Minutes before my adorable former student, Maddie Jonson–now at UVA–arrived for lunch and a demo of Cutco knives which she is selling this summer (and is incredibly successful!), Mninnie decided to help me out by cleaning the skillet.
Look at her “little” tucked tail…she knows she’s being a very naughty girl! (I hope her papa doesn’t see this.)
Yield: 48 
crackers and 1 cup of marmalade
This pairing was inspired by those old-fashioned cheddar shortbread crackers kicked up with a little cayenne and served with pepper jelly in kitchens across the South.
With tomatoes and blackberries at the peak of freshness at a local farm market, I created this glistening marmalade to showcase them both in place of the pepper jelly. Thinking of Chinese dishes with tomatoey and fruit-infused sauces, I decided to combine the two with some hints of Asia to transform my farm market haul.
My take on the ubiquitous cheddar shortbread gets its rich flavor from smoked almonds and nutritional yeast, which may seem a little odd given the Asian direction of the marmalade, but there was a method to my madness, namely that almonds are frequently used in Chinese cooking. What about the smokiness? I have an answer for that too: smoked tofu sometimes seen on Chinese menus. Does it work? My lunch guest and I think so, but you be your own judge.
Vegan Smoky “Cheddar” Shortbread Crackers
1/2 cup smoked almonds (feel free to use plain almonds–or any nut really–if you prefer not to have a smoky taste)
2 cups white whole wheat flour or 1 cup unbleached all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat flour (you can also try using all whole wheat flour, though I’ve not tested it that way)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4-1/2 cayenne pepper or to taste
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup vegan butter, broken into small pieces
Accompaniment: Vegan Asian-Scented Tomato-Blackberry Marmalade or your favorite marmalade, pepper jelly, or chutney.
Place almonds in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. Add remaining ingredients, in order, and then continue pulsing until dough pulls away from the sides and starts to come together in a ball. Divide dough into quarters, knead each one a few times in your palms, and then roll into a cylinder 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Wrap each in plastic wrap and set on a plate or baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least an hour or up to 3 days. (May alternatively be frozen for a month and thawed before slicing and cooking.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one or two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. (If one, bake in two batches.) With a sharp knife, cut logs into 1/3-inch slices and place coins 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on the sheet and then remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers. Serve with desired accompaniment.
Vegan Asian-Scented Tomato-Blackberry Marmalade
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, but into 1/4-inch dice
pinch of sea salt
generous 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, rinsed, drained, and quartered
2 large garlic cloves
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated (I use a microplane grater)
1/2 cup red table wine (or a non-alcoholic variety)
1/4 cup natural sugar
2 teaspoons Chinese mustard (I like the “extra hot”)
1 tablespoon vegan fish sauce (sold as vegetarian fish sauce in Asian markets)
1 teaspoon soy sauce (I use a low sodium variety)
1/4 teaspoon sweet Paprika
generous 1 1/2 cup fresh blackberries, rinsed and drained
2 star anise pods
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil to shimmering. Add onion and a pinch of salt and saute, stirring frequently, until some color develops, approximately 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic and ginger, and saute, stirring frequently, until tomato begins to break down, approximately another 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except blackberries and simmer, stirring occasionally, an additional 3 minutes. Add blackberries and simmer, stirring occasionally for another 15 mnutes or until blackberries break down and mixture becomes pulpy. Reduce heat if necessary to prevent from sticking or scorching. Remove the skillet from the heat and cool to room temperature. Serve about 1 teaspoon dolloped on each cracker. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
The good folks at FARM have gone and done it again…featured one of the recipes from The Blooming Platter (vegan) Cookbook in their MEATOUT MONDAY eNewsletter.
I love FARM, I love this recipe and I love serving it in my late beloved grandmother, Virginia White’s (“Nana”), tea cups that I inherited.
Thanks, FARM!
Yield: 4 small-medium beet cakes (4 appetizer servings)
Ravishingly beautiful in color and tantalizing in taste, these beet cakes were created to us pureed beets and beet juice leftover after making my Vegan Whoopie Pies.
