Three years ago today, Kris and I were leaving the Amazon city of Iquitos and traveling to Cusco, Peru.  We were covered in mosquito bites and filled with one of the most amazing landscapes we have ever seen – a forest pulsing with life.

We feasted on a huge dinner at a restaurant in Iquitos – it was a goodbye dinner for the small eco-tour group that we traveled with, and I have wonderful memories of my time there…

With the thoughts of Peru in our heads (and musings about a return trip to the Amazon…), and the help of the new cookbook, Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers (full review to come – promise!), Kris and I put together a big meal inspired by our time in Peru.

Lime Chile Breaded Seitan with Okra and Swiss Chard over Brown Rice + Tomato Chile Pineapple Salsa and Fried Plantains

It was a good way to use garden veggies (okra, chard, peppers, tomatoes) and to play around with new things like plantains (which are hard to get right… but this second batch turned out well, thank goodness) and to try out the new recipe book.Food and the associated senses can definitely “take you back” to a place – a time that you remember fondly.

Drinks / food with fellow travelers in Cusco, Peru

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I’d love to hear about your experiences with travel and food.  Have you had a unique culinary experience while you traveled?

As a child, I once told a “fib” to my mom about ice cream… made up this whole story about how it wasn’t me who polished off the container – and of course, my mother knew it was me, because I love ice cream.  So, if that gives you any indication about ice cream history in my life…

For years, I stayed a vegetarian for 2 reasons:  ice cream and cheese… I didn’t want to cut those items out of my diet because I loved them too much.  However, when I finally “made the switch” to a full-fledged vegan diet in 2008, my ethics trumped my desire (for once!) and I cut dairy and eggs out.  There wasn’t even time for the ice cream-shaped hole to form in my heart; manufacturers were already producing dairy and egg-free desserts.  In recent years, this market has taken off – so clearly I am not the only one looking for quality vegan options.

With the help of two books - Veganomicon and The Vegan Scoop - I realized that I could take ice cream making into my OWN hands…

~Strawberry with Dark Chocolate shavings~

Armed with my two guides, I borrowed my mom’s ice cream maker – the Cuisinart Automatic Ice-Cream Maker.  This counter-top model is much easier to use than the wooden barrels and hand cranks and rock salt ones that I remember from summertime family reunions (although they were fun to hand crank for a while).  Simply mix up the ingredients (more on that in a bit…) and pour it into the pre-frozen cylinder.  It sits on this rotating base and slowly mixes up the ice cream.  It takes about 25 minutes start to finish.  So great that I am planning to buy my own after “test-driving” mom’s for the last few weeks.

As long as the chemistry of ingredients is right, you can make almost any ice cream flavor you dream up.  I tried a recipe from The Vegan Scoop and was disappointed when it did not turn out right – the base never “took” and while it was still good, it was more of an cold smoothie than an ice cream. This could be the result of a number of factors: this book instructs you to book the ingredients, let them cool, and then put them in the ice cream maker – so there are more variables. Perhaps I didn’t let the items cool long enough? or maybe the ingredients were not a good match for my appliance? The biggest plus of this book is the variety of ice cream flavors – it has over 100 flavors from fruit sorbets to decadent chocolate mixes, also includes novelty flavors like green tea and red bean … for that reason, I use it more for flavor inspiration than I do for following the recipes. I have had much more luck with the base written up in Veganomicon. It has 5 ingredients and doesn’t require cook/cool time. I pour the ingredients into my blender (VitaMix) and then pour them into the maker. Easy as … ice cream. This recipe cuts the time down and you don’t have to think about temperature control.

The recipe does use some soy products, but I am experimenting on how to eliminate them – with so many non-soy vegan ice creams on the market, I know there must be some way to get that consistency without it.  I am not sensitive to soy, but I know that it is an allergen to many people, and I like to find alternatives to it whenever I can.  The common substitution of almond milk in place of the soy milk works well, and one could also use more coconut milk than the recipe calls for a creamier texture.  The recipe also includes sugar and I haven’t made any substitutions there;  I am using cane sugar over refined sugar, but I have not tried using syrups or agave – perhaps another experiment is in order!

