happy valentine's day / smlove pie!

happy v-day to everyone out there - whether it means celebrating love, vagina monologue performances, or birthdays (like my cousin isaac and my friend matt!). my valentine and i celebrated yesterday evening, and my gift was chocolate, because everyone should celebrate chocolate.

which we did. with the magnificent 'smlove pie' from veganomicon, and which the lovely authors have kindly decided to post about on their website. check it out: its a doozy. i wanted something really decadent that i knew would be appreciated, and i was also curious to finally try out a fancy vegan dessert. there are about 20 other blogger who have boldly gone where i did before, so i figured it would turn out well. and it did.

thank god.

because it took hours.

**

it starts with some graham crackers, which you see before you hanging out in the magical food processor. they look so innocent.

look - a few seconds later - crumbs!

and all you have to do is add a little oil and its pie crust!

the main filling begins with this:

now, i know what you are thinking. you are thinking, "this is disgusting. there is no way this will work. you are crazy, shayna punim." i understand this, because i was thinking it too. i looked at the following scene and tasted a bit of the tofu stuck to the container and almost gave up.

but then i reconsidered, in part because of one of the ingredients in the above picture:

seriously, nothing with kahlua can be bad. plus you can drink some and pretend you are The Dude. there's a beverage here, MAN.

but i digress.

the following ingredient also made me reconsider giving up. note the fancy improv double boiler.

and, really, this doesn't look so bad.

i may have tasted this. and my impression may have been that it was a delicious chocolate pudding.

here is the delicious chocolate pudding in the pie shell, about to be baked for 40 minutes.

and...here it is coming out of the oven. almost unrecognizable.

we now say goodbye to the pie as it chills for three hours. in the meantime, we make maple candied pecans by toasting the pecans with maple syrup and a touch of oil and salt:

then they chill, because they are too sticky right now. also, they burn your tongue at this stage. not that such a thing occurred to me.

let us now move on to the peanut butter caramel sauce. it involves peanut butter, maple syrup, and a few tablespoons from this almost-eight-dolla jar right here:

its natural. and slightly caramel-y.

assembly time! i do believe this is looking good...

one might even use the word 'professional.'

all it needs now is some ganache.

we don't need no stinkin'-pastry-bag-because-ours-is-in-storage for application, because we have...ms. plastic bag with a tip cut off!

oh yes. come to mama.

money shot!

they say happiness is a warm gun, and it is. but its also the last bite of a slice of this pie. that is all.

rustic white beans and tomato couscous!

a couple nights ago i made rustic white beans and tomato couscous for dinner, both from the beloved veganomicon. there's a lovely little section where you can mix and match different types of proteins and sides, and these two came beans and grains, respectively. they were recommended to go together, and they certainly do.

the couscous has more of a bite to it... you basically take the strained juice from a few cans of diced tomatoes, and add a bit of oil and spices, including cayenne pepper.

then, you cook the couscous with it (surprising, i know).

then add the reserved tomatoes and capers - genius!

and quick, too. the beans took much longer. the recipe said that i could absolutely not use canned beans, and so i didn't. this was my first time soaking dry beans, and it was pretty exciting. you put them in a bowl with cold water and let them sit for a really long time. and they sort of swell. the end. then they are rinsed and go into pot with new water to simmer:

they were cooked with carrots and thyme and fresh tarragon.

and leeks. this was my first time chopping leeks. rather pretty things, i think:

and this is what leeks look like while being sauteed. neat!

and while we're at it, here are some sauteed cremini mushrooms!

everything gets nicely cooked up with the beans, and everyone is happy.

and here is the finished plate. i think i'm starting to get the hang of this whole 'presentation' thing.

manzana chile verde!

oh man, i have been a bad blogger lately - no posts that involve actual cooking on my part in the last few weeks. i deserve to be shamed in front of the whole blogging community: bad blogger, bad.

ok, that's over. i actually have four posts saved up, which i will thoughtfully and cleverly dispense, now.

