Cookin' with Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Dandies Vegan Marshmallows!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

Cooking with friends is always fun, so when myself & small group of friends received an email asking if we'd like to cook together, I jumped at the chance. Of course, there was another reason to jump at the chance, the email came from a friend who you may also know, one Isa Chandra Moskowitz of the upcoming Vegan Brunch & a host of other vegan cookbooks.


After a last minute change of plans, the dinner ended up being moved to my house & the emails started flying, brainstorming for menu items. A mention of Matzoh Ball Soup & the proximity to Passover generated a menu & a trip to Rainbow Grocery was in order! We all know I love Rainbow, I think I created another Rainbow lover in Isa, as we easily spent plenty of time perusing the aisles, oohing & aahing over beautiful produce, gorgeous mushrooms, & a million types of dried berries. My stowaway & typical shopping partner Strummer also joined us & Isa also took a great photo of her when she was too happy to stay in her bag!

With oodles of ingredients in tow, we made the trek back to my house & the meal preparation began. Red Bell Peppers were roasted & peeled, then added to hummus flecked with Kalamata Olives & served up with Pita Chips. We roasted Root Vegetables & served them over Arugula with tangy Inca Berries mixed in. The Trumpet Mushrooms we spied earlier were brought home & sauteed to be served with grilled Red Endive with Balsamic Vinegar & Walnuts. Jordan & I had our first lesson in Matzoh with both a Cauliflower Leek Kugel & Matzoh Ball Soup being made.

With so many projects being tackled for dinner, we wanted to keep dessert low-key. A package of Dandies Vegan Marshmallows, the new confections from Chicago Soy Dairy, at our fingertips, we dreamt up "Jewish S'mores"! These tasty treats consisted of pieces of Matzoh dipped in Chocolate, topped with Dandies, drizzled with more dark Chocolate, then finished with coarse flakes of Sea Salt! Simple & amazingly delicious! Needless to say, it was a wonderful meal that came together easily considering how last minute everything was. Read about Isa's account of the night at the PPK blog!

As I mentioned, I managed to get my hands on some Dandies Vegan Marshmallows! I'm sure you've heard the hype about these little guys & believe it, they're downright delicious! Marshmallows were a major love of mine before going vegan, so when I tried these air-puffed little gems, I was thrilled with find they're incredibly similar to the marshmallows I remember! It took all my strength not to keep popping them in my mouth & once I roasted them, OH MY, I was a goner.

The first thing I tackled when the Dandies arrived was a small batch of classic Rice Krispies Treats. I used the basic recipe from Kellogg's, veganized, with bulk brown rice cereal from my co-op. They turned out exactly like I remembered them being; gooey, sweet, & delicious! I can imagine these being turned in to so many treats, butterscotch chip filled, chocolate ganache topped, or even a crust for a crazy layered confection! I ended up having to hide the 2nd bag from myself, so I would have enough to make another dessert for the right occasion!

My grandfather recently celebrated a birthday & as usual, I was the designated dessert maker! Remembering his love for Rocky Road, I decided to use the last of the Dandies & make a big batch of Rocky Road Brownies. I doubled my basic recipe & the end result was uber rich, fudgy brownies filled with Chocolate Chips, toasted Walnuts, & Marshmallows! I made sure to put small pieces of Dandies on top, only to find they puffed up high & made awesome gooey bubbles! To serve them, we decided to top them with Vanilla Bean ice cream & drizzle them with Chocolate sauce for an insanely decadent dessert! Seriously, I thought I was going to have to be rolled home & Ryan found his belly aching after he went back for seconds. Over all, Dandies rock my world & I hope all of you can get your hands on them soon!

Well, I'll off to Chicago! I should be back next week & ready to go with a report on vegan dining in Los Angeles. As usual, if you have places you think I should check out or want to meet up, get in touch! While I'm away, check out Veggie Thing, the new place for major vegan food porn by Citysearch! I'm a "Dictator" there along with many awesome friends & bloggers!

Chicago, the Sugar Shack; part two.

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

You would think by reading part one of my Chicago adventure, I might have exhausted all the vegan options in the Windy City, but I'm happy to say there were many more eating adventures, including dessert, of course!

