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

Dried Peruvian Panca and Mirasol chiles

Last Thursday, DH and I went to Vancouver for a few days. Among other things, we enjoyed a big family party for my cousin Chris' birthday, and visited with a whole passle of cousins, nieces, and nephews, and my youngest daughter and SIL, and my youngest grandson. The weather was pleasant, the food was great, and it was fun catching up with everyone!

On Saturday, Chris' partner Roxanne drove me, with my daughter Justine, all over Vancouver looking for a Norpro ravioli rolling pin, but I couldn't find one, so I ended up ordering one on ebay! I've heard really good things about this implement, so I'll report back when I've tried it!

We also were on the lookout for Peruvian ingredients. We found them at, of all places, the Killarney Market on 49th! What fun!

Here are some more of my purchases, which I will also report on when I've tried them:


Yellow pepper paste and canned Aji Amarillo


Trigo mote, a knd of wheat that is used in delicious pilaf/risotto kind of dishes, and a proprietary huacatay sauce (huacatay is an herb that tastes like a cross between mint and cilantro).


Huacatay paste, "Papa seca" (Peruvian freeze-dried potatoes, an ancient food that's used in stews), and, in the back, achiote paste (annatto), which is used in Peruvian kebabs (anticuchos).

That night DH, cousin Chris and his partner Roxanne and I judged a stand-up comedy competition benefit for the Vancouver Food Bank. That was fun, too, but we were up way past my bedtime! We unanimously chose Luis Moncayo, a Columbian immigrant who was both smart AND funny!

Stay tuned for my experiments!

Cheers!

A poster with some good ideas, for sale at 10,000 Villages (fair trade store) on Denman St. in Vancouver (my cousin's partner is the manager)

I am just catching up after 4 days away from home in Vancouver. I'm always very glad to get back to Denman Is., but we had lots of fun in Vancouver. Our main reason for going was to see family, and we stayed with my cousin Chris and his partner Roxanne at their lovely house in the East End of Vancouver, near "The Drive" (Commercial Drive), which is a lively, funky neighborhood (I lived there many years ago!) with lots of ethnic eating.

We visited with my youngest daughter, Justine, and her son and partner; with my stepson, Laurie, and his girlfriend; with my sister, Karin, and another cousin, Rose; and my cousin's daughter and little granddaughter. We also visited with an old friend of DH who lives in Port Moody, and his wife, who is a sweetheart. DH and John grew up together in Quebec City and have only recently discovered that they live not too far from each other and still have much in common!

We also visited the 10,000 Villages store that Roxanne manages on Denman St. (she also opened the very successful one on Commercial Drive). So many beautiful things, all fair trade! (Roxanne got an award last year for being a "Fair Trade Pioneer" in Vancouver!) here are some photos from the store:









The other important reason for this visit was to attend a concert at Capilano University. The artist was Habib Koité, one of our favorite African artists, who was born in Senegal, but is actually from Mali. "Habib comes from a noble line of Khassonké griots, traditional troubadors who provide wit, wisdom and musical entertainment at social gatherings and special events. Habib grew up surrounded by seventeen brothers and sisters, and developed his unique guitar style accompanying his griot mother." He has a great band, Bamada. Google his name for lots of videos online!


(Photo by Brian Grogan)

It was a small theatre, so we had a great view, and the audience was very responsive and enthusiastic. Several dancers came on stage at times, and this one was our favorite. I heard that she was an African dance teacher. Look at her go!

(Photo by Brian Grogan)

What fun!

And, of course, the 3rd pleasurable activity was eating! Vancouver is a great place to eat if you like ethnic foods, and it's very vegetarian-friendly. This time we didn't know where we would be half the time, so we didn't plan anything fancy, and just ate at inexpensive neighborhood places. I meant to take pictures of everything, but, alas, I got distracted at times!

Friday afternoon, Chris picked us up at the ferry in Horseshoe Bay and we went for our first Vancouver meal of the trip, lunch at Rangoli, the bistro attached to the upscale Indian-fusion restaurant Vij's (which has been written up in Gourmet magazine). The owner, Vikram Vij, is quite a Vancouver legend.

Rangoli's prices are quite a bit lower than Vij's, but the food and the diners receive the same care and attention. The General Manager, Akiko Masutani, happens to be the daughter of some very good friends of ours. She is only 23 and runs the bistro-- smart girl! She greeted us with open arms and made sure that we got lots of attention!

