Pittsburgh!

When I found out Chihuly's glass exhibit at the Phipps Conservatory was leaving on February 24th, I knew I didn't have much time to get there. A hasty trip was planned and I did some research to learn about vegan eats around the city. To my surprise, Pittsburgh was extremely veg friendly. Perhaps more so, than Boston.

Unfortunately, I've been sick since I got back which has prevented me from posting.

Here's a few of the more than 600 photos I took at the Conservatory:

Our first night in the city, we dined at The Church Brew Works. The brewery/restaurant is actually inside an old church. It was a very neat place and waiter/chef had no problem veganizing a dish for me. We shared a plate of the home made chips and I had an Israeli cous cous salad with tofu.

Day 1: Chihuly day time viewing

Lunch at The Quiet Storm

Cococino (Soy coconut cappuccino)

"Chicken Tenders"

Magic Snake (Seitan philly steak)

In the evening, we took the incline car up Mount Washington and viewed the city on a very chilly night.

Dinner at Double Wide Grill, a veg friendly BBQ joint. My camera was toast at this point, so pics from my phone will have to suffice.

I loved how they displayed the wines!

BBQ Seitan Wings

Pulled Seitan Sandwich

Double wide added pearl barley to their seitan which created some great texture. That is something I'd like to try in the future.

Day 2: We checked out the East End Food Coop for breakfast and snacks. What a great store! Besides the loads of bulk options, they had home made vegan baked goods/entrees.

The Mattress Factory is renowned as one the of best installation art facilities in the country. We stopped there to walk through some really interesting exhibits. The cafe there was veg friendly and I enjoyed some beet soup and a salad.

The Heinz History Center has 7 floors to explore. There was so much to see here that we actually ran out of time. From Lewis & Clark, to the history of the Heinz Company, to the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, to Pittsburgh's cultural history...this was one place I would like to check out again.

After this, we rushed to see the Chihuly again at night. The Phipps cafe was vegan friendly which I've yet to see at many Boston museums. I grabbed a Thai tofu wrap and some Thai tomato soup.
We shipped out of Pittsburgh the next morning and made it back to Boston just after a snowstorm started. Luckily for us, our flight wasn't canceled.

Falafel Waffles, Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, and Muffins

I've been sporadically checking out all the vegan blogs, but pretty lax in commenting. Though I often planned on blogging over the last few months, life got in the way. Thank you to all the folks that emailed or commented while I was away. While dealing with all the holiday hustle and bustle, I was finishing up PT for my knee. Everything seems to be going well. As usual work has been hopping. We've gone through a couple of office expansions and of course I'm responsible for coordinating the network and phone cabling. Things are finally winding down and now I'm trying to catch up on stuff I've been neglecting.

Back to the food...

Though Vegan MOFO is long over, I figure---why not continue with my alphabet tour as promised? The pictures for my next entry have been sitting on my camera for almost 2 months. I certainly feel like one heck of a slacker.

Falafel is the plural of filfil which is an Arabic word that means pepper. Most people know falafel as a Middle Eastern food made from ground up fava beans and/or chickpeas mixed with spices. The most common falafel is fried into small balls and served in a pita with tahini sauce and veggies.

Back in October, I saw this creative falafel waffle recipe on the Don't Lose Your Lunch Blog. Honestly, I couldn't wait to try it. I've got to say, this is good stuff.

What else has been cooking? Well, I ordered the latest copy of the DEOTS (Don't Eat Off the Sidewalk) zine from Katie. One of the most talked about recipes from this edition is the Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls. These are incredibly good.

Tonight I finally got around to making the Orange Poppy Seed Muffins from Vive Le Vegan. These healthy little buggers are made with oat and barley flour and because of applesauce and orange juice, the recipe only calls for 3 tablespoons of oil. I really dig these, though wish they had more orange flavor. Maybe next time I will add some orange extract.

The photo above is the first blog pic with my new digital SLR. I've always wanted one, but the cost was prohibitive for me. Last week, I lucked out and found a beautiful camera on sale for over 50% off. Over the next few months, I'll slowly be learning the ropes.

Empanadas de Calabasa Sefardicas

The dish for "E" is empanadas. This recipe for pumpkin empanadas was also featured on Vegan Lunchbox. Because Sefardica or Sephardic in English is used in the recipe title, we know this recipe is both Spanish and Jewish.

In case you are unfamiliar with the term Sephardic, I thought I might give a quick explanation. Sephardic is derived from the Hebrew word for Spain and generally refers to Jewish people from the Iberian peninsula including Spain, North Africa, Middle East, and Portugal. Ashkenazic is derived from the Hebrew word for Germany and generally refers to Jews from Eastern Europe. Each group tends to have some different traditions. Most American Jews follow Ashkenazic tradition. Believe it or not there are quite a few other delineations that these groups can be broken down into, but this is the simple view.