Despite being full of cupcakes from both The Bleeding Heart Bakery & Sweet Cakes Bakery, Natalie & I were not done with our sweets tour! We had a rest after our rainy day at Renegade & then we were off to Blind Faith Cafe & Bakery in Evanston, home of "innovative vegetarian cuisine" & a large selection of vegan treats. I started with a wonderful Lemon Seitan dish, my first non-baked good of the day, & it really hit the spot. For dessert, I ordered an assortment of desserts for the table to split. Once again, they were refrigerated, so my order was placed in advance. We noshed on a tasty maple spice cake with cream cheese frosting, a firm, but tasty cappuccino brownie filled with walnuts, peanut butter chocolate cake with lovely frosting, & both a chocolate & a vanilla cupcake. The cakes were all on the dry side & the frostings on the cupcakes were far too sweet for me, but Blind Faith had a nice dessert assortment, many of the items were very tasty, & I would go there again.

The next day, Natalie & I set out to bake together. With two bitches who love to bake in one house, how could anything go wrong? Well, let me tell you, it can & it did. Not once, but TWICE. The great vegan cinnamon roll experiment = FAIL. The yeast never activated, yet we kept going & ended up with half baked lumps of dough, that I still tried to eat. Natalie documented our failure best & even includes the recipe. (Side note: It's a great recipe I have used with success!)

Post baking failure, I headed out in to the rain to meet up with Kelly of Vegan Cookies fame. Let me start by saying, she's young, motivated, & writing an awesome cookie book; make her Snickerdoodles now! We met up at Pick Me Up Cafe where I had a cup of chili to balance out the sugar intake & Kelly had vegan cheese fries. Photogenic? No. Tasty? Yes. After a bit of wandering around & a photoshoot by Kelly (she took the photo at top), we walked multiple miles in the rain back towards Renegade Craft Fair, where we shopped around a bit before she had to catch a train home.

For dinner, I headed over to Earwax Cafe, the spot with a not-so-appetizing name, but a nice vegan selection. I got a Jamaican Jerk Seitan salad & sadly, it was so spicy, it was hard to enjoy. Luckily, the most amazing milkshake ever was there to keep me happy! Freshly squeezed orange juice + Temptation ice cream = OMG, so good! Seriously, skip the other flavors (I almost went peanut butter, but it was hydrogenated) & get this! I still dream about it!

Monday was my final day in the windy city & I decided to check out Karyn's Cooked for my final meal. Let's just say, I should have listened to what others had to say. I ordered Thai skewers in peanut sauce & a trio of sides which included Southern greens, cole slaw, & potato wedges. Unfortunately, the portions were small & most everything was bland & uninspiring, although with a hefty dose of salt, the greens were quite nice. For dessert, I ordered a slice of tiramisu cake, which was, of course, refrigerated. Coming in at $7, this was a pretty generous slice & probably best shared between two people. The cake was hearty & wheaty, almost like a coffee flavored bread with a creamy coffee frosting that was not very sweet. I found myself taking bite after bite, trying to figure out this cake, but I can safely say I wouldn't order it again.

So, where was the best dessert in Chicago? I think I may have found it in the kitchen of Natalie Slater of Bake & Destroy; enter the Chai-cago cupcake! This lovely spiced confection with sweet & festive Bears themed frosting made my tastebuds dance. I've heard it's a bit heard to get a reservation at the Slater household, but luckily you can check out BeBoBa for Bake & Destroy sweets. Overall, I thought Chicago was a great city with fabulous people! I'd love to go back sometime when the weather isn't such a downer & explore some more!

Chicago, the Sugar Shack; part one.

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

On a whim, I booked a trip to Chicago recently. I always like to explore new cities & Chicago has long been on my list of places to see. Not only do they have a selection of vegan options, they also have the awesome Natalie from Bake & Destroy & the posse at Chicago Soydairy! When contemplating dates, I noticed an upcoming listing for Renegade Craft Fair. How could I resist?

