pear upside-down gingerbread babycakes

October 22, 2012
by eatafood
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cakes / desserts

this is a recipe i often make as a cake but i split it up into a dozen babycakes for a friend’s birthday (where we built an insane multi-room fort).

these cakes were in the snack fortress area of the birthday fort, of course.

TOPPING

2 pears, anjou or bartlett, cut in half, cored and cut into thick rings (see picture above if that doesn’t make sense)

1-2 tsp margarine per muffin tin (depending on the size of your muffin pans, you want it to cover the bottom generously)

1 tsp brown sugar per muffin tin

BATTER

1/2 c. margarine (1 stick), softened

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ginger (dried)

1/2 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp nutmeg

pinch of salt

1 c. molasses

1 c. very hot water

Put your muffin tin in the oven and preheat to 350. once it’s hot, take it out and put in the margarine and brown sugar and put back in the oven while you mix your batter (for 5 minutes), then put pears in the bottom of the tin and put back in the oven for 5 minutes.

For the batter, whisk your flour, spices, salt and baking soda together. in another bowl (or a mixer ideally), cream the margarine and brown sugar until fluffy. mix your hot water and molasses in a bowl so that it dissolves. add your dry and wet ingredients to the “butter” mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the dry. once finished, pour into hot tin over the pears. bake for 15 minutes or until tops are set.

let cool for 10 minutes then flip over onto a wire cooling rack and allow the babycakes to fall out (be patient, don’t force them because the tops could come off).

ALL DONE.

nugget potatoes with tomato, olives, spicy sausage, jalapenos and mushrooms with cheese

October 17, 2012
by eatafood
comment 1
beans / meals / mushrooms / potato / savoury / seitan / tasty trash

aka cheesey potatoes aka potato nachos
this is one of the delicious trash foods i referred to in an earlier post. also this involves more fake sausage, which i shouldn’t put in so many recipes buuuuuuut if you don’t like it, you could use only black beans and skip it. we happen to have had a lot of sausages in the house and HEY i don’t want them to go bad you know.

a dozen nugget potatoes

2 chipotle field roast sausages. chopped up

1/2 small can black beans, rinsed

a dozen mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp cumin, chili

1 roma tomato, diced

1/8 c. chopped pickled jalapenos

a handful of chopped tasty olives

2 green onions, chopped

a big handful of cilantro, chopped

olive oil

salt and pepper

CHEESE SAUCE

2 c. broth

1/4 c. flour

1 c. nutritional yeast

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. turmeric, paprika

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

mix broth and flour in a saucepan and whisk so it’s not lumpy then add everything else, and let thicken.

TO MAKE

slice potatoes into medallions, then roast with olive oil and salt and pepper until well browned. flip halfway to cook both sides. in a pan saute the mushrooms until they’re browned, then add the sausage, beans, cumin and chili.

put the bean/mushroom/sausage on a big plate, then the roasted potatoes. then put on all remaining toppings and pour cheese sauce over top. ALL DONE GO EAT IT. lazy time!!!!

two ways: quinoa with beets, sage and sausage

October 17, 2012
by eatafood
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beets / grains / meals / quinoa / seitan

here are two different meals you can make with the same things, you could even make it one way then turn the leftovers into the other. WHAT? BELIEVE IT. versatile!

this makes enough for 2 bowls of quinoa and leftovers to make 8 croquettes.

SIDE NOTE for those of you vegans who may not know, it is SOOO GOOD FOR YOU. it’s not actually a grain, but a seed. it’s a complete protein, which isn’t always the easiest thing for vegan diets. beyond that (which is crazy) it has iron. vegan supermagicfood. you can use it in place of any grain.

QUINOA BOWL

1 c. quinoa

1 c. water

1 c. broth

2 bay leaves

1 onion, cut into 8

1 head garlic

10 small beets or 6 large

2 sausages, field roast or homemade

10 sage leaves, chopped

olive oil

salt and pepper

1/3 c. additional broth

1/8 c. flour

1/8 c. nutritional yeast

splash white wine

FOR THE CROQUETTES

1/8 c. nutritional yeast

1/8 c. flour

First off, slice your beets thin, cut the top (pointy) side of your head of garlic. toss beets and onion with oil and salt and pepper, and pour a bit of oil on the cut end of the garlic. spread on a baking sheet and roast in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

while that’s cooking up, cook your quinoa in 1 c. water and 1 c. broth with bay leaves (to cook quinoa, bring to a boil, then simmer low until all the liquid is absorbed, around 15-20 minutes).

get a pan hot and slice the sausages, fry them so they are browned on both sides, toss in sage and fry for another minute. put aside in a dish.

in the same pan heat up 1/3 c. broth and whisk in the flour until it thickens. add wine, yeast, salt and pepper. when the roasting is done, squeeze all the roasted garlic cloves out and mash them, then stir it into this mixture. this is your sauce.

when the quinoa is done stir in the sauce, mix the sauce in, then everything else. ALL DONE!

FOR THE CROQUETTES

chop up the sausages! mix in the additional flour and yeast. get oil hot in a pan and form quinoa mixture into balls and flatten them in the pan. fry on both sides until crisp.

they taste really good with a dip made out of either vegenaise or fake sour cream (or both) mixed with finely chopped green onion, dill and lemon zest). just saying.

A) BOWL!

B) CROQUETTES!

cheesecake

October 10, 2012
by eatafood
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cakes / desserts / quick / one-pot

i was in charge of dessert for a thanksgiving dinner and this one is easy and always impressive.

it’s one of those things where it seems more fancy if you don’t know what it’s made of. you can do tasty cheesecakes with cashews and things but this tastes really good and if you’re looking for a quick recipe, this is the one to use. so here you go, keep it to yourselves.

CRUST

22 graham crackers

1/4 c. almonds or pecans

1/4 c. margarine, melted

1 tsp vanilla

pulse the graham crackers and nuts in a food processor until fine with a few pieces. mix all ingredients together and press firmly into the bottom of a springform pan. bake at 350 for 10 minutes. cool slightly.

FILLING

2 1/2 packages of tofutti better-than-creamcheese, softened

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg replacer egg (if you don’t have this, it’s fine, increase the baking powder by 1/2 tsp)

beat all ingredients together until smooth and fluffy. spread evenly over the crust and continue baking at 350 for 30 minutes, until edges brown very slightly and a puffy skin forms on top. cool completely and decorate with thinly sliced kiwis and strawberries, or whatever fruit you like.