Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf

Here is an amazing recipe I found on the Post Punk Kitchen website. I love their recipes!

Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf

by IsaChandra

Serves 12

This loaf is dense, chocolaty and moist, with undertones of pumpkin and autumnal spices laced throughout. It’s also lower in fat than most dessert loaves, with only 2 tablespoons of oil in the batter. To add to the chocolatiness, I threw in some chocolate chips, and you may like to add other yummy things, like pecans or walnuts. But I’ll take my chocolate straight up, please!

There’s a funny little method with boiling water in this recipe and you may wonder why I use it. The answer is simple: I don’t exactly know. Well, I know why I use it, but I’m not positive why it works. What you do is add boiling water alternately as you add the dry ingredients to wet. I was introduced to this method in Nigella’s monumental book “How To Be A Domestic Goddess” with her recipe for a chocolate loaf cake, and I’ve used it ever since. I’ve tried to disobey it, thinking it was frivolous and unneeded, only to be greeted by a loaf whose crumb was not as fine and rise was not as perfectly formed. And so I’ve stopped fighting it. Maybe it has to do with the baking soda, I don’t know, just use it.

I love this loaf still a little bit warm, but anyway you slice it (har har) it will be delicious and no one will guess that it’s lower in fat.

PS I have a feeling that people will ask if they can make this in muffin tins, so let me get that out of the way. You can! I haven’t tried it, but I think you’re gonna’ want to fill the cups 3/4 of the way (you might not get 12, but let me know) and bake for about 20 minutes.

PPS I also have a feeling people will ask if they can completely omit the oil. I prefer a little fat in my baked goods, but I bet that subbing it with applesauce would be just dandy.

1/4 cup applesauce
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or canola oil)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons boiling water, divided (see note)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F and lightly grease an 8 inch loaf pan. Also, boil some water in a tea kettle (no need to measure yet.)

Put applesauce, coconut oil and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, spices, baking soda and salt.

Measure out 1/3 cup boiling water and pour into the bowl with the chocolate mixture, mixing quickly to make a smooth chocolate sauce. Add pumpkin, sugar and vanilla and mix well.

Dump about half of the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture and gently stir just to incorporate, then measure out 1 tablespoon of boiling water and stir again. Now add the rest of the flour mixture and another tablespoon of boiling water and stir just until smooth. Take care not to overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan. It will be good and thick. You can smooth the top out with a spatula.

Bake for 55 minutes to an hour. Stick a steak knife into the center of the loaf to check for doneness. A little bit of wetness is okay since it could be from a chocolate chip, but the knife should come out mostly dry.

Let cool for 10 minutes, then invert pan and place loaf on a cooling rack to cool most of the way. It’s yummy a little bit warm, or thoroughly cooled. Slice and serve!

Sumptuous Shepherd’s Stew

By Angela Liddon | November 7, 2012

Unlike traditional versions of Shepherd’s Stew, this recipe does without greasy gravy—but fear not! It still features a classic, rich broth.

Serves 6

What You Need:
1 large sweet onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable broth
2 cups peeled chopped carrots
2 cups chopped potatoes
1-1/2 cups chopped celery
2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup flour
1-1/2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence
3 tablespoons low-sodium tamari
3 cups vegetable broth, plus more as needed
1 14-oz package of extra-firm tofu, drained, rinsed, and pressed
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2-1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

What You Do:

1. In a large pot over high heat, add onion, garlic, and vegetable broth and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add carrots, potatoes, celery, and mushrooms. Sauté for about 15 additional minutes, adding more broth if necessary.

2. Stir in parsley, flour, Herbes de Provence, and tamari until vegetables are coated in flour. Stir in broth and bring stew to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on low-medium heat for another 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  

3. While stew cooks, preheat a skillet over medium-high heat. Slice tofu into 1/4-inch cubes. Add oil to skillet. Sauté tofu for about 5 minutes on each side, or until crispy. Stir tofu into stew. Add apple cider vinegar and smoked paprika.  Serve hot.

