Apple Barbecue Seitan

I've always loved barbecue sauce. When I was younger, I tried to make it myself but all I could taste was the vinegar and molasses and I stuck to the stuff in a bottle for years. But nowadays anything in a bottle is likely to have HFCS, fat or animal products and I've become a real glutton for making everything from scratch. So it is that I present to you: "Claire's Apple Barbecue Sauce"! It's really yummy.

This recipe made (I'm guessing) over 2 cups of sauce, it's hard to tell because I kept licking the spoon.

Ingredients:

1. 2 apples
2. 2 tbsp. soy margarine
3. 1/3 cup brown sugar
4. 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
5. 1 cup ketchup
6. 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes from a can
7. 1/4 cup mirin rice vinegar
8. 1/2 cup molasses
9. 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
10. 1/4 tsp. celery salt
11. 1 tsp. chili powder
12. 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

Make it happen:

Step One: This should smell delicious. Peel, core and dice one apple. What kind of apple? I leave that to you, I used what was around, I think they were gala. Over medium-high heat melt the butter and when it sizzles softly, toss in the diced apple. Saute until the apple begins to soften and add the brown sugar. Stir constantly until the apple is soft and add the cinnamon. This should smell delicious!

Step Two: Saucy. Add the ketchup, crushed tomatoes and mix them in with the apple mixture. One-at-a-time, add the remaining ingredients (Except the second apple! Save that for later.), stirring after each addition. Let this simmer for about 20 minutes, the longer it simmers the thicker and richer the sauce will be. I opted out of the cayenne, but if you want a kick add that, some hot sauce — or both!
To make this a meal, I added about a pound of sliced seitan and 2 cups of frozen 3 pepper & onion blend and let that simmer for another 15 minutes all together. Core and slice the second apple and toss it into the sauce but don't let it cook very much. The idea is to have the soft, sweet apple chunks we added at the beginning and the crisp, crunchy slices we add at the end. I served this with cornbread and broccoli.

Cornbread Ingredients:

1. 1/4 cup melted soy margarine
2. 3/4 cup unsweetened soymilk
3. 4 tbsp. agave
4. 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
5. 1 1/2 tsp. egg replacer mixed with 2 tbsp. water
6. 1 cup cornmeal
7. 1 cup frozen corn kernels
8. 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
9. 1 tsp. salt

Cornbread Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Mix the ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour the cornbread mix into a greased 8x8 baking dish and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the broccoli: I simply cut it into bite-sized florets. Then in a skillet over medium-high heat, I melted 1 tsp. of margarine with 2 tbsp. vegetable broth, placed the broccoli in the pan with the lid on and let it steam for a few minutes (I like it crunchy). Then I sprinkled some sesame seeds on top.

And voila!

And here's the puppy on a dock behind my uncle's house.

The Chicago Diner

Sal and I spent last week in Chicago. Living near Atlanta gives us plenty of vegan-friendly health food stores and there are a few cafes we could patronize, though we rarely do. But we were in a new place and couldn't help ourselves. Our main goal was to find a Chicago-style deep dish pizza made with a vegan cheese substitute. We could only find New York-style pizza, we went to Ian's Pizza, 3463 N. Clark near Wrigley Field, yummy vegan pizza and BYOB! But we did try a new cheese (and I'm hooked!) Daiya!

It melts, stretches and tastes great. Quesadillas, grilled cheese, pizza — you name it!

But the most amazingly rapturous discovery of our journey to the Windy City was The Chicago Diner. If you live in or visit Chicago, go there: 3411 N. Halsted in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.

I'll start by telling you that life in suburban Georgia has been a bit dull and at times I dream of a vagabond lifestyle, travelling internationally with my husband, dog and a handful of possessions. But when my cousin Ben mentioned the Chicago Diner and it's "hip" neighborhood, I didn't realize what a breath of fresh air it would be. Shades of the Haight in San Francisco with Berkeley's relaxed denizens and Oakland's hip eateries and coffee shops — this neighborhood made me feel instantly at home. I was grinning from ear-to-ear.

