Maple Smoked Tempeh Facon!

I know very little about bacon other than the obvious. It comes from pigs (😔), the smell is so strong it's nauseating and overwhelming and it is really, REALLY popular. I have never eaten it and I don't really get it. 

I bought some tempeh at the grocery store and decided to make one slice (literally) of tempeh facon (fake bacon). My wife is always my guinea pig for these types of experiments and she immediately asked for more. I played around with different marinades, different thicknesses of tempeh slices and different baking temps and times. What I came up with is this little slice of facon heaven...

Warning: There are literally NO measurements, sorry. (Kind of) The measurements will depend on how much facon you're making. It needs to marinate in a single layer and you want the marinade to cover the top. I suppose you could use something more small and shallow but I havent tried that so I cannot confirm or deny... Moving along! 

Marinade:

A generous pour of olive oil

A half as generous pour of cider vinegar

An equal pour of maple syrup 

A medium sized splash of liquid smoke (I used hickory)

A medium sized splash of tamari 

A good amount of smoked paprika 

A good amount of cumin 

A healthy dash of black pepper 

A healthy dash of salt 

Mix all ingredients in a large shallow dish and then add in your sliced tempeh. You can cut it to whatever thickness you prefer.) Cover tightly and refrigerate for 24 hours. 

When you're ready to bake your facon you'll need to preheat the oven to 300 degrees. On a parchment lined sheet lay each slice of tempeh side by each and bake for 7-10 minutes or until they're toasted nicely. Keep a close eye though because the maple can make the edges burn quickly! 

Once done, remove from the oven and let cool. Once cooled, crumble on salads, add to sandwiches or just eat on it's own! Enjoy!

Chocolate? Peanut Butter? Pretzels?

No one is going to believe me anymore that I don't like sweets. Especially if they just saw me make sweet eating love to this cupcake. 

This all started when I saw waffle shaped pretzels on sale at the grocery store. The only thing I love more than salt is a good bargain. Salt on sale? SOLD!

I've been doing lots of chocolate lately so I guess you could say it's been on my mind. Then it happened. Chocolate dipped pretzels. Before I knew it I was melting away over a double boiler and dipping away. To be clear, I'm not sorry. I'd do it again. LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIES! 

So in the fridge they went and back to life I went. The idea of un-hinging my jaw and dropping the whole tray in crossed my mind, but I thought that they were too pretty to devour in such haste. 

So naturally, I thought of cupcakes. Vanilla? Caramel? Chocolate? YES! Chocolate! But what about icing? I thought about the same old; chocolate, vanilla, caramel.  And then I remembered my old friend Reese's. Peanut butter! 

Once I have my mind set, I just DO. So when I came home from work today I whipped up a quick batch of chocolate cupcakes so that they could cool while I was a hollering soccer mom and be ready to ice and decorate. 

While it did take some prep work and planning these are SO worth it. Without further adieu, the recipe to the best of my recollection! 

For the pretzels: 

1-1 1/2 cups vegan chocolate chips

1/2-1 tsp coconut oil 

Melt over double boiler (or microwave in 30 second increments in a microwave safe bowl), dip and lay on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Move to fridge to set and voila.

Chocolate cupcakes:

1 & 1/4 cup unbleached flour 

1 cup organic sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cacao powder

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup warm water 

1 tsp vanilla 

1/3 cup vegetable oil 

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Mix your dry ingredients, add your wet and combine. You can do this in two bowls if you insist, but one is just fine so long as you whisk the dry ingredients first and create a divot in the middle. 

Bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes or until a test stick comes out clean. Then set aside to cool and start your icing!

Whipped peanut butter icing:

Ok, sorry to my measuring friends but this is LITERALLY a 2:1 recipe. I used approximately...

1/2 cup earth balance

1/2 cup peanut butter 

1 cup powdered sugar 

Splash of almond milk

It is ridiculously hot today. 40+ Celsius with the humidex. It's gross, but it did make icing prep easy! Combine the earth balance and peanut butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Add a splash of milk until the icing is thinned out but not watery. Then using your electric mixer go to town. 

When you're ready, pipe the icing onto the cupcake and then angle the chocolate pretzel on top. 

Make sure you have friends to share with or you may eat them all. Enjoy!

