The very first project I embarked on in 2013, besides a big time day of rest after some bubbly-fueled karaoke on New Year’s Eve, was making my very own Sriracha. Inspired the real thing, and adapted from Reclaiming Provincial, who’s adapting from a recipe on Serious Eats, which is in turn, based on a recipe from the namesake cookbook. It gets around. This experience is less about some recipe – the focus is just that, the tale of my personal chili sauce creating endeavor. The idea popped into my head around the time the bottle of Sriracha in my fridge was nearing its end, why buy another plastic bottle when I could try my hand at filling one?  What was I waiting for? Summer? Well, yes. Nevertheless, I kept my eyes peeled for the requisite red jalapeño and serrano peppers, just in case. If I saw them, it would surely be a sign. Or a reason, give or take some divinity and spice.

Shockingly, I didn’t have very long to wait or far to go, thanks a random and lucky red jalapeño sighting at the Hawthorne Safeway. While I went with convenient green serranos, once pureed, all you could see was bright red chili. I decided to go with sea salt and coconut sugar based on my own preferences, and the measurements are below. This is by no means my recipe, but because this project included so much enthusiasm on my end, and it’s been around the block on the internet, I wanted to pass it on.

The prior recipes instruct straining after the final puree, but honestly, if you’re using a high-powered blender and don’t mind a thicker sauce, I think you’re good to go. I was too annoyed by my initial straining and whether they’re smashed, fresh, chopped, pickled or dried – I’ll take that heat.

Flavor-wise, my batch produced much more immediate, sweet heat vs. the bite of the packaged stuff. I find myself using a bit more on a dish for heat than if I’d went with the bottle. The heat is truly based on the peppers, which will no doubt be even more vibrant come summer, when I plan to make another batch of similar sauce using even hotter chiles. My loose interpretation is that cost-wise, the bottle is minutely cheaper (especially if you’re a) picking it up for a decent price at an Asian supermarket and b) opting for organic produce in the winter), but aren’t you so damn proud of yourself with this project?! Dude, you made Sriracha!

Heads up: I made one batch of this recipe, and immediately started another two days later after my initial tastes. Get your jars ready!

DIY Sriracha  - all credit to the recipes listed above!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb red jalalpeño peppers, stem removed
• 1/2 lb green or red serrano peppers, stem removed > red are recommended, but I used green without a worry
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 4 tablespoons coconut palm sugar >I’ve been really fixated Wholesome Sweetener’s the past few months, and enjoy the flavor it contributes here, but any sugar will do
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

Make that Sriracha:

Pulse the peppers, garlic, sugar and salt in a food processor until well blended, scraping down a few times. Carefully move the spread to a large jar and place the lid on (I followed Reclaiming Provincial’s advice to let the lid sit on, unsealed). Keep the jar out of direct sunlight. Stir daily and check for bubbling – the fermentation, daily, which should occur within 2-3 days. Now, this is contrary to instructions on the internet, but I wasn’t seeing any bubbling for the first couple of day with batch #1, and was advised by a friend to move the jar onto my kitchen counter. Sure enough, I started seeing bubbles in both batches within 24 hours. Once you’re seeing bubbles (in a good way, really), puree the mixture with vinegar in a blender on high until it’s very smooth. Then, consider straining, and move to a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, and then let simmer, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Let reasonably cool, jar and you’re done. Get your tip jar ready.

Oh, hey, pie, what's up?

In a shocking turn of events, this pie is not from the upcoming Vegan Pie in the Sky cookbook. I repeat, this is not an official, Post Punk Kitchen endorsed pie. This creation was inspired by the recent Portland VegFest, Chicago Soy Dairy’s sweet deal on those sweet little ‘mallows, Julie Hasson’s cream pie demo and perhaps the most mind-blowing aspect of all – was poured into a goddamn, pre-made crust. Testing for Vegan Pie in the Sky helped me conquer my fear of homemade crusts, for sure, but you know, sometimes you just find yourself picking up a graham cracker shell or two when you see them on sale in the ‘natural’ aisle at Grocery Outlet.

Inside the graham cracker shell, the only actual grahamy-element here (because every vegan who’s ever searched knows the pain of finding the mysteriously spotted-every-couple-of-years store-bought, honey-free graham cracker), was a rich chocolate tofu mousse, Vita-Mixed with Mori Nu firm silken tofu, melted semi sweet chocolate chips, a bit of coconut milk, powdered sugar and vanilla extract, based on the Mint Truffle Pie in Julie’s Vegan Diner.  To complete the s’moresey scenario, I added broken cinnamon cookies and chopped dandies, along with a layer of dandies on top. It’s recently popped into my head that my kitchen absolutely needs a mini blowtorch, but since I’ve yet to make this ridiculously awesome purchase happen, I broiled the topped pie for 5 minutes. I was quickly happy with the lightly golden color, but freaked out as it rested, as the mallows seemed to harden! No worries, upon arrival to my little happy hour club, my friends and I learned that smush remained, and the pie was a hit, particularly when paired with a microbrew. Classy.

