Dancing Down the Moon

Vegan MoFo: A Feast of BFF Proportions

I haven't cooked much in the last week but I more than made up for it on Friday--as it was time for my BFF's birthday party extravaganza, she'd asked me to bring a pot of Oh, You Beautiful Dhal and the chai cheesecake I made forever ago.  I decided, in my insane way, that that wasn't nearly enough, and appointed myself official caterer of the party.

Because, as I said, I'm insane.

By the time I was done we had:

• Potato-pea samosas (baked, not fried)
• Basmati pilau with almonds
• Dhal (that's red lentil stew for the uninitiated)
• Chai Spice cheesecake from Hannah's My Sweet Vegan
• Pita triangles (storebought, for dhalish dipping)

Judging from the yummy noises and groans of delight, I did myself proud.  The cheesecake especially was fantastic--do yourself a favor and pick up Hannah's book, and while you're at it read her blog Bittersweet.

One thing I discovered?  A menu like this required chopping a crap-ton of onions.  My fingers still smell like onions three days later.  No lie.  I dreamed of chopping onions Saturday. 

Still, few things in the world will perfume your house as wonderfully as sauteed onions when they just start to brown around the edges.  The only thing better is a pan full of spices toasted until the mustard seeds start to pop and release their volatile oils.  It's such a simple thing, but it lends such complex flavors to whole spices.  The dhal recipe calls for mustard seed, cumin seed, fenugreek, cardamom pods, cloves, and coriander, all toasted together and then cooled and ground to powder along with a bit of cinnamon and chili pepper.

I didn't take a picture of the dhal itself because, frankly, it's not the most photogenic food in the world.  I meant to get pics of all the finished products, but I got so involved in getting everything done and ready for transport that I forgot, and once I was at the party I was distracted by something shiny (translation: booze) and missed the opportunity to snag some images of the sliced cheesecake or the bowls of lentils served over flavorful rice. 

I did, however, catch the samosas before they disappeared.  The cuddly little pastry packets are much like empanadas, pasties, hand pies, even ravioli--just about every culture has some variation on a dough pocket stuffed with either sweet or savory goodness.  Most traditional samosas are filled with potato mixture and usually deep fried, but I'm a bit phobic of frying at home, so I save the fried pockets o'love for when I make it to an Indian restaurant.  This recipe, which came from Vegan With a Vengeance, calls for baking the samosas.  It also suggests using edamame instead of green peas, but I'm a bit of a purist, so I stuck with the green pea-ness.

Here's the bright yellow filling, of which I have about eighteen tons left over, which does not displease me.

 I'm proud to say I resisted the urge to shove my face in the bowl and simply nom-nom-nom the day away.

You can make them in just about any side, but for appetizers I tend toward about a 3" diameter circle of dough folded around a couple of teaspoons of filling, pinched shut with a damp finger and brushed with olive oil before baking.  I like them best warm, but they kept well sitting out at room temperature.  They're just such happy looking little guys, tiny pillows of potato ecstasy. 

The only real pain with making samosas is that it takes forever to shape them.  There's really no way around doing them one at a time; if you're lucky you have a lovely assistant to help you with this part.  Otherwise I find what works best is to set up on the coffee table and watch a movie while I work.

If you're impatient and don't have a party to cater, just say to heck with it and eat the filling plain, or better yet, make "dosas" by rolling the filling in tortillas or spreading it between tortillas for a non-queso-quesadilla.  I imagine you could squish them into potato pancakes and fry them, too.  

Dessert, of course, was the aforementioned much-hallowed Chai Spice Cheesecake, and let me tell you, if I'd ever had any doubts that vegan desserts could be just as good (if not better than) their critter-laden counterparts, this recipe would have blown those doubts out of the sky.  Eyes rolled back in heads and English language skills were reduced to a series of vowel sounds as everyone had a piece drizzled with impromptu blackberry sauce (basically just a reduction of blackberries with some sugar and a little juice, strained and thickened with a bit of cornstarch).  One of these days I'll get a picture of the cake as it's served all sauced up, but today a shot of the whole cake fresh out of the oven will just have to do.  Imagine, if you will, the delicate scent of chai spices:  cardamom, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, allspice...thick and rich over a spiced graham cracker crust.

Don't you wish it had been your birthday?

Vegan MoFo: Silk, Tofu, Vodka

Sure, we'd all like to say we create magnificent culinary tours-de-force every night, and try a new cookbook every week; we'd love to say we've sampled all the weirdo produce at Whole Foods, and that we never, never eat out of the saucepan standing over the sink in our underwear.

