Alberta Bean

Fotolog - Confiture at Ile D'Orleans (Island of Orleans - Quebec)

2010-11-21T17:59:00.004-07:00

Ile D'Orleans is a magical place covered with orchards and "cidreries" (like wineries, but they make cider... not sure what the English word for that would be). I was lucky enough to visit two cidreries while I was there, followed by a trip to an amazing waterfall about an hour away.

This is the owner of the first cidrerie we went to. He was a Belgian who immigrated to Canada. He actually found his orchard in full bloom before he bought it. It was on a piece of land no one was using at the time. He and his family decided to salvage the situation and created their beautiful cidrerie. I really wish I could remember the name right now... If I figure it out, I will let you know.

They make about 6 different ciders here, not to mention about 20 or so different types of mustards, jams, and confitures. The ciders vary in sweetness depending on the ingredients and when the apples were harvested. Some of the flavours included honey cider, maple cider and ice cider.

The confiture table included different mustards (regular, orange, terragon, honey, etc), as well as confitures (onion and carraway, onion and maple, etc) and preserves (various jams and marmalades). I wanted to buy everything, but there was no way I could fit it all in my suitcase, haha!

-A

P.S. Chute de Mont Morency (Mont Morency Waterfall)

What a great day.

Fotolog - Epicurean Adventures in the Vieux Port (Old Port, Quebec City)

2010-10-09T20:14:00.007-06:00

Full of various vendors of wine, cider, fish, bread, flowers, cheese, meats, spices, and fudge, this is my favorite market to date... but I guess I haven't been everywhere yet...

La Fromagere. Cheese shop. This is where I learned exactly how popular cheese curds are.

Also tried the fresh cheese Louis D'Or. It's aged in a grotto, unpasteurized and extremely expensive. Also, unlike anything I have ever tasted before. Louis, you are missed.

Mmmmmm. Look at all that CHEESE!

Bakery across the way from the cheese shop. Didn't have a chance to try anything, but it all looked delicious!

This was at the far end of the market. It was a little variety store full of teas, spices, chocolates and other treasures

Some locally brewed beer, sold at the corner store in the market

Some of the beautiful flowers for sale outside

After all this browsing, I think a meal is definitely on the menu!

Mediterranean-style focaccia seasoned with tomato sauce and spices topped with mushrooms, peppers, artichokes, olives, onion, sundried tomato and, of course, feta.

Served, of course, with locally brewed beer, Blanche de Chambly.

Oh, by the way, did I mention the scenery??

Fotolog - Cabane a Pierre (Quebec)

2010-10-09T11:56:00.004-06:00

Cabane au Sucre (or "Sugar shack" for the anglophones out there)

This was an amazing night in the outskirts of Quebec City at a traditional maple syrup house, Cabane a Pierre. Everything was very authentic from the meals served to the traditional Quebecois band... and even the fur trappers hut (eeee! pictures will not be posted).

This is definitely something to experience if you are at all interested in the history of Quebec and French Canada. However, be warned, most food is not vegetarian, but a (loose) veggie could definitely get by in the meal (pea soup, homemade bread, potatoes, beans, crepes, tire d'érable). I basically just didn't want to miss out on this amazing experience.

Please note the best pea soup of my life:

Fotolog - Aux Vivres (Montreal, Quebec)

2010-07-22T15:48:00.010-06:00

While I was in Quebec, I had a chance to stop by this little Vegan restaurant down on St Laurent in Montreal. I had actually been there before about five years ago and I couldn't wait to return. Last time I was there, I ordered their (vegan) BLT wrap, which had bacon-flavoured shredded coconut inside! It was pretty amazing, so I couldn't wait to come back. This time, I opted for something different, but unfortunately, with not-so-amazing results.

This is the tempeh burger with a side of potato wedges and coleslaw. The burg gets my thumbs up, but unfortunately the wedges and coleslaw... not so much. FYI to everybody out there, clove spice should NEVER be used on potato fries. NEVER.

This, however, was pretty amazing.

It's some kind of pate made out of carrots, BUT TASTES LIKE LOX!! Pretty decent imitation. I enjoyed it, however, it would have been better if served on a baguette or cracker of some sort, instead of all on its own.

Aside from the food, I have to admit, the service was pretty terrible. I don't remember it being this way my first time there, but we were seated right next to the washrooms (when there were plenty of other tables available) and once our food was served, our waiter was nowhere to be found. It took forever to get water and even longer to get our bills. However, since I have only been there a couple times, I would give them the benefit of the doubt that this type of service isn't the ordinary.

Despite my less-thank-stellar experience this time, I think I would still go back and see what other interesting creations they've got on their menu. They seem to have a knack for fascinating flavour imitation.

Verdict: To Be Continued...

-A

Fotolog - Breaded Veggie Chicken with Steamed Buns under a Mushroom Gravy (and a side of Garden Salad)

2010-07-21T08:22:00.008-06:00

I know it's not the prettiest picture, and I was debating about posting it... but it sure was tasty!!

