Stress Wars

I know. Don't yell at me! It's been forever since I've blogged. Call it a Happy Valentine! Believe me, it hasn't been without remorse. I'll admit there were days i was just lazy or not in the mood to write. And then, there were days that all I wanted to do when I got home was crawl into bed and sleep for hours. And other days when I woke up at 4 am and yet couldn't seem to function enough to do anything. That's what this darn winter term has done to me!!!!! Somehow professors have decided that 8 page papers are okay to give the week before finals, 40 minute presentations are not unreasonable, and you can speed up on harder material just to squeeze it all in and meet your quota.

Yeah.

Oh, and then it's also okay to deny someone who has been actively looking for a job for two months an opportunity for a job she really, really tried for....?

Sorry, it's not like me to be this way.... Maybe it's the AntiCupid playing tricks on me!

So why don't we all digress back to my favorite topic- some tasty food. Of which, I've made a lot of this month, even if they haven't all made it to paper. Here's a taste:

Vegan Gibassier (if you've never had a gibassier- go and get yourself one right now! They are light, yeasty, flowery puffs of heaven with sweet, candied orange and anise flavors that don't overpower each other or the nature of the bread itself. Thanks to Portland for providing a home for this treat and leading me to it at Pearl Bakery!)

Cherry Splits - Black and whites with a whole lot more flavor and valentine flare!

Loverberry Cheesecake - Yes! A soy-free, vegan cheesecake that is soooo good! Sorry, I ate it too fast to capture a photo!!!!


Oh and then there is Daring Cooks, which I'm participating in for the first time this month, so you'll get a small taste of savory inspiration too.

This month the Daring Cooks theme is: patties. The Daring Cooks’ February 2012 challenge was hosted by Audax & Lis and they chose to present Patties for their ease of construction, ingredients and deliciousness! We were given several recipes, and learned the different types of binders and cooking methods to produce our own tasty patties!


For my part, I decided to make the Potato Rosti (partly because it was the easiest to veganize, and the least expensive). To be honest, I didn't have great expectations. I mean, sure, I've had potato pancakes before, and that's basically what this was- big pancakes. Except that they were soooo much better! Seriously. Try some. And make sure you really do get at least a kilo of potatoes - I only had half, and i could barely keep from eating both of    the two small cakes I made! I also added some Zaatar (my new favorite spice) for extra flavor.


Another tip- when the recipe says to squeeze / press out all the water, DO NOT skimp on this step! I ended up with a bunch of liquid in my bowl that came out while I waited for my pan to heat. AS long as you drain that liquid, you'll be fine, but it's a lot easier if you can 
press it out first!

Potato Rösti

Servings: makes two large rösti
adapted from a family recipe

The classic rösti; cheap, easy and so tasty.

Ingredients:
1 kg (2½ lb) potatoes
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt

approximately 2 teaspoons Zaatar, optional

2 teaspoons (10 ml) (6 gm) black pepper, freshly milled
1 1/2 tbsp. EnerG egg replacer mixed with 2 tbsp. water
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (½ oz/15 gm) cornflour (cornstarch) or use all-propose flour

3 tablespoons (45 ml) oil, for frying

Directions:

1. Grate lengthwise the peeled potatoes with a box grater or a food processor.
2. Wrap the grated potato in a cloth and squeeze dry, you will get a lot of liquid over ½ cup, discard liquid since it is full of potato starch.
3. Return dried potato to bowl add the egg, cornflour, pepper, and salt.
4. Mix until combined.
5. Preheat a frying pan (cast iron is best) until medium hot, add 2 teaspoons of oil wait until oil shimmers.
6. Place half of mixture into the pan, flatten with a spoon until you get a smooth flat surface. Lower heat to medium.
7. Fry for 8-10 minutes (check at 6 minutes) the first side, flip by sliding the rösti onto a plate then use another plate invert the rösti then slide it back into the pan, then fry the 
8. other side about 6-8 minutes until golden brown. Repeat to make another rösti

I served mine with some Vegetarian Bolengese from Vegetarian Times. Yummy!!!

And now, for an extra bonus, I'll give you the recipe for my cheesecake!

Loverberry Cheesecake

Your favorite crumb crust, baked for 10 minutes in a greased 9" spring form pan in a 350 degree oven.

/2 tsp. vanilla

Lower oven temp to 325.

