Veg SF

The adventures of a lacto ovo vegetarian in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

Roasted Banana Ice Cream August 26, 2008

Filed under: Fruit, Sweets — vegsf @ 5:22 am
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Here I sit in front of my computer eating spoonful after delicious spoonful of Roasted Banana Ice Cream from Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz and Lara Hata. My sister swears by this recipe book. (Guess I can’t call it a ‘cook’book, now can I? It should technically be a “freezebook”, but I digress.) She was sweet enough to let me borrow it so I could try my hand and see for myself just how magnificent this book really is.’

I finally decided on the Roasted Banana flavor because… Well, quite simply… I had all the ingredients in the house. I started the mix on Saturday, along with all my cupcake mania, and froze it Sunday night.

It’s delicious. I think this recipe book is living up to it’s reputation. Except I don’t know if I agree with the name of the recipe. If I were naming it, I’d probably call it Banana Bread Ice Cream. It tastes like an awesome piece of banana bread fresh out of the oven. Except this is a bit colder and creamier.

It has a very warm banana flavor accented by a hint of butter and kosher salt. I was a bit surprised by the use of salt, but have really enjoyed how it brings out the flavor of the roasted bananas. It’s very rich and creamy with the signature thick and sticky banana texture.

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Cupcake Mania August 24, 2008

Filed under: Chocolate, Cupcakes, Dessert, Fruit, Sweets — vegsf @ 2:48 am
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Today was they day I was planning to make a bunch of cupcakes for a church bake sale tomorrow (and a little for me, of course!). I knew I had nothing planned, so I could dedicate most of the day to the baking. Typical me, I couldn’t decide what kind to make, so I made 3 kinds of cupcakes: Magnolia’s Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercream, Strawberry-Balsamic with Cream Cheese Frosting* and Boston Cream Pie from “Cupcakes!” a cupcake cookbook by Elinor Klivans and France Ruffenach. But because as if that wasn’t enough, I also decided I needed to make ice cream – Roasted Banana Ice Cream from Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz and Lara Hata – a ice cream recipe book I borrowed from my sister. (I haven’t finished ice cream, yet though. I still need to freeze it. I’ll come back later with pics of the ice cream).

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Peaches Foster Upside-Down Cornmeal Cake August 17, 2008

Filed under: Angela Concoction, Breakfast, Dessert, Fruit, Sweets — vegsf @ 5:15 am
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Inspired by the plump, sweet peaches off my mom’s tree, my sister’s peach upside down cornmeal cake and the knowing how well rum would go with peaches – such as banana’s foster (wow that was a mouthful!), I decided to make my own version. Except I wanted to make it a bit lighter than the traditional heavy cake recipes usually found for cornmeal cakes. So, I looked up a few different recipes including ones from Martha Stewart and Cooking Light and made a cake of my own. I was really pleased with the outcome.

The cake has a sweet cornbread type flavor, warmed by the rum and brown sugar mixed with peach juice that seeped into the batter while it was baking. The best part was the outside edge where this sweet mixture started to bubble up along the edges of the pan, creating a crisp, sweet crust. I highly recommend serving it with some vanilla ice cream. It complimented the flavors perfectly. Enjoy!

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Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies August 16, 2008

Filed under: Sweets, Vegan Convertable — vegsf @ 11:37 pm


I broke down and tried the Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie recipe from the fabulous blog 101 Cookbooks. They turned out amazing. My husband didn’t even know they were vegan until after he ate one and I told him. He just looked at me and said, “uh uh!” So there you have it… The “Uh uh, these can’t be vegan peanut butter cookies”.

Here are all my ingredients ready to go. I was a bit worried because I was using extra virgin olive oil, which has a stronger flavor than just regular olive oil and also I used white whole wheat, contrary to the flours suggested in the recipe. But I have no regrets. They taste fabulous.


They were very simple to make and my favorite part was licking the spoon with absolutely no fear that I might get salmonella poisoning from raw eggs in the batter.


Peanut Butter Cookies

Spelt flour bakes into a slightly darker cookie (photo), whole wheat pastry flour is slightly blonder – more traditional in appearance in the end. Finish the cookies with chopped nuts or a sprinkling of flaky salt. I’d also recommend seeking out a peanut butter that is well combined, and not super-oily (extra slick) looking – to avoid problems with the cookie batter.

  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, or unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 1 cup organic, chunky natural peanut butter
  • 1 cup maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Place racks in the top third.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. in a separate larger bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined. Pour the flour mixture over the peanut butter mixture and stir until barely combined – still a bit dusty looking. Let sit for five minutes, give one more quick stir, just a stroke or two. Now drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Press down on each one gently with the back of a fork. It’s a loose batter, so if you’re set on doing criss-crosses, go ahead and chill the batter for an hour or so before this step. Bake for 10, maybe 11 minutes – but don’t over bake or they will be dry. Let cool five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Make 2 – 3 dozen cookies.

 

Bluphie’s in Madison WI August 14, 2008

Filed under: Restaurants — vegsf @ 7:02 pm

Another stop I made in my 8 day journey was to Madison Wisconsin. There, my friend decided we needed to go to one her her favorites. It’s a darling restaurant near one of the lakes in Madison called Bluephies. It’s veggie friendly, an almost California-cuisine type restaurant that even has gluten-free options.

They had amazing food and so much to choose from! I had tomato basil soup (veggie based!) and a portabello mushroom sandwich with the most amazing aoli sauce on it. It was fabulous.


But the best part of the meal was the Tomato Olive Butter served with warm sourdough bread. My sister, Renee and I were were analyzing it to see just how it was made. We figured out butter, cream cheese, kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes and some other spices. But we couldn’t figure it out just exactly.

So, I had an idea… They have a cookbook they are selling at the front. So, at the end of our meal, I flipped through the book. Sure enough! It was there. So, I had my sister ‘fake’ pose with the book to ’show where we went to eat’ in typical tourist fashion. And then she flipped the book open, I zoomed in and snapped the shot. And we went on our way. I now have the recipe. For free. :) (hehe!!! shhhh… Don’t tell!)

 

Cafe Sunflower in Atlanta, GA August 14, 2008

Filed under: Restaurants, Vegan Convertable — vegsf @ 6:55 pm

Just a quick peek in to give a quick review of Cafe Sunflower… I have some vegan peanut butter cookies coming soon, too. So, check back in the next few days.


I went to Cafe Sunflower in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. Per usual, I had the most difficult time deciding what to order. At the recommendation of the waitress, I got the Orzo Eggplant Lasagna (no noodles). It was layers of baked portabella mushroom, eggplant, zucchini, oven roasted red pepper, orzo pasta and tofu ricotta. Served over roasted shallot marinara and topped with grilled asparagus. Plus, I ordered a Mixed Green Salad with Basalmic dressing and a Pomegranate Lemonade.


It was okay, but I wasn’t thrilled. The mixed green salad was very large with basalmic dressing and was nice but nothing to write home about. The Lasagna had good flavor but it tasted a bit heavy/greasy for my tastes. The best part was the asparagus on top. It was very pretty though, with layered vegetables and no noodles. And the the Pomegranate Lemonade was…. Yum.


The place was decorated well and atmosphere was nice. And, of course, the presentation was good with all the layers of veggies. Thankfully it was on the company’s tab because the bill was pretty high, in my opinion, for the meal I had. ($31)

I then went just two blocks down the street to my favorite Cafe Intermezzo for coffee and dessert. I was pretty full from dinner, so I decided to take it to go. Since it was so warm out, I got an iced coffee and a light berry cake. I ate them once I got back in my room.