Fotolog - BBQ Tofu, Corn (off) the Cob, and Dill Potatoes

2010-07-20T08:20:00.007-06:00

Summer's here!! (yum!)

Fotolog - Curried Tofu on Jasmine Rice

2010-07-19T17:23:00.007-06:00

My most recent tofu trial (and success). Tofu curry made with (light) coconut milk, served with onions and carrots on a bed of sweetened Jasmine rice.

I'm still looking for a sweet curry recipe. I feel like this maybe depends on the type of powder used. Can any curry experts out there help me out?

Summer in a nutshell - intro to fotolog

2010-07-19T17:05:00.005-06:00

So my life has been pretty crazy lately.

With the end of my second last semester came my summer of travel. About five days after I finished my exams, I packed up and flew my tush over to Quebec province. I spend a good portion of May there as well as about half of June. I could probably go into incredible levels of detail about this trip, but frankly, I just think that would take too long.

I came back home for a few weeks and then packed my bags for Guadalajara, Mexico. I was only there for a week, but it was a great experience and the people there are some of the most kind I have met.

I think for the next little while, I will be posting a mix of things I've seen, things I've eaten, and things I've made. I hope you enjoy!

-A

Thoughts and Pie

2010-02-18T08:20:00.006-07:00

Hey everyone, long time no see! I’m sorry I left without a “back in 5” sign on the door. School has started again and I guess it’s been a little more demanding than I expected.

Although I haven’t been posting, it’s given me a little time to think over the philosophy of my blog. When I started posting, which I know wasn’t that long ago, I had a plan to share veggie food that came across my path and post it at least once a week. Somehow, it turned from a general food search to a recipe search type deal. (Maybe it’s because I haven’t really had the chance to go out for food all that much lately.) I guess I just wanted to let you know that although I will still be posting recipes, you can also expect to see some other veggie-related posts once in a while.

Also, I’ve decided to follow a policy of quality not quantity. I quite enjoy posting and doing so every week. However, I’ve found with my time constraints, that it becomes quite rushed, and overall not as fun to do…… so I’m not gonna.

Okay, back to business.

Everyone: I just got the best book in the world! Okay, well not really. But I’m super excited about it! It’s called Professional Chef and it’s a textbook put out by the CIA (link). It’s a little intimidating (like over 1000 pages), but I can’t wait to go through it! I’ve been cooking regularly over the past 3 years, so I’m still pretty new at the game. I can cook some pretty decent meals nowadays, but I find that I’m not quite up there when it comes to technique (I have no idea what I’m doing). I’ve always wanted to be able to cook sans recipe, and I think this book may help! Even though it does contain recipes (like 600 of ‘em), it also goes through various techniques, their purpose and what they hope to achieve. Eg. some topics include the different characteristics of regional cuisine, how to develop different flavours of tomato sauce, soup formulas, etc. The only thing about this book, which I wouldn’t necessarily say is a bad thing, is that I think I’m going to have to invest in a half-decent kitchen scale. The one I have (from Save-On) just isn’t going to cut it.

Anyway, if you’re looking for something more encyclopedic when it comes to cooking, this book may be worth considering. I also give it a pretty decent “veggie-friendly” rating because although it includes a topic on meat and many meat-filled recipes, this isn’t the sole focus on the book. Also, with this topic included, I hope to understand the flavouring process that goes into some meat dishes and translate it to a veggie alternative. (Wish me luck!)

Now, if you’re wondering why there’s a picture of a pie at the top of the page, no, the “A” doesn’t stand for Alberta Bean. It was actually a belated birthday present for my cousin (whose name also happens to begin with “A”). I’m actually quite proud of this pie, as it is the first pie I’ve ever made, and I DID IT FROM SCRATCH! (with the help of Professional Chef)

The pie crust was made with the help of the proportion guidance of my textbook and the filling recipe I found online. Let me know what you think!

-A

P.S. I also made baby pie. Cute, no?

Butternut Squash Soup from Easy Vegetarian (Ryland Peters & Small)

2010-01-03T11:59:00.013-07:00

Warm soup for the cold winter.

This is dedicated to all my friends here in the frozen North.

There is nothing better than hot soup to warm you up after pushing your car out of a snowbank.

:-)

This recipe is from an Easy Vegetarian cookbook I finally decided to crack open. (See. Easy.)

I bought this book because it had a lot of familiar tastes in it and because all the ingredients seemed like they would not be too difficult to find. I don't know if any of you have ever flipped through some of the more fancy (or more vegan) cookbooks, but there are just some ingredients in there that I just don't know either what they are, or where I could possibly find them (other than on the internet).

Another thing I really liked about this book is that every single recipe has a picture accompaniment. I find that it's a lot easier to make something when you know what it's supposed to look like when you're finished. Big selling point for me.

