Dessert Arancini

VeganMofo Day 30: Fusion Challenge!

My fusion challenge creation is meant to be a melding of Italian arancini and rice pudding. I'm not sure if this qualifies as true fusion as rice pudding is something found in a lot of cuisines around the world... 

Meanwhile, arancini (little oranges) are fried rice balls, usually made of left over risotto with some sort of filling in the center. If anything at least, this a fusion of a savory dish with a sweet one.

For the rice pudding, I used arborio rice and prepared it just as you would a risotto, but with coconut milk instead of broth and added sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, and candied ginger.

For the filling, I made cream cheese balls and rolled them in ground hazelnuts. 

After the risotto cooled, I flattened it out into rounds and placed the cheese balls in the center.

 

The initial risotto came out a tad bit stodgy, which I think helped make the balls easy to roll up.

 

I coated the balls with a mixture of panko bread crumbs, shredded coconut, and ground nuts.

I was a little nervous as to whether they would hold up while frying, but they did.

...and the centers:

The outside is crunchy and crisp from the panko and the coconut. The rice is just sweet enough with lovely spice and dried fruit. I couldn't taste the cheese in the middle very much, but it's always fun to find a creamy center. Served with some plain yogurt and a drizzle of maple syrup, they make a nice pudding...or breakfast if you don't mind deep fried ones.

And finally, a fond farewell to VeganMofo 2015 (I hate good-byes). I'm so thankful to be part of a global vegan community. I've found so many wonderful blogs and people, and I hope to keep up with them throughout the year. Well done everyone!   xoxo

Decadent Dishes for Dreary Days

Oh my, has it really been eight months since my last post? Yikes! I don't know where the time went. Other things just sort of took over my life lo' these past few months. I've been trying to keep up with all the blogs, and I apologize if I haven't been as consistent at that as I would have liked.  To top it all off, my camera broke! So, I don't have any pics of recent eats to post. These were the last shots I took before my camera died, back in September.

These were taken on a particular weekend when we got our first rain in quite some time. As a good Pacific Northwest native, I was really looking forward to a cozy, rainy weekend after a long stretch of dry weather. It put me in the mood for staying in, lighting candles, drinking a bit of wine, and most of all...cooking! I decided to make some butternut squash ravioli. Sometimes, you just need ravioli. It's in the same class as lasagne: an imperative of nature that just has to be satisfied.

For the dough, I used my standby pasta recipe from Vegan Dad. It's a great recipe: easy to make, easy to roll out, no bother. I don't have a pasta machine, so I roll the dough out by hand. If you let the dough relax for about 30 - 40 minutes after you combine it, the dough becomes very workable. A granite pastry board or similar is very handy  too, in order to keep the dough from sticking when you roll it out. I also have one of these ravioli molds, which turns ravioli-making into a breeze. If you're inclined to make ravioli, I highly recommend getting one of these:

Here's how it works: 

For the filling, I roasted a butternut squash, peeled it, and then mashed it with sauteed shallot, a bit of vegan margarine, and salt and pepper. It was a simple mixture, but I wanted it that way to highlight the flavor of the roasted squash, which is simply delicious on its own.

What's your favorite winter squash? I'm torn between butternut and delicata, although I like each one for different things.

For the sauce, I sauteed  garlic and diced yellow pepper in olive oil and tossed in some roasted garlic. Then to serve, I topped it with pine nuts, fresh parsley, and a drizzle of cold-pressed olive oil. We also had wilted kale and big green salad...yummy food for a rainy September evening.

I'm not big on desserts, but on this particular weekend, I decided to go all out and bake a pie. I really like to bake; I spent many years working in bakeries while I was in college and afterwards, but these days, I very rarely bake anything. Making a batch of something just seems like too much for two people to eat.