2 cups "Incredible Almond Creme Cheez" from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak, pg. 42 (or you can use any vegan cream cheese you like, I just wanted mine soy-free)

150 g. granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

10 oz. coconut or almond milk yogurt

2 tbsp. tapioca starch

pinch of salt

approximately 1/2 cup good-quality blueberry jam

Cream the "cheez" and sugar together in a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and yogurt. Once combined, add starch and salt, mixing just to incorporate.

Pour filling mixture into the baked crust.

Dot the top of the filling with blueberry jam. If you want to swirl the jam, you may want to heat it up so it's more liquid and can be moved around. Otherwise, you can let the dollops of jam sink to the bottom and create its own layer on top of your crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 65-80 minutes, or until almost set. Cool completely, then chill thoroughly, for at least 4 hours, before serving.

More recipes and food inspiration to come soon, I promise! First I need to put this trimester behind me, and my teenage years for that matter! That's right, I'll be turning 20 in... 16 days!

Sometimes I feel so much older than that!

No matter, I've got lots to do and think about in my 20th year, and i'm excited to get it started. It will start with a new blog.. can't have pastryteen for a 20 year old, now can we? No worries though, I'll keep you updated! Thanks for 2 years of loyal reading!

New What?

So you know how I had all those hopes and aspirations a few days ago?
Well, its only January 3rd and I'm already having a tough time with them.
First of all, I hate exercise. I know everyone does, but I triple hate it, and it doesn't get any better form the moment I start to the moment I'm done and then have to think about having to it again the next day or the day after that.
Ugh!
And then there's the fact that I'm kinda on edge. After all, I do have two papers to write over this two week break, and this writer is having a hard time with them.
And then there's the fact that I feel bad I can't drive or do something that would actually help my family get things done right now, aside from feeding them.
Which is exactly what I've been doing today. With some family matters to take care of, the end of my vacation is quickly going down hill, so I exhausted myself with chocolate tweed angel food cake, rich chocolate cheesecake that, even though it's not vegan, I couldn't help but take a tiny taste- yum! And then some surprisingly delicious non-meat loaf and broccoli mac and cheese (I knew that would be good, thanks to this recipe on Vegan D.a.d.).
How did I manage to do all this, work out, and write 2 pages of a boring economics paper and a very jumbled page of vegan history?
I'm not sure. Though I did have a good breakfast!
Coconut Raspberry Bran muffins.

That's right. Bran muffins. But these aren't your ordinary, dense, diet-food muffins. These have no Raisin Bran or any boxed cereal. These have coarse, mealy bran, oatmeal, tons of sweet, nutty, toasted coconut, and a handful of frozen raspberries to freshen things up.

And they're mini. So I can pop 3 or 4 of them without a speck of guilt.

Good thing, too, cause there are still not-so-petite petit fours in the drawer and a plethora of ideas to feed my sweet tooth tomorrow. Gotta have something healthy.

Mix some up for yourself- they're a cinch. The hardest part is dissolving the agar. Yes, I said agar. Thanks to Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I learned that agar makes a more tender, unified crumb in cake-like baked goods (well, or so I assumed; what applies to a cupcake should apply to a soft, billowy muffin). Anyway, after that, all you have to do it mix everything together, pop them in the oven, and you'll have fresh-baked muffins in a matter of minutes.

Tropical Blush Bran Muffins

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes or shreds

539 g. coconut milk or your favorite non-dairy milk
2 tbsp. agar flakes
1/2 cup Miller's Bran
1/2 cup oatmeal

2 tbsp. flax seed meal

200 g. raw sugar

150 g. oil

1/2 fresh grated ginger (ground is okay in a pinch)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
130 g. all purpose flour
130 g. whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup frozen raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast both kinds of coconut while the oven is preheating, until all coconut is golden.
2. Line muffin tins with paper liners. The recipe makes about 30 mini muffins, or 10-12 regular size muffins.
3. In a saucepan, combine coconut milk and agar flakes. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, or until agar dissolves. Remove from heat and add bran and oatmeal.
4. Cool oat mixture to room temperature, then add flax seed meal, sugar, oil, ginger and vanilla. Mix well to emulsify oil.
5. Combine all dry ingredients. Fold into the oat mixture.
6. Fold in the raspberries, being as gentle as possible so as to not squish the berries.
7. Scoop into prepared muffin tins, filling 3/4 of the way full. Bake in preheated oven until set and golden. For mini muffins, this will take about 11-13 minutes. For regular size, it will probably tkae 20-25 minutes.
8. Cool completely, then store in an airtight container or serve.

Having these in the house is a reason to go to bed- just to wake up and have a delicious breakfast! That, and the fact that these words are blurring before my sleepy eyes ;)