But let's face it:  the average home cook has a repertoire of perhaps seven dinners.  If you do the vegan equivalent of meat-and-two-vegs you can come up with a lot of combinations, but that gets really boring really quickly.  So do beans and rice--even if you like rice, which I don't especially (except for appropriately spiced basmati like they serve at the Clay Pit).  The culinary possibilities in veganism are endless, but most people are creatures of habit.  We tend to have the same basic shopping list week after week unless we're cookbook testers.

For a typical shopping trip my list looks something like this.  (Note that the spiral's on the right--I'm left-handed.  This of course means I'm superior,  just FYI.)

(Click pic to enlarge.)

 

Notes:

• Honeycrisp is the awesomest apple.
• Toadfood = tofu
• EB = Earth Balance fakey butter
• Yes, "red" is a flavor. In Crystal Light at least. It's basically food coloring and chemicals, so who cares if it's "cherry" or "raspberry?"
• Observe my egregious abuse of the umlaut.
• "Fruity Oaty Bar" is code for "some form of breakfasty granola bar thing." Firefly fans will get it. Everyone else...what the hell is wrong with  you?
• If I am bleeding when I write a grocery list there are at least five chocolate items, a can of Bean Dip, and a bag of Fritos added.
• Shit, I forgot hummus.

I usually organize my list according to what area of the store the items are found in.  Mostly.  There are always wild cards and afterthoughts.  Note that I tell myself only to get two bananas--this is because no matter how many bananas I buy, at least one ends up going bad.  I can buy five and I'll eat four; I can buy two and I'll eat one.  To keep from wasting food I've had to cut back on how much produce I buy in one go; you can only freeze so many overripe bananas.  I try not to buy more than two of anything unless it's for a specific recipe. If I need to go to the store again, I will.  I'd rather do that than throw away food.

And yes, that's actually how I write things.  It's a family tradition to deliberately misspell items for the hell of it.  My mother knows perfectly well how to spell "sausage" but she's written "sauges" since I laughed myself hoarse over it twenty years ago.  We're just odd like that.

Although I do admit to being influenced by sites like GroceryLists.org, where found grocery lists are shared with the world--sometimes I insert something random in my lists, like "XXL Condoms," or "Tractor Tires" just in case someone should find it somewhere.

Grocery stores in Texas can sell beer and wine but not hard liquor.  If they could I imagine "vodka" would show up on my list a lot more.

What does your grocery list look like?

Vegan MoFo: Go Go Gadgets!

Operating out of a kitchen with very little storage space, I've learned to pare down the array of gadgets and cookware that I permit to clutter up my three drawers.   I keep a minimum of pots and pans, and store things on the walls (like my skillets and knives) when I can. There are definitely things I'd like to upgrade; I need better knives, for one thing, as I've been using the crappy IKEA cutlery that sells for $8 for a Santoku.  (Okay, I admit, I love that knife, and I'll love it a lot more after I remember to take it to my father to sharpen. Still, one day I'll have grown-up knives.) Every cook, however, has those gadgets and tools she loves regardless of price or practicality.

Here we see, from left to right:

1 - My favorite cooking spoon, which I think came from Target. It has a lovely handfeel and somehow has managed not to collect any gouges or burns so far.

2 - A Mario Batalli tasting spoon I got from Whole Foods. Drastically overpriced, but I just loved the way it felt in my hand, and the fact that it has a stirring end and a tasting end. The small end helps you take a taste without burning your tongue.

3 - A cookie scoop that S1ren gave me; the back is silicone, so you scoop up dough and then push it out the front. It makes perfectly sized lumps of dough.

4 and 5 - Pinch bowls, one of my weird little passions.  The top two are glass from IKEA and measure perhaps 1 1/2" across; the bottom two are silicone.  I hate silicone bakeware, but silicone definitely has its culinary uses.

If you look carefully on the right-hand side you can see Owen's paw.

Here we have the rest of my favorite gadgets:

Across the top is another gift from S1ren, a Pushme/ Pullyu, which normal people would call an oven rack hook.  One side hooks on the rack to pull it out of the oven, and the other side is notched to push it back in. That way you avoid burning yourself, which somehow I always manage to do on oven racks even in a hazmat suit.

