Vegan & Gluten Free Winter Stew

Official Taster and I just got home from a week in Hawaii. Yep, Hawaii. Yep, it was awesome. Yep, that's all of us I'm going to show you. But, on the plus side, there will be lots of pretty flower pictures in the future.

It was warm, it was sunny, there were sea breezes and surfers. Pretty perfect. You may now be understanding why posting was kind of thin last week. Sorry, Blogger, but I had better things to do! There were rain forests, waterfalls, beaches, volcanoes, mai tais, and luaus. We also ate and drank a lot, visited with family, saw a rainbow, napped, absorbed some Vitamin D (to make up for cloudy Seattle), read, slept in, and admired the ocean. It was an actual vacation.

So when we arrived back in Seattle, I wanted to cook. After a week of excesses I wanted healthy, delicious, and not over the top. Because we came back to cool, rainy weather, I wanted warm and filling. This stew type thinger seemed like a good solution, and it goes over rice or pasta, and I also made some bread to go along.

Apologies for the lack of photos, but the weather is not cooperating properly with my work schedule (it's only been good light when I'm unavailable for photography).

Vegan & Gluten Free Winter Stew
olive oil
1 extra large onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bunch celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 vegan sausages, sliced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 C tomato sauce
1/2 C vegetable broth
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried Italian spices
bay leaf
salt to taste

In a medium or large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until starting to become translucent. Add garlic, celery, carrots, and vegan sausages. Stir occasionally. When the vegetables start to soften, add the remaining ingredients to the pot. Let everything simmer until heated through and serve over rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, or anything else you can think of. The stew will have more flavor the longer it sits in its own juices, so cooking it in the afternoon and waiting until dinner to serve it will impart more flavor.

Notes:
As I've said over and over and over again, experiment with ingredients, flavors, spices, etc. and you can make the same general dish over and over again without it tasting the same.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake - Vegan and (easily) Gluten Free

Happy Fall! Even if it doesn't feel like fall where you live, it's officially autumn, and, for me, that means candy corn, pumpkins, apples, and the crisp feel of the air. It means I can start adding cinnamon and/or pumpkin pie spice to everything. It's a good season.

This cake is super easy, both in the making and in the cleaning up, like the Blood-Orange Olive Oil Cake I showed you earlier this year. It's also super easy to eat for breakfast. It's very moist and quite rich. I made a simple glaze, mostly because Official Taster has an issue with frosting-less cakes. It doesn't need it, but it works. You could also just dust on some powdered sugar to jazz it up if you'd like.

I happened to find a can of pumpkin pie mix in the pantry, which is what I used in this cake. It's just regular canned pumpkin with pumpkin pie spices already mixed in. When you make this, you can just use regular pumpkin with or without spices or this pre-mixed stuff. Depends on how sweet you want your cake and how pie flavored you want it.

For all you gluten free folks out there, I believe this cake would lend itself very well to substituting either an all-purpose gluten free flour or the sorghum blend I told you about for my patriotic cupcakes.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake
cooking spray
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa
2 C all purpose flour
1 C water
1 C sugar
1 C pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan, and either flour it or use cocoa instead (no white splotches on the finished cake that way)
2. Combine water, sugar, pumpkin, and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Sift baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, and flour into the mixture and beat until very smooth.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove cake and let cool in the pan at least 5 minutes. Remove cake from pan and finish cooling on a rack.
4. Frosting is optional. For a chocolate pumpkin glaze, combine some confectioners sugar, cocoa, and pumpkin until smooth and your desired thickness. Drizzle or spread on cake. Another option is to dust with confectioners sugar.

Corn and Tomato Scramble

As promised, today's post is this delicious, delicious side I made to go with the pesto ravioli. But to see "side" and automatically consign this scramble to "just a boring side" would be really unfair. It's fantastic. Seriously, go find fresh corn and tomatoes and make this tonight. Where I am, at least, both of these vegetables are in season and just right.

As in previous occasions, when I try a recipe from Gourmet, I didn't make a single change to the original, and so I'm simply linking you over to their recipe.

It's fast and delicious, easily halved or doubled, and the leftovers are great. It's excellent (eggcellent) scrambled with eggs, and I imagine it would be tasty as a version of bruschetta.

Why aren't you getting your veggies yet?

Pesto Ricotta Ravioli

If the thought of making homemade ravioli intimidates you, read on. If not, read on anyway. It might be fun.

