Continuing with my posts featuring the foods we served at our Oscar party, here’s what we made for the movie “UP” – “UPcakes”!  Like “Up in the Air”, this title was a hard one.  I was looking at the mini cupcakes that I had at the Farmers’ Market a couple Sundays ago and realized that they would fit the bill perfectly.

I served mini velvet with cream cheese frosting and mini chocolate with chocolate frosting since those seem to be the two most popular flavors.  All of the recipes are based on those found in the book “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World”, but since my variations on the recipes are a trade secret, unfortunately I can’t post them.  Hopefully there will be a C’est La V Bakeshop cookbook one day, and all secrets will be revealed!

I love entertaining  – making lots of appetizers for parties, making dinner for friends, etc., and I really like to go all out when I do it.  In the past, I wasn’t that up for taking short-cuts when I entertained.  I guess I looked at it as cheating.

Now, with my business to run (and bake for), a dog, a cat and a very busy husband, I’ve gotten very comfortable with a few little easy fixes, especially when we’re making 10 dishes for the Oscars.  I think if you mix in some pre-made things with some great homemade stuff, you’re good to go.  And in the end, you’re feeding you’re friends!  They’re not going to worried about how much time you spent making the food.

This popcorn that we served as our dish for the film “Up in the Air” is the perfect example.  For some reason, this movie title totally stumped us – definitely not as easy to come up with as “Avo-tartare” or some of the other titles.  One of my friends asked if we did “Up in the Pear”, which I should have done, but didn’t think of!  (Rebecca, I’ll be calling you next year for input…)

What goes better with movies than popcorn?  And it is air-popped, so the title fits, right?  Whole Foods sells a great pre-seasoned popcorn, and I had no problem serving it alongside the dishes that I made from scratch.  Back in the day I would have felt that I had to make my own seasoning mix, but in the end, if it’s good, who really cares?  You don’t need to kill yourself, and I certainly have a better time when I take some of the pressure off.  And really, isn’t that the point?

As I said in my last two posts, Ryan and I host an annual Oscar party where we make dishes named for the best picture nominees.  Since there were 10 (!) nominees this year, we thought we’d do at least one drink and also some sweets in addition to the savory dishes.  This lime punch was our “dish” for the film “District 9.”

I always have the intention of making fun drinks for parties or dinner guests, but once the food part is taken care of the drink ideas seem to fall by the way-side.  We do the same old thing – beer, wine and Italian non-alcoholic sodas, which I thank my friend, Karen, for turning me onto.  I love me a good Italian soda!  Those all work just fine, but there’s nothing really exciting or new there.  It’s amazing what a difference having a home-made drink can make, and the effort is actually pretty minimal.

For our “District Lime” drinks, Ryan found this recipe, and it couldn’t have been easier to make.  We ended up using different amounts of ginger ale and soda water (only because that’s what the store had), and it still turned out great, so don’t get hung up on finding the exact amounts indicated in the recipe.  We made this in two batches, which also worked well.

The great thing about this drink is that it was really refreshing and satisfying on its own, but you could also add vodka or another type of alcohol if you wanted to.  It feels more festive to make something special, and this drink was so simple and so tasty that we’ll definitely make it again.  It inspired me to take the extra time in the future to pair some fun drinks with whatever food we serve.  It was really easy, and really worth it!

Since I posted “The Herb Popper” yesterday (for “The Hurt Locker”), I thought it only fitting to follow it up with our dish for “Avatar” – “Avo-tartare”.  This was one of the first titles that we figured out, and I knew it would be easy enough to either find a recipe that worked, or to just make one up.  I looked online and found several recipes that were basically avocado salsa with things like black beans, corn and lots of seasonings. While those sound really good,  I wanted to keep this simple and feature the avocado, rather than having it compete with lots of other flavors.

I bought some pre-sliced mango at Trader Joe’s and diced up the slices, then did the same with the avocado (I used about 4 I think).  I minced about half of a small red onion and tossed that in, and then I added salt, tons of lime juice, and maybe a couple tablespoons of chopped cilantro.  Since I wasn’t using a recipe I just kept tasting to make sure the seasoning was right.  Not because I kept wanting to eat it, just, you know, for testing.