Second row, left to right:

1 - Contrary to expectation a potato masher is not a unitasker.  I've used it on potatoes, yes, but find it equally handy for beans, blending crumbly pastry dough, and squashing solids in a soup to thicken it when I don't feel like pulling out my hand blender.

2 - I pretty much never use my ice cream scoop for ice cream, being the "eat it out of the carton" kind. What I do use it for is cupcake batter. An ice cream scoop is perfect for portioning out cupcakes. 

3 - One of my oldest gadgets, a Graham Kerr branded "Bash N Chop," basically a bench scraper.  I use it for scraping up dough, yes, but it's also handy for crushing garlic, transferring chopped ingredients into a bowl or pan, and cutting bits of dough for rolls or cookies. This one has a ruled edge so you can measure portions accurately.

4 - Spice toasting pan - The screened lid flips up, allowing you to dry-fry whole spices without them popping all over the place. Was it a necessity? No.  But it's one of those little things that make life easier...the definition of a gadget, I suppose.

Front Row, left to right:

1 - Spoon holder - This nifty little doodad was in my stocking last Christmas. It's a clip for the side of a pot that holds your cooking spoon up over the pot, so you don't need a spoon rest.  It makes it easier to clean the stovetop since, even with a spoon rest, I'm forever leaving spoons on the counter and wiping up puddles of soup.

2 - Tea bag squeezer - Weird, eh? My mother got this back when she was heavy into Tupperware. I don't drink tea, but I do make a lot of things with chai, and this silly little bit of plastic is quite useful in getting the goodness out of the bag. (Yes, I know that when drinking tea you shouldn't squeeze the bags as you'll get bitter tannins in the cup, but this doesn't seem to be a problem with baking.)

3 - Salt cellar - I love, love, love my salt cellar.  It is of course the model used by geeky food genius Alton Brown, and it's very practical; the hinged lid can be opened with one hand and the lid has a silicone seal to keep moisture out.  The bowl comes out and is dishwasher safe; the base is weighted. It even came with a tiny spoon, which I don't really use, but being a sucker for tiny things (hence all the pinch bowls) I found it quite charming.

Not pictured is my hand blender, a Cuisinart Smart Stick that came with a chopper/grinder attachment and whisk.  I realize, of course, that the more things something can do the more likely it is to suck at all of them (if you have experience with copier/fax/scanner/printer machines you can probably testify to this), but in this case it worked out well; the Smart Stick is easy to use, easy to clean, and has thus far performed admirably.

One day when I have a huge kitchen and all the money in the world I'll have a proper Kitchenaid stand mixer and a Vita-Mix blender, but in the meantime, I enjoy my little gadgets and am pleased that they don't take up all that much countertop real estate which is at a premium in my little kitchen.

Vegan MoFo: Cookeh is Mahn!

I've long said that Whole Foods--or at least the mammoth WF flagship store here in Austin--is not a grocery store, it's an 80,000 square foot amusement park.  Known to many as Whole Paycheck, it's not the place to go if you're looking for a bargain.  It is, however, the perfect place to find new and interesting foods, especially if you're a vegan, and pick up those treats you love but can't get your hands on everyday.

This is doubly true for me, as I live at the far South end of Austin and WF is downtown. I make it there perhaps once every two months, usually when I need inspiration or am looking for something new and weird I've seen online or in a magazine...or when I absolutely have to have a Big John Cookie.

What can you say about a 99-cent, saucer-sized chocolate chunk oatmeal cookie almost an inch thick that eats more like a cake--or an entire breakfast--than a cookie?  Oh, yeah, here's what you can say:  YUM. OMG YUM.

Whole Foods also sells vegan brownies (delicious) and donuts (never tried them but I hear they're awful), vegan peanut butter fudge, and in the dessert cooler, vegan parfaits, mousse, and cakes. Today I was feeling frisky (and I made the mistake of shopping hungry) so I picked up a cookie, a pint of their wonderful pomegranate sorbet (store brand, so it's not as outrageously priced as, say, Nadamoo), and a slab of something called Cookies 'n Cream Cake.

I love the parfaits, but the cake slice...well, it tasted good, but it was throat-searingly sweet.  It's two layers of somewhat dry dark chocolate cake sandwiched with buttercream and cookie bits, and like I said, it tastes great, and overall had a good texture, but was so sweet it nearly turned my face inside out.  I think maybe one layer of buttercream would have been sufficient, maybe with a dark chocolate ganache in the center.  I think in the future I'll stick to the parfaits, which are chunks of chocolate cake, raspberries, and a luscious vegan chocolate mousse (probably the same general formula as the filling for my Mooless Mocha Pies**).

