other side of the water, and I did the notifying and a photo slide show from my side.  Our cousin Chris and his partner Roxanne hosted and chauffeured us, and provided their house for a family gathering in the evening. Our cousin Denis acted as our host and "MC" (for want of a better term), and organized the obituary notice (which my sister wrote):

"Evelyn (Eve) Tonge Urbina of Courtenay, B.C. died Friday, January 21, 2011 at the age of 93, surrounded by children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Born in Sausalito, California, November 3, 1917, and later a resident of Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, and Vancouver, Denman Island and Courtenay, B.C., she was a product of a gifted and very interesting family of native Californians.

She was a wonderful artist and an open-minded lover of all the arts.  Her sunny, exuberant personality and unconventional and compassionate nature drew people to her like a magnet.  She brought her passion for living and for social justice to everything she did."

Mom, age 92.

We heard some stories about my mom, including some memories of her from my Uncle Ken, who, at 81, was my mom's "baby brother". He related a moving and loving memory of my mother in her role as big sister (she was 17 and he was 5) during one time in their family's struggles during the Great Depression of the 1930's. My cousin Phil, my stepson Laurence, and my youngest daughter Justine both spoke movingly of their memories, and their respect and love for my mother.  Even DH bravely told a funny story about Mom, despite his great dislike of public speaking.

We also acknowledged that this was the end of an era-- Mom was the last of her generation on her side of the family, predeceased by her bother Gilbert Tonge and his wife Charlotte,  Mom's sister Jonnie Rankin and her husband Harry Rankin, and by my father, Alejandro Jaime Urbina. They were not only relatives, but friends and compatriots.



In back, Meghan M. & Brian's son Laurence; front L to R: my cousin Chris & partner Roxanne; me & DH Brian after a delicious dinner at the Whole Vegetarian (formerly the Bo Kong) Chinese Buddhist vegetarian restaurant on Main and 14th in Vancouver.  (Photo taken by a friendly diner at a nearby table.)
My BIL Allen (back to camera), SIL George, and my youngest grandson (back to camera) talking to my stepson Laurence as we were setting up.

When I finish my edits, I have lots of scanning of old family photos and interesting documents to do, so that we can share them with the whole family. We do come from an interesting family!

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Before I sign off, here's the 2nd in my meatless loaf "series", which began with the Low-Fat Vegan Onion "Meatloaf".

NOTE: Okara is the Japanese term for the pulp leftover from pressing cooked soybeans and water for  soymilk or tofu.  If you don't make your own soymilk or tofu, but you live near a tofu shop, you might be able to purchase it fresh. There are some ideas for subs in the recipe.


A FB friend requested yesterday: "Can you point me to a fail-proof recipe for some kind of waffle using fresh okara??? ty ~"  As I have said before, I only create recipes on request if they really interest me!  Another requirement is that I have the ingredients on hand, and I did happen to have some fresh okara in my fridge. I'm always up for improving on a vegan waffle (without adding a whole lot of oil!), making it healthier, or crispier, or using interesting ingredients.  Examples?  Vegan Waffles Made with Seltzer Water! , vegan whole grain sourdough waffles, and Orange-Pecan Cornmeal Waffles (made with beans!).  Okara waffles sounded good to me. (Okara is the pulp left over from making soy milk or tofu.)

All of the above waffle recipes are good, BTW. I have several versions of the bean waffle recipe, and that is my favorite because it's easy, light and crisp, and totally made from whole grains!  My first instinct was to start with that type of recipe, since it seems to be very accommodating. So I tried the simplest version, made with oatmeal (the recipe is in my book "The Fiber for Life Cookbook").  I substituted 1 cup okara for the 1/2 cup dry beans used in the original recipe.  (These are soaked overnight.)  The batter was quite thin and the waffles were tasty, but not very substantial, and not as crispy as the bean waffles.  I tried them with more oats, and then more okara, but ended up ditching that experiment.

I had developed a recipe for a light, crisp vegan "buttermilk" waffle for my now-defunct Vegan Feast newsletter some years ago, and haven't published it anywhere else yet. I worked on this recipe for many weeks.  I was aiming at a more traditional recipe, veganized, which would include at least some whole grain flour and less fat than usual.  One vegan recipe I saw contained cornstarch for crispness (and 6 tablespoons of oil for 5 four-inch waffles), but cornstarch isn't very nutritious, so I tried using some corn flour instead, which worked well.  Then I looked at the labels of some pancake/waffle mixes and saw that they include corn flour and rice flour!  So I added some brown rice flour, too. This worked very well, and the recipe turned out to be very versatile as far as using various whole grain flours.  Anyway, I digress.

I decided to re-work this recipe to see if I could add fresh okara to it.  This took some "finagling", as my mother used to say, due to the liquid content of the okara, but the final result was excellent! Now I have another way to use okara-- thank you, Angela!


NOTE: I use a round Cuisinart Traditional waffle iron (pictured above), NOT a Belgian waffle maker. Other waffles irons recommended by Cooks Illustrated magazine are:  Chef’s Choice WafflePro Express; Cloer Double Waffle Maker; Cuisinart 6-Slice Traditional Waffle Iron.
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