Thanks to everyone who came out for the House Of Dreams benefit dinner Friday night! It went so well that we are going to make it a regular thing. We’ll pick a different local animal organization each time. As Michelle and I were shopping for the tchotchkes for the tables we thought that that might be a good way to decide which cause to support. If we’re going by animal figurines then pigs and bunnies are the front runners.

We’ll be putting up a new site soon, specifically for the benefit dinners, but it won’t stop there - we’ll also give you all the info you need to set up dinners like these in your community. Because we’re all knowledge spready like that.

Vegan Addict posted a review of sorts of the whole thing, so check that out, too!

Pics from Katie Sweetpea:

Cornbread stuffing with homemade sausages in a baked acorn squash. Also, smoky grilled tempeh with mushroom ragout over kale.

Kitty cat gingerbread cookie over caramelized apples with ice cream and caramel sauce. I didn’t have time to make the ice cream myself. Oops.

Salad with toasted walnuts, red bartletts, roasted golden beets and caramelized shallots

Heather and Lisa building salads

Ummmm, that wasn’t on the menu!

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Meerkat manor

Halloween is coming and for the first time in my life I have an orange cat AND a black cat AND an orange and black cat. So I am all set. But YOU. You are probably wondering what kinds of thematically appropriate comestibles to prepare. Well, I ain’t got nothing for you. But as usual, the rest of the internet does!

Last weekend kittee made Samhain inspired sushis for the Iron Chef Challenge. Zomg, how forking cute are these?

Wing it Vegan is doing an entire month of Halloween foods so I don’t even know where to begin. I guess with her latest post: Halloweegan Meatloaf Scramble With Mashed Potato Ghosts. But honestly, that is just the tip of the iceberg of mindblowing cuteness and startling innovation, so take the day off from work and read all of her Halloween posts. Heck, take the week off. Tell ‘em I said so.

Musings from the Fishbowl offers us some scaradorable skeleton cookies. Hewwo wittle skewwy poo. Pwease haunt me.

EatnVegn shares a few Halloween posts from years past. I thought this was particularly cool - spiderweb creme for your soup! Also, note the dedication. She hasn’t missed a day of blogging since MoFo began!

And no Halloween is complete without a little Tracy Jordan.

I made this for the VeganMofo Iron Chef challenge last week but I’m only getting around to posting it now. Not because I didn’t have time, I always think that excuse is bullshit no matter who says it, but because I am so overwhelmed with stuff that I’m forced to sit on the couch and watch 30 Rock marathons like a deer caught in headlights. But I really loved this stuffing so I am going to go ahead and tell you about it - better late than never!

I almost caved and made something sweet out of the challenge ingredients - which were pears and nuts. How badly I wanted an almond pear tart or pear and pecan muffins. But I stuck to the mysterious and unnecessary promise I made to myself of only savory dishes for the Iron Chef challenges and then there I was - stuffing!

I have to admit the stuffing I grew up on was the boxed variety that comes to life in a pot of boiling water much like one of those sponge animals that’s born in a capsule and grows before your very eyes. And I actually like that boxed stuff, that is the sad part - I have no quarrel with the taste. But it’s one of those things, like fast food french fries, that I know is a government plot to short circuit our tastebuds and beat them into culinary submission. Making my own stuffing is definitely a part of breaking free THX1138 style or whatever dystopia you choose.

Using fruit in stuffing is a time honored tradition and doesn’t make the stuffing as sweet as you might think. It adds a bit of a cidery taste and heightens the flavors of thyme and sage. Toasting the pecans intensifies the flavor and makes them pretty addictive - make a few extra just to pop into your mouth.

I stuffed my stuffing into a baked acorn squash half and that was pretty awesome, but you can just use it as a side or in any other way people use stuffing. And here’s a tip: make the cornbread into muffins so that they bake faster and cool faster so you can get dinner on the table faster.

Cornbread Stuffing With Pears And Pecans

Serves 8

1 recipe PPK cornbread or Veganomicon cornbread or your favorite recipe from a 9×13 pan

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cippolini onions, diced medium (use whatever onion you like - about 2 cups once chopped)

1 cup pecans

1/4 cup chopped fresh thyme (keep the soft stems on, just ditch the woody ones)

1/2 teaspoon celery seed
2 teaspoons dried sage

1 teaspoon salt
fresh black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup vegetable broth

2 red bartlett pears, sliced in 1/4 inch slices (use whatever pear you’ve got)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Cut cornbread into roughly 3/4 inch pieces. Place on a baking sheet and toast for about 15 minutes, flipping about halfway through. Remove from oven.

