Cheeeze Flautas with Cilantro Pesto

No time for chit-chat. I’m on my lunch hour and I’ve teased you enough with my two previous posts, both of which were prep-posts for the ingredients in these wonderfully Fall Flautas. Veganizing Martha’s Muffin – Entree Week’s first completed entree is both satisfying and delicious. Pair with a nice salad, some guac, and/or a few beans and you’re set! Thanks to Gluten-Free Vegan Family for helping me soften my corn tortillas. Uh, yeah, much easier than Martha’s way, which I tried on tortilla-softening-FAIL night.

Martha’s Ingredients
Serves 4

1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3/4 c. pepitas (green hulled pumpkin seeds)
1 c. loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
8 corn tortillas (6″), softened by moistening and lightly toasting over a gas burner (turn with tongs)
2 c. grated Monterrey Jack cheese
1/4 peanut oil

Scrumpdilly’s Veganized Cheese Flautas with Pepita-Cilantro Pesto (adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine, Oct. 2009)

4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided into two, 2 Tbsp. batches
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. pepitas (green hulled pumpkin seeds)
1 c. loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
8 corn tortillas, softened by placing several between two paper towels and microwaving for 30 seconds
2 c. grated (or crumbled) vegan Pepper Jack cheeeze (either pre-packaged or homemade)
2 Tbsp. peanut oil

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a saute pan over medium-low. Cook garlic until golden, about 1 minute. Add pepitas; cook, tossing, until toasted, 2-3 minutes. Pulse to a paste in a food processor. Add cilantro, lime juice, and remaining olive oil (2 Tbsp.); pulse until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread some pesto on a softened tortilla, top with cheese. Roll up tightly and place seam-side down until ready to cook. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Heat peanut oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Pan-fry flautas in 2 batches, seam sides down, 1 minute. Using tongs, roll to brown evenly, cooking 1 minute more. Drain on paper towels, dabbing tops to remove excess oil.

Pepita Cilantro Pesto

I knew when I started the flautas at 10:00pm I’d be in trouble. It’s getting late for my too-little-sleep-this-week body, I’ve been consumed with other projects, and I was in a hurry to get the flautas done, so I could photograph and write about them. Didn’t happen. It all went wrong in trying to soften up those damn corn tortillas. Impatience got the best of me, so I’ll try again another night when I don’t have a billion things going on.

For now, though, feast your eyes on part of the flauta stuffing – Pepita/Cilantro Pesto. That’s right, boys and girls, the pumpkin seed brings a fall twist to the world of pestos and those little, crispy “flutes”. Thank you and Goodnight.

Pepper Jack

I’m completely stoked about Veganizing Martha’s Muffin – Entree Week! Why? Because I get to hand-make some of the ingredients in each of the recipes. Ingredients that I’ve always wanted to make, even though they’re readily available all made up and packaged and stuff. But I want to make them, and I am.

So tonight, I present to you my first handmade block cheeeze, Pepper Jack. I made this batch last night using the recipe from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak. Although mine looks like I used the optional tofu listed in the recipe, I did not. Despite its looks, it tastes damn cheeezy, which surprised me, although I’m not sure why that was shocking. The recipe has the requisite cashews and nutritional yeast, so cheeezy came easy. This block is too much for the Martha entree I’ll be veganizing, so I thought I’d use some of it in the salad I had for dinner tonight. Get ready y’all and Martha! Vegan entrees coming your way.

Salad with Pepper Jack

Corn Cakes tell the hush puppies to get lost

Move over hush puppies, there’s a new appetizer in town! Holy crimony! These suckers are good! Veganizing was super-easy, so I got these on the first try. Fresh corn totally makes these yummy-rific!

Martha urges us to serve with a Smoky Tomato Coulis (and sour cream), but I was serving chili tonight and thought that would go just as well. Altered from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook, I give you a veganized version of corn cakes. Veganizing Martha’s Muffin – Appetizer Week ends on a high-five!

Martha’s Ingredients
Makes 20 2 1/2″ cakes

4 ears fresh yellow or white corn, kernels shaved from the cob
1/2 c. yellow or blue cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 c. buttermilk
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped
Canola oil for frying

Scrumpdilly’s Veganized Corn Cakes
Makes about 20, depending on how many you eat while you’re cooking them

3 Tbsp. Earth Balance, melted and cooled
3/4 c. rice milk
3/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar
4 ears fresh yellow or white corn, kernels shaved from the cob
1/2 c. yellow or blue cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. corn starch
2 green onions, white and green parts, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. canola oil for frying

Melt Earth Balance and set aside to cool.

