Pecan Pie (... but with walnuts)

Let me start by saying that I almost never make desserts. I really don't have a sweet tooth and well, as an intuitive cook who cooks by sight, smell and taste, I have a lot of problems with the exact measurements needed for baked goods (except bread). I am terrible with pastry and have no patience for it. However, over the holidays I decided that I was going to practice making pie crusts for both sweet and savoury pies and ended up buying a dough blender, perforated pie pan and a silicone pie crust guard thingy. All three sat there unused until today.

Even though I don't have a sweet tooth, I did previously enjoy a butter tart or two pre-vegan. Basically it's like a pecan pie, but without the pecans and you can find it in a package of two at most convenience stores in the great white north. I had a craving for them so I thought, hey, why don't I try the Pecan Pie (page 462) from the book?

The pie crust is pretty much like any standard pie crust — the kind that I am terrible with. Flour, fat, salt, sugar and water. I readied myself to struggle with it but it came together fairly easily with the dough blender. So much easier than a damn fork or two butter knives. If you don't have a dough blender, GET ONE. I substituted vegetable shortening for the margarine and upped the salt to almost 1 tsp.

While the dough was chilling in the fridge, I made the filling. As the liquid was simmering in the saucepan, I realised that I didn't have any pecans (doh!) but I did have walnuts which I thought was a worthy substitute.

Now on to the taste. The crust? I thought it was great! Flaky and rich, just like a pie crust is supposed to be. The filling was gooey and sweet but not sickly sweet and I can see it working with lots of different types of nuts, not just pecans (or walnuts). Colour me impressed — I made a pie with a great flaky crust! I do need to work on my crust shaping but who cares, it was good! Now I still don't like making pie crust, but now I know I can actually make a decent one.

This is one delicious pie that I can see myself making again. Maybe next time I'll make them into little tarts, without pecans and a sprinkle of raisins. ;)

— Ms. Veganorama

Tempeh with Maple, Mustard, and Balsamic Glaze

Wow, it has been quite some time since I last posted. I'm such a slacker! Anyway, here's Tempeh with Maple. Mustard and Balsamic Glaze (page 299) served with some roasted yellow cauliflower and mustard greens.

I should preface this review by saying that both me and the Mr. are extremely picky when it comes to tempeh.

For the recipe, all the ingredients are easy to find and probably already in your pantry. It is super easy to put together with the most amount of work being to fry the tempeh. My only changes were that I simmered the tempeh for only 5 minutes instead of 30 minutes (30 always seems excessive to me), substituted a strong dijon mustard for the spicy mustard and doubled the tabasco.

Taste-wise, we thought it was okay. Good, but not fantastic (remember we are picky). I found that the balsamic vinegar really overpowered the other flavours so that the predominant taste was sweet (from the maple) balsamic. I love balsamic but I wanted to taste the mustard in it as well as more maple since mustard + maple is a wonderful combination. I think that the glaze recipe as is would make an excellent salad dressing if emulsified with some olive oil. Or maybe I'm just saying that because I use most of those ingredients in my own balsamic vinagrette. :p

I think if I make it again I would cut the balsamic down to 1 tbsp and I would probably skip the vegetable stock step. It really didn't need more liquid especially since it was already plump from simmering and after frying, the tempeh lost its crispiness.

Having said all that, it's a good recipe but may need to tweaked to your liking. Do give it a try though. All this talk of tempeh makes me actually crave this tempeh again.

— Ms. Veganorama

Morning Polenta with Drizzle of Maple Syrup

I love hot cereal in cold weather. I eat a lot of oatmeal and I was ready to try something different. So this morning I made Morning Polenta with Drizzle of Maple Syrup page 522.

This was really easy and quick-I didn't stir enough however. I got distracted making Bonnie's breakfast. (Bonnie is my three year old Catahoula.) So some of the cornmeal burned to the bottom of the pan. I would advise you to keep a closer eye than I did and remember to stir!



This picture is how it looks if you make it strictly by the recipe and don't add any fruit. I think it looks very pretty with the color of the strawberries. I like some color in my food! This is a nice alternative to oatmeal and takes just a bit longer than rolled oats to cook.

--vegankitty