Shun me if you want, but I didn't eat strictly vegan at this meal! I wanted to taste their legendary food and figure out how to make it vegan at home! It was definitely the best meal we had on this trip! I am still tasting the flavors and will get on with vegan experimenting soon. Even the little salads were exquisite. We had:

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Lentil and Chickpea Kachori with cilantro-jalapeno chutney (a stuffed pastry)


Black Chickpea, Peas and Onion Cakes in Spicy Coconut Curry with vegetable rice pilaf


Kale and Yam Curry on Semolina Crepe spiced with coriander, ginger and mustard seeds

And the best of all:

Portobello Mushroom and Red Bell Pepper Curry with beet salad & naan

Akiko also ordered us Savoury Chaat wheat crisps with potatoes, sprouts, chutney & yogurt, which was very good (cold) and unusual. (The picture didn't turn out.) I just have to do a vegan re-creation of that! Crunchy, spicy, cold, creamy, sour, savory...mmmmm

On Friday night we met my cousin Chris and Roxanne, and my daughter Justine and her son at Hon's Wun-Tun House on Robson St.. It's a big, noisy, crowded Hong-Kong-style Chinese diner, I guess you'd call it. Nothing stylish or romantic about it! There are 5 Hon's in the Vancouver area, but the Robson St. venue has a separate vegetarian kitchen! You can see the two kitchens from the dining room. They have a great veg wonton soup (better than the Bo Kong, I think, though that is a really good Chinese Buddhist vegetarian restaurant, which we didn't get to this time). DH and I had that, a spicy gluten "chicken" dish with peppers and peanuts, which was great, and a stir-fry of mixed "mock meats" and veggies in a sweet potato "nest" (fried), which wasn't that great. I totally forgot to take pictures, being busy admiring my young grandson!

On Saturday Roxanne had to work, so Chris and DH and I met with DH's old friend John and his wife Brenda and went to lunch at the funky Foundation Lounge, which my publisher always visits when he goes to Vancouver. I thought it would be vegan, but it is vegetarian with vegan choices. It's pretty bare-bones decor, and I hear that at night it can get pretty loud with grunge music and lots of young folks. I didn't think the food was great, but it was good, cheap, and plenty of it!

Chris and I shared the Yam (actually sweet potato) dip with a variety of crunchies. Very yummy!:


Chris and DH both had the "BLT". You can leave off the cheese if you like, because it has avocado in it. It has lots of mayo, so, if you're vegan, ask if they have a vegan option.:



Brenda had the "Serial Salad", which had lots of grains and fruit in a creamy dressing:


I had the "Molten Tofu" with lots of greens. It was tasty and VERY filling!:


Saturday night we were in a hurry to get to the concert, so we ate at one of our favorite little restaurants, the Legendary Noodle on Denman St., near Roxanne's store. I have written about this before, so check out this blog post. I always like their food, which is fresh and fast, and they are famous for their "House Tea":



DH and I shared the veggie gyoza/potstickers (they call them "pan-fried dumplings"), which are excellent, and are served like French fries in a paper-lined basket:


We also shared the "Hit Me w/ Dao Xiao Mian, Tofu Vegetarian" dish ("Finely Sliced Noodle from a Flour Dough, Stir Fried Green, Red Pepper, Celery, Bean Sprouts, Dark Bean Soy Sauce")-- ask for no egg in it if you are vegan:


We all indulged in the Fried Pea Shoots w/ Garlic-- so simple and so divine!:


Roxanne had her favorite, which I'm going to try next time, the noodles with Lemon Garlic Green Onion Sauce:


On Sunday we had a gang of family over, so we just went down to the Drive to a Middle Eastern grocery store and set out a buffet of flatbreads and buns, dips and spreads, olives, vegetarian dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), vegetable relishes and salads, and a bowl of strawberries.

For dinner, after the crowd had thinned a little, we went down to the local Thai takeout place and brought home vegetarian pad thai, garlic broccoli, and "Swimming Rama"-- tofu on spinach with peanut sauce. Forgot the photos again on Sunday!

I also forgot the camera in the car when we had our last meal with Chris before we left for home, a sort of brunch at another bare-bones, funky family vegetarian place on the drive, the Cafe Du Soleil (not to be confused with another funky family vegetarian place on the drive that's also good for brunch, Cafe Deux Soleils!). Chris and DH (who eats eggs sometimes) got the vegetarian Eggs Benny (Chris is not vegetarian, but he said it was one of the best he'd had), and I got the Lentil Rolls with a salad and Miso-Ginger dressing. It was a bit stodgy, but it tasted good and was filling and very inexpensive. The server was very pleasant, too.

So now we're back home, glad to be eating our own food again, but savoring the memories of a great concert, good visits with family and friends, and some pretty interesting meals.

Before we left, we checked out some other restaurants on the drive that we'd like to try next time-- an Algerian one that has a vegetarian couscous; a new Ethiopian place (always good veggie fare in Ethiopian restaurants!); an Asian-caribbean-fusion place called Clove, which Chris says is excellent, and the menu looked promising; and a vegetarian Mexican place called Bandidas Tacqueria, which has plenty of vegan options. Stay tuned!

