Chow Vegan

VeganMoFo: Cherry Jubilee Ice Cream From The Vegan Scoop

October 8, 2009 By chow 7 Comments

Even though there’s plenty of great tasting vegan ice creams on the market, it’s fun to give homemade a try. Especially with a cookbook like The Vegan Scoop by Wheeler del Torro of Wheeler’s Frozen Desserts.

Based in Boston, I never even heard of them until I tried a small sample of their ice cream at last year’s Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco. It was divine but unavailable on the West Coast. So I was thrilled to receive a review copy of The Vegan Scoop. Since I can’t get my hands on the actual product, this is the next best thing.

I decided on the Cherry Jubilee recipe (back when cherries were actually in season. I just never got around to posting about it. Nothing like VeganMoFo to get me off of my lazy bum).

I’m amazed at how really easy it was to make the ice cream. The hardest part was choosing which of the many recipes to try. The chapters are organized by flavors, from classics such as Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough to unusual original flavors like Jalapeño.

I used one of those Ice Cream Ball Maker, where you shake and roll around it to make the ice cream. It’s like a mini-workout before consuming your special treat. The ice cream came out like soft serve. Which is fine with me, as I like mine on the soft side and not rock solid.

Choose your ingredients carefully, as the ice cream takes on that particular soymilk’s flavor. It’s subtle but if you don’t like drinking it plain as is, you’re not going to like it as ice cream. The freshness of the ingredients especially the cherries really shines through.

I cut the recipe in half so it would fit in my ice cream ball maker, it only makes about a pint (there’s also a larger quart size version). I froze the leftovers; it still tasted great but it froze pretty hard. It’s best to eat it right after you make it.

Related Links
To learn more about Wheeler’s Frozen Desserts, cruise on over to their website. To purchase your very own copy of the The Vegan Scoop, click here to go to Amazon or pop over to your local bookstore.

VeganMoFo: Annie’s Bunny Grahams

October 7, 2009 By chow 9 Comments

I came across Annie’s Bunny Grahams at Whole Foods the other day. They were on sale and calling my name. So the little chocolate chip ones came along home with me. Only the Chocolate and the Chocolate Chip Bunny Grahams are vegan.

Once home they promptly got dunked in a nice cold glass of soy milk. I only had a small handful, that was more than enough for me for one sitting.

I only wish their Cinnamon flavor was vegan (it has honey in it). That’s the flavor I fondly remember from childhood – dunked and swished around in milk until it was just the right softness – not too crunchy and not so soft that it fell apart.

Looking at the nutrition label, one serving is 30 bunnies for 140 calories. That’s a lot of bunnies. Granted, they’re small, only about an inch in length.

But still, I doubt if I’ll ever eat 30 at one time, I’ll stick with just eating a few and enjoy the memories without the calories.

VeganMoFo: Chickpea Cutlets From Veganomicon

October 5, 2009 By chow 10 Comments

I thought now would be a good time to make something out of the cookbook Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, seeing as Isa invented VeganMoFo. I’ve heard so much about the chickpea cutlets, that had to be without a doubt the very first thing I was going to try.

It’s incredible! I only wish I tried it sooner, I had no idea what I was missing. I feel like I’ve been living under a rock or something.

I baked them up and served them with green beans and garlic bread. They’re unbelievably good and so easy to make. It’s savory and meaty and so much better than any of those frozen veggie patties I’m used to eating.

I’ve made it a couple of times now, once following the recipe and another where I tweaked it a bit. I used tamari instead of soy sauce and it came out darker in color; I also made it flatter and thinner. I liked it both ways.

I see more tweaking in the future, not that the recipe needs it but because it’s so versatile. And I’ll be making a batch for the freezer so I can kiss those store-bought patties good-bye.

Related Links
To learn more about the authors, click here. To check out the cookbook, visit your local library, bookstore or Amazon (tons of reviews over there).