Category: Food

On the trip home from the US with Jon, the two of us talked about Philly Cheesesteaks. If Ottawa had a sandwich named after it, what would it be like? We started coming up with ideas. Shredded beef. Cheese curds in the tradition of poutine. Caramelized onions. Maple syrup.

I made the sandwich this weekend.

Curdwich Filling (Original)

• 2 lb, Beef Sirloin
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1/4 Tsp Pepper
• 1 Tbsp Oil
• 2 Cup Tomato Sauce
• 1 Medium Onion, Chopped
• 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• 3 Tbsp Maple Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Tbsp Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Mustard Sauce
• 2 Tsp Chili Powder

1. Mix all of the ingredients except for the beef in a slow cooker.
2. Place the beef. Set on high for 5 hours. When ready, the beef will just pull apart on prodding.

Preparation

You need to set aside about six hours for this. I first got the slow-cooker up and running, then I made the bread. An hour before serving, I started on the sides of roasted garlic potatoes and the caramelized onions.

When it got to serving time, we placed the curds first in the bread. Then we laid on the filling, and covered it with the caramelized onions.

Thoughts

I made my go-to bread loaf these days (3 cups flour, 2.5 tsp yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1/3 cup oil, 1 cup water, Italian seasoning), and cut it up to make two long buns. The bread proved too soft to handle the juicy filling. So the first change would be to find stronger bread – perhaps a loaf of French bread.

The maple flavour didn’t come up at all, so Jon suggested basting the beef in a maple BBQ sauce.  He also suggested less sauce. Otherwise, it was delicious. This recipe is open to tweaking, thus why it’s called “take one.”

 

Sloppy Joe’s

Hamburger Buns (Original)

Makes 12-18 buns.

• 1 Cup Warm Vegan Milk (eg. Almond Milk)
• 1 Cup Warm Water
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 1/2 Tsp Yeast
• 5 Cups Flour
• 1 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Vegan Milk
• 1 Tbsp Water
• Sesame Seeds (do not skip!)

1. In a large bowl, combine milk, water, sugar and yeast. Mix around and let sit for 5 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt.
3. Add the flour to the liquid, half a cup at a time.
4. Knead the dough until elastic. Coat the sides of the bowl in oil.
5. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size. About 1 hour.
6. Punch down the dough and divide up into 12 – 18 buns. Knead each until dry and place on a cookie sheet. Let rest for 5 minutes.
7. Flatten the buns slightly. Cover the buns and let rest for another 20 minutes or until doubled in size.
8. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
9. Whisk together milk and water. Brush mixture on each bun, then sprinkle sesame seeds.
10. Bake in the oven’s centre rack for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Let cool on a cooling rack.

Filling (Original)

Enough filling for 12-18 buns.

• 1 Tbsp Oil
• 1 1/4 Pound Ground Textured Vegetable Protein
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Steak Seasoning Blend
• 1 Medium Onion, Chopped
• 1 Small Bell Pepper, Chopped
• 1 Tbsp Wine Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Cups Tomato Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1. In a large pot on medium-high heat, add oil and TVP.
2. Break up the TVP.
3. Mix brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add to TVP mixture and combine.
4. When the TVP has browned, add the onion and bell pepper.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Let heat for 5 minutes.
6. Add tomato sauce and paste. Stir and reduce heat to a simmer. Let sit for another 5 minutes.
7. It’s ready to serve! If I wasn’t serving immediately, I left mine on low heat and added a bit of tomato sauce if it lost a bit of moisture.

Thoughts

This was my first time having Sloppy Joe’s, and I found that the filling tasted amazing. The hamburger buns I made were a bit on the dense side, but quite good. The sesame seeds really imparted their flavour. I’ll be very pleased if I could make the buns fluffier. Perhaps I’ll try this bun recipe next time. Filling though? Awesome.

Oreo Cheesecakes

Makes 12 muffin-sized cheesecakes.

• 22 Oreo Cookies
• 2 Packages of Vegan Cream Cheese (eg. Tofutti)
• 2/3 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Water
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 Tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 Tsp Salt

1. Set the oven to 350 F.
2. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
3. Put an Oreo on the bottom of each.
4. Blend cream cheese and sugar until softened.
5. Add water, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt to cream cheese mix. Combine well.
6. Break up 4 Oreos into crumbs and place in mixture. Fold them in.
7. Add mix to the paper liners.
8. Bake for 25 minutes.
9. Let cool, then refrigerate for at least four hours. You’ll find that the centre sinks inwards as it cools.
10. When ready to serve, crumb up 6 Oreo cookies and garnish the top of the cheesecakes with them.

Thoughts

Underwhelming. This was a hybrid of my previous vegan cheesecake recipe and a bite-sized Oreo one I spotted online. I liked the Oreo cookie base and how crumbs were folded in. However, the cheesecake part was gummy tasting and really not all that savoury. Going forward, I think I’ll try a different recipe.

Hot Chocolate

Multiply the portions by the servings desired.

• 1 Cup of Vegan Milk (eg. Almond Milk)
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1. Whisk all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
2. Serve!

Thoughts

Simple and delicious.

This recipe is adapted from one I saw on The Sioux Chef.