The trip started Thursday afternoon, when I flew in to town & caught the El to my friend Joy's house to stay with her & her dog, Rosetta Cheese. After a bit of rest, Joy & I headed over to Handlebar to meet up with Joel & Meave who also happened to be in town from San Francisco. Handlebar is a pescatarian bar & grill frequented by bicyclist & has a menu with a selection of vegan options. The Buffalo 'Chicken' wrap & seitan Tortellini were ordered among the table & despite the lacking amount of buffalo & ranch sauces in my wrap, all satisfied with our selections. Joel opted for mini apricot hand pies for dessert, which I was lucky enough to get a nibble of; they tasted like jelly filled donuts!

The next day I headed out in to the rain to the Chicago Diner, famous veg dining spot since 1983. Between suggestions from Steven, my dining companion & some online research, I chose "The Radical Reuben" & boy, was it a good choice! The combination of the grilled seitan, sauerkraut, & thousand island dressing was wonderful & I've been trying to recreate it at home ever since. I also had "Stuffed Potato Skins" with melty Teese all over them! Of course, I had to try the baked goods, since the diner has quite the selection of vegan cakes, cheesecakes, & other treats. The first thing I noticed was the cakes were refrigerated. As someone who's not a fan of cold cake, I asked them to pull my selections out of the case before my meal, so they could come back to room temperature. I insisted Steven split the Cocoa Mousse cake & the Cookies & Cream cake with me & luckily they were almost at room temperature when we were ready for them. The cakes have a hearty, wholesome taste to them, likely due to the wheat flour used. Unfortunately, the refrigeration had got to them a bit, so they were on the drier side, but I enjoyed all the different frostings & wondered how they made the nice whipped cream-like frosting. Rumor has it, the weekend specials are the best treats to try, so I'll be sure to check those out next time!

Later that night, Steven & his friends had a potluck! You know I love a good potluck, so I was thrilled to be invited. The Chicago crew knows how to do it up & I was stuffed with tons of amazing food including "Isa Pizza", mini cucumber sandwiches, roasted potatoes, Teesey bread, & more. Much like myself, everyone loves to make dessert, so the sweets spread was phenomenal! Apple pie, Mint Devil dogs, Zucchini muffins, homemade Caramels, & 3 awesome types of Temptation ice cream filled my plate! I think I surprised everyone with the amount of dessert I consumed, but I may have shocked them even more when I couldn't resist going back for another round of ice cream; Lemon Verbena & Blueberry Temptation?! I mean, c'mon, amazing!

On Saturday, the gruesome twosome, aka Natalie & myself, embarked on a sugary tour of Chicago, that would make even the sweetest tooth cry. Chicago decided to hate on me by pouring down rain, but we were determined to get sugared up & started off at The Bleeding Heart Bakery! The Bleeding Heart Bakery may be the coolest pastry shop I have ever laid eyes on. I felt like I was walking in to my dream bakery, from the brightly colored kitsch to the cupcake tables. After browsing around & meeting Michelle, we settled on 2 organic, vegan cupcakes; Chocolate peanut butter & Chocolate vanilla. The cases here are kept at room temperature, thankfully, & while the moisture of the two cakes was inconsistent, the chocolate peanut butter was downright lovely! If nothing else, it's worth a visit to see the amazing shop, but I say grab yourself a treat. I only wish I had made it to Chaos Theory Cakes as well since it's the home of unique flavors.

Next, we braved the rain again & headed to Renegade Craft Fair where we got soaked, I spent a bunch of money at Circa Ceramics, & I ordered a custom bag from Made by Hank. Who I am kidding? I bought a lot more than that, for I am a sucker for cute. For the rundown of awesomeness, check out Natalie's guide to Renegade which includes a ton of links to businesses & is far better than I could scare up.

Tired of the rain & ready for sugar shock, round 2, we headed to Sweet Cakes Bakery. While they don't advertise as being a vegan destination, the owner is actually vegan herself, so many of the cakes are as well, despite not being labeled as such. Luckily, her father runs the counter & can tell you what is vegan. Being the end of the day, the case was a bit bare, but we each had mini Mint Chip & Orange Vanilla cupcakes & I ordered a small Peach pie. Once again, the case was refrigerated, so the cupcakes were a bit dried out, but the orange had some nice flavor to it. Outside Sweet Cakes, Natalie & I had some fun in the courtyard taking pictures with the odd stacks of trucks & giant horse statue. I hope the owner will make use of the patio in the future, it was a great space!