In the meantime, toast the pecans. Preheat a large heavy bottomed pan over medium low heat. Add the pecans and toast for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until they smell toasty and are a few shades darker. Transfer to a bowl and roughly chop once cooled - I like to keep the pieces relatively large.

In the same pan over medium heat, saute onion in olive oil for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Add the herbs to the pan and saute for about a minutes. Add the cornbread and spinkle in salt and pepper. Mix with a spatula, it’s fine if you break the cornbread up with a spatula a bit. Drizzle in the oil and vegetable broth. If it seems to dry add a little extra veggie broth.

Fold in the apples and pecans. Transfer to a lightly greased 9×13 pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.

And don’t forget to check out what everyone else came up with last week. This weeks challenge is hosted by kittee and she chose sushi, which I’m afraid I am going to miss.

You asked for vegan coats that aren’t army surplus and Vaute Couture listened! Now it’s time to vote for your favorite design. Choose wisely! There will be three coats produced - one from each category. You’re not just choosing your own fate but the fate of the entire free vegan world.

I’m not playing favorites, but…

I will lay myself bare and stand humbly before you, for here dear reader was my lunch today. Meatball salad. With Trader Joe’s vegetarian meatballs.

But, just listen, ok?

The really awesome part of this salad is the dressing and so let’s not get caught up in all that he said she said who did what to who crap. Mistakes were made but let’s move on. I don’t remember exactly how this incarnation of the meatball salad came to be, but I do know that Josh and Michelle were joking about eating a meatball salad with the premise being that it was a laughable idea. But people put all kinds of stuff in salad. I mean, we have this idea that it either has to be something hippie like sprouts or something fancy like shaved fennel. But when I want salad, especially for lunch, I want something really substantial and really healthy. I don’t want to shove a bunch of green stuff in my face just for the sake of it, I want something that makes it seem that each leaf is a gift. Nature’s potato chip, if you must. I want to keep wanting more and more. But I don’t want all the fat, calories and other miscellany indiscretions that come with most dressings. An unhealthy salad makes me feel awkward, apprehensive and just a little bit horrified. Sort of the same reaction I get from “tween fashion.” 12 year olds in heels? No thanks!

When we think meatballs we think pasta and lots of red sauce and garlic and so forth. You don’t want to dump a thing of marinara sauce on your salad, though, as tempting as it might sound. A nice fresh tomato dressing really does the job of refining the meatball salad concept. Ripe juicy tomatoes, a little fresh garlic and bright green fresh oregano really make you feel like your slurping up a forkful of spaghetti but in salad form. You can use any vegan meatballs that you like - try the tofu balls in the ppk database or the beanballs in Veganomicon. Or if it’s lunchtime and you’re feeling kinda like “fork it!” you can just use the store bought stuff. Just don’t tell them I sent you.

This recipe is enough for 2 gigantic servings of salad. Add your favorite greens and veggies - in this picture I used mushrooms, red onions, cucumbers and radishes.

Fresh Tomato Dressing
Serves 2

1 lb tomatoes (about 3 average sized guys)
2 teaspoons fresh chopped oregano
1 or 2 garlic cloves, very well minced (it’s going to be raw so go easy)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
fresh black pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Chop the tomatoes up fairly small, immediately adding them to a mixing bowl so that not much liquid escapes. Add the remaining ingredients and use your hands (or a fork if you’re all uptight) to mush everything up really well. Let sit for 10 minutes or so to let the flavors meld. Smother your meatball salad and enjoy!

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT! Thanks to everyone for your incredible support. We’ll be having a December benefit for doggies so check back soon.

Join me at Sweetpea Bakery for a 4 course dinner to benefit Portland’s House of Dreams, an awesome no-kill kitty shelter going through some tough times.

These are my kitties, not shelter kitties, but kitties are kitties, right?

A few Sweetpea, Herbivore and Food Fight staffers and I will be transforming the bakery into a candlelit bistro for the evening and serving a seasonal, organic, intimate, four course vegan dinner for 40. Please see all the info below the menu for ticket purchasing info, and I bet any other questions you have will be answered. If not, then email me at postpunkkitchen@gmail.com. Thanks everyone, I’m excited to cook for you and I hope to see you there.