This was a blueberry pie with coconut crumble topping. The dough is your basic 2:1 pastry; two parts flour (by weight) to one part vegan shortening, a pinch of salt and a few tablespoons of cold water to bring it together. After sifting the flour, I like to rub the shortening in with my fingers. This however, warms up the shortening and is not strictly desirable. So, after I've rubbed the shortening into the flour, I put the mixture in the fridge for a while, so it can become nice and cool again before I add the cold water to combine...just my own quirky way of doing things.  Making sure the shortening is cold when you add the water helps produce a tender, flaky crust. Or, at least that's what I've always heard.

The filling was blueberries that I had frozen from the summer, about 1/4 cup sugar, and some corn starch. Then for the topping, I combined coconut spread, rolled oats, unsweetened shredded coconut, and some brown sugar. It had a mild coco-nutty taste from the coconut butter and the dessicated coconut...it was ok, but I wanted it to turn out crunchier somehow.

Before and after shots:

I thought it would take us a week to polish it off, but we were a bit greedy; it lasted two days. No magical, everlasting desserts around here, I'm afraid.

And finally, meet our newest family member, Barnaby the Bunny:

He's from the animal shelter, and he's been with us for about three months. He's only about nine months old, he's neutered and he's quite a tidy bunny with good litter box habits. He free roams in the kitchen and living room when we're home, and lives in the kitchen at night and when we're not home.

He's very clever, and has learned to come when I call for him.  I got him used to it by giving him a bit of carrot, apple, or strawberry whenever he came into the kitchen. So now, all I have to do is call out "kitchen bunny" and he comes running.

Barney's really a little darling and sits with us on the futon at night when we're watching a video and soaks up pets and gives us bunny kisses. The kitties were afraid of him at first, but now, they've gotten used to him. They still get a little spooked if he comes hopping up to them too quickly, but I'm sure eventually, they'll all snuggle together.

Whenever I open the fridge or bring in the groceries, he runs over to raid the veggies.

Rabbits are the third most surrendered animal at shelters after cats and dogs. Our municipal shelter is full of rabbits right now.  If you're in the Seattle area, and think a rabbit might be a good new addition to your family, head down to the Seattle Animal Shelter and check it out!  And, if you're interested, there's lots of good info about living with house rabbits at the House Rabbit Society.

Sorry, this turned into sort of a long post!

I hope to start posting again soon, whenever I can get my camera situation sorted out, until then...

Ciao for now

Wonderful Millet Balls, Bandanas, and Other Eats

Millet ball stir fry? Why of course.  The millet balls are a recipe from Vegan Delights cookbook, which I was lucky to win through a New Year's Eve giveaway over at Mehitable Days blog. It arrived with a group of donkeys:

The millet balls where the first recipe that caught my eye--officially called Wonderful Millet Balls in the book-- and they turned out tasty, if a bit on the delicate side. They're basically 2 cups cooked millet, 1/2 cup ground almonds (I threw in some ground flax too), and 1 Tbsp flour or arrowroot powder mixed with a variety of sauteed vegetables, tamari, veggie broth and seasonings to taste and to achieve a workable consistency. 

I used finely chopped onion, shallot, garlic, celery, shitake mushrooms, broccoli, and carrots...for a total volume of about 2.5 cups of finely chopped veggies. The seasonings can be altered according to what flavor you want to give them...since I was planning a stir fry, I added some brown mustard seeds, ginger, and a little turmeric. Baked in the oven @ 400 F for about 25 minutes, they come out delicate, but sturdy up somewhat as they cool. 

Before baking:

Out of the oven:

The stir fry was green onions, celery, and shitake mushrooms in a sort of teriyaki-style sauce (1/4 cup tamari, 1/4 cup mirin, 1 tbsp turbinado sugar, a few drops of toasted sesame oil, and about 1/8 cup water---thickened with arrowroot. Because the millet balls are on the delicate side, I added them in at the very end.

Speaking of giveaways, I also won this fun pink bandana from Molly over at VeganFlower. She sent some cool stickers and some of her business cards, which are really well done. 

Thanks Molly!! I love it!