Never go to Whole Foods hungry unless you're planning to sit down in one of their food courts and enjoy something from the many prepared meal bars.  I understand the tofu breakfast tacos are to die for, and I've had several tofu dishes from the buffet line as well as the hot bars and they've all been fabulous.  Occasionally they offer Field Roast's hazelnut crusted cutlets, which are in my opinion one of the best vegan foods on Earth; they didn't have any today, but they did have at least half a dozen vegan main courses in addition to the international selections, taco bar, sandwich bar, and pasta bar.  

I also advise against going to WF when you're in a hurry.  It's best to take your time, wandering the aisles and looking for exciting new ingredients.  Wear good shoes, bring your reusable bags, and get into the flow of the crowd, seeking the Zen of grocery shopping (and ignoring the screaming yuppie larvae who tend to run around the Healthy Living section chasing each other with organic cotton stuffed animals). Make a list, otherwise you'll forget half of what you came in for, overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the selection. 

And above all, set a spending limit.

** - Mooless Mocha Pies, along with many other tasty recipes, are available in my ebook Bell, Book, and Spoon, available for $5 from Lulu.  This is a shameless plug. But I'm quite proud of my little cookbook, so please check it out.

Vegan MoFo: Songs from the White and Nerdy Kitchen

Better late (and short) than never, right?

As with ritual, the right music can turn cooking from a chore into a celebration. Not to mention the mood you're in while cooking can influence the outcome--from a strictly mundane perspective, if you're in a bad mood while cooking you're more apt to make mistakes or injure yourself, and from a spiritual perspective, cooking with love and care in your heart means the food will be infused with those emotions. 

I generally opt for lively, singable music rather than slow or meditative.  Anything that gets me dancing around the kitchen will keep me chopping, kneading, and rocking out for hours.  The right soundtrack is even more important for cooking marathons or anything involving multiple cooks--jostling for elbow room doesn't seem to happen nearly so much if everyone's dancing.  The music brings everyone's energy into synch in the kitchen just as it does in ritual.

That in mind here is a track list of my favorite music to cook by.  If you have trouble getting into the mood to cook for yourself, try making a CD like this one to help you shift your mind to culinary consciousness.  It doesn't matter if the songs are about food (how many times can you listen to "Eat It", anyway?) as long as they get you moving, grooving, and stirring.

I've been known to put on my mix of the Beatles, Madonna, a CD of 80s pop, or Pink, but here's a more diverse mix I'm rather fond of.

1. The Proclaimers - 500 Miles
2. P!nk - Bad Influence
3. Alanis Morissette - On the Tequila
4. The All-American Rejects - Move Along
5. B52s - Love Shack
6. Barenaked Ladies - One Week
7. Bowling for Soup - Ohio (Come Back to Texas)
8. Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On
9. India Arie - Private Party
10. Indigo Girls - Hammer and a Nail
11. Jill Sobule - I Kissed a Girl
12. KT Tunstall - Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
13. Liz Phair - Polyester Bride
14. Mary Chapin Carpenter - Down at the Twist and Shout
15. Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
16. MC Yogi - Ganesh is Fresh
17. Nelly Furtado - I'm Like a Bird
18. Paul Oakenfold - Starry-Eyed Surprise
19. Rihanna - Don't Stop the Music
20. Sinead O'Connor - Daddy I'm Fine
21. Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
22. Tina Arena - Now I Can Dance
23. Weird Al Yankovic - White and Nerdy

(Hey, I never said I was cool.  *laugh*  I could lie and tell you I like stuff like Death Cab for Cutie or the White Stripes, but I think my mid-90s-inspired dorkdom is quite awesome, thank you.)

Vegan MoFo: What's a Mulligan With You?

Not to thump a subject too terribly hard, but in my reading about Indian cuisine I came across a food philosophy that had never occurred to me but sounded like a great idea.

In India vegetarianism is seen as normal; most people have at least one veg meal a day if not more.  Few are full-on vegan what with all the yogurt and paneer, but still, when cooking vegetarian, the Indian cook's aim isn't to replace meat, or substitute for it.  There's no "this is a vegetarian version of such and such."  Veg food is just veg food, and doesn't attempt to be like anything else; as such the plant foods are given a chance to shine without being compared to critter-based cuisine.