Menu
Soup
White Bean And Roasted Garlic
A puree of navy beans and sweet smoky roasted garlic with leeks and fresh herbs

Salad
Golden Beet And Shallot
Warm roasted golden beets and baby greens in a creamy vinaigrette with caramelized shallots and a handful of toasted walnuts

Main
Autumn Plate
Cornbread and homemade sausage stuffed acorn squash, smoky grilled tempeh in a wild mushroom ragout served with garlicky purple kale

Dessert
Caramelized Apples
Warm apples in a caramelized maple sauce, served with crisp gingerbread shortbread and topped with homemade coconut based vanilla bean ice cream

Housemade hot chai will be served. Please bring your own beer and wine.

When:
Friday, October 24th. Please arrive between 8pm and 8:30 for a reception with House Of Dreams volunteers. Dinner will be served at 9pm.

Where:
Sweetpea Bakery
1205 SE Stark off SE 12th Ave
Google Map

Ticket Prices
Since seating limited, you must buy tickets in advance to attend the night’s festivities. Tickets are a sliding scale, from 40 to 100 dollars. Diners who pay 60 dollars or more will also be receiving a House Of Dreams 2009 calendar and a discount coupon for Herbivore. 100% of the proceeds go to the House Of Dreams shelter.

To Purchase Tickets
To purchase tickets, paypal 40 to 100 dollars to postpunkkitchen@gmail.com. Print out your thank you email, this will be your ticket when you arrive to the dinner.

Seating
If you are buying tickets for more than yourself, please put their names in the paypal comments and a table will be arranged for you. If you would like to sit with people in addition to the ones you are purchasing tickets for, please put their names in the comments as well, and let me know that you want to sit with them. If you are flying solo, you may end up sitting with strangers. But we promise that they will be fascinating strangers.

Allergies And Substitutions
If you require a gluten free dinner, your entree will come with tempeh instead of sausage and your baked ingredients will be made gluten free. If you have any other allergies please email me at postpunkkitchen@gmail.com and we’ll see what we can do. You must put your dietary concerns in the paypal comments in order to be accommodated.

Alcohol
Please bring your own beer and wine.

Any other questions? Just email me! postpunkkitchen@gmail.com. Thanks!

I want to remind everyone that they don’t have to blog about food they cook that day. I see a lot of posts starting with “Sorry, I didn’t cook today so…” But it doesn’t matter, don’t apologize. Just talk about food. If you didn’t cook that’s a great opportunity to talk about your favorite spatula or your garden or maybe something that has nothing to do with you. Maybe a grain or maybe how apples were represented in mythology from different cultures. Dig deep! There’s so much out there, some of it might not be that obvious but might get you to do your best writing. I hope that doesn’t sounds like chastising, because who the hell am I to chastise? I just don’t want people dropping out because they think they’re doing it wrong or something.

And now for the round-up! Lots of people are blogging about grains. I was a strictly quinoa girl through most of my twenties and then began to broaden my horizons and regret all those nights where I didn’t eat millet. Don’t let the same fate befall you. Carpe Diem! Seize the grain.

Carla at Year Of The Vegan proves that she can do more than just rice.

Lisa at Show Me Vegan prepares a scrumptious looking polenta dish with black beans, sweet potatoes and green zebras (the tomatoes, silly!)

This is a great tip from B36 kitchen, use leftover grains in your veggie burgers. She uses millet in this creation.

Lillet and Trey describe collards and quinoa as the Starsky & Hutch of Good For You Goodness. I couldn’t agree more! Quinoa and collards  love a good car chase.

Shellyfish sings the praises of bulghur and describes how she throws together a grainy salad.

I can kind of see “finishing salts” as the punchline for some redneck stand up. I can see Sarah Palin disparaging it at a town hall meeting - Joe Six Pack isn’t puttin’ any of your city salts on his potatoes. But Joe Six Pack doesn’t know what he’s missing out on!

Salt is a very personal thing - everyone has their perfect salt point, what the Germans call piekenseltzen. Actually, I just made that phrase up, but I am sure the French have a word for it. You need to incorporate salt into your dish while it’s cooking, be it a sauce or a soup or a marinade. But I am typically an undersalter because once on the plate, it’s easy enough to sprinkle on to your liking.

These fancy shmancy boutique salts go a long way to adding new dimensions to your food. I have a few favorites I’m gonna’ share with you so that you too can feel like a big yuppie.

Smoked Salt

Smoked salt is perfect for roasting vegetables. If you have the option of choosing a grind, keep it coarse so that the salt holds its shape while roasting. A few of my favorite veggies to sprinkle smoked salt on are cauliflower, eggplant and baby potatoes. I also love it sprinkled on juicy, sliced tomatoes. There are so many varieties of smoked salt but my two favorites are applewood and hickory. That just refers to the kind of wood used to smoke it.

