Your Vegan Mom

Brownies and a Quick Harangue on the Wonders of Flax Meal

Oh my, I am so giddy with brownie joy.  Also the music helps, I'm listening to The Weakerthans' Reconstruction Site.  I love it when smart people write good songs.  But the brownies, we were talking about the brownies.

I have made a lot of bad vegan brownies in my time.  It's a problem of egg replacer.  When adapting cookie recipes, I like to use flax meal.  For custards, I prefer pureed tofu.  If you think about it, a brownie lies somewhere between a custard and a cookie.  Maybe that's why a good brownie is so delicious and so elusive.  

But then Martha Stewart's Cookies came home from the library with me last week, and amidst the lovely layout, nice simple photographs (one per cookie), and well-written recipes, were directions for a basic brownie that called for just two eggs.

Sure there are exceptions, but as a general rule, I don't mess with baking recipes that call for more than two eggs.  So after a bit of wavering on the replacer issue, I got out the flax meal.  As you may know, for the purposes of baking one large egg has a volume of 1/4 cup.  So a flax egg is 1 tablespoon flax meal plus 3 tablespoons water equaling 1/4 cup.  When you let this mixture sit for about 5 to 10 minutes it gets a goopy texture very similar to a raw egg.  It's pretty magical.  You'll see some recipes that call for warm water, and this just speeds up the goopdifying process.   

The flax meal worked great.  I got crackly tops and a fudgy brownie.  Really you, why keep the eggs?  You can buy already ground flax in a bag at Trader Joe's.  I use it so often that I just keep it in a jar on the counter (other nuts and seeds I keep in the fridge, and you should too).  You mix it with water - you've got that right?  If there is absolutely no compromise in flavor, well then it seems like a simple decision.  You're probably trying to figure out how to get more of this omega-3 rich seed in your diet anyway, I say have a brownie.

Brownies

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flax meal 
• 6 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Line an 8-inch square baking pan with 2 sheets of parchment paper.  Leave a handle on each side to make it easy to lift the brownies out of the pan.  Here, let me show you:

2. Put flax meal and water into the bowl of your electric mixer.  Let sit.

3. Put butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder into the top of a double boiler.  Stir until butter and chocolate have melted.  (Or, if you need brownies even more quickly, melt those ingredients in the microwave.  It will take about 2 minutes, stirring half way.  It's imperative that you have one of those microwave turn tables in there if you're going to try to melt chocolate this way.)   

4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. 

5. Once the flax mixture has been sitting for a good ten minutes or so, beat it on high with the whisk attachment until thoroughly goopy, about 30 seconds.  Add sugar and vanilla to the flax and continue to beat with the whisk for about 4 minutes, until thoroughly combined.  Add chocolate mixture, and mix again.  Turn off the mixer, add dry ingredients, and quickly mash together, just until the flour is incorporated into the chocolate.  I'm certain you've heard this before, but you don't want to overmix the flour or you'll wind up with one tough cookie.  Just firmly mash the flour into the chocolate mixture with as few strokes as possible until combined.

6. Pour batter into prepared pan spreading evenly with your spatula.  Bake until a toothpick comes out clean or with a couple crumbs (avoid center or edges for testing), 30 - 35 minutes.  Let cool partially in pan, about 15 minutes.  Remove to cooling rack to cool completely before slicing.    

Happy weekend.  May you be just as sick with too much chocolate as I am.  Or perhaps, may you be blessed with greater moderation.  

To Market: the bulk bins

  I love Nature Mart.  I restocked my pantry a bit yesterday with spelt flour, brown rice flour, and buckwheat flour (because I've been having a hankering pour les galettes).  I remembered to bring my jars, so there was no packaging at all involved in this grocery purchase - that just makes me so happy.  I love those big clean jars filled with velvety soft flours that will become all sorts of delicious.  Nature Mart has pretty much anything a hippie might put into a repurposed container - so many different kinds of granola and breakfast cereal, several colors of quinoa and other grains, two different kinds of wheat for you home millers, and all sorts of dried beans.  It looks like they have a good price on organic soy beans - I think I'm going to get this soy milk maker that Nona wrote about - anyone else tried it?  Of course, Nature Mart is a reliable source of nutritional yeast (two flippin' kinds, man) and vital wheat gluten (here, labeled gluten flour).  Oh, and they have liquid groceries too like canola oil and agave nectar.  It's my goal to only shop here and at the farmers market.  It gets me all giddy to imagine a world in which I purchased nothing in a cardboard box or plastic bag.  Eeee (that's my giddy noise), we'll see how it goes.  A quick note about this giddiness: I haven't had my second cup of coffee yet, which reminds me - coffee - where will the coffee come from?  

The Story of the Magic Beans

Once upon a time there was a bag of beans. They looked like ordinary beans if a little on the small side. Just by looking at them you would never know it, but they were magic.

New to town, and knowing nothing of the special powers of the famed local legumes, a little boy and his mama innocently grabbed them off the shelf of the neighborhood Kroger. They brought them home and cooked them, more or less, according to package directions:

Cover with 10 cups water and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Simmer about one hour. Saute 1 minced onion and 1 clove garlic in a teaspoon of butter. Add to the bean pot along with a pinch of thyme, a bay leaf, salt and pepper. Gently simmer for about half an hour or until the beans are soft and flavorful.