So the soup I decided to make is a butternut squash curry soup. I'm not including the actual recipe because I'm not quite sure how this copyright thing works (can you copyright a recipe?), but I will post my pictures and you can decide for yourself if this book is something you might be interested in picking up.

This is actually the second time I've made this soup. The first time, I followed the directions exactly. The soup turned out a little thick, so I decided to use it as a pasta sauce instead (was yummy). This time I added more liquid so it is much more "soup-like". Also delicious.

The Cast:

Curry Powder, Coarse Salt, Ground Pepper

Butternut Squash, Medium Yellow Onion

Cashews

Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Milk, Unsalted Butter

First chop squash like so

It comes with seedies like this

Take them out

Then you will have a treasure trove like this

Then chop your onion and melt the butter in olive oil

It WILL smell good.

Spice it up.

Then mix in your squash.

Cook it and chop your nuts while you're waiting.

Add the milk and water to the pot.

Whadd'ya think??

Let it cook for a while till it's all soft.

Then stir in the cashews.

Finally, blend it.

Soup!

Warm, thick and filling.

P.S. Hot chocolate is also good after braving the cold.

Potato Salad Niçoise

2009-12-27T16:17:00.009-07:00

It all started a couple weeks ago when I went to get my hair done. I had recently noticed that as my hair got longer, I would find more of it in my hairbrush. I decided to get some advice from my stylist. In return she gave me a Retirement Living magazine to read under the dryer. I am in my twenties. So is she. This is how we communicate.

Not letting her get the best of me, I decided to actually read the magazine. Suffice it to say I learned a lot about varicose veins and their treatment. I did, however, find something that caught my eye. It was a recipe called Potato Salad Nicoise. As I read through it, I noticed the dressing was a mustard vinaigrette, and since I had so much luck with my pear salad, I decided to try this one out as well.

Unfortunately, by the end of my hair appointment, I was a little too embarrassed to ask if I could rip out the recipe from the magazine, so I committed to trying to find it online instead.

I didn’t have much luck finding the original article, but I did come across a similar recipe in Canadian Living (click here for recipe). It’s simple, easy, and quick. It’s also healthy but filling, so it wins major points with me. Oh yeah, the taste is pretty good too.

Okay, first wash cute potatoes like these.

Then chop them up like so

Next, deploy the green beans.

Snap off the ends like this.

Chop up red peppers.

Mix with the dressing. (Olives and spinach not pictured.)

And you'll end up with something like this.

Yum.

P.S. In case you were wondering, I didn't have grape tomatoes or black olives, so I substituted them for a few romas and marinated kalamata olives. Still tasty.

Oh, and in case you were worried for me, my hair is not falling out. It’s normal. 80 per day I hear. I just wanted to make sure you had some closure on this issue.

Cake "Napoleon"

2009-12-23T10:06:00.016-07:00

Okay. First order of business. Verdict on Banan’ bread. Excellent. I’m a fan of all types of banana bread – spicy and sweet. The last recipe was a sweet one, but the coffee just gives it the right amount of bitterness. I’ve made this recipe once more since and I was right, the recipe calls to make two mini loaves, so if you’re making a single one like I did, just lower the oven to 300F and I baked for at least an hour and fifteen (but I think this will also depend on your oven, so just make sure you toothpick test the dough!)

Next. HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!! ‘Tis the season for shopping and parties and has it ever been busy! Whew! I’ve spent the last 2 days baking up a storm of cookies and cakes! They won’t all make it to blog but I do have a special treat for you!

My friend Cassie also got me one of the best kitchen-related presents ever!! Some cute new cookie cutters and THIS:

Isn’t it adorable?? I wish I had all these retro patterns. So stylish and cute! P.S. Notice the cupcake??

With all the baking I was able to put it to good use right away!

So I want to share with you a childhood treat of mine. When I was young, my parents had a friend named “Krystina” (say this with a Russian accent). She was a grandiose lady (think Alice in Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts) and was always throwing parties. I loved those parties for one reason I remember more than any other. The cake. Oh! It was so delicious! She called it Napleon Cake and she would never share the recipe. It was filled with cream and lots of tiny layers (I recently found out it also goes by another name in French “Mille-Feuille”). If you have never tried it I can’t recommend it more, but if you’re going to make it,WARNING, it’s NOT easy.

I recently found a website called RussianFoods.com that actually carried the RECIPE for this tasty treat. However, I found myself lost in a few places (due to a few errors in the recipe I think). I was really worried a few times during this caking process, but somehow, it turned out pretty similar to what I remember, so you can imagine how pleased I am!

I baked this cake for my lovely friend Nina (Happy Birthday Nina!!)

And thanks again to Tim for opening his home for her birthday and putting up with a female Rockband takeover (but he still rules way more at the “instruments”).

Okay, are you ready?

Here it goes.

Cake “Napoleon”

(look at all the tiny layers!!)

