Pancake Day!

Happy pancake day, Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, or whatever else today is.

Every year we celebrate pancake day for supper. This year however, celebrated a day early because we wont be home. So I had some left over pancake mix and made one for breakfast too! It's a whats for sups and breakfast blog post.

This Rogers family recipe is probably my most favorite pancake recipe I've ever tried. These pancakes are thick, and dense but still light. Also holds berry sauce and maple syrup like a champ!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 3 cups milk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)*
• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional) *

In a medium bowl beat eggs and add milk in one cup at a time. Set aside.

Sift flour baking powder, and cinnamon together. Add sugar and mix.

Pour in the wet ingredients (egg and milk) into the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated.

Now you have your pancake batter.

To cook set your frying pan on medium, and heat oil or butter. We used oil.

Use an 8 oz ladle, and pour two full ladles of batter onto the pan. Cook until bubbles form on top, and then flip. Cook on the other side for about 5 more minutes, or until browned.

Enjoy pancakes with any topping!

Happy pancake day!

Kimbap (Sushi)

Today Jooyoun informed me that Koreans have their own world of sushi! Called Kimbap (seaweed rice). Rolled steamed rice in sheets of dried seaweed. It looks very similar to sushi, but for Koreans it is not fancy fare but more of a picnic food, that you can eat with your hands. Like what a sandwich is for North Americans.

I was a little intimidated at first, but I must say kimbap is really easy, and so much fun to make!

What you need:
Makes 5 Kim Bap rolls (5 servings)

kimbap (sushi) bamboo roller
or can use plastic wrap for rolling kimbap

• 5 cups of Calrose Rice (sticky rice)
• 1 tbsp Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Sesame seed oil
• pinch of salt
• Sesame Seed Oil and salt for frying
• 1/2 Carrot
• 2 cups Spinach
• 2 Tofu or veggie dog (optional)
• 3 Egg
• 1/2 cucumber Cucumber cut thick julienne 1/2 inch
• 5 sticks of Seasoned Burdock
• 5 sticks of Pickled Radish
• 5 slices of processed Cheese (optional)
• 5 Roasted Seaweed Sheets (Kim)

Make rice following the 2:1 (water:rice) ratio. Boil adding the vinegar, oil and salt. Let rice cool before you apply to the seaweed sheets.

While rice is cooking prep vegetables. For carrots julienne them finely. fry in some sesame oil and salt. Set aside.

Fry spinach in the same manner after you boil for 5 min. Set aside.

Cut tofu, or veggie hot dogs in our case into 1/2 inch thick julienne lengths. Fry until browned. Set aside.

Mix 3 eggs together in a bowl, until combined. Pour eggs onto frying pan and cook until browned. Remove from pan and slice into long lengths 1.2 inch thick or larger.

For cucumber remove heavily seeded middle and julienne lengthwise approx 1/2 inch thick. make one stick for each kimbap roll.

Take out 5 sticks of radish and burdock. and set aside.

If using cheese slices (which I recommend) cut them in half so they can become as long as the seaweed sheet.

Once everything is cooled, you can go ahead and start rolling! place bamboo roller on the table, with a sheet of seaweed on top. place cooled rice on 3/4 of the sheet. Place all of your ingredients on top of the rice stacked on top of each other, so the rice can completely surround the filling when you roll. I used the more flimsy ingredients first like cheese, spinach, carrot, then the stick like ingredients, cucumber, tofu, radish, burdock, and then egg.

Place a skinny strip of rice along the edge of the sheet so it can stick to the roll. And grab the side of the sheet with the ingredients on it first and tightly roll until it is all one. Use the bamboo sheet to tighten your kimbap roll. Basically rolling the sushi inside the bamboo sheet, once is all it takes.

Cut the roll into 1 1/2 inch thick peices or bigger if you like. And enjoy this great party snack.

Tofu Spaghetti Balls

This blog post is dedicated to Valentines day. What better way to celebrate love then referencing the classic Lady and the Tramp movie with Spaghetti and meat balls. This recipe however is a cruelty free version, made with tofu balls!

Adopted from my favorite vegan cookbook author Sarah Kramer's Vegan A Go-Go!

Pasta enough for two people

Tofu balls: makes around 10 - 12 balls

• 1/2 cup of firm tofu crumbled by hand (approx half a package)
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 1/2 tbsp of tahini
• 1 tbsp of tamari
• 1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup of green onion (optional)
• 1/4 tsp of garlic (optional)
• 1 very small onion minced
• 1/4 tsp of mustard
• black pepper
• 1/4 cup of flour for coating
• 2 tbsp oil for frying

In a large bown, mix together the tofu, 1/4 cup of flour, tahini, tamari, sun dried tomatoes, green onion, garlic, onion, mustard, & pepper with hands. Form balls with approx 1/2 tbsp of the mixture into a ball, and coat with flour until all tofu mixture is used.

