From the monthly archives: January 2009
After a look at my finances, I put my foot down. No more runs to Zabar’s for lunch for their soup. If my brokeness weren’t enough, the recent cornbread recipe from the VegNews Recipe Club sealed the deal. It was time to step up to the burner and make my own, and far superior, hearty winter soup… and a loaf of cornbread not plagued with egg and milk.
I used this chili recipe as a base but changed it ever so slightly (and cut it in half). Here’s what I came up with:
1/2 TB olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 TB dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 four oz. can chipotle peppers (in adobe sauce)
1 box Amy’s Texas burger, crumbled
1 1/2 twenty-eight oz. cans of whole peeled tomatoes
2 TB chili powder
1 TB black pepper
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1/2 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 can chick peas, rinsed
1/4 cup vegetable broth
Chopped green onion for garnish
1) Do your chopping, mincing and rinsing. Crush all the canned tomatoes by hand and put in a bowl. Remove chipotle peppers from sauce and chop ‘em up. Set the adobe sauce aside to add later. Or if you’re not into spice, leave it out.
2) Fry up the Amy’s burgers with a little oil. Amy’s makes thee best frozen burgers in my humble opinion. *The silly user comments in the recipe’s link above says to crumble the veggie burger into tiny, tiny pieces! Otherwise the ingester will know it is not real beef! What a catastrophe indeed. I left plenty of big chunks of burger because I know better.
3) Heat up the olive oil, onion and garlic in a large pot on medium heat. Season with bay leaves, cumin, oregano and salt. Cook till the onions are tender.
4) Mix in bell pepper, jalapeno and chipotle peppers. Let veggies cook.
5) Stir in burger crumbles. Reduce heat to low, cover and allow to cook for a few minutes.
6) Now add those squished tomatoes you got from your cans. Stir. Add the adobe sauce if you want.
7) Season with chili powder and black pepper. Stir well.
8) Add the beans! Bring the chili to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9) Serve topped with the chopped green onion.
I think the Almighty Sound is a band from Minneapolis. Despite several webpages I am still not sure. Anyhow, they created 2001: A Spiritualized Odyssey, unique film project that pairs Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey with the J. Spaceman’s space rock. The coupling is a fantastic fit, a higher brow Wizard of Oz/Dark Side. Spiritualized compliments the film’s pace perfectly as both Kubrick’s and Spaceman’s dynamic range unite for a glorious ride. And it is available to download for free at their website (above). Made special for the viewing party were my Spiritualized Odyssey vegan cupcakes, golden vanilla cakes each with a single blueberry “pill” in their centers. You know, a placebo.
Between class starting up again and several special occasions, I have spent way too much time in restaurants as of lately. Most notably was dinner at Blossom with Wok Man and some visiting friends from Chicago. It has been on my “to go” list for quite some time but the double-digit appetizer prices had it saved for a special occasion. Below are the seitan skewers in hickory sauce, 
cape cod cakes (hiziki seaweed, tofu, potato, herbs and spices, served with a vegan tartar sauce),
the delicious but unphotogenic port wine seitan (Seitan cutlets pan-seared in a sauce of port wine and mushrooms, accompanied by creamy mashed potatoes, tempura onion and sautéed garlic spinach),
apple cinnamon sticks in brandy caramel sauce and the
chocolate ganache.
A perfect 3 courses! I was so impressed.
Next special occasion was the homecoming of CandyPenny! My homeslice was in Japan searching out vegan offerings on the other side of the world- with much success. To snap herself right back into the inconsistent service and pace of life back in New York City, we hit the East Village’s Madras Cafe. For an appetizer, the gourmet samosas and lentil donuts. Fried goodness and the best part of our meal.
I ordered the T.V.P. and, to my surprise, received a big bowl of gigantic T.V.P. cutlets with no veggies to break up the density. Eh. I ate like 4 and the rest I mistakenly left a bar later that night. CP got the vegetable marsala which I sneakingly spooned to my plate during the stories of her travels.
Afterwards, we hit Thailand Cafe for their glorious mango and sticky rice and a cocktail. So good.
Back on the west side, Wok Man hit the Cafe Viva for some vegan pizza. I always forget that these slices, piled with toppings, are a mess to eat. Next time I’ll try the Sicilian marinara corner slice.
Next up, Ayruveda Cafe, the Upper West Side’s place for “Sattvic” Indian vegetarian. Their pre-set menu includes a balanced meal aligned with Aryvedic principles, highlighting all of the six tastes. It included dessert, a delicate sweet grated carrot concoction that finished me off quite nicely.
I ordered the T.V.P. and, to my surprise, received a big bowl of gigantic T.V.P. cutlets with no veggies to break up the density. Eh. I ate like 4 and the rest I mistakenly left a bar later that night. CP got the vegetable marsala which I sneakingly spooned to my plate during the stories of her travels.
Afterwards, we hit Thailand Cafe for their glorious mango and sticky rice and a cocktail. So good.
Back on the west side, Wok Man hit the Cafe Viva for some vegan pizza. I always forget that these slices, piled with toppings, are a mess to eat. Next time I’ll try the Sicilian marinara corner slice. 
Next up, Ayruveda Cafe, the Upper West Side’s place for “Sattvic” Indian vegetarian. Their pre-set menu includes a balanced meal aligned with Aryvedic principles, highlighting all of the six tastes. It included dessert, a delicate sweet grated carrot concoction that finished me off quite nicely. 
Now. I plan to make an order with Fresh Direct right away and get back in the kitchen!
Hi, Welcome to my new blog label “product reviews”! Here I’ll be risking my hard-earned dollars in the name of vegan product exploration. The vegan food market is growing in leaps and bounds. A trip to the health food store reveals more and more new products geared towards us ethical eaters. I plan to take a chance on these unknowns in the case that an Uncle Eddie’s, by far thee best packaged vegan cookie sold, may have a better chance at succeeding.
As a child I always loved orange jello. No other flavor jello would do for me. I remember squishing around in my mouth and liquefying it, coating my teeth in its refined sugar. Of course I had no idea what gelatin was then (and have since suffered countless dental procedures). So when I saw the Cool Cups vegan orange “gels” at Whole Foods, I had to pick it up. Ah, what a stroll down memory lane! The soft buoyant pierce of the spoon through the gel, the artificial “natural” flavors, the crisp transparent orange. It is a wonderful product… for those every once and awhile nostalgic cravings of the food recklessness of my youth. Do you get these?
In the basement and auditorium in Good Shepard School in the high reaches of Manhattan’s northern-most neighborhood, I partook in a wonderfully unique experience: the Golden Music Festival, an annual collection of Balkan music, dance and art. Inside the monotone school in Inwood I was transported to the streets of southeastern Europe, roaming the halls with colorful gypsies amidst impromptu dancing, chanting and drumming in between a schedule of over 50 bands on 3 stages. Musical acts were Romany, Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek, Transylvanian, Dodecanese, Albanian; waltzes, schottische, hambo and polskas; klezma, belly dance and Balkan funk. I look forward to returning next year to peer into this mysterious little sub-culture.
The amazing Raquy & the Caveman
Black Sea Hotel
Ljova & the Kontraband
The following morning, nursing a bit of a stimuli-hangover, Allison hosted a delicious, nutritious brunch in her new apartment. Below her signature hash browns: perfect.
An invigorating Bloody Mary, spicy and salty.
Aaah asparagus. Isn’t it just beautiful? Flavorful and cooked to perfection along with mushrooms, tomatoes, green beans and carrot.
January 19, 2009, 11:15 p.m. (LaGuardia, picking up the car rental)
January 20, 2009, 2:00 a.m. (Maryland rest stop)
January 20, 2009, 3:40 a.m. (Greenbelt, MD Metro station)
January 20, 2009, 7:15 a.m. (The sun comes out finally!)
January 20, 2009, 7:35 a.m. (Walking through a tunnel underneath the National Mall.)
January 20, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
January 20, 2009, 8:30 a.m. (Finally, secure at the National Mall for viewing. With several hours to kill.)
January 20, 2009, 9:35 a.m. (Watching re-runs on the National Mall… waiting, waiting.)
January 20, 10:45 a.m. (He arrives. Photo: Cara Bella.)
January 20, 2009, 11:15 a.m. (Goodbye Bush. Photo: Cara Bella. An awkward Bush stepped out to modest applause… because we were on on the other side of the National Mall and our boo’s could not be heard.)
January 20, 2009, 11:30 a.m. (Sworn in. Photo: Cara Bella. This was the moment we were all waiting for, traveled hours for, screamed Wok Man‘s politically charged playlists for, endured the freezing cold for, and skipped a night of sleep for.)
January 20, 2009, 12:57 p.m. (Still trying to find an open Metro station with a few friends. The Metro stations were being closed sporadically because of over-crowding. We cut across the Mall to return to the Chinatown station we had exited earlier that morning. Reaching our car relatively quickly after squeezing in the second train.)
January 20, 2009, 1:52 p.m. (The aftermath: the Capital building which, hours earlier, hosted the official ceremony.)
January 20, 2009, 4:30 p.m. (Liquid Earth in Fells Point, City o’ Baltimore. Amazing vegan sandwiches and juices. Whole Pyrex measuring cups full of juices. I got the Evergreen Pine nut with granny smith apple, wheatgrass, mint, and… maybe I should have gotten ginko because I can’t remember what else.
The vegan reuben, along with a delicious vegan macaroni salad, was the perfect ending to our stay. Home, James!
I requested off from work on January 20, 2009 the evening of November 4, 2008. Somewhere between then and a few hours ago I was resolved to celebrate inauguration activities here in New York City. I would wake up early to nab a seat for the screening at the Langston Hughes Auditorium at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem after attending Galapagos’s Bon Voyage Bush cruise-themed party in DUMBO the evening before. But, I changed my mind. I can’t be this close to DC and not be a part of the real deal.
I pulled together a realistic plan that’ll deliver me to the National Mall tomorrow morning in time for the big O to take office. Events planning being my forte, I feel confident each T is crossed. The only thing I couldn’t account for is sleep. Who needs it?
As I embark upon this historical journey along with millions of others, I repeat “be patient”. This won’t be a line for the women’s room at a bar. These will be lines of cars, lines of buses, lines of people who share a fervent enthusiasm: for hope, love and change. Each of them. I’ll be happy they’re there. Because that’s why he’s there.
For every celebration there is a perfect cupcake. The combination of flavors and enhancements present in my Hello Obama cupcakes represent a medley of symbolism.
These golden vanilla cupcakes (for the Illinois’s golden boy) are lemon-almond flavored. Not only because I ran out of vanilla extract and had to compensate with lemon and almond extracts, but because lemon is a symbol of purification and almond, of wisdom. Two things we need after 8 years of W. And the frosting: Red + White + Blue doesn’t make a monkey outta you, it makes a pretty shade of purple. A lot like the “not-too-sweet blueberry mousse” frosting from VCTOTW I used on these bad boys. Underneath this blended patriotism is a sticky seat of Ricemellow Vegan “Political Fluff”… for the endured years of mimbo-ism. It’s all over now.
There, there. That’s much better.
Revelling in the collective excitement of these historical times, the next few days are dedicated to like-minded celebrations and inaugurationated parties.
Yes We Can: Barack Obama’s History-Making Presidential Campaign, the photographs of Scout Tufankjian at powerHouse Books, DUMBO
As my sidebar over there annouces, I have an Etsy shoppe now. Though I am mostly selling my photography, I do have some vegan treats listed (as well as photographs of vegan treats). I sold my first batch of cookies today… to my mom! Of course, I couln’t really charge her so I guess it isn’t really my first order. Oh well.
I love making chocolate chip cookies. I remember making them with my mom when I was just a peon. I had a taste for brown sugar, melted butter and a mysterious little vile of liquid and its heavenly scent: pure vanilla extract. {I remember smelling vanilla for the first time. Vanilla before it was in candles, moisturizers and shampoos, before some lab in New Jersey concocted a mass-produced vanilla potion of artifical flavoring. …Va-nill-a, like Lo-lee-ta… Aah, smell is a rich and complex sense that doesn’t get its proper respect.} This gave way to my melting butter and combining with sugar and vanilla on the stovetop… as a snack.
I played with food often when I was young. I called my creations “experiments”. But my brothers’ friends began to call me a “witch” when I left 3-course packed lunches of my food experiments on their doorstep, labeled A Healthy Snack or Galupe (pronouced ga-loop-ee, a made-up word meaning tall) Snack Pack. I remember being confused as to why they did not appreciate my efforts.
Back to the cookies. There is a moment when combining the wet ingrediants into the dry that I get excited and mix faster, when I start to think of the leavening, acids reacting, carbon dioxide, this pile of powders becoming a delicious glunk…
Then there is this big pile of batter. After I sneak a bite, I taste the sugar and salt granules stuck in a smooth web of flour glue, the color of white oil paint with a little burnt sienna. Raw. It tastes how I want a cooked cookie to taste.
I almost hate to cook the batter.
Then there is this big pile of batter. After I sneak a bite, I taste the sugar and salt granules stuck in a smooth web of flour glue, the color of white oil paint with a little burnt sienna. Raw. It tastes how I want a cooked cookie to taste.
I almost hate to cook the batter.
I haven’t cooked in awhile. It’s terrible. Weeks after the great kitchen gadget shopping spree of ’08 (Wok Man‘s Christmas gift to me), I hadn’t used anything, save for a measuring cup. But last night that all changed by way of a fabulous Vegan Yellow Curry.
A container of curry paste is a terrible thing to waste. Unfortunately, due to splitting my fridge with a roommate and a huge Brita pitcher, armies of perishables form in the back of my icebox. Incorporating these items into a recipe is high priority for me! So the curry paste was up at bat! Here is the result, a recipe of improvisation:
1 can coconut milk
2 heaping Tbsp yellow curry paste
1 Tbsp and 1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp Garam Masala
3 medium Yukon potatoes cubed
1 package of tofu, pressed and cubed
2 smallish bunches Broccoli
1/2 cup peanuts
Some fresh basil, ribboned
Cornstarch
Peanut oil
Quinoa
First, prep the tofu. Press for 10 minutes and cube. Make a pile of cornstarch in a plate and gently toss tofu cubes in it, coating all sides. Fry in a half inch of peanut oil until brown on both sides. Tongs work best for maneuvering these little ditties. Let ‘em soak on some paper towels while you move on.
Start the Quinoa. 1 1/2 to 2 cups is a good amount.
Heat the coconut milk in a pan (big enough to hold all ingredients) until it begins to steam. Add curry paste, soy sauce and Garam masala until combined and smooth. Add you potatos and cook on medium heat till they begin to soften, stirring often.
Garbage bag art installation (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Thai restuarant (somewhere in Virginia)
That you Santie Claus? (Bridgeport, CT)
Hi, I’m Talky Tina… and I forgive your sins. (somewhere in North Carolina)
A rare endangered hot pink gorilla (Upper East Side, NYC)
Very sharp “equipment” (JFK NYC)
Bling. Teeth. in 22 varieties (Bushwick, Brooklyn)
The men come on Monday, Wedsnesday and Friday mornings. Soon we’ll be free to be together.
Eeyore phoning home on Houston (Lower East Side, NYC)
Vegan Reporting By Location