**

today's entry is manzana chile verde, which is from the ever-popular (in my kitchen) veganomicon. i wanted to try a chili that was a total departure from anything i'd ever done before, and this one fit the bill in every way: 1) its green 2) it contains apples and 3) my first time cooking with tomatillos.

this recipe falls under the ever-present category of "i followed this exactly from a popular, copywrited cookbook, and so i don't feel totally comfortable re-posting it," but someone else didn't have the same quandries, and posted either the recipe, or something very close to it.

instead, i offer you pictures:

chili verde is a mixture of mostly green with bits of white. one must begin by parboiling little bits of potato and setting them aside.

then, there is prepping of many green things: poblano peppers...

a few jalapenos...

and, my first introduction to tomatillos. hello, tomatillo.

let's see what you look like on the inside: little. green. different.

and here we have some saute action of various green and white items. first comes onions and peppers:

and then comes the spices, white wine, and tomatillos.

next up we have the secret ingredient, which, as veganomicon points out, is not a secret if you can read spanish:

who knew? you add the apples to the mix, along with crazy things like veggie broth, scallions and cilantro and simmer.

next up was a tricky step - pureeing this stuff in the blender. i keep telling myself that i need an immersion blender and...i think i am right.

afterwards, add the potatoes, some white beans and lime juice.

and put it in a shallow bowl and add fun garnishes: cilantro, scallions, and most importantly, avocado. i am not ashamed to admit that i was quite proud of my presentation. this dish is totally worthy of TOP CHEF'S color challenge from top chef masters. and, as a side note, i am sad that philly jen is gone from last week, but i am pleased that i like all three of the finalists. i think i am voting for either nice brother voltaggio or gimli kevin, simply because other brother is sometimes mean, and he clearly has a good career already going.

but i digress. this was a really interesting chili. i'll have to make it again to get used to the flavors and texture; it was definitely good, but i'm used to something so different that i shocked my system. i have a feeling that the second time i make it i'll think its the best thing ever.

and this is where the post should end, but instead, children, we are going to have a little talk about how one shouldn't cook with hot peppers. one shouldn't, for example, brush one's hands up against the jalapenos in a constant manner when chopping. this is because the oils and seeds from the HOT peppers get into one's hands, and that means bad news bears for you later on.

how bad, you ask?

let's just say that i rejoiced that i had dairy milk in the fridge. because i poured a cup, and stuck my right hand in it for half an hour. my hand. in a cup of milk. i learned all about the neutralizing effects of milk from watching an episode of alton brown, and, while i'd never actually used it on anything but my throat, i can verify it does work on hands as well. i thought about taking a picture, but then i didn't, because that would have been humiliating. the end.

snobby joes!

i made snobby joes from veganomicon. what's nice is that, even though its from a book, isa is also kind enough to post it on her blog, the post punk kitchen, so i can also link you to the recipe (if you click here).

snobby joes are like sloppy joes, but different. you have to admit, there's something about sloppy joes you have a fond memory of. maybe its a recent memory. my sister, for example, is an omni and requests sloppy joes on her birthday every. single. year. this is partly because she loves them and partly because she loves the old 'manwich' commercial. i agree with her that sloppy joes can be fun and that its a catchy commercial, although i find the name of the product rather sexist and disturbing.

i think the 'snobby' part comes in because these are non-sexist and healthy, and because they are filled with lentils:

i, myself, am working my way up to loving lentils. this is a great recipe for that. because, you cook them and set them aside as you are also chopping up things like onions and peppers...

look! they change colors when cooked!

then you add the cooked lentils, some tomato sauce, tomato paste, various spices, and cook it up with a bit of maple syrup and yellow mustard. sadly, the pics of the cooking snobby joes were blurry and too embarrassing to post. i know - i was doing so well. oh well.

i'll have to make do with a pic of my finished plate. i served them with a baked sweet potato and some roasted broccoli, which was tossed with some olive oil, lemon juice, and a little minced garlic. i will say that i got full mid-way through and didn't touch the potato. lunch today will be the potato topped with left-over snobby joe(s ?), and i have no doubt it will be fabulous. this is excellent comfort food.