Pizzas w/whole wheat crust and Daiya cheese

Lyla and I love making these pizzas lately. She prefers them to pizza with cheese from cow's milk. It's very simple. We just get the frozen crusts from Fresh Direct. Put a little bit of Rao's sauce on it. For Adrian's we only put Daiya cheese. For the rest of us, we have black olives and red onion over the Daiya cheese and sometimes we had some vegan pepperoni! Yum Yum!

Fried Udon Noodles pg 229 The Kind Diet

Last night we made these to go along with the baked ginger tofu! I thought it was delicious. Dave liked it too. I think it was a bit spicy for Lyla. I'm not sure if it was all of the black pepper or the paprika. I might try to tweak it in the future.

Serves 2
1 (8 oz) jpackage udon noodles
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups sliced green cabbage
1 cup onion slices
2 tsp finely chopped garlic
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp sweet paprika
Chopped parsley for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the udon noodles and cook just until al dente; drain and keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cabbage and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender, about 15 minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of water to the pan if the cabbage begins to stick or burn.

Heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil over medium heat in a separate pan. Add the onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika and cook until the onions are translucent, again adding water if the onions stick. Add the onions to the skillet with the cabbage and stir to combine. Add the drained noodles and toss together until heated through. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot.

Ginger Baked Tofu from The Kind Diet

I made this recipe with Lyla. It was actually super easy.  We might have over extended ourselves because we made quite a few dishes with it. However, going, forward, this is something I could prepare in minutes by starting the marinade early in the day and popping in the oven in the evening. Adrian even loved adding cubes of it to his miso soup. We all agreed it was delicious.

Serves 2-4

1 lb firm tofu
1/3 cup shoyu (soy sauce)
1 Tbspn toasted or untoasted sesame oil
2 Tbspns minced fresh ginger
1 Tbspn finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
2 Tbspns umeboshi vinegar
1/2 tspn crushed red-pepper flakes (optional)
1 tspn brown rice syrup (optional)
Finely chopped scallions for garnish (optional)

Cut tofu in half width-wise, then slice in half again. You will be left with 4 tofu "steaks".

Pour 3/4 cup of water into a bowl. Whisk in the shoyu, oil, ginger, garlic, vinegars, red-pepper flakes (if desired), and rice syrup and pour over the tofu, covering it. An 8"x6" dish works perfectly. Marinate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Either drain the baking dish of the majority of marinade, or place tofu on a baking sheet & baste with the marinade. Reserve the remaining marinade.

Bake tofu for 15-20 mins. Turn the tofu pieces with a spatula, baste again with the marinade, bake for 10-15 mins longer. Garnish with scallions & serve warm.

Coffee Fudge Brownies (The Kind Diet)

The Kind Diet’s Coffee Fudge Brownies

I got this recipe from The Kind Diet.We really liked it. I found I had to cook the brownies much longer than the recipe called for because they are really thick, maybe 10-15 minutes longer. I just waited until it wasn't jiggly inside the middle. Also, the amount of glaze is really enough for two batches of brownies if you use a 8-9 inch pan. Next time I might try putting them in a 13 x 9 inch pan to see if the cooking time is more in line with the recipe and then I might need more glaze as well.

COFFEE FUDGE BROWNIES

IngredientsFor the brownies:
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups maple sugar
3/4 cup soy/rice milk blend (or any nondairy milk)
3/4 cup brewed decaf coffee
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

For the glaze:
1 1/2 cups grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips
1/2 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan) butter

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Coat an 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan with oil or cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, sift together both flours, the cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the maple sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the milk, coffee and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir to mix well.
4. Stir in the walnuts, then pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.
5. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Once the brownies have cooled, prepare the glaze.
7. In a small saucepan bring about 1 inch of water to a boil. Set a stainless steel bowl over it.
8. Add the chocolate chips and butter to the bowl and stir until melted and smooth.
9. Pour the warm glaze over the entire pan of brownies, smoothing it over the surface.
10. Chill until the glaze has set, about 1 hour.

Start to finish: 2 1/2 hours (20 minutes active)
Servings: 12

Lyla's New Cooking Interest

Lyla has become very interested in cooking with me. I thought it would be fun for us to try out new recipes, veganize some old ones and see which ones we like! I told her we could start a blog to keep track of which recipes get the thumbs up and which get the thumbs down! I can't wait to get started. I think we'll have a blast.