All this cookie excitement made me almost forget that Vegan Brunch will be out in just a few weeks! I’m going to share a few recipes with you over the next month and maybe even a video if I can get it together. I know today is Saturday but maybe you’ve got enough time to procure the ingredients in time for Sunday for one of my favorite brunch appetizers, Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes.

Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes
Makes 10
I love the succulent little pieces of tempeh you get when biting into this crisp, flavorful cake. Crab cakes are the inspiration here. I used to spend lots of time in Baltimore and back then pollution in the Chesapeake Bay was a big issue. I think it’s doing much better now and these cakes are a tribute to it. Update: Came to find the Bay is actually doing worse. All the more reason to eat tempeh instead of crabbies!

Make ahead: Make the entire mixture and the remoulade the night before. In the morning, form into cakes and pan fry.

For the cakes:
8 ounces tempeh (use the nori tempeh if you can find it, but plain soy tempeh is fine, too)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bay leaf

3 tablespoons Vegenaisse
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard (stone ground Dijon works, too)
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup very finely chopped red bell pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspooon salt
fresh black pepper
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs, plus extra for dredging
Optional: 1 finely chopped nori sheet or 1 tablespoon kelp granules (if you like a little fishiness)

Oil for pan frying

For the remoulade:
2 tablespoons Vegenaise
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard  (stone ground dijon works, too)
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 teaspoons capers (try not to get too much brine)

Lemon wedges for serving

First we’re going to steam the tempeh to get the bitterness out and also to infuse some flavor with the soy sauce. Crumble the tempeh into a saucier or small pan in little bits. Add the water, soy sauce, oil and bay leaf. The tempeh won’t be fully submerged, but that’s fine. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, let boil for 12 to 15 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated. Stir once during boiling.

Transfer contents to a mixing bowl, remove bay leaf, and mash with a fork. Let cool for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to hasten the cooling process. Make sure the tempeh is barely warm before you proceed, or the cakes may fall apart when you cook them. Add the mayo, mustard, hot sauce, vinegar, chopped bell pepper, spices salt and pepper, and mix well. Add the bread crumbs and nori and use your hands to incorporate.

Once you are ready to form the cakes, preheat a thin layer of oil in a heavy bottomed non-stick skillet (cast iron is great) over medium heat. Pour a few tablespoons of panko into a bowl. Scoop a little less than 1/4 cup batter into your hands and form into a ball. Flatten between your palms and then roll the sides gently with your hands cupped to smooth them. You should have ten 2 1/2 to 3- inch patties. I do them in batches of five. Press them into the panko to lightly coat. They don’t need to be thoroughly covered, just a little bit for some texture.

Fry a batch of five cakes for 4 minutes on one side and flip when dark golden brown. Fry for 2 minutes on the other side and transfer to a paper towel or paper bag to drain. Do your second batch and in the meantime make your remoulade by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Serve with lemon wedges.

 I’m heading to San Francisco this weekend! So all you Bay Area people better hide your tempeh and get to your favorite restaurants early, lest I eat everything. I’m planning on hitting up Millenium, Cafe Gratitude (say what you will, their tiramisu rocks yours), Cha Ya, Udupi Palace and Amici Pizza, which is apparently serving Cheezly pizzas with no extra vegan cheese charge. How swell! (I don’t think I’ve ever used “swell” in a sentence, but it’s the only thing that fit.) I hope to come home with plenty of food porn, but for now feast your eyes on another recipe from the upcoming Vegan Cookies book.

Magical Coconut Cookie Bars
makes 24 very rich little bars

As the song from Xanadu (the movie) goes…you got to believe we are magic, and nothing will stand in our (and your) way once you taste this unapologetically vegany version of the stuff childhood dreams are made of.  Here are the nutty, chocolately, ultra-sweet and buttery-tasting graham-crackery coconut bars you loved so much as a kid. If your childhood was lacking in them, well then these are tastier than therapy for sure. The vegan secret weapon of choice here is cooked-down coconut milk, bringing in even bigger coconut flavor than ever imagined. The ever-elusive vegan butterscotch chip, should you ever have some, makes a sublime addition too.

These bars require a good overnight chilling to really firm them up before slicing, so plan accordingly.