This was nice and light, but still a little bit rich from the avocado.  It worked well to balance out the other dishes we served, and I’ll definitely make it again as an alternative to regular salsa or guacamole.  You can throw in whatever else sounds good to you, or add more mango or avocado to suit your taste.  You’ll want to make this the same day you serve it.  Even though the lime juice helps to slow the oxidation of the avocado, you probably don’t want to risk it by making it too far in advance.

Ah, the Oscars… so many stars, and such a great opportunity to get together with friends and make fun of them.  Okay, not all of them, just most of them.  If you’ve read my posts from last year’s Oscars, you know that for the past three years Ryan and I have hosted a little soiree where we serve dishes based on the titles of the best picture nominees.  All this week (and into next) I’ll be posting what we served.  The last two years we only had to worry about five main movie-based dishes, but this year, with ten best picture nominees, we had our work cut out for us!

Rather than having things in mind that we wanted to make, we went almost exclusively off of the movie names for inspiration.  I ended up making a few of our favorite appetizers, which you’ll recognize from past posts, but I also tried some new recipes.  These stuffed mushrooms are the latter, and I’ll definitely be making them again.  I thought I’d kick the week off with these to honor “The Hurt Locker” – the title they’re based on – since it took so many awards last night, including best picture.

I had a bunch of ideas of what to make off of the title “The Herb Popper”, but once I came across the recipe for “Ryan’s Mushroom Poppers” from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, I knew that I wanted to use them for this.  With both “Ryan” and “Popper” right there in the title it felt like a sign, although an ironic one since my Ryan can’t stand whole mushrooms.  He tried the filling though, and loved it.

These were so easy to make (another reason I chose them), and they were seriously delicious.  I made the filling (cooked and chopped tempeh bacon, chopped chives, minced garlic, salt, pepper and vegan cream cheese) a day in advance, stuffed the mushrooms the following morning and kept them in the fridge, and then baked them at the beginning of the party.  Most of the people eating them weren’t vegan, or even vegetarian, but they were still a huge hit.

Stay tuned for the nine other nominees…

Whenever I get my new issues of Vegetarian Times or VegNews in the mail, the first thing I do is check out all the recipes and mark what I want to try.  Unfortunately I usually forget all about them in the chaos of Saturday baking, and then I find myself at our Farmers’ Market booth on Sunday with no meal plan or list of ingredients that I need to buy.

I’m trying to be better about that, and this past week I actually brought my Vegetarian Times with me so I could make a list once our booth was set up.  It helped that I knew it was going to be a busy week, and I really only needed to plan two dinners.  I thought I’d try this soup for one of them, since it seemed easy to make and I love me some good, creamy soup!

If you like Artichokes, you’ll love this soup.  The garlic and leek flavors come through, but not nearly as strong as the artichoke flavor.  I did use an extra two ounces of artichokes, but I think even without that they’d be the most predominant flavor.  We ate this with toasted sourdough bread that we spread with Earth Balance, and it made for a really nice (and light) warming dinner.

Garlicky Leek and Artichoke Soup
Serves 6 / Gluten Free

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium leeks, white parts chopped (2 cups)
9 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 10-oz. package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed OR 2 9.9-oz. jars water-packed artichokes hearts, rinsed and drained
2 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (3/4 cup)
6 fresh thyme sprigs
2 teaspoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons prepared basil pesto

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add leeks and garlic, and saute 5 minutes, or until leeks are softened and translucent.  Add broth, artichokes, potatoes, thyme and 2 cups water; cover, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low; season with salt and pepper and simmer, partially covered for 20 to 25 minutes, or until potatoes and garlic are very tender.

Remove thyme sprigs, and strip remaining thyme leaves into soup pot.  Transfer soup to blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.  Return to pot and stir in lemon juice.  Taste again for seasoning, and add more salt and pepper if needed.  Ladle soup into bowls, and garnish each with 1 tablespoon pesto.

Notes: I used frozen artichokes for this, and probably a little bit more leek and potato than called for.  The measurements don’t have to be exact by any means.  I also used a bouillon cube instead of prepared broth. For the pesto I used dairy-free pesto from Basiltops, and if you don’t have any pesto don’t let that stop you from making this.  It’s good on it’s own too!