Black Salt

Yeah, black salt is actually pink. Nothing gets passed you, does it? This is what started it all for me. I had heard that the sulfuric taste of black salt was akin to egg yolks and I had to try it. And it’s true - the taste is pretty much identical, making this salt perfect for tofu “egg” salads. I also use it in my omelet recipe. But I try not to go too crazy with it - the taste is very strong and you might be paying for it hours afterwards. I usually get this in a medium grind, because sometimes I want it to dissolve completely and sometimes I want it to stay a little crunchy. My friend Eppy swears by black salt and avocado, which I’m sure is good but I haven’t tried it. There are other kinds of black salt but the kind you want is Indian black salt, also called kala namak. You can often find it in Indian grocery stores for much cheaper than at a foo-foo shop.

Truffle Salt

This is my most prized possession and probably the salt that I use the most. Truffle salt is a blend of dried, ground truffle and sea salt, but the truffle taste is incredibly strong and earthy - exotic even. Pretend you’re a millionaire and sprinkle some on your pastas, your sandwiches, your pate, your risotto. I sometimes add them to my portobellos, as if they weren’t scrumptious and mushroom-y enough. In Portland you can often pick this up at farmer’s markets but if you’re purchasing it at a salt shop ask for it because it usually goes by some French name that I don’t remember. I like a fine grind for truffle salt so that it dissolves quickly and the flavor gets everywhere.

Well, those are my favorites. I know I was making a big display about what an upper class twit you are if you buy these things, but in reality they are a pretty economical way to add flavor. My one ounce bag of truffle salt cost 3 bucks and lasts months, even though I use it a lot. Happy saltin’, you Joe Forty Ouncers!

The stars of the hour, apple and ginger!

You know a dish is a keeper when you don’t want to wash your hands for hours afterwards because they smell so delicious.

When Katie announced this week’s Iron Chef Challenge ingredients I knew that I couldn’t go with the obvious, so I immediately crossed any and all baked goods off my imaginary list. But I’m still a little embarrassed that I came up with my dish because Peter Brady popped into my head, “Pork chops and appleshauche, porkchops and appleshauche…” Obviously, my Peter Brady was a vegan one.

I wanted a tender seitan. Not soft exactly - toothsome but not tough. I’ve been wanting to try chickpea flour in the Veganomicon seitan recipe instead of nutritional yeast and it really did the trick - exactly what I wanted. Simmered seitan was the way to go here because baking or steaming would give too stiff a texture. Once simmered and cooled, I sliced them lengthwise in kind of a diagonal to create a more organic shape because I wasn’t up for eating any right angles or geometry of any sort.

I used whole wheat panko to coat the cutlets, with lots of fresh rosemary and pan fried in olive oil to get a crispy on the outside, tender on the inside bite. You have got to love the aroma or fresh rosemary in the frying pan.

And finally - the star of the evening! Thick slices of rome apples with a little maple syrup and brown sugar and loads and loads of fresh minced ginger. I threw in a handful or dried cranberries and baked until tender and just a little caramelized. I also made a separate pan of crispy sauteed shallots for another dimension of savory with a hint of sweet. And then I smothered it all over the chops. And it was good.

It looks like a hot mess but I didn’t feel like taking a lot of time to set it up, I really wanted to eat it - I served with sweet and salty maple baby carrots, brown basmati and sauteed purple kale

Seitan Chops Smothered In Apples And Ginger

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I’m heading out to the FarMar* so that I can pick up my ingredients for the first MoFo Iron Chef challenge - apples and ginger. I added the FlickR Photo Group to the feed so it should be bumped to the top of the list whenever you add a new photo. Join the group so that you can add your photos. And kittee created a Google reader feed. You can log in and read your MoFos that way, or export the list to your own reader. If none of that makes sense, just read the thread about it. If it still doesn’t make sense, I don’t know, don’t worry about it!

I’ve got apples on the brain today, so this round up if all about everyone’s favorite fruit (apples, duh!)

Tami at Vegan Appetite interviews her mom about apples & sausages. A combination that apparently exists.

Neta at Vegan Fun uses a La Dolce Vegan pancake recipe to craft Apple Pie Pancakes.

Do you remember your first time? Watch Laura at Peace By Pastries as she consummates her first apple pie.

*Farmer’s Market to those of you that don’t know all the vegan street lingo of the day.