The Crazy Pie Train: Coconut Lime Cream Pie

House of Pies ain't got nothing on us!!!

Thankfully for my blood sugar and your reading enjoyment, Robin and I decided to combat the fact that cream pies take so long to make by baking two of them (see yesterday's giant s'more-like goodness known as Chocolate Cream Pie with Meringue). Our second pie would toe the line between our usual fruit pies and our new friend cream pies to help make the transition much easier (I was worried it would be far too overwhelming to just jump right in to.). If we could just keep from burning Robin's townhouse down while toasting the coconut (we're apparently bad at setting timers on toaster ovens, but luckily smoke is a good signal), we would be in for one of the greatest pie binges ever.

I'm seriously buying this book (and moving to Boston to become best friends with this baker and eat at her bakery every day until I have to be wheeled out because I've lost the ability to use my legs).

Coconut Lime Cream Pie
From Flour by Joanne Chang
Servings: 9" pie

Time: 45 minutes (plus 4 hours to set and 2 hours crust time)

Add the well toasted coconut

Pie
Pâte sucrée (recipe found here)
1 14 oz can coconut milk
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cake flour
1 egg
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted


Lime Whipped Cream
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1-2 tsp grated lime zest
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

I call this the pie in its tadpole state.

1. Make the crust as described in the linked recipe. Set aside.
2. Heat the cream and lime zest together in a small saucepan and bring to just a boil. Remove from heat and refrigerate overnight.
3. Scald the coconut milk and cow type milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat (remember scalding means the edges start to bubble but the liquid isn't boiling).
4. While waiting for the milks to scald, whisk the granulated sugar and flour together in a small bowl (this is key or it will clump later).
5. Whisk the egg and egg yolks together in a separate bowl then slowly whisk in the sugar-flour mix until a thick paste forms.
6. Slowly pour the scalded milk into the egg mixture in intervals while whisking constantly. Once it's completely incorporated, return to the saucepan and cook over medium heat while continuously whisking until it thickens and reaches a boil (about 5 minutes). You'll known when it's boiling because it will start to blub blub (it totally did just like the book described).
7. Once it blub blubs, whisk vigorously for 30 seconds.
8. Immediately strain the mixture and mix in the vanilla, salt and 3/4 cup toasted coconut.
9. Pour your filling into the baked pie shell and refrigerate uncovered for 4 hours or until the filling is set.
10. Once the pie is ready, whip the zest-cream mixture, powdered sugar and cornstarch until stiff peaks form.
11. Spread the whipped ream over the pie and decorate with toasted coconut.
12. Come to the realization that it's too much work to try to make actual designs with the coconut and resign yourself to eating the pie immediately. 
13. Realize it was totally the right decision.

You put the lime in the coconut (Come on. You knew it was coming).

Despite only existing as some zest in the whipped cream, the lime was actually the strongest flavor in the entire pie. It went nicely with the creaminess of the coconut filling to yield one truly refreshing pie. Unfortunately, the coconut was a little muted (aside from the garnish), so I would definitely try to find a way to accentuate it more next time.  Despite this minor quibble, I have to say that this is exactly what I think of when I imagine a cream pie (which I probably do 3-4 times a day once I'm done picturing cupcakes and waffles).

My sightline as I prepared to pounce.

Our lime filled whipped cream was the perfect topping for this pie, but I would forgo the cornstarch for a slightly silkier and smoother experience in future incarnations. The toasted coconut garnish was a nice touch for both prettiness and tastiness reasons. Once again, the nice crisp fancy sounding crust was a brilliant addition to the round out any cream pie.

Our streak of ugly slices stays alive! (It took two slices and some prettying up to show something that wasn't just whipped cream.)

The success of our latest (and greatest) pie adventure can be summed up by my actions leading to this post. I wanted to have a quick little slice of each pie to freshen my memory (and negate everything I just did at the gym). Instead, I ended up having two ginormous slices (or at least what I postulate were excessively large slices since I just started going at the pie straight with a fork after the tiny slice). Our two pies provided completely opposite ends of the magnificent pie spectrum. One was bold, rich and heavy chocolate, while the other was refreshing, surprisingly light and fruity. They somehow managed to come together gloriously for a pie experience that neither of us will soon forget (which, lets be honest, was gonna happen anyway since pie is an essential part of both of our lives). Now it's time to start prepping an actual crazy pie train (think like the Coors Light train in the commercials but with pie and probably less fit people).

