Veggie Conquest

At VC3 we had the pleasure of tasting Mike Lieberman’s CranBanApple Parfait. He took home Second Prize! He was kind enough to share the recipe and also give an instructional video on his blog . This completely raw dessert is quite easy to make. I hope you will give it a try! It’s yummy!

Approximate serving size

• 2-3 servings

Machine use
• Vita-Mix or food processor

Ingredients


• 2-3 sweet apples (fuji or honey crisp)
• 1 1/2 cups of cranberries
• 1/2 cup of soaked raisins
• Dash of cinnamon
• 2 really ripe bananas
• 1 pear
• 1 1/2 heaping teaspoons of lucuma powder
• Teaspoon of vanilla
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 4-6 soaked dates and soak water
• Sprinkle of cacao nibs

Directions
• If you make this in advance, let each layer sit in its own bowl to settle for an hour or so. This will enhance the flavors and consistency of the dish. If you assemble right away, it will be a bit more runny.
• Cut up apples and add to Vita-Mix or food processor with handful of raisins, 1 cup of cranberries and cinnamon.
• Pulse down into a puree.
• If it’s too liquid, strain off some of the juice and enjoy it on the side.
• Add this layer to your serving dish and press down to pack it in.
• Rinse out Vita-Mix or Food Processor before moving onto the next step.
• Put bananas, pears, vanilla and lucuma powder in Vita-Mix or food processor and blend down until smooth. Add warm water as needed.
• Pour this layer on top and swirl dish to settle the banana mixture.
• Rinse out Vita-Mix or food processor before moving onto the next step.
• Add coconut oil, rest of cranberries, dates and 1/4 cup of the date soak water to the Vita-Mix or Food Processor. Blend down until smooth.
• Place this layer on top and swirl the dish to settle the layer
• Sprinkle cacao nibs on top.

If you were lucky enough to attend VC3, then you know how amazing  Yuko Tonohira’s Rice Crêpes with Ginger-Cranberry Sauce were. She took home First Place and Taster’s Choice!

If you weren’t there, you can check out the recipe below and make them yourself!

Thanks Yuko for sharing this wonderful recipe!!

Ingredients:

Sauce:
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup grade B dark maple syrup
2 inch fresh ginger, peeled and sliced 1/4” thick

Crêpe batter:
1 cup rice flour (I used ‘Joshinko’ rice flour, can be found at Japanese groceries)
1 tsp potato starch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp canola oil
1 cup water

Filling:
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup pistachio nuts, chopped
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/2 tsp cardamom, ground
1/4 tsp dried whole red chili pepper, crushed (do not use seeds!)
1/4 salt
pinch black pepper
1/4 cup agave (dark)

Optional agave syrup for gluing crêpes
Crushed pistachio for garnish (very green Iranian pistachios recommended)

Directions:

Sauce:
1. Put cranberries, sliced ginger and maple syrup in small saucepan and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you prefer to mash the berries, that’s fine too.
2. Let cool in room temperature.
3. Take out ginger prior to serving. (these ginger pieces themselves are yummy treats!)

Crêpe batter:
1. Mix rice flour, potato starch, salt, oil and water in a bowl.
2. Heat a non-stick skillet over low heat. Lightly oil the skillet and wipe with paper towel. Pour a small amount of the mixture, rotate the skillet to form a thin, nicely round crêpe (about 5 inches in diameter) and cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Carefully flip and cook the other side for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
4. Place the crêpe onto a plate, then place a piece of damp (not too wet) paper towel to avoid sticking and drying.
5. Repeat 2,3,4… NOTE: the rice flour tends to sink to the bottom of the bowl so you should stir the batter frequently.

Nuts:
1. Heat oven to 350F. Oil a baking sheet.
2. Chop walnuts and pistachio with a knife into smaller than 1/4” and mix with sesame seeds. Place nuts on the baking sheet.
3. Mix cardamom, chili, salt and black pepper and sprinkle onto the nut mixture. Stir well.
4. Put the tray into the oven, bake for 5 minutes, take it out, add coconut flakes and mix. Bake for another 5 minutes.
5. Take the tray out of the oven and immediately sprinkle with agave syrup. Mix well so that syrup sticks to the nuts. You will get a nice sticky & heavy texture.

Filling and Finish:
1. Place a small amount of nut mixture onto a crêpe and roll it up like you roll sushi. Use agave syrup as a glue to keep the rice rolled (and to add little more sweetness!) Careful not to break the crêpes – they’re very thin and fragile.
2. Top with a small amount of cranberry sauce and dash of crushed pistachio. Enjoy the color!

VC3 was the battle of the cranberry desserts!

All the chefs worked really hard and created amazing dishes. The scores were really close, in some cases only 1 point difference! Here are the competitors!