Add apple cider vinegar to rice milk and set aside to curdle.

Cover and bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Blanch the corn briefly, about 1 minute, and drain. Mash lightly with a fork to break up some of the kernels; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, cayenne pepper, and corn starch.

Add cooled butter to curdled rice milk, then add rice milk mixture to dry ingredients. Stir just until mixed. Fold in the green onions and corn.

Heat the oil in a skillet or griddle (iron skillets work nicely) over medium heat. Place heaping tablespoons of the batter in the skillet/griddle and cook until golden, 1-2 minutes per side. Serve immediately.

Hush Puppies Lookin' Good

I ended up making two more batches of hush puppies last night, experimenting with sugar amounts, types of non-dairy milks, and different levels of spice. I think I got the recipe pretty close to down-pat. Close enough that I ate some hush puppies as leftovers today and exclaimed, “Wow!” So I share with you, my veganization and southernization of this Martha Stewart recipe for hush puppies from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook.

Martha’s Ingredients
Makes about 3 dozen

4 c. peanut oil
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds/ribs removed, minced
2 large eggs
1 c. buttermilk

Scrumpdilly’s Hushpuppies (Veganized and Southernized)
Makes about 10-15

4 c. peanut oil (or 1/2 peanut; 1/2 another oil)
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. rice milk
1 c. yellow cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 jalapeño pepper, seeds/ribs removed, minced or 1 Tbsp. green onion, green part only, minced
5-10 drops Tabasco (optional)

Set aside peanut oil or peanut oil combination until ready to heat for frying.

In a measuring cup, add the apple cider to the rice milk, set aside to curdle.

In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add minced jalapeño or green onion and mix until well distributed.

Add Tabasco to rice milk mixture, then add that to cornmeal mixture. Stir until well-combined and a ball of dough is formed. Roll into golf-ball sized balls.

Heat oil over medium-high heat (iron skillets work nicely) until oil is at about 370-375 degrees or until droplets of water sprinkled on top of the oil crackle and pop. Once oil is hot enough, gently roll balls off a spoon into the oil, being sure not to overcrowd the pan – about 5-6 at a time works well. After hush puppies are in skillet, fry for 2 minutes on one side. Gently turn puppies over. Once all turned, fry for 1 minute. Balls should be a dark gold-brown. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to “blot” oil and cool slightly.

I’m only doing this, because I’m exhausted. I’m operating on too little sleep and too many hush puppies (another two batches tonight). So you’ll get this and like it. I know that even my good friends don’t know this stuff about me, so there you have it. Read it and learn, effers.

Brought to you by Lauren of Whoa Wren!
1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Almond. By far the creamiest, most versatile (can go sweet or savory), and the most delicious!

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
Well, I’m choosing an appetizer, an entree, a side dish or salad, and a dessert from Martha Stewart’s Empire of cookbooks or magazines to veganize. We’ll see how quickly I give up and go with my own stuff.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
Earth Balance and sea salt or cooked in oil and sea salt.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
I can’t remember anything being too disastrous. Some just tasting gawd-awful, so it ends up going to the compost pile.

5. Favorite pickled item?
New York style pickle – extra sour.

6. How do you organize your recipes?
Depends. Some in folders. Mostly cookbooks.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
Compost and disposal.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?
Seitan, rice, and gravy.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
Nana’s cucumber and onions in a big jar of vinegar.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Mint Chip or Mocha Almond Fudge.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Large Henkel knife or Black and Decker mini food processor that I’ve had for close to 25 years.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Black pepper or garlic.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Vegetarian Epicure Book Two by Anna Thomas, maybe. I’ve had this one just over 20 years. Recommended by my good friend, JAS.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Raspberry with seeds. I like the crunch.

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Vegan gumbo.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Seitan, then tofu, then tempeh.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Supper. Evening/night.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Dog treats.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Vegan meatballs, frozen spinach, and Purely Decadent Coconut Milk ice-cream.

