Pie Post_ Pumpkin and Walnut Raisin Pies

Just wanted to post a Thanksgiving update, starting with desserts. I brought the pie to our celebration: vegan pumpkin pie, and vegan apple walnut pie. I decided to do 4-inch tarts rather full size pies, because small desserts are just cuter than big ones.

I made simple short crust pastry: 1:1 flour to shortening with a pinch of salt. I used 1.5 cups flour to 3/4 cup Earth Balance, with ~ .5 teaspoon salt...(I'm not sure exactly how much, as I just eye-balled it.) I think the key to good pastry is ensuring that the fat is very cold and remains so throughout the mixing process.



I found recipes online for vegan pumpkin pie with tofu, but that didn't appeal to me, so here's what I used instead:

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Filling
2 cups organic pumpkin puree
1 cup rice milk
1/3 cup turbinado sugar (this is nice, because it retains some of the molasses flavor)
1/4 cup corn starch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each: nutmeg, allspice, and ginger

Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl until well incorporated and smooth. Fill the pastry with the filling and bake in a 425 degree (F) oven for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 and continue baking until the filling is set, approximately 30-40 minutes.

The filling came out smooth, pumpkiny, and nicely spiced...my husband liked it and he usually doesn't eat anything with cinnamon in it....so the flavors were subtle, but well balanced.



As good as the pumpkin pie was, I have to say, that the walnut raisin was my favorite. For this one, I used Bryanna Clark-Grogan's New and Improved Reliabe Vegan Pecan Pie recipe, but used walnuts and raisins instead of pecans. In the recipe, she gives a couple variations for the sweetener; I went with maple syrup option and it came out lovely and mapley. If anyone makes this pie, I definitely recommend going with the maple syrup option.



And one last note that I have to preface with saying: my mom was a stay-at-home mom, excellent cook, and everything we grew up eating was made from scratch...so a spray can of whipping cream would have never come within miles of our house....

But all that aside, my mom (whose not vegan, but was totally cool about eating a 100% vegan Thanksgiving dinner) found a can of vegan rice whip at WholeFoods and bought it to go with the vegan pie. I normally wouldn't buy anything like this, nor would she, but given the circumstances, I had to commend her efforts.



We used this stuff on the pie, and it really wasn't bad, but I was a little scared to read the ingredient list. It's basically rice milk and rice syrup packed in nitrous oxide. It's made in Germany.

Meet Rhonda

Rhonda
"Let there be music, let there be light, but please don't make a turkey your holiday delight!"

(I live at the New York Shelter)

Thanksgiving in the US is nearly upon us, and as every year, I'm growing weary of hearing people talk about "Turkey Day," saying things like "Gobble, Gobble," and just generally going on about their unenlightened food customs. I realize omnis eat meat all year round, but rarely are they so vocal and annoying as this time of year.

Rhonda is the turkey I sponsored this year through Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-a-Turkey Project.

Here's to a Happy ThanksLiving!!!

Isfahani Green Bean and Tomato Braise

Well almost...I used broccoli and aubergine instead because I didn't have any green beans.


Dinner last night included this recipe from Silk Road Cooking, A Vegetarian Journey by Najmieh Batmanglij--the newest addition to my cookbook collection. It's a gorgeous book focused on traditional cuisines found along the historic silk-trading route or "Silk Road," running from Genoa, Italy all the way to Shanghai, China dipping into a multitude of destinations in between. It has beautiful and captivating photos of people and places you might find along the way, as well as a cultural and historical narration.



I don't want to promote Amazon--I rarely buy books from them as I prefer to support my local, independently-owned bookseller (which is where I bought this book)--but if you click on the book title link above you can search inside the book and get an idea what I'm talking about.

I haven't had time to fully peruse this book, much less read it yet, but I still highly recommend it. It is vegetarian--not entirely vegan, but that scarcely matters as vegans are masters of creativity and adaptation, and can easily find a work-around for any non-vegan ingredients.



The recipe is in a section of the book entitled Fruit and Vegetable Braises, which includes other intriguing recipes such as Gilani Jujube, Walnut, and Pomegranate Braise and Persian Eggplant Braise with Unripe Grapes. As you can tell, the book is full of alluring recipes with striking ingredients to satisfy a sense of adventure in the kitchen



The braise was simple, but delicious... I did overcook the broccoli a bit (note to self for next time). According to the book, this dish is popular in Iran and the South of India

I served it with a tabouleh-style salad made with red quinoa (instead of bulghur), spinach, parsely, tomato and red onion; some manzanilla olives; humus; and spinach naan. It was pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

I'm really looking forward to delving further into this cookbook.