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

Seitan Steak au Poivre

This is a French steak dinner for vegans! It's a simple but elegant menu from my new book "World Vegan Feast" and, though it was meant for a "Father's Day" menu, it makes a marvelous special occasion menu any time of the year, especially with a bottle of vegan red wine!.

Vegan “Steak Dinner” Menu:
Seitan Steak au Poivre
Oven-Fried "Patate Frite"
Green Salad with a simple vinaigrette
Chocolate-Hazelnut Praline Lava Cakes (with your favorite non-dairy vanilla ice cream)

The main dish, a French pepper steak, utilizes my homemade seitan steak recipe, which is also provided in the book. (You can make a batch of 16 and freeze the remaining steaks for future meals.) I've worked and re-worked my seitan recipes over the years to improve upon taste and texture, and this is one of our favorite "beefy" seitan recipes. It's easy to make and versatile, as it can be used for not only steaks, but roasts, stews and kebabs.


The "steaks" before cooking


The "steaks" after cooking, ready to use in a recipe or to freeze for future use.


The "steaks" coated with the pepper mixture before browning.

This dish is a successful vegan version of a French classic. It’s quick to make and quite impressive. I serve it with a simple green salad and the traditional “patate frite”, but I oven-fry the potatoes (directions in the book). In the interests of keeping fat even further to a minimum, I tried the wine glaze without the Earth Balance, but it just didn’t have the glossiness and richness that’s needed. It’s worth it for a treat now and then! However, I did use far less than the butter called for in classic recipes. (The seitan steaks are low in fat to begin with.)



After such a delicious main course, one must serve an elegant and equally impressive dessert. Chocolate-Hazelnut Praline Lava Cakes are incredibly decadent and moist individual chocolate cakes.  They have a soft center of melted hazelnut praline filling that erupts from the cakes when you dig into them. Originally, “lava cakes” were French egg-based, flourless cakes that formed a molten center when the cakes were deliberately under-baked. More often than not, these days (due to concerns about under-cooked eggs) a rich cake batter containing flour is used and a frozen chocolate mixture is placed between layers of batter before baking. This is the type that I started with to make my original all-chocolate vegan version. My batter has very little fat in it, yet it is rich, moist, tender, and dark. The hazelnut praline filling contrasts perfectly with the dark chocolate cake, and the result seems rich enough that half a cake is plenty for one serving, especially when served with a scoop of your favorite vegan vanilla ice cream on top of or alongside.

Bon Appétit!

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!

Sheaf of Wheat Bread

NOTE: I'll be away from my computer until Sunday the 14th!

This is a quick one-- I'm stealing time from my cooking (we're having our family meal today at my son's house) to blog! The photo above is a bread I usually make but did not get around to this year! I'm slipping!

The photo below is of my two vegan pumpkin pies and an apple pie made with some freshly-picked tart apples that a friend gave me. I made them last night for today's dinner.



HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY CANADIAN FRIENDS! I'll post more pictures tomorrow!

PICTURES BELOW ADDED CANADIAN THANKSGIVING DAY, OCT. 9, 2006:


Tofu Pot Pie and vegan bread stuffing


Slice of my vegan Pumpkin Pie (no tofu involved!)


Stuffing patties with vegan Rich Brown Gravy and Orange Cranberry Sauce for breakfast this morning!

SOME PHOTOS FROM OUR EARLIER PERUVIAN-STYLE VEGAN THANKSGIVING DINNER WITH FRIENDS (a test run for Vegan Feast newsletter recipes coming up in the next issue!):


The dinner, minus the Peruvian-style rice and dessert-- clockwise from top left: Salpicon, a lemony cabbage salad with Breast of Tofu; the causa (see below); the "turkey" (see below); the Port Gravy; and the Peruvian red onion and chili relish in the center.


The "turkey" roulade with the Peruvian-style spicy-fruity-"meaty" stuffing


The Causa, a Peruvian cold potato terrine, this time with an artichoke stuffing and a top layer of purple potatoes (The recipe is in my book "World Vegan Feast".)


Good friend and taster Jerry ready to go to work on the dinner!


The Dessert: Chocolate-Hazelnut Praline Lava Cakes! (The recipe is in my book "World Vegan Feast".)

Enjoy!