Not as wonderful as giveaway winnings or millet balls, but in other food recently... 

...seitan sausages with sun dried tomato, kalamata olives, garlic, fennel, and oregano. I wrapped them in tin foil, steamed them, then uwrapped and browned them in the oven:

....with pasta:

Actually I take back what I said just now, the following is as wonderful as giveaways and millet balls...

Vic's BBQ Seitan Steaks from The Life blog:

You can't really see the seitan with the onions and mushrooms on top, but trust me: it's good.

Also an apple cake that looked nice, but came out rubbery:

Not sure why so rubbery...it was made from 1 pound of chopped apples tossed with 2 cups unbleached flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning, and a pinch of salt, then mixed with a puree of 2 ripe bananas, 1/2 cup applesauce, 1/2 cup raw cane sugar, 1 cup oat milk and 1 tsp of vanilla, then topped with apple slices and a drizzle of maple syrup. It might be better with whole wheat flour instead.

Inspired by Shen of Shenandoah Vegan fame, who often tops desserts with a little agave syrup...

...makes it all better.

Everything's Coming up Green Mangoes

Aamer Ombol and Aam Porar Sharbat: green mango refreshers

**Post Factum:** 

This is one of a series of posts for Vegan MoFo 2010; my theme was a 'Virtual Random Road Trip', where I used random.org's random geographic location generator to select locations around the globe, I then attempted to cook a few dishes from the traditional cuisine of that place. I didn't have a lot of time between generating the locations and coming up with recipes (~ 1 day). So, lacking time to do proper research, I can't vouch for the authenticity of anything I came up with. However, they are what they are, and it was a fun theme. 

This post couldn't be less appropriate to the local weather here at the moment. Both of the recipes are cooling summer treats, while here in the Pacific Northwest, we're having our first snow of the season.

Yet, the roadtrip happened upon Bangladesh and while searching for recipe ideas, these two caught my eye. I'm not trying to imply that the weather in Bangladesh is terribly warm at the moment. From what I can gather, April tends to be the hottest month there, while January is the coolest month with temperatures averaging in the mid-70's F. According to an online weather site, it's 84F and clear in Dhaka today. But, I digress.

I was a bit befuddled over the weekend, trying to figure out what to make for this destination...I quickly came to find that there are many regions, so many dishes: some sort of familiar, others completely new to me...Where to begin? What to do? How to begin on the path of the unititiated?

After all that, I decided to try a beverage and a cold soup, both made with green (unripe) mango. I have a confession about these recipes: I believe they are common in West Bengal, but I do not know for sure whether they are also common in Bangladesh. I'm hoping that they are...as I say, befuddled.

I'll begin with the chilled soup: Aamer Ombol – Chilled Green Mango Soup

This was my favorite of the two items. A thin, cooling soup, usually eaten as part of a meal during hot summer months, it consists of green mango, dusted with turmeric and then simmered with chili, mustard seeds, and some sugar.  If you're interested, I highly recommend reading the engaging post (with full recipe).

Note: In the recipe link above, I think she leaves out the turmeric on the ingredient list, but mentions it in the directions. I just sprinkled the fruit with a light dusting of  turmeric before adding it to the pot to simmer.

Not surprisingly, it tastes like stewed fruit, pleasantly settling on the tastebuds somewhere between sweet and slightly savory. The chili in my batch (I used 1 small chili)  was not too strong; I think I would have preferred it a little hotter. The turmeric and the mustard seeds add a mellow dimension and it turns into a mild soup with sort of a deep undertone (if that makes sense). It's easy to imagine this being very suitable and welcome in hot weather. As it was, I was happy to eat it for breakfast, amidst the snow.

The next item is called Aam Panna, or Aam Porar Sharbat (in West Bengal)

I forgot to save some mint for a garnish, (darn it), but this is a beverage made with roasted unripe mangoes, mint, cumin, black salt, and green chilis. (In case you haven't guessed, aam = mango.) It's a cool beverage, meant to be the consistentcy of orange juice rather than a thicker shake-like drink. Again, I encourage you to read through the delightful post where I found the full recipe.

