Special Edition : Fat Tuesday Fried Pickles & The Homemade Vegan Mardi Gras

Please consider this an instant Shannons Classic.

Some people don't think of Virginia as being part of "The South". I think most of those people have either never been here, or if they have, haven't been too far outside of DC. I lived in Georgia for something like 3 years, and when I moved to Norfolk I thought I'd have to give up good Southern vegan food. I mean when I lived in Atlanta, Soul Veg was on my way home from work, and was a common haunt. But one of my first weekends in Virginia, I went to lunch with a few of the PETA campaigners and had my very first basket of fried pickles and some pretty sweet VA fried chickette (which was vegan at the time). This was a big food moment in my life.

Now, I've lived in NYC, and grew up knowing what a good pickle is. I love pickles. All kinds of pickles are my friends, but fried pickles are something special. The shared love of fried pickles is one of those first memories Dan and I ever had. So making these was more than just fun for us... it was like a tiny little second honeymoon in our kitchen. We went to New Orleans for our Honeymoon, and we're two Northern kids who love Southern food. I could bore you all day telling you how special this was for us, but we're working with a deadline here. Tomorrow is the infamous Fat Tuesday. People all over the world will be doing this and this. We're super married, so we're going to have our own little Homemade Vegan Mardi Gras, and start it all off with these babies. The other day we posted Vegan Shrimp Gumbo and listed some of our favorite Cajun and Creole recipes so you can have your own too. But in case you missed 'em - here they are:

• Beighnets
• Po'Boys (Vegan Bourbon Chick'n and Shrimp)
• Hush Puppies
• Hoppin' John
• Red Beans and Rice
• Jambalaya
• Deep Fried Cajun Tofurky
• Strawberry Margaritas

OK - Enough of this chatter... let's git 'er done*&**. If this is your first time having fried pickles, you're in for a real treat... I hope you're ready to make a new favorite food memory!

The Betty Crocker Project : Vegan Whole Wheat Banana & Chocolate Chip Pancakes

So I know what you're thinking right now. You're wondering why we don't own these. To be honest - I wonder that all the time. I mean we just got married a little over a year ago. You'd think we would have registered for them but we didn't. You'd think we would have bought them for each other for Christmas - like some poorly written sitcom where we end up with 2 sets of Star Wars pancake molds and the canned laughter rolls. Well, we wanted to makes sure to get this recipe posted for the weekend and there just never seemed a right time to swing by the mall to get them. To be honest, we generally don't go to malls a lot so maybe there were several opportunities and we just weren't paying attention or really sure what they looked like.

It's hard to say but with all the snow being dumped across America, we felt it was our patriotic duty to post this recipe before the weekend. This way all you snowed in vegans can make your own fancy brunches at home this Sunday in your warm PJs and slippers. If you're looking for tips to staying warm. I recommend what Dan has named The Burrito Approach. This is where you pull the thickest comforter from your bed and wrap it around you - actually more like a giant crepe so your legs and face show and go about your day. I use this quite often and have never gotten frostbitten or slipped into a hypothermia induced coma. Consider it tested and approved.

If you find yourself looking for more Breakfast ideas to go with these delicious and super easy pancakes like say a fancy sweet butter or maybe a vegan Denver Omelet ... Click Here. Hope we can help.

The Betty Crocker Project : Winter Vegetable Stew

The first thing I said when I took a bite of this stew was "OH! These beans melt in your mouth like butter!"

Yeah I really said that. Sometimes I say weird things but that doesn't mean it wasn't completely true. This stew might be ugly. I mean might is being kind. This is some ugly soup. But just like our Inner Beauty Patty Melt, this soup has a great personality that makes up for it. It has so much rich, unique and a kinda diverse flavor. Oh and of course it has parsnips! I think this might be our first Betty recipe with parsnips. It's always fun to kinda mix it up a little but with those vegetables and going with seasonal produce is a great way to keep it fresh - literally.