Saturday was a gorgeous day and the perfect afternoon for the weekly farmers' market. The one closest to me is literally down the street, about 5 blocks away, and happens twice a week. Good deal! Unfortunately, Wednesday afternoons I'm tied up at school, but Saturday afternoons usually work out. This week, Official Taster and I walked away with tomatoes, oranges, scallions, corn, grapefruit, and plums for a grand total of $12.50. I was able to put the corn, tomatoes, and scallions to work right away, and I'll be posting that recipe in the next few days. (It was fantastic. Be sure to come back for it!)

Anyway, back to ravioli. I wanted to make some, but I also was a little wary. So I got some won ton wrappers at the grocery store (they're in the refrigerated section) and used those to wrap up some ricotta-pesto goodness. After I made about 30, I froze them to help them keep their shape during the cooking. The ones I didn't cook are still in the freezer, and should be good for quite a while. I discovered that making ravioli this way is still time consuming, but probably less than making the pasta from scratch, especially since I don't have a ravioli maker. Official Taster thought the texture of the won ton was a little odd since he's used to won tons being fried, but I thought they turned out well. I might try steaming them next time instead of boiling them because they were very sticky once drained. I had to be very careful removing them from the colander and getting them to plates. The pesto sauce you see in the bottom photo? That's actually the insides of a couple ravioli that broke as I tried to unstick them.

Pesto Ricotta Ravioli
1 package won ton wrappers, found in the refrigerator section of the grocery store
1 C ricotta cheese
3 ice cubes worth of pesto, at room temperature
2 garlic cloves (optional)
1/4 C romano cheese (optional)
salt

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Stir together ricotta cheese, garlic, romano cheese, pesto, and sprinkling of salt.
2. Place 1 won ton wrapper on your work surface, spoon some of your mixture (approx 1 Tbsp) in the center of wrapper. Use your finger to brush water onto the edges, fold wrapper in half and line up edges, and pinch to seal. Or use a second wrapper instead instead of just one folded. Repeat with your remaining ingredients. Arrange in a single layer on your baking sheets and freeze at least 30 minutes.
3. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add ravioli- stir to help keep them from sticking. Cook about 2 minutes, or until tender. Drain, serve, and enjoy!

Notes:
I didn't make a sauce to go with these since I just used the insides of broken raviolis to spread over the top. This recipe is easily variable- just omit the pesto and add a different tasty amendment. If I were to make a sauce for this, I would choose something light that doesn't overpower the pesto taste. Experiment and let us know your results!

Frozen, uncooked ravioli can be stored for up to a month

Pesto Tomato Risotto - vegan & gluten free

Risotto is a staple for Official Taster and me. I love it because it's so versatile and easily adapted to the season's vegetables. It's not something I make a lot in the summer because it does require the stove to be on for quite a while, but it's cool here in the mornings and evenings. In fact, morning air has fall's crisp edge, and nights are cool enough for a quilt.

Believe it or not, this was the first meal I've cooked in our new apartment. We moved a month ago! Cooking was such a relief! I've been subsisting on sandwiches, yogurt, and peanut butter because I've been home so little at night. I haven't baked here, yet, but I hope to soon.

For this particular batch, I used some of the pesto I made earlier this summer and some grape tomatoes that needed to be eaten. I've also used avocado, squashes, eggplant, tofu, peppers, pine nuts, and probably some others I've forgotten, as well as an assortment of fresh herbs. Risotto is also easily adapted to various diets and allergies. I use olive oil instead of the traditional butter, and the cheese is totally optional.

Basic Risotto Recipe
2 C vegetable or chicken stock
2 C water
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
salt
1 C Arborio rice
1/2 C dry white wine
1/2 C finely grated Romano cheese (optional)

1. Bring the stock and water to a simmer in a small pot. Once boiling, reduce heat so it's just high enough to keep the broth warm.
2. Add olive oil to a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sprinkle with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent (about 9 minutes).
3. Add the rice and stir frequently until the kernel ends are transparent. Add the wine and, stirring frequently, simmer until the wine is completely absorbed by the rice. Add a couple cups of stock, and stirring infrequently, cook until liquid is absorbed and the bottom of the pan is dry.
4. Add more stock, about 1/2 C at a time, as needed to keep the bottom of the pan from drying out. Cook, stirring frequently, until the grains of the rice are mostly cooked. Add vegetables/pesto/pre-cooked meat or whatever else you'd like, and cook for a few minutes more, until the rice is cooked through. Stir in cheese, serve, and enjoy!