After you roast the mangoes, you remove the skins, collect the pulp and blend it with the mint and other spices, along with enough water to acheive the correct consistency. It was a fun process, and the drink is wonderfully minty. I have to say, the cumin was a bit strong for my tastes, and making this again, would reduce the amount by half. According to the recipe, using the kala namak, or black salt, is essential to the flavor.

Post scriptum: I used the wrong kind of salt! The salt I used is indeed black, but it was black lava salt, the Hawaiian kind. Oh well, next time I'll try it with real kala namak! Thanks to Laurie for pointing me in the right direction.

...Looking in on the colorful world of aam from the snow:

Raw Key Lime Pie

**Post Factum:** 

This is one of a series of posts for Vegan MoFo 2010; my theme was a 'Virtual Random Road Trip', where I used random.org's random geographic location generator to select locations around the globe, I then attempted to cook a few dishes from the traditional cuisine of that place. I didn't have a lot of time between generating the locations and coming up with recipes (~ 1 day). So, lacking time to do proper research, I can't vouch for the authenticity of anything I came up with. However, they are what they are, and it was a fun theme. 

No visit to Florida would be complete without a visit to the Keys, and I've been wanting to try a raw dessert for a while now, so this presented a good opportunity. This is the second dessert dish I've made in the period of a week. I can't even remember the last time I ate two desserts in the same week...I always say that I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but now I'm thinking that I've had one all along and just didn't know it...this is super yummy.

The crust is made with dates, cashews, shredded coconut and a little salt. I thought it would be too sweet, but it's so good, I could eat it on its own. Dried fruit and nuts just go together. The filling is avocado, lime juice, and agave nectar. It is smooth and cool with a nice lime flavor, but again not too sweet. It's really delicious with banana slices too. I used my 7-inch springform pan, and only made half a recipe.The full recipe is here.

Raw desserts are fun, (and clever) and so much quicker than the baked/cooked versions.

Anyway, time to move on...the next destination is:

 Algeria. YUM!

Back in a day or two with an appropriate comestible.

Roseann LaPonte

Rosanne Tobin

Coconut-Cinnamon Pudding and The Next Destination

**Post Factum:** 

This is one of a series of posts for Vegan MoFo 2010; my theme was a 'Virtual Random Road Trip', where I used random.org's random geographic location generator to select locations around the globe, I then attempted to cook a few dishes from the traditional cuisine of that place. I didn't have a lot of time between generating the locations and coming up with recipes (~ 1 day). So, lacking time to do proper research, I can't vouch for the authenticity of anything I came up with. However, they are what they are, and it was a fun theme. 

For my last post on Bolivia, I thought a dessert might be appropriate. In choosing a recipe, I was going back and forth between a couple of options billed as traditional Bolivian desserts. One of them was cocadas, which are coconut candies made with condensed milk and eggs. Not versed in vegan candy making, I balked at trying to veganize that...it might be easy, but I wasn't sure. I was also extremely tempted by a cinnamon sorbet ( helado de canela), which was vegan from the get-go.

In the end, I decided on a coconut pudding, lightly flavored with cinnamon. I'm not sure whether this is considered specifically a traditional dessert, but I found it on a Bolivian recipes site, so I assume it's a fairly popular dessert at any rate.

I made the pudding this morning before work, and let me tell you, I'm not particularly fond of sweet things in the morning, nor do I have a big sweet tooth in general, but this is sooo good. I ate some for breakfast!

You can find the full recipe at the bottom of the post.

The next item on the agenda is the next road trip destination. So, courtesy of Random.org:

Florida!

...well, off the coast of Florida. I think I mentioned before that 60-70% of the randomly generated locations end up being in the ocean...this was one of them, but it was pretty close to land, so why not choose the closest shore? I've decided to abandon the road for this stop and travel aboard a MoFo yacht for a while. We'll be sailing in a southerly direction, me thinks. This should be a nice way to spend the weekend.