Enjoy!

Noodle Making at the Legendary Noodle (photo by Nick Procaylo, The Vancouver Province)

When we got back from Whitehorse, we stopped off in Vancouver for a couple of days to visit relatives. We were dying for some Asian food (the Chinese restaurants in Whitehorse are not vegetarian-friendly, unfortunately), so we had lunch one day at the Legendary Noodle on Denman St. (Here's a map.)

It's a small, snug place (I read it described as a "hole in the wall"!), but nicely decorated. We sat where we could watch the noodle maker. He had the dough already made and covered on his countertop. When an order came in he would cut off a chunk of the dough and start stretching and folding, stretching and folding, until, about 30 seconds later, miraculously (or so it seemed) there would be thin noodles! They would be plunged into boiling water for another 30 seconds and then mixed by the chef with whatever vegetables, sauces, etc. make the dish. Talk about fast food!

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING VIDEOS ARE JUST ONES I FOUND ON YOUTUBE-- THEY ARE NOT FROM LEGENDARY NOODLE! BUT THE TECHNIQUES ARE THE SAME. BCG

Here's a short video showing the technique for making the dough:



Here's a short video in which you can see how the noodles are formed:



The prices are amazingly cheap, the portions generous, and the menu has quite a few vegetarian options. We started with a cold peanut-noodle salad with spinach, and some vegetarian steamed dumplings, chock full of greens and green onions with some smokey sesame oil. So delicious and fresh that I forgot to take a picture before we ate them all! Sorry! (They just list the pork dumplings for the big plateful on the menu, but we just asked them to substitute the vegetarian ones-- no problem.)

For the entree, My husband had noodles with peanut sauce, nicely spicey:



I had a stir-fry with lots of vegetables and thin slices of tofu (vegans, ask them to skip the scrambled egg). It was so tasty in a subtle, smokey way:



If you eat there (and they have a restaurant on Main St. and one in Richmond, too) try the Legendary Noodle house tea!



It comes in a big glass and it's green tea with an assortment of exotic dried fruits (goji berry, longan, etc.) and chrysanthemum flowers. It's fruity and fragrant and delicious!


Enjoy!

All corn cornbread!

Been a long time between blogs! My cousin Chris from Vancouver came for a visit last weekend with my youngest daughter Justine, and my youngest grandchild (and grandson). Despite having to trudge up and down the 1/2-mile long, quite steep driveway covered with snow, we had a great time! LGS (Littlest Grandson) is talking up a storm and is such a doll! At my son's house we had a family party with their 3 girls and my daughter Sarah's family with her 3 girls. Littlest Grandson had all the girls under control, I can tell you!

Saturday and Sunday were the days for the annual Denman Is. Christmas Craft Faire. On Sunday my son Tim's daughters, all budding cooks, had a half-day booth. The oldest, made snowflake shortbread cutout cookies and caramel corn to sell, and the two younger girls made homemade lollipops, mounted on a "lolllipop tree" that my son made. Everything was delicious, and the lollipops, though "freeform", looked beautiful and were very long-lasting. They liked making them so much that next year they plan to make a totally organic version with all kinds of different natural flavorings and colors! Tim already has an idea for a rainbow display, too. They sold lots and made their own Christmas money!

I went back to Vancouver with Chris and Justine to meet my big brother, also Tim, who was coming from California. We had another fun family gathering at my cousin Chris's house, with my sister and her family. (We ate take out from the Chinese vegan Buddhist restaurant, the Bo Kong! (Update-- now the "Whole Vegetarian".)

I brought Tim back home to visit more family, especially our 89-year-old mom. Now we can drive up our driveway-- yay!

Before I left I made this yummy cornbread-- with no wheat flour, so celiacs can eat it! It's nice and corny!

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S VEGAN ALL-CORN CORNBREAD (GF and can be SF)
9" square pan-ful

I adapted this from a recipe in "The Best Light Recipe" by Editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine.

1 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal (stoneground, if possible)
2 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. (8 tsp.) organic unbleached sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
another 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup boiling water
1 tbs. lemon juice plus
soymilk or nut milk to make 2 cups
1 Tbs. ground golden flax seed
2 tbs. melted vegan butter (Try my homemade palm-oil-free vegan Buttah or look for Harvest Award brand.)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix together the first cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, and soda in a medium bowl.

In another bowl mix together the 2/3 cup cornmeal and the boiling water and stir well. Stir in the lemon juice/soymilk mixture, flaxseed and melted vegan butter.

