Vegan Onion Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 Large Red Onion
• 1 Package Silken Tofu
• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• ½ - 1 Tsp. Sea Salt*
• 3 – 5 Tbsp. Lemon Juice*
• Dash of Sesame Oil
• Hot Pepper Flakes (to taste)

Directions:

Slice the onion and slowly caramelize in a frying pan with the olive oil and a pinch of salt. I cheat a little by adding some water to the pan when the onion just starts cooking, that way the onion gets soft before it starts to brown.

Once the onion is caramelized, add it to a bowl (or food processor) with the silken tofu, lemon juice, remaining salt, sesame oil, and hot pepper flakes.

Blend until everything is combined, and retains a slightly chunky texture (I used my immersion blender).

Chill the dip for at least an hour, to let flavours meld. Eat with sliced vegetables, crackers, potato chips, as a tasty sandwich spread, or anywhere else non-vegan onion dip is used.

*These measurements are only guidelines. Start with less and keep adding more until you’ve reached a good balance between salty and sour.

Dairy Free Mint Chocolate Mousse

I've "known" for some time that I am lactose intolerant, due to general digestive malfunction any time I eat dairy. But I've begun to suspect that my body has more issues with dairy than just the lactose and that my dairy problems may be of the casein kind. So, over the last couple months, I've been (mostly) sticking to a strict no-dairy diet.

Clearly that means cutting out all obvious dairy (milk, cheese, butter, yogurt...) it has also forced me to cut out nearly anything which could be considered "prepared food". So while I'm free to eat a steak any time I want, if I would like a snack at Starbucks then it had better be vegan (you're out too Tim Hortons, even their vegetable soup has dairy). Not to say that this is entirely bad. In the last few months I've generally felt better, have shed pounds, and am acne free (save any time I cheat and then it's "hello pimples"). I do, however, get the occasional craving for a tasty, sweet, treat. And the recipe below is my solution to a satisfying end to a fancy-ish dinner.

Ingredients:

250g Dark Chocolate (quality, no milk ingredients added)

250ml coconut cream

2 egg whites

½ tsp. pure mint extract

Directions:

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave.

Whisk together the egg whites, coconut cream and mint extract until frothy.

Add half of the mint mixture in the melted (and somewhat cooled) chocolate and stir til combined.

Combine the chocolate mixture with the rest of the mint mixture and whip til smooth and airy (you should see small bubbles in the mixture).

Divide the chocolate mint pudding between 4-6 equal, small, cups (espresso or shot glasses will work), chill, and enjoy!

*You could create variations of this by swapping out the mint extract for either almond, or plain old vanilla extract.

Costume Time

While this isn't the cheapest costume I've ever come up with, many of the individual pieces can be easily reused in the future (Halloween, or day to day).

Ingredients:

• black leotard - $30
• pair of black tights - $13
• black gloves - $10
• set of cat ears - $8
• black "cat eye" mask - $10
• gold pendant necklace - $6
• gold fish scale belt - $15 (etsy.com)

Happy Halloween!

öLove, Catwoman ö

Falling For Caroline

When I'm not getting crafty, I record sound for films. One such film, I have recently found out, will be screening at two(!) film festivals in the coming months. So, here's the details:

Toronto
Inside Out Festival
Hogtown Homos Program
May 20th at 7:15 p.m.
Isabel Bader Theatre

San Francisco
Frameline International LGBT Film Festival
June 20th at 1:45 p.m
June 28th at 12:00 p.m.
The Castro Theatre

The best oatmeal ever!

I stole this recipe from Michael Smith's Foodtv.ca page, but it really is the best oatmeal ever. While his recipe calls for an almond foam for the top of the oatmeal, I don't have a milk steamer so I've left it out but you can find the full recipe here.

Apple Pie Oatmeal
(Serves 2)

You will need:

1 cup whole rolled oats
2 cups milk
1 apple, cored and chopped
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp sliced almonds

Pour the oats, milk, apple, brown sugar and cinnamon into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Continue gently cooking until it's thick and creamy, about 15 minutes. Stir every few minutes to keep the mixture from sticking to the bottom. Spoon the oatmeal into 2 serving bowls and sprinkle with almond slices and serve.

This recipe is easily halved (and doubled for that matter) so making it just for one (or a crowd) is super simple.

Crock pot chicken stock.

Sometimes, instead of purchasing specific chicken parts like breasts or thighs, I like to just buy a whole chicken and section it up myself. This usually works out to be a bit cheaper, and you get the added bonus of the chicken carcass!

So what do you do with a chicken carcass? Make some delicious chicken stock, I say.

1. Place chicken carcass into a roasting pan and roast it until it's done. (ie. Smells and looks good.)
2. Place the roasted chicken in your crock pot along with some chopped up onions, carrots, celery and anything else you might want. (I like mushrooms and herbs like thyme and rosemary.)
3. Cover the whole thing with water and set our crock pot to medium - high.
4. Let the stock cook for at least three hours... but I like to let it go all night. (Just remember to turn down your crock pot to a low setting if you do.)
5. Strain out all the bits when it's done, season with salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy your home made stock!

Knead Bread? No!

Enforcing my current love of homemade bread, I recently came upon a recipe for No Knead Bread.

The finished loaf.

It takes about a full day to make, but only about 20 minutes of that is actually spent doing anything. Basically, you mix yeast, flour, water, and a bit of salt, together in a bowl and then let it sit (covered) for about 18 hours to let the yeast develop. Then plop the dough into a mould, let it rest another couple hours, and bake!

Bread dough after one rise.

Breadmaker

So, when Christmas time was rolling around and I started getting requests from family members as to what I wanted, I proved my truly incredible geeky/crafty nature and asked for a bread machine.
Yep.
A bread machine.

And that's exactly what I got. Now, with my incredible bread machine I have been making a varied and delicious assortment of breads. Unfortunately I haven't been taking any pictures of my delicious bread, but here is a list of some of what I have made so far.

Trail Bread: My first attempt. It was supposed to be a fruity, nut and seed filled, bread but due to my misinterpretation of the directions no seeds or nuts were added and it was just a fruity bread... Still tasty though!

Whole Wheat and Flax Bread: Very dense, but good.

Gluten Free Banana Seed Loaf: Made for a family member. A+

Whole Wheat and Flax Bread (Second Attempt): Less dense, still good.

Corn Bread: This recipe didn't turn out as expected. Instead of being the cake like corn bread that I am used to it was closer to a dense white bread with cornmeal and some bits of corn.

Whole Wheat with Oatmeal, Raisins, Spice and Flax Bread: I got creative with this one after stumbling upon a basic, ingredient switchable, bread machine bread recipe (below).

Whole Wheat, Honey, Almond (and flax) Bread: Another variation on the basic bread machine bread recipe, but this time instead of using a second grain I used one cup of ground almonds. It turned out moister than most of the other breads and was closer in texture to the gluten free banana seed loaf.


















Bread Machine Bread (Michael Smith - foodtv.ca)
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tsp yeast
1/4 cup of any sugar, white, brown, molasses, honey or maple
3 cups bread flour
1 cup additional grain, cornmeal, oatmeal, rye flour, wheat germ, wheat bran or any whole grain blend
2 tbsp dried milk powder
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vegetable oil or melted butter
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup of your favourite chopped fresh herbs (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Place all the ingredients into your bread machine, and then follow the manufacturer's directions for baking a 2 pound loaf. You may also use this basic ratio to make bread without a machine, kneading the dough allowing it to rise twice and baking it in your oven.

Note: Yields one loaf.

Crochet!

My mother learned how to crochet from her grandmother when she was just a child, and has never stopped since then. It's absolutely dizzying how fast my mom can crochet something. As a child my house was never short on blankets, they literally seemed to grow over my mom as we watched tv.

I, however, have been a delinquent child. My sister learned how to crochet but I never did. I'm fairly certain that I was busy doing something else. Probably taking apart my toys using a butter knife as a screwdriver.. and learning how to daisy-chain as many videogame systems to the television as possible (don't forget the cable hookup and VCR!).

Now I'm older and increasingly interested in crafty projects.. though no less interested in media or taking things apart.. so I decided to overcome my obvious crafting shortfall. On boxing day my mom and I wandered through the Wal-Mart craft department, browsing patterns for a tuque my mother said she would make me. And, as I have never done before, I uttered the words "I would like to learn how to crochet." Immediately my mom looked up, told me to grab a ball of wool and said she'd teach me as soon as we got back to her place.

Some hours and many confused looks, on my part, later and I was crocheting. So far I've only made one thing, a dishcloth. That's it in the picture above. Next time I see my mom it'll be time to learn the double crochet. Oooh!

Christmas Baking: Chocolate Brownies

These brownies come from Jamie Oliver's How to Cook. They are intense. Little more than dark chocolate held together with a few fillers.

1 cup unsalted butter
7 oz. dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken up
optional: 75g dried sour cherries
optional: 50g chopped nuts
3/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs

Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Line a 25cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper.
In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth.
Add the cherries and nuts, if you’re using them, and stir together.
In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate, cherry and nut mixture. Stir together well.
Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.

Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray, and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. You don’t want to overcook them so, unlike cakes, you don’t want a skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into squares*.

* I cut the brownies into one inch squares and put them in paper cups for a small, easily packed, addition to my Christmas Cookie tins.