Currently viewing the tag: "bone shakers"
Vegan Croissant. Yes, a vegan croissant! A greasy, oily croissant. Holy Moly.
Champs in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has transformed into a diner. Vinyl booths and all! And on top of that shimmery vinyl seat I sat, wrapping my greasy fingers around a vegan croissant S.A.G., their Boneshakers signature scramble sandwich. Tofu scramble, Daiya mozzarella (since I was going all out glutton) and sausage.
The vegan croissant (I like saying those words together) was just a s buttery and flakey as the non-vegan kind. This is an outstanding vegan version I know I will come back for. Champs is a good greasy spoon eatery. I want to throw an axe in their microwave, however. My food was cold in a couple of minutes.
For dessert I had their rainbow cookie because, besides my own, I have never seen vegan rainbow cookies. It wasn’t really a cookie though. It wasn’t even a cake even. Though it had an accurate almond-y taste, the texture was not there.
I do love the colors. Champs is a nice addition to the neighborhood and they do a lot well. For their other little snags, I wish to offer them my consulting services. I work for French toast slices.
Organic Village‘s Shiitake-Veg “Burger”. Quite good for a raw version of a burger, however, after horrendous service I’ll likely not return to this place. We ate in the car so to escape the mess of stress within the tiny restaurant.
Finally tried Dunwell Donuts at Champs Family Bakery, which is now home to Bone Shakers too. Yes, the Kingsland location is no longer. We were pleased to find pleasant service and an offer of free cupcakes. I tried Dunwell’s jelly donut and coconut-glazed. They were yummy but a bit dry. Of course.. once you go Mighty, your standard is way high.
With the weather finally cooperating, we had grilled eggplant sandwiches for a lazy day lunch. Scrumptious marinated sweet onion and sliced eggplant discs atop grilled under Mr. Blue Sky and onto toasted Italian. Then I ate a mango.
I started 2010 doing brunch at Boneshakers [read here] so why not continue the tradition?
Last year I said: “There’s something about 1/1 that motivates change. Yes, I subscribe to that New Years philosophy of renewal and growth, mostly because I appreciate the year as a unit of measurement, appreciate a set span of time to classify with a numerical code, appreciate some kind of end-point. I remain awed by 2009, what I managed to cram inside its 365 days. My life exactly one year ago seems way, way further in the past.” And the same is true of 2010. Tonight, in the face of returning to work and acclimating back into my daily life in Brooklyn, Christmas seems a distant dream already. Familiar traditions help me re-enter society a bit easier. So let’s eat for some energy!
Toad in a Hole.
Teese-y mac and cheese.
In the year 2010, more than any other, the camera was angled down, capturing flicks of food. Sure, there are people on the other side of the table. Had the camera lifted its head, it’d see. But for a gal who sorts time through food, the vibrant color of shared meals and food creations encompass it all. The who, the when, the why and the what. It’s like anti-ana pride [gross]. It’s vegan. It’s foodie-ness. It’s 2010: the year in food.
January. Three Brothers, Long Island’s Italian restaurant with the trailblazing all-vegan menu, was a wonderful addition to the mix, especially in Long Island where “all-vegan” is far a few between and where I would spend most of my weekends during the year. Most notable is their vegan mozzarella sticks, as the price would hint to. My first trip there they were about half the price they are now.
February. Pawtucket, Rhode Island’s Garden Grille’s wonderful prix-fixe Valentine’s Day meal was one of the best meals of the year. Memorable was the entree: Red palm ravioli trio–house-dried tomato with arugula fennel pesto, trumpet mushrooms with rosemary cashew cheese and braised cannellini with spinach served with roasted asparagus, pink vodka sauce and fresh basil. Providence had some great vegan eats and several others that were closed for the holiday.
March. By March I had gotten into the swing of using my breadmaker, a Christmas gift from several months earlier. With the purchase of a proper serrated knife, I cut a slew of interesting loafs during 2010. Unfortunately my uneven slicing skills and ton of stale leftovers had use dwindle by the end of 2010. I’m going to work on this however. Anyone interested in a bread share? I lost the only interested party to the hands of bread-focused freeganism during 2010.
