Homemade Vegan Corndogs

Whaaaaaattttt?? No, I have not lost my mind. Yes, these are (or, were) amazing. I initially set out in search of a vegan corndog recipe and this one sounded the most promising. I knew I didn't want to veganize a non-vegan recipe because dealing with egg replacements in this sort of thing can be a pain. I honestly wasn't expecting much because a.) I have never seriously deep-fried anything before and b.) any online recipe that calls for "1/2 tablespoon" of anything is a little shady to me.

So here it is, with a little tweaking, VEGAN CORNDOGS!!

Ingredients:

5 veggie hot dogs, cut in half

10 bamboo skewers or popsickle sticks (optional)

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder (in the "veganwolf.com" recipe, I took "bp" to mean baking powder--I must have been right)

1/2 teaspoon salt

black pepper

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened soymilk

2 tablespoons oil (olive, canola, whatever)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Start by heating some vegetable oil in a wide, relatively deep pan. I used one 24 oz (1.5 pt.) bottle of oil in a medium/large non-stick saucepan, which worked well. Heat the oil on medium-high heat while you mix up the batter and prep your dogs:

Mix the dry ingredients for the batter in a mixing bowl. Add the soymilk and oil, and stir just until combined. The consistency should be like thick pancake or muffin batter.

Stick a skewer in each veggie dog half, then coat evenly in the batter. Gently put the battered dogs into the hot oil and fry until golden, about 4-5 minutes. Be careful not to overload the pan. I did 3 at a time.

Drain on paper towels. Leftovers can be re-heated in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.

**This recipe makes 10 mini dogs.

**Get creative with flavors by adding herbs and spices to the batter, as well as trying lots of different dipping sauces. Also, easily expand this recipe for a party or cookout. Yum!!

Cheese Factory!

I hope everyone had a super fun Memorial Day Weekend! I know I did... I accompanied Matt to Northern Wisconsin for a fun-filled weekend with his parents, and on the way home on Monday, we stopped at The Cheese Factory.

You may recall my past post on this amazing restaurant. This time I ordered the Tortilla Flats--a cumin-spiced creamy spread between two tortillas and topped with plenty of sprouts. A delicious green salad with incredible honey-mustard (don't call the honey police on me, please) dressing, and blue corn tortilla chips. Matt got his usual Huevos Rancheros, and we agreed it is not possible to have a bad meal here. Cheese Factory, we love you!!

Cupcake Mania

Happy Mother's Day! The above cupcakes are the aforementioned Pistachio Rosewater cupcakes...with one small change. I couldn't find rosewater! I've seen it a few times at my regular grocery store, but of course when I want to buy some, they don't have it. Oh well. They turned out great anyway. And I think these are the cutest cupcakes I've ever made.
I've made Matt a vegan cupcake believer. He begged me to make not one but two batches yesterday. He helped, of course. Above is the Golden Vanilla Cupcakes to which I added lemon extract and used the glaze from Sexy Lowfat Vanilla Cupcakes and topped it all off with a strawberry.
Now we have Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake (with a touch of coffee) and Vanilla Buttercream with coffee. We made some French press coffee just for these cupcakes, set aside in the freezer to get nice and chilled. When the time came to make the frosting, I added the cold coffee (just 1/4 cup) to frosting, and the thick, fluffy frosting turned completely liquid! The only thing I can think of is that the coffee had just a tiny bit of heat left in it still and was enough to complely turn the frosting into mush. With some more powdered sugar, we were able to salvage it into something spreadable, if not pipe-able. It tasted good, at least.

Chocolate on Chocolate

What could be better than vegan chocolate frosting on a vegan chocolate cupcake? Little else. We made these over the weekend and they were gone in a day and a half. My favorite part was making the little flowers out of marzipan. Too cute!
P.S. Ever since getting Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World a few months ago, I am having WAAAYYY too much fun making and decorating cupcakes. Next is Rosewater and Pistachio Cupcakes for Mother's Day...

BLT's and Banana Salsa

Matt and I were majorly starving for brunch today, and BLT's sounded really, really good. We used Lightlife veggie bacon-- which, by the way, is awesome--nice and salty and when fried in a little oil, becomes crispy just like bacon.

On the side is banana salsa. Yes, banana salsa. And here's how to make it:
You need:
*2 ripe bananas, peeled and chopped into small pieces
* 1/2 medium red bell pepper, chopped small
* 1/2 large jalapeno pepper, finely minced
* juice of 1 lime
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* salt and pepper
Mix everything up. Makes enough for 2 people as a side.

This stuff is fantastic. The sweet banana mingles with the spicy jalapeno and the lime and cilantro bring it all together. This is our new favorite! Make this for your next party or cookout and people will think you are genius. You're welcome.

A Salad a Day...

Fresh, organic, raw veggies (and fruits) are the best way to get vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals in your diet. I will admit, over the cold winter months, I do not eat a lot of raw veggies. They just don't sound good most of the time. But now that spring and summer are fast-approaching, it's time to break out the salad spinner!

This big zesty salad consists of watercress, spinach ribbons, carrot, parsley and sundried tomato, all seperated out so as to look extra pretty.
Over the weekend, I did a little shopping (like I do EVERY weekend) and came across this Spectrum Organic omega-3 Vegan Ceasar. At first I was a little worried about how it would taste (flax oil, the main ingredient, is known to be a little hard to swallow) but it is fantastic! Previously, I favored Annie's Goddess Dressing, (which, truth-be-told is a little high in salt and fat) but this new omega dressing gives the same hearty rich tangy-salty flavor along with that all-imoprtant nutrient we all need.
A tropical fruit salad: yellow mango (so smooth, creamy and tart!), star fruit and organic strawberries.

Durian Diaries

After watching Bizarre Foods and No Reservations on the Travel Channel, it was clear that the exotic fruit called the durian is a force to be reckoned with. Some have described it as having the taste and smell of rotting meat and stinky cheese, yet we have also read that it has a sweet, almond-y taste. Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods couldn't eat one (yes, the same dude that takes pleasure in consuming BBQ guinea pig and bull penis cannot down a bite of this fruit), and Anthony Bourdain practically made love to the thing.
So which is it? A fruit of the gods or a horrible inedible spiny bomb?
We were (or maybe more so Matt was) determined to find out the truth, so a visit to the asian market (and $7 later) we came home with a durian. I expected it to be smelly right away, but it didn't: a cross between a muskmellon and almonds comes to mind.
But after a day or two on the counter, the smell became more pungent, so we decided we had better crack this baby open before it got too ripe (apparently the riper it is, the worse it tastes and smells).
After cutting the durian open, the smell was, honestly, pungent and not pleasant. I wasn't looking forward to tasting this fruit after the scent filled the kitchen. But Matt took a bite (of the creamy flesh, not the seeds--they are poisonous) and said it wasn't bad. The texture is a bit stringy but also very creamy and smooth. The flavor is actually quite complex. When it first touches the tongue it tastes a bit like it smells, but then quickly becomes sweet (simmilar to a banana), with a hint of onion, then a tart and fruity, like a mango. Overall, I would say a not-too-ripe durian tastes like a puree of onion and banana. Not entirely unpleasant, but not something I would buy and eat the whole thing.

Now we can say we've tried durian!