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These waffles will forever be etched in my personal history as the thing we were eating that Saturday morning in November when it was announced that we officially booted budding fascism out of the White House, and projected Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. I’d say we began crying tears of joy, but we were already crying tears of joy because these waffles were so damn good. Also my kids were crying, but that was because I was handily destroying them in a game of Mouse Trap...no mercy, losers. Anyway, I highly recommend you get a little scale that has a metric function for all of your baking, I make no guarantees when using cups for the flour because it’s quite inaccurate. Also I haven’t tested all the different types of vegan egg equivalents for this recipe, but you may do so at your own risk. I imagine the differences would be negligible. Also, also I do not have the bandwidth to style, shoot, and edit any fancy pics, so just close your eyes and imagine they look nice. Spiced Pecantifa Belgian Waffles Makes six waffles. 2 cups plain unsweetened almond milk 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 200g all purpose flour (about 1 ½ cup) 120g whole wheat pastry flour (about ¾ cup) 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 tablespoons baking powder 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom ¼ teaspoon ground allspice ⅛ teaspoon ground clove ¼ cup olive oil 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 Follow Your Heart vegan egg (or other egg equivalent) ⅓ cup toasted chopped pecans In a measuring cup add milk and mix in vinegar to make “buttermilk”. Set aside for 15 minutes while you prepare the dry ingredients. Into a large mixing bowl sift together both flours, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cardamom, allspice, and clove. Into the “buttermilk” whisk in the oil and vanilla. Add milk to the dry ingredients and fold together with a spatula. When it’s about half way mixed together, add the egg and pecans, and stir until combined. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes while you heat up your waffle iron. Oh yeah, you’ll need a waffle iron, don’t forget that part. Depending on the size and style, the amount of batter you’ll use per waffle will vary. I used a standard Belgian waffle maker, but whatever you got will work. Just follow the instructions for your specific unit in terms of batter amount per waffle. Once your waffle maker is ready, proceed with the waffle making. For the standard Belgian waffle size, I use 1 scant cup of batter, and cook it a total of 6 minutes, according to the instructions on my maker. Actually the instructions on my maker said they’d take 3 minutes total, but I don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, it wasn't even close. So a little trial and error will be in order with whatever waffle maker you have. Serve with waffle stuff. Enjoy! 
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If you don’t have the apple cider or don’t want to use it, the basic recipe that I make uses all almond milk (1 ¼ cup). Makes 8 pancakes ½ cup plain unsweetened almond milk 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar ¾ cup Fresh and Easy Apple Cider 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 100g all-purpose flour (about ¾ cup) 60g whole wheat pastry flour (about ½ cup) 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt Light oil for frying Into a measuring cup, add milk, and stir in vinegar. Set aside for at least 15 minutes, then stir in cider, olive oil, and vanilla. Into a mixing bowl, add flour, pastry flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix to combine. Add liquid mixture to the flour, and gently mix with spatula until just combined. Don’t over mix. Let batter rest for 10 minutes. It will bubble and rise slightly. Heat pan or griddle, somewhere around medium low or medium. Swirl a touch of light oil around the pan to coat. Stir the batter one last time to deflate it a bit. Scoop ⅓ cup portions of batter into the pan, it should gently sizzle, and spread out on it’s own. Fry 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden. Serve with usual pancake stuff. Finally, look at this picture first, then close your eyes and imagine a nice picture of pancakes. Enjoy!  My kids were bugging me for apple cider, so I almost bought some at Trader Joes, and then I was like, “Wait, I can frickin’ make that.” So I did, and it was easy and very tasty. Fresh and Easy Apple Cider Makes 2 ½ to 3 quarts 10 apples, (I used all Honeycrisp for this) quartered 1 orange peeled and quartered (preferably with a knife, so as to remove as much as the white pith as possible) 4 quarts water 3 cinnamon sticks 1 tablespoon whole cloves 3 to 6 tablespoons granulated sugar Pinch salt Into a large stock pot, add apples, oranges, water, cinnamon sticks, and cloves. Bring to a low to medium boil, and cook, uncovered 1 hour. With a wooden spoon or potato masher, mash the apples and oranges until the mixture looks like a very loose applesauce. Reduce heat to low and simmer with the lid placed slightly askew. Simmer for 2 hours. Into another pot, strain out the solids through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth, pressing on the apples to get as much liquid out of them as possible. The cider won’t be completely clear, there will still be some pulp in the mix, which is how it should be. Because apples can vary in sweetness, we won’t add all of the sugar right away. Bring the cider back to a low simmer and whisk in 3 tablespoons of the sugar and the salt until dissolved. Give it a taste and add more sugar as desired. When I made it, 6 tablespoons was just right. Serve warm. Store leftover in the fridge for up to 4 days. Use leftovers to make these Apple Cider Pancakes. I do not have the capacity to take nicely styled pictures of things (or to shave, apparently) these days (not that I really ever did), but here is the finished cider in it’s storage container. You can close your eyes and imagine a nice picture of it if you have to. It's brown-ish, like apple cider. Enjoy!  