A lot of meat analogues exist in America, ranging from the ordinary (veggie burgers) to the downright weird (vegetarian shrimp?!?).  Such things would be given funny looks over in India where the idea of not eating meat is, well, not to eat meat.  Why eat something that looks and tastes just like what you don't want to eat?

Now, I love a veggie burger, and I'm quite fond of a few other analogues, but I think it's dangerous to consider them "substitutes" for meat.  That leaves people with the idea that there's something fundamentally lacking in a vegetarian diet, which simply isn't true.  I think the idea of focusing on vegetables as an end in themselves is an excellent one.  Sometimes I think if I see one more recipe for vegan macaroni and "cheese" I'll go stark raving naked.

The power of food to connect us to our family and history, however, means there are exceptions.

I thought about this recently when I was looking back at foods I ate as a child.  We all have those comfort dishes Mom used to make that make us feel loved and cared for, and it's always delightful to find compassionate versions of those foods that evoke the same emotions.  There are, however, some things I ate as a kid that I wouldn't even try to veganize.

For example, I grew up eating this concoction called Mulligan Stew.  I have no idea where my mother got the recipe, but it's good old fashioned down-home working-people not-quite-payday food.  It consisted of a sauteed onion, a can of Ranch Style beans, and a can of diced Spam simmered until it formed something stewlike.

Yes, I ate this.  In mass quantities.  Sometimes over Fritos.

Needless to say there is no way in hell to veganize this in an appetizing way.  Ranch Style beans are made with beef, and while I've seen veg versions (there's a very close cousin available at Whole Foods, I think they're called Ranchero Beans or something similar in the store brand), the only thing I can think of to sub for the Spam would be tofu, and can you imagine?  GROSS.  There are few things in this world less appealing to me than tofu pretending to be Spam, because Spam, like Velveeta, is already pretending to be food. 

So I won't be attempting to recapture that childhood memory.  Fortunately there are better candidates.

One of my mom's tried and true side dishes is what she calls Potatoes on the Half Shell; it's simple, economical, and goes with everything.

Take Russet potatoes and wash them, then slice them longways in half.  Make several slices down the inside of each (don't cut all the way through).  Lay the potatoes out on a baking sheet (with sides) and spread Earth Balance buttery spread over each, then salt well.  Bake at 450 for 45 minutes. 

What you end up with is a baked potato, yes, but the "butter" bakes into the crevices you created with the knife, and creates a golden brown veneer over the top of the potato as well as dripping down just a bit onto the peel.  I mash them up in the middle and add a bit more butter; others in my family add sour cream, chives, fakey bacon bits, whatever you'd put on an ordinary baked potato.  You can eat them skin and all.  I guess you could substitute olive oil or something healthier for the butter, or use less to make them lower in fat, but this is Southern cooking at its Paula Deen finest.  When I want healthy I make regular roasted potatoes; when I want the comfort of my childhood kitchen memories, I turn to Potatoes on the Half Shell.

I suppose the point here is that not every vegan dish can be a meat-free version of something omni, nor should it.  The world of plant-based food is so diverse and delicious that we do ourselves a disservice by trying to stick to the critter-laden Standard American Diet, even veganized.  I think "substitution" recipes work best for newcomers to veg cuisine, and for those recipes that mean more to us than just dinner on the table--those dishes that bring back fond memories for which there is no substitute.

Vegan MoFo: Peace is in the Pudding

 

This is one of my favorite easy desserts, based on a Hawaiian coconut pudding recipe called Haupia. In honor of our President's call to action today, I give you,

Nobel Peace Parfaits

(also known as "Suck it, Haters!")

What You Need

1 14oz can unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c cornstarch
1 c nondairy milk (vanilla flavored is best)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp salt

Several crushed gingersnaps
Chocolate syrup or vegan caramel
A few shreds of toasted coconut, if desired, for garnish

Let's Get it On

1. Combine everything but the vanilla in a saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk until combined.

2. Keep whisking as you bring to a boil, then cook for about a minute, stirring constantly. Be sure you get to where there are bubbles breaking the surface; cornstarch doesn't thicken to its full potential until it reaches a boil. The pudding will thicken very quickly once it gets to that point, and if you're not careful it'll scorch. The whole process should only take about five minutes.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla, stirring well. Let cool a few minutes and try not to dive into it facefirst.  Chill for one hour with a sheet of plastic wrap pressed against the surface to prevent a skin from forming.