Here is the original recipe, but I will also explain my "enhancements"

Ingredients

Dough

· 500 g flour

· 250 g margarine

· 1 egg

· 1 T vinegar

Icing (Cream)

· 1 cup sugar

· ½ L milk

· 2 eggs

· 2 T flour

· 200 g butter

· vanilla

Directions

Make the dough first because it needs some chilling time.

Mix the margarine (or butter) with the flour. Do this a little at a time for consistency. The recipe says to do this “until smooth”.

It never really got “smooth”. Just sort of crumbly., which is what I expected from margarine and flour.

Next the recipe called (in a separate bowl) to mix the egg with vinegar in 1 cup of water.

This is where I think something went funny with the recipe. I trustingly did this:

and then mixed it with the flour mixture, but because I knew the dough would later be rolled, I also knew it looked WAY too runny. The recipe said to knead the dough until “elastic-y”, but I could tell that wasn’t going to happen. In an attempt to remedy the situation I proceeded to knead in flour in small portions until the dough became a little less “wet”. Although, it still wasn’t what I would call “elastic”, but I decided to roll with it. Get it? Haha.

I didn’t want to make the dough TOO thick because it has to be rolled really thin. Oh! And I also added salt. I tasted the dough and it seemed a little floury so I whipped out the salt shaker. I’m not sure how much I put in, but it was only a little. Definitely less than half a teaspoon.

Okay, so I got my dough somewhat elastic. Then you portion it in 8 equal parts. I wrapped these in plasti-wrap and stuck ‘em in the fridge.

Cream filling:

I once tried to make custard and burned it. I was a little worried about this one, but it turned out great!

In a saucepan, mix the sugar eggs and flour.

Then stir in the milk.

Cook the liquid on a low heat and STIR CONSTANTLY OR IT WILL BURN OR BOIL OVER.

This part actually takes a little while. I read somewhere that you must do this for 10 minutes, but I’m sure I was standing there for at least fifteen. When you start, the liquid will be pretty thin. Eventually it will thicken up, but it takes a while, but then happens quite suddenly. Pay attention (I’ve made this mistake). I was reading up on custards and it’s got something to do with the egg that it shouldn’t get too hot or it will set improperly. (HERE are some custard tips if you’re interested. This recipe uses a “stirred” custard)

You can tell when the icing is finished by dipping a metal spoon into it. You should see a film like this:

When this happens, take the saucepan off the heat.

Once it has cooled a little, add ½ tsp of vanilla. Then stir in the butter, a little at a time again.

Voila! Done icing.

Baking time.

Preheat the oven to 365F. The recipe I used didn’t include a baking temp or time, so I ended up figuring this out when 420F was too hot. Yep.

These next steps should be repeated for each section of dough.

First roll the dough out really thin.

I have pizza pans, not baking sheets, so please make due. Then cut the excess strips of dough off (you want at least semi-uniform pieces for when you layer the cake). Don’t through these strips away. Use them. Later.

Pierce the dough with the fork all over.

Put to bake. Depending on how hot your oven is, the baking time will vary. I baked my sheets for about 5.5 to 6 mins each. You want them to stay golden in colour, but still get crispy.

Once all your layers are baked, it’s time for the scraps! Bake the excess strips of dough the same way. You will use them to crumble on the cake afterwards.

Now it’s time for assembly! Put the first sheet down on whatever you’re going to use to transport your cake. Then put the icing generously on top.

Repeat with all the layers. Finish with cream all over the top. It looks nice when it spills over and covers the sides of the cake, see:

Finally, take your strips, crush ‘em, and sprinkle the pieces all over the top.

Ta Da!! Pretty, no?

Finally, put your cake in the fridge for at least 2 hours (the longer the better, trust me).

And, enjoy!

Coffee Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (from Baking Bites) + Hate-On for Campus Food Services

2009-11-25T20:40:00.006-07:00

Rant: Do you know how much a slice of “X” bread (banana, zuchinni, carrot, cinnamon, poppyseed, etc) costs on campus?!? Yesterday, I didn’t have time to prepare anything to take with me to school (this semester my Mondays include an aquafit class at 6:45am and then classes straight from 11 through 3:30), so I decided to make my breakfast and lunch purchases on campus. Yes, I knew it wasn’t going to be cheap, but in this case I was substituting money for time (I was busy Sunday night, and there is no way I’d be getting up earlier than 5am to make my food for the day). My purchases included: breakfast – milk and bagel with cream cheese (one of the cheaper choices around, about $5 total) and then for lunch I bought a black bean and artichoke salad (which I ended up throwing out because it tasted like someone dropped it in dirt and then scooped it back into the little plastic container – blech!) and a fruit salad (which was soft, but still edible). I figured I wanted more carbs in my lunch so I quickly ran to the food court between classes (I had 10 minutes and this was extremely difficult). I decided to buy a slice of (whatever) bread. I checked the price at 3 places – which was only possible because they were very close to each other. It costs between $2.25 and $2.75 a slice – A SLICE!!!!!! I COULD BUY A WHOLE LOAF FOR THE PRICE OF 2 SLICES AT THE GROCERY STORE!!!! Now I’d understand if it was some fancy sit-down coffee house where you pay for the service, atmosphere, etc., but this is on CAMPUS. What ever happened to affordability for students?? I know it’s only two bucks, but what if you lived in a residence with no kitchen and HAVE to buy food on campus (residence meal plan – it exists, I’m not making this up). That is completely unfair and total gouging of students. I could probably rant for a half hour about how Food Services rips students off and offers choices that are completely un-nutritional, but that will probably serve no purpose other than making me mad.