Dough

• 2 Cups Flour
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 2½ Tsp Yeast
• ⅔ Cup Vegan Milk (eg. Almond Milk)
• ½ Cup Vegan Butter (eg. Earth Balance)

1. Grease a 9″ cake pan.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Heat the milk and butter in a sauce pan until it reaches 110 F.
4. Add wet ingredients to the dry mix.
5. Combine and place into the cake pan. Press down with your fingers.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and towel.

Topping

• ½ Cup Flour
• ⅓ Cup Sugar
• 1 Tsp Cinnamon
• ¼ Cup Vegan Butter
• Pinch Salt
• Maple Syrup

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Combine all ingredients except the maple syrup until crumbly.
3. Unwrap the dough and drizzle maple syrup on top. Spread it out.
4. Add crumbly topping.
5. Place in oven for 15 minutes.

Thoughts

I liked it. I used a gluten-free flour mix for the topping (the original recipe is all gluten-free), which gave it its distinctive taste. It’s lighter than the other desserts I’ve made recently, which I appreciate. It’s quick to make, doesn’t feel heavy in the stomach, the ingredients are those I usually have on-hand, so I can see me making this again.

There’s a few food blogs I check up on regularly for ideas. One of them is Kevin and Amanda and last month they posted this decadent recipe for Cookie Dough Billionaire Bars.

I had never heard of billionaire bars before. It’s a bar with a shortbread base, topped with caramel, followed by a layer of cookie dough and with a chocolate ganache.

There’s a bunch of recipes online and they all seemed to point to the same source: a book called The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook. Anywho, I decided to do a vegan version for a potluck at work.

Shortbread Base

• ¼ Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Cup Vegan Butter (eg. Earth Balance)
• 3 ¾ Cup Flour
• ½ Tsp Salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Grease a lasagne pan and line with parchment paper. This is optional but it’ll make your life easier.
3. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add the flour and salt.
5. Put the dough in the parchment-lined lasagne pan. Press it down.
6. Bake until the edges are slightly browned. About 30-35 minutes.
7. Let cool.

Caramel

• 1 Cup Sugar
• ¾ Cup + 2 Tbsp Vegan Milk (eg. Unsweetend Almond Milk)
• ¼ Cup Maple Syrup
• 1 Tbsp Vegan Butter
• ½ Tsp Vanilla
• ⅛ Tsp Salt

1. Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan.
2. Cook until amber. Stir constantly. About 10 minutes.
3. Place in ice bath to stop the mixture from cooking further.
4. Pour the caramel sauce over the cooled shortbread.
5. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or freeze for 15 minutes.

Cookie Dough

• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• ½ Cup Vegan Butter
• 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
• ¼ Cup Unsweetend Apple Sauce
• 1 Tsp Vanilla
• 1 ½ Cup Flour
• ¼ Tsp Salt
• 1 Cup Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips

1. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
2. Add the maple syrup, apple sauce and vanilla. Mix until consistent.
3. Add the flour and salt. Stir until smooth.
4. Add the chocolate chips. Mix.
5. Spread over the caramel layer in the pan.
6. Refrigerate.

Chocolate Ganache

• 2 Cups Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips
• ¾ Cup + 1 Tbsp Vegan Milk

1. In a small sauce pan on low heat, combine chocolate chips and milk.
2. Stir until chocolate mixture takes on a glossy finish.
3. Pour over the cookie dough layer and chill until set. Approximately 30 minutes.

Thoughts

It’s very rich, sweet and dense. You can taste the two-plus cups of butter that are within. The caramel recipe I used was pretty runny and ended up getting absorbed by the shortbread. I think if I were to do this again I’d use a different recipe for that, or let the caramel cool a bit first so that it forms a distinctive layer.

It’s a fun recipe but I don’t see me making it again. It’s too heavy. If you cut it, I recommend doing thin slices.

I was looking for a simple vegan cake recipe and stumbled on this one. I found a separate (dairy-free) cream cheese icing recipe to go with the Tofutti container I had in my fridge. The portions make a single-layered cake in an 8″ cake pan. I doubled everything to make a two-layer cake.

Almond Cake (Original)

• 1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1 Tbsp Vinegar
• 1 1/2 Cup Flour
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1/3 Cup Oil
• 1/4 Cup Water
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 Tsp Almond Extract

1. Set the oven to 350 F.
2. Grease and flour the cake pan.
3. Stir milk and vinegar in a cup.
4. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
5. Mix the remaining wet ingredients together in a separate bowl.
6. Add the milk mixture to the wet ingredients bowl and mix.
7. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir mixture until batter is lump free.
8. Pour into baking pan and place in the oven until a toothpick/fork inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Approx 35 minutes.

Almond Cream Cheese Frosting (Original)

• 1/4 Cup Vegan Butter (eg. Earth Balance)
• 1/4 Cup Vegan Cream Cheese (eg. Tofutti)
• 2 Cups Icing Sugar
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 Tsp Almond Extract
• Sliced Almonds (Optional)

1. Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy.
2. Add in icing sugar and mix until smooth.
3. Add vanilla and almond extract, stir until consistent.
4. Apply frosting to a cool cake and top with sliced almonds. I used candy confetti instead of almond slices – it’s whatever you want!

Thoughts

This cake came out dense but moist – which is as the author of the recipe I plagiarized this from said it would be like. Very similar to banana bread. I really like the almond theme, but I’d like for a lighter cake – so I probably won’t make this again.