Honorable mention:

Jennifer Lynskey’s Cran Velvet Cake

Alicia Kachmar’s Double Cranberry Cinnamon Oatmeal Nut Bars

Michael Croland’s Swedish-Style Charoset

Christine Tyler’s Almond Crusted Chocolate Cranberry Mousse

Second Place:

Mike Lieberman’s Cranbanapple Parfait
(Mike’s video of his prep work)

First Place and Taster’s Choice:

Yuko Tonohira’s Rice Crepe with Cran-Ginger Sauce

VC3 was held at Not Fade Away Gallery. The images on display (and for sale) are amazing and it provided a beautiful atmosphere for our event!

The wonderfully talented and handsome Joshua Katcher was our MC for the night.

DJ Lil Ray provided tunes!

VC3 judges; Fran Costigan, Sharon Valencik, and Mattie Hagedorn. Founder and organizer Jessica Mahady, MC Joshua Katcher.

We had wonderful second course dishes made by talented volunteers using Match Vegan Meats and veggies!

We also had delicious raw ice cream provided by Raw Ice Cream Company.

Gone Pie Vegan Bakery brought some of its newest great product… crystallized ginger!

Thank you to all of the sponsors, volunteers, chefs, judges and tasters!!

Looking forward to VC4 in 2010!

Source: Gone Pie

One of our friends, Gone Pie Vegan Bakery, has a new product for this holiday season… vegan crystallized ginger! This can be a hard thing for vegans to find, because of the unknown source of the sugar used in commercial brands. Coupled with Gone Pie’s chocolate frosting, this could make a great gift!

If you are attending VC3, you will be able to taste the crystallized ginger for yourself… Gone Pie will provide samples!!!

Gone Pie makes ordering really easy and can ship anywhere near or far!

You can find out more about Gone Pie and the ginger here.

We’re excited to announce the final judge on our panel at Veggie Conquest #3: Sharon Valencik! Sharon recently authored Sweet Utopia, a vegan cookbook full of recipes for delicious desserts like Cashew Lemon Roll Cake, Poppy Seed Roll and Whiskey Creme Bread. Yum

I am so happy to introduce Fran Costigan, “the Diva of Dairy-Free Desserts,” as a judge for Veggie Conquest #3!

Fran is a nationally recognized pastry chef and instructor, cookbook author and consultant.

Her second cookbook, “More Great Good Dairy-free Desserts”, has  recipes from cookies to cakes to pies to sauces to confections, plus conversion charts and tips on getting started and organizing your kitchen.

Photo by Ryan James

DJ Lil Ray is a fresh transplant from Atlanta. She is a master on the turntables and a music goddess. She is also a bike mechanic, an activist and, oh yeah, a vegan! Her first gig in NYC will be Veggie Conquest #3. We are so excited to welcome her to NYC and thrilled she will be providing VC3 with tunes! Check out her website!

Mattie Hagedorn is the man we have to thank for Veganbaking.net, where you can upload and share your own baking recipes, compare notes, get ideas for good eats and share knowledge!

Mattie became vegan 11 years ago. He began his baking obsession a year later, after an uncontrollable craving of something, anything, involving chocolate and coconut. Mattie started a bakery, Enchanted Oven Baking Co., which sold organic vegan cookies to stores in the San Francisco Bay Area until 2005. Then Mattie moved to Brooklyn and started Veganbaking.net!

Mattie is also an IT consultant. He enjoys cycling, home brewing and traveling.

This recipe was created and cooked by Steven Carpenter for Challenge #2! He won first place and tasters’ choice! Thanks so much, Steven, for sharing this amazing recipe!!

Sara and Sarma Photography

Smoked chili buttercup squash-stuffed zucchini blossoms with pumpkin seed crema

(makes about 20 blossoms)

INGREDIENTS

20 large, very fresh zucchini blossoms, gently rinsed and dried.
10 extra blossoms can be used for garnish if you want to get fancy.

For the squash filling:
1 buttercup squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 plum tomatoes
1/2 of one red bell pepper
1 jalapeño
1 clove of garlic minced
1 tablespoon cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 dried ancho chili
1 dried New Mexico chili

For the wet batter:
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (soaked at least 6 hours in 1 cup water)
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon agave nectar
vanilla

For the dry batter:
2 cups white all purpose flour
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Canola or safflower oil for frying