Here’s the Veganomicon base recipe ~ could be plain vanilla ice cream, or the base to  “dress it up” in different ways:

1/2 c coconut cream (the cream that forms at the top of coconut milk cans)

1 c soy milk (or almond, hazelnut, possibly rice, although I haven’t tried that)

3/4 c sugar

6 oz silken tofu

1 T vanilla extract

Puree all ingredients in blender or food processor and add to ice cream maker.  Yield is 1.5 pints of ice cream.

Following this recipe, I have made several variations – the strawberry chocolate above, strawberry blueberry sorbet, hazelnut, mint chocolate, and most recently, peanut butter.  I am interested in trying some others before I have to give it back… rum raisin is sounding good to me…

(*ahem* and don’t delude yourself… just because it’s vegan doesn’t necessarily mean that this is a 0 calorie/low fat health food.  I believe it is healthier than store-bought dairy ice cream any day – only 5 ingredients over the 20 or 30 unnatural additions you see in stores! – and the fact that it does not have milk or eggs makes it healthier – in my eyes – than the alternative.)

Larriland Farm days are back!  And this time, we went to the wonderful pick-your-own farm with the nieces.  It was all about the strawberries~

About 90 pounds of strawberries!  We had three rows (about 20 feet long) that were assigned to us – a group of 6.  They say it is the best picking that they have had in recent memory – I guess Snowmageddon was good for something!  Each plant had about 15 strawberries each, and they were like rubies under the dark green leaves.  So beautiful.

Since we had a clear plan for our berries, Kris and I took the most of them.  We split it 60/30.  It was an afternoon of washing, hulling, and freezer preparation.   The ripest and most delicate berries were taken out, cleaned and then sent through the juicer.  The juice is then frozen in popsicle holders and consolidated into plastic baggies in the freezer.  These little juice pops are used throughout the year for punches and sangria.  The majority of the berries were frozen whole – laid out on wax paper in the freezer shelf (so that they wouldn’t freeze together in one giant block after washing) and then consolidated into baggies.

…and with the others… we made some jam

My sister Sarah was in town for the long weekend, and she expressed an interest in learning how to can.  I picked up some jelly jars and pectin beforehand, so once she made it over, we were ready to go.

We made two batches of jam – the first was strawberry lime jam.  For this one, I used the Ball No-Sugar-Needed Pectin.  It called for apple or white grape juice for sweetener, but also gave instructions for adding some sugar.  Since I did not have the juice on hand, I did in fact add a bit of sugar to the recipe ~4 cups according to the recipe.  I found the recipe and adaptation on Ravelry’s Canny Crafters group page.  The original recipe was adapted from this one - just subbing lime juice and zest for the lemon.

The second batch used the same recipe as a guide, but a different flavor.  This was strawberry vanilla jam using Pomona’s Universal Pectin.  I saw several recipes for vanilla varieties and nearly all of them used a vanilla bean – but since I didn’t have one, I subbed 2 Tablespoons of vanilla extract.  I used the guidelines for sugars from Pomona’s box.  We had approximately 10 cups of strawberries, and I used a mixture of cane sugar and agave nectar for the batch.  And, it came out perfectly!  Such a nice gel and quite yummy too!

13 jars in all – 8 of vanilla and 5 of lime.  It was a great day.  Sarah, Kris and I had a lot of fun doing it all!  Now we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor over the whole year.  Planning to make more preserves, jellies, and canned goods this year – it’s fun to do!

Before any trip, I do a lot of research to find vegan restaurants and markets in my destination city.  On our trip to California a few months back, we tried a menagerie of delicious vegan cuisines throughout southern California.  One of the stand out meals for us was at an Asian restaurant in the the Los Angeles (Alhambra) area called Loving Hut (heh, yeah, it’s a funny name).  It’s an odd atmosphere, but they have a robust menu of all sorts of delights.  Many of the vegan foods I tried in CA were soy-heavy – and I tend not to eat a lot of soy in my regular diet – but it was different than the norm.  We got a vegan Thai Hot Pot: essentially a huge bowl of wonderfully flavorful broth and an equally huge plate of fresh raw vegetables and mushrooms to add to said broth.   You get a bowl of noodles and you ladle the broth onto the noodles – voila!  delicious and easy.

