That’s right. Naked Vaygun Episode 1. It’s almost like a real show, although I am still echoing a bit, we hope to have that cleared up next Ep.

This episode we discuss my falling out with Peter Singer over cupcakes, Moo Shoes Grand Opening and why Justin Moo can not be trusted to sell boots, Food Fight’s new mural, a painting by Corey Feldman for Corey Haim or vice versa. Plus we give some really long winded, bad advice to hurting vegans which in all honestly you can probably fast forward through because it was in dire need of some editing. We also tie up some loose ends and play a Brown Bird Rudy Relic song. Oh, and some adult advice on what to do if your cat jumps on your lap while you’re masturbating.

Other links for this episode:

Hot Cheese Pump

Minor Threat Hot Sauce

HSUS Coats For Cubs

Drew Carey Votes Republican

Next week we’ll have bad holiday advice and maybe our website will be up!

I feel like a horrible secular Jew and a horrible non-secular vegan. It’s the middle of Hannukah and I haven’t posted a latkes recipes yet. Well, better late than never. These are in Veganomicon and are the most irresistible fried potato concoction there is. Serve with apple sauce, if you’ve got VwaV the roasted applesauce in there is great with these. But any apple sauce will do, really.

Potato Latkes

Makes about 18

Image stolen from Tofu666

2 1/2 pounds starchy white potatoes, peeled (russets, idaho, et al)
1 small yellow onion, peeled
1/4 cup potato or corn starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups matzoh meal

Lots of vegetable oil

If using a food processor:
Use the grating blade to shredd the potatoes and the onion.

If shredding by hand, use a grater to shred all the potatoes. Dice the onion as finely as possible.

Have ready brown paper shopping bags or paper towels for draining the oil from the latkes. You may also want to have the oven on at 200 F to keep the latkes warm until you’re ready to serve. If serving immediately then just have a baking pan covered with tin foil ready to keep the finished ones warm after they’ve been drained.

In a large mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon or your hands (I use my hands, it’s faster) mix the potatoes and onions with the potato starch until the potatoes have released some moisture and the sornstarch is dissolved, about 2 minutes.

Add the salt and pepper to combine. Add the matzoh meal and mix well. Set aside for about 10 minutes. The mixture should get liquid-y but sticky.

In the meantime, preheat a large preferable cast iron but definitely non-stick skillet over medium heat, a little bit on the high side. Add about 1/4 inch layer of vegetable oil to the pan. The oil is hot enough when you throw a bit of batter in and bubbles rapidly form around it. If it immediately smokes then the heat is too high and you should lower it a bit. If the bubbles are really lazy then give it a few more minutes or turn the heat up a bit.

With wet hands (so that the mixture doesn’t stick) roll into small golf ball sized balls. Flatten into thin round patties. I do about 4 to six at a time. Fry on one side for about 4 minutes, until golden brown. Flip over and fry for another 3 minutes.

Transfer to the paper towels and proceed with the remaining latkes. Once latkes have drained on both sides, place in a baking pan to keep warm.

If you’re sitting on the internet on a Friday night, I think you’re our target audience. Listen to Josh and I discuss groin meats, Fur-Free Friday, Ted Danson, Big Daddy Kane and the proper way to pronounce “Veg Blog.”

Yes, there are other vegan podcasts. But none have yet to cater to the Becker enthusiast! As Josh said on his blog, we plan to do this weekly. Which means you’ll probably be seeing another one in about a month. We’ll also have an actual site and all that soon. This episode, although award winning, was really just testing the waters. I swear. It will get better. And Josh forked up my sound by not wearing headphones, so never mind my echo.

OK, go listen to it! But it might be tricky, so if this link doesn’t work you have to subscribe in I-tunes to listen. Go to the ?Advanced? window then go to ?subscribe to podcast? and then enter this link (feed://www.herbivoremagazine.com/podcast.xml) and it will download to your podcasts library.

Warning: Explicit language and maaaaaybe offensive stuff, too.

Relevant links for this episode:

VegBlog

Brownbird Rudy Relic’s MySpace

Dickmeat

Becker Theme Song

Henry Cavendish on Wikipedia

Jason Bateman on IMDB

Caulk on M-W

When I do a low-fat or fat free recipe I feel like it needs to come with a disclaimer. I’m a feminist. I love how women look in all shapes in sizes. I don’t think women should spend their lives constantly counting calories and striving for society’s idea of perfection. To be blunt, I like fat girls!