Plus, friends had invited us to a steak (ick) restaurant last night where I ate an heirloom tomato and arugula salad and a dab of sauteed spinach, portabellas and onions. Needless to say, I was hungry when I woke up and starving my a decent brunch hour, so I got this idea and went with it. Oooh, I’m so glad I did, and I hope you are.
Beet Cakes:
1-15 ounce can beets, drained, juice reserved (if you want to use fresh beets, trim about 2-3 of them, place them in a 1-quart saucepan covered with water, cover, bring to a simmer over medium-high, and cook until fork-tender, about 20-30 minutes; drain, reserving liquid, and peel)
1/4 cup self-rising flour
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour (or unbleached all-purpose; feel free to try whole wheat; the results will be slightly more toothsome)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons beet juice at room temperature
2 green onions, thinly sliced (both white and green parts)
Vegan butter and olive oil for frying (I like Earth Balance butter)
Garnishes: vegan sour cream and chopped pistachios
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, puree beets until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Remove 1/4 cup puree; store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to warm. Make pancakes: in a medium mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients, including spices. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in beet juice. Whisk together until well combined. Stir in the slice green onion. In a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the vegan butter, olive oil or a combination. Using 1/4 of the batter (about 3-4 tablespoons), make beet cakes, four at a time. Cook two-three minutes on the first side until you get a nice rise, a few bubbles appear, and the edges appear set. Gently flip and cook another couple of minutes on the reverse. Add butter and/or oil to keep the skillet greased as needed. If beet cakes are cooking too quickly, lower the heat to medium, especially for the second side. When cooked through, remove cakes to plates or a platter, keep warm, and make Beet-Pomegranate Reduction (below). Serve each beet cake topped with a spoonful of the sauce, a dab of vegan sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped pistachios. Sprigs of cilantro would also be nice.
Beet-Pomegranate Reduction
Remaining beet juice (about 1/3-1/2 cup)
pinch garlic powder
pinch onion powder
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (available at Mediterranean/Middle Eastern markets; you may use light molasses, maple syrup, balsamic reduction, etc., which would still be tasty, but would definitely have a different flavor)
Place beet juice, and both garlic and onion powder in a 1-quart saucepan. Boil vigorously for several minutes or until reduced by half. Stir in pomegranate molasses and heat through. Serve immediately drizzled over beet cakes.
You’ll find other delicious pancakes elsewhere on this blog and in The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes.
Yield: 12 Whoopie Pies
I’m a southern gal and we didn’t grow up knowing what Whoopie Pies were. But now I know I missed out! These New England comfort snacks are all the rage and it’s easy to see why: what’s not to like about a fluffy white filling sandwiched between two cake layers that look more like cookies?
So, seduced into trying my hand by the appealing-looking version that Starbucks sells, I set about yesterday to create vegan Red Velvet Whoppie Pies but without all of that red dye. My plan was to use a can of beets that has been in our pantry for I don’t know how long. Why this seasonal cook had canned beets in her possession can only be explained by something like hurricane preparedness!
It turns out that the color is just not intense enough to turn the batter red. The puree and juice look ruby red, but they become much more subdued in the batter, which is okay, as it just makes these chocolately Whoopie Pies a warmer brown color. I think beet powder would do the trick, so I plan to experiment.
The trouble with canned beets as a food item is that they are virtually devoid of nutrition except a tiny bit of protein. I suppose they contain micro-nutrients, but those aren’t listed on the label. However, they do contain carbohydrate, a wonderful texture, sweet flavor, and the previously mentioned bit of protein, so they seemed perfect for adding body to my Whoppie Pies, red color or not…and they were! Hope you agree!
Pies:
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup unsweetened or plain soymilk
1-15 ounce can beets, drained, 2 tablespoons of juice reserved (if you want to use fresh beets, trim about 2-3 of them, place them in a 1-quart saucepan covered with water, cover, bring to a simmer over medium-high, and cook until fork-tender, about 20-30 minutes; drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of liquid, and peel)
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups white whole wheat flour (or unbleached all purpose)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Make soy “buttermilk” by whisking apple cider vinegar into soymilk and setting it aside to curdle. Whisk again before using. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, puree beets until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Remove 1/2 cup puree; if there are any leftovers, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Place puree, 2 tablespoons of juice, oil, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat about 1-2 minutes or until completely combined and sugar starts to dissolve. Then add flour, in three parts, alternating with “buttermilk,” beating only enough after each addition to incorporate ingredients.
