vegansaurus!

Recipe: East Coast coffee cake

I decided to chip in a bit for the most recent SF Vegan Bakesale, and I am a big coffee cake fan so I thought, “Hey! I’ll make a coffee cake! That’s the ticket!” I recently picked up Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and there’s a nice little recipe in there she titles “East Coast Coffee Cake.” What makes it East Coast, you ask? OMG I asked the same thing! Apparently East Coast coffee cake is “a rich, moist, yellow cake topped with a thick messy crumb topping.” OK. I can see that.

My official ruling on this recipe: GODDAMN! It’s good. As I previously stated in the bakesale recap, I had more than one piece before I delivered the cake to the sale. Jeez louise, delish! Way better than that quickity-quick biscuit coffee cake recipe I gave you before. Another nice thing about this one, Moskowitz gives you like 82 variations on the recipe including stuff like chocolate, berries, and figs—oh my! I just did the straight-up O.G. for safety’s sake.

Ingredients
For the topping:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup canola oil, plus up to 2 Tbs. more if needed

For the cake:
3/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk because that’s my new steeze)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

For serving:
2 tablespoons powdered sugar (optional)


Instructions
Preheat over to 375F. Grease an 8-inch square pan (Isa says she likes to use a springform pan—interesting). Mix the milk and vinegar together and set aside to curdle.

Make the topping:
Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Drizzle in canola oil by the tablespoonful. Use your fingers to mix until crumbs form. Alternate mixing and adding canola oil until oil is used and large crumbs have formed. Some of the mixture can still be sandy, but make sure you’ve got mostly large crumbs.

Make the cake:
In a large bowl, mix milk mixture, sugar, canola oil and vanilla. Sift (of course I didn’t sift because I’m lazy and sifters are for squares) in flour, baking powder and salt, and mix until smooth.

Pour batter into pan. Evenly sprinkle the topping over the batter and pat down just a bit.

The recipe says bake for 35 to 40 minutes, but honestly (can I be honest?) mine was ready at 30 minutes or even a bit earlier. The cake is done when you can insert a knife into the center and it comes out clean. Let cool for an hour before slicing and serving. Then you can sift the powdered sugar over top after it’s cooled—if you feel like it.

And there you have it! If anyone has made any of the variations, please tell us about it in the comments! OR MAIL CAKE TO MY HOUSE.

[photo by Megan Rascal! Recipe reprinted with permission from Isa!]

Grading the government, loving lemons, saving deer, giving presents to pigs and more in a special holiday link-o-rama!

The Humane Society gives the Obama Administration a B- for animal protection, based on the Change Agenda for Animals the HSUS set at the beginning of 2009. The full report is in this pdf.

Every country is crazy and racist in its own way: in Japan, you can buy a box of tissues shaped like a bucket of KFC “chicken” with Obama styled as Col. Sanders and emblazoned with the English word CHANGE. I don’t know.

Next Saturday, Jan. 9 at Mix (4086 18th St. at Castro Street) from 3 to 7 p.m., Rocket Dog Rescue and Muttville Senior Dog Rescue are cohosting Iris’ Memorial Fundraiser! There’ll be music, art, a raffle, snacks, and drink specials, with all proceeds to benefit Rocket Dog and Muttville.

Our friends at VegNews point us to the super-disturbing news that a “medium-sized” dog eats about 360 pounds of meat per year, which “combined with the land required to generate its food” means that a medium-sized dog has twice the carbon footprint of an SUV driving 6,200 miles per year, “including the energy to build the car.” In short: VEGAN DOGS 4 LYFE. The authors are also heartless advocates of keeping rabbits for company and supper, which obviously we do not support, but COME ON, vegans, are you really feeding your companion animals other animals?

Update: Just like Michael “shut up” Pollan’s “a Hummer-driving vegan has a lighter carbon footprint than a Prius-driving omnivore” (or whatever) comment, the above “facts” regarding the environmental impact of your meat-eating pets have been proven false by actual science. Vegansaurus maintains that giving your companion animals food like V-Dog instead of vile shit even offal connoisseurs wouldn’t touch is better for everyone.