This is the Most Poorly Executed Blog Post Ever But its Vegan Easter Pie, So You Still Love It4/8/2020 Here it isYeah, so I had a recipe years ago, but then I updated it in the last couple of years since the new egg replacers and such have been available. I made this one last year, and it has been my best Easter pie recipe to date. Every Easter I get messages like, "Where is that vegan Easter pie recipe?" Well, here it is. I don't even have a picture of it, but it looks and tastes like Easter pie. Vegan Easter Pie Makes one 9 inch pie ¼ cup diced super firm tofu ¼ teaspoon black salt (kala namak) 12 ounces vegan italian sausage crumbled and cooked 5 ounces other vegan meat (ham, bacon, or more sausage), crumbled or chopped 2 ounces vegan pepperoni, chopped 8 ounces vegan ricotta cheese ½ cup vegan mozzarella 2 Follow Your Heart Vegan Eggs (or 2 Just Eggs) Pie crust 2 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas) Heat oven to 350F°. In a large mixing bowl, add the tofu and black salt, toss to coat, then add the meats, cheeses, and eggs and mix to combine. This is your filling. Press pie crust into a pie pan and add the filling. Place the top crust on top and crimp the edges to seal. Poke the top of the pie with the tines of a fork 5 or 6 times, then brush the top with aquafaba. Bake 50 to 60 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest at least 30 minutes before cutting. Update... I took a picture, like a good blogger... Mall food courts are typically barren deserts when it comes to vegan or even vegetarian eating. So I was super stoked when I was invited to check out the new Beleaf Cafe. Brand new to the Westfield Century City and Westfield Topanga Malls, this eatery serves up burgers, tacos, burritos, salads, and all kinds of sides and snacks..and it's ALL FRICKIN' VEGAN!!!  I stopped by for lunch and went with the Southwestern Burger. It's an Impossible patty with grilled onion, pickle, bbq sauce, red cabbage, and I added some Follow Your Heart cheese. A major alteration I made was the patty. You can swap any burger patty into any of the burgers. I definitely love the Impossible patty, but Beleaf offers a variety of interesting looking house-made vegetable-based patties, and since it had been a while since I ate any burgers that didn't have Beyond or Impossible meats, I thought I'd kick it a little old-school-vegan style and give their black bean patty a try. The food came out fast, and it all looked fresh and vibrant. I always like to take a little piece of the burger patty to taste it by itself. Flavor-wise, it was tasty with some mild spices, and the texture was what I expected from a bean patty. It was soft, but not crumbly, as many tend to be. I liked the bun-to- stuff ratio. There was just enough bun to hold all of the toppings and such, but not so much that you feel you're eating a loaf of bread. Overall the burger was delicious, and the whole thing worked together nicely.   I added an order of buffalo cauliflower, which was also quite satisfying. A standard buffalo-style sauce drenched crispy, al dente-cooked cauliflower. Instead of the usual creamy ranch, or bleu cheese type sauce to go with the wings, they serve it with a side of their tahini sauce. I wasn't so sure about it at first, but I ended up liking it quite a bit. The fatty tahini sauce served the same cooling purposes as the regular sauces, so I was good with it. I'm looking forward to tying more of the menu items, as there are A LOT! It's so excellent and exciting to have this vegan oasis in my local mall's food court. All VEGAN! In a FOOD COURT! In a MALL!!! What a great time to vegan. So, whaddayagot? Labor Day coming up? Memorial Day? Just your run of the mill summer grilling weekend? I got you covered here. I took some Beyond Meat beef and brats, and mashed them together in these adorable little pretzel bun meatball sliders. Check it out. You're gonna turn some heads. Beyond Beer Brat Ball Sliders Makes 20 sliders 1 sweet yellow onion, sliced 4 light flavored beers (no IPA's or strongly flavored brews) 10 ounces Beyond Beef 2 links Beyond Sausage Brats, casings removed 1 vegan egg substitute (I use Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg, but I imagine Just, or a flax or chia egg will work as well) 1/2 cup finely ground salted pretzels 4 cloves garlic, grated 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 5 pretzel buns, quartered (or 20 regular slider buns) 1/2 cup grain mustard (approximately) 1/2 cup sauerkraut (approximately) 4 wooden skewers, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes grill spray 20 sandwich picks Heat a grill to high. In a wide pan with high sides, add the beer and onions, and cover with foil (which I didn't show in the video, oops!). Place on one side of the grill, and let it hang out and simmer away. Plan to have it simmer at least 30 minutes before you add the balls to really get those onions tender. In a mixing bowl, add beef, sausage, egg, ground pretzel crumbs, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. With a clean or gloved hand, mash ingredients together until combined. Divide mixture into 20 ping pong ball sized portions (a 1-ounce ice cream scooper works well here). Shape them into round balls, and place them on a pan or plate lined with parchment. Cover and chill in the fridge 15 to 20 minutes to help them firm up before skewering. Remove the skewers from the water, and slide 5 balls onto each one. Place on a plate covered with parchment and take them out to the grill. Spray the available side of the grill with grill spray, and gently place the meatball skewers on the grill. Grill 2 minutes, until browned and/or grill-marked, then, using a thin metal spatula, separate balls from the grill, and gently flip them over, and grill on the other side 2 minutes. Remove meatballs from the grill and immediately transfer them to the simmering beer and onion bath. You can leave them on the skewers or remove them. No need to re-cover the beer pan. Simmer in the beer for 10 minutes, then remove the pan from the grill, and begin to build the sliders. Slather the bottom buns with mustard, then top with onion. Add a ball to each bun, then top with sauerkraut, and finally the top bun. Hold it all together with a sandwich pick. Repeat for all sliders. Serve immediately.    Okily-dokily, here's more ice cream. This was a highly requested one, so I took a stab at it. I took several stabs at it...several creamy, delicious, salty, nutty, chocolaty stabs. Tough gig. Finally nailed it. I had to increase the amount of sugar in my standard base, since the blended pistachios counteracted some of the sweetness. Got 'er done though, and now you can too! Hit me in the comments with what flavor of ice cream you're dying to have veganized. Quick notes:
1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked at least 1 hour (overnight, if you don't have a high-powered blender), drained, and rinsed 1 cup raw, unsalted pistachio nutmeats, divided 1/2 cup water 14 ounce can coconut milk (regular, not the "lite" stuff) 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon arrowroot powder/flour Pinch salt 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips 3/4 teaspoon refined coconut oil 1/4 teaspoon coarse or flaky sea salt or, fancily, Fleur de Sel Into a (preferably) high-powered blender, add soaked cashews, 1/2 cup of the pistachios, water, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, arrowroot, and salt. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides, if necessary, to mix in any stray cashew pieces that jumped up onto the side. Transfer to a medium saucepan, and heat over medium, stirring continually, until the arrowroot activates, and the mix thickens to an almost pudding-like consistency, 4 to 6 minutes. Once thickened, immediately transfer to a wide, high-sided vessel, and stir it around for 3 to 4 minutes to promote quick cooling. Once cooled (it can still be a little warm), transfer to a container and cover tightly. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Add the chilled cashew/coconut mixture to your ice cream maker, and do whatever the maker's instructions say you have to do to make it into ice cream. In the meantime, place remaining pistachios in a small food processor, and pulse until roughly chopped. Add to the ice cream maker towards the end of the churning. If the nuts don't get evenly distributed, worry not, as you'll be stirring it all again later. To get those signature non-uniform, chocolate freckles and chips, you have to do some abstract art. Place chocolate chips and coconut oil into a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave 20 seconds. Almost nothing will happen, so stir it around and continue microwaving in 20 second bursts, stirring after every nuking, until it's totally melted. Stir in the coarse salt. Chose a container that's about 1 quart or so, and with the tines of a fork (or a child size spork), swoosh, swizzle, and splatter the inside surfaces of the container with chocolate. Next spoon enough ice cream on the bottom to make an even layer, then do more chocolate art on top of that layer. Add another ice cream layer, and then more chocolate squizzles. Continue until all the ice cream and chocolate is used up. Cover container, and place in the freezer for 1 hour. After an hour, the ice cream will be plenty cold but not totally frozen and still soft. Using a spoon, stir the ice cream. This will break up all those swoozles of chocolate, achieving that flecked look. Again, tightly cover and place in the freezer at least another 3 hours. It's fairly easy to scoop right out of the freezer, but letting it rest at room temperature for 5 minutes will make it a lot easier. Enjoy!   So I made the mistake of asking my instagram audience what ice cream flavors they'd like to see me develop. And, well...I got some suggestions. The only reason I say it's a "mistake" is because I really liked all of the suggestions and I'm probably going to make (and eat) all of them. Parts of my body will love it, others won't. But I must press on with this important work, so here is one of the most requested flavors. I opted for using fresh mint, mostly because I actually had a bunch on hand and I don't have any extract on hand. But once I tasted this batch, I knew that an extract could not hold a candle to the perfectly smooth yet not-too-subtle mint flavor the fresh stuff imparted. So I'm not even going to present an option for extract here. Quick notes:
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Makes about 3 cups 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked at least 1 hour (overnight, if you don't have a high-powered blender), drained, and rinsed 1/2 cup water 14 ounce can coconut milk (regular, not the "lite" stuff) 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla Pinch salt 1 bunch fresh mint (about 1 1/2 cups including the stems and everything) 1 teaspoon arrowroot powder/flour 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips 3/4 teaspoon refined coconut oil Into a (preferably) high-powered blender, add cashews, water, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides, if necessary, to mix in any stray cashew pieces that jumped up onto the side. Transfer to a medium saucepan, and submerge the mint, stems and all, into the milk. Heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until it just begins to bubble. Let it simmer 2 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let mint steep in the milk for 1 hour. Once an hour has passed, remove the mint from the milk, making sure to return as much milk to the pot as is possible either by gently shaking or pressing into a fine mesh strainer over the pot. Surprise, the milk will not be green. Commercially made versions add food coloring, which I suppose you can do at this point if you like. I won't be mad at ya. Remove 2 tablespoons of the milk and place in a small bowl. Add the arrowroot, and whisk it into the 2 tablespoons of milk until dissolved. Place arrowroot mixture back into the main pot, and heat over medium, stirring continually, until the arrowroot activates, and the mix thickens to an almost pudding-like consistency, 4 to 6 minutes. Once thickened, immediately transfer to a wide, high-sided vessel, and stir it around for 3 to 4 minutes to promote quick cooling. Once cooled (it can still be a little warm), transfer to a container and cover tightly. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Add the chilled cashew/coconut mixture to your ice cream maker, and do whatever the maker's instructions say you have to do to make it into ice cream. To get those signature non-uniform, chocolate freckles and chips, you have to do some abstract art. Place chocolate chips and coconut oil into a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave 20 seconds. Almost nothing will happen, so stir it around and continue microwaving in 20 second bursts, stirring after every nuking, until it's totally melted. Chose a container that's about 1 quart or so, and with the tines of a fork (or a child size spork), swoosh, swizzle, and splatter the inside surfaces of the container with chocolate. Next spoon enough ice cream on the bottom to make an even layer, then do more chocolate art on top of that layer. Add another ice cream layer, and then more chocolate squizzles. Continue until all the ice cream and chocolate is used up. Cover container, and place in the freezer for 1 hour. After an hour, the ice cream will be plenty cold but not totally frozen and still soft. Using a spoon, stir the ice cream. This will break up all those swoozles of chocolate, achieving that signature flecked look. Again, tightly cover and place in the freezer at least another 3 hours. It's fairly easy to scoop right out of the freezer, but letting it rest at room temperature for 5 minutes will make it a lot easier. Enjoy!   Droppin' a little double fantasy on ya, here. I wrote my original cookies 'n' cream recipe last year, and never got around to posting it. Then, the other day, I decided it was time to bust out the ice cream maker, so I did what I call an "inverse cookies 'n' cream" since it's a chocolate ice cream with vanilla Oreo-type cookies. Down at the bottom is a little collection of Instagram stories I made when I was making one of the recipes. Sorry but the live video I mention in the video is not available, but at least you can see some of the process. So here are both of the recipes. Enjoy! Quick notes:
Classic Cookies 'n' Cream Makes about 3 cups 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked at least 1 hour (overnight, if you don't have a high-powered blender), drained, and rinsed 1/2 cup water 14 ounce can coconut milk (regular, not the "lite" stuff) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon arrowroot powder/flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar Pinch salt 1 1/2 cups roughly crushed up Oreo cookies Into a (preferably) high-powered blender, add cashews, water, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, arrowroot, and salt. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides, if necessary, to mix in any stray cashew pieces that jumped up onto the side. Transfer to a medium saucepan and heat on medium, stirring continually, until it just begins to bubble, at which point the arrowroot will activate and the mix will thicken to an almost pudding like consistency, 4 to 6 minutes. Once thickened, immediately transfer to a wide, high-sided vessel, and stir it around for 3 to 4 minutes to promote quick cooling. Once cooled (it can still be a little warm), transfer to a container and cover tightly. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Add the chilled cashew/coconut mixture to your ice cream maker, and do whatever the maker's instructions say you have to do to make it into ice cream. Once that is done, in a large bowl make an ice bath with ice and water. Place a smaller bowl inside the ice bath. Remove the ice cream from the machine, place it in the smaller bowl. This is simply to keep the ice cream from melting too much while you're transferring the ice cream from the machine. Depending on style of machine it could take a couple minutes to scrape ice cream off the sides and such. Remove the bowl from the ice bath as it will be too wobbly to stir the cookies in while it's floating in the ice bath. Add the crushed up cookies and fold them in with a spatula as quickly as possible. The ice cream will melt fast! Once the cookies are mixed in, add the ice cream to a container, tightly cover and place in the freezer at least 4 hours. It's fairly easy to scoop right out of the freezer, but letting it rest at room temperature for 5 minutes will make it a lot easier. Enjoy! Inverse Cookies 'n' Cream Makes about 3 cups 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked at least 1 hour (overnight, if you don't have a high-powered blender), drained, and rinsed 1/2 cup water 14 ounce can coconut milk (regular, not the "lite" stuff) 3/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1/2 cup dutch process coco powder 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon arrowroot powder pinch salt 1 1/2 cups roughly crushed up vanilla Oreo-style cookies (like vanilla Joe-Joe's from Trader Joe's) Into a (preferably) high-powered blender, add cashews, water, coconut milk, sugar, coco powder, vanilla, arrowroot, and salt. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides, if necessary, to mix in any stray cashew pieces or coco powder that jumped up onto the side. Transfer to a medium saucepan and heat on medium, stirring continually, until it just begins to bubble, at which point the arrowroot will activate and the mix will thicken to an almost pudding like consistency, 4 to 6 minutes. Once thickened, immediately transfer to a wide, high-sided vessel, and stir it around for 3 to 4 minutes to promote quick cooling. Once cooled (it can still be a little warm), transfer to a container and cover tightly. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Add the chilled cashew/coconut mixture to your ice cream maker, and do whatever the maker's instructions say you have to do to make it into ice cream. Once that is done, in a large bowl make an ice bath with ice and water. Place a smaller bowl inside the ice bath. Remove the ice cream from the machine, place it in the smaller bowl. This is simply to keep the ice cream from melting too much while you're transferring the ice cream from the machine. Depending on style of machine it could take a couple minutes to scrape ice cream off the sides and such. Remove the bowl from the ice bath as it will be too wobbly to stir the cookies in while it's floating in the ice bath. Add the crushed up cookies and fold them in with a spatula as quickly as possible. The ice cream will melt fast! Once the cookies are mixed in, add the ice cream to a container, tightly cover and place in the freezer at least 4 hours. It's fairly easy to scoop right out of the freezer, but letting it rest at room temperature for 5 minutes will make it a lot easier. Enjoy!  Serves 2 to 4 (enough to make 2 good sized BLT sandwiches, or 4 side servings for breakfast plates.) 6 ounces king oyster mushrooms, tops trimmed, stems thinly sliced lengthwise (1/16 to 1/8 inch thick) 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 teaspoons ketchup 1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon liquid smoke 1 teaspoon oil, plus more for frying Place mushrooms slices in a zip top bag. To a small measuring cup or bowl, add soy sauce, ketchup, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, liquid smoke, and oil. Whisk to combine, then pour into bag. Massage marinade around a bit. The mushrooms won't be submerged by the marinade, but over time, water will be drawn out of the mushrooms, adding to the body of the marinade, eventually submerging the mushrooms in tasty liquid. Push as much air as is possible out of the bag, and store in the fridge at least 8 hours or overnight. When ready to eat heat a wide non-stick skillet to medium, and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Remove mushrooms from marinade, shaking off the excess. Place "bacon" in the pan, in batches if necessary, making sure they sizzle. Fry 1 to 2 minutes, then toss and cook 3 to 4 more minutes, tossing occasionally, until browned with some blackened crispy edges. Drain briefly on a paper towel lined plate, serve.   |
CREATORVegan chef, cookbook author, and multi-media personality, Brian L. Patton. Just making good, old-fashioned food. You like food, right? 
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