The Betty Crocker Project: Thanksgiving Day Parade #8 - Roasted Rosemary & Dark Beer Tofurky

So this is one of those blog posts where I feel like complete honesty in easy to follow bullet points is called for:

• This recipe is an amazing way to level up your Tofurky. It has a dark and rich unique flavor that is intended to recreate what you get when you brine a turkey. Our process isn't really anything like the long one used to brine turkeys but the result of this recipe seems very similar. 
• This recipe makes a thin but flavorful crust on the outside of your Tofurky that doesn't recreate a "skin" completely but it's wonderful. So you can really appreciate it.
• We cooked Brussels sprouts in the dark beer marinade like Betty suggested but it was not my favorite thing to ever happen. The marinade reduces over the vegetables to makes something too strong for me but I do suggest instead steaming or roasting your Brussels sprouts and then using the leftover marinade to make a gravy by adding 1 cup of vegetable broth.
• You can skip the flavor injector step if you want but it's kinda cool.  You really should give it a try if you can.

I think this photo shows you the delicious crust.

 And don't forget to enter to win a coupon for a Free Tofurky Feast!

You ready to show this Tofurky who's boss!

The Betty Crocker Project : Beef (Gardein) with Bordelaise Sauce & Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

Hurricane Earl is at Norfolk's doorstep. Trees are waving in the wind, and the birds and squirrels who are usually up at dawn are being being all crazy, hiding away in the courtyard of our apartment building waiting for it to pass. Right now as I type this, I have a huge Siamese cat on my lap looking for comfort and another, much smaller cat under my chair. But the funny thing is that while there are folks out there filling their freezers with 15 loaves of bread and OBX is being evacuated, there's another group out and about without even an umbrella.

The Shannons fall into the watching-the-G.I.Joe*-movie and playing-Xbox category. Obviously that means we should make a fancy French dinner to go along with our evening of high culture. I mean, what goes better with a movie that literally shows the Eiffel tower being eaten than some Vegan Bordelaise?

I get asked a lot why we aren't veganizing Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, since this project was inspired by the movie Julie and Julia. Especially since I freaking love French everything. The answer is simple.

Dan and I asked ourselves what we wanted to do with this project - what were our goals and what would help the animals the most. It was pretty clear. We wanted to prove that you can make anything vegan. We wanted to show people how to use vegan products and share little tricks we have learned to maximize the potential of these products. The choice was pretty clear after that: Betty Crocker.

We get to still make the fancy French stuff that made Julia swoon, but we also get to experiment with more American cuisine, like Cheeseburger pie. Betty is the undisputed champ at teaching America how to be creative with products and foods that you may never have thought were capable of such levels of awesome-ness. We just want to show vegans that they can do that too, and dispel the myth that we're stuck with veggie burgers or quinoa pilafs... not that those aren't pretty amazing sometimes too. We're just trying to show that going vegan doesn't mean sacrificing some of your favorite dishes... like, for example, a schmancy Bordelaise sauce.

This dinner was so easy and so good, I've fallen in love with it. When we make this again (and we will) we're planning on a side of steamed asparagus or green beans to go with it... maybe some vegan fondue too. Both vegetables would be very good with the Bordelaise. That's not to say the Rosemary Potatoes didn't compliment this dish perfectly. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a sucker for a good rosemary dish.

This may not seem like an obvious recipe to post for Labor Day Weekend, but with Earl making his way up the East Coast, many of us are going to be trapped inside playing Zombie games. This is a great Date Night dinner that you many already have the ingredients for already. Plus, what warms up a rainy night faster than a deep glass of red wine?

Bon Appetit...

The Betty Crocker Project : New Style Pork Chops

For weeks, I've been talking about making vegan New Style Pork Chops. I tried to research why they're called that, and spent a lot of time looking into what would be the best mock meat to use. I wrote a blog post in my head about this time a few years back when Dan and I were both in New York for work, and I took him to the Algonquin Hotel for dinner. Now if you aren't big history nerds like us, you might not know that the dinning room in that hotel is famous for hosting The Algonquin Round Table in the 1920s.