]]> http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/03/vegetarian-times-garlicky-leek-artichoke-soup/feed/ 16 http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/02/cest-la-v-at-the-olympics/ http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/02/cest-la-v-at-the-olympics/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:27:08 +0000 kim http://www.cestlavegan.com/?p=3239

That lucky Peanut Butter Brownie!  It got to go to the Olympics, and I didn’t…  Such is life.  Ryan was in Vancouver to shoot some stuff for a documentary he’s working on, and he was able to get a shot of one of his favorite treats getting in on the action too!

Between organizing everything for our taxes, dealing with Mr. Omar Little and just handling the regular workload, things have been pretty busy around here.  I’m working on some fun stuff for the blog that I hope to have up in the next week, so stay tuned.  I promise there’s some good stuff coming.

I’ve also been researching and testing gluten-free baked goods for C’est La V, and I’m contemplating try to go gluten free myself, for at least a trial period to see how I feel.  If any of you guys have tips or great sites that might help, I’d love to hear about them!  In the meantime, here’s another one of Ryan’s shots from Vancouver… pretty jealous I wasn’t there!

]]> http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/02/cest-la-v-at-the-olympics/feed/ 8 http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/02/cest-la-vegan-turns-1/ http://www.cestlavegan.com/2010/02/cest-la-vegan-turns-1/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:12:54 +0000 kim http://www.cestlavegan.com/?p=3199

Today is C’est La Vegan’s first birthday!  Part of me feels the year flew by, while the other part feels like it’s been a really long time since I published that first post.  I’m so grateful to our amazing web designer, Robert of looplava, and also to my husband, Ryan, who spent so many hours working with Robert to get the original and new site designs just right.  Ryan also does all the photography for the site, in addition to all the other work he does (including his own photography blog), and I’m so appreciative that he’s willing to lend his talent to make everything I cook and bake look so amazing.

And, of course, I’m so grateful to all of you for reading this blog.  I’m still astonished that people care about the food I make or what I have to say, and I really do appreciate every visitor and comment that I receive.  I’ve so enjoyed the feedback that I get, and I’m thrilled whenever someone makes one of the recipes I’ve posted. Doing this just for myself wouldn’t be any fun, so knowing that you’re all out there, actively participating with me makes it really worth the work it takes to keep this going.  I’ve also loved discovering so many of your wonderful blogs that keep me inspired (and drooling)!

For me, getting to reconnect with family recipes as well as create new recipes is so fulfilling.  I love the way that food brings people together, and I hope that one day our attachments to certain foods will fall away when we realize it’s the people we’re with who really matter, and not the turkey at the center of the table.  I hope that this blog helps to prove that, and that it can show people that you can eat really delicious and satisfying vegan food without feeling like you’re sacrificing.

Man, I love food.  Thanks for checking mine out.

When I think of desserts for Valentine’s Day, what comes to mind more often that not are over-the-top-decadent chocolate concoctions.  And while I’m all for that (who isn’t?), I wanted to craft a unique meal that ends with something more unexpected.  And let’s face it, there ain’t gonna be no “romance” on Valentine’s night if you eat some creamy soup, some creamy pasta, and then top it all off with some rich and creamy chocolate mousse – although that does sound pretty yummy…

When I consulted the list of aphrodisiac foods that I found online, I noticed that both pine nuts and anise seeds were mentioned.  I’d originally considered using the pine nuts in a pasta dish, but then I remembered these cookies and thought they’d be the perfect light end to a pretty rich meal.  They’re originally from Millennium Restaurant, which is one of my favorite places to eat in the whole country.  I made them several years ago after finding them online, and then saw them again republished in The Joy of Vegan Baking.

These cookies aren’t too sweet, and if you love the flavor of anise, you’ll love these.  The printed recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of anise extract as opposed to the online version (below), which calls for 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon.  I’m definitely an anise fan, but I’d stick with the smaller amount for these.  Next time I make them I might try them with agave rather than maple syrup.  While the maple flavor is nice, I feel like it might compete just a bit with the anise seeds.

These cookies would go really well with a sweet dessert wine, as suggested in the recipe, or you could also serve them alongside some squares of dark chocolate or fresh berries.