ANYWAY, I bought the stupid “X” loaf because I was hungry (and I’m glad I did despite the price because I ended up having to throw away that salad). So today I decided that the system will take advantage of me no more!! I am going to make my own loaves and freeze individual slices just for days like this! No more being at the mercy of the evil food court gods! End Rant.

Okay so here it is, I stumbled upon a recipe on Baking Bites that really piqued my interest. It uses the new Starbucks Via as an ingredient, and as an attempt for me to kick my (expensive) “Skinny Vanilla” addiction, I’ve developed a new (cheaper) “Via Italian Roast” addiction… so I have lots of the stuff lying around.

You can follow the recipe found here. I'm sorry about the lack of step-by-step pictures, but by the time I remembered that I wanted to blog about this, my loaf was already in the oven. (oops!) Also, I didn't read the post too carefully, but I think it was meant to make 2 mini loaves. I left my (single) loaf in for 50 mins at which point I thought it was done - I even did the toothpick test; but it seems I should've made multiple punctures because the inside on the other side of the loaf didn't turn out as nicely. I also couldn't put it back in because a) it was already cut and I don't know if you're supposed to do that (lol) and b) the outside was starting to get a little darker than my liking, so any more time I think the crust might have burned.

Next time, I think I'm going to bake the loaf for at least an hour at 300 or 325 so the outside doesn't brown as fast.

I haven't tried any yet, but boyfriend says it's good (he might just be being nice, though). I'll let you know what I think when I've had a chance to try some. All the pieces are wrapped and in the freezer now.

P.S. Just FYI, finals are coming and I may not have a chance to post here again for a little while. If I can I will, but otherwise, you may not hear from me until after Dec 15. I'm alive, just stressed. Don't worry.

Bibimbap!

2009-11-17T22:06:00.013-07:00

So I mentioned last time that the minty cupcake day was a day of firsts. I forgot to explain that. First, I’ve never made ganache before. That was my first try. Turned out pretty well I think. The only thing is that I didn’t know how much I would actually need, so now I have a whole bunch of ganache left over in my fridge and I have no idea what to do with it. Ideas anyone? (I was thinking of adding some chocolate to the mixture to try to get a firmer consistency and then dipping mint chocolate biscuits in it. Good idea? Yes? No? I’m not the expert)

My other first had to do with the entrée of the night. It was my first attempt at Korean food. And I mean, like, complete first attempt. I had never even (seen) Korean food before. I became vegetarian about four years ago and before that, I never had the opportunity to try it. I feel like that’s a little bit of a strike against me, because I guess I don’t actually know what it’s supposed to taste like, so maybe my attempt was a complete failure… but it tasted pretty good to me?

The dish I made was called bibimbap, which, for all you newbies out there like me, means “mixed rice” (see wikipedia entry for more info). So I made this again today and I think it took me even longer to make than last time. This time I did all my cutting prep work beforehand, but then I ended up just waiting for certain things to cook while I stood there doing nothing, so I think it might’ve been more efficient to cut on the go, like I did last time.

Anyway, I used the recipe from this cute blog. Maangchi is a really cute Korean Canadian lady living in New York, I stumbled upon her blog through my many food blog reading sessions (instead of doing homework). Her site is really awesome because she even does Youtube videos for her recipes, so you can see how it’s done! She’s also got some Korean cooking books published, so if you’re an on-paper type person, you can check those out too.

So here’s my “vegetarianized” version of Maangchi’s Bibimbap:

First I put my rice to cook.

I used sushi rice because I thought it would fit with the Asian theme. I have no idea if it’s actually the type of rice that is supposed to be used for this dish. I thought it worked out okay though.

To cook the rice, I just did so according to the package. I used about 2 cups uncooked (makes about 4 servings). Then afterwards, I sprinkled in some rice vinegar and sugar. (I didn’t measure, I’m sorry – If you’ve ever had sushi, I made it to taste pretty similar to the rice used there).

Then, I cooked the bean sprouts.

I did this according to Maangchi – 20 mins in salty water. Then, when they are done, mix in with a chopped clove of garlic, salt and sesame oil.

Next was spinach.

Just plop it in to boiling water for about a min. Then drain and squeeze out excess water. Mix with a chopped clove of garlic, soy sauce (1 tsp) and sesame oil.