It was pretty cool to sit in The Rose Room, inches from the table where Dorthy Parker, Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, Harold Ross, Tallulah Bankhead, Harpo Marx, and numerous other authors, intellectuals, and various other talents met daily for lunch, conversation and harassment of the waitstaff. What wasn't cool was the menu that left us eating a dinner of roasted vegetable sides and some dry bow tie pasta. We weren't actually there for the food, and now we can say we had gin & tonics at The Algonquin. But in a dream world, a dish made just like this would have been on the menu, and just because it isn't actually called "New York Style Pork Chops" doesn't make that any less true.

I think we've taken this dish to a new level of "New Style" by making it vegan. This is a classy dish that would be perfect for any special occasion, but can also doll up a boring Wednesday.

New Style Pork Chops

• 1 Cup of Match Vegan Meats Pork (Separate it into "chops", each about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup. Form the "pork" with your hands into patties smaller than your hand. There are several May Wah products you could also use, and of course you can always make this with your favorite Fake Chicken. I guess that would make it New Style Chicken, but still pretty tasty!)
• 1 Cup of Better than Bouillon vegetable broth (prepared using instructions on the jar)
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1 Teaspoon Agave Nectar
• 1/4 Cup White Wine
• 1 Tablespoon Braggs
• 1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 3 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1/2 Cup Red Onion (chopped)
• 2 Cloves Garlic ( minced)
• 1/2 Cup Kalamata Olives
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme Leaves
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Parsley (chopped)
• Rice Pilaf to serve with the Chops

Make Rice Pilaf per instructions on the box/bag. We used a Wild Rice Mix from Trader Joe's, but there are a lot to choose from.

In a shallow bowl, mix Broth, Lemon Juice, Braggs and Agave Nectar. Dip your Chops into the Broth Mix and count to 20. Place the dipped Chops onto a dish and set them aside.

In your handy cast iron skillet, heat Olive Oil at a medium heat. Place your Chops in the heated Oil and brown on both sides. Once you start to have a crispy "skin" on your Chops, pour the rest of the Broth Mix over the Chop and add Red Onions, Garlic, Black Pepper, and White Wine. Continue to flip the Chops and mix the other ingredients. Let the Chops simmer for around 15 minutes, or until the Onions are tender. Toss in the Kalamta Olives, Thyme and Parsley. Let simmer another 5 minutes.

Serve over Rice Pilaf with a lovely cocktail and some witty remarks.

The Betty Crocker Project : Fondue, Green Beans with Shiitake Mushrooms & Asparagus with Dijon-Maple Sauce

So yesterday, we talked a bit about Trekkies and my fascination with them. When I am totally honest it isn't so much a fascination as it is a sincere admiration. I love it when people own their "freak flag" per say and aren't afraid to be themselves.

Here's one of my many many freak flags : Sometimes I like to be "French". I love French music. I like French movies. I wear black a lot - maybe too much. I like bike rides and wearing hats all year round. I've even been known to wear a scarf with a t-shirt or sundress. I LOVE vegan French Food! I know this sounds obnoxious. I guess if we are being honest, I am a Frenchie ( I am also the most mixed up non-delinquent on the block).

So really it only makes sense I would get so excited about Betty's Fondue. It seemed like with all the bounty from our Farmer's Market Crusades*,  it was only right that we should include a good sized pot of fake cheese to dip stuff in. ALSO - These 2 vegetable recipes were already vegan and are good on their own so don't dip them in the Fondue pot unless you feel compelled. These Betty vegetable recipes needed very little tweaking.

Bon Appetit!