Tip: You’ll want to use only sweetened, fluffy white flaked coconut for these. Save the natural shredded stuff for a healthy curry.

Tip: Press the graham cracker crumb crust like crazy into the pan; the more you pat it down the firmer the resulting crust will be.

One 14 oz can (regular or lite) coconut milk (about 1 3/4 cups)
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups vegan graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup melted margarine
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
2 cups flaked, sweetened coconut
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

In a large saucepan whisk together coconut milk and brown sugar over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mixture may form a thin skin on the surface; just stir it back into the liquid. Remove from heat and let cool while preparing the crust.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, melted margarine and sugar; mix well to moisten crumbs completely. Firmly press mixture into prepared pan, pressing evenly from center to sides of pan.

Pour warm coconut milk mixture evenly over crumb base. Top with an even layer of chocolate chips, flaked coconut and nuts, in that order. Firmly pat everything down until coconut milk mixture soaks upward into the toppings. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until coconut is deeply golden and filling is bubbling, remove from oven and let entire pan cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Transfer pan to the refrigerator to completely cool and firm up for at least 4 hours, even better overnight or until very firm. Use a sharp, heavy knife to run along the edges of bars, slide bars on parchment paper out of pan onto a cutting board then to slice into 24 squares. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator. These also freeze well, tightly wrapped and allowed to thaw for 20 minutes before serving.

Where does the time go? I understand that my 17th year was spent beating Mario Brothers 3 on Nintendo 64, but what about this year? And the one before? I’ve played a little Cooking Mama, but video games can’t be the culprit here.

It’s actually been 5 years since Terry and I made the PPK Passover episode and made “Nazi Punks Fork Off” the official matzoh ball anthem. (Ever notice how few Passover songs there are?) Ever since that fateful day I have been shvitzing like a shlemazl trying to bring you a ferkafte matzoh ball soup recipe that didn’t contain tofu. I was farblonget, farmisht and ferklempt, but I persevered. (Anyone got a good yiddish word for persevering?)

And today I bring you Flaxen Matzoh Balls, via Julie Wiener’s article in the Jewish Week. Also in the article is a tropical spin on the latke made with yucca and a mango salsa. And if you want to do some heavy lifting this Passover, the heeb’n'vegan is always up to something to keep your brain in shape.

Hannukah was heartbreak city for me here in Portland. There were no electrical menorahs anywhere! Bubkis! On my last trip to NYC I safeguarded against the same eventuality for Passover and went on a crap finding mission, procuring Passover ephemera from the LES to the UES. I finally understand how my midwestern Jewish friends felt upon coming to NYC for the first time. Maybe not as romantic as our great grandparents on their ships approaching Ellis Island, but I’m sure their Greyhounds pulling into Port Authority moments to remember, too. Anyway, I found these Passover Masks at the Jewish Museum.

The ten plagues, in convenient mask form!

First off, I caved and joined twitter. So if you want to know what spices I am running low on, today is your lucky day. OK, now I’ll make with the cookies.

It seems that Peanut Butter Pillows won this battle, but the war still rages and I’ll post a few more of your recipe requests in the next few weeks. Right now, though, let’s get down to business. This recipe come straight from the ska checkered oven mitted hands of Terry Hope Romero.

Chocolate and peanut butter fans will totally stalk you once they get a bite of these classic chocolately cookies with a heart of sweet and salty peanut butter. We can’t deny impatience is rewarded here: these cookies when eaten warm just a few minutes out of the oven are dynamite. We use black cocoa powder because we happen to have it, but dutch processed or even regular cocoa powder would be A-OK.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows
makes 2 dozen cookies

Chocolate dough:

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons non-dairy milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder

2 tablespoons black unsweetened cocoa or more dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

3/4 cup natural salted peanut butter, crunchy or creamy style

2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons soy creamer or non-dairy milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar, maple syrup, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa if using, baking soda and salt. Mix to form a moist dough.

Make the filling. In another mixing bowl beat together peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons of soy creamer and vanilla extract to form a moist but firm dough. If peanut butter dough is too dry (as different natural peanut butters have different moisture content), stir in remaining tablespoon of non-dairy milk. If dough is too wet knead in a little extra powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line bakings sheet with parchment paper.