4. In a wine goblet, glass, or other see-through dish, sprinkle a layer of crushed cookies, then spoon in some pudding.  Drizzle a bit of chocolate syrup, then add more cookies, more pudding.  On top drizzle a bit more syrup, and garnish with a half-cookie and some coconut, if you like.  Serves 3-4 depending on size of dish and appetite.

Some vegan puddings taste a bit soy-ish, but this one doesn't--the coconut flavor covers the soy. I often make puddings with almond milk instead of soy, and that would be great with the coconut too. This recipe isn't too incredibly sweet, so it would lend itself well to embellishment. You could also make a parfait with layers of banana, pineapple, or berries. 

I see the pudding as the soft, gooshy sweetness of world peace influenced by our Commander-in-Chief, with the crunchy spiciness of dialogue and the occasionally bitter but ultimately delicious syrup of cooperation. 

Okay, I just made that up. But trust me, peace never tasted so good.

Vegan MoFo: Spice, Spice Baby

I just wanted to get that song stuck in your head.  Mine is an evil laugh.

When I was growing up the only time I was ever really aware of the existence of spices was during the holidays.  Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger were brought out for cookies, pies, cider, and candle scents; the rest of the year our meals were mostly flavored by herbs, all dried, mostly parsley and oregano.

This is not to malign my mom's cooking--she's a great cook--but American food, focused as it is primarily on meat and dairy and processed vegetables from the post-WWII era of "canned goods will set you free!", simply doesn't have a whole lot of flavoring except salt (tons of salt) and fat (mostly bits of pig).  The only "ethnic" cuisine we consumed was Tex-Mex, which is how I developed my deep and abiding love of cumin.

I imagine that part of the reason for the lack of spices in typical American fare is that, at least in the South, a lot of our ancestors were from Europe, and spices simply do not grow there (or here).  Chili peppers, allspice berries, and vanilla are the only widely used spices I can think of offhand of that are indigenous to the Western Hemisphere, and this was before the European Powers that Be thought of heading west.  (Even if they had, white people once tended to be scared of chili peppers, you can't really put vanilla in a sausage, and nobody really knows what to do with allspice.)  Hence, the conversation:

European Powers-that-Be:  Man, our food sucks.  Anyone know how to find India?
Explorers: What's in it for us?
PTB:  You'll get to bore the shit out of fifth-grade history students...and there's pepper!
Explorers:  Throw in a free boat and you've got a deal.

The PTB weren't only after flavor, of course; spices also were (and still are) reputed to possess myriad health and spiritual benefits.  Nutmeg, for example, was thought to cure the plague, and just about every spice has been known as an aphrodisiac at some point or another and human beings, regardless of culture or creed, are serious about getting it on. 

For culinary purposes, if you use the leafy part of the plant to flavor food, that plant is called an herb; if any other part (seeds, pods, rhizomes, bark) is used, it's called a spice.  Coriander seed, for example, grows into the plant whose leaves we call cilantro; then there are plants like nutmeg, which are two spices in one, as the outer  membrane of the nutmeg has a different flavor and is known as mace.

Even nowadays, when culinary eclecticism has reached a fever pitch (I myself make hummus quesadillas and curried potato burritos on a regular basis), there are a great many spices that Westerners are, unfortunately, strangers to.  Spices are expensive precisely because they only grow in limited areas and, unlike herbs, usually cannot be used straight from the plant.  Ginger is a notable exception, but most spices, like cardamom, and anise, all have to be dried and in some cases, like "green" peppercorns, brined.  Vanilla in particular goes through a lengthy harvesting and curing process that accounts for its price tag.  Luckily with most spices less is more.  Using too much of any one spice will overwhelm a dish. 

It's no surprise, then, that the people of India and other areas where spices originated are alchemists in the art of flavor.  The term "curry," for example, refers to a particular type of dish, while "masala" (as in garam masala) is a blanket term for a mixture of spices that varies from region to region and even house to house in the Subcontinent.  Each family passes down its recipe, and the idea of premade curry powder is virtually unknown, as cooks add pinches and dashes of individual spices to create layers of tastes that blend together seamlessly.

I've only been studying Indian cuisine for about a year, but it absolutely fascinates me, particularly the use of spices and herbs.  I can definitely taste a difference in my cooking when I use the knowledge I've gained from reading up on Indian food and trying out the techniques.  If nothing else, paying more attention to your spicing means that you devote more energy and care to your food, and that's a good thing in our convenience-crazed world.  Not to mention that when you don't eat meat or dairy, it becomes even more important to learn to season well, as you can't rely on animal flavors to drown out all the subtleties of the veggies in a dish.