To cook the zucchini, I just chopped it up into strips, then sprinkled some salt over top and let it sit for a few mins.

Then I sautéed the zucchini in olive oil until the pieces became translucent.

Shitake mushrooms

– these are a little hard to find. They can be either fresh or dried (if they’re dried, you’ll have to reconstitute them). I actually found them at Safeway (I don’t usually shop there) and they were cheaper there than the dried ones at the local Asian market (I sent my boyfriend out on a mushroom run, but the ones he found were a little overpriced we decided). For my “mixed rice” I used fresh mushies. I just removed their stems and sliced the tops into thin pieces. Then in the frying pan, I sautéed them with 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar and a little bit of sesame oil. These actually turned out to be my favorite part of this dish, they had a subtle sweet flavour. Yummy!

Beef.

For this part of the dish I used Yves Ground Round. This stuff is pretty good because it doesn’t really taste like anything, so you can flavour it however you want (but I definitely DO NOT recommend eating as is! haha). I mixed one package of ground round with 4 cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp of soy sauce and ½ tbsp of sugar and sesame oil and black pepper to taste. I sautéed all of this together until the soy crumbles were warm and the flavours of the different ingredients mixed together.

Platter so far (not bad, eh?)

Carrots – this is the easy part.

Just julienne and sautee for a little bit. I do mine until the pieces just start to get soft

And there you have it, the bibimbap platter!

I skipped making kosari. I couldn’t find it in my reg. grocery store plus I’ve read funny things about it being unhealthy. Either way, it’s not on my plate, but I would definitely try it just to taste in the future. I’m just like that.

Okay, last step. Fry some eggs – sunnyside up! Then mix them into the rice. I made 3 this time… but one disappeared in my transfer over.

makes:

Serve!

You can pair with either hot pepper paste (which you can buy at your local Asian market) or Yangnyeomjang sauce (recipe on the same page as the bibimbap on Maangchi’s blog).

Verdict:

I like all the veggies this dish encorporates. I don’t really cook with a lot of these on a regular basis. It seems pretty healthy, and if you’re a college student, this recipe makes 4 servings, so there are lots of leftovers for lunch. The only downside is that this recipe takes a while because there are so many little parts being made separately, but I think the time can be minimized once you’ve tried making it a few times and have picked up the groove.

Oh yeah, and it’s really f*$%ing good.

Just sayin’

Nuclear Cupcakes... a.k.a Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Ganache

2009-11-12T07:45:00.010-07:00

Today I went a little bit nuts in the kitchen. It was definitely a day of firsts for me. I don’t know if it’s because I felt guilty for not blogging for the last couple weeks, or if it was due to complete kitchen withdrawal, but I was whipping things up right and left. Well, not exactly whipping. More like slowly trying to figure out and running back and forth between my computer and counter. Haha.

Sorry I haven’t been keeping this up for the last little bit. My life has just had a chance to calm down from the hectic frenzy of college midterms. I don’t know if any of you have taken any business courses, but they leave precious little time for anything else. Have you ever gone into an exam, trying to remember all the little details from studying the days before, but just know you won’t remember it all? – I’m sure some of you can relate. I already know I got one long answer calculation wrong because I forgot the stupid half-year tax rule. Yes, I said it, it’s STUPID. The only reason it’s probably there is so that I can be tested on it and NOT remember to include it in my calculation. Okay, maybe there’s actually a good reason for it, but I’m just bitter now.

Okay, enough of my rant. This week I’m posting these awesome lil’ things:

Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes Dipped in Dark Chocolate Ganache, cute huh?

I a-little-bit cheated on these. I had a package of white cake mix left over from a watermelon cake that I made and I figured this would be a fun way to use it up!

What you’ll need:

Cupcakes
One package of white cake mix and whatever it calls for (mine needed to mix with 1 ¼ cup of cold water and 2 egg whites)
Peppermint extract
Green food colouring
Mini chocolate chips (semisweet)
Cupcake papers (I bought cute green ones!)

Ganache
175ml whipping cream
170g 70% dark chocolate

To Do (Cupcakes):
1. Mix the cake mix as per directions on the package.

2. Add peppermint extract to taste (I put in about 1 ¼ tsp – this tastes pretty good!)
3. Add a few drops of green food colouring to make it look minty!

Okay, maybe it doesn't look that minty in the picture, but i swear it is! For some reason my camera doesn't want to pick up green :(

4. Stir in chocolate chips.

I put in about a cup of ‘em. I feel like maybe a half to ¾ of a cup might’ve been good though, with the ganache and all.

5. Line the pan with the cupcake papers and pour the batter in. Don’t fill them more than ¾ of the way up. The lil’ cakes will grow!

(This is me peaking into the oven before the guys are done. I'm a little impatient like that.)

(P.S. Look how GREEN they are! hehe)

And... TA DA!! Naked cupcakes!