Coconut-Cinnamon Pudding (4 Small or 2 Generous Servings)

I halved the original recipe (which you can find here) and veganized it by using coconut milk beverage instead of dairy milk. The original recipe calls for cloves in addition to the cinnamon, but I was out, so omitted them. I also reduced the amount of sugar by half.

I recommend using unsweetened coconut milk beverage...the drinkable kind,  not the heavy tinned kind.

2 and 1/4 cups unsweetened coconut milk beverage, like the So Delicious variety or similar

1.5 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup sugar or 1/3 agave syrup

4-inch piece of cinnamon bark

1/4 cup corn starch, mixed until smooth with 2 to 2.5 tablespoons water

Combine 2 cups of the coconut milk with the shredded coconut and the cinnamon in a pot and bring slowly to a boil, stirring frequently. When the mixture comes to a boil, add the sugar (or agave), reduce heat to low/med-low and allow to cook gently for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

After the sweetened mixture has cooked for 10 minutes, remove from heat and strain to remove the shredded coconut and the cinnamon. (Alternately, you could puree the coconut shreds into the milk with a blender.)

Return the strained milk to the pot, add in the remaining 1/4 cup coconut milk and the cornstarch/water mixture. Cook over medium-high, stirring constantly, until the mixture is quite thick and viscous. Remove from heat, and allow to cool completely. 

Once cooled, you can chill it in the fridge until serving, or serve at room temperature. Garnish with toasted coconut and powdered cinnamon. 

Post scriptum:  Depending on how much you allow it to thicken, it will get pretty solid as it cools and sets up. Mine became like a molded piece of pudding or similar, so to "break" the mold and get a creamy texture, I put it in a bowl and whisked it for a good minute or two...the mold-like mass then becomes more soft and creamy.

Back tomorrow with an appropriate comestible.

Roseann LaPonte
Rosanne Tobin

Random Road Trips + Halloween

The first day of November has arrived, and Vegan Mofo 2010 is already well underway. I can't wait to check out what everyone will be up to and discover all sorts of new and incredible blogs and bloggers.

My theme this year will be a random road trip. The idea is to use the random geo-location generator from random.org to generate the destinations. Basically, I'll go to the random location generator and click Pick Coordinates. This will provide me with the locations for the "road trip"--provided that the location is not in the middle of the ocean or on a polar ice cap. If you play around with the locator a little, you'll probably find that about 60 - 70 % of random locations end up being precisely in one of those places. So, I'll keep clicking until I get a land location and go with it.

I am hoping this will take me to many exotic and interesting places, but I can't vouch for the authenticity of anything I come up with...I won't have a lot of time to research each destination, but I'll do my best. And, I'll probably stick around at each location for a post or two.

Last year I somehow managed to post all 31 days, but I'm feeling a little dubious that will happen this year. I think the rules technically say that there are no official rules as to how often you need to post, but should aim for at least 5 days a week, or 20 posts in the month, which is what I'm aiming for.  At any rate, 20 posts in the month will be about 4 x more than my average.

So without any further ado, the first location is:


¡Bolivia! Tune in tomorrow for some comida boliviana.

In the mean time, here are some pics from Halloween.

Lots of vegan Halloween booty, including Yummy Earth Lollipops that come in flavors like Mango, Apple Tart, and Pomegranate. Lollipops have come a long way since I was a kid:



All tolled, we got about 15 groups of Halloween revelers...not bad compared to years passed.

Here's my favorite trick-or-treater:



Spooky porch...enter if you dare:



Of course, you need some friendly pumpkins to guide the way:

And some not so friendly ones:

How's this for an attitude? -->

Here's a little visitor, who snuck in on a flower and decided to stay for dinner:

He/she munched on that flower while we had chili in pumpkins...probably the spookiest photo of all:

That's it, ciao for now.