Notes:
If you're adding fresh herbs, you can either mix them in at the very end or just sprinkle them over each serving.

For this batch, I used 3 of my pesto ice cubes (see pesto post), but more would have been better. Fewer, and the pesto taste wasn't really there.

Instead of romano cheese, you can use parmesan, or even types like mozzarella. Play around with flavors!

Pesto! Pesto! Pesto!

I hope you have an abundance of herbs right about now. It's that time of year, and so I put my basil to their most delicious use - pesto! It's very easy to make, freezable, and a great reminder of summer in February. I froze mine in an ice cube tray. That way, I can enjoy it in the exact portion I need. It didn't come out as cleanly as I wanted, so next time I'll try spraying the tray with cooking spray. Pine nuts are pretty pricey, so you can substitute walnuts or cashews. I hear spinach is good for you, so I added a couple handfuls. I can't taste, smell, or see a difference from other batches of pesto I've made. If you don't want to use spinach, though, just use more basil. Looking for a dairy free version? Just omit the cheese.

If you're anything like me, after you scrape the bowl clean with a spoon, you'll rip up a piece of bread to get the last drops.

Pesto
4 oz Romano or Parmesan cheese, cut into 1 inch pieces
3-4 garlic cloves
2 C tightly packed fresh basil leaves
2/3 C fresh baby spinach
1/3 C pine nuts
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 C olive oil

Using the metal blade of your food processor or blender, chop cheese and garlic. Add remaining ingredients, except olive oil, and process until combined, about 8 pulses. With the machine running, pour oil through feed tube. Process until combined. Scrape bowl and continue processing until smooth.

Red Wine Pasta with Broccoli

As a result of my recent reorganization, I re-found this recipe in my files. I'd made it once before, years ago, with a friend, and I remembered it being delicious. Sure enough, it was! I love when I remember correctly! Normally, when I make dishes from another recipe, I change ingredients and prep enough to consider it mine, but this time, I changed nothing (aside from pasta shape), and the directions are perfect. Gourmet magazine was always pretty great about that. So, please view the recipe here.

Once you get going, things move pretty quickly. Definitely a 30-minutes or less dish. Official Taster and I had it as our main dish, but you could also enjoy it as a side. Simply skip the cheese, and you've got a dairy free/vegan delight.

One note: Be sure to modify the recipe to minimize excess. It does not reheat well. I blame the broccoli.

Recipe Organization

I recently switched the way I organized my recipes, but I'm wondering what other ways you use. For many years, I used folders in which I could stash my growing collection of newspaper clippings, print outs, magazine pages, and index cards. These happily multi-colored folders were divided into broad categories, which made filing relatively easy, but the finding and using of recipes didn't work as well. I got into the habit of finding a few go-to recipes in each category that I would use several times. Those would remain near the front of a folder and therefore accessible. I wanted to be able to be easily inspired by all of my recipes for dessert or salad or bread.
So I took the plunge and completely changed my recipe organizing tactics, and, so far, I'm really happy about it. I completely emptied the folders and then re-organized the recipes into more specialized categories. For instance, "Desserts" got divided into

• cookies
• bars
• meringues
• brulee, custard, pudding
• candies
• cake
• crisp, crumble, pie
• desserts and fruit (a catchall for the rest- crepes, baklava, various sorbets, hot chocolate, etc)

Then I put everything into plastic sleeves, *borrowed* a binder Official Tester no longer used, put everything in the order I wanted it to be in, and then used dividers to separate the sections. Finally, I used some cute paper to label the binder and make it look prettier on my bookshelf. Voila! A new and improved recipe collection! I really like the ease of browsing, and if I want to use a recipe, I simply take the whole page out of the binder and the plastic sleeve protects the information inside from my sometimes overenthusiastic mixing.

What about you? How do you organize? Are you a collector of clippings, even, or do you just use cookbooks? Has anyone found a great computer program we should know about? Share your thoughts below!