Shape the cookies. Create the centers of the cookies by rolling the peanut butter dough into 24 balls. Scoop a generous tablespoon of chocolate dough, flatten into a disc and place a peanut butter ball in the center. Fold the sides of the chocolate dough up and around the peanut butter center and roll the chocolate ball into an smooth ball between your palms. Place on a sheet of waxed paper and repeat with remaining doughs. If desired gently flatten cookies a little, but this is not necessary.

Place dough balls on lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to complete cooling. Store cookies in tightly covered container. If desired warm cookies in a microwave for 10 to 12 seconds before serving.

I was on AM Northwest making picnic salads, check it out!

And don’t forget that this salad is incredibly versatile. The basic is idea is something sweet, something hearty and a little sumpin sumpin to pull it all together, in this case cilantro. The dressing is super simple; a little vinegar and oil. All of these components can be filled in by you like one big culinary mad lib.

Just off the top of my head, a great autumn salad might be wheatberries, apples, pecans (toasted, if you want to get crazy), red onions and a little fresh rosemary. Or how about peaches and basil in the summer? Spring is coming and if you find yourself stumped at the farmer’s market, picture my floating head above your shoulder going “graaaaaain salaaaaaad.” It’s creepy, but effective.

The recipes are both in Veganomicon, but they’re also right here, enjoy!

Gingerbread from back in the day

What a difference 4 years makes. When Terry and I made these Gingerbread Punks for a lost episode of Post Punk Kitchen, we seemed to have all the time in the world to mix colors, make leopard spots and paint on fishnets. And, apparently, we didn’t know how to turn off the flash on our camera. My kitchen was so tiny we had to roll the cookies out on the coffee table and balance bowls of neon icing in precarious ways; sometimes on a stack of books, sometimes on a cat - we made do. When I was moving to Portland I actually found one of these cookies in the back of one of my cabinets.

Now we’re 3,000 miles apart, we have dishwashers and counterspace and I can barely muster up a couple of dots for my little gingerbread bread eyes. But whether you’re going all out or part of the gingerbread minimalist movement, this recipe is a surefire winner that will have you singing Christmas carols under your breath and then looking around to make sure no one heard you.

Modern minimalist gingerbread guys

Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies
Makes about 16 cookies (depending on the size of your cutters)

1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup plain soymilk

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour (or a mix of both)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

spice blend:
1/2 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

Directions
In a large bowl whisk together oil and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add molasses and soymilk. The molasses and soymilk won’t really blend with the oil but that’s ok.

Sift in all of the other dry ingredients, mixing about half way through. When all of the dry ingredients are added, mix until a stiff dough is formed. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or up to 3 days in advance. If you chill longer than an hour you may want to let it sit for 10 minutes to warm up a bit before proceeding.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease your cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutters and use a thin spatula to gently place on cookie sheets. If you are using them to decorate a tree or something, remember to punch a hole in their heads (!) before baking. Bake for 8 minutes.

Remove from oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a cooling rack. Wait until they are completely cool before icing.

The chipotle has got to be this decade’s sundried tomato. Barely glance a menu and you’ll catch it weaseling its way into soups, sauces, omelets, even desserts. But the chipotle’s pervasive stature is not unearned. Its smoky heat adds so much flavor to anything it touches you’d be hard pressed not to reach for it when you want to whip up something fast and tasty.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or in Sheepshead Bay), you’ll know that a chipotle is a smoked jalapeno. You can find them dried (just like their tomato predecessors), but more commonly they come stewed in a can with adobo, a vinegary tomato based sauce. I usually remove the seeds before using, that way you can use more chipotles without adding too much heat.

This is another one of those clean out my cupboard and fridge recipes. I had plenty of sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts left over from my holiday festivities and this was a flavorful and filling way to use them up. And no matter how many recipes I write I know deep in my heart that people just want to cook a handful of dishes. Pesto, “meatballs”, mashed potatoes, but above all, chili.

Chipotle Chili With Sweet Potatoes And Brussel Sprouts

Serves 6 to 8

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon coriander seed, crushed
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3 chipotles, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes (2 average sized), peeled and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
12 oz brussels sprouts, quartered lengthwise (about 2 cups)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons new mexico chili powder (or other mild chili powder)
1 32 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
1 16 oz can pintos, rinsed and drained (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Fresh lime juice to taste (about one lime was good for me)

In a soup pot over medium heat, saute onion in olive oil for about 7 minutes, until translucent. Add garlic, coriander seeds, and oregano and saute a minute more. Add remaining ingredients (except for lime juice). Mix well. The sweet potatoes and brussel sprout will be peaking out of the tomato sauce, but don’t worry, they will cook down.