I know right now we're all ready for summer but before we pull out the ice cream makers and plug in those AC units - we should take a second and remember in a lot of places right now - It is freezing! This stew is perfect with some sourdough bread and a mug of almond chai and of course to share with friends because this recipe makes a lot... like lunch for a week a lot.

This stew is also extremely easy to make. So we had time to update our Nerdery Page and start putting The Meet The Shannons Family Album together. Over the past year we've been getting a lot of photos from readers who have made a Meet The Shannons recipe. So we're putting together an album that will live on our Family Tree Page. We're launching on March 1st - So if you have a photo that you haven't sent in yet please email it soon with your name and tell use what you made to shannons@meettheshannons.net.

So here's your to do list :

1. Send in Photos
2. Explore Your Inner Nerd
3. Eat a lot of stew!

OK - Go! Chop - Chop!

The Betty Crocker Project : The Old School Twice Baked Potatoes

 

In college, we used to eat brunch every Sunday (or basically whenever) at this kinda rundown diner. The short cut there was this random road through the woods but it was kinda off the highway so all the logging trucks could stop by there on their way to and from the Olympic Mountains. They were pretty famous for their Potato Boats. What is a Potato Boat you ask? Well my friends, Potato Boats are huge twice baked potatoes with various "works".  I mean they are obviously not organic - I mean these guys were like Cadillacs. OK - maybe they are more like the size of a shoe but that's still pretty big. They were the perfect hangover cure and pretty much one of my favorite food memories from my years in Olympia, WA. 

Everyone loved Potato Boats. Who wouldn't love Potato Boats?

When we hit this recipe, I keep thinking about those long lost boats and how much we all love twice baked potatoes now matter how big or small they are. This recipe is the Betty Classic but who knows maybe if you guys like it - I'll recreate some of those old boats. Let me know what you think.

Before we start doing some double baking - I wanted to show a little love for Girlie Girl Army and 2 Girlie Girls in particular. Kathryn Hostettler recently interviewed us for her The Best Vegan Thing I Ever Ate series on GGA and I have to admit we were beyond flattered but also we loved her fun and original questions. Especially coming up with our guest list for our dream dinner party (we went the time-space continuum not a liability route). And of course Chloe Jo Davis who has always been very supportive of our little project!

OK - Let's make some boats!

The Betty Crocker Project : Easy Vegan Shrimp Gumbo

I have always loved Creole and Cajun food. I have spent huge portions of my life dreaming up ways to veganize old school Louisiana favorites like Beighnets, Po'Boys, Hush Puppies, Hoppin' John, Red Beans and Rice and Jambalaya. Hell - we even deep fried a Tofurky. So I guess I don't need to rave about how excited I was to make Betty's Shrimp Gumbo. Here's the thing...

Have you ever been making something and you get to a step in the recipe that makes you pause. Everything in you says - This recipe is perfect the way it is. If I do this - will it really be better? That moment when your heart says it's time to stop but you can't help but continue. There were 2 moments in this recipe where I wish I had the ability to turn back time :

• I wish I had used May Wah's ridiculously yet awesomely named Shrimp Balls instead of their Large Vegan Prawns. The Shrimp Balls are just firmer and have more flavor. ( Is anyone else laughing right now?)
• I wish I had added 1/2 Cup of vegetable broth or tomato sauce or even some diced tomatoes rather than the tomato paste. Yes Gumbo can be tomato-y and more people apparently like it tomato-y than spicy and roux-y. It lost a lot of kick when I added the tomato paste and became more of a sweeter tomato sauce than the spicy chowder with rice dish I personally love. But if you're not sure what you like or maybe are not the kind of person who orders the 5 pepper dishes at Thai restaurants - a medium salsa type - I suggest adding the tomato paste a little at a time till you like the flavor and thickness. 

Enough chatter - Let's start making this dish that is still so good it will make you smack your mama*... I mean Betty always brings it.