Pour this into the dry mixture and mix briefly. Pour into a well-greased 9" square baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until it tests done and is crusty on top.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per square [cut into 9 pieces]): 157.5 calories; 24% calories from fat; 4.3g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 341.8mg sodium; 264.0mg potassium; 27.4g carbohydrates; 2.6g fiber; 5.2g sugar; 24.8g net carbs; 3.7g protein; 3.0 points.


Enjoy!

We've just returned from four days in Vancouver. We went to see Bob Dylan in concert Wednesday night, which was great! I expected the audience to be all "old fogies" like us, but there were plenty of teenagers there!

We were also visiting with lots of family, including my youngest daughter and youngest grandchild, who we haven't seen since April. He's 2 1/2, and he's getting so big, and talking and counting! He's such a happy little guy!

I forgot my digital camera on this trip! What a dummy! So, I couldn't take pictures of all the food! But, I gathered some photos that look pretty much like some of the dishes we ate.

Of course, we ate way too much, since we stayed with my cousin Chris and his partner Roxanne who live near Commercial Drive. "The Drive", as it's called, is a hotbed of ethnic restaurants and markets!


"The Drive"


Chris and Roxanne's beautiful house (taken before the garden was put in!)

The first day we had a fantastic and cheap lunch at a little Syrian felafel joint-- wonderful felafel on pita with lots of veggies, tahini sauce and hot sauce, dolma, tabbouleh (with tons of parsley), and hommous.




Dolma (rice-stuffed grape leaves)

We ate Japanese before the concert-- veggie gyoza and a tofu-soba noodle soup with "green roll" sushi (asparagus rolls wrapped in paper-thin avocado) for me; gyoza and veggie yaki-soba (sort a a stir-fried noodle dish) for Brian.


Gyoza or Potstickers


"green roll" sushi


Yakisoba

We were downtown on Thursday. My cousin treated us to the movie "Mystic India" at the IMAX theatre, and also a 3-D movie about ocean creatures-- pretty astounding..made me seasick, though! Afterwards, we were standing on a corner trying to decide where to eat lunch. Contrary to the popular opinion that city people aren't helpful, an elegantly dressed Chinese woman stopped to ask if we needed help and then proceeded to tell us where some good eateries were. While this was happening, another young woman in business clothes stopped and asked, "Are you all right?" and then she and the elegant lady discussed restaurants for us some more!

We took their advice and went to a little Greek place-- really busy and cute. I had a wonderful, chunky vegetable minestrone soup. Everyhing was kind of spicy-- I think because the cooks were Indian!



We ate in that night at my cousin's house, hosting his daughter Myriah and her partner James, and my daughter Justine and her son. Roxanne and Brian went down to Olivieri's market on The Drive and got fresh crusty bread, fresh spaghetti and marinara sauce, wonderful olives, pestos, marinated eggplant, and tapenade. (And Brian got me a few boxes of my favorite Star Brand Italian porcini mushroom bouillon cubes). With the pasta, Roxanne made a great salad of organic baby greens, pears, pecans and poppy seeds.


Tapenade (olive spread)




Marinated eggplant


The pasta looked just like this!

Friday morning I didn't think I'd ever be be hungry again, and I had tea and toast for breakfast. But, that night we had a family meal at the Bo Kong, a Chinese Buddhist vegetarian restaurant on Main and 14th that we love (and so do all the omnis in our group!). It's huge and has a huge menu, too. There were 12 of us, I think, there. My peruvian cousin, Charo, came, and Justine, George and the little guy, three of my cousins on my mother's side, and some cousins of those cousins, who are good friends. Unfortunately, my sister Karin and her family couldn't make it. They have big round tables there where we can all fit, and Chinese families are just as noisy as we are, so we don't have to whisper! We had a wonderful, noisy meal of: (these were all vegan dishes, BTW)


Spring Rolls


Wonton Soup


Spicy Green Beans


Mock orange "Chicken" Cutlets


Deep Fried Oyster Mushrooms with pepper and chili in the batter


Chinese broccoli (gailan)


Beancurd skin rolls (yuba) in black bean sauce

We also had a wonderful dish called "Spinach Noodles with Pan-Fried Vegetables".

During the day today, we had gone shopping at my friends Kiriakis and Paula's big Greek and Middle Eastern market, The Parthenon. I stocked up on gigantes (giant lima beans), orange flower water and a few other things. We had a quick light lunch at "Green Ginger", a little hole-in-the-wall place (but very nicely decorated) on Broadway specializing in fair trade, organic foods and spices, mostly vegan. I had a really nice jerk tofu rice bowl, and Brian had an Indonesian rice bowl with peanut sauce (both with organic brown rice), and then we shared a vegan cashew-apple bar. Coincidentally (since we just happened on the place), it was run by the son of one of our neighbors on Denman Island!



I was groaning one morning to my cousin about eating too much, and he said, "That's what you do on these visits-- see family and eat!" And he's right!

Cheers!