Pine Nut and Anise Cookies
Makes about 20 cookies

From the Compassionate Cooks website - Incredibly flaky and rich, these cookies go well with dessert wines, port, coffee, or tea. Serve them also with sorbet or as an accompaniment to a fruit soup. This recipe is from the Millennium Cookbook, and the cookies are out of this world.

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon aniseed
1 cup pine nuts, toasted
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon anise extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix in the aniseed and pine nuts. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until combined. Form a ball of dough with about 2 tablespoons batter and place on the prepared sheet. [I used a very small cookie scoop, which will yield at least twice as many cookies.]  Press with your hand to a thickness of 1/3 inch. Repeat, placing the cookies 3 inches apart.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or lightly brown [I baked the smaller cookies for about 8 minutes]. Let cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I know Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a huge deal, with a killer meal that’s absolutely perfect.  As I explained in yesterday’s post, we sometimes celebrate and sometimes don’t (usually depending on how busy we are at the time), and since our time off is precious, the last thing we want to do is deal with Valentine’s Day crowds out at restaurants (not to mention the Valentine’s prices!).  We’d rather have a quiet night in, with a good home cooked meal to celebrate the occasion.

So in thinking about what to make for the holiday, I thought I’d go the route of trying to incorporate foods that are know for having aphrodisiac qualities.  I did some research online and found this informative little page.  A few of the foods jumped out at me, and I thought they would go nicely together in a pasta dish, which for us is one of the ultimate comfort foods.

The result is this penne with asparagus and pistachios in a creamy garlic-basil sauce.  This dish incorporates basil, garlic, nutmeg, asparagus and pistachios – all foods that are supposedly aphrodisiacs, or linked to fertility.  Who knows how much of that is actually true, but whether or not you believe it, these elements still make for a pretty tasty dish.

I tried to find some sauce recipes online, but most of them were just pesto with cream added.  I decided I’d make up my own version, and I think this is pretty yummy, especially with the asparagus.  My sauce was pretty thick, so I’ve changed a couple of the liquid quantities in the recipe below.  If the sauce is thinner than you’d like, just let it simmer a bit longer.  If it’s too thick you can thin it out with some vegetable broth or with your pasta water.

Penne Pasta with Asparagus in a Garlic-Basil Cream Sauce

1 bunch asparagus
1 pound penne pasta
sea salt
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) non-dairy margarine [I used Earth Balance]
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup shallot, minced
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons organic unbleached all-purpose flour
6 large basil leaves
1 cup vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups non-dairy creamer [I used unsweetened MimicCreme]
couple pinches of nutmeg
fresh cracked pepper
1/4 cup pistachios, roughly chopped [you can use raw or roasted - whichever you like best]
4 or 5 basil leaves, cut in a chiffonade style (optional, for garnish)

Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta.  Snap or chop off the woody bottoms of the asparagus, and chop the stalks into pieces that are roughly the size of your penne.  Rinse the asparagus and set aside.

Heat a large sauce pan or pot over medium heat and melt the margarine and olive oil together.  Add the shallots and saute until they’re soft and translucent.  Add the garlic and saute until it’s fragrant, about a minute.  Whisk in the flour, and stir for a minute or two until it’s incorporated and has had a chance to toast a bit.

While whisking constantly, pour in the vegetable broth and then the cream.  Stir until the sauce is smooth. Crush the basil leaves in your fist and add them to the sauce.  Stir them around, reduce the heat, and stir the sauce occasionally while you boil the asparagus and pasta.

Once your water is boiling, add the asparagus and a large pinch of sea salt to the pot.  Boil the asparagus for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until it’s bright green and crisp-tender.  You basically want it to loose it’s raw taste, but don’t want to over cook it.  Remove the asparagus from the water, and set it aside.  Add the pasta with another teaspoon or so of salt.  Cook according to the package directions.

Your sauce should be thickened up a bit at this point.  Test it for seasoning – you might need to add salt depending on how salty your vegetable broth is.  Add the nutmeg to taste.

When the pasta finishes boiling, reserve about a 1/2 cup of pasta water.  Drain the pasta and add it along with the asparagus to your sauce.  Stir everything together, adding pasta water as needed if your sauce is a bit thick.

Before serving, remove the basil leaves.  To serve the pasta, scoop it into bowls and sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper, chopped pistachios and basil chiffonade.  Enjoy!