When I was in Spain, I was definitely not vegetarian. Empanadas were a quick easy meal to buy on the go or pack for a trip. Sometimes the empanadas were like little pocket pies just as this recipe. Other times they would make the emapanada in three layers on a cookie sheet (dough, filling, dough) and slice it in squares. In the 5 weeks I was there, I only recall finding veggie empanadas once. Often I wonder, whether I'd notice veggie options more now. Maybe they were everywhere and I didn't see them because I wasn't looking.

Anyway, these pumpkin empanadas are a tad on the sweet side for me. It isn't because of the sugar, but more likely because of the apple in the filling. I'm a huge pumpkin fan and between the spices and the apple, the pumpkin felt a little watered down. This crust is simple and is definitely something I would make again. I'm always having trouble with the more delicate pie crusts.
BTW - Thanks for the concern about me and the car. My window is all fixed and I'm onto lots of other issues including PT for my knee that I injured snowboarding last year.

Avgolemono Soup

Today, I'm taking a quick timeout from my alphabet scheme, though we are still touring the world. Yesterday was a crazy day. My car was broken into at my office parking garage and that messed up my schedule for the night. After filing the police report, dropping my car off to get the glass replaced, and then getting a rental vehicle, I didn't have much energy to continue with my plan for "E".

On the way home, I did stop to pick up some parsley so I could make a tester recipe that I've been waiting to try. Yup, you heard that right. What do you do after someone breaks into your car? ---Go home and cook.

Suzie from One Chubby Vegan has started some recipe testing for her cookbook. As soon as I saw her post on the Avgolomeno Soup, I knew I wanted in as a tester.

Avgolemono is a Greek soup made with lemon. Eggs are used as a thickener. Could this be veganized? Well, Suzie did it and this soup is marvelous. Thick lemony goodness with seitan, rice and parsley.

Avgolemono Soup

Damper

Damper is a bread from Australia. The are many recipes, but all are simple. It was made from staples that the swagmen had on hand when they were in the outback. Generally you would mix flour, salt, baking powder, butter (if available), and water/milk/beer to form a dough. Then it is cooked on the coals of a campfire. Any Aussie will tell you to drizzle honey or golden syrup on the damper and serve it with billy tea.

Billy tea is also prepared over a campfire. You boil water in a billy (can) and add a fistful of tea per person. In a minute when the tea is done, you grab the handle with a bandanna and swing the hot can around in a circle. Really this is just for show, you could just as easily let the it sit for a few minutes to settle the leaves. Though swinging the billy in circles works, even if it is a bit dangerous.

For my damper, I used the following recipe:

2 cups of flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp (scant) salt
1 T melted Earth Balance
3/4 cup beer (approximate start with less and add until dough is smooth)

Mix, knead, flatten into a circle on the cookie sheet, and then bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

Damper

Damper sliced with agave drizzled on top

Here's an old photo of me (40 pounds ago!) enjoying billy tea in the Australian rain forest. It is way too early in the morning for me which explains my happy demeanor. Yes, our guide did actually swing the billy around the campfire!

Ceviche

Ceviche is a citrus marinated seafood dish that originated in Ecuador. While watching the news the other night, I saw a chef prepare Scallop Ceviche. Since "C" is up next, why not veganize the dish?

I pressed some firm tofu, cut it into cubes, and then followed the same preparation instructions as the scallops. After making some plantain chips, the ceviche was ready to serve. Though the dish is relatively simple to make, the presentation wowed a friend that joined me for dinner.

Tofu Ceviche

A couple of days ago I stumbled upon Meyer lemons at the store. I've always wanted to give them a try, so I was pretty happy to find some. Legend has it, the Meyer lemon is a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. This creates a sweeter citrus flavor. After checking some cookbooks and searching the net, I decided on Meyer Lemon Scones from a baking website.

The recipe was easy to veganize, just replace the butter with Earth Balance. I also made the scones slightly more healthy by subbing some whole wheat pastry flour and garbanzo flour. My only suggestion if you try the recipe, use powdered sugar instead of white sugar for the glaze. White sugar sounded wrong to me, but I followed the directions anyway. The topping is ok as is, but not a typical glaze. The scones are delicious.

Meyer Lemon Scones

Bazirgan

My first VeganMoFo post happened to include Amazake from Japan. As I started to think about my plan for the month, I thought why not continue along to the letter B. This month we'll be touring the world and wandering through my cookbook shelves from A-Z.

Today's post is Bazirgan, a Syrian recipe for fine crushed wheat "caviar". The recipe is from A Fistful of Lentils which consists of Syrian-Jewish recipes.

The ingredients called for fine-grain bulgur. I only had medium grain, so it required a trip to the Middle Eastern store. Of course, I had to wander through all the aisles and check out everything. Before leaving, I purchased some whole wheat Markouk bread to use for dipping the Bazirgan. I'd never seen Markouk before. It is paper thin and they fold the large circles to fit in the package. Here's an interesting article about how it is baked by hand in Lebanon.

Here's a photo of a piece Markouk. It unfolds into a 3 foot circle!

Here's the Bazirgan.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of this recipe. There a lot flavors mixed into one dish. I'm thinking I may add some extra plain bulgur to "water" it down a bit.