Here are a few pointers I've gathered, along with a couple of recommended reads on the subject. 

1. Buy whole spices when you can and grind them yourself.  Whole spices will last (in airtight containers away from direct heat or light) for a good two years, but once they're ground they release their volatile oils, and the flavor goes flat in six months or less.  Don't believe me?  Take one of those crappy jars of ground cinnamon and compare the scent to a stick you smash with a hammer. 
2. When it comes to grinding, I prefer to have an electric coffee mill dedicated to spices rather than using a mortar and pestle, because I get a finer and more uniform grind without giving straining my wrists.  Hint: unless you get a mill with a metal bowl, do not use the same mill for grinding coffee.  Plastic absorbs oils from the spices and will never stop smelling like them, so unless you like turmeric spiked coffee, keep the grinders separate.
3. One of the most important techniques in Indian cooking is frying spices; there are two basic methods, dry frying and oil frying.  They're what they sound like.  In the first you toast the spices in a pan without oil, moving them pretty constantly until they just barely start to change color.  In the second you do the same, but in the oil you plan to cook with, infusing the oil with the spices as well as toasting them.  Either way, a good rule of thumb is to stop frying when the mustard seeds are popping.  (Also, get a splatter screen.)
4. I prefer to avoid cheesecloth bags and spice balls because they don't allow the whole pods/seeds to circulate throughout a dish, but they do eliminate the need to pluck whole cardamom pods from your food before serving. 
5. I don't care how authentic it is--never, ever cook with asafetida.  Just take my word on it.  Few things in this world stink like that.  Dear god.

Recommended Reading - Books

The Flavor Bible by Karen Page & Andrew Dornenburg - I admit I haven't read this one yet, but it's high up on my wish list.  The book allows you to look for complimentary spices for various ingredients and dishes.

Laxmi's Vegetarian Kitchen - an older book with a lot of great recipes and, more importantly, techniques for using spices.  Also includes handy information about Indian dining etiquette. 

Herbs and Spices: the Cook's Reference, edited by Jill Norman - absolutely gorgeous interior photography and a comprehensive reference guide.  

Websites

The Epicentre

The Spice House

World Spice Merchants

Slashfood's articles on Spices

Vegan MoFo: Wilbur's Grippe Doth Slow the Blog

 

I'm still getting my energy (and my cooking jones) back after the whole Hamthrax World Tour '09, so today's entry is a fun survey from over at Whoa Wren. 

(To be clear, I am not sick--at least, not really.  My best friend most likely has H1N1, as 85% of new flu cases in Austin right now are that strain, but the CDC's backed up six months so there's no way to be 100% sure.  I had a fever and am still feeling puny, but am not seriously ailing, and I stayed home until I'd been feverless for 24 hours as per my doctor's instructions. Even if what I had wasn't the flu--and it could have been a zillion things as I spent 10 hours in the ER Sunday night--we felt it was best just to treat it like it was in terms of contagion.  But I'm fine, don't worry, and my BFF is doing much better.)

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Still Almond Breeze vanilla, although I tend to buy Silk a lot too.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
Tamales, veg pot roast, and the raspberry swirl Limoncello pound cake from Urban Vegan.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
Caramel.  :)

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
Oh, there have been many.  Actually most of the time my foodfails don't turn out bad so much as flavorless; there was the Rice of Blah a while back that I never could bring myself to finish; it was much, much better with a lot of salt and a quick pan-fry, but it still didn't blow my skirt up.  It didn't even intrigue me enough to try again and see what I could do to improve it.  As I've said, I don't really like rice despite my many attempts to force myself. 

5. Favorite pickled item?
You know, not every vegetable should be pickled.  Honestly, people.  Cucumbers were good enough for my grandma and they are just fine with me.

Actually my grandmother pickled okra and a lot of other scary things, but she also drank a lot of vodka, so I don't hold it against her.

