Sunday, August 8, 2010

Vegan french toast


Saturday morning, I woke up a bit earlier for coffee and pedicures with my friend Lisa.  We opened the bag of Kona coffee that I brought home from Java Kai's Coffee Shop in Kauai.  It was the perfect thing to inspire juicy gossip and homemade breakfasts. 

Last week, I bought a multigrain baguette that I planned to eat with tomato soup mid week.  Well, that tomato soup didn't happen until Saturday afternoon.  I needed to get some use out of this baguette, so I made french toast.  Well, vegan french toast.

I used a recipe from The Idiot's Guide to Vegan cooking as a guide, but I never have all the ingredients, so it was somewhat amended.  I used regular flour and omitted the nutritional yeast flakes (which I've decided I don't like) and Preston's fake kind of syrup because I realized that my good real maple syrup was in the pantry for several days instead of refrigerated after opening like it should be.  I think the french toast turned out pretty good.



The big difference was that I ground some macadamia nuts in my food processor and tapped them on the outside of the bread after soaking it in the milk mixture, and that I only soaked the bread for a few seconds instead of two minutes.  This worked really well at first, when there was a lot of butter in the pan.  I made about 8 slices of toast, and cooked all but two at the same time.  When I put the last two in, the margarine in the pan was pretty much gone and the pan may have been too hot, so the nut crust burnt before the toast cooked through.

I want to add to the mac nut crust to make it more of a real crust.  I'm thinking maybe brown sugar.  This recipe comes with a "to be continued..."
  

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Kauai, Hawaii

Kauai, July 2010

Posts from our trip
During the Early Morning Escapades
On the Way to Hanalei
Our First Day at Hanalei Bay and Preston's First Post
Did You Rob a Monkey?
Horse backs and Fanny Packs
Golf Day
Art Happens
Dad Bridges
We're Still Here
Now this is more like it...
You for Scuba?
Our Bungalow

A Few of Our Favorite Places to Eat

Links to Awesome Adventures
Kaihuna Golf Club
Princeville Golf
Kauai Down Under Scuba
Princeville Ranch - Horse Back Riding

Kauai, 2009

Posts from our trip
Where is Kauai

Our Bungalow

It's been a few weeks now and we have assimilated nicely back into our day to day lives.  It was a great trip, very relaxing.  


We usually stay in Hawaii for 5-7 days, and always want to stay longer.  At the end of this 8 day trip, we were ready to come home.  But we did enjoy our nice little bungalow on the beach.  



One of my favorite memories from this trip will always be the trees and plants around the bungalow, especially at night when it was windy and/or raining.  



When laying down, it looked like you were in a jungle because you could see and hear the trees and plants moving all around you.  



And when we woke up in the morning, the bushes were still, but the birds hiding in them sang songs and buzzed around, welcoming us to the day.


Tomato soup with garlic and okra


Rarely do I have all the ingredients for a soup recipe.  I've made this tomato soup recipe twice so far and both times I've been missing an ingredient.  But it seems that in my kitchen, the best soups happen through the substitutions I make due to my lack of ingredients and planning.  The first round, I used okra when I didn't have celery and fresh parsley in place of basil.  I added a little garlic and garlic powder, and it turned out wonderful.  Sadly, today, I didn't have any parsley, but the soup is still good and easy to make.


The original recipe was found here.  I made a vegan version.  Of course, I'm sure it's better with cheese, real milk and butter.  Most dishes are.  But I think this dish shines without the real stuff.  I served with slices of a multigrain baguette, brushed with olive oil and toasted.  It would also be great served with roasted garlic. Very yum.

Ingredients:
  • 4 tablespoons dairy free margarine (I use Fleischmann's Unsalted)
  • 1 cup chopped okra (I used frozen chopped okra)
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion (I used frozen chopped onions)
  • 1/4 cup chopped celery
  • 1/4 tsp. minced garlic, or more to taste
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves, or to taste (I like lots of parsley!)
  • 2-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used 2 tbsp. because the okra makes the mixture thicker)
  • 3 cups soymilk (Unsweetened and/or Vanilla both taste good in this recipe)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground white and/or black pepper
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder, add more to taste
  • 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained (you can get creative here.  Today I used one can of stewed tomatoes and one can of fire roasted diced tomatoes)

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, heat margarine over medium-low heat. Add chopped okra, cook for two minutes before adding onion, garlic, parsley and celery; cook, stirring, until tender. 


(For a smooth soup, remove vegetables to a food processor or blender and puree.  You may need to add some of the milk to the mixture while pureeing. Place puree back in pan and continue).  Stir flour into the vegetable mixture, stirring until well incorporated. Gradually stir in soymilk and add the sugar, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Continue to heat, stirring, until the mixture thickens and begins to boil.

Dice tomatoes smaller or puree in a blender or processor, if desired. 



Heat tomatoes in a separate saucepan then gradually add them to the first mixture, stirring constantly.  Serves 6.


For a good leftovers idea, see Sunny Side Up - an egg in effigy

The Stokley girls go to Paris

It was just last week when my mom and I both realized "We're going to Paris!"  I mean, we knew that we were going to Paris, but it didn't seem real until last week.  We didn't have that excitement yet.  It was more of a statement before... now it's an exclamation.  PARIS!

Before, when "Paris" was a statement, we knew we were going to have fun.  We had the travel books and read about the museums.  I think my mom made a chart of which museums we wanted to go to on each day.  We knew we wanted to see the Eiffel tower.  We scheduled a cooking lesson.  We made lists and so forth.

Now that "Paris" is an exclamation, the day plans we've made seem more real.  The suggestions other people have made seem more exciting.  We are finding more adventures for our trip and planning excursions that we didn't even think about before.  Versailles is not just a place we are going to look at, but a day we are going to spend strolling and picnicking in gardens, touring the chateau and Marie Antoinette's hamlet and the King's Kitchen garden, eating meal options that we know are dairy/egg free and watching a fountain show with live music.  It's an adventure.  An exclamation!  You can tell because of all the descriptive words.  

And another day trip to the Loire Valley is calling out to us... and the best part about that day will be the hot air balloon ride.  BALLOON RIDE!  

We are excited,  already packing and buying last minute must haves.  It's going to be a grand adventure!