That said. I gained a lot of weight over the past 2 years. I’m at a point where I’m not feeling healthy and getting winded walking up my stairs. None of my clothes fit and I am feeling kind of crappy. This doesn’t mean that I hate myself or think I’m ugly, it just means it’s time to lose some weight.

What I do to lose weight is a bastardized version of the Weight Watchers Core program. In a nut shell, it’s limiting refined carbohydrates and fat, and eating high fiber whole foods like grains, legumes, fruits and veggies. Easy enough if you’re vegan, but my biggest issue is baked sweets. I love apples and cantelope as much as the next girl, but I love to bake. I need the smell of brownies in my apartment at least a few times a week or I feel deprived, especially during these dreary gray winter months.

These Brownie Bites are perfect because they are portioned in mini muffin sizes so that when you eat too many, you know exactly how many that is. They’re ready to eat in about 45 minutes, so your craving can be met almost immediately. To bolster their health factor without giving too much of a “health food” taste, I use whole wheat pastry flour. Prunes are pureed with coffee to give the brownies moisture, gooeyness and depth of flavor as well as extra fiber. The prunes give the brownies a backdrop of fruitiness that I think complements the chocolate nicely, and using coffee as the liquid is not only fat and calorie free, but it accentuates the chocolaty-ness as well. I do still use regular sugar because I make them often and agave or maple syrup would be really expensive and I don’t like stevia or splenda so don’t even try to sell me on it. The point for me is not to be a perfect little angel, but to be a perfect little angel that can still eat brownies.

Low Fat Brownie Bites

Makes 24

1 cup fresh brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup prunes (about 12)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine coffee, prunes and flax seeds in a blender. Blend until relatively smooth. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Mix in sugar, canola oil and vanilla until well combined. I just use a fork for this.

Sift in pastry flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix well.

Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Fill each tin most of the way.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, tops should be firm to the touch and rounded.

Remove from oven and serve when cool enough to handle.

I used recipezaar to get the nutritional info.

Farm Sanctuary’s online auction is a go. And yeah, they have other awesome stuff, like a visit to Sarah Silverman’s set, but really, aren’t I just kind of a chubby vegan Sarah Silverman who cooks for you? Does Sarah Silverman cook for you?!

So go bid on me. Although I will totally understand if I get outbid by Pee Wee Herman. Anything to make this little guy quit torturing us with cuteness.

A mound of Fronch toast

I hosted a little brunch in my apartment yesterday. It was really nice to have my friend Amy in the kitchen with me. Even though she was supposed to come over a few hours earlier than she did (ahem), it was nice to have someone take the reigns and make the Fronch toast. I think it’s been a year since I’ve had any sort of soiree and the sad part was that I didn’t even realize it until yesterday.

Lately my cooking endeavors have been a little bit stressful. Twice this year I’ve cooked for 300 people, a few times I did huge brunches for 60, a handful of catering gigs and of course the countless weekends doing food photography for Veganomicon. It’s been awhile since I’ve cooked a nice relaxing meal with friends just for the hell of it. This is my reminder to do so more often.

It was also nice that the Sunday NY Times included Veganomicon in their holiday cookbook wrap up. Grace Paley? My friends are never going to hear the end of it. I’m going to be so annoying they probably won’t even want to come over and eat, so scratch everything.

The Times says:

Moskowitz is a tattooed 34-year-old Brooklynite with punk spirit and an old soul; spending time with her cheerfully politicized book feels like hanging out with Grace Paley. She and her cooking partner, Terry Hope Romero, are as crude and funny when kibbitzing as they are subtle and intuitive when putting together vegan dishes that are full of non-soggy adult tastes ? they throw a lot of capers and Dijon and spices and vinegar and shallots around. Don?t look here for bowls of vegan mush. Do look for an excellent roasted fennel and hazelnut salad, bok choy cooked with crispy shallots and sesame seeds, hot and sour soup with wood ears and napa cabbage and a porcini-wild rice soup they say is ?perfect for serving your yuppie friends.?