Buffalo Chicken Pizza

By Monica on February 27th, 2008

I’ve been wanting to try this forever, my craving for Buffalo ‘Chicken’ not at all satisfied with the mock meat wings in the frozen foods section. So I gave it a whirl, using Isa’s crust recipe in VWAV, a basic seitan recipe, and lots of hot sauce.

Naked pizza, before I decided it needed some dressing up:

Topped with plenty of shredded romaine lettuce:

I was afraid the sauce would be too hot, but the crust and lettuce dilute it nicely so it’s just the right amount of spice. Dipping it into some vegan ranch dressing also takes the sting away nicely! I used Frank’s Hot Wings Sauce, which I absolutely love, but be careful because some varieties have milk derived “natural flavors” listed on the ingredients label.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Crust
Your favorite crust recipe for 2 pizzas.

Toppings
1 large yellow or white onion, diced
1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
4 Roma tomatoes, diced

Seitan - Dry Mix
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2t onion powder
1/2t garlic powder

Seitan - Wet Mix
1 cup cold water
3T soy sauce

Seitan - Cooking Liquid
1 1/2 cups hot sauce
1 cup water
1 Chicken-less chicken bouillon cube
(note - this will become your pizza sauce later, don’t discard!)

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. In a measuring cup, mix the wet ingredients together. Combine the two and mix just until moistened. Do not knead at all!
Divide the seitan into four sections and form each into a relatively flat patty or pancake.

Mix all of the cooking liquid ingredients, dissolving the bouillon cube. Place the four seitan patties into a shallow baking dish and cover with the cooking liquid. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

When cooked, remove patties from cooking liquid and let cool. Pour the cooking liquid into a saucepan, bring to a boil, and add 1-2T cornstarch to thicken. This is now your pizza sauce!

Cube as much of the seitan as you’d like for your pizzas, and assemble: sauce, onions, tomatoes, seitan. Bake at 475 for 12-14 minutes, or following the directions of your crust recipe. Add the shredded lettuce when the pizza comes out of the oven, and serve with some vegan ranch dressing for dipping.

Depending on how much of the seitan you use on your pizzas, you should have enough left over for a couple of Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches too.

I took the remaining seitan patties, dipped them in even more hot sauce, coated them in panko, and baked them for a few minutes until crispy. Absolutely delicious with some Vegenaise (though really, what isn’t delicious with Vegenaise?)

Heart Attack Specials

By Monica on February 22nd, 2008

I’m pretty sure if I walked into my cardiologist’s office and told him I’d been eating spare ribs, meatloaf, pastrami sandwiches, and French fries all this week, he’d advise me to check myself into the mental ward and have my head examined.  But then he would remember that I’m vegan and I can actually eat all of these things without compromising my cholesterol levels.  Ah yes, pity the poor, deprived vegan, mwah ha ha…

Up first, Not Your Momma’s Meatloaf, ala Vegan Vittles.  It uses peanut butter as the binder and is presently at the top of my list for “best mock meatloaf”.  Come on, peanut butter AND meatloaf, how can that be bad?

And then we move onto Bryanna’s Hard Salami.

The consensus at my house is that it came out more pastrami-like than salami, but it was a really fantastic lunch meat analog either way.  Given that Ray survives on lunch ‘meat’ and cereal in my absence, this was a big hit.  The whole peppercorns make this complete, add lots if you try it!

A much healthier alternative to traditional French Fries, these are a Caribbean Sweet Potato French Fry from one of Sarah Kramer’s books.  (I can’t remember which book, sorry!)

And finally, Spare Ribs, also from Vittles.  This uses a homemade BBQ sauce, so there isn’t even much sugar in it!  Is it possible to eat like this guilt-free?!

Gobble-Ups

By Monica on February 19th, 2008

Last week I took out a vegan cookbook that shall remain unnamed and made a batch of cookies from it.  As I scooped the dough onto the baking sheet, I came to the realization that this recipe would yield 6-8 average sized cookies.  This was simply no good - Ray had a terrible mix of panic and disappointment on his face, and my bohemian nature does not allow me to light the oven for a mere six cookies, that sucker has to be packed!

So I opened up the envelope that contains my grandmother’s cookie recipes, knowing that she would never dream of bothering with a recipe yielding 6-8 cookies.  On the contrary, she made enough cookies to feed the entire neighborhood.  I share this sentiment, if I’m going to dirty a lot of dishes and drag out the stand mixer - I’m going to make a lot of whatever it is, especially if I can freeze the leftovers for another day.

With that, I decided on “Gobble-Ups”.  This was one of two platters of cookies the recipe made, success!

The recipe was spattered with food, which we all know is the mark of a real gem, and I had all the ingredients handy.  Veganizing it was as simple as egg replacer, applesauce and canola oil instead of all that butter, and I used steel cut oatmeal.  The end result is a pretty unique cookie, a little crunchy while still being chewy.