That very night they ate those magic beans with sauteed spinach over rice. The next day they ate the beans again. This time the mama just threw some shredded kale and cubes of smoked tofu right into the pot. Again, with a bit of rice and a shake of hot sauce, they had a delicious meal. You might think the story ends here, but we couldn't rightly call those beans magic if that were so.

When the family woke up the next day, there were still beans in the pot. Maybe even more beans than the day before. The family sure liked those beans, but they were ready for a change. Thinking quickly, the papa grabbed a fork and smashed them up. Good thing too. If it weren't for his quick thinking and agile bean smashing that pot would have lasted until the wee babe was a grown man himself with children of his own to tend to. The papa added some vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast and cajun seasoning and turned those beans into seitan cutlets!

Along with mashed potatoes and gravy, those southern bean cutlets made a hearty meal.

The next day was bright and sunny and the family decided to go on a picnic. Dressed as cutlets, the beans came too. With apple-pecan coleslaw and a view of Caddo Lake, the family gobbled up that seitan.

But there were still some left! The next day, while the baby was sleeping, the mama was h-u-n-g-r-y. She sliced a cutlet thin, simmered it with barbecue sauce, heaped some left over coleslaw on a bun and enjoyed an excellent sandwich all by herself.

And wouldn't you know? That wasn't the end of those beans. They turned up the next night in cutlets again coated with a sweet hot sauce glaze. Before they skipped town for good, they made one last appearance as strips of buffalo seitan on a bed of mixed greens drizzled with buttermilk ranch.

Now I can't be certain where or when those beans will turn up again, but I can say that that happy bean eatin' family lived happily ever after.

The End

Nutritional Yeast

I was beginning to bore myself with my weekly reports from the market, so I have decided to change things up a bit today with a visit to my pantry. Once a month or so we’ll take a look at one of those strange vegan staples that I thoughtlessly mention here and there with no explanation. Well, that changes today. For today we will take a look at that veganest of vegan staples - nutritional yeast.

This is the food of the FUTURE....future....(future). If this isn't space food, it certainly should be. Seriously, go put some in your earthquake kit. This food (and I know that I am not selling it here like a bouquet of fresh asparagus spears) is a powdered protein source rich in vitamins and minerals. Plus! It tastes like cheese (a little bit, if you use your imagination).

Nutritional yeast is an inactive form of our old friend, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I say old friend because this is one beloved one-celled organism. It is a strain of that same yeast that leaves behind air pockets in your bread and puts the oomph in your ale. So say it with me now, “sack or uh my sees - sarah vees see ay,” or “sugar fungus of beer” if you prefer. Back in the day, German brewers would scoop out the yeast left over at the end of the beer-making process to sell as a health tonic, and rightfully so; this inactive yeast was 50% protein and high in vitamins and minerals. Only problem was it didn’t taste very good.

Despite the bitter flavor, brewers yeast is still a commonly used nutritional supplement (and the foundation of a couple of popular spreads), however it is not the same as the nutritional yeast that you see called for in so many vegan recipes. This "primary grown inactive dry yeast" is now cultivated on molasses rather than scooped out of a beer keg. It is specifically raised for its nutritive properties as well as its pleasant taste. It is also frequently fortified with other vitamins, namely B12. You will find it in the form of dry yellow flakes sold in many a health food store bulk bin or canister.

Oh, and find it you will, because this stuff packs a nutritional wollop. In a 3 tablespoon serving of my KAL brand nutritional yeast flakes there are 9 grams of protein and 150% of the RDA of B12 in addition to high concentrations of many other vitamins and minerals. But, as I mentioned before, that is not the only reason for its essential vegan status.

It is the crucial ingredient in the elusive vegan cheese. But don't you go expecting the boldness of a stilton or even a compté; its flavor is mild. I prefer to think of it as an umami element. It gives that certain savory je ne sais quoi to scrambles and cream sauces and seitan.

And you, how do you use the nooch?

Big Bear: Sol Food Market

(Image courtesy of Sol Food Market)

So we just got back from spending the weekend in Big Bear with my mom and step-dad. This would not have been vegan food noteworthy if it weren't for the Sol Food Market. It's a tiny little health food store with an incredibly thoughtful selection and fair prices. It's great.

We bought Field Roast Italian sausages for lunch. They were so good! Have you had them? They're flavorful and have a crumbly meaty texture. They're seitan based, but also contain eggplant and red pepper. I loved that the short list of ingredients were all things that I cook with at home.

I wish that we had bought the bag of vegan tamales from the freezer section for dinner that night. We resorted to perfectly sufficient Mexican takeout, but the greasy vegetables in my fajitas made me miss the simple reliable care of the Sol Food Market. Alas, next time.

We did buy breakfast sausage patties that turned out to be the perfect size for english muffin sandwiches to take on the road the next morning after our wonderful sweet-tempered child morphed into super cranky pants.

I love that this place exists. The people are so nice. The selection is perfect. They always have just what I want, or introduce me to a vegan product that I didn't even know I wanted. It is so great that you can make a quick escape to the mountains for the weekend and not have to think ahead about feeding yourself. And I imagine it is a precious haven for residents interested in good food. They'll take care of you. I love that. Thank you Sol Food Market.