Gracias Madre finally opened and we have a first report. (Should you go? YES you should. duh.)

Arizmendi Bakery, creators of amazing mint-chocolate-chip cookies the size of your face, among other phenomenal vegan baked goods about which Megan Allison has been known to wax rhapsodic, is expanding to the Mission! We are quite pleased.

Oh hey, the recipients of the Ed Block Courage Award were announced just last week Tuesday—NFL players are nominated by and voted on by their teammates—and guess who won for the Philadelphia Eagles? YES! Everyone’s favorite dog-abusing sociopath, Michael Vick! The Ed Block Foundation “celebrate[s] players in the NFL” while “improving the lives of neglected children and ending the cycle of abuse.” I can’t imagine what kind of courage it took to STOP TORTURING AND MURDERING DOGS and START PLAYING FOOTBALL AGAIN, Michael VIck; apparently, enough to reward you for it. A-plus, then. I guess neglected, abused kids have a lot to learn from such an upstanding citizen. Have fun at dinner.

The deer at Valley Forge got a “holiday reprieve,” as the National Park’s plan to have “sharpshooters” kill 1,500 deer over four winters (a November-to-March period), beginning with 500 in 2009, was indefinitely postponed by two lawsuits. The slaughter of these 1,500 deer would destroy 85 percent of the herd presently living in Valley Forge National Park.

LA Weekly says, Meyer lemons and red cabbage are where it’s at. I say, have you ever had German braised red cabbage, all sweet and sour and delicious? It tastes like staying warm on a snowy night, highly recommended.

There’s a new chef at Weird Fish who is reportedly changing the brunch menu and eliminating lunch altogether. Um. Do we have reason to worry, here? The brunch at Weird Fish is great, we fucking love Weird Fish, please do not mess around with our vegan brunch PLEASE PLEASE.

The Guardian has food writers name the most important (for varying reasons) food books of the decade. Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore’s Dilemma get mentions, how broad-minded. Or, you know, shut up, England.

And speaking of publications that irritate me right out of my holiday booze-haze, Bon Appetit lists “the 10 best dishes under $10.” Repping for San Francisco—and the meatless—Harvey Slocombe’s tin roof sundae. Shut up, Bon Appetit.

Northern California Dungeness crab fishing: the season is short, the majority of the dead crabs are canned and shipped out of state, and it has nothing to do with honoring the values of Slow Food goddamn Nation. Color me shocked.

But HEY! here is a video of some pigs getting presents! Aren’t they adorable?

Gather is a fancy-ass new restaurant in Berkeley brought to you by a former Millennium chef! Sorry about this title, I can’t do better right now. MY APOLOGIES.

Millennium, you just can’t stop. And we don’t want you to. Hot on the heels of Eric Tucker’s Encuentro, another Millennium chef, Sean Baker, opens Gather in Berkeley. It’s stated on the site that the restaurant will always be 50 percent omni (read: meaty meat) and 50 percent vegetarian—so what, 25 percent vegan? Not bad for the obnoxious bougie eating scene in the gourmet ghetto of Berkeley.

The menus (warning: it’s PDF. GOD SO ANNOYING) have clearly marked vegan options (clearly marked gluten-free options too, kinda snazzy), including pizzas and main dishes. Nothing looks too inspired but might be a good choice for a place to take family members who simply can’t live without their cheek-of-dead-pig salad BARF.

Worth noting that there are no vegan desserts on the menu and I cannot stand for that. Dude, you came from MILLENNIUM, you know what’s up. Hire a pastry chef with some fucking skillz. Shit, it’s like backwards day around here.

Bonus points for a full bar. I love a full bar. Minus points for having drinks with egg whites (what’s with that? salmonella, anyone?) and another one called the “spajito”. That just sounds gross to me. Further, I’ll totally order one.

Recipe: Yummy Biscuit Coffee Cake

Hello hello! Here we have a delicious coffee cake that borrows a simple biscuit recipe for the batter. Yum!

I love coffee cake and this has that soda-biscuit flavor that reminds me of the old country. It’s also super-quick and easy to make! Pro tip: it actually goes just as good with tea as it does with coffee. So versatile!

Ingredients
Cake
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp Earth Balance (or other butter substitute)
3/4 cup soy milk

Topping
1 cup loosely packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp Earth Balance (or other butter substitute)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 450 F.
Grease small baking pan.
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Using a fork, blend the Earth Balance into the dry ingredients. Mix in soy milk.

In a small bowl, mix together brown, flour, cinnamon, ginger and Earth Balance. I use my hands because it’s easier to break down the Earth Balance that way. But wash your hands first, dirtball!

Now, plop spoonfuls of the biscuit batter into the pan. Spread it around a bit so it covers the bottom of the pan. Now, take clumps of your topping mixture and sprinkle it over the top of the biscuit mixture until it’s all gone. Don’t bother putting too much toward the edges because it’ll just get kind of burnt over there.

Cook in oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Voila!

[Images by Megan Rascal]

Recipe Alert! Warmth in a Bowl: Baked Oatmeal!

It’s cold as a witch’s tit here in the Bay Area these days. So cold, in fact, that this hardened Canadian is wearing leg warmers OVER HER PANTS. That’s right; it’s chilly. I know it can be hard to drag one’s ass out of bed in the morning when it’s still dark and all you have to look forward to is a cold and maybe rainy slog to work (or whatever you do with your time), so I thought I’d share a little recipe that’s been making my mornings just a little more awesome. It’s called baked oatmeal, and you are WELCOME, friends.

In addition to being Canadian, I’m also a Scot, so I know from oatmeal, and this is the best I’ve ever had. PLUS, it’s dirt-ass cheap, and it’s quick, so you can throw it in your oven while you’re showering, and it’ll be just about done by the time you’re ready to eat it!

Adapted from the recipe over at Everybody Likes Sandwiches:

Mix together in a mixing bowl:

1. 1 cup oats (not the instant kind!)
2. 1/3 cup dried fruit (I like chopped dried apricots, but you could use anything—you could even use fresh or frozen fruit, just reduce the amount of liquid a little bit)
3. 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4. Pinches as desired of nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom, and allspice
5. 2 Tbsp brown sugar (you could also sub maple syrup or agave)
6. 1 cup soy/almond/rice/hazelnut/whateverkindofveganmilkyoulike
7. 2/3 to 3/4 cups juice or water (I used a bit of OJ mixed with some water, but apple would probably be a good bet)
8. You can also add some shredded coconut or ground flax if you feel like it.

Pour that mixture into a casserole dish and bake at 350 F for 25 to 30 minutes. If you have some nuts handy, throw them in a baking dish and put them in the oven for the last 5 minutes of the oatmeal’s cooking time.

After the oatmeal is baked, pull it out of the oven and serve right away. Top with more non-dairy milk, sweetener, the nuts you roasted (chop ‘em first) or whatever your little heart desires! Personally, I like this with a bit of that coconut milk creamer and about 80 cups of coffee. Enjoy!

Images: Jordan Pattern

Manzanita Macrobiotic Restaurant!

Manzanita is the place to go when you’re sick of feeling like a big fat greasy intoxicated pig and need to feel cleansed, which is obviously not good for all occasions but certainly has its place. It’s organic, vegan, macrobiotic food FOR CHRIST’S SAKE. I know that just made half of you go, “oooh…tell me more” and it made the other half (the smarter half, some might say) go, “DISGUSTING I HATE YOU LAURA I HOPE THIS BLOG BURNS TO THE GROUND.” However, I would ask you to reserve judgment as I am so often unwilling to do. Manzanita is actually quite fantastic. Be prepared to be surrounded by white people with dreads who might step outside for a delightful mid-meal game of hacky sack (but you’re used to that by now, aren’t you). Just go with it. If you can’t handle a woman coming up for some fresh air after an invigorating partner yoga session to openly breastfeed her seven-year-old, what can you handle!? JESUS, GROW A PAIR.