 

Ganache, Nuts & Requests!

99% of my food requests come from my other half. Sometimes they're easy ("Babe, I want a salad!") and sometimes they're uh...not. ("Babe, I want a vegan lamb stew!") 

I have been making hella truffles lately which means I have hella ganache sitting in the fridge. Tonight's blog post is brought to you by, "Babe, I want Ferraro Rocher!"

Admittedly, this first round is SO delicious, but not 100% where I want it to be. I have some ideas to mimic the cookie wafer shell. I'll update when I get around to it. 

In order to make ganache, it's a bit finicky but so worth it. You'll need:

1 cup of vegan chocolate chips

1/2 cup of full fat coconut milk

1/2 tbsp vegan butter, melted

Bring the coconut milk to a boil and pour over the chocolate chips in a bowl. Let sit for two minutes and then stir until well combined. Then stir in the vegan butter and transfer to a shallow dish to cool. (I used a glass lasagna dish.) After a few hours, it should be cooled completely, now you will have to cover and refrigerate over night. (I tried every possible cheat. It won't work unless you follow these steps. Drats!) 

Fast forward 24 hours and you now have endless possibilities with your ganache! You can roll it into spheres and top with cacao, chopped pistachios or pecans and you've got killer truffles. 

Or if you want to make someone you love happy and take a lot of time making something amazing, make THESE!

You'll need:

Whole hazelnuts 

Coarse chopped hazelnuts 

Vegan chocolate chips

Coconut oil 

Parchment lined cookie sheet

"Wrap" the hazelnut with the ganache. Roll in the spheres using the palm of your hands. If the ganache gets too soft just take a break and throw them back into the fridge to firm up. 

Next, roll them in the coarse chopped nuts. Then in a small bowl heat chocolate and coconut oil until it is fully melted. Roll the spheres in the chocolate mixture and spoon them out onto the cookie sheet to set. Sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired. Let firm in the fridge and enjoy!! 

Besan Omelettes

Brunch. That gluttonous massive meal when you've slept in and want to eat your weight in something, anything. Preferably something greasy and carby to help you forget that you made the mistake of opening and finishing that second bottle of wine (and bag of chips) the night before.

Ok, maybe that's just me. But even people who don't often suffer the morning after the night before like a good brunch. Which brings us to Besan Omlettes.

Like any good vegans, we always have heaps of onions, peppers and other veggies on hand. I also really REALLY like spices. Not just the ones with heat, but ones that add dimension and flavour, too.

Besan, is ground chick peas for those who don't know. Chick peas can do no wrong in any form. That's not just my opinion, it's actually 100% factually true. They're perfect for everything from mock tuna, burgers, salads and yes - even flour.  It has a great binding ability and the flavour is everything you'd expect from a ground chick pea. 

I'm going to make up measurements as close as possible to what I actually did for a certain friend who doesn't like a simple "2:1" explanation. 

Besan Omelette Batter

1 cup besan flour 

2-3 teaspoons of your favourite spices. I used 1 each of roasted red pepper flakes, roasted garlic and powdered habanero

1/2-2/3 cup of milk (I used sunflower)

Mix your spices into the flour and then add the milk slowly while stirring to avoid lumps. You want your batter to be thick enough to fold. It should stick to a fork for 1-2 seconds before slowly running through.

Set aside the batter and work on your filling. I used fried onions, red peppers and spinach in mine. When your filling is ready remove it from the heat and start the omelette. 

Preheat a frying pan (with a lid) to medium-low heat. Melt a good dollop of vegan butter into the pan and when it's melted pour or spoon in the batter. You'll want to swirl the pan to make sure that you just get a nice 1/4" coating on the bottom of the pan. Cover with the lid until the top is no longer shiny and looks cooked. Add a generous amount of your toppings on one side, use a spatula to fold in half and voila! An amazing, savoury besan omelette. 

Sunday August 10th at Studio.89!

I am so excited to be doing another pop-up, this time in Mississauga at Studio.89!

Studio.89 is a great space, with great people and a great mission! Great! :D 

For more info on them and their mandate, check out their website:

www.studio89.org

Roasted Jalapeno & Corn Hummus

Chick peas, am I right?? They're pretty spectacular. They can do no wrong. Ever.