I wouldn’t want you to think we ate nothing but cookies all week though, so here are some other goodies:

General Tso’s Tofu from VegWeb.  I am amazed at how I managed to survive 28 years on this planet before trying tofu.  You could not pry it out of my cold dead hands now.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus from Yellow Rose Recipes.  I never get sick of hummus, and this is a really simple, tasty version.

And lastly, I found a brand new ice cream maker at the thrift store for $3. It was still sealed in the original box!  I could not believe my luck, given that my ice cream maker has not been seen for years since loaning it to a my brother, and since Wheeler’s Black Label is apparently not coming to rural Illinois anytime soon.  My first batch was Pineapple Coconut, using the Veganomicon base recipe.  There will be many more batches, oh yes!

Another veggieversary!

By Monica on February 12th, 2008

It seems I’m in good company this month, there are lots of veggieversaries going on! February marks the two year milepost for Ray & I. One of the questions my omni friends always ask is if I miss eating meat - and the answer is always a resounding “NO!” On the contrary, adopting a vegan lifestyle is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and every day I enjoy it more and more. I can hardly believe two years have flown by!

To celebrate this year, I told Ray I’d whip up any meal he’d like. Without a second of hesitation it was “a German chocolate cake.” And then I huffed and pouted, because I don’t like chocolate, and I don’t like cake. The nerve of him! But I agreed and set out to find the most elaborate, fancy German chocolate cake recipe I could find. It came from a cookbook called The Artful Vegan, but the recipe is posted online so I included it below in case you feel a sudden hankering for chocolate cake now. I present to you, Vegan German Chocolate Cake with Macadamia-Hazelnut Filling and Date Caramel:

After eating far too much cake, we sat down to another feast - Seitan Pot Roast from Vegan Vittles. (Yes, I said ‘after’ we ate the cake, it’s our veggieversary, we can eat cake before dinner if we want!) Have I mentioned how much I love this cookbook? This meal now ranks in my Top 5 favorite vegan meals ever.

And lastly, my present to myself arrived: 25 pounds of Bob’s Red Mill vital wheat gluten! That’s right, I ordered a giant sack of it, plus a big ole’ box of nutritional yeast, some pumpernickel meal and other assorted goodies that I cannot get in the sticks. The only store in my area that carries vital wheat gluten charges $1.79 for 6 ounces and I don’t care for that brand. Ordered direct from Bob, it’s only $1.34 per pound! So I spent all weekend putting it into glass jars for storage, and of course, making seitan!

Vegan German Chocolate Cake with Macadamia-Hazelnut Filling and Date Caramel
Chocolate Cake
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon egg replacer
1 1/2 teaspoons ground espresso beans
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons brewed coffee
4 oz. silken tofu
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons coffee extract or coffee liqueur

Macadamia Hazelnut Filling
3/4 cup macadamia nuts, plus more for garnish
3/4 cup blanched hazelnuts
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup rice milk
3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, plus more for garnish
3/4 Sucanat (I used turbinado sugar)
pinch of agar powder
1 tablespoon arrowroot
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Date Caramel
4 Deglet Noor dates, or 2 Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup Florida Crystals* (again, I used turbinado sugar)
1 cup water
1/4 cup agave nectar

To make the Chocolate Cake:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Oil a 9 by 13 inch pan, and line it with parchment paper.
Sift the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, egg replacer, and espresso in a bowl.
In a blender, combine coffee, tofu, maple syrup, canola oil, vanilla, vinegar and coffee extract. Blend until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth (some small lumps are OK). Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and a small knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan.

To make the Filling:
Decrease the oven temperature to 325° F. Spread the macadamia nuts and hazelnuts on a baking sheet, and toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until light brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Pulse the nuts in a food processor fitted with the metal blade 4 or 5 times, until coarsely ground. Place the nuts, soy milk, rice milk, coconut, Sucanat, agar, arrowroot and vanilla in a saucepan, and whisk until smooth. Heat the mixture over medium heat, whisking continuously, for 7-10 minutes, until very hot but not boiling. Pour into a shallow pan to cool.

To Make the Caramel:
Soak the dates in hot tap water for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place the Florida Crystals and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Decrease heat to low and simmer for 12-15 minutes, until the bubbles in the syrup are thick. Remove the dates from the water and transfer to a blender. Add the agave and Florida Crystal syrup. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend for 1 minute, or until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. (Store at room temperature for up to 1 month. If the caramel crystallizes, cook over low heat until the crystals dissolve.

To Assemble and Serve:
(I used two round 8″ cake pans instead of the original author’s assembly plans, made a 2 tiered cake, cut it in half, and had an impressive 4 layer half-a-cake!)
Using a 2 1/2 inch round biscuit cutter or glass tumbler, cut 12 rounds out of the chocolate cake. Place 1 round on a dessert plate. Using a small ice cream scoop, top with 2 tablespoons of the filling. Repeat, creating 2 more layers of cake and filling. Set a few whole macadamia nuts on top and sprinkle with shredded coconut. Dot the plate with caramel sauce.