The Betty Crocker Project : Eggs Benedict featuring The Vegan Poached Egg

There are a few things you prepare to live your life without when you go vegan. They aren't big deals really.  Things you may have not even really liked until you realized that it didn't fit into a compassionate lifestyle. For someone like me, with a mild case of oppositional defiant disorder, this could go either way.

Exhibit A : Eggs with a Liquid Yoke.

I liked them well enough. They played a critical role in the traditional American breakfast. But let's be honest, is having an egg you can dip your toast in worth the systematic cruelty and seriously sociopathic exploitation    that is the egg industry? I know I could never enjoy another egg that came from a helpless little bird confined in a filthy crowded cage for their entire life. How those folks over at the UEP can look themselves in the mirror is beyond me. So, I live my life enjoying the scrambled tofu version of American breakfast and sleep at night.

That is until now! There is one motto Dan and I live our life by : We can make anything Vegan!

When I first started looking through Betty's book, I have to admit there was a few recipes that stood out as being somewhat impossible. Poached eggs was one of those. The vegan poached egg seemed like a culinary trick that would be some kind of mythical beast. Rumored to have been spotted at a random veg restaurant stumbled across on a demo tour or road trip. One might even be inclined to call it a "Unicorn" of sorts. It takes a few steps and a nifty little tool but it was so worth it. Who doesn't love unicorns?*

SO - Here is the first of many "Unicorns" featured in one of the most popular breakfast dishes of all time . . . 

The Betty Crocker Project : Tuna Casserole

The world is big and wonderful place. It is full of so many possibilities - some a little weirder than others - this is true of mock fish as well.

After years and years of food scientists all over the world slaving away over hot plates in laboratories and spaceship kitchens, vegans now have numerous mock and faux fish choices* and many of them don't even come close to resembling fish. Keeping this in mind, Dan and I invited several brave friends over to sample Betty's Tuna Casserole made with Fish Ham - a surprisingly delicious faux fish from May Wah. Our good buddy, Kim (IDA's Vegan All-Star for March) brought over vegan Caesar Salad. She made it using the Post Punk Kitchen Recipe and it was perhaps the fastest Caesar Salad this side of the Mississippi. We drank a few bottles white wine - since we were kinda eating seafood and talked for hours about Dune, casted super hero movies if qualifications, the space-time continuum and salary were no object and other such nerdery. Scott was allowed to leave with our beloved Red Son after signing over his soul. We told a few anecdotes from our younger years. I admitted that for several years, I had thought Dr.Pepper was only available at Mexican restaurants and we all had a good laugh . . . but seriously though - nothing goes better with Mexican food than Dr. Pepper.

We ate maybe WAY more than we should have. . . even Marta (cookbook author and adamant faux seafood dissenter) ate a big plate of it and LIKED IT! There a few things I might have done differently and I'll note those below but all and all this was a really good casserole that you could make with almost any kinda of mock meat or marinated tofu and feed a lot of people!

We really hope you like it too. We also encourage anyone who reads this to have their own Fake Tuna Casserole Party! We think they are the new wine tasting.

The Betty Crocker Project : Osso Bucco

I've eaten a lot of Italian food in my life. Probably more than most people not actually living in Italy. I can still remember one of the first times I realized the world was not Italian. I was at a friend's house and saw their dad cut his spaghetti with a knife and fork and eat the tiny pieces like rice. ( Insert Shudder Here )

But there was one Italian dish we never had at my house is Osso Bucco and not just because it is a Milanese dish and that's like a world a way from Palermo. The reason : VEAL.

See - No matter how Italian my mom is and how not down with the whole animal rights/vegan thing she might be. . .  she would never eat, serve or allow her children to eat baby cows. There are just some things that just aren't right. What happens to baby cows to make veal is one of them. Ironically, this systematic form of cruelty was my introduction to how awful the world can be to animals and much to the frustration and disapproval of my mother - started me on this life-long mission to make the world a more compassionate place for animals and to the love of my life.

Let's get back to food that isn't made by jerks because THIS DISH FREAKING ROCKS!