20. What’s on your grocery list?
Won’t make it until the weekend.

21. Favorite grocery store?
I shop at several, but I LOVE going to my local food co-op.

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.
Nana’s cheese balls. Or crawfish etouffee.

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
Vegan Dad, Yeah that Vegan Shit, Kittee’s Cake Maker to the Stars, and Irreverent Vegan.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
I’m almost finished with the Trader Joe’s vegan (and large) “snow caps”.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
That plum vinegar stuff, what’s it called?

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Lemongrass and leeks terrify me.

Hush Puppies look okay, ultimately FAIL

First things first. I rarely eat fried foods. I think I eat french fries about four times a year. Fried anything else, a rarity.

Screeeech. But being from Louisiana, I do love me a good ol’ hush puppy. My favorites are from The Chimes in Baton Rouge. So that’s what I had in mind when I flipped open The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook to page 57 and saw the recipe for hush puppies.

Ugh. My first attempt at Veganizing Martha’s Muffin – Appetizer Week was about as pitiful as the picture above. Kind of okay in that you could tell what it was supposed to be, but off-focus in taste and authenticity. FAIL on first bite.

Part of the failure is my own fault. But I attribute a substantial part of what went wrong to the poorly-constructed, original recipe. Martha, Martha, Martha! Everyone knows that a hush puppy is all about the cornmeal! Yours? Big balls o’ flour. That ain’t right!

So here is what I learned from last night’s experiment in veganizing Martha’s hush puppies:

• Listen to my intuition, especially if I think aloud, “that much flour! and so little cornmeal!”
• Do not let my fear of deep frying influence my decision to use less than half the oil suggested for the recipe. No matter what, hush puppies need deep frying; they need submerging to come out right.
• Speaking of deep frying, hush puppies need to be fried in peanut oil. That, I got right! Peanut oil imparts a nice flavor to the supposed cornmeal in the recipe.
• Use tongs. That big ol’ spatula was too awkward and dorky.
• Have confidence in my substitutions (or lack of), the flour was too much of a player and messed things up, not my tweaks.
  
• Adding in some sugar was the right choice for my Chimes hush puppy replication. But I’ll use Tabasco instead of cayenne next time.
• Next time? But yes. This fail was not epic enough to abandon the vegan hush puppy project. I’ll try again!

Chocolate Cake Truffle - The Money Shot

Cake Truffles – Step Three – The Coating

Step 3.1 – Create Truffle coating in small batches (see below)
Step 3.2 – Coat Truffles in small batches
Step 3.3 – Chill in refrigerator or freezer

Step 3.1 – Create Truffle coating in small batches
Once your balls are completely chilled, you’re ready to coat them in the luscious chocolate (or whatever flavor) shell. As with the cake and the frosting, you can use any of your favorite coating flavors…chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, ramma-lamma-ding-dong! FUN!

Chocolate Coating

Makes 1 small batch
1 c. dark chocolate chips (vegan)
1 – 1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

Simulate a double-boiler by putting chocolate chips in a large glass measuring cup and placing the measuring cup inside a larger pot that is filled with water to reach about 1/2 way to the top of the chocolate chip line.

Bring water to boil to begin melting chocolate. Once boiling, turn heat down to medium-low. Stir chocolate until completely melted – it will be thick. Stir in vegetable shortening to thin chocolate into a more workable consistency. If it’s still too thick, add more shortening a teaspoon or so at a time. If too thin, add more chocolate chips.

Step 3.2 – Coat Truffles in small batches
The cake balls are easiest to coat when they are chilled. This is why you want to coat them in small batches, so that you can coat some while the others stay chilling.

To coat: Dip one ball in the melted coating and roll until completely covered. Lift out with a spoon, gently tapping the ball several times along the inside edge of the measuring cup to get excess coating off the ball. Once most of the excess coating has made its way back into the measuring cup, let the coated cake ball slide off the spoon and onto a sheet of wax paper to cool.

Step 3.3 – Chill in refrigerator or freezer
After coating first small batch, place in the refrigerator to chill for 10-15 minutes. Once coating has completely chilled, place in candy wrappers to serve. Start process again with next small batch.