Jittery & ready to be out of the rain, we headed back to Natalie's house. You may be surprised to find out, we headed to yet another vegan baked goods spot, but I'll be saving that until next time!

By the way, many of you asked for tips on the taquito making from my previous post. One of our chefs that night, Mark, was cool enough to post 10 taquito making tips on his blog, so you can get your fry on!
Also, for those of you in the San Francisco area or those who are planning to come visit, check out Vegansaurus.com for an often hilarious guide to eats & treats in the Bay Area!

Teese, Teese, the magical.. product!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

The vegan blog world is quite the hype machine, it seems there's always a new recipe or product making the rounds & Teese has been exception! While my 1st taste of Teese was back when I returned from Europe, I was lucky enough to have a package arrive at my door with an amount sufficient for proper taste testing! (Yes, that label says "Bloggy McBloggerson"!)

I'll admit, I was quite the cheese lover in my vegetarian days, so I tend to approach vegan cheeses with caution. While there are some decent options on the market, most are rubbery nightmares that don't melt or taste anything like the original. For the most part, I am more than happy to do without these imposters, but watch out sub par vegan cheeses, Teese is here to blow you away!

Anxious to try the Teese right away, I opted first for a quick & easy meal; grilled sandwiches! Using my handy sandwich press, I spread Earth Balance lightly across slices of bread, filled them with slices of Teese, & pressed them in to the grill. What emerged was crunchy pockets filled with ooey-gooey melted Teese centers & I must say, they were wonderful! I was concerned the sandwich grill would not work to melt the Teese, but it actually worked so well, there was some spillage! C'est la Vie! By the way, next to the sandwich is one of our favorite things; Kale Chips!

Next stop, PIZZA! I mean, c'mon, Teese was made for this stuff. Teese comes in Mozzarella at the moment, with Cheddar in the works, so we should all be making pizzas while we wait for the new flavor to arrive. I made a sourdough crust & topped the pizza with tomato sauce, garlic, zucchini, bell pepper, tomato slices, & a few pieces of Julie's Spicy Italian Sausages. Once again, I went with large pieces of Teese, instead of shredded & it worked out well. This was one killer meal that satisfied even my pizza obsessed husband!


The pizza was such a success, we made Calzones next. I set up a little spread of toppings; more sausages, artichoke hearts, garlic, bell peppers, zucchini, tomato sauce, & we each made our own ideal combinations. That is Ryan's hand you see there, even he had fun coming up with flavor ideas. Doesn't a "Make Your Own Calzone" party sound fun? The calzones baked up nice & golden brown & although the Teese tried to escape from them, they were delicious! For an extra decadent treat, I could see Teese & tofu ricotta making an amazing combination!

Finally, I had to try something outside the Italian inspired genre. Previous to going vegan, "pregan" if you will, I used to make Enchilada casseroles often. While I still make them these days, I typically skip the cheese subs & focus on spices & extra vegetables. This time, I piled layers of black beans, corn, shredded carrots, zucchini, onions & garlic between strips of corn tortillas soaked in enchilada sauce & topped it with shredded Teese. Thank you, Chicago Soy Dairy, the Enchilada Bake is back! Once again, it melted easily & brought the dish a new & improved taste!

So, you're probably wondering, how does it taste? What's the texture like? Can you eat it plain? Teese is a soft, fresh mozzarella-style cheese, it's quite moist, but not slimy & doesn't smell bad like Follow Your Heart. It has a creamier, more complex taste than FYH, it's almost buttery. While I noshed on a few plain pieces, my guess is most people wouldn't like it this way, it really is at its best when melted!

Want to get your hands on some Teese? Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe, Vegan Essentials, & Pangea have it available via mail order. Also, Chicago Soy Dairy has a listing of places stocking it or using it HERE. Finally, if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, I've convinced Rainbow Grocery to carry it, so look out for it starting as soon as June!