The Chicago Diner has always been meat-free and though some items contain dairy, everything can be made vegan (and they ask for your preference —Quick side note, the staff is courteous and joyful; seriously, these waiters were fun people and I love them). We ordered a couple beers, buffalo seitan with vegan ranch dressing, a sweet potato quesadilla and a massive open-face hoagie called "The Halfpipe".

The Halfpipe was immeasurably

delicious. Country fried seitan, onion rings, lettuce, tomatoes, Daiya mozz and a vegan thousand island dressing all piled onto a big roll. We also brought home a milkshake and cookies.

The second time we went, we were wandering back to the car (which we, without realizing, had parked less than a hundred feet from The Chicago Diner) and I just had to repeat dessert from our first visit: a chocolate chip cookie dough and peanut butter milkshake made with Soy Temptations ice cream. SO GOOD! Very sweet though, we had to share. The third visit was the morning of our departure (a 12-hour drive between Atlanta and Chicago) we had brunch, vegan biscuits and gravy for me and a tofu scramble Mexicana for Sal. Yum! We got a Halfpipe to go and ate it for dinner on our roadtrip.

So to try and make a long story short, this restaurant was amazing and I bought their cookbook. It's written by one of the founder's of the diner, Jo A. Kaucher and you can buy your own copy on the website. It's full of wonderful ideas and scrumptious recipes. Last night I made Vegetable Paella and my first ever homemade polenta! And they've inspired me to add tumeric and seeds to my tofu scrambles and I made an amazing thing this morning: seitan sausages! That's an idea I'm going to play with plenty, it's delicious.

So go to the restaurant, tip the staff well and buy the cookbook.

Spaghetti and Bulgur Balls

It's been a while! Not that I haven't been cooking — I have! But nothing too spectacular. Except maybe those blueberry tarts, but I'll make those again.

But for today we shall focus on one of my all-time favorite comfort foods: noodles. I adore noodles. And I often theorized that the bulgur I use to make vegan sausages for breakfast would make amazing "neatballs" or "meatlessballs". And I was right.

Sauce ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 large cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. ground oregano
• 1 23 oz. can organic whole tomatoes (fire roasted preferable)

Step One: Onions! In a large wok or saucepan, heat the olive oil over med-high, add the onions and saute until they start turning clear. Add garlic and mushrooms, stir it in and add the salt and pepper.

Step Two: It will blend. Blend the tomatoes in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add to the onion/mushroom mixture once the mushrooms are cooked. Add the oregano and stir it all together.

Step Three: Bubble bubble. Turn the heat to medium and cook the sauce for at least a half hour. It'll bubble plenty so stir it often and wipe up splatter right away while it's easy.

Bulgur Balls Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked bulgur wheat
• 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp. raw, unsalted chopped cashews
• 4 or 5 fresh basil leaves shredded and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed and minced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 tbsp. vital wheat gluten
• 1 1/2 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 2 tbsp. water
• Olive oil as needed
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs

Step One: Mix it up. Mix the spices, nutri yeast, cashews, garlic and basil in with the bulgur.

Add the gluten and egg replacer mix and stir it up for a minute. If it feels too dry, add a splash of olive oil. If it seems too wet, try adding a sprinkle of bread crumbs or letting it rest for a moment. I find a change in consistency if I let this mixture rest for a couple of minutes post mixing.

Step Two: Balls. Roll up the bulgur, maybe 3 tbsp. per ball, into nice little round balls. Roll each ball lightly in olive oil and roll it in bread crumbs to coat it.

In a greased glass baking dish, arrange the balls about an inch apart.

Step Three: Baked. In a preheated 350* oven, bake the balls for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden.

Toss your favorite pasta in the sauce (this recipe made enough sauce for left overs, which I kept in a jar in my fridge — it tastes even better the second night). Add an extra dollop of sauce on top, plop your ball on there and enjoy!

And here's my cute husband and cute puppy napping together. Awww!

Dear Internet,

Well, I figured I couldn't keep blogging at my AtítlanBear address because I'm not at Lake Atítlan anymore. But I wanted a place to talk about all the fun I get into in the kitchen. So here it is.
To start with I'll just let you know that I'm vegan, I love to bake and people claim to adore everything I cook.
My favorite vegan cooking resources are:
veganyumyum
and
vegweb
Coming up next: Vegan Pizza