I bought jalapenos with the best of intentions of making some grande dish that I never got around to. And I had fresh local corn that I was going to BBQ, but never got around to it. See a theme here?? Like I said in my last post - WE'RE BUSY!

One thing that we always have in apocalyptic quantities in our house is chick peas. Because they're awesome. I don't ever need a special occasion to make hummus. I can pretty much eat it out of the jar with a spoon, as a spread on sandwiches, as a dip for fresh veggies, nacho chips or pita. Yum, yum, yum!

While looking for something to use my sad looking corn and jalapenos for, I found this gem. A couple of mods later, and there was hummus! (And then a few hours later, there was none!)

Hot Mess Warning: This will not be a Siobhan approved recipe. There will be no measurements. :)

For starters, I always pour a healthy amount of tahini into my food processor with a good splash of lemon juice and whip that first. It's the secret to creamy hummus! Then add in your drained and rinsed chick peas and pulse until coarsely chopped.

In the oven on low broil, I blackened the corn and at the end added the jalapenos. It took about 15-20 minutes. When they were done, I chopped the jalapenos and used a sharp knife to cut the corn from the cob and threw it all into the already coarse chopped chick pea mix. I turned on the food processor on low and started pouring in olive oil until the hummus was thick and smooth and lovely.

I didn't think to take a picture of it, though it was quite pretty. It's far too late now. But I did take a photo of the roasted jalapeno and corn. That'll have to do. Cheers!

Deep Fried Avocado Tacos

I don't know about you all, but avocados are one of my favourite foods. I eat at least one a day. I know that there are some people out there who panic and fret that "avocados are so high in fat, though! You shouldn't eat that many!", to which I reply PPPFFFFTTTTTTT.

When did fat become the enemy?? And is it the "fat" in avocados that people are afraid of or literally BEING fat? Either way, my PPPFFFFTTTTTTT still stands. I'm no professional or anything, but my motto when it comes to food is simple. Whole over Processed. Mostly in moderation (Because we all need a bag of chips and a bottle of wine for dinner now and again, or is that just me??) and get off your butt and DO SOMETHING. I'm not selling an illusion here; I'm not some primed Olympic athlete - but we walk the dog, go for family bike rides, cut the grass, work in the garden, work Cedar Row Farm as often as possible and just generally are busy people. I take the stairs  I deserve an avocado or two. :)

Now, onto the good stuff. I originally saw this recipe online somewhere, but it was very un-vegan. It called for buttermilk and loads of eggs. It really only served as inspiration for deep frying my own avocados so I don't feel schmucky not linking to it. As with most deep fried foods, you will need three bowls. That way you can make a really big mess and thrice the dishes.

Bowl # 1:
- 1/2 cup of flour
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp habanero powder
- 1/2 tsp dried cilantro flakes

Bowl # 2:
- 1 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond)
- 1 egg replacer (I used Ener-G, but Flax would also work)

Bowl # 3:
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp dried cilantro flakes (Because you can NEVER have too much cilantro!)

In a large heavy bottom sauce pan, heat about an inch and a half of oil medium-high. I don't have any fancy thermometers, I just splash some water in and when it fires back at me I know it's ready. Safety first! lol Depending on the size of your avocados, or your mouth I suppose, slice it in quarters or eighths.

Hot Mess Tip: Before you start frying, make sure you have a plate ready with paper towels to transfer them to. Also, you'll want to eat them right away so have your plates ready and waiting. I used corn tortillas, chopped iceburg lettuce, garden fresh tomatoes and fresh cilantro and green onion.

With your avocado sections, coat evenly in bowl 1, transfer to bowl 2 and then into bowl 3 for the Panko. Don't skimp on the Panko. Press it right into it! Repeat until all avocado is coated and ready to go. I laid mine out on a cutting board so that I could do them all at once but if you allow help in the kitchen there's no reason you couldn't use teamwork here.

You can use tofutti sour cream, or daiya cheez on your tacos but I wanted a rich, creamy, spicy sauce to top off my tacos with so I whipped up this:

3/4 cup Vegenaise

2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp Sriracha Hot Sauce
2 green onions, chopped. I used my herb scissors.
1 large bunch fresh cilantro, chopped with scissors

The end result? THIS.