 The version in California had some “soy shrimp” in it … I am not a huge imitation meat fan, but it was interesting to try all the same.  The meal was scrumptious and Kris and I were completely satiated.

…FAST FORWARD…

This dang hot pot is *still* on my mind.  I want to try to recreate that amazing taste.  So, I did some searching and found this recipe on the internet.  I could tell that this was not going to be exactly it, so I basically used it as a framework and added my own little perks.

 Soba noodles – wrapper tag states: “Say NO to GMOs”

Cabbage, scallions, bok choy – some of the choice greens for my version!

Sauteed the cabbage, straw mushrooms, and bok choy stems with sesame oil and crushed red pepper flakes

Added carrots, tofu, chunked water chestnuts, and some mung bean sprouts, and poured the broth over the lightly cooked soba noodles.

While it was quite good, it wasn’t exactly the same blend and taste that we had in California – so I am going to give this one another try.  I wanted more spice – maybe some more rice vinegar or some miso paste? – and it was missing the lemongrass-y flavor that the other one had.  So, I need to “Thai” it up a bit more for next time!

It is definitely one of those fun meals that can be shared communily.  It was only Kris and I, so we didn’t pull out the fondue pot, but this would be a fun way to turn this meal into a course for a dinner party. 

For goodness sake, how did Christmas come to be a mere three weeks away?  I am in a bit of denial about that… but hey, I will use any excuse to do some kitchen experimentation   Christmas baking is one of my absolute favorite ways to “deck the halls”!  (well, it’s really the only way I do it anymore… don’t decorate anymore!)

Luckily, I have some delightful new vegan cookbooks to try out, including the oh-so-great Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. (Seriously ya’ll.  This book rocks my socks.  I daresay, more than its predecessor, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.)  It’s got it all – 100 recipes for cookies, brownies, bars (including breakfast bars) and everything else that makes you smile and comes in sweet bite-sized pieces.  Lots of photos and a huge variety of flavors too.  I have made 4 recipes from it already and want to make them all!

Care for an amazing minty + chocolate brownie?

It’s fudgy and delicious and you would never know it was vegan (of course, I *like* to know that it is vegan!) but you could sneak it in as a slightly healthier surprise on your holiday table or at that office party potluck…

It’s adapted from the Espresso Fudge Brownies (pg. 130):

• 3 oz semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
• 5 tablespoons nonhydrogenated margarine (I used Earth Balance sticks)

• 2/3 cup sugar (I used natural cane sugar)
• 1/3 cup nondairy milk (I used almond milk)

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1.5 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons Dutch cocoa powder
• pinch of salt

Line an 8×8″ square metal pan with aluminum foil (enough to turn over the side lips of the pan) Apply a non stick spray or grease with shortening. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the chocolate and margarine in a large glass mixing bowl. Microwave at 50% for 2 minutes until chocolate is soft enough to melt in with the margarine when stirred. Stir until smooth and add sugar and combine.

In a liquid measuring cup, vigorously whisk together the nondairy milk, cornstarch and vanilla and peppermint extracts until foamy. Stir this into chocolate mixture, using a spatula, until combined. Sift in flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt until moistened. A few lumps are okay, so do not overmix. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, getting as much as possible and smooth out evenly to the edges of the pan.  (I added some vegan chocolate chips to the top of mine, they melted into the batter but kept their shape.  Just an added touch for a chocolate-lover like myself!)

Bake for 22 to 24 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted into the center and comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs (no gooey batter!). Place the pan on a wire rack and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Makes 12 brownies.

Do you have a holiday baking ritual? I always enjoyed baking and decorating sugar cookies with the little green and red sprinkles and the silver balls, as well as the yummy fancy cookies like “buckeyes” and chocolate covered pretzels and nuts.

I’d love to hear what you have planned for your holiday sweets