Abbie licks her lips in anticipation of fresh pie.

The Crazy Pie Train: Chocolate Cream Meringue

Following our thorough domination of the world of fruit pies (see Cherry, Strawberry-Rhubarb, and Dulce de Leche Apple Pie), Robin and I took a brief hiatus from the high stakes world of pie making to allow the baking world to catch its breath.  For our long overdue return, we decided double the pieitude was necessary, so we took on the delicious subset known as cream pies with a chocolate cream pie and coconut lime cream pie. Would we mold two incredible desserts to add to the menu of our future award-winning pie shoppe, or would the pressure get to us and devolve into in-fighting and the dreaded pie in the face (a tragic waste of a perfectly good pie)?


Pâte Sucrée
From Flour by Joanne Chang
Servings: 9" pie crust
Time: 2 hours (inactive for one hour)

1/2 cup butter, room temperature cut into 8 pieces
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg yolk

I've never seen anything more circular. Take that, moon!

1. Get stuck at lunch late forcing your partner to do all the hard work on the crust.
2. Cream the butter, sugar and salt together in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment over medium speed for 2-3 minutes until pale and light. 
3. Add the flour and mix on low until it is incorporated.
4. Drop in the egg and mix until a workable dough forms (about 30 seconds).
5. Tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. Let soften at room temperature for 30 minutes then roll out between two sheets of parchment paper with a rolling pin until you have a 1/2 inch thick disk that is 10-11 inches in diameter.
7. Place the dough into your pie tin and press down into the bottom and sides well. Trim as necessary.
8. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax so it won't shrink in the oven (nothing is worse than tense gluten).
9. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
10. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. If the edges start to burn, you can cover them with aluminum foil.
11. Let cool then add the filling.

After using the same fantastic crust for three straight pies, we wanted to give something else a shot. We were a little concerned about this crust since it only involved one stick of butter (how could it possibly be flaky enough). This new crust with the super fun and fancy name proved to be a splendid surprise, as it tasted just as buttery with half of the artery clogging goodness. It had a nice crispness to go with the creamy fillings, but was a little too crumbly leading to difficulty cutting without destroying it. Most importantly, the crust managed to not get soggy despite the various cold creamy fillings we put in it. Also, we were incredibly thankful that we didn't have to try and form a top crust as well (hmm maybe that's why there was just the one stick of butter).

Chocolate Cream Pie

Pie from Flour by Joanne Chang and Meringue from Alton Brown

Servings: 1 pie

Time: 45 minutes (plus 8 hours to set!)

It didn't seize!

Pie

Pâte sucrée (recipe above)

6 oz bittersweet chocolate (62-70 % cacao) chopped

3/4 cup half-and-half

1 cup heavy cream

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Meringue

8 oz granulated sugar

4 oz light corn syrup

2 oz water

4 oz egg whites, room temperature (about 4 eggs)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Milk Chocolate, shaved for garnish

All fridges should come standard with pies.

Marshmallow fluff or meringue?

1. Bake the pie shell as described above. Place 1 oz of bittersweet chocolate on it and bake for an additional 30 seconds until it melts. Paint the chocolate around the bottom and edges and set aside.
2. Scald the half-and-half and heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat (until bubbles start to form around the edges but before it boils). 
3. Melt the last 5 oz of bittersweet chocolate over a double boiler or in a microwave on medium power in 30 second increments. 
4. Pour the scalded cream mixture over the melted chocolate and whisk until combined.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together.
6. SLOWLY (you don't want scrambled eggs) and in intervals add the hot cream-chocolate mixture into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. 
7. Once it is completely incorporated return to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (make sure you get the bottom often so it doesn't burn) for 6-9 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken. You can test if it is thick enough by running your finger along the back of the spoon. If it takes more than 2 seconds for the liquid to fill up, it is ready. Also, once it's ready a steady amount of steam should be coming up. Don't worry if it's still not too thick.
8. Immediately strain the custard and stir in the vanilla and salt. 
9. Pour into the prepared pie shell and refrigerate uncovered for at least 8 hours until set.
10. When you can't wait anymore, make the meringue. 
11. Combine the sugar, corn syrup and water in a saucepan over high heat. Stir briefly to dissolve then bring the temperature to 240 F.
12. While waiting for the syrup to reach temp, beat the egg whites, salt and vanilla in a stand mixer on high speed until you get medium peaks (3-5 minutes).
13. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add in the syrup taking care to avoid the whisk.
14. Ramp up the speed to high and beat for 10 minutes until a thick meringue forms and it cools.
15. Eat large amount of the meringue with your finger.
16. Top the pie with the meringue making cool swirly shapes.
17. Put under the broiler at 450 F for 1-2 minutes until lightly toasted.
18. Let the meringue cool (we learned that this is key) then garnish with shaved milk chocolate and serve.