6. How do you organize your recipes?
Oy.  "Organize" is kind of a misnomer for what I do.  Right now my system is more a series of borderline-OCD behaviors, and it goes a little somethin' like this:

1. Buy a cookbook or magazine and devour it, flagging intriguing recipes with Post-it page markers.  Leave cookbooks in stack on coffee table for about one month.
2. After Owen has knocked the books off the table six to eight times, go back through books and write down the recipes, page numbers, and book title in a spiral notebook divided up by recipe type so that next time I'm looking for, say, a tasty cake idea, I can go to "Cake" and find all the recipes I thought sounded good instead of going back through every single book. 
3. If a recipe comes from a magazine, cut it out and paste on cardstock that is three-hole punched to fit in the Book of Feasts, my big blue binder of "tried and true" recipes that I use all the time; the back is devoted to magazine clippings, e-books I printed out, et cetera.
4. If the recipe turns out great, make a page for it on the computer, print it out, and place in a page protector in the Book of Feasts.  Then scratch off of "to try" notebook.  Lastly, find original recipe in book and write notes, in pencil, about how it turned out and what I changed, so that next time I'm reading through all my books because I'm just sure I have another tofu marinade in there somewhere, I'll know I already tried the Carrot and Parsnip-Crusted Tofu with Kelp and Rhubarb Marinade from page 23 of Vegan? No Fucking Way!

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
Trash and garbage disposal, but I've been saving my veggie leavings to throw in S1ren's compost pile, if I ever remember to give them to her.  Right now I have a giant freezer bag for my various castoff bits.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?
Potatoes, garlic, and tofu.  Those three things would probably combine best with whatever else I found on the island that was edible.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
Sitting on my grandmother's porch with her and my mom, snapping the tips off green beans fresh from the garden.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
NadaMoo!

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Appliance...hmm.  Probably my spice grinder.  It's not quite as punk as banging the shit out of spices with a hammer, but it's far easier on the ears.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Salt.  And cumin.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Regular cookbook:  the Southern Living Cookbook
Vegetarian cookbook:  the Enchanted Broccoli Forest
Vegan cookbook:  Vegan with a Vengeance

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Cherry!

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Any sort of dessert.  My wee mocha pies are one of my favorites, as are the tiramisu cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  Best question ever:  "Are you sure these are vegan?"

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Still tofu. 

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Dessert at midnight. Naked.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
A basket of dish towels, several bottles of liquor, and a cat who knows better but it seems cannot be stopped.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Frozen broccoli, a Celebration Roast, and a bag of compost leavings for S1ren.

20. What's on your grocery list?
At the moment:  cat food (both crunchy and gooshy), sorbet, flour, bananas (anyone else ever feel like that word is *never* finished?), Honeycrisp apples (my favorite kind).

21. Favorite grocery store?
The Whole Foods flagship here in Austin, definitely, but I do most of my shopping at Central Market as it's cheaper and closer.  WF is more like an amusement park than a grocery store, really.

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
My veggie lasagna.  It involves three kinds of cheese, and while I'm convinced the tofu ricotta recipes I've found would work just fine, I'm still too chickenshit to try all the vegan "melty" cheeses.  Thinking perhaps a different topping would be a nice alternative.

23. Food blog you read the most. Or maybe the top 3?
Bittersweet,
Cake Wrecks,
and Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen, although I've discovered quite a few new ones thanks to this year's MoFo.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Chocolove's Cherries & Almonds in Dark Chocolate.  Yumyumyum.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
I guess the Celebration Roast I have in my freezer.  Those things are freaking expensive...but sooooo tasty.

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Anything involving sea vegetables. 

Vegan MoFo: A Shortcut to Mushrooms

Wow, that didn't take long--the third day out on the MoFo and I've already missed a post.  I can claim extenuating circumstances, however; H1N1 has stormed the gates of Austin and my best friend has been very ill, which led to my developing a fever that, thus far, hasn't turned into anything dramatic but has had me beached at home.

At any rate, here's a quickie recipe. It's hard to find good single-serving recipes; usually eating solo either means having tons of leftovers or doing a lot of math. This entree is easy, fast, and oh so tasty.  When I made it this past week I served it over a boxed rice pilaf (cheating, I know, but I don't really like rice and had had the box for a long time so I wanted to use it up). I also hate vinegar, but in this case the stench was totally worth it.

Portabello Mushrooms with Balsamic Awesomeness

• 1 portabello mushroom cap, sliced thinly
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt to taste

1 - Heat the oil in a skillet for a couple of minutes, then add the shrooms and cook about 5 minutes until they give off lots of water and start looking kind of slimy, as mushrooms are wont to do.

2 - Add the remaining ingredients and cook another 4-5 minutes.  Serve over rice, on a salad, on a baked potato...whatever sounds good. See how easy that was?