Using heaping tablespoons (I like to use the traditional fairly shallow measuring spoon, as the shape is perfect) make 24 “patty” shapes, 12 per baking sheet. Avoid crowding them and bake in two batches if necessary, though they won’t spread much. Bake about 12 minutes until the “cookies” are firm, but not crisp. They should be about the consistency of a cupcake top. Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheets and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely, covered with a dish towel.
Filling:
6 ounces vegan cream cheese
4 1/2 tablespoons vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter at medium to medium-high speed, until smooth and fluffy. Beat in extracts followed by powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time, starting the speed on low and gradually increasing. Keep beating until the mixture is very smooth and somewhat fluffy.
Turn half of pies upside down and, using a tablespoon, dollop frosting evenly among them. You can coax the frosting to the edge with a spoon or spatula or, do as I do, and just gently press the top half of the pie down to squeeze the frosting to the edges. I like to wrap them individually in plastic wrap, store them in the refrigerator, but let them come to room temperature before serving.
Note 1: If you want to dress them up a bit, as in the photo, just melt some vegan chocolate chips in the microwave (about 1 minute at 20 second intervals) and, using a small spoon, just drizzle the melted chocolate over the tops and allow to harden before wrapping/storing.
Note 2: These stack nicely in a wine sack for gift-giving.
Yield: 3 dozen cookies
A small number of almost over-ripe plums gave rise to this unusual and unusually good cookie. The plums provide mostly moisture in addition to subtle flavor and color, not to mention added nutrition–as do the walnuts– to an otherwise decadent treat.
To create this recipe, I started with my go-to brownie batter, omitting the water/coffee and adding plum puree plus a tiny bit of baking soda. The results are plum delicious! Note: I only had a few plums, so I made one-fourth of this recipe. It quarters or halves very nicely.
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (or unbleached white flour)
2 cups natural sugar
1 cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cups canola oil (this sounds like a lot, but you’ll need it)
2 cups very ripe pitted plums, pureed in food processor until fairly smooth
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups vegan chocolate chips (I like Trader Joe’s–what a great value!)
2 cups chopped walnuts plus 36 extra halves or large pieces for garnish, one per cookie, if desired
Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Line a baking sheet with Silpat or parchment paper and set aside. (Line two if you have them, or bake the cookies in two batches.) In a large mixing bowl, stir together all ingredients, except chocolate chips and nuts just until well combined. The dough should be just slightly stiffer than brownie batter. Stir in chips and nuts. Spoon tablespoon-size mounds of dough onto prepared sheet, about 2 inches apart. (I use a very traditionally-shaped shallow tablespoon measure, as I like the ration of height to width.) Bake 12 minutes. Check after 8 and after 10. They should be set, but shiny in some spots, as they will continue to cook after they are removed from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool slightly until they are easy to handle and then use a metal spatula to remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
On Amazon recently, I stumbled across a review for The Blooming Platter Cookbook written by one Terri Lynn Merritts.
It read like something my mother would have written(!) only Terri and I don’t know each other…or we didn’t until I sought her out on FB after reading her high praise.
Her words are music to my ears:
“I am seriously impressed with the recipes in Betsy DiJulio’s new book THE BLOOMING PLATTER COOKBOOK”…These are some of the most elegant and impressive recipes I have ever seen collected between two covers yet each one is easy doable by any cook. Betsy DiJulio has done an incredible job of sharing recipes you cannot find in any other cookbook. This is a truly unique, must-have cookbook.”
Thank you, Terri.
Hi everyone~
I just signed up for VegNews Magazine’s free online VegNewsletter and wanted to encourage you to do the same!
While you’re at it, you might want to subscribe to the actual magazine; it’s a great deal at only $20 per year with discounts for 2 and 3 year subscriptions.
The range of content is amazing. Vegan food and wine is just the start. There is travel and fashion and, well, news on a host of topics as the title suggests.