This is why I called them nuclear! They look like something from a comic book with those green glowing crevices. hehe

To Do (Ganache):
1. Chop up the chocolate.

Try to avoid touching it, or it will melt on you! Then put the pieces in a mixing bowl – metal ones are the best

2. Heat the cream in a saucepan till it’s hot
3. Slowly pour the hot cream over the chocolate pieces and stir. Incorporate all the cream and keep stirring until the mixture is smooth. I used a whisk to do this.

4. Let the ganache cool for a bit (but make sure it’s still liquid – maybe for like a few minutes)
5. Dip the cupcakes into the ganache and let stand to cool and set

P.S. Check out the insides:

I went a lil' savage on this one :)

These turned out pretty yum. I thought all the chocolate might’ve been too much but they turned out pretty decent. Next time I wouldn’t add as many chocolate chips though (like I mentioned above). The 70% cocoa dark chocolate is pretty rich.

One question though, if any of you turn out to be baking pros – my ganache cooled with a few tiny bubbles in it. The cupcakes still look cute, but does anyone know a way to get rid of ‘em? (I’m a little bit of a perfectionist type) Suggestions anybody?

Lunch To Go – Spinach and Pear Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

2009-10-26T19:55:00.004-06:00

One cheese. Two cheese. You cheese. Blue cheese.

I know blue cheese isn’t everyone’s favourite flavour, but I personally love it. The taste is a lot more interesting than some other cheeses you can find in a supermarket. It also goes really well with the other flavours in this recipe – it’s contrasted by the sweetness of the pear and tanginess of the dressing, and sort-of backed by the neutral flavours of the spinach and the nuts. If, however, blue is absolutely not your style, you could probably swap it for some dry feta in this recipe (… but in my opinion, I don’t think it would taste as good).

Also, when your picking your pears for this recipe, it’s really important that it’s at its right stage of “ripeness”. If it’s too young, the pear will be too hard and not as juicy, but if it’s too old, it will taste soggy and grainy. When you’re picking up a pear, try to look for ones that have a firm, but not hard consistency – those will be the ones you want to use.

Salad

Spinach leaves
One pear
Crushed pecans/walnuts
Blue cheese – crumbled

Mustard Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 ½ tsp prepared mustard
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
black pepper to taste (or none if you don’t want any – I actually forgot to put this ingredient in. haha)

Directions:
Mix dressing ingredients. The dressing recipe will actually make enough for 5 or 6 servings, but you can easily store any extra in the fridge.

Make as much salad as you like and pour dressing on top. Simple and fast :)

Vegan TofuStu

2009-10-20T20:15:00.006-06:00

After 4 years of being vegetarian, I finally decided to try my hand at preparing tofu. All you veggie-pro's are probably rolling your eyes at me, but this is something I've been averse to trying since I stopped eating meat. It probably has something to do with the fact that I've had some awful tofu experiences in the past (deep fried and soggy varieties), but I've finally worked up the courage to take a stab at it.

I've heard that the trick to tofu is all in the flavouring, so I think I just need to build a marinade/sauce repertoire. I wish I had a little more cooking experience just for this reason, but you've gotta start somewhere, right?

The recipe I tried is actually from the tofu brand (haha, lame right?) I made a tofu stew from the Sunrise Soya website. It actually didn't turn out too bad. I did overcook the potatoes a little bit and next time I'll try pre-cooking the tofu a little longer. But I used some homemade vegetable broth, so I think that scored some points in my corner! Overall I'm pretty pleased with the results. (This was actually also my very first stew!I'm breaking boundaries all over the place here :) )

Madness and Cookies

2009-10-17T23:46:00.012-06:00

So I'm taking an international economics class and this week I'm working on critiquing an article about produce tracking technology. It's actually pretty interesting. Canada and the States are working together on something called the Produce Tracking Initiative (PTI), which essentially is a barcode that lets the government (and consumers) track food to the farm at which it's produced. The big debate about it, though, is that the US is trying to make participation in this program mandatory, at the producers' cost, and it's got some family farm folk up in arms. Reading about this, I never really realized how bad the food standards were in the USA. I guess only like 7000 of the 150000 (less than 5%!!!!)food processing facilities are actually inspected each year, and there have been an increasing number of cases of food poisoning. The most recent scare I heard about was salmonella in peanut butter, but I was even reading about findings of E. Coli in COOKIE DOUGH!!!

Anyway, all the research this week is starting to get to me, and I must be crazy, because after reading about the cookie dough, I started to crave chocolate chip cookies! haha! So that is what my blog this week is going to be about, but don't worry, these cookies are completely homemade and E. Coli-free! (never thought I'd say that sentence before!)