Things that are especially delicious: the salad dressings, the kale (I don’t know what they do but MAGIC!), and actually pretty much everything is really good. Except the vegan baked goods. As you might have guessed, I’m a junk food vegan so I know how hard it is to get the baked goods right, but come on. You’ve got time and a kitchen, let’s get to practicing! Less time making daisy chains and sexing in communal hot tubs (SHUDDER) and more time in the kitchen! ALL SAID, this place sounds way more hippy-dippy than it actually is (lie) and the food is way worth a visit (truth).

Fellini!

Yes, Fellini is the kind of place that feels the need to append “Ristorante” to their name. You know, so you can tell they’re Italian. They also describe themselves as “fun and funky” and a “bistro.” Wait, come back.

They have a really wonderful brunch menu, which is, ahem, not Italian in any way I can discern. Is this an Italian restaurant or not? I can’t tell. Maybe if the waiters wore overalls and broke bricks with their heads, then we could know for sure. Nevertheless, it does have a pretty large selection of vegan stuff. My recommendations are either the vegan benedict, or the breakfast sausage scramble. Also, it says right on the menu, “All vegan dishes are prepared in VEGAN-ONLY pans,” which is too cool because it means no cross contamination with funk nasty meat, eggs or dairy. I guess you could have gotten that from the VEGAN-ONLY sentence but I felt the need to type it again because it’s cool and I might be autistic? Who knows! Only a doctor, probably.

Fellini has a pizza called “smiling cow” (cute, right?) which is like the vegan version of a Meat Lover’s Supreme. Made with vegan bacon, sausage, and pepperoni, it’s truly, ridiculously delicious, and that’s all you need to know about that. I like this pizza, I give it four Marios!

Thank you, Mr. Fellini! Whoever you are! For bringing fantastic vegan food to the masses at brunch, lunch and dinner. Please open up a second location in my mouth and then we can be BFF. UNTIL THEN WE ARE ONLY JUST REGULAR FRIENDS BUT NOT BFF.

With Hospitaliano,

Jonas

[photo by Sharon. Ciao!]

Gussie’s Chicken and Waffles

Thrillist points us to a new chicken and waffles restaurant opening Monday in the Fillmore. Surprise, surprise: scouring the menu revealed that they do, in fact, serve vegan buckwheat waffles, complete with Earth Balance! Vegan waffles are near-impossible to come by in the city—not even Herbivore serves them—so it might actually be worth a trip when the waffle craving hits.

It looks like this and a “vegetarian plate” (a sampler of all the veggie sides—with vegan cornbread!) are Gussie’s only concessions to veganism, though. I guess you have to bring your own fried chicken.

All You Knead!

I never would have thought to visit All You Knead, except for the chance that brought me to the Haight one weekend morning, when the line at the Pork Store (across the street) looked a little too daunting. I was initially skeptical that they would have any decent vegan options at all, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Not only does All You Knead provide a few vegan selections right on the menu, but with some clever ordering and substituting, you can make yourself a true feast. They have a pretty standard tofu scramble option, but they also allow you to substitute tofu in any of their scrambled egg dishes—at no charge! imagine that!—you’ll have to leave the cheese off, too, naturally. Somewhere in the ordering process, we noticed they offered tempeh bacon, so that went into the scramble too. Home fries, of course, sadly, are not vegan (the usual) but we substituted french fries, which in the end was probably more delicious anyway. The end result was a HUGE PILE of food, just as good, if not better, than what you can get at the Pork Store, and way less greasy, too. (I once found a piece of ham in my Pork Store scramble, by the way. Just saying.) An enormous plate of food that’s a meal for one hella hungry fat person* or two meals for a regular hungry person. The waitress was really nice and knew what was and wasn’t vegan. Actually, we think maybe she was vegan because instead of butter, she brought us out a side of avocado for our bread! So thoughtful and so delicious!

All You Knead serves up good quality diner food with a Haight Street twist (meaning vegans can have our tofu scrambles and boca burgers) in a large restaurant (meaning very rarely a wait, even on weekends!), and it’s definitely an option when you find yourself in the Haight and need a lot of food and RIGHT NOW I’M STARVING.

*or one Jonas