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Chef Merida hosts Vegan Secret Supper-s in her apartment in Brooklyn.
And a 4-course, from-scratch, all-vegan, local, and organic high-end break from cleaning out the last of my life in Brooklyn is just what I needed. Like me, Vegan Secret Supper (VSS) is moving on from Brooklyn. The Chef is heading back to Canada to pop-up in Vancouver and Montreal. And despite CandyPenny‘s and my aversion to communal dining, we were happy to have gotten a reservation to one of the last of her dinner parties in the country.
First course: Cream of celeraic soup with baby bok choy and pain l’ancienne. Flavorful and alive with herbs, this was a great winter soup.
Second course: Russet apple, pear, watermelon radish, diakon and cashew cheese with raw olives, shiso and sesame. The cashew cheese was the star here, tying all the bright and fresh components together in a velvety smooth savory bite. The texture was unreal, unlike any cashew cheese I had ever tasted, as if it was pushed through a fine sieve repeatedly by angels. I would have loved a juicy pop of freshness amongst the roots and greens.
Third course: Sprouted walnut and lentil cake with tahini, avocado, roasted black carrot, crispy onions and yam chips. This was a hardy yet delicate entree. The lentil cake was earthy and satisfying and topped with gorgeous black carrots.
Missing the chalkboard menu with its description, we were baffled by what this dessert was. First, we thought, a bit disappointingly, that we were being served ice cream. When we broke our spoons into the smooth white lump, it was astonishing. The texture was indistinguishable as I never had anything like it. The smoothness, the creaminess–the vegan world could surely learn a thing or two from Chef Merida’s technique and artistry.
Dessert course: White chocolate cashew mousse in a white chocolate shell with pomegranate reduction, oat tulle and herbal root beer foam. We saw the sign.
Goodnight, Brooklyn.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! When glorious autumn is seasonal. Chilly mornings give way to bright, potent sun. This often short-lived delicate balance is my favorite time of the year. And autumn eats are my favorite, too. Heartier, Earthier… I ❤ autumn!
So now, with a stream of sun and cool breeze entering the kitchen, my first installment of autumn cooking: Apple Sausage Wild Rice Stuffing
1 loaf old bread, chopped {spread on a baking sheet and heat for 15 minutes or so at 350 to firm up fresh bread}
1 package (16 oz) of vegan mushroom soup {I used portobello}
1 (8 oz) package vegetable broth
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup wild rice, cooked {I used the rest of the brown rice that was laying around and mixed it in with wild}
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds {I wanted to finally finish off the bag of sunflower seeds in the pantry. The bread I used was seeded too. Next time I’d go for pecans.}
1/4 cup apple, chopped
1 Field Roast apple & sage sausage link, sliced
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and spread in a pan. 350 for about an hour, covered. Let it go uncovered for the last 20 minutes or so.
This delicious stuffing looks kind of seedy. More textures to tempt you with!
Another spectacular part of autumn are the sunsets. The sun and clouds looked ablaze, looked like the atmosphere of another planet.
And I will end this post with the most photogenic of the root veggies, my favorite, the beet.
There are those who love beets… and others.
For apple use number 2, I made the Gluttonous Vegan‘s spectacular recipe for Caramel Apple Upside-down Cake. 
Rich, delicious vegan caramel sauce: 1/2 cup Earth Balance, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 & 1/2 TB Blackstrap molasses cooked stovetop. What a yummy finger-lickin’ caramel. I would use a bit less molasses next time.
Apples take a nice bath in the caramel before being covered in cake batter.
Layer one. So succulent-looking! But this is why I’d use less molasses (or a lighter molasses) next time. It looks a bit burnt although it is not.
Layer 2. Cinnamon-y delicious. But a lot for me to take on. I may have to deliver this to my parents.
But first, a slice with coconut sorbet. Ok apples, now we are having fun!
With a bag of plump, delicious apples to ingest, it was time to start cooking. First, applesauce. It’s so easy and will make a nice dent in my bag. Using both varieties in the sauce, I’ll get a nice texture–soft, mashed Macintosh with bites of heartier Red Delicious.
First, the skins gotta go. I know, all the fiber is in the skin! But I don’t want a fibrous applesauce and.. all those chalky chemicals were in the skin too. Apples are numero uno in containing pesticide residues. According to my scary phone app (What’s On My Food), conventional apples’ pesticides contain 7 known/probable carcinogenic toxins, 19 suspected hormone-disruptors, 10 neurotoxins, 6 developmental/reproductive toxins, and 17 Honeybee toxins. (This data comes from US Dept. of Agriculture.) It’s all disturbingly scary. Also scary, the toxins in the iPhone that told me about the toxins in the apples. And the toxins in the flame-retardant couch foam I’m sitting on. Ugh.
Anyway, back to them apples. Sorry. Must not let the horrible things that have happened to the world in the name of consumption bother me. Apples. Apples.
These babies cooked down quite a bit. I peeled and chopped 8 apples and added them to a bowl of 1 & 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger. After 20 minutes cooking, the Macintosh almost melted, the fragrant waft of cinnamon hovered above the pot, and all was right with the world once again.
After cooling a few minutes, I used a mashed on the bigger chunks of Red Delicious that still remained.
The applesauce was so very delicious. Perfect hint of spice. Sugar tempting out the natural apple deliciousness from each chunk. I put a whole bunch in the freezer with Thanksgiving in mind. I’ll have to make another batch for fresh consumption. What else should I do with these apples?
Under scenic ‘seize-the-day’ duress, the Electrician and I headed north on a beautiful Fall day. The destination was not the over-crowded Bronx crossings or the state roads of New Jersey, although we spent much of our time in these areas. It was Masker Orchards in Warwick, New York… to pick apples and to catch a glimpse of the mid-point foliage. Arriving right smack in the middle of their Apple Fest, the low hanging trees were packing with foraging families. Luckily we had free range to roam their 200 acres of apple trees.
Macintosh and Red Delicious were abound. These ripe varieties were everywhere, the ripest and reddest on the ground–an apple buffet for bottom feeders.
Looks like an apple-maker’s scratch pad.
I had never gone apple picking before. As an adult at least. With a bagful of huge apples, recipes began streaming through my head.
The lightweight, airy Macintosh grow higher to the sky than the weighty Red Delicious.
I was so impressed with the enormity of the apples. To pluck them straight from the branch was so pleasing. Getting carried away with myself, I took a taste. Their skin was chalky and most certainly treated with some unknown yucky stuff. Reality check.
But c’mon, apples on trees that you can pull off. What a lovely thing to have packed and brimming with people!
Remember when I bought those peaches at the upstate orchard? I forgot to take them out of the brown paper bag overnight. So! they were super ripe right away. I had to use them all in one bang. After whipping up those simple red, white and blue parfaits on Independence Day, I thought “why not?” So here they are: peach apple cobbler parfaits with coconut whip.
First I made a peach cobbler. I cooked up the peaches and some apples with 1/2 cup of sugar and some cornstarch. The cornstarch thickens up the mixture but also makes it quite Hostess Fruit Pie-ish. It’s not the most natural texture but a familiar one if you plan to gift the parfaits who fear vegan goodies. I threw in some raisins and sprinkled in some cinnamon after the compote was cooling in the bowl and mixed it up to thoroughly. The cake-ish part is whole wheat flour, some sugar, and baking powder cut with Earth Balance. It was a dense batter that was not too sweet, given the fruit compote sweetness. I also added slithered almonds because there was an open package laying around.
Before creating the parfaits, a quick bite of the cobbler.
I am still trying to perfect the coconut milk whipped cream. It never gets as thick as pictured on the link. Even with chilling the coconut milk cans overnight, there was not much coconut milk fat. Maybe I need change brands.
Another beautiful parfait!
The East Village’s Counter, one of the only higher-end vegetarian restaurants below 14th street, is closing its doors. So the usual vegheads and I had to have one more taste. I have always enjoyed Counter’s food, especially their brunch, but after each visit I did not soon return. The service was always an issue. And our visit this time was no exception. Upon entry we, party of 5, were treated as if we were intruding upon the dimly-lit empty restaurant. Add the fact that we were not interested in over-priced cocktail “infusions” and that signature East Village food service worker apathy and grossly misplaced snobbery infused our visit. No big deal. We wanted the food.
I had a flatbread pizza–lemon basil pesto, sunchokes, caramelized onion and sun-dried tomato. It was very tasty but lukewarm.
The gang got butternut squash spaghetti, lentil and greens sandwich, a bowl of frittes and their delectable seitan.
Dessert: the brownie sundae with nut-based ice cream, caramel sauce and chocolate drizzle. Very good!
The semolina apple cake topped with vanilla. So, so delicious.
Somewhere, sometime, I must have been privy to regular acts of gastronomy. I must have been a royal member of the court of Epicureanism of the highest rank. I must have tucked these food standards in the pocket of the soul that passes from life to life, like a little nagging gift. So like any true gourmet, I clip recipes from the Daily News‘s supplemental magazine! This recipe for wheatberry salad made it to my list of to-do’s for this week as I finally bed farewell to the huge batch of chili from last week. It’s texture; it’s variety; it’s color. And I am a huge fan of huge plump grains: Israeli cous cous, brown rice, arborio, wheatberries… Ah, it’s like eating berries off wheat. Yes, just like that.
Day 1 of my raw week went well. I was impressed with how satiated I was and how energetic I felt all day. A breakfast of ground almonds, sunflower seeds and pepitas will do that, I guess. But once evening rolled around, however, I was craving bread, pretzels, pancakes and, strangely, Alphabits cereal. Hmmm.
Wok Man, my partner in the raw week/juice fast, agreed, the want for cooked food was strong. After several ‘Obama bumps’ enthusiasm for the cause increased and we pledged to stay in the game.
With a decade+ of being vegan under my belt, I haven’t faced a craving I couldn’t oblige for quite some time. So often I hear that veganism “must be so hard”. It certainly is not for me. But now, craving naan soaked in vegetable biryani, my big chocolate chip cookies and wanting to chop up all my vegetables and scald them in hot oil in a wok, I can remember how it is to give something up. I’m already planning my first cooked meal after our fast…
During this week of raw, my main source of recipes is a book published in 1980 that I bought from a thrift store some years ago: Feasting On Raw Foods. It is a thorough book that lists entrees, desserts, sauces & dressings, beverages, etc. Frighteningly, it also contains a whole section on raw meat and another on gelatin dishes. I found some gems in these antiquated pages:
Carrot Salad Dressing: Carrot, onion, flax seed and cider vinegar give this dressing quite the kick.
Raw Apple Pie: This is my favorite so far. The picture isn’t the most appetizing but this pie is very tasty.
Crust/topping
1 cup ground walnuts
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 agave nectar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup ground almonds
Filling
1&1/2 cups chopped walnut
3 cups grated apple, sprinkled with 1/2 juiced lemon
2 Tbs agave nectar
3/4 cup raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix crust ingredients together.
Set aside 1/2 cup for topping & press remaining in pie plate.
Chill both.
Mix filling ingredients together in bowl and pour onto bottom crust.
Top with reserved crust.
Blackberry-banana-flax and cucumber-avocado-lemon smoothies!
Alfalfa burgers and beet greens salad
Soaking beans
Gorgeous huge blackberries
Beet it.
I’ll be the first to admit that the end of the semester crunch has taken me out of the kitchen. I haven’t chopped more than a potato in weeks! I rationalize this lack of D.I.Y. by talking of the importance of supporting local joints offering vegan choices, lest we forget Mighty Diamond…
To end a fabulous day of celebrating vegan-style (see ThanksLiving post below), the gang and I hit an awesome brand new sandwich shop close to my home turf called Boneshakers. The “Make Out Club” sandwich was delicious and just the thing to absorb all that excess chardonnay from Woodstock’s festivities. This place is a fresher, more tasty S’nice which I plan to frequent often. They also have plenty of vegan baked goods made on the premises, pictured below is their Earl Grey cupcake. Delicious, fresh-made grub close to my apartment = heaven. Go there now.
Besides having one of the most beautifully designed websites, Urban Spring offers those who wander into secluded Clinton Hill scrumptious and healthy treats. Below is a new take on the peanutbutter and jelly: fresh made cranberry preserves, almond butter and granny smith slices sit upon toasted sourdough.
I had been meaning to check out the Willburg Cafe for a few weeks now upon discovering they had a “tofu omelet”. However, the wish for a neighborhood veggie burger stand-by had me check out their burger platter. Besides the sneaking suspicion that the bun was not vegan, I didn’t really enjoy the platter. The patty was of the soft and gooey kind, which has its place in the vegan burger world (I’m thinking Quantum Leap‘s walnut and lentil burger.) But this one was bland and kinda early 90′s vegan.
Kitchenette is not a vegan restaurant; pickins are slim by Columbia U and its predominantly grab & go style eateries. But their H.E.A.L.T.H. (hummus, eggplant, avocado, lettuce, tomato on “health” bread) is a perfect munch before class. Although, when you add the delicious garlic potato wedges to the side, it is a bit pricey. Of special note should be just how adorable the restaurant’s decor is. That and the servers’ sunny disposition is worth a visit alone.
Remember that potato I cut up? There they are below to the right. Roasted rosemary fingerling potatoes with the Wok Man-made KZ-signature sandwich. On the bread, a jazzed up veganaise: artichoke-garlic aioli, cilantro, lemon and peppercorn blend.
Because I enjoy baking so much more than cooking, chocolate chip cookies are never a chore! I managed to buckle down and churn out these for the trip north to Woodstock but could barely contain from eating the entire batch. It is so wonderful to me that the best cookies I ever tasted were made by me! As I am with reporting on all vegan eats and establishments, I am equally critical on myself. I will be the first to admit areas lacking in my own food ventures, but these cookies… they are making me rethink my career choice.
Vegan Reporting By Location