Set them aside, and heat or prepare homemade pasta sauce.

In a frying pan on medium heat fry tofu balls in oil until browned all over. Once the sauce is hot, you can put them into the sauce. Let them sit in there for 5 minutes to absorb the flavors.

Serve over pasta and with Pinot Grigio.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Happy New Year! This post is coming out very late. But the holiday sure were busy. Actually the last 3 months have been busy. I've had many plans for blogs, but with my late nights and lack of sunshine in my kitchen, pictures haven't done the food justice. And what good is a blog without pictures?

So for the first blog of 2011 I have a treat! One of the best cupcakes I've had in awhile. Adapted from Martha Stewart's 'Cupcakes' cookbook, Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cookie Cutouts! This recipe is rich with flavor that is sweet but not to sweet because of the spicy dense cake, and topped with the most lovely butter cream icing imaginable. And to boost a gingerbread cookie. It is two deserts in one!

Cupcakes (makes 22)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• *2 tablespoons ground ginger (used fresh grated ginger)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together flour and spices.

2. On medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the molasses and beat until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low Gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just combined.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three quarters full. Bake rotating tins halfway through. Bake for 25 minutes.

Icing

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. With an Electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to medium. Ass the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. After every two additions raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium. This should take 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.

3.Add Vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth.

Gingerbread men (4 dozen 2 inch cookies)

• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups unsulfured molasses

1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. In another bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and molasses, and beat to combine. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add the flour mixture from other bowl, beating until just combined.

2. Divide dough into thirds, flatten each piece into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or overnight).

3. On a generously floured piece of parchment paper, roll out one disk of dough to just under 1/4" thick. Brush off excess flour and freeze until firm, about 15 min.

4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Using a cookie cutter of your choice quickly cut out shaped from dough and transfer to parchment lined baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart, as you work. Freeze until firm, about 15 minuted. Repeat with remaining disks of dough.

5. Bake cookies until crisp but not darkened, 8-10 min. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool before decorating.

*Note the sad faced gingies. These were made for a going away party around Christmas time. They were a cute tasty way to say bon voyage to a best friend.

Vegan Thanksgiving

This year we decided to host a Thanksgiving potluck, veggie style. (of course) I wanted to make something that the meat heads would say 'this is the best thanksgiving ever!' So I stumbled upon an special thanksgiving blog post from a recipe book I have, Vegan Yum Yum. After hesitating and reading how hard it is to make your own seitan I sucked it up and bought the stuff to make it. And with little tweaking managed to figure out a better consistency for the wheat meat. (dough)

Stuffing:
3 shallots
1 large apple
2 cups of mushrooms
3 gloves garlic (roasted)
7 Fresh Sage Leaves, chopped
2 Thyme Sprigs, leaves only
1cup of pecans & walnuts mixed (roasted with butter)
5 cups of cubed sourdough bread
1 cup of vegetable broth
salt & pepper

(note: this stuffing is so good on its own you can place it in a oiled caserole dish and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.) I had extra so I made it both ways!

Take 3/4 of a 1 pound loaf of sourdough and slice into cubes, with the crust on. Spread out the bread on a baking sheet and bake at 300º F for 30 minutes, tossing half-way through.

In a large, deep skillet, heat oil and saute shallots until beginning to color at medium heat. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until soft. Add herbs, roasted garlic, apple and roasted nuts. Add bread and toss. Add broth 1/2 cup at a time over low heat until stuffing is softened but not overly soggy. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.



Makes 4 quarters. (8 servings)
Seitan
4 x 1/3 Cups 100% Wheat Gluten flour
1/3 Cups Chickpea Flour
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Salt
2 1/3 Cups Warm Vegetable Broth

Mix all ingredients until well combined. Add the vegetable stock and gently mix with your hands until all of the dry mixture is moistened. You should have a soft, squishy, wet dough. Knead a few times, and agitate the dough by squeezing and pressing it.

Dump the dough out onto a large cutting board and use your fingers to press it out to a 12×18″ rectangle. If the dough is too springy, let rest for 15 minutes before rolling it out. Cut the dough into quarters:

Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium - high heat with some olive oil. Briefly pan-fry the seitan pieces until just barely golden brown on both sides. This gives color, flavor, and kick-starts the cooking process so your pieces will be easier to handle.

Place stuffing on top of a piece of seitan, covering the whole surface. Roll up the seitan, stretching it to make as tight a roll as possible. Let the roll rest on the seam.