Cover pot and bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer for about half an hour, stirring often, until sweet potatoes and fork tender but not mushy. Squeeze in lime juice to taste and adjust any other seasonings. Let sit uncovered for at least 10 minutes before eating.

Earlier this month Chad mentioned that he wanted key lime pie. And if you say something like that around me, you are going to get a key lime pie. Especially if you keep repeating it and staring at me. And following me around. So yeah, he got a key lime pie, or something like that. I don’t know where to find key limes right now, and those are too hard to zest anyway. Regular old limes worked just beautifully.

You can see that I used a store bought crust here, but when I am experimenting with a new recipe that has temperamental ingredients like agar, I don’t want to waste my precious energy on making a crust. Don’t judge me. Luckily, it worked out with the first shot. If it hadn’t I was planning on pieing someone with it. In any case, a graham cracker crust would be great choice, too.

The texture resembles a creamy panna cotta. There’s no tofu here, it’s a coconut milk base but the coconut flavor wasn’t strong enough to warrant a title change. The flavor is pucker your lips tangy, and will definitely satisfy the lime lover in your life. Remember to zest your limes before squeezing out the juice. It took me 8 small limes to get the right amount of everything, your mileage my vary.

Latchkey Lime Pie

Makes one 9 or 10 inch pie

1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
2/3 cups fresh lime juice
1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons agar flakes (or two teaspoons agar powder and skip the soaking step)
1 16 oz can coconut milk at room temperature
2 tablespoons tapioca flour (or try it with corn starch or arowroot - but I like tapioca best)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 9 inch prepared pie crust

In a small sauce pan, soak the agar in almond milk for about 15 minutes. Bake your pie crust for 8 to 10 minuties, then remove from oven to cool.

In the meantime, mix together coconut milk, tapioca, sugar and vanilla. It’s really important that your coconut milk is at room temperature so that it doesn’t affect the agar when you add it to the pot.

After soaking agar, turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Keep a close eye so that it doesn’t boil over. Immediately reduce heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes, until agar is dissolved. If using powdered it will only take about 5 minutes to dissolve.

Once dissolved (you can check by dipping in a tablespoon and seeing if there are any agar flakes left), very slowly whisk in the coconut mixture and then the lime juice and zest. Adding it too fast will make the agar gel up, which you don’t want it to do just yet. Once added, whisk often for about 10 minutes, until mixture has thickened. If it isn’t thickening, turn the heat up just a bit, but you don’t want it to boil.

Pour into pie shell and let cool on the counter for about half an hour, just so that it isn’t steaming like mad. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, until fully set. Garnish with lime slices. Serve with some vegan whipped cream, store bought or do the coconut whipped cream thing. (scroll down)

Milk & Cookies. It’s like they have to have the ampersand to connect them, writing out a-n-d would just ruin everything.

I don’t know that there is a more comforting snack. Not like best friend died, global warming, McCain is president comfort; but just like early evening, fluffy slippers, had sort of a non-descript day, gonna watch dvds kind of comfort. But I feel like an idiot even talking about chocolate chip cookies, it’s not like they’re a hard sell.

Despite evidence to the contrary, I don’t love to use Earth Balance when I bake. I’ve been working on my Earth Balance-free dream chocolate chip cookie recipe for longer than I want to admit. They’re crinkly on the top, a little crispy on the bottom and soft in the center. And for milk make mine almond, unsweetened, thanks. As an added bonus, you just need one bowl for mixing. Great for those of you in the no dishwasher set.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes two dozen two inch cookies or about 16 three inch cookies

1/2 brown sugar
1/4 white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

Mix together sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important that you don’t get lazy about that step. Mix in the vanilla.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stuff so use your hands to really work them in.

For 3 inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes - no more than 9 - until they are just a little browned around the edges. I usually get 16 out of these so I do two rounds of eight cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

For 2 dozen two inch cookies roll dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches and bake for only six minutes.

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.