Hell Yeah It's Vegan!

It’s mid-November, and True Americans know what that means. And what better way to plan for having the best Awesome Food Day ever than a blast from the past? See last year’s spread (plus a recipe!) behind the cut.

Menu

Sweet potatoes. These are so disgusting and yet so delicious. Basically, you slice potatoes and boil them til cooked (but not over cooked), and then you spread them in a 9×12 pan and spackle them with copious amounts of butter and light brown sugar. When directed to follow these instructions, I added more of both of these ingredients than I felt prudent, and they were still not half as gooey and delicious as they are at my parents’ house. It’s pretty sick.

Garlicky mashed potatoes. This was how I learned that you’re not supposed to mash potatoes in the food processor. But my love for pureed food is so great… how could I resist? I mean, I won’t lie… it was pretty awesome. They were GORGEOUS and perfectly textured à la the instant potatoes of my childhood (while obviously tasting a billion times better). Needless to say, they operated a bit like spackle, and in that respect, they did not age well. Just mash ‘em by hand.

Cranberry sauce. I always hated cranberry sauce as a kid. You know, that can-shaped block of jelly? From scratch, cranberry sauce is actually pretty great. It operates as a sweet/sour counterpoint to the salty creaminess of potatoes, stuffing and gravy, besides being a gorgeous color. Very simple: just 1 part cranberries to 1 part white sugar, boiled down like jam, with a touch of nutmeg and orange rind to kick it up a notch.

I also hated gravy as a kid. How it All Vegan completely changed my life with Mighty Miso Gravy. Even my die-hard omni parents told me it was delicious… and it’s nothing but good for you, too! I could eat this stuff on just about anything.

Seitan Stuffed with Stuffing. I also used to loathe stuffing. Seriously, I was a potatoes and pie kind of kid. I was also a proponent of green salad–you know, the kind with marshmallows and pistachio instant pudding?–but that’s a story for another day. The stuffing was made with stale a baguette sliced into 1″ pieces, added to a sauteed mixture of celery, apples, and onions, seasoned with thyme and white pepper, and baked. Simultaneously I mixed together the seitan batter, “rolled” it out (it was a messy process), filled it with stuffing, wrapped it back up, tied it with cheesecloth, and baked. Voila! Stuffed seitan. Seriously this was the best thing ever.

Pie! There is only one rule for Awesome Food Day: 1 pie per person. This year there were only 2 of us, so I went the no-fail route: pumpkin pie (with a leaf decoration) and apple with a lattice top.

The apples were fresh from the orchard, and the pumpkin was made from freshly baked pumpkins.

I find that a lot of vegan recipes for pumpkin pie, while delicious, are not as traditional and pumpkin-y as I’d like. Many rely heavily on tofu, brown sugar, and spices, which make for a great-tasting pie, but are a far-cry from the thick pumpkin custards of my youth.

Traditional Pumpkin Pie from scratch:

Preparing the Pumpkins 1-2 pie pumpkins (the smaller and fresher the pumpkin, the better — the flavor will be sweeter and stronger, but you can use traditional pumpkins if that’s what you’ve got; you’ll need to adjust the spices and sweetener accordingly) Core and scrape out inner seeds (save them to roast once your pie is complete!) and strands as though you were carving a pumpkin. Slice each pumpkin in half and place on a baking pan. Bake at 450° for 20 minutes, or until you can easily pierce the flesh with a fork and the skin starts turning black and is easily peeled back from the flesh. (Tip: if your pumpkins are older, add ~½ c water to the pan 10 minutes in to help steam them while they cook.) Peel away the skin and let cool a bit. Puree in a food processor. Transfer to a colander or fine sieve lined with paper towels or thin, clean cloth; let sit over night. (You want to drain out as much liquid as possible; this will result in a firmer and more flavorful pie.) Toss remaining liquid and scoop out pumpkin. Reserve 2 cups for the pie; freeze or refrigerate remainder until next use. Filling

2 c cooked, sieved pumpkin ¾ cup granulated sugar 1½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

pinch of nutmeg ½ tsp salt ¾ c soya powder 2 tbsp cornstarch (or 3 tsp Energ-G egg replacer) 1 c hot water

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, sugar, and spices. In separate bowl, mix soya powder with 1 tbsp cornstarch (or 2½ tsp egg replacer) and add water. Whisk vigorously until fully dissolved, then add to the rest of the filling. Stir until well-blended and set aside.

Crust 1¼ c flour ¼ tsp salt 1½ tbsp chilled vegan margarine ¼ c plus 2 tbsp chilled shortening 3 tbsp ice water

Sift the flour and salt together. Cut in shortening; while stirring with a strong fork, add the ice water a tablespoon at a time as needed until dough has formed a ball. Lightly flour a counter or mat and roll out with a rolling pin until it’s a circle about 2″ wider than your pie dish. Place ungreased inverted 9 or 10″ pie dish centered on the dough, and invert the crust into the dish. Pour filling into crust, reserving any overflow to bake later on. Trim edges of crust as desired, and use leftover crust to decorate. Bake for 35 minutes at 425° (with a cookie sheet beneath to catch any drips), or until crust is golden and filling is set. Let cool and enjoy!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 6:58 am and is filed under Sauces and Condiments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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