Raspberry Pancakes

We have a lot of raspberries right now. Luckily, neither I nor Official Taster have a problem eating a package-full at a time straight out of said package. But this beautiful Sunday morning I had a hankering for pancakes, and then it came to me. Raspberry pancakes! Why have I never thought of this before? I've had blackberry and banana (separately and together) pancakes, which have been quite tasty. I've also enjoyed the crunch of granola, the goodness of chocolate chips, sweetness of peaches, and the fall flavors of apple in pancakes.

So I set out to make these mouthwatering treats. I wasn't sure which method - dropping on top or mixing into the batter - would work best, so I tried both. Of course, for the benefit of you, dear readers, and not because it's fun to play with food.

Vegan Veggie Pot Pie

I don't know about you, but I have a weakness for bakeware. It's kind of a problem because everywhere I shop I see dishes I want and imagine things I can make in them. I'm pretty good at resisting the siren call, especially for things that only make one dish or take up a lot of room. However, the other week I found myself with a gift card at a discount home store and found this pretty pie dish that called out to be set on the counter with delicious smelling steam rising from it. So I bought it. And a cookbook.
But I didn't get so many other things!

Easy Strawberry Jam (for real)

'Tis the season for excess fruit! With all the bounty that's starting to appear at farmers' markets and in grocery stores, if you're anything like me, you're seduced every time you shop and end up with more than you can eat or bake. That's where jam comes in handy! Freezer jam, that is. It doesn't involve canning and you can do small batches. It stays good for up to a year (6 months according to some) in the freezer and for about a month in the fridge.

Chili with Chipotle and Chocolate - vegan & gluten free

Cocoa is such a delightful ingredient. I use it in all sorts of desserts, and I've never heard of anyone being allergic to it. It's expensive per pound, but you don't usually need very much of it because it's so potent. Today's baking was some mint VeganOs, but instead of green filling, I made purple for Easter at the suggestion of The Official Tester. I was worried that it would be weird to eat something purple and mint flavored (i.e. not purple and grape flavored or mint flavored and green), but since I've eaten about eight, I don't think it's a problem. The chocolate of the cookies is the predominant flavor, and it's followed by the creamy mint. Delish!

Cocoa can also be used in savory main and side dishes. I hear those of you who don't live in Southern California are struggling with winter weather. I recommend this chili recipe I found in Cooking Light several years ago. I don't have photos, but imagine a warm, rich chili that tastes and smells a little bit like chocolate. Got it? Now make it! It's super easy (chili is very forgiving) and you'll only have to wash one pot. Feel free to add anything else that sounds good to you (corn, other/more beans, various peppers, dried herbs, etc). Add additional tomatoes, water, or broth to make it the consistency you want.

Chili with Chipotle and Chocolate adapted from Cooking Light
gluten free, dairy free, egg free, corn free, soy free
can be vegan/vegetarian

Dollop of olive oil (about 2 tbsp probably)
1 large onion, diced
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/4 lbs ground meat of choice (optional)
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp ancho chili powder
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 (15 oz) cans pinto beans, rinsed & drained
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 cups low sodium vegetable, chicken, or beef broth
2 chipotle chiles, canned in adobo sauce, minced
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and then onion, bell pepper, garlic and meat (if using). Saute 8 minutes or until meat is browned and vegetables are tender. Add next 10 ingredients (sugar through chipotle) to pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chocolate and stir until it melts and blends nicely.
That's it! You're done! You can serve it immediately, but I'd recommend letting it sit for a while and then reheating it. Chile always tastes better that way.
Serve over rice or not, add cheese or not. You can top with sour cream and/or chopped green onions.
Enjoy!

Life is Hard.

So you know when you do a really thorough cleaning job in the kitchen and everything is shiny and sparkling and so perfect you should want to cook all day and make perfect things? No? me neither. I've got the first part down, but, for me, when my kitchen looks this great, I don't want to mess it up! Even when I know I need to start baking for Quinn's birthday party. SIGH. Life is hard.
If any of you are wondering, that lovely blue bowl and the little lantern that's hard to see are courtesy of Bobbie, who's stuff you can find here and here.

Also, Happy Birthday to the one and only Paul M!