Cake Truffles Surrounded by Mini-Cupcakes (size perspective)

Cake Truffles – Step Two – The Balls

Step 2.1 – Make Vegan Frosting (see below)
Step 2.2 – Crumble cooled cake into large bowl
Step 2.3 – Add 1-2 cups vegan frosting to crumbled cake and combine thoroughly until sticky
Step 2.4 – Form balls
Step 2.5 – Chill in refrigerator or freezer

Step 2.1 – Make Vegan Frosting
While your cake is cooling completely, begin Step Two by making 1-2 cups worth of vegan buttercream frosting. As with the cake, you can use any of your favorite frosting recipes, in any flavor you’d like. Mixing and matching flavors is part of the fun!

Since I was creating treats for a formal occasion, I kept my balls simple: chocolate cake (see Step One) and vanilla buttercream frosting (see below).

Vegan Buttercream Frosting (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero)

Makes 2 cups worth (I halved the original recipe)
1/4 c. nonhydrogenated shortening
1/4 c. vegan butter (Earth Balance)
1 3/4 c. confectioner’s sugar, sifted if clumpy
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 c. non-dairy milk or creamer

Beat the shortening and vegan butter together until well-combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and milk or creamer, beat for another 5-7 minutes until fluffy.

Step 2.2 – Crumble completely-cooled cake into large bowl.

Step 2.3 – Add 1-2 cups vegan frosting to crumbled cake and combine thoroughly until sticky. Using your fingers works best.
(For one of my 9×13 cakes, I used 2 cups frosting, for the other, I used 1 cup frosting. Both ways worked just fine.)

Step 2.4 – Form balls
Your balls can range in size from about a quarter diameter to golf ball size. It’s your preference and discretion. Mine were about quarter-sized and I was able to create 100 balls from one 9×13 cake.

Step 2.5 – Chill in refrigerator or freezer
Put balls into an air-tight container and chill.
Fridge chill time = 4 hours or more
Freezer chill time = 2 hours or more
The balls freeze nicely. I made mine in batches one week in advance of the wedding and froze them. They were perfect the day of and nicely-chilled balls makes for easy chocolate coating later (Step Three on the way).

Chocolate Cake Truffles (photo by Melissa Dettloff)

I like to call them Chocolate Cake Truffles for fancier occasions, but when I’m speaking in the vernacular “cake balls” will do. The “truffle” terminology, however, actually explains better what these precious balls of joy really taste like. A rich, dense, cake center, with a deep, dark, and equally rich, chocolate coating. I made these as my wedding gift for bride/groom friends to serve at their wedding reception, and they were such a hit, I thought I’d share the process with you.

In a bizarre, round-about way, these cake truffles actually fit with my Vegan MoFo theme, Veganizing Martha’s Muffin, since the first time I ever heard the term “cake balls” was when I was getting a haircut and my stylist was telling me about seeing them “on Martha Stewart or somewhere.”

During a search, I ended up on a cute, non-vegan, cake-y kind of website, that helped me figure out the basic principles of the “cake ball”. However, the site’s methods include using a boxed cake mix and canned frosting. And the total regular and vegan snob that I am, just wouldn’t have anything to do with that. So I went all scratch-vegan on those balls and created my own classy, sassy, sophisticated cake truffle.

Because the method occurs in three distinct steps, I will post the method in three separate posts. It’ll make your life easier. And I’m not just saying that to up my Vegan MoFo posting obligation. Heh-heh.

Cake Truffles – Step One – The Cake
You can use any of your favorite cake recipes, in any flavor you’d like. The beauty of this concept is that you can mix and match your cake-y truffle inside with whatever frosting and outer coating flavors you’d like. Play! And see what happens.

I used a basic chocolate cake. I purposefully chose a recipe that resulted in an understated chocolate flavor, which became important later, after Step Two.

Chocolate Cake (adapted from Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon)

Cooking spray or oil to grease cake pan
2 c. sugar
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
3 c. unbleached white all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 c. water
1/2 c. mild oil (corn or canola)
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar, white vinegar, or lemon juice
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Generously grease/spray 9″ x 13″ cake pan. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together into a large bowl. In a 4-cup glass measuring cup, combine the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Stir well. Pour the water mixture into the cocoa-flour mixture, whisking vigorously for a couple of minutes, until smooth and free of lumps. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and whack it on the counter a couple of times to release any air bubbles. Bake until the edges of the cake pull away from the pan sides slightly and the cake tests clean with a toothpick, about 30-35 minutes.

For Cake Truffles, allow cake to cool completely.