June 2nd, 2008
More VWAV Meals
The only book I carried with me while traveling was Vegan with a Vengeance. I love this cookbook so much. I cooked a few recipes while visiting parents and they were relatively quick and easy to make and full of flavor.
I tried the Banana Pudding Brownies again. They flopped in Peru but there were a lot of factors involved, the main one being I can’t wrap my head around the Celsius thing. So they baked too hot, for too long and the pan was too big. This time I used an 8×8″ pan instead of the recommended 9×13″ and they came out really yummy. It is more like a firm pudding than a cakey brownie but it’s really rich and decadant. And the banana is a really nice balance.
The Biscuits & Gravy Recipe is always a winner to my husband. The first time I made it he gushed the whole meal. He really misses that white gravy with sausages at the diner and this substitute is better than that. The biscuits are amazing, fluffy like KFC, but I couldn’t find the spectrum shortening in FL, so I used the biscuit recipe from Millennium Hippies and it came out great. I added a little sage to the biscuit batter.
The Roasted Garlic & White Bean soup recipe was a new one to me this time. Using canned beans and roasted the garlic a day ahead, it was a snap to make and full of flavor. I used dried rubbed sage instead of fresh sage and my dad tried the soup and said he liked it. Shocking! He usually refuses to try anything I make and I try not to take it personally. Luckily, my mom will try anything I make. It is a really rich soup, but not very summery. It’s got all those warm fall and winter flavors to it. I’ll look forward to making it again this fall.
The Green Beans & Mushroom recipe was also a first for me. It was straightforward and easy but I wasn’t very impressed with it. I didn’t have wine to cook it in, but I think it was too much liquid overall. I served it over quinoa and added Bragg’s and toasted sesame seeds. It’s good, but it’s not like most of the other recipes in the book that are uber-fabulous.
I’m getting closer to cooking every recipe in this cookbook. I have never done that before with a cookbook, so it’s quite a compliment.