Of course, as soon as I woke up this morning and realized I wouldn’t be leaving the house for at least twenty-four hours, I developed a sudden chocolate craving. Given that the only chocolate in non-powdered form is about a half-mile away at the co-op, which may or may not be open, I decided that the only logical remedy was to make cupcakes.

Rice and beans can wait.

Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

Makes 6

Cupcakes

1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
6 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne
pinch salt
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp orange extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix soy milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside to curdle. In a separate container, mix dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, cayenne, and salt.

3. Add canola oil and orange extract to the curdled soy milk. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until well incorporated.

4. Pour into lined cupcake tin, filling each liner about 2/3 full.

5. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and set on rack to cool.  (If you’re like me, eat one while they’re still hot and delicious.)

Orange Buttercream Frosting

1 Tbsp non-hydrogenated margarine, softened
1 Tbsp non-hydrogenated shortening, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp dried orange peel
1 Tbsp soy milk

1. Beat margarine and shortening together until fluffy. Add sugar, and beat again until evenly distributed (about 3-4 minutes, usually.)

2. Add orange extract, orange peel, and milk, and continue to beat until smooth.

3. When cupcakes are cool, pipe or spread a thin layer of frosting on top and garnish, if desired.

For the recipe and instructions on how to make the crêpes themselves, I’m going to send you to this post over at Vegan Yum Yum.  I’ve used the recipe there many times, and it always works out nicely with a minimum of effort.

Butternut Squash Stuffed Crêpes with Apple Cider Reduction and Whipped Maple Syrup Cream Cheese

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Reduction:

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup apple cider
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
dash cloves
dash nutmeg

Topping:

1/4 cup vegan cream cheese
2 Tbsp maple syrup

thinly sliced apples, to garnish

1. Put a medium sized pot full of water on to boil.  Mix crêpe batter and put it in the refrigerator.  Dice squash.  When water boils, drop squash in.

2. In a small saucepan, combine the ingredients for the reduction and set over low heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half (about 10 minutes).  Remove from heat.

3. When squash is fork-tender (about 15 minutes), drain and set aside.

4. In a small bowl, whisk maple syrup into cream cheese.

5. Prepare crêpes, stuff with squash and reduction, and top with a dollop of the cream cheese and some apple slices.  Enjoy!

My favorite part of Thanksgiving?  Pumpkin pie.

Unfortunately, it’s not exactly a vegan dish.  The recipe I’ve used for so long that I trust it inherently has eggs, cream, and butter in it.  The only vegan recipes I could find online either used things I don’t (agave, while interesting, is just not a part of my pantry, and I don’t like tofu in baked goods), or just didn’t look quite right.

I decided to fly solo.  And it worked!

Pumpkin Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 cups flour
4 Tbsp margarine
2 Tbsp vegetable shortening
about 1/4 cup very cold water

Filling:

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (or about two cups if you’re using fresh)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp molasses
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
egg replacer for 2 eggs (1 1/2 tsp powder + 4 Tbsp water)
1 cup plain coconut milk yogurt

Recipe Notes:

This makes the filling for one nine-inch pie.  Because it’s sweetened with brown sugar and molasses, it will be fairly dark brown and not extremely sweet.  The spices here are meant as a guideline; I like my pies pretty well-spiced, and this reflects that.  Feel free to tweak to your individual preferences.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Prepare pie crust: with a pastry cutter, combine margarine, shortening, and flour until well incorporated.  Add the water, a little at a time, until the dough forms small pieces that flatten without breaking when you pinch them.  (The less you work the dough, the flakier it is, so do this quickly.)  Pat the dough into a mound on top of a piece of waxed paper, then place another piece of waxed paper on the top and roll the dough into a circle large enough for your pie pan.  Remove the top sheet, and invert the bottom sheet over the pan, using the paper to help you guide the crust into place.  Remove the paper, trim the edges of the crust, and poke the bottom and sides several times with a fork.

3. Prepare filling: mix everything together in a bowl.  It’s that simple.

4. Pour filling into crust and bake at 375 for 10 minutes, then at 350 for another 30-40 minutes.  The pie is done when the center resists gentle pressure.

5. Remove from the oven, wait until it cools and sets, and enjoy!

Ahem.

Now, the real point of this post: sushi is awesome.  However, it doesn’t keep long, so if I want it for lunch, I have to make it in the morning.  I’ve recently solved the problem of having to make breakfast and lunch at the same time by making breakfast and lunch sushi.  Rather brilliant, if I do say so myself.

Sushi Two Ways

1 cup sushi rice

1 1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

4 sheets nori

additional rice vinegar, for sealing rolls

Breakfast Sushi:

1/2 small apple, julienned

2 Tbsp crunchy peanut butter

Lunch Sushi:

1 large carrot, peeled, julienned

1/4 beauty heart radish, peeled, julienned

2 Tbsp vegan cream cheese

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp soy sauce

Notes: You’ll need two things you might not have lying around: nori (sheets of seaweed), and a sushi mat, which is basically a bunch of bamboo skewers tied together so you can use them to guide your roll.  Nori can be found now at most groceries, and certainly at Asian specialty stores.  Sushi mats are similarly available, and quite cheap.

