Chow Vegan

Black and Blue Cookie From Eclair Bakery

December 3, 2010 By chow 12 Comments

Ever heard of a black and blue cookie? Me neither.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I got one when I was down south visiting family. It’s from Eclair Bakery, a cute little place in the downtown village of Arroyo Grande (a small Central Coast town about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles).

I stopped in to see what they had in way of vegan treats and on that day it was a cupcake (I don’t remember the flavor) or a black and blue cookie. Deciding between the two, the cookie sounded much more interesting than the cupcake. The black part is a chocolate chocolate chip cookie; the blue part is blueberries. Together, it’s a black and blue cookie (I love the name).

I enjoyed every last crumb of it. The edges were a little on the crisp side but soft in the center. I’ve always liked the combo of blueberry and chocolate. It reminds me of my blueberry brownies but in a yummy cookie form.

It’s so nice to know I can pop in for a vegan treat whenever I’m in town visiting. If you ever find yourself cruising up or down the Central Coast, it’s an easy exit off of the 101. And if you give them advance notice, they can whip up other vegan treats too. I can’t wait to be back later this month.

Gardein Savory Stuffed Turk’y

November 29, 2010 By chow 12 Comments

It seems like every year there’s something new out for Thanksgiving, this year I dined on Gardein Savory Stuffed Turk’y. I got it on sale at Whole Foods for $5.99, 2 cutlets in a package. If you like their other stuffed cutlet type of products, you’ll probably like this latest one.

After cooking in the oven for 30 minutes, the bread crumb crust is crisp and flavorful. The cutlet itself has a subtle turkey-like kinda taste and was stuffed with bread crumbs, onions, celery and cranberries. It comes with quite a bit of gravy too, enough for the two cutlets plus extra for whatever else happens to be on the plate.

It’s similar to what Whole Foods had offered in their prepared vegan Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago. Back then, I liked the cutlet but the sides that came with were only so-so. I had wished I could have gotten just the cutlets by themselves, now it appears I can.

Asian-Styled Chickpea Cutlets

November 21, 2010 By chow 6 Comments

I’ve been busy cooking up a batch of my favorite foods in preparation of the Thanksgiving weekend. I try to eat as much homemade food at the beginning of the week as possible since I know I’ll be dining out a lot during the holiday weekend with traveling and all. It’s my little attempt at trying to keep a balance.

Today, I made Vegan Menudo in the morning, Roasted Tofu with Leeks and Black Bean Sauce and the Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon in the afternoon. And then it happened, I didn’t mean to do it.

The bowl of leeks in black bean sauce was just sitting there innocently (I was going to combine it with the roasted tofu later). I had finished the cutlets earlier and left them out to cool. Looking at the two items side-by-side, I thought maybe that sauce would go well with the cutlets.

I usually eat the cutlets plain straight out of the oven or later with bbq sauce or gravy. But why not a stir-fry topