KimmyKokonut

Banana Zucchini Bread

Welcome to the best of both worlds. My childhood banana bread meets the zucchini bread and they live happily ever after. I love this bread because it’s sweet, dense and moist.  It doesn’t fall apart if you want to slather on the jam or butter.  And it’s lower fat and has lovely omega’s (from flax) to boot. The thing that I love about “tea breads” is that it tastes like dessert but I was allowed to have it for breakfast. Aptly named a tea bread, it is also acceptable for the British custom of tea time. And even though it has plenty of sugar, there are vegetables involved so don’t be scared. Bananas are high in B6 and magnesium. Bananas and zucchini both contain potassium, Vitamin C and obviously are full of fiber. The humble zucchini also has plenty of Vitamin A. Luckily, they both store well and where I live, zucchini can grow like a weed.

When I have a huge crop of zucchini in the garden, I grate it, measure it out and put them in labeled ziplock bags so that I don’t burn out on zucchini bread all at once. I tend to get too many bananas at once and instead of letting them go bad and cry about it, I freeze those too. To freeze bananas, I peel them and put them on a cookie sheet and freeze them for about an hour. (this step is so that if they are overly ripe, they don’t freeze together and become a big mass) Then I transfer them to ziplocks and store them in the freezer. I love freezers and their ability to happily handle the fact that I cook for 6 in a family of 2. Whenever I make dinner, I freeze half of it for the eventual lazy day when I want home cooked food but don’t want to wait or go out to eat. Anyways, I’m sure you are ready for the recipe so here it is! Oh, and if you are interested, one of my grandmas goes by the name Keane, so she gets a bread named after her.

Warm with melted Earth Balance

Nana Keane (‘Nana ‘Chini) Bread
Yield: 1 9×5 loaf pan, about 6 servings if you want to share

Enjoy my revamped vegan bread for breakfast, dessert or any old time. My favorite way to eat this bread is warmed and smothered in cream cheese.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup oil/applesauce (I do 50:50 but feel free to play with the ratio)
• 1 cup evaporated cane juice (sugar)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 Tbs ground flax seed
• 3 fl oz water (1/4 cup + 2 Tbl)
• 1 1/2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 2/3 cup)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F and lightly grease a loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, mix the oil, applesauce, sugars, flax and water.
3. Add the bananas and vanilla and mix well.
4. Fold in the zucchini and set aside.
5. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.  I usually just sift the baking powder and soda and mix it all together with a fork or whisk.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix it until most of the flour is incorporated and no large lumps remain.
7. Fold in the nuts if using and pour immediately into your greased pan and put in the oven.
8. Bake for 60-75 minutes, or until a knife/toothpick inserted comes out clean.

It will firm up if you let it cool for a bit but if you can’t wait, don’t listen to me.  This bread keeps for 3 days on the counter, a week in the fridge and forever in the freezer.  If you freeze it, cool it completely then wrap in plastic wrap and then wrap it in foil.  Defrost in the fridge overnight.  I try to keep a loaf in the freezer at all times in case there are unexpected weekend guests.

V’Con Soup of Awesomeness

I have been on a soup kick lately and have been trying some new recipes out of cookbooks. The most exciting soup I made in December was hands-down the Aduki Acorn squash soup with shiitake mushrooms. It was a party on my palate! I loved the combination of Asian flavors and was worried it would be too much going on in the bowl to enjoy the soup but it was the opposite. Every bite slurp revealed a hidden flavor or texture. I’ve only had aduki beans in overly sweet Chinese desserts, so it was a nice change to have it in a savory soup. And squash, oh, nothing says winter and comfort like tons of squash!

Other soups I’ve tried recently: Curried Split Pea Soup from VWAV and Chickpea Noodle Soup from V’Con. I grew up hating split pea soup. I’m not really sure why, if it was the smell or the texture. My mother loves it and for her I thought I’d try this fun variation using more Indian flavors. I still don’t love it. I’ll stick to fresh peas from the garden and the split peas can stay in my mom’s cupboard. The noodle soup was good; I ended up using udon noodles instead of soba noodles since I’m not wild about soba. It could be that I had a roommate once upon a time who ate plain soba almost every day. That wasn’t the problem. He’d eat it out of the pot, my pot, and not finish it nor wash said pot. But I don’t live with people like that anymore. Hence, I don’t seek out the soba. I do adore udon noodles and think they are a perfect soup or anytime noodle. I think when I made that soup I was expecting Lipton’s chicken noodle soup and it wasn’t Lipton’s childhood soup of my memory. That’s what I get for having food memories affect my feelings towards a recipe. I think without the expectations or childhood hangups, both soups were great. I’m just picky and I like crazy combinations of flavors like the aduki soup. Yum!

Currently pleasing my palate

I’d like to officially welcome the new year and bring these 2 beers into 2009 with me. Having a father-in-law who enjoys brewing and all things beer related, I have been privileged this holiday season to try many new kinds of beer. My current two favorites are pictured and I’d like to take a moment out of everyone’s holidays for a little appreciation.

Red Seal Ale is brewed out of North Coast Brewing Company in California. Not only is the seal cute, but the beer is tasty. I don’t know how to describe it, but the aromatics are a bit floral and it has a nice crisp hoppiness without being overly hoppy (42 IBU’s). A beer snob I know phoo-phooed this beer saying it was unbalanced and watery but I don’t care. It’s really tasty and has a nice clean finish. It’s technically an American Amber Ale. I find my appreciation for hops continues to grow and grow and what I thought was too hoppy years ago is now just right.

To prove my point, take the West Coast IPA brewed by Green Flash in Vista, CA. It’s extremely hoppy (95 IBU), from your first sniff to the finish. It’s intense and I love it. I think it may be too hoppy for most people, maybe on the grassy herbal realm, but I think it’s a great beer that shows off the wide variety of hops used: Simcoe, Cascade, Columbus, and Centennial. Since most hops are grown in Washington and Oregon, I plan to see how they do on my fence this spring. They are quite pretty vines, but I need to find a variety that doesn’t grow like Jack’s beanstalk!

Who’s ready for a sugar crash?

I was invited to a vegan cookie exchange party recently and it was wonderful. The basic concept is that everyone shows up with a plate of cookies and you hang out and eat a bunch then go home with a variety pack to snack on for the rest of the week. Our generous hostess, veganknitting, made some yummy mac & cheese to share, which was nice since all I ate was sugar for dinner. In a clockwise direction, we have: Pfeffernüsse (with the powdered sugar on top), Green Tea Mint, Cinnamon, Chocolate Mint, Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bees, and Coffee Shortbread. They were all tasty and it was a fun night. The cookies I contributed were the pfeffernüsse and Coffee Shortbread. I used the recipes from My Sweet Vegan. The Pfeffernuesse cookies were awesome and not too anise-y. The shortbread was okay, I think it would be tastier if I rolled it thicker. Thanks for hosting, veganknitting! I love the holidays and all the treats, but it’s difficult eating cookies everyday…my body isn’t used to this much sugar!

So far I have heard many answers to the riddle. My coworkers have labelled it as a Trumpet Royale mushroom, which it sort of looks like except the cap is black and more domish with a thicker stem. I contacted a mycologist expert who tells me it is Lyophyllum decastes or “fried chicken mushroom,” which grows in packed gravel in clumps along roadsides. Hopefully not full of oil spills and car exhaust. But somehow I don’t think my mystery mushroom fills all the descriptors for this one either. My amateur identification for this mushroom is a Brown Beech Mushroom. A lot of photos show the cap to look sort of speckled, which my mushrooms weren’t, but on a looks for looks basis, I think I’m closest. On a taxonomy level, someone else is right. I wish I had better news but I have already eaten the evidence and survived. For now, I’ll believe it to be the Trumpet Royale, since that’s the sign on it at my grocery store.

Fried Rice with Maitake, Peas and baked tofu

Fried rice is my go-to meal if I’ve got a leftover rice.  It’s so easy and quick and if you always have a stash of peas in your freezer, you are halfway there.  I like this dish because it’s quick and really versatile.  Plus, who doesn’t like fried rice?  I steam whatever veggies I have and I’m ready to eat within 10 minutes.  So next time you make rice, make extra for that upcoming evening you work late or would rather not cook for 2 hours.

KimmyFriedRice

Yield:  depends on your proportions of everything, usually 4 servings.  Sorry the amounts aren’t exact, I make it different every time and you’ll probably have a different palate than I do.

Ingredients

• canola/vegetable/peanut oil (NOT olive oil, it can’t handle the heat)
• Veggies of choice (frozen peas, diced carrots, snow peas, broccoli, bok choy)
• Tofu/tempeh/seitan
• minced garlic to taste (2 cloves should do it)
• peeled, minced ginger (about 1 tsp)
• Leftover cooked rice (about 3 cups; I use short-grain brown)
• soy sauce or tamari (about 1 Tbl)
• sesame oil (about 1 tsp)
• toasted sesame seeds (garnish)
• thinly sliced scallions (3 Tbl)

Method

1. Steam fresh vegetables in a steamer until al dente or just tender.  Set aside.
2. Heat some oil (1-2 Tbl) in a skillet and saute your protein of choice until it is nice and crispy (I like to fry tofu cubes, but it’s not the healthiest option out there).  Using a slotted spoon, remove it and set aside on paper towels.
3. Now comes the quick part: heat about 1 Tbl of oil in a large saute pan on medium-high heat and add garlic and ginger and saute for about 30 seconds or until the garlic starts to color.
4. Toss in all the cold rice and stir with a wooden spoon to break up any large clumps.  Your rice may stick, that’s okay, it will add a little crunch and make it that much better.  Continue stirring the rice for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat, making sure it’s all coated with the oil.
5. Add the frozen peas and cook for about a minute to defrost them.
6. Add the remaining veggies and protein and cook long enough to heat them back up.
7. Turn off the heat and add soy sauce and sesame oil.  Stir to combine and serve with a garnish of sesame seeds and scallions.  This makes excellent leftovers.

I notice that I don’t eat very many sandwiches as an adult.  Maybe because my mom isn’t handing them to me in a paper sack to take to school.  They are the ideal lazy food: bread and filling.  I don’ t even need to cut crusts or cut it in half to enjoy it.  So I’m not sure why I don’t make and eat sammies more often than the occasional lunch to pack for a day hike, but I know that I enjoy the endless possibilities of what you can spread between two slices of bread.

Chikn Salad Sammie with Buckwheat Sprouts

This past summer, I got to try some of Joanna’s revolutionary seitan chicken recipe at a vegan potluck.  She turned it into a chicken salad and I realized it’s been too long since I’ve had anything similar to a chicken salad.  I followed her recipe to make her seitan that calls for boiling (gasp!) seitan.  My first attempts at making seitan were using the boiling method and I usually ended up with a pile of squishy brainy like mush or a dense rubber ball.  I’ve found that flavoring the boiling water doesn’t infuse too much flavor into the seitan, so I am thankful for vital wheat gluten.  Making seitan the shortcut way with vwg is great because you can mix in herbs, spices and other flavors that make the seitan so much more than a piece of rubber (although rubbery foods do have their place).  My drama with boiling seitan is that it ends up reaching an explosive, rolling boil instead of a gentle simmer.  I have found that steaming it is my ideal method and after that is braising in the oven.  I figured I would behave and follow Joanna’s recipe, at least for the first time.

I had a hard time getting the pieces thin enough, but the flavor (and aroma) were very chickeny.  It ripped apart pretty well and I froze half of the batch for another time.  I put some in a stir fry and it held up and the rest made it into a basic chicken salad: nayonaise, apple cider vinegar, celery seed, salt & pepper, chopped carrots and celery.

I threw on some of my latest sprout sensation, buckwheat sprouts.  I was excited to find these in the bulk section of Bob’s Red Mill and gave them a few hours to soak before beginning the sprouting process.  They sprouted in about 3 days and the sprout itself has a pleasant flavor and a nice crunch.  The seed covering was a little papery and rough, but that’s just more good ole fiber.  I guess you could rinse it away if it’s too much.

Tempeh with Berry BBQ, Quinoa and Broccoli

I love tempeh.  I’ve loved it from the beginning with it’s mushroomy earthy taste and my intimate moments learning how to cultivate the bacteria and make it from scratch.  I love that it’s fermented and a source of B12.  I usually just saute it up and add it to stir-fries or crumble it into sauces, so I am usually hesitant to follow recipes for anything elaborate with tempeh.  Tofu needs the flavor assistance, I try to let the tempeh be.  My recent cookbook fav is Eat, Drink and Be Vegan.  Her recipes are easy, simple ingredients but lots of great taste.  It’s been a great resource since I work so much and don’t really have the time to cook for hours at a time.

Her method of coating the tempeh is cornstarch is a familiar (it makes awesome fried tofu with a crispy outside and soft inside).  It was quick to make and versatile.  You can throw it on top of salads or pasta dishes or really whatever needs a protein boost.  I went really simple, on top of quinoa with steamed broccoli and smothered it in a berry BBQ sauce.  It’s basically how I ate in college, fancified.

Atop a bread bowled soup

I haven’t foraged maitake (ram’s head/sheep’s head/hen of the woods) (Grifola Frondosa) yet, but it would be a good find.  The genus, Grifola, refers to the griffin a lion body/eagle headed creature, making this mushroom the king of the land and air.  They are traditionally a symbol of God and guardian of treasures…quite a bit of pressure for a fungi.  I don’t know if they grow in the Pacific Northwest, but I do know that I love these mushrooms.  They are meaty and chewy but not too chewy.  They hold up well in a lot of applications and are just plain cute.  I like that they freeze really well from the raw state (no prep necessary), making my mushroom cravings easy to satisfy if I’m home and hungry.  Maitake are native to the Northeast and Japan (and supermarkets worldwide), but you can grow your own in your backyard using “mushroom plugs.”  Perhaps this is my next project, foraging in my pj’s.

Maitake Kale Saute

Maitake grow in the same spot year after year, usually at the base of oak trees.  Maitake is Japanese for “dancing mushroom,” referring to the forager’s excitement since a single cluster can grow up to 50 pounds or more.  I can’t even visualize that because this mushroom is not dense like portabellas can be.  One of the most exciting things that I’ve learned about this mushroom is that it’s an adaptogen, meaning that it balances out the body and increases the body’s resistance to anxiety, fatigue and stress.  It sounds like magic but adaptogens are real and amazing.  I took Ashwagandha the month before my wedding and I didn’t get overwhelmed with stress or anxiety.  I did have trouble falling asleep, though I needed less sleep.

Maitake Wonton Soup

But I digress.  Maitakes are yummy and I ate them recently in a wonton soup that rocked.  I don’t have a set recipe for this, so bear with the chatty directions.  I sauteed the maitake with a lot of garlic and a mixture of earth balance and olive oil.  Once the mushrooms started to release their juices, I added some chopped kale and sauteed that until it wilted and most of the liquid evaporated.  I kept it simple with soy sauce and black pepper for seasonings.  Then I added some sauteed mystery mushrooms to the broth for more mushroomy goodness.  I used VeganYumYum’s wonton soup broth because it’s easy and tastes great.  I simmered the wontons for about 3 minutes in a separate pot of boiling salted water and then added them to the soup.  Wonton wrappers can be deceptive since a lot of brands have eggs in the ingredients.  Read your labels, folks!  It was a satisfying lighter fall soup and I almost didn’t have any leftovers.

Cream of Chanterelles

I may be at the end of the mofo challenge, but I hope I’m not at the end of chanterelle season. I’ve been welcoming fall by making a lot of soup lately. I found a chanterelle soup recipe online by the mycological society and have been wanting to give it a try. It takes a lot of time, so I’m glad my chanterelles can survive the fridge for a week (in a paper bag with a damp bar towel tucking them in). The soup requires me to make a mushroom stock that’s pretty rich. It broke my heart to strain out the mushrooms after the stock making, they are so precious to me. So step one took about an hour. Then following the recipe, it was at least another hour before the soup was ready. I ended up making the stock one day and the soup a few days later and it worked out fine. I used earth balance instead of butter in the recipe and soy milk instead of the cream.

The soup came out earthy and rich. I ended up using a little more flour in the roux and didn’t puree the soup. I think it could use more sauteed chanterelles in the soup and probably a little more soy milk (or soy creamer). I think cashew milk would be really tasty in it. I love chanterelles in every way that I have tried them so far. I’m sure you could use this recipe and use any kind of mushroom you have available.