Fun Tim Burton style swirly peaks courtesy of Robin. Creepy shadow courtesy of me.

One thing became immediately apparent as we were laying down the meringue: we were about to create a giant s'more pie (and thus fulfill our childhood dreams). Instead of the recommended whipped cream topping, I decided we should use the much cooler and thicker meringue as made famous in A Baked Alaskan Birthday. This is essentially marshmallow fluff and makes the topping just as exciting and tasty as the perfectly rich center.

Gooey deliciousness

Now let's take a brief moment to discuss that chocolatey filling. It is essentially a thick and powerful chocolate pudding that is the essence of creamy. The bittersweet chocolate had just the right percentage of cacao to keep this from being overly sweet. Instead the bold chocolate blended wonderfully with the sweet meringue and milk chocolate garnish to create quite possibly my favorite pie yet (which is saying something since I'm more of a fruit pie kind of fella). The only downsides to this pie were our inability to cut it into anything resembling an actual pie shape (we really need to invest in a pie server or an assistant who is far more talented in the art of scooping) and the fact that eating it a la mode just makes people think you're disgusting (ice cream snobs!).

Prepare for the grand opening of Terry & Robin's Ugly Pie Shoppe and its spin-off Pie-in-a-Cup!

Since cream pies are a lengthy endeavor (stupid setting in the fridge), we decided to make this a truly crazy pie train with a second pie, the doubly fruity and sweet coconut lime cream pie. Stay tuned to find out if it held its own against the chocolate cream pie or if Swarley and Abbie knocked us down and stole all of our pie.

Swarley refused to come out until we let him try some of the pie.

A Very Vegan Addendum: Beer Battered "Fish" Tacos

I got a wonderful surprise on Sunday. I found out that someone actually used something I made on the blog (aside from my mom using it to brag to people). For the next forty-five minutes, I put on a toga and did my special muse dance (It's kind of like the robot but with more sexy hip action.). Fellow scientician and old grad school/ In-N-Out burger comrade Courtney used her special alchemy skills to turn the beer battered fish tacos into a vegany delight thanks to the magic of tofu.

Here is a quick how-to guide to making your very own vegan fish tacos (as spread through the generations by oral history or gchat...)

In essence, it's the same recipe as that featured in the beer battered fish taco post with the following changes:

1. Keep the slaw the same (although obviously this used regular cabbage instead of the super fun purple one. It's ok. We won't fault her for her lack of royal colors.).

2. Replace mayonnaise with vegenaise. Now, veganaise is a little sweeter than normal mayo, so add a pinch or two of salt to counteract this. (Also, it's really bugging me that vegenaise isn't spelled veganaise. You really dropped the ball on this one, rich vegan food entrepreneurs.)

3. Instead of the obviously not vegan fish, use extra firm tofu. Drain it for 30-45 minutes (you can put it between two plates surrounded by paper towels with a canned good on top of the plates). Cut the tofu into large fish sized strips then dip in the beer batter (note: she used Moylans' Irish style red ale, a darker beer, for more flavor) and fry until golden brown (flipping once to get both sides).

According to Courtney, these "fish" tacos were deliriously delicious, and I know she wouldn't lie so I'll just have to drool and feel a sense of longing that I couldn't partake in these. Two things really stood out to me with this incredible meal. First, Courtney isn't actually vegan, so it was great to see her go that extra mile to try something new and have a slightly healthier meal (well as healthy as things fried in beer can be). Also, I was incredibly jealous at how much nicer her pictures turned out compared to my usual ones. But I shouldn't be too shocked at that, since she does have a pretty awesome photography blog.

