I'm in a rut!

Guess what? I'm in a rut!

Putting together a successful food blog post requires pulling a few things together. First, you need some great food. This is normally the easy part for me: I think about food all the time and usually can't wait to get into the kitchen and make something delicious. Next, you need a great photograph. I've struggled with this step a bit, but I can nearly always get something good enough, something that makes the food look as tasty as it is. Finally, you need a story to explain why this food is special. Sometimes I spend a long time on these, agonizing over just the right words, especially if it's a story with a strong emotional content. Other times, I can toss off a story as easily as I can drink a glass of ice water on a hot day.

Lately, though, I've been stuck before I ever get to the first step. May I blame the weather? Nah, the weather has been fine, even if summer has gone on a bit too long as usual. May I blame the current chaos of my life? Nope, there's minimal chaos here, just a few extra dust bunnies in the hallway. Dust is not chaos. May I blame it on the fact that Jim has been traveling way too much this summer? Okay, maybe that's part of it. I've missed my experiment tester and kitchen cheerleader. I've done some crazy experimentation while he's gone and learned some things, but nothing that's been bloggable.

We're about to head out on a long-anticipated vacation so it's going to be a little bit longer. In the meantime, here's a list of some things I hope to pull together in the next few months:

An orzo, artichoke and almond feta salad.

Tandoori seitan from the grill.

A lentil and walnut pâté. 

Spanokopita made in a springform pan (the same pan you'd use for a cheesecake).

Sweet potatoes and black beans enhanced with chipotle pepper and served over polenta.

With good luck to me, you'll see all of these.

Also, here are some dishes I've been drooling over on other blogs:

From Veggie Belly, Sala's Masala Stuffed Okra is making me drool.

I haven't made moussaka in ages, but Anna at Carrot and Potato Time is inspiring me with her Oopa Moussaka.

From Holy Cow, Vaishali writes about a Chick'n Lentil Curry that looks like the ultimate in spicy comfort food.

The next time I make broccoli, it will be the Sweet Baked Broccoli from Jacqueline at sweet beet and green bean.

From Notes from the Vegan Kitchen, Bryanna's 5-minute Chocolate Mug Cake looks like a devine way to wrap up a meal.

Birthday Cupcakes

Wednesday was Jim's birthday. Time for cake! Except that a few years ago, we figured out that a whole cake was too much for us to eat. We love sugar, but in smaller doses, please. Our new tradition is to halve the cake recipe and make cupcakes.

Another tradition for me when baking cakes is to replace each teaspoon of vanilla with a tablespoon of liqueur. Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur) is terrific in most desserts. This time, I used Kahlua in the cupcakes and crème de cocoa in the icing.  

Update 6/30/2011: My son Tyler's birthday was this month, so I made them again. So, I'm entering them in this month's House Favorites.



Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted from The Grit Cookbook. You can find the recipe for this as a 3 layer cake on VegPeople.

UPDATE 9/17/2012: These are very tender cupcakes with a tendency to fall apart, so don't forget the cupcake liners. If making as a cake - as written, this will make a 9-inch round, single-layer cake - line the pan with a piece of wax paper and oil and flour it, including the paper and up the sides. (Also, and this is just a note to myself, don't forget the birthday candles!)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unbleached sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons Kahlua or 2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup cold coffee
4 teaspoons cider vinegar (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Put 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan.

In the bowl of your mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, soda and salt. Add the canola oil and blend on low. Add the Kahlua or vanilla and then raise the speed of the mixer to medium. Slowly add the coffee. Then add the vinegar and mix until batter is just blended.

Divide batter among the 12 cups. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of several of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Cream Cheese White Chocolate Icing
Adapted from Simply Recipes. My version is more of a glaze than a frosting. You'll have leftover icing; I suggest dipping strawberries in it.

4 ounces (1/2 a package) Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
4 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine
1 tablespoon Cream De Cocoa
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (i.e. powdered evaporated cane juice)

Blend all ingredients until well-combined. Refrigerate until firm enough to ice cupcakes.

Simple Eggplant Sandwich

This eggplant sandwich is perfect when you're serving a soup or salad that is more than a side dish, but not quite a main on its own, so that you need something to round out the meal that's more than just bread. You don't have to keep this simple; you can add all kinds of things to it to take it up a level.

The secrets to this are very good bread, fruity olive oil, and this steam-fry technique that results in tender, almost melty eggplant slices.

This goes out to Souper (Soup, Salad, Sammie) Sundays, created and hosted each week by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.




Simple Eggplant Sandwich

For 4 sandwiches:

1 large eggplant
fruity olive oil
4 Herbed Chiabatta Sandwich Buns, sliced, or your own favorite bread
Veganaise
Optional additions (see below)

Slice top from eggplant, and then cut 8 1/2-inch slices. Cut slices in half.

In a large, non-stick skillet with a lid, heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to medium-hot (about mark 5 on my gas cooktop). Dip each eggplant piece in the oil and then immediately flip over. Continue adding slices until skillet is full or oil has been absorbed by the slices. Toss a tablespoon of water into the pan (or a handful) and cover immediately. Cook for 3 minutes. Turn slices over, add another tablespoon of water, cover, and cook an additional 3 minutes. Test slices for doneness with a fork and remove if they're very tender. Turn over remaining slices, add a tablespoon of water, cover and cook for 2 minutes or until done.

Add more oil to the pan and repeat with remaining eggplant slices.

Smear the bun bottoms with a bit of Vegenaise and top with 4 pieces of eggplant. Add optional additions as desired.

Suggestions for additions:

• Instead of mayo, add hummus. Artichoke hummus would be especially good here.
• Curried lentil spread
• If you're using bread that doesn't have herbs, add some to the mayo.
• Add to the mayo one of the following: chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, dijon mustard, harissa or prepared horseradish
• Fresh arugula or spinach
• Lettuce and tomato
• Roasted red bell pepper
• Sliced artichoke hearts or hearts of palm
• Sun-dried tomato
• Sprouts
• An olive salad, to make this a muffaletta
• cheese
• whatever your heart desires

Seitan Chili Stew

Recently I made some more Roasted Vegetable Salsa for enchiladas, which calls for two pounds of tomatoes and one of peppers. When I went to the store, the Roma tomatoes and poblano peppers were on sale and they were gorgeous. I grabbed my usual 10 Romas and 4 poblanos, only to notice when I got home that they were huge! I had way more than three pounds of vegetables. I threw some extra garlic and spice in there and when the sauce was finished, I had seven cups. This was enough for over 40 enchiladas. Enchiladas may be my favorite food ever, but that's just too many.

So, I made this stew. It's reminiscent of Posole, but with more of a roasted tomato vibe. It's super filling. If you don't think of Southwestern food as comfort food, try this; I'll bet it will change your mind. Even if you still don't think it's comfort food, you'll think it's delicious.

Seitan Chili Stew

2 cups Roasted Vegetable Salsa
2 cups vegetable broth
8 ounces good* red or yellow potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
8 ounces seitan, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 15.5-ounce can yellow or white hominy, drained
salt to taste

In a large pot, heat salsa and broth. Add potatoes and bring to a low boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Add seitan, hominy and salt, and heat through.

Serves 4-6

Good potato.

Bad potato.

Hey, if you're still reading this far, the Bad Potato was supposed to look like Vyvyan Basterd. But, since I can't draw, I ended up giving it a masculine version of my own face. Which means it looks kind of like my dad. Which is weirding me out. My dad was not a punk-rocker, ok?

Nor was he a potato. 

Whoa, Nutmeg, cats don't like chili stew!