Buttercream + Jam = Delicious

So yesterday I made Jammie Bodgers (I'm taking suggestions on more sellable/searchable names), whose name practically forces me to talk with a British accent and sip tea with my pinkie up. Where's my fine china?
They turned out to be rather tasty and very pretty. I think the ones with the apple cutouts would be great Valentine's (or anything) presents for teachers. I have to leave for work in a few minutes, but I'm hoping to get them onto ShortandSweets when I get back home. For the red ones I used strawberry jam and the orange ones are pumpkin butter. Unfortunately, after reading the label of the jar I had in the fridge, I realized my current pumpkin butter is not vegan since there's honey in it. So I'll have to find a different source than Trader Joe's. I think that means it's time to go to one of the farmers' markets!

gluten free AND vegan fudge cookies

Today was my first attempt at using gluten-free flour. I picked up some of Bob's Red Mill at Costco and decided to replace regular flour in a recipe I've made several times before. I also replaced egg whites with Ener-G egg replacer. The cookies rose as usual without the addition of xantham gum, which is usually recommended with gluten free flour. Unfortunately, the recipe calls for canola oil and I used it, forgetting (as usual) that I really don't like the taste of it. On the plus side, as they are, these cookies are gluten free, vegan, peanut free, and corn free, which is an issue for some people. Next time I'll try a different oil, but I think overall these were a success. I'll get them up on Etsy soon

Note: Short and Sweets Official Tester just stopped by and tells me that the canola oil taste is all in my head. He says they are yummy and taste like chocolate and frosting. I cede to the Official Tester on this issue

Bread smells soooo good

I love the smell of bread in the oven, don't you?

I've got first rise, second rise, and the final products pictured

Bread is definitely one of those things that sounds super intimidating to make, but actually is pretty easy. It doesn't require the precision measurement that other baked goods need and timing is pretty flexible, too. Anyway, I made these of mostly whole wheat flour and a little bit of white flour. I used brown sugar for the sweetener (you need some to make the yeast happy) and some powdered goat's milk (normal people- go for cow milk. it's waaaaay cheaper) for lightness.

Unrelated, I forgot that I made animal cookies in my last big cookie bake, so here's how they turned out. I like the giraffe :)

New items for Valentine's, Weddings, Anti-Valentines, and Birthday Parties

Well, today I managed to photograph all the cookies and fudge I made yesterday and post 5, count'em five, new items on ShortandSweets. I feel so productive!

I did learn that candy molds don't really work for fudge. I tried to make some rose shaped fudge and it just fell apart/didn't come out of the mold. Fudge doesn't get as hard as candy so it doesn't "pop" nicely. Oh well, it was worth a try. I did make some heart shaped fudge in an ice cube tray. The other lesson from the week is that clean glass in ones kitchen windows make doing the dishes much more pleasant.

Go! Check out all my new stuff! Tell your friends! ;)

More Results

This pic above is the result of the vegan and gluten free chocolate popcorn cranberry recipe. It tastes pretty good! Sweet cranberries contrasting with the semisweet chocolate. This time I poured it all into a 9 in pan and smooshed it around until it was evenly distributed. After it hardened, I cut it into wedges, as you can see. I think next time I will make it into small portions instead of one big chunk because it was pretty messy to cut and wanted to break apart into less than pretty shapes. I'm thinking muffin tins maybe.
These pretty vegan cookies were fun to make! I cut out the big hearts first and then cut little ones out of the middle and switched them into the other dough flavor. I added some orange zest to the light dough so the combination is chocolate orange. The chocolate cookies are REALLY chocolate since I used melted semisweet chocolate to flavor the dough, not cocoa powder. For the icing, I just piped melted chocolate onto the cookies. I also made these in star and flower shapes. I will get them onto shortandsweets.etsy.com shortly so you can see the other photos. Perfect for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day or as wedding favors :)

Results

Well, vegan meringues didn't work at all. They kinda did, but they tasted kinda funny. So I'll have to think on it and try again. I didn't get to the double chocolate things, but I did make the popcorn chocolate craisin thing and it looks good, but due to poor planning I ate too much dinner and didn't save room for dessert. sigh. I'll have to try it tomorrow and let you know!

Baking Day

Happy Monday! Today is baking day, and my goal is to try out three new recipes. I'm trying to add more gluten free items to my repertoire since I have more vegan stuff on my Etsy at the moment. So far I have one done and cooling (it's hard to wait to try it!). Not sure what to call it yet, but it's chocolate and gluten free, vegan, and has popcorn and dried cranberries in it. Seems tasty! I'll let you know what the verdict is.
Next I'm going to try and make vegan meringues and a double chocolate brownie mint type thing that's gluten free and vegan.


I'll keep you posted!