• 1 Package of Gardein Homestyle Beef-less Tips
• 1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper ( freshly ground )
• 1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons of Apple Juice
• 1/3 Cup of  Dry White Wine
• 1 Clove of Garlic (minced)
• 2 Pinches of Onion Powder
• 1 Cup of Better Than Bouillon Broth ( vegetable flavor - made into a broth per directions on the label )
• 3/4 Teaspoon Braggs (if you don't love salty food - you may want to make this 1/2 of a teaspoon)
• 2 Bay Leaves (dried)
• 2 Tablespoons Parsley (fresh and chopped)
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Peel (grated)
• Vegan Parmesan Cheese (topping)
• 6 Cups of Mashed Potatoes (see below)

Ingredients for Mashed Potatoes:

• 6 Medium red Potatoes (chopped - not peeled - we like the skin in there)
• 1/2 Cup Soy Milk
• 1/4 Cup Margarine (softened)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt (if you don't like salty food - skip this ingredient - there is plenty salt in the sauce)
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper

Boil the Potatoes in a 2 quart saucepan - make sure you have enough water to cover the Potatoes. Once the Potatoes are tender when stab them with a fork, drain the Potatoes through a colander.

Pour the cooked Potatoes back into the saucepan and blend with a Pastry Blender. Add Soy Milk, Margarine, Salt and Pepper. Blend with an electric hand mixer till it is perfection. It takes less than 5 minutes. . . be sure and get all the lumps out.

In a shallow bowl or deep dish, mix Flour and Pepper. Coat the Gardein with the flour mix.

In a 4-quart Dutch oven, heat Olive Oil over medium heat. Cook Gardein in the oil till the outside gets a crispy coasting - you need to keep the extra coating from sticking to the bottom - so scrape the bottom of the pot with a spatula while cooking a few times.

When the Gardein is brown on all sides, stir in Apple Juice, White Wine, Garlic and Onion Powder. Reduce heat and stir. The sauce will start to thicken in less than a minute. Once it starts to thicken, add the Better Than Bouillon Broth, Braggs and Bay Leaves. Let simmer uncovered. If you cover it - the Gardein will get mushy.

Once it comes to a boil, remove from heat. . . You're ready to serve!
Place one or two scoops of Mashed Potatoes on a plate and then ladle the Gardein and "Gravy" on top. Sprinkle with Vegan Parmesan, grated Lemon Peel and chopped fresh Parsley. Be sure and get a lot of the Gravy/Broth. . .it is really the best part. (I was kinda -sorta licking my plate after I finished dinner to get it all)

The Betty Crocker Project

I recently saw the movie Julie & Julia - being an armchair chef myself - it was actually surprising it had taken me so long to see a movie about a book about Julia Childs and a normal person finding her way through a classic cookbook in a normal kitchen. . . I love food - movies - books - eating. I was charmed at first. I mean here was a devoted vintage clothing wearing amateur foodie - who wore pearls in the kitchen ( one of my own personal dreams - though my dream pearls would be fake ). I admit I was charmed by finding someone so like myself in so many ways. . . but as you can imagine - she lost me at the Lobster Killer scene. . . and I never really bounced back. But that didn't stop me from picking up her new book Cleaving at the secondhand book store for $1 this weekend. It is all about her love of meat and butchery and how she ruins her marriage by being selfish. I'm 10 pages in. Needless to say -  she has lost her "charm" but I will read it. You can't just fill your life with things you relate to and like. That isn't healthy.

But that's a tangent for another day.

SEE - The Lobster Killer scene planted a little seed in my brain. I kept waiting for her to have a change of heart and save them . . . but she never did. . . and that is just not OK.