To round out the meal (because obviously fish tacos aren't enough. I like her style.) She also made my first weekly vegan entry- potato & kale enchiladas with Mexican quinoa (a quick fix from my Mexican millet).

Well done, old friend. If any of you other readers try any of my dishes or make anything super awesome, send me the results.

Now if you'll excuse me, I just have to anxiously await the next time I'm in Los Angeles, so Courtney and I can collaborate on a meal (perhaps she can impart some of her pizza making guru knowledge).

Eggless Mardi Gras Snickerdoodles

I found a way to make Mardi Gras even more awesome- by adding the always fun to say snickerdoodle to it. Obviously, making 4 king cakes in two days didn't have me quite in the Mardi Gras spirit yet, so I decided to transform a simple eggless sugar cookie recipe into a party loving snickerdoodle in the spirit of the aforementioned cake. It was a tall task at hand, but using my baking knowledge and some leftover king cake frosting, I was ready to tackle it head on (or at least cry myself to sleep while eating batter straight from the bowl).

Mardi Gras Snickerdoodles
Modified Heavily from Food.com Sugar Cookies
Servings: 8-12 cookies
Time: 20 minutes

Cookies

Amazing sugary batter

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp milk
Vanilla extract
Almond Extract
Green Food Coloring
Yellow Food Coloring
Purple Food Coloring (2 red + 1 blue)
Green, yellow and purple sugar

I almost managed to give them enough separation this time!

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
2. Cream the butter, white and brown sugar together in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
3. Mix in the milk, sour cream and vanilla.
4. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon (I recommend starting with 1 tsp then tasting the batter and deciding if you want more. I went with the full amount) and blend well.
5. Place half tablespoon to full tablespoon sized amounts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10-14 minutes or until the cookies start to slightly harden.
6. Remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for two minutes to crisp up the bottom of the cookies.
7. Let cool on a wire rack.
8. Make the three colored frostings by partitioning the remaining ingredients and mixing well with a fork. The final products should not be runny.
9. Spread on the frosting in 3 bands on each cookie and let them harden for 15 minutes before eating (or put it in the fridge for a couple of hours to really get the frosting right).

Sometimes you run out of frosting and one cookie feels sad and left out. It's ok; I found him a good home.

When I decided to mutate the simple sugar cookie with brown sugar and cinnamon to give that king cake feel, I thought it was the most inspired idea ever and that I was finally ready for those baking competitions on TV. Then Erika pointed out that it was actually just a snickerdoodle (I had so many big dreams, sis, so many...). Oh well, after giggling several times after saying snickerdoodle, I managed to bake up some fantastic Mardi Gras cookies (even if they weren't too much like a king cake). By themselves, the cookies were worth celebrating thanks to the powerful punch of cinnamon and sugar in a perfectly baked cookie. With the king cake frosting (especially if you let it properly harden in the fridge), they were worthy of a massive parade (complete with Grand Marshall- Famous Amos). This was precisely the sugar mountain I crave in my cookies. I am definitely looking forward to making these a staple of my Mardi Gras celebration each year (or changing up the frosting colors and eating them for any occasion like green and brown for a killer Arbor Day party).

King Cake

I'm gonna be honest with you, readers. I'm a bad New Orleanian (or Terrytownian if you want to be super specific and not as cool sounding). I haven't been to Mardi Gras since I was 17 thanks to a combination of college, grad school and being poor and unemployed on a couch. Sure I've drunk too much and mysteriously woken up with colorful beads, but I haven't been to the real thing in 9 years.

Mardi Gras truly is a magical time when an entire state (and many tourists) come together to fill their lives with joyous parades, delicious food and shiny trinkets (and, if you're doing it right, regret). It's such an essential part of the life of someone from Louisiana that my prom was even held at Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World.

My first king cake attempt during the practice run on Sunday. Notice the weird sugar clumps (Also, it's not actually closed, I just angled it so it'd look that way. Yay, trickery!) 

Even though I wasn't going to be back home this year, I was at least going to pretend I was there by having the ultimate Mardi Gras delicacy- the cinnamon and sugar packed King Cake (complete with creepy plastic baby!). This would be no simple task, so it was going to require not one but four separate king cakes- two on Sunday in a practice run and two on Monday for the official work cake.


King Cake
Modified from Southern Living
Servings: 2 cakes
Time: 3 hours

This is where king cakes come from.

Cake
1/4 cup butter
16 oz. sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 .25 oz envelopes active dry yeast
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup warm water
2 eggs
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
6 oz cream cheese, softened
2 slightly creepy plastic babies

I figured out why LSU is purple and gold. They hate green!

Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp milk
Vanilla extract
Almond extract
Green food coloring
Yellow food coloring
Purple food coloring (2 red + 1 blue)
Green coarse sugar
Yellow coarse sugar
Purple coarse sugar

Rolled out with cream cheese, brown sugar and cinnamon.

1. Melt the butter, 1/3 cup sugar, sour cream and salt together in a pan over low heat stirring often. Once melted, let cool to between 100 and 110 F.
2. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and 1 tbsp sugar in the warm water and let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Add in the butter mixture, eggs and 2 cups of flour and blend with an electric mixer until smooth (about 2 minutes). 
4. Continue stirring in flour until a soft, workable dough forms (should be right at about the 6 1/2 cups mark).
5. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic on a lightly floured surface. 
6. Turn to coat in a well greased bowl then cover and let sit until it doubles in size (about an hour).
7. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
8. Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar together and set aside.
9. Divide the dough in half and roll thinly into a large rectangle with one side considerably larger than the other. 
10. Spread on half of the cream cheese and a little bit of softened butter the sprinkle on half of the cinnamon/brown sugar mixture to cover well.
11. Roll like a jellyroll from the long side then place the seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring the ends together to close the ring. Moisten and pinch the edges together to form a seal. Make sure there's enough space in the middle so the shape can be retained (or you can cheat and put something like a metal coffee can in the space to keep it from warping).
12. Let sit for 20 minutes until it bulks up.
13. Repeat for the remaining dough.
14. Cook each for 15 minutes or until golden.
15. Once cooled, add the baby by pushing it in from the bottom of the cake.
16. Divide the frosting components (sans the sugars) into 3 bowls (one for purple, green and gold). Mix well with a fork until a slightly thickened icing forms. If too thick, add very small amounts of milk (a little milk goes a long way).
17. Frost the cake in bands of alternating colors.
18. Sprinkle on the various colored sugars.
19. Let the frosting harden and serve.
20. Wake up on Bourbon Street. Immediately get a tetanus shot.

I wanted to fry this for the world's most awesome giant donut.

I'm definitely glad I had my pilot run on Sunday, as I learned quite a bit about making a king cake. I originally mistakenly put only half the yeast, which didn't affect the taste at all but led to some tiny king cakes. Also, finding the proper balance of cream cheese filling is key because it can cause the interior to get entirely too soggy (a mistake from cake number one). By the time Monday night rolled around, I was confident with my recipe, which had several important changes from the original. These included brown sugar and cream cheese in the center of the cake and the use of almond extract in the icing. All of these modifications were integral to making the perfect Fat Tuesday experience (although my closing technique still needed a little work).

He's coming for your soul!

There are many possible reasons to love king cake- the crazy cinnamonyness, the endless possible fillings, the 50 different ways to enjoy sugar on/in it, the longing you feel for it since it's only around for about 2 months out of the year (just like you damned Cadbury cream eggs) or the fact that a plastic baby is baked inside the cake (Seriously, think about that for a second. They take a plastic baby and put it in the oven to held add your daily dose of carcinogens and some luck. I added mine after because it kind of freaked the scientist in me out.). My personal favorite was always the icing. I recall stealing the icing from other pieces of king cake as a child to make a piece with super frosting mountains (only to later be disappointed that I had to suffer through pieces with no icing. Stupid past Terry.). For this, I essentially adapted Erika and Bryan's cucidati icing to great effect (they're both from Louisiana so obviously their frosting should work for King Cake by the transitive property...). The almond component was key to making this worthy of me scooping out the drippings on the tray with my finger (you can practically brush your teeth with it!).

1 out of 4 cakes actually closed! I'm getting good at this.

Even though I couldn't be back home, this was a worthy substitute. I had a lot of fun trying and learning about baking from the king cake (plus I upped my N.O. street cred like twentyfold). But the celebratory baking wasn't done yet. I made sure Fat Tuesday lived up to its name by also making some Mardi Gras cookies inspired by the snickerdoodle (and topped with that King Cake icing).

Cinnamony inner goodness

I was glad that I could add another fond Mardi Gras memory this year to go along with such personal favorites as devouring moon pies thrown from floats while starving at parades (see even bad food is key to Mardi Gras) and Erika and I almost impaling ourselves on the giant toy spears they for some reason give to small children at parades (gotta love NOLA). If I make it out of this sugar coma, maybe I'll try to go back next year.

Stay tuned for more Mardi Gras themed madness.

The Weekly Vegan: Grit Cakes with Wilted Kale & Sweet Potato Soup

The Weekly Vegan has been a bit of a misnomer lately as this is sadly my first vegan dish of the month (but fear not, vegan faithful, I already have Potato Gnocchi with Vegan Vodka Sauce planned for this week).  This Friday I returned to the world of vegan cuisine with a wonderful two course meal of sweet potato soup and grit cakes with wilted kale to get my weekend started right. Most importantly, I made it with the power of love (or at least the power of the heart-shaped cookie cutter I had from Valentine's Day).


Grit Cakes with Wilted Kale
Adapted from Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food by A. Simpson
Servings: 4
Time: 60 minutes

Grits
1 cup quick grits
1:1 soy milk to water for the grits liquid
1/2 cup shredded Daiya cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
1 heart shaped cookie cutter

Wilted Kale
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup white onion, diced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 large bunch of kale, torn
4 cups vegetable stock
Pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste

Some cayenne to spice up the grits

Oh, kale, you wilt with the best of 'em

1. Start with the kale because it's going to take a while. Sauté the garlic and onion in olive oil until the onion begins to get soft and translucent (3-5 minutes).
2. Add the kale, pepper and red chili and stir well. Then pour in the veggie stock and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 35-45 minutes.
4. Make the grits while the kale is cooking. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
5. Make a 1:1 mixture of soy milk and water to meet the package directions for the required liquid for 1 cup of grits. Bring to a boil.
6. Whisk in the grits and cook covered for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Remove from heat then stir in the cayenne, salt and vegan cheese until melted.
8. Pour into a 9" round glass dish and cook for 10 minutes in the oven to make crispier grits.
9. Cut the grits into delightful heart shapes and plate.
10. Drain the kale then either place on top of the grits or create a bed for the grits (the bed looks prettier).

I've mentioned my love of grits before, so I was pretty stoked to get a chance to try a vegan grits dish. Despite my excitement, I was also fairly concerned. Normally you make grits flavorful with lots of butter and heavy cream, which aren't really options anymore. Instead, I used some soy milk to help out the the consistency and add a little flavor and richness. This worked nicely, and the Daiya cheese really added to that richness, while the cayenne helped instill some much needed kick. The kale provided a nice earthiness to the dish (with a little heat thanks to the red pepper flakes) and continued to challenge spinach for green leafy supremacy. Crisping the grits in the oven was key, so that there wasn't just one giant mushy mess on the plate. This was a fantastic main course, but, like with most of these vegan recipes, I still found myself missing some fake protein. Kevin makes a fantastic steak with wilted spinach and risotto that this kind of reminds me of, so I think using some Gardein meatless tips would really bring this all together to complete the meal.


Sweet Potato Soup
Adapted from Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food by A. Simpson
Servings: 4
Time: 60 minutes

1 1/2 cups baked sweet potato (about one sweet potato)
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup soy milk

1. Bake the sweet potato in the oven at 450 F for 45 minutes until the sugars start to come out. Cut it open and scoop out the 1 1/2 cups needed.
2. Make a little mini roux. Whisk the flour and oil together over medium heat. Then stir constantly until it turns a light caramel color.
3. Whisk in the stock and brown sugar and bring to a boil.
4. Add in the sweet potato, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.
5. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook covered for 5 minutes.
6. Puree the soup in a blender then return to the pot and add the soy milk. Keep warm over low to medium-low heat until ready to serve.

A nice refreshing and sweet soup to start the meal.

It had been a little chilly this week, so I was looking forward to a nice soup. Unfortunately, it warmed up by Friday, so I just had to employ the air conditioner (electric bill be damned!) to simulate the cold. The soup was pitch perfect with a subtle sweetness and amazing hints of cinnamon. I realized my grits were getting cold because I was too busy scooping this into my mouth as rapidly as possible (I somehow refrained from just slurping it straight from the bowl). To me, this was the highlight of the night and would be a perfect addition to any autumn meal (Which is obviously why I'm using it in February. I'm used to Los Angeles where there aren't actual seasons.).

The most important tool in a chef's kit.

It felt good to be back to some nice wholesome vegan cooking (especially after the health scare that was the 3 desserts for Valentine's Day).  This week will only get more vegany as I'll hopefully have the gnocchi up later and a special vegan addendum to the beer battered fish tacos compliments of Courtney (hooray people using my blog!).

Matt's Beer Battered Fish Tacos

For a while now, Kevin has been extolling the virtues of Matt's famous fish tacos. I've never been a huge fan of fish tacos (it just seems so unnatural), but I was willing to give it a shot. Thursday night, Matt came over to indoctrinate me in the ways of the fish taco, and the three of us banded together (a moment that would make the fish taco loving bromance of I Love You, Man proud) to produce one rapid and incredibly delicious meal that made me a believer. I mean, it's fish fried in beer. How could it not be awesome?


Fish Tacos
Adapted from Great Food Great Beer
Servings: About 12 tacos
Time: 30 minutes


Cabbage Slaw
3/4 of a purple cabbage finely shredded
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt to taste


Chipotle Tartar Sauce
2 tbsp canned chipotles in adobo, rinsed, stemmed and seeded
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
1/4 cup onion, chopped
Salt to taste


Fish
1 cup beer (Stella Artois works well)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 lbs cod, de-bonned and skinless
Vegetable oil for frying
Tortillas
Lime Wedges

Not as tasty as cupcake batter

1. Make 2 friends so you have someone working on each component for a super quick meal.
2. Prep the slaw by mixing the shredded cabbage, cilantro, lime juice, oil, red pepper flakes and salt in a large bowl.
3. Puree the chiles, mayo, relish, onion and salt in a blender for your tartar sauce (see how easy this is with 3 people).
4. Whisk the beer, flour and salt together in a bowl to make your batter.
5. Preheat your oven to 200 F. Heat up your tortillas on a skillet then transfer to a baking sheet in the oven to keep warm for when the fish is ready.
6. Rinse the fish and pat dry. Cut the cod crosswise into 1 inch wide stripes. Also make sure all the bones are removed.
7. Heat up the vegetable oil in a large skillet to 360 F (Letting it get hotter than this may result in oddly distorted candy thermometers.).
8. Dip each piece of fish into the batter then fry until golden turning once to brown both sides (about 2-4 minutes each fish). 
9. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to remove excess oil.
10. Assemble your taco by putting fish then cabbage on a tortilla and smothering with the chipotle sauce (Seriously drown that sucker. It's a fish; it can breathe submerged). Serve with lime wedges.

Still not enough of the amazing sauce.

Let's start with the fish component. The Stella battered cod was perfectly fried (save one piece before we got the oil under control, but, hey, that's what you have smoke detectors for), and the butteryness of the cod went fantastically with the crisp and almost fluffy fried golden deliciousness. This definitely was the right fish for the job.

That's better.

But tacos need their toppings, and we had two glorious ones to round these out. Any fish taco has a standard cabbage slaw that adds a freshness (and more crispiness) to things. The cilantro and lime really bring out the flavor of the cabbage to make for a ridiculously good slaw. The true triumph of the taco triumvirate (sometimes I get bored and have fun with alliteration), though, was the chipotle tartar sauce. It had just the right kick and made me forget all about my normal disgust with mayo. You really can't put enough of this on your taco. Together the three components also form a wonderful texture combination that has the crunchiness of the fried shell and cabbage sandwiched between the almost creamy fishy and sauce all wrapped in a wonderful tortilla.

I love it when my models take my direction perfectly. Matt: "What should I do?" Me: "Look like an idiot." I think he has a bright future in the modeling business.

Matt definitely earned a standing invite to my kitchen (Really, this should be a standing invite to his kitchen since he has one of those crazy house things. Silly married people with their adultness.). These fish tacos finally made me a fan, but were they too good that all other fish tacos will now be seen as inferior? It truly is a rough life that I lead.

And he can be sultry too!

It turns out Matt is not just a fish taco making fiend but is a man of many talents. Check out his mad drumming skills here (but really I would've thought he'd be all about slapping da bass), or catch his stunning photography at http://www.solidstatephotography.com