S'mores pie, topped with roasted dandies and crushed cinnamon cookies

Roasted cherry tomato soup, garnished with fresh basil and black pepper

It seems like only yesterday, but I earned some real Pacific Northwest points with a British Columbian adventure back in May. It was my first ever visit to Canada, at all, and I’m truly an idiot for waiting so long. Not as idiotic as my brother not realizing Canada stretched across the entire United States, but I feel foolish for waiting nearly three decades to cross those country lines. Looking back, my family didn’t take epic road trips, and the party bus from my college in Boston to Montreal seemed just that…a ridiculous party bus. I’ve re-caught the travel bug this past year, have my mind set on Thailand and Laos this winter, and now that I have a Canadian BFF and a little crush on a French Canadian waiter at a certain vegan restaurant in Vancouver (J’espère qu’il la lecture de ce parce que Vancouver est la première VÉGÉTALIEN Prom approche!), I plan on not departing the Amtrak train in Seattle, if you catch my drift.

While I was up north, I spent time in Vancouver, Victoria and on Salt Spring Island. I’ll save more thoughts and photos for the day I may actually post about my adventure up north™ and have the determination to scroll through that many pages on Flickr. My short stay on Salt Spring Island, where Gabrielle, her partner, and the small, sneaky bundle of wonder known as Buhbah, reside, started with a specially prepared vegan dinner at Market Place Cafe. This lovely meal included a rich tomato soup drizzled with olive oil that’s lingered on my mind since the first spoonful. Gabrielle and I were nerding out and talking tomato soup recently, and after hearing her spicy plan and having roasted a ton of cherry tomatoes that were impatiently waiting for their moment, all by their lonesome in my refrigerator, it was time for delayed inspiration.

Something of a recipe tale. To begin, I sautéed minced shallot, a diced red bell pepper and Hungarian wax pepper in a bit of coconut oil, added some fresh black pepper, sea salt, marjoram, cayenne and oregano, and cooked until soft. After deglazing the pan with the last of my Salt Spring Millotage (can you say bonus points?), I added the two pints’ worth of cherry tomatoes I had previously roasted with garlic, extra virgin olive oil & sea salt, along with two cups of vegetable broth, one cup of water, brought this to a boil, and then simmered, covered, for just under an hour. I threw in a handful of fresh basil, since I can’t resist buying basil or tomatoes whenever I see them at the market, carefully pureed the mixture in my Vita-Mix, and transferred to a saucepan. Minutes later,  I had my first bowl of those sweet, deep flavors, garnished with additional basil and freshly ground black pepper.

The view from the Salt Spring Winery - also my first ever wine tasting experience!

Pumpkin Syrup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of cold water
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups roasted pumpkin*
• pinch sea salt
• 1 cinnamon stick (you’ll be removing this after cooking)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup

Directions:

1. Combine everything, except for the maple, in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to low, and cover. Cook for 30 minutes. Gently stir, occasionally.
3. Stir in 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.
4. Carefully remove the cinnamon stick. Even more carefully, transfer to a blender, and puree until smooth. Be sure to let it cool, somewhat, or let the blender breathe so you don’t have an autumn explosion on your hands.
5. Transfer to a bottle or jar, and refrigerate in between use.

Use this sauce to sweeten your tea, incorporate into cocktails, bribe your friends for favors in the 10th and 11th months of the year, and smuggle into local coffeeshops.

Notes, etc: I purposely made this syrup light. Again, I didn’t want a heavy pumpkin puree or a syrup I needed to constantly shake.  Nor, did I want a heavily spiced syrup. If you want something thicker, use more pumpkin. Like it spicy? Add more spices, and consider adding freshly grated ginger.

*I didn’t want to use raw or soft pumpkin, so I roasted it for 20 minutes at 400F, and let cool before use. I can’t break down all the scientific sense as to why this made more sense to me, it just did.

Success!

Pumpkin Tempeh Chili with Roasted Smoky Seeds & Pumpkin Apple Brandy Sipper

Fueling my dorky, themed party planning obsession, I hosted a dip-themed potluck and party last weekend. Double Dippin’: The Party* featured 4 tables of dips: Sweet, Savoury, Miscellaneous, No Holds Barred, and Michele performing the grand & appetizing Vegan Mozzarella Stick-Off in the kitchen.