With kitchen twine or any cotton string you have, tie up the roulade so that it doesn’t unroll.
Place the tied roulades on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Lightly brush with olive oil. Bake at 350º for 30-40 minutes, turning half-way through, until golden brown.



These were pretty time intensive, and a bit of work because seitan is hard to work with. Make sure you use a non stick pan to fry them, the seitan can be very sticky. Even though they were a bit of work, they were well worth the work, and I will defiantly make them again for Christmas.

Birthday Burritos

This year Stephen asked instead of going to a fancy restaurant, he would rather me make him my famous burritos. Being a nice girl friend I agreed... Unwillingly I might add, but in the end it was well worth the work, because these bad boys sure are yummy.

Makes 10 burritos

Preheat oven to 350 cook for 25-40 min until edges are golden brown

I n g r e d i e n t s :

Bread & grains:

10 Large tortillas wrap (white or whole wheat)

2 cups of white or brown Basmati rice 4.5 cups of water

Cans:

1 can of black beans

1 can of refried beans (medium - hot)

¾ cup Salsa (medium - hot)

Cheese:

1 block of Cheese (preferable Monterey Jack)

½ block of cream cheese (room temperature)

Vegetables:

1 large onion cubed

1 red pepper cubed

1 green pepper cubed

1 cup cubed Mushrooms

1 ½ cups Cilantro minced and, or 1 stalk Green onions diced

Spices:

Paprika

1 tsp. Cyan pepper (*hot optional)

1 tbsp. Onion powder

1 tbsp. Chili powder

3 tbsp. Cumin

Juice of ½ Lime (optional)

3 Garlic cloves / 1 tbsp. Garlic Powder

I n s t r u c t i o n s :

· In a medium pot cook rice following the directions on the rice package for four servings.

· Dice all vegetables and cilantro (optional) and place in a large bowl. Except only add ½ of the diced stalk of green onions if you choose to just use green onions.

· Add the black beans to the vegetables along with all spices, and drizzle lime and mix until spices are well blended.

·

In a smaller bowl cream the cream cheese and add the refried beans to it

· Grate the entire block of cheese

· In mean time if your rice isn’t finished dress the 10 wraps starting with the refried bean, cream cheese mixture in the centre of the pita, approx one heaping tbsp. and spread out a little bit. Then add a handful of cheese.

· Once the rice is finished, place in bowl of vegetables and spices. Add salsa to the rice & veggies and mix until well blended.

· Place the burrito filling on the cheese in the centre of the wraps, just enough so you can still fold the wraps.

· Fold the wraps using instruction below;

· First fold the bottom of the pita ¼ of the way up

· Then take the right side and fold over all the filling

· Then take the left side and fold over until you touch the table with it and try to pull tighter to insure the fold will stay, place the seam down on the pan.

· Sprinkle more cheese on top of all the burritos

· Cook for 20- 40 minutes until golden brown on the edges

Korean Bibimbap & Hobak Chun

I am so excited to post this recipe! My new roomie Jooyoun from Korea (Daegu) taught me how to make the most amazing dish ever, Bibimbap (mixed rice.) A tradional Korean dish that is healthy and oh so spicy and full of flavor.

Serving 6

Ingredeants - Bibimbap

3 or 4 Carrot cut julienne

1 Onion

Bunch of Spinach

1 Zucchini

3 Eggs

Bunch of Mushroom

Sesame seed oil

Salt for frying

Kim (seaweed)

2 cups Steamed calrose rice

Sauce

1 cup Hot pepper paste (found at asian food markets - we used Sempio)

1 cup Apple Sauce

Hobak Chun

3 Zucchini

1Egg

1 Cup flour

1 Cup Water

Salt

Jalapeño Pepper (optional)

Olive Oil for frying

tlbs Sesame Seed Oil

1 tbls soy sauce

Cut all vegetables in small strips (julienne) and then fry them in sesame seed oil with salt. Place on a plate. Let cool.

Mix hot pepper paste with apple sauce and let sit.

Heat rice.

While rice is cooking make the Hobak Chun

Mix the egg, flour water salt well to form the batter.

Dip the Zucchini into batter. place onto oiled frying pan. Place Jalapeño Pepper on top for added spice, and fry until batter turns golder brown.

Mix the sesame oil and soy sauce together to make yummy dipping sauce for the battered zucchini.

Place rice on plate and put the prepared vegetables on the outer edges of rice. put the hot pepper paste in the center of the rice and place kim on top. Mix everything together to make it nice and spicy. (red color) And enjoy! This recipe is so easy and delicious, makes a lot at once, so it's great for big dinner party and leftovers.