For the crema:
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds (soaked at least 6 hours in 1 cup water)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
a pinch of mustard powder
a pinch of black pepper
a dash of Mexican hot sauce (I use Valentina brand)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to broil.
2. Broil the whole tomatoes, 1/2 bell pepper (laid flat with skin side up), and jalapeño.  Turn tomatoes and jalapeño frequently, and remove when skin blisters and begins to blacken. Remove red bell pepper when skin has completely blackened.  Set aside to cool.
3. Lower oven to 400º.
4. Cut the buttercup squash in half, brush cut ends with olive oil, and place cut end down on a baking sheet.
5. Roast squash in oven for 40 minutes.
6. While squash is roasting heat a skillet over a high flame.  When hot, toast the ancho and New Mexico chili by pressing the chilies onto the skillet for about 15 seconds per side, they should make a popping sound.  Place in a bowl of cold water and let stand for 30-60 minutes.
7. To prepare the wet batter and crema, drain and rinse the soaking pumpkin seeds.
8. To make the wet batter, combine 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds, 3/4 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar, and a couple drops of vanilla.  Blend into a smooth liquid. Set aside.
9. To make the crema, combine 1/2 cup of the soaked pumpkin seeds, 1/2 cup water, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon agave nectar, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, a pinch of mustard powder, a pinch of black pepper, and a dash of Mexican hot sauce in a blender or food processor and blend until very smooth and creamy.  Place in a zip lock bag and set aside in refrigerator.
10. Remove squash from oven and let cool.
11. While squash is cooling, remove the skin from the tomatoes, red pepper, and the skin and seeds from the jalapeño.  Chop the tomatoes, red bell pepper, and 1/2 of the jalapeño (or more to taste).  Place chopped vegetables in a blender or food processor and add the clove of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon cilantro, 1/2 teaspoon coriander, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon cumin.  Blend until smooth.  Set aside.
12. Remove the flesh of the squash.
13. Add 1/2 of the squash and 1/2 of the spiced roasted vegetables to a food processor.  Blend until very smooth and place in a large mixing bowl.  Repeat with the other 1/2 of the squash and vegetables.
14. Remove the seeds from the the ancho and New Mexico chili.  Place the chilies in a blender  or food processor and blend into a smooth paste.
15. Add 1 small teaspoon of the chili paste at a time to the squash mixture, tasting after each teaspoon, until desired heat is reached (you will have extra chili paste).  Then add the squash mixture to a large zip lock bag (you can use a pastry bag if you have one).
16. To make the dry batter, combine the 2 cups white all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 tablespoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper to a large mixing bowl.  Mix until spices are evenly distributed.
17. Cut a small hole in one corner of the squash mixture bag and squeeze 1-3 tablespoons of the squash mixture into each zucchini blossom (depending on the size of the blossom), pinching/twisting the ends closed.
18. In a large wok or pan, heat about 1-1/2 inches of canola or safflower oil to 350-375º.  (You can also pan fry the blossoms in 1/4-1/2 inch of oil in a skillet.
19. Lay out the squash blossoms, wet batter, and dry batter on the counter.  Heat the oven to 200º and place a cooling rack in the oven.
20. Roll the blossoms in the dry batter, shake off excess flour, dip in the wet batter, shake off any excess, then roll again in the dry batter.
21. Gently place as many blossoms as will fit in your wok or pan (leaving at least 1/2 inch between each blossom), and fry for 4-5 minutes, turning after about 3 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.
22. Use tongs to gently transfer the fried blossoms to the cooling rack in the oven.
23. Once all the blossoms have been fried, remove from oven, top each with a few zig-zags of the crema, and serve immediately. (For a nice presentation place one of two of the fries blossoms on top of a fresh blossom.)

Thanks again to our capacity crowd on Saturday night! Big thanks to our volunteers, sponsors, and especially the amazingly talented amateur chefs! They made amazing food!! You can check out the really cool video and write-up that vegansaurus.com did about VC#2. They interviewed all the chefs about their dishes.

And thanks to Sara and Sarma Photography for taking pictures! Music (mix tape) provided by DJ lil Ray!

The crowd at VC#2

From left, Veggie Conquest founder and organizer Jessica Mahady, emcee Joshua Katcher, and judges Deborah Gavito, Amy Lynn Herman and Michael Parrish DuDell.

Joshua Katcher with chef Lloyd Hicks.

And the winners are …

First Place and Taster Choice!
Steven Carpenter
Smoked Chili Buttercup Squash Filled Zucchini Blossoms

Second Place:
Cathy Resler
Squash Stuffed Mushrooms

Third Place:
Lloyd Hicks
Squash Chips With Watermelon Salsa

Honorable Mention:
Casey Shively
Butter-Nutty Squash Dip

Our second course included delicious food made by our volunteers, and Sweet & Sara provided us all with yummy vegan marshmallows, smores, and Rocky Road Bark!

Sweet and Sara’s Marshmallows

Sweet and Sara’s Rocky Road Bark

A shout-out to our sponsors for this event:

We can’t wait for Challenge #3!! Check back soon or sign up for our email alerts (over on the right side) to learn when our next Veggie Conquest will take place. Date will be announced soon!