THERE NEEDS TO BE A HUMANE ALTERNATIVE TO LOBSTER KILLER

Yes - After years of meeting and knowing literally 1,000s of vegans from all over the world and working at the largest animal advocacy agencies on the planet - I can say with complete confidence - that no one in the world loves food the way a vegan does. We think it about food constantly - we read labels with a Christmas Morning eagerness - searching for those deal breaker words - Whey, Egg Whites, Skim Milk Protein, Casein and sit around talking about food like the gals in Sex in The City talk about orgasms. We send emails to all our friends and family telling them about new products to buy and use with a loyalty and eagerness that can only be compared to Beatle Mania. When I pitched to my dashing husband that we should cook our way through The Joy of Cooking ( considered by many universal eaters to be the bible of cooking) - making every recipe vegan - I might have teared up a little with his overwhelming eagerness to eat my experiments and maybe try out a few himself. He is the best thing to ever happen to me.

He patiently drove me to every secondhand book store in town to find it. See, I had a copy once. My mother had given it to me on my 16th birthday. I think it has taken me 18 years to realize that this is how Sicilian mothers usher their daughters into womanhood. . . making sure they have the skills and resources to feed others. I may have lost it in a roommate divide once or maybe a moving purge. I never used it much and until last week - didn't miss it much. After 4 stores, we both found ourselves wishing I had been more sentimental.

We gave in and went to Barnes and Noble. . . and that's when it happened. . . We looked through The Joy of Cooking. After seeing multiple recipes for "Liver Mousse" and "Lamb Shoulders" - Seriously people out there eat that - apparently - I found myself drawn to a bright red binder decorated like some Bavarian gingerbread. It was the reprinting of the original 1950s edition of the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook. It was laminated. This book that had been reprinted for someone like me - in saddle-shoes and thick black rimmed glasses. . . had been sealed up so I guess less ethical versions of myself wouldn't steal pages from it. After some debate over if we would really feel any "Joy" eating vegan "Oyster Cakes" and what could possibly be inside this MARVELOUS cookbook that had been reprinted just for us - as well as the Top Chef cookbooks and various other amazing journeys through the art of mastering food art book things. . . you know the ones. . . we agreed on The Betty Crocker Cookbook . . . it is in a binder so we can add pages, large margins to write in and a wide variety of recipes to make vegan over this next year. Going off nothing besides my vast knowledge of Better Housekeeping circa 1950s - we decided to go for the one that we could look though and we suspected had more than just Pork Chops and Meatloafs.

AND THE BETTY CROCKER PROJECT WAS BORN. 

For as long as it takes - Dan & I will be veganizing every recipe in The Betty Crocker Cookbook and sharing our tips and secrets with you - our lurking readers who never officially "follow" for whatever reason. We have been searching for a project we could share but have struggled coming up with something we could prioritize with the Los Angeles Exodus and all these weddings and babies. . . but we have always said we can make ANYTHING Vegan and Fat . . . now we are putting this claim to the test! Thank you Lobster Killer for inspiring a project that I suspect you would hate. . .

The Chicken Free Pot Pie

(The photo is of Chickn -n- Biscuits* - See below)

• 2 premade frozen pie crusts - deep dish (they have vegan versions in most grocery stores - check labels of the generic ones. I would say they are the best bet. Most packages come with 2 crusts.)

Filling:

• 2 packages Morning Star Chikn Strips - fried up with some olive oil and the ol’ liquid smoke till it gets a bit crispy
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas and carrots
• 2 large potatoes - cubed and boiled
• 2 stalks of celery - sliced
• 1 batch of vegan gravy :

1/2 Cups unbleached white flour
1/2 Cups nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 cups un-chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
3 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning or 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon celery seed

Toast the flour and nutritional yeast in the oil until it starts to brown. Stir in the broth until there are no lumps. Stir in soy sauce/tamari, poultry seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, garlic powder, celery seed, parsley and black pepper. Heat till it thickens and starts to boil.

* This can get a bit salty if it gets too salty for you - you can adjust it with some soy milk for a creamy sauce or nutritional yeast for a thicker gravy. Sometimes I also add crushed garlic or diced onions for a little extra something.