1. Prepare rice.  If you don’t have a rice cooker or rice with directions: rinse the rice, draining frequently, until the runoff is clear.  Drain well.  Combine with water in a saucepan, cover tightly with a lid, and bring to a boil over medium heat.  When the rice boils, turn the heat to high for about 2 minutes, then lower it to medium again and let boil for an additional 7-8 minutes.  You’ll smell that distinctive gooey scent of cooked rice, and hear a faint crackling from inside the pan.  Remove from heat, leaving the lid on, and let sit for 15 minutes.

2. While the rice is sitting, prepare fillings.  For the second set, combine the cream cheese, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a small container.  Transfer the filling into the corner of a ziploc bag and cut the tip of the corner off so you can pipe it onto the sushi.

3. Place your sushi mat on the counter with the bamboo slats running horizontally.  Place a piece of nori on top of it.  Mix rice vinegar in with the rice.  With wet hands, scoop a handful of rice onto the nori and spread it in a very thin layer over the lower two-thirds.  Don’t worry if you can still see nori through the rice.

4. Spread your fillings about 1.5 inches from the bottom of the nori.  It’s easiest to put them in order from most to least messy.  (Peanut butter and cream cheese go on first, to be covered by their respective accompaniment.)

5. Using the mat, roll the sushi as tightly as possible away from you.  You’ll have to stop and pull the mat away from the roll occasionally.

6. When you reach the part of the nori that’s not covered with rice, moisten it with a bit of rice vinegar and continue rolling to seal your sushi.

7. Repeat with the rest of the nori, rice, and fillings.

8. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the rolls into bite-sized pieces, and enjoy.

Tonight, there is a chance of snow.

No, I am not joking.

Basically, it’s cold and miserable here, though at least the sun is out now.

I went to the farmers’ market Saturday morning at 7:30, about an hour later than usual.  I wore my heavy coat with a hat and scarf and gloves.  I got a large coffee from Cafe Soleil.  And then I froze my behind off for the next forty-five minutes as I wandered around the square collecting produce for the week.

So when I got home, shivering and grumpy and generally not in the mood to wait tables that evening, I decided to put together a little comfort food.  Inspired by Cafe Soleil’s delicious (but decidedly un-vegan) savory stuffed pastries.

Puff Pastry Packets

1 sheet puff pastry
1/2 cup shallot confit (see notes)
1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms
2 small potatoes
1/2 tsp coarse-ground salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp Earth Balance, melted

Notes: To make shallot confit (which is one of those things I try to keep on hand at all times), finely mince shallots and put them in a skillet with a glug or two of olive oil over very low heat, stirring frequently.  I understand that a glug of olive oil is not an internationally recognized measure of volume, but figure enough to coat each piece but leave very little if any on the pan itself.  After about 20 minutes, the bits should start to stick together a little.  The confit will take about 30-60 minutes, depending on how long you want to wait.  The longer you cook it, the better it is.

Also: You can make your own puff pastry, but it’s a huge pain.  So I purchase mine frozen.  This is one of those places in life where laziness is a virtue, because I am (a) not compelled to make large batches of anything, and (b) not frightening the neighbors by shouting obscenities at pastry dough while my cat looks on in amusement.

1. Remove one sheet of puff pastry from freezer and set out to thaw.  If you’re making the confit along with the rest of the recipe, start it cooking now.

2. About 20 minutes after you’ve removed the pastry from the freezer, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Set a pan of salted water on the stove to boil.  Clean and roughly chop shiitake mushrooms; peel potatoes.

3. Saute the mushrooms in a little oil over medium heat for about ten minutes, adding garlic in the last minute of cooking.  When the water boils, add potatoes and simmer until fork-tender.

4. In a food processor, combine mushrooms, garlic, potatoes, confit, salt, and pepper.  Pulse until ingredients are incorporated.

5. Cut pastry into 6 equal pieces.  On a cutting board, stretch one piece until it’s about 4×5 inches (the size of a large index card.)  Place 2 generous tablespoons of the filling on the left third of the pastry, then fold and seal into a packet.  Repeat with the rest of the pastry pieces.

6. Brush each pastry with a little melted Earth Balance.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, keeping a close eye on them, until they have expanded and just begun to brown on top.  Serve immediately, with a mug of apple cider, if you’ve got some.

The best part of of fall, though, is sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are delightful.  They are perfect.  They mash, and they bake, and they crisp.  You can even make sweet potato hash browns, which I will post a recipe for at some point.  Here in the midwest, people layer marshmallows on top of mashed sweet potatoes and then broil the whole thing.  This practice made me rather queasy until I sampled some and they were good even then!

Basically, you cannot mess up a sweet potato unless you’ve got some mad skills.

(Plus, they look kind of like beached whales.  So cute!  Aww, sweet potatoes.)

Sweet Potatoes with Roasted Red Peppers, Onions, and Pesto

serves 1

Notes: This is based on my absolute favorite sweet potato wrap from the Dandelion food cart in downtown Madison.  It’s about to close for the winter, so go get your wrap before it’s too late!