April. The year of the Monday Thai lunch special. With the plethora of amazing lunch special deals in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, temptation they name was lunch. I suppose a 8$ a week Thai habit is an okay addiction compared to what others struggle with. Coming in first place to the area Thai deals is Nine D on Court street, followed by Em Thai Kitchen on Smith street. Pictured here is Em’s Pad Thai with veggie dumplings and spring rolls.
May. I made bagels from scratch! This was quite exciting, especially because I could load ‘em up with garlic millings. Thanks to Vegan Brunch, I entered into this bread undertaking fearlessly. Though I don’t foresee whipping up bagel batches on the reg., there is something empowering about making a delicious bagel from scratch… like “look what I can do”, hey hey hey.
June. In looking back at 2010, I’d be a doof not to mention the dedicated vegan grill at the Electrician‘s house. Proof that a long-time vegan and a grill-master omnivore can live in harmony. Though I ate across the table from steak, sausage and real hamburgers [Oh my!], my criticism was preemptively silenced by a respect and accommodation of my personal dietary choices. Pictured here: A waco Tofurky Italian sausage roasting with some veggies.
July. CandyPenny and I blazed a vegan trail across the Great Plains this summer, hitting tons of special eateries. One of the most memorable was Kansas City’s Fud and their jackfruit chalupa. I’ve eaten a ton of vegan food across this great nation and this chalupa stands up tall as one of the most flavorful, fresh and delicious bites. This piece of constructed bliss would make it to my top 10 of all time.
August. If you have patience and a tub of Earth Balance, you too can create huge, obscenely decadent and scrumptious cinnamon buns. I made this big batch for the Real Deal Vegan Brunch [here], a spectacular display of veganization, if I do say so myself. Besides these hot buns there was danishes, scones and egg sandwiches. But back to the buns, a big bun at a cinnamon bun chain will inject you with about 800 calories. This bun I am sure is no more than 799.
September. Boneshakers, the vegan-friendly coffee shop and cafe that hosted foodie friends to many delicious bites through out 2010, opened up Champs Family Bakery this past year, growing their vegan family in my neighborhood. Their brunch is my favorite in the entire 5 boroughs of New York City. Pictured here is their Tofu Benny, a delectable well-balanced morning choice with the most convincing hollandaise sauce I’ve ever tried.
October. Garden Cafe in Woodstock is one of my favorite restaurants. Everything that is set in front of me is close to perfect. They know how to season, to accompany, to garnish, to cook. Even the simplest of sandwiches, like the tofu mango one pictured here I ate during my upstate birthday roadtrip, are absolutely fantastic. Garden Grill is a must-visit at least a couple of times a year. I am hoping 2011 will have me stopping by on an overnight camping trip.
November. Deep. Fried. Twinkies. And you thought that the state fair was one-up on veganism with their battered and deep-fried delights. Nope. With a simple batter, an eclair pan and pastry bag, deep fried vegan twinkies became a reality in November during Deep Fryday. This opens up a world of deep-frying opportunities. I am thinking: rice krispy treats, chocolate chip cookies and Brussels sprouts.
December. In 2010 I veganized some classic tasty treats: tiramisu and creme brulee. Both tries were successful checks off my veganization list. For 2011 I hope to make a satisfying vegan version of the Scooter Pie, my absolute favorite kid snack. But back to the creme brulee for this December milestone, although I got the process down for creating this dessert [water bath and butane torch] I’d like to experiment with a more yummy custard. But c’mon the welded caramel crackling sizzle of sugar pushes this dessert into the 2010 Year In Food.
Besides a memorable and fancy-pants meal at Blossum, care of The Electrician, I received a sweet and moist chocolate chip cake from my main gals, CandyPenny and Artsparrow. The picture (below) looks quite a mess as my unsteady hand had only the light from the Yankees-Rangers game on the screen to utilize. It was delicious!
And after too many cocktails and emotional rollercoasters, the evening made a trip to Bone Shakers ideal. I was treated to a SAG, their amazing “egg”, “sausage” and “cheese” breakfast sandwich. I love this sandwich.
One final birthday event: the family! I made a batch of chocolate cupcakes with vanilla “buttercream” for the occasion. They went over quite well, as did the hours-long game of Apples-to-Apples. Phew, it’s been a very long few days. I want to hibernate for awhile. Or at least 7 hours or so. A big thank you to all those who made me feel special for my birthday.
I’ve been working on my layer of blubber, getting myself ready. Inadvertently. Here’s what’s anchoring me in for a long winter:
Roasted zucchini sandwich with way too big a bun X’s 5 days a week.
Huge tofu dosa from House of Dosas in Hicksville, Long Island. 
Vegan cheese whiz. What the heck am I going to do with all this stuff? 
The Tofu Benny at Bone Shakers. ::Sigh::
When boy watches Giants game, girl makes chunky chocolate chip cookies. This can’t happen every Sunday.
Thanks to SuperVegan‘s post about a brand new all-vegan bakery to open its doors to my neighborhood’s streets come July, I am pleased as pie today! I am super-excited about the arrival of Champ’s Family Bakery for many reasons. In no particular order:
1) Though I’ve traveled across the country for vegan bakeries, I much prefer they be in Brooklyn just a short walk away. I also try to steer clear of Manhattan, the outer-borough.
2) The Boneshakers people are involved. This means it is going to be good. Very, very good.
3) Williamsburg is not as vegan friendly as I feel it should be. There is a real lack of exclusively-vegan eateries and we’ve never-ever had a satisfying place for local-made decadent baked goods. No, never.
4) It seems variety will be extensive, including sweets, pastries, cookies, custom cakes, donuts, cupcakes and *maybe* my fantasical nostalgic “please veganize” requests… moon-pies, Charleston Chew-like confections, Swiss rolls, never-ending Gobstoppers, snozzberry-flavored edible wall paper, etc.
Ok, I get carried away. I just hope-hope that Champ’s Family Bakery is a definite. Lest we remember “Cakewalk“, which was rumored to be opening in Bushwick in 2008 but faded out like the way of Oran “Juice” Jones. Rest assured I will be reporting on Champ’s Family Bakery as soon as humanly possible, barring my summer vegan-eats road trip. Fingers are crossed.
I am going to try to milk the graduation thing much longer than today. Yeah, why the heck not? I’ll have it preemptively excuse my raucous behavior come Friday, when the official celebratory drinks are set, and use it to collect long complimentary comment strands on Facebook. I’ll accumulate kid-hugs from my class who are in the midst of their own educational cusp. And of course, graciously accept offers of my favorite foods from my Electrician, who understands that, to me, a dish is worth 1,000 words.
So post-ceremony, we picked up my favorite: Bone Shakers. Dressed like FBI agents, we were a bit out of place in the gritty bike cafe inhabited by the wireless huh-employed. I opted for the Rebel Cruiser, which I had never tried because the description reminded me of ‘Snice’s old barbecue seitan wrap which was dry and not too tasty. But, of course, Bone Shakers’s barbecue sauce-drenched tender seitan was amazing and the internal slaw, spot-on. The bread was a bit crispy but it add to the texture combination. Bone Shakers, you can do no wrong. Seriously.
Something in the baked goods display case caught my eye and was quickly added to the order. It was described as a creme brulee torte topped with chocolate ganache and marshmallows (the great Chicago SoyDairy‘s Dandies, no doubt). It was simply fabulous, tasting like a cross between a scooter-pie (an old non-vegan favorite of my childhood, a.k.a. moon pie) and a rich chocolate truffle. Not at all overly-sweet with a substantive and buoyant bite. Dandies were a perfect addition. Though perfect for sharing, I’ll have to share with myself later… maybe heating it up just a smidgen to blend all the yummy textures further. Here’s to being spoiled sweet.
See this food? I have eaten it and it has helped me to move from here to there to have me here typing this to you. See it? I put it in my mouth and chewed. Yeah, so what but: Have you ever paid attention to this process? Followed a bite from one side of your tongue to the other? Tasting texture. Mastication. This is no dirty word. Food touches our insides and all over, giving energy all about its path, starting first at our mouth. What else in the world to we ingest? Like fully and in abundance? Allowing it in. Allowing it everywhere. How is this not a big deal?
Tempeh roll at Dragonfly.
Sweet & sour seitan lunch special @ Em.
The Sag @ Bone Shakers.
All I could eat at Outback Steakhouse, on 5th grade class trip to DC.
Roasted veg sandwich @ the International Spy Museum in DC.
A big ass salad in the cafeteria of the Capitol Building in DC.
Pad Thai lunch special with summer roll and veggie dumpling @ Pad Thai.
For the past two years I have made yearbooks to celebrate the turning of time’s speedometer. Fiddling with Blurb‘s bookmaking software in December, I was forced to meditate on just how much I could fill in a week, a month, a year. In 2009, the me in January was lifetimes away from who I became 11 short months later. As I look through 2010′s pictures, thus far, I will have significantly less material in which to draw wisdom from. My pictures are mostly of food. Perhaps the path of the who and the what and the where behind their macro-views will reveal a bit of discovery; but for now, let’s just look at the food.
I tried VeganDad‘s southern-style BBQ tofu sandwich. It didn’t work out all that great as I am often a bit too scatterbrain to handle multi-tasking in cooking. (This is why I prefer the precision and singular flow of baking.) 
Bone Shakers. I kinda go nuts about this place. I’ve said it at least twenty times before (Okay, 10 times) and I’ll say it again: I love Bone Shakers. Where else can you get a vegan deli “egg” sandwich with cheese and sausage for like $5? Wrapped in waxed paper on a soft roll, it sits on your lap patiently on the BQE merge to the LIE. 
Amy’s. You know her; you kinda dig her line of frozen foods, especially if you’re in a bind. They’re everywhere! Amy makes the best frozen vegan burger, in my humble opinion. And it’s easy to dress ‘em up with fresh accompaniments so it seems a little less like a frozen endeavor.
From Amy’s to Olga’s on Smith. Little did I know there was a nice Kosher sandwich shop on Smith street mere blocks from my job. When a colleague told me she had stumbled into the place and heard it was vegan, I was a bit skeptical. I know about every vegan place in New York City, thank you very much! But it was true. The Kosher sandwich shop has a section of vegan panini and I plan to try each one. Starting with the hearts of palm panini (below)… very yum.
In my Sunday pantry raid, I had to seriously put some currants into action. I threw together some red lentils, chick peas, currants and golden raisins with a heavy douse of tamarind concentrate for a Middle-eastern medley of waste-not. Up next, how to use three tubs of tofu by their expiration date.
A week and a half out of the classroom and I was a bit irked I had nothing to show for it in the refrigerator. Realizing the end of my free time was near I rose at the crack of dawn to beat the day mayors to the supermarket and maneuver my double-decker cart gracefully through empty aisles. Food shopping! I mapped out my needs and supplied myself with the goods for a loaf of bread, a sandwich stuffer and a sweet: three necessities for the week.
I decided on a whole wheat flax bread, using this recipe. Here is the pile of yeast within a blend of bread flour, whole wheat flour and vital wheat gluten, among other more viscous ingredients underneath. (Ok, I just wanted to say “viscous”.) Let’s also admire the ground flax seeds invading the yeast crater. I ground these up although the recipe was calling for whole flax seeds. I wanted to lessen the probability said seeds would hide under my lip, like they sometimes like to, only to cause embarrassment later. Does this happen to you? I eat a lot of flax.
