by Robin Robertson
on April 25, 2009
Anyone who thinks “a brownie is a brownie” will have to think again after reading through the comments in the brownie poll. With well over 100 people (and counting) voting for their favorites, the “fudgy brownie” faction overtook the “cakey brownie” proponents by a landslide. Interestingly, almost equal in number to the cakey brownie lovers are those who enjoy either or both kinds of brownies or “something in between.” The question of “nuts” vs. “no nuts” favors “yes to nuts,” with many respondents either not addressing the nut issue or listing other additions. Here’s how the numbers look as of this writing. Out of 115 votes (including a few that came via e-mail):
Prefer Fudgy Brownies: 74
Prefer Cakey Brownies: 19
Enjoy Both Kinds: 22
“Yes” to Nuts: 42
“No” to Nuts: 27
What I found most amazing is how passionately descriptive everyone is about the type of brownie they prefer, as well as the creative riffs on traditional brownie recipes that many of you shared, including additions from cayenne, mint, nutmeg, and peanut butter, to topping them with pecans glazed with hot sauce and peach preserves, and even adding chunks of brownies to brownie batter for a double-dose of brownie goodness — now that’s decadent!
As promised, I have randomly chosen someone to receive a copy of Vegan Fire and Spice for taking part in this poll. The winner is: Kiersten — (Kiersten, please e-mail me with your mailing address and I’ll get a book right out to you.)
I want to extend a big thank you to everyone who participated in the brownie poll — I wish I could give each one of you a nice big freshly baked custom-made brownie of your choice!
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by Robin Robertson
on April 21, 2009
After the swift disappearance of the first pan of brownies from my last post, my brownie-addicted husband was looking for more, so I made another batch, this time with just a whisper of walnuts as the only addition. As you can see in the photo, these are very cakey brownies—the only kind Jon likes (see previous post).
It got me to wondering if everyone else is as strict in their brownie specifications as he is, so I’m conducting a totally non-scientific poll: What kind of brownies do you prefer? Cakey? Fudgey? With nuts? Without nuts?
As an incentive to participate in this poll, I will randomly choose one of the commenters to send a copy of my book, Vegan Fire & Spice (or another title, if you already have it). So, let’s make some brownie points! Describe your favorite kind of brownies.
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by Robin Robertson
on April 19, 2009
My husband Jon is a card-carrying brownie lover. Not just any brownies — he especially likes chocolatey brownies with lots of nuts, and he prefers a cakey texture (as opposed to fudgy). Perhaps second only to his penchant for cakey nutty brownies is his devotion to all things coconut. The idea of combining these elements to create his “dream brownie” was the inspiration for “Nutty Chocolate Brownies,” which will appear in my upcoming book, 1,000 Vegan Recipes, coming out later this year.
Jon couldn’t even wait for these brownies to cool out of the oven, much less until the book comes out, so you shouldn’t have to either — the recipe is below. Another great thing about these brownies is their versatility: if you’re not a fan of coconut, leave out the coconut extract and shredded coconut and use soy milk or other non-dairy milk instead of the coconut milk. If you don’t like pecans, swap them for another nut. You can even leave the nuts out entirely, but then they wouldn’t be very nutty brownies, would they?
Nutty Chocolate Brownies
This recipe is from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson © 2009.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup neutral vegetable oil
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw pecans
1/2 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and oil until well blended. Stir in the coconut milk, vanilla and coconut extracts, and blend until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend. Fold in the pecans, chocolate chips, and coconut.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan, and bake until the center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let the brownies cool 30 minutes before serving.
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by Robin Robertson
on April 7, 2009
April weather in Virginia can be fickle, and this year is no exception. A few days of 70-degree sunshine teased of an early spring, only to give way to a final (I hope) blast of winter wind and snow flurries. The cold weather set off my “comfort food” alarm again, and I found the perfect solution in a tester recipe for an upcoming cookbook (sorry I can’t share the recipe just yet).
It’s called Blushing Fettuccine Alfredo, made with a rich creamy white sauce, blushing with a hint of marinara sauce. To remind myself that spring really is here (technically at least), I added some veggies to make a “primavera” variation and topped it with some pan-fried tofu that Jon thought looked like tofu croutons, so I called them “to-futons.” And while he didn’t find my pun terribly amusing, he did find the fettuccine to be out-of-this-world delicious.
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by Robin Robertson
on March 31, 2009
How’s this for a motto: “Have seitan cutlets, will sauté.”
With fresh shiitakes and spinach in the house, it was fate that they end up in the same dish with my seitan. The whole thing came together in about 15 minutes. First I sautéed the spinach, took it out of the pan and set it aside. Then I sautéed the shiitakes with some green onion and a little soy sauce and mirin, and that, too, out of the pan. Into the same skillet went the seitan cutlets, which I cooked until hot and golden. After plating the seitan, the spinach and shiitakes went back into the skillet for a final blast of heat. Then I then piled it all on top of the seitan. Simple, elegant, delicious. You get the idea. Now about those potatoes….
One thing I like about potatoes (there are probably a million things I like about them, but I’ll try to concentrate on just this one) is their versatility. Take simple roasted potatoes for example, like the ones you see sharing the limelight with the seitan. They would have been perfectly yummy if just tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper before roasting. But here’s the thing: potatoes lend themselves to virtually any kind of seasonings. Add some spices (like curry or jerk spices), herbs (like fresh rosemary or basil), or other seasonings (such as garlic, lemon juice, and capers), and you can dress your spuds to go with anything. This time I used a fantastic spice blend from Chile called mapuche, a mixture of hot red chiles, cumin, coriander, and salt that gave the potatoes a wonderful flavor and lovely color.
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by Robin Robertson
on March 22, 2009
We enjoyed another terrific noodle dish for dinner the other night, this time inspired by the flavors of Vietnam. First, I assembled the ingredients: cooked linguine, shredded carrot, steamed broccoli, green onions, cilantro, peanuts, and tofu (you can use tempeh or seitan, if you prefer). I then made a marinade for tofu consisting of soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, hoisin, chile oil, and crushed red pepper flakes for some heat.
It was super-quick to prepare and very flavorful. Like most simple noodle stir-fries, you can easily adapt this recipe (I based it on Vietnamese Noodles with Tempeh and Peanuts recipe in Vegan Fire and Spice) to use whatever veggies and other ingredients you have on hand and tweak the flavors of the marinade or sauce to suit your taste. Here’s the recipe:
Vietnamese-Inspired Noodles
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons hot chili oil
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (16-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, diced
1 tablespoon canola or other neutral vegetable oil
1 carrot, shredded
4 scallions (green onions), minced
3 cups steamed broccoli florets
8 ounces cooked rice noodles or linguine
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1/2 cup crushed dry-roasted peanuts
In a medium bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, hoisin sauce, chili oil, and red pepper flakes. Add the tofu and toss to coat. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and scallions and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Drain the tofu, reserving the marinade. Add the tofu to the skillet and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli, noodles, and the reserved marinade and stir-fry to heat through. Add the cilantro and peanuts, tossing gently to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
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Anyone who thinks “a brownie is a brownie” will have to think again after reading through the comments in the brownie poll. With well over 100 people (and counting) voting for their favorites, the “fudgy brownie” faction overtook the “cakey brownie” proponents by a landslide. Interestingly, almost equal in number to the cakey brownie lovers are those who enjoy either or both kinds of brownies or “something in between.” The question of “nuts” vs. “no nuts” favors “yes to nuts,” with many respondents either not addressing the nut issue or listing other additions. Here’s how the numbers look as of this writing. Out of 115 votes (including a few that came via e-mail):