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 roasted red pepper, torn into 1-inch pieces
1 medium shallot, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup pesto
1 Tbsp pine nuts

1. Put a medium saucepan of water on the stove to boil.  Peel and cube sweet potato.

2. When water boils, add sweet potato cubes.  In a medium skillet, saute chopped shallot and red pepper slices over low heat until the shallot is very soft.

3. When the sweet potato is fork-tender (about 10 minutes), drain it and add it, along with the pesto, to the skillet.  Mix until pesto is evenly distributed, and eat!

In this way, it has much in common with the mythical vegan cheese.  The myth goes like this: Once upon a time, a friend of a friend bought a vegan cheese that tasted good, shredded easily, and melted.  The friend’s friend even went so far as to make pizza with this cheese, whereupon he was so overcome by joy at his discovery that he promptly died.  As a result, his cheese brand was lost forever to posterity, though it might’ve come from Belgium or something.

In other words, everyone everywhere secretly believes that if they just wait long enough, the vegan cheese fairy will come and bestow upon them the gift of a food that behaves like its namesake.

I might even believe this myself.  A little.  In private.

In the meantime, there is no holy trifecta cheese–a perfect combination of taste, shreddability, and gooey meltiness.

There is, however, Teese.  And in its mozzarella form, it almost makes it.

Stuffed Portabella Mushroom with Slacker Risotto

serves 1

For Mushroom:
1 large portabella mushroom
1/2 cup baby spinach
3 Tbsp pesto (I make my own, but store-bought is fine as long as it’s not too lemony)
about 1 Tbsp olive oil (for brushing cap and sauteeing stem)
small handful shredded mozzarella Teese

For “Risotto”:
3/4 cup vegetable stock, unsalted
1/4 cup cream of rice hot cereal
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup sprouted lentils
salt, pepper, and dried basil, to taste

Note: The cream of rice I buy is manufactured by a company called Bob’s Red Mill.  They have lots of fun flours and beans (including a fantastic stone-ground cornmeal), and this cheerful old-man face smiling at you on the label.  Any would do, however; the key is a coarse-ground, whole-grain, brown rice cereal.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Put water on to boil for cream of rice.  Clean mushroom before removing mushroom cap from the stem.  Brush the cap lightly with oil on both sides, and dice the stem.

2. Set the mushroom, cap side up, in the oven, with a piece of foil or a pan on the rack below it to catch drippings.  Meanwhile, saute the stem in a little olive oil over medium heat for two minutes, or until the liquid is mostly evaporated.  Add spinach and pesto and stir until the spinach has wilted and the liquid is totally evaporated, then remove from heat.

3. When the water boils, reduce the heat to very low and add cream of rice cereal, garlic, and a pinch of salt.  You’ll need to keep an eye on this to ensure that the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan, so stir occasionally.

4. After the mushroom cap has cooked for about four minutes (the amount of time it should have taken you to saute the fillings) remove it from the oven, flip it cap-side-down, and top it with filling and Teese.  Put it back in the oven.

5. When the rice has finished cooking, remove it from the heat and fold in sprouted lentils.  Remove the mushroom from the oven and eat immediately.

I’ve started this blog as a sort of cookbook-in-progress, a record for myself of things that worked.  An insurance policy against reinventing the wheel.  In the hopes that my cooking and eating might inspire others.  As a motivator to keep saving up for a camera that will take decent pictures.

All right.  Enough blogging about my blog.

Peppery Autumn Spring Rolls with Soba Noodles and Mustard Sauce

serves 2

1 poblano pepper, seeded and thinly sliced lengthwise
1/2 beauty heart radish, roughly julienned
5-6 baby carrots, roughly julienned
large handful spinach, chiffonaded
3 green onions, sliced into thin rounds
8 spring roll wrappers

For dipping sauce:

4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp cider vinegar

For noodles:

1 roll soba noodles (mine come 3 rolls/250 g package)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp sesame seeds

1. Set water to boil for soba noodles.  Prepare vegetables in neat piles so they’re easy to access once you’ve begun filling your spring rolls.  Fill a skillet or wide, shallow pan with warm water to soften your spring roll wrappers.  I usually set up my counter like this: skillet on the left, towel for the wrappers in the middle, fillings on the right.

2. Dip a wrapper into the water and wait for it to soften (15-20 seconds).  Remove it carefully and set it on a damp towel.  If it sticks to itself as you’re lifting it, just drop it back into the water and pull it apart.

3. Blot the wrapper with a dry towel until sticky.  Stack fillings horizontally a few inches from the bottom of the wrapper.  Pull the bottom up over the fillings, then fold the sides in and roll into a small cylinder.  Repeat with all eight wrappers.

4. When you’ve finished wrapping your spring rolls, toss the soba noodles into your now-boiling water and whisk together mustard, cider vinegar, and sesame oil for sauce.

5. Drain and quickly rinse the noodles, toss with sesame oil and sesame seeds, and serve immediately with dipping sauce on the side.