Speaking of food and wine, the current issue features a recipe from The Blooming Platter Cookbook! It’s my Mango Coconut Sorbet, a summertime favorite.
Thanks to all the folks at VegNews for including The Blooming Platter in VegNewsletter; it’s such an honor! I can’t wait to meet all of you on my trip to San Francisco next week!
For us, July 4 has never been about BBQs or really even hanging out with friends. In fact, I can’t remember what I’ve done on most of these holidays. I do remember one July 4, just after graduate school when I still lived in Nashville, going berry picking with my roommate and good friend to this day, Mary Gattis. Other than that, I’m blank.
Today was no different. I worked until about 2:3o and then, while my husband smoked a cigar (I know; I can’t do anything with him) and read on the deck, I spent about 4 methodical hours in our garden. We live on an acre and a half of wooded marsh-front property from which we removed only enough trees to build our house.
Because we live on the marsh, I’m sensitive to run-off issues related to lawns, so no lawn! I also didn’t want a lawn because they are such resource hogs. I opted instead for rock gardens with planting beds in our narrow back and side yard s(our property is long and narrow with a 200-foot driveway and our house situated sideways), and a dry creek bed, raised berms, and other plantings with a quasi-Asian feel in the front yard and along the street.
Soon I’ll post some photos of the improvements I made today using plants I’d purchased yesterday and according to a plan that has been a long time in coming. Also partially responsible for the new look are 25 (!) canna lilies I found on a dog walk–rhizomes still attached–stacked next to someone’s curb waiting to be discarded! The basic structure of the landscape was created with the help of a landscape designer about three years ago, but there were some things I wanted to change, yet a solution had been eluding me.
Anyway, that’s a long way of saying that I was glad that I had made fresh Beet Muhummara yesterday and created (and photographed) a beautiful plate of the beet spread and accompaniments earlier today so that it was ready as soon as I had showered. I served the spread with cucumber slices, spinach leaves, and some fresh fried sweet potato slices that I sprinkled with a mixture of 1 tablespoon sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika. Oh, and some champagne. 🙂 Forgetting that walnuts were in the spread, I sprinkled a few pistachios on top. That’s okay, though, the green nut looked really pretty against the bright fuscia spread. And I think I’ll make some brownie bites with those leftover walnuts.
The recipe is in the Starters section of The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes. Honestly, this recipe–my take on a traditonal Turkish roasted red pepper spread–is so good that it’s reason alone to purchase the book! But there are some 150+ other excellent reasons as well.
Veganism and sustainability go hand-in-hand. What easier way to embrace sustainability, in this case, preventing discards from entering the waste stream, than through thrift store shopping?
As a frugal recycler–and who isn’t even a little frugal in this economy?–I love good thrift stores (and consignment stores) almost more than antique stores. Yes, I am my mother’s daughter when it comes to antique stores, but thrift stores–as long as they don’t have “that” odor (you know the one)–are ridiculous in terms of prices.
I rarely purchase clothes in thrift stores–though I hardly own a stitch of clothing or pair of shoes that didn’t come from a consignment store–but when I drop off donations, or when I’m looking for something like board games or still life objects for my students, I always make a spin through the housewares.
This week I scored big with this signed ceramic vase that seems made for our home. About 8-inches tall and a sort of flattened shape, its clay body is terracotta and its surface decoration small slightly raised and slightly irregular cobalt blue squares that create a checkerboard pattern. I put it in our den which is painted a terracotta color, as you see in the photo, with a few cobalt blue and orange accents.
The colors were pulled out of a “crazy quilt” that my mother made me when I graduated with my M.A. , and she had never made a quilt before. She made it from fabrics from which either she or I had sewn clothing as I was growing up (another take on recycling). I was so touched. It is one of my top 3 cherished objects, partially because she made it, but also because it’s gorgeous. However, I have to admit, when I first saw it, I thought the color palette of mostly cobalt blue, orange, terracotta, minty green, off-white, and black was going to be challenging to work with. Turns out it’s fresh and unique, and a lot of fun to build around.
Back to the vase…guess what I paid for it? Only $2.98! So, go green: go thrifting!
