No Posts= High Grades

Yes my friends, I have discovered a relationship with a very high
level of statistical association. Finally squeezed through midterms
and emerged triumphant. Now to just actually start my final projects
and start studying for finals. Ha. I got my midterms returned and
only have three weeks of classes left for the quarter.

I have been cooking quite a bit when I am at home, naturally.
Much of that has been experimental, so no solid recipes unless you
wanna be a tester for the book.

Here are some of the highlights since St. Valentines Day...


Monkey Man's Potato Pierogies



Creamy Fat-Free Basil Pesto


Luscious Vegan Lasagna




Bad lighting, sorry.


Back to making my 'Cutie Quiche', but this time around its all vegan.
At one point I was known for the palooza of quiche I'd make and now
it may happen again.


I love the pie pan that I finally got to use. I actually had not
made any sort of pie since my pie series and my friends had given me
a gorgeous ceramic pie dish that I had not gotten to use yet.

Maybe I'll make them a quiche to say thanks! This one was a whole
wheat crust and stuffed with broccoli and garlic.

All of these were amazing, if I do say so myself and you could taste
absolutely no difference between these and their non-compassionate
counterparts.

I have some great recipes and series coming up soon, so don't fear!

Catching up from the Holidays

Still stranded without my camera, I thought I'd show a
few pics the Monkey-man took with his phone up to Christmas
Eve.

We went up to the mountains and stayed with my Grandparents,
hoping to catch some snow. Then we headed out towards the
coast for a family gathering, vegan dishes in tow.

While we were cooking, we had to snack to prevent ourselves
from eating the dinner. Our munchies were satisfied by my
whole wheat bread with tofutti cream cheese and our pumpkin
butter!


Here is the thanksgiving dish my Papa and I always make. I didn't get
to make it this thanksgiving, so I made it for my Family for Christmas Eve!




It is basically a layered casserole, with all your favorite Thanksgiving flavours.
You start with a layer of my jazzed up stuffing and pile on the
sauce and a sliced vegan 'meat'.





The topping is made with layered phyllo dough, each sheet
brushed with melted earthbalance. At Thanksgiving I cut
some shapes into autumn leaves to place on top. My
Christmas version is topped with Christmas Trees and Stars.







We served the casserole with a herbed gravy and some gingered
cranberry sauce.



For our family gathering, we took some sweet potato and black
bean enchiladas. I added some of my modified cheese sauce
to keep that essential cheesey taste.




Aww! Mindy wants more celery treats!!

Dinner Pie, Oh My: Part Five

I've heard it said "Eat Dessert first, you never know when

you're gonna die." I strongly concur.

However, what if your dessert was hijacked by a dinner

disguising as a dessert. Like a pie, that wasn't your

average pie...

Yes my friends, I am talking about the dastardly meal

that is shepherds pie or worse yet pot pie. Shepherds pie

though is very often mislabeled... It actually is just a

veg and meat pie topped with potatoes and baked. Pot

pie actually has a pie crust.

I remember my dad making shepherd's pie when I was

a kid and I hated celery, so I never wanted to eat it.

And you have to admit that dinner pie isn't the most

photogenic or appetizing looking meals... So naturally,

as most children do, I had to give it a suitable nickname.

My Dad's shepherd pie became "Shepherd's Hulgh" --

as in a puking noise. I'm not sure how to spell that, but

you get the picture.

I feel pretty bad about this because my Dad is a damn

good cook and he doesn't cook nearly as much as he used

to, very sad. Also, I know that if I had his shepherd's pie today

I wouldn't be complaining.

We did a special take on the whole shepherd's pie idea today

for dinner... Our filling was just a load of mostly broccoli that

could be the base of a very good soup. (onions, garlic, broc,

carrots, sage, rosemary, bay leaf, soymilk, salt, pepper,

and a vegan roux).

Now the crust is what brings us back to the traditional sense

of shepherd's pie-- taders. Instead of lobbing some potatoes on

top we made a potato crust, as follows.

Potato Pie Crust

2 cups mashed potatoes, cooled

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp water

Mix all but water. Slowly add water until a ball is formed.

Divide and roll out in to about 1/8" thickness.

This is good for a 9" crust and up. We used an 8" pan and

still had some dough left over. Once the bottom

of the crust is in place, pierce some holes in it with a fork

and prebake for about 8 minutes at 350F.

Pour in your filling and apply the top crust. Cut a couple of

slits in it, so the heat can escape. Bake for 30 minutes or

until golden brown.

My Shepherds "hulgh!"

Hee hee looks like the pie puked though!

Spuds on Top

It all started when I wanted

to do some kind of veggie

casserole for dinner, but I

didn't have enough flour to

make a pot pie. I hate casseroles

with bread crumbs on top.

I don't like how they taste and

how they get both crunch/stale

and soggy at the same time.

Bread crumb casseroles just

gross me out, OK?

Well, I had this idea of doing a

potato au gratin style top and ran

with it... Really, this could not

have been easier and my Mom loved it.

That is saying something!

Spuds on Top

ingredients

3-cups of mixed vegetables, roughly chopped

(onions, bell pepper, squash, green beans, carrot, celery, etc.)

1 clove of garlic, minced

3 tablespoons of oil or non-dairy butter

3 tablespoons of flour

2 cups of vegetable broth

4 russet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced thinly

1 1/2 cups of large chunked tvp, presoaked in vegetable broth

misc herbs; I used sage, celery salt, and black pepper

Parboil the potatoes for about 5-minutes, but do not cook until tender, and remove from heat.

Heat a little bit of water, broth or oil in a large pan or wok. Cook garlic, then onions until

fragrant. Add rest of veggies and cook until bright but still keep crunchy and remove from heat.

Melt/heat the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, while stirring,

until browned. Slowly add in the 2-cups of vegetable broth and cook until it begins to thicken into a nice gravy-sauce.

Mix the chopped, tvp, and sauce all together and dump it in a casserole dish.

Layer by overlapping the sliced potatoes over your veg mix in the dish. You can dot with

non-dairy butter or drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

Toss into your oven- gently, but with passion and cook covered for 10-minutes and uncovered

for 30-minutes more or until potatoes start to brown @ 375 degrees F.

Enjoy~