To make the the pie:

Follow directions on the package of Pie Crusts. Bake one Pie Crust till lightly golden brown - defrost the other crust and gently pull from the tin and flatten out. When you pull out the baked crust leave the oven on.

Make Gravy, add Veggies and fake chickn and simmer on a low heat till it begins to bubble. At this point taste the mixture and see if it needs Salt, Pepper and/or Soy Sauce. Fill the baked Pie Crust with Filling Mixture(You are going to have a bunch left over - see *note below). Place flat raw Pie Crust on top and take fork to seal the  top crust down onto the bottom Pie Crust. Take knife and cut a small X in the center of the top raw Pie Crust. Put the finished pie back in the oven and let bake till it is a nice golden brown.

Eat Chicken Free Pot Pie and Be Happy!

*There is not usually enough Filling Mixture leftover for another pie - BUT  - put the leftover Fake Chickn Gravy mixture in small casserole dish and bake with some biscuits on top and you’re good!

4 Products that Should be in EVERY Vegan Kitchen

So there are the obvious food stuffs ( like Tofu and Potatoes ) that all us vegans usually keep a well stocked supply off. . . and of course the staples - the Flour and the Brown Sugar ( a great substitute for white sugar in cookie recipes to keep them chewy ) . . . BUT these are the REAL gems! The 4 Products that can make a vegan kitchen step out from behind the Granola Lentil Loaf Stigma and amaze even the most meatiest of haters.

In no particular order :

• Nutritional Yeast : Yes -An unfortunate name that keeps many people from trying this little bit of heaven turned into a yellow powder that is the perfect replacement for Parmesan cheese ( I mean seriously sprinkle it on pizza, salad, popcorn - whatever ). It is also the key ingredient to the best Mac & Cheez ever ( see below ) and making a vegan gravy that you'll want to eat like soup.
  

• 3 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
• 1/2 cup ( 1 stick ) vegan margarine
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 1/2 cups boiling water
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• Pinch of turmeric
• 1 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• A few dashes of liquid smoke
• Paprika & Black Pepper, to taste

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Cook the elbow macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
• In a saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat. Whisk in the flour.
• Continue whisking over medium heat until smooth and bubbly.
• Whisk in the boiling water, salt, soy sauce, liquid smoke, onion powder, garlic powder, and turmeric - add a few dashes of black pepper to taste.
• Continue whisking until dissolved. Once thick and bubbling, whisk in the nutritional yeast flakes.
• Mix 3/4 of the sauce with the noodles and place in a casserole dish. Cover with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the paprika.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• Broil for a few minutes until crisp.

• Liquid Smoke : A substance produced from a variety of wood smoke passed through water that can be found in any grocery store and added to any recipe you want to add a smoky cheddary flavor to ( see above ) and to any mock meat or tofu to add a grill or meatier flavor to. . . Also what I plan to name my first child . . . I love you Liquid Smoke.
  

• Morningstar Farms Grillers Chik'n Veggie Patties : Yes - They are vegan ( but it is Morningstar so read the package to make sure they haven't changed the recipe ). We have been eating veggie burgers for years. It is the perfect easy meal after work or summer BBQ staple. . . but these mix it up a bit and you can even shake and bake them for fried chik'n. . . also try mixing together some Olive Oil and Liquid Smoke and bake. . . Healthy and you can cut them up to put on top of a salad or in a sandwich.
  

• Wine : A nice glass while you cook is always a good rule to live by but cooking with the wine can make a recipe unique and healthier at the same time. Cooking up Tofurky Italian Sausage in some olive oil and red wine can add a bit more flavor to a Marinara or Summer sauce and make it so you can use less oil . . . a splash of white wine can make a vegetable or potato soup more flavorful without adding salt. It may take some experimenting BUT so worth it!

Thank me later - with cookies!