The record was successfully broken for just how many people can fit into my apartment, surely set high for the number of dips through the door, special dietary needs were met (vegans are so nice!), my cats hid, dip rules were posted, various research was displayed, and I had an opportunity to make a giant pot of beer cheese sauce, among other dippy dishes. Dipshit was officially an endearing term, dip creativity and classicism was off the hook, and I just can’t seem to get this out of my head.

As for the actual food, contributions ranged from traditional pesto to spicy peanut sauce to chili to Russian beet dip to cashew green bean to saucey bourbon to spiced cheesecake to sweet chocolate frosting, and beyond. Beyond!

Smokey Beer Cheese

How To: Smokey Beer Cheese. Follow the Cheesy Sauce recipe from Veganomicon.  Add a diced poblano pepper with the garlic (up the garlic!). After you add the nooch and vegetable broth, throw in cumin, hot paprika, tahini, hot sauce, a bottle of cherished, local microbrew, and a good dash of liquid smoke.  Simmer for at least 20 minutes before making your gluten-fanatic guests happy.

Green Tea, Shallot & Cream Cheese, modified from Eat Tea

I was more wild about the idea of this over the finished product, but it was worth a shot. And look! garnish!

Raw Banana Coconut Almond Dip

On one hand, sampling this dip made me realize I’m non-officially, but likely, allergic to freaking almonds. On the other, it went over well! It consists of pureed raw almonds, unsweetened coconut and banana. Once again, a pat on the back to the Vita-Mix.

Salt-Free Black Bean, Lemon & Garlic Dip

This was another contribution for the Eat to Live crowd. One of those few ingredient recipes from the internets. It was less creamy than I’d like, but I naturally blame myself, because I forgot the tahini. However, who cares about anything else when there’s a nice garnish?

Spicy Spinach Artichoke Dip with Nayonaise

So creamy! I almost comprehend artichokes now.

Jeff’s Spicy Peanut Sauce

My friends Lucas and Jeff combined powers to offer a damn fine spread of fried tofu, peanut sauce and tofufffalo style hot sauce.

The Sweet table

Lauren plates my ode to our friend Bram – Peanut Butter Coconut Apple Pie (dip).

The Bar – featuring homemade Mixed Berry, Raspberry and Lavender Mango syrups. Plenty of makings for both cocktails and mocktails. My friend Emily contributed homemade Raspberry Ginger Shrub that was amazing!

The rest of the refreshments – including Michele’s sparkling punch

This was posted above the No-Holds-Barred dip-as-you-will tator tots & dips table

Clearly the party was an ode to this.

No-Holds-Barred Table – early in the evening

Live action at the No-Holds-Barred table. I spy a spicy sesame cornmeal encrusted tofu dipper at the muffin tray, and churros and chocolate sauce in the back.

Jack & Simon: Bros and their tots – bonus special guest appearance by Portland’s own Pretzel Necklace!

The Savoury table at the pre-party

*Name Credit belongs to Lucas DeShazer. No surprise.

I didn’t take as many photos as I’d like, perhaps more of the dishes to come…

Next up in themed events coming this way I’m counting down to?  The Vegan Prom of Tomorrow and the second annual Fakin’ Fest!

If you’re vegan and enjoy cooking, I’m sure soaking nuts for cream sauces and vegan cheeses has already entered your culinary repertoire. If not, get on it. I’ve enjoyed my share of tofu-based cream sauces, but the silkiness of soaked nuts usually overrules thick soy.  If you’re allergic to nuts, well, I’ll cry into my cashew alfredo for you, and sympathetically relay my soul-crushing hazelnut allergy developments. It’s hard to admit, because that makes it real.

This recent cashew and mushroom alfredo was inspired by a lovely meal at a famed vegan trattoria down the street, and the never-ending container of soaked cashews in my fridge. I must be secretly hosting soft-toothed squirrels because my cats are simply not capable of such a production.

I loosely followed this recipe for Cashew Alfredo Sauce on Vegweb.  The sauce consisted of soaked cashews, water,  salt, freshly ground black pepper, freshly ground nutmeg, and nutritional yeast. It was pureed in one of the prides of my kitchen (and oh-my-god, food blogging perks), the Vita-Mix. I didn’t have any lemons, so I omitted that, and utilized garlic and olive oil while sauteing local maitake and porcini mushrooms. I half-considered indulgently adding the cream sauce to the mushroom mixture, but my personal preference was to keep things separate.

When I nut alfredo it up again, I’ll be sure to add sautéed or roasted garlic into the actual sauce.

alongside: Balsamic Grilled Sugar Snap Peas

Cashew Alfredo, served over housemade fresh pasta from Pastaworks (a few varieties are actually vegan!)