I also made a batch of eggless “egg” salad for the week! I got the recipe from the first vegan cookbook I ever bought many moons ago: Easy Vegan Cooking. The book, by British author Leah Leneman, is out-of-print here in the states. I rarely use it. But with time enough to flip through a book languidly before bed, I found plenty recipes I’d like to tackle. Many of the adapted traditional British dishes strike me as a bit odd but worthy of experimentation, like creamy banana risotto, the Toad in the Hole (see Bone Shaker’s version here) and potato scones. The egg salad below was a super-easy concoction. I added some freshly ground black salt for some enhanced sulphuric eggyness and a boat-ton of one of my favorite garnishes–green onion.
Next up, the sweet for the week. Having most of what I needed for Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar‘s Cowboy cookies, besides the nuts and chocolate chips, I created my own nut-free version with chocolate bottoms. Since I didn’t flatten out my golf-sized dough balls, they baked a bit macaroon-shaped. With a mix of light, dark and granulated sugars, the cookies came out sublime. Sweet craving preemptively satisfied? Check.
And here is the best loaf of bread I have made thus far. I know, I know. I keep saying that! But cutting a warm slice of this soft and supple bread and smearing it with Earth Balance and my strawberry-mango jam, I was in heaven. Oh, the simple pleasures in life! Now if only I had a bread-slicing machine. I wouldn’t have to suffer through messily uneven jagged cuts that jeopardize the integrity of a sandwich… deliciously.
I have been ingesting far more calories than I need these days, in light of my sedentary lifestyle. Weekends of horrendous weather don’t help either. Catching up…
I headed to the East Village’s cramped lil’ Kosher counter staple, B&H Vegetarian Restaurant, after the person who answered the phone earlier told me their veggie burger was vegan. A bit obsessed with my veggie burger field reporting, I was quite disappointed to learn it contained eggs from the informed friendly counter guy who then pointed out the only vegan option in the place, besides soup. Ok, the vegetable soup is below. But wait, back to the counter guy. The next best thing to getting a vegan meal is finding a waiter who knows what’s vegan, declaratively, who saves you an upset stomach. That’s my silver lining. 
So the soup was okay, even though I couldn’t enjoy any bread dipping like my friend across from me did with her stack of soft challah. My entree was just eh. It was veggie chili over brown rice, something I could have made ten times better at home. But B&H isn’t fine dining! And had it not have been for my hope for thorough burger reporting, I wouldn’t have gone in, like I hadn’t during the 17+ years prior of perusing the East Village’s eateries. The vegans and the Kosher folk have some common ground when it comes to food. Especially in the cream cheese department, thank you very much New York City bagel joints. But it would be against spiritual law to mix meat up with all B&H’s dairy however, it has a ton of poultry (egg).
I have sung grand praises of Bone Shakers before. Okay, like a million times before… but I can’t stop. Bone Shakers, In the words of David Cassidy, in fact, while he was still with the Partridge Family – I think I love you. You’re my kind of eatery. And now you have cheddar and sage biscuits?! I… uh.. made cheddar biscuits too (look here). Don’t we have a lot in common?
And here is their delicious French Toast. They do what they do perfectly. Quality from stern to bow. Fresh, thick crusty bread that’s innards are soft and “eggy”, subtle cinnamon, real maple syrup, EB, topped with fresh fruit: an ample portion at a good price served with a smile by gals with beautiful forearm tattoos. My only suggestion starts with a “B” and ends with an “A”. Not Beatlemania but banana!
I did make some things on my own too. Finally perfecting an olive-infused French bread with a mix of whole wheat, dark rye and bread flours, my bread machine did me good. He fizzled and popped; he rattled and knocked; finally he just stopped. I sliced my 2 lb loaf and dipped it in some olive oil and fine fig balsamic vinegar . Ah, I was transported from Olive street to a balcony off the Mediterranean somewhere. 
Having a ton of ripe bananas to use, CandyPenny and I whipped up some of my intestine-scraper muffins with the remains of my neglected pantry. Said bananas, pecans from when I intended to make molasses-pecan rolls, frozen black cherries from when I made the pineapple upside-down cake, golden raisins from when I made the golden raisin semolina bread, and sliced almonds back from when I made my Christmas cookies. If only I could have added the arugula.
Vegan Reporting By Location