So here goes:

Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies/The Life and Times of Monsieur Biscuit - because I couldn't do homework anymore, and I'm slightly irrational (I almost drew a face on him. You were spared.)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup softened butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 rsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
300g semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 375.
2. Mix butter, eggs, sugars, and vanilla until the mixture is light and fluffy.
3. Incorporate the salt, baking soda, and flour by hand.
4. Once the consistency is dough-like, mix in the chocolate chips.
5. Scoop heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake for about 12 mins per batch.

...I'll let you decide what happened to the rest of that little guy... hehe

Loving Pasta Salad with Artichoke Hearts

2009-10-10T14:32:00.001-06:00

I tend to like dishes that I can combine all the necessary dietary components into one creation (i.e. veggies, proteins, carbs). I guess I might just be lazy, but I like to think that it's because I'm a student and I don't have time to make grandiose meals. One day, I might post a 5 course feast... but I don't think that will happen any time soon.

I actually found this recipe on the PETA website. I'll make it clear right now, I'm not a huge supporter of PETA, but if I come across a recipe I find interesting, I won't discriminate. (And you're lucky I don't because this turned out to be DELICIOUS)

So this year I've discovered my love for marinated artichoke hearts, and I couldn't be happier! This recipe calls for a bunch of 'em :)

The recipe is called "Creamy Pasta Salad with Artichoke Hearts". I don't know how creamy I would say it is (I guess I think of actual cream, when I think creamy), but it's not a vinaigrette, so I guess it counts.

I made a few modifications from the recipe they posted. So if you want to make mine, I used parsley instead of green onions (because I didn't have any in my fridge - still tasted fine). I also used light mayo instead of Nayonaise because the only place I think might sell that stuff is Planet Organic and I'm a poor student who can't afford to shop there, but I'm sure you vegans will have some ready on hand. And finally, I added just about a can of chickpeas (for the protein portion of this meal)... and voilà!

YUM!!

Yammy!!

2009-10-03T20:50:00.003-06:00

This is a tribute to veggie college students.

I recently came back from a trip to Vancouver, where I was fortunate enough to visit a restaurant called The Foundation (I couldn't find their website if they have one, but you can read some reviews here). I almost wish I started this blog a week ago so that I could've shown you the yummy food they serve there.

My boyfriend and I ordered two different kinds of veggie burgers (the Foundation burger and the Bentonio burger). I didn't try his because I was too full from mine, but we both agreed they were awesome. The burgers were served with various tortilla chips (and awesome dip) as well as a leafy salad that had the most amazing mango dressing (I could die happy if someone could share that recipe with me). We also ordered an appetizer called "Mingled Yams". I thought this was going to be some sort of sweet potato fries dish, but it was actually a yam dip with tortilla chips (I know it sounds weird, but it was actually really good!). Now since I don't think I'm quite talented enough to replicate the burgers (not yet at least!), I decided to take my hand a the "Mingled Yams". I don't know if this is the actual recipe, but I think it tastes pretty darn similar!

okay, so here's my version of Foundation's "Mingled Yams" - for copyright issues, from now on I'll call them "Yingled Mams":

Ingredients:

3 yams
4 teaspoons of honey (or maple syrup for all you vegans out there)
tortilla chips (the organic purple and red ones are pretty tasty)
sunflower seeds - unsalted, to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1. Clean and cube the yams.
2. Boil in slightly salted water until they are soft when pierced with a fork.
3. Drain water and mash the potatoes.
4. Add honey/syrup and mix.
5. Let cool (this dish is served cold)
6. Spoon out as much yams as you'd like and garnish with sunflower seeds.
7. Serve with tortilla chips.

makes: a whole bunch of servings (this is where the college student tribute comes in - this is awesome for exam time when you don't have a whole lot of time for cooking, or a whole lot of money for eating out, plus it's DELICIOUS!!)

and......

Check it out!

Introductions

2009-10-03T18:38:00.001-06:00

Hi Everyone, welcome to my very first blog. If it seems a little awkward, just give me some time to get the hang of this whole "talking to the world" thing. I've been thinking a lot about setting up a blog lately. Probably because I've gotten addicted to some pretty good ones (check out Bakerella if you like sweets + ultra cuteness - this one's probably my favorite right now).

I had a hard time picking out a name for this blog. It was between this and "Garbanzo". For some reason I really like that word. It makes me think of a luchador or Spanish bullfighter or something... and then I could've had this cool logo:

...okay, maybe it's not so cool... but not everyone is that talented with MS Paint... fortunately, you can breathe a sigh of relief because obviously I didn't choose that name and you won't have to put up with my horrible digital paint skills (or maybe you will... I haven't decided).

Anyway, I decided to start this blog in tribute of awesome vegetarian cuisine that I have the fortune of coming across in my daily life. That's the main deal. I hope you like what you see, or at least, I hope I've entertained you a little. I'm open to any feedback, tell me what you like/don't like and I'll try to get better at this whole blogging thing.

So. I will probably look back at this post in the future and be horribly embarrassed, but there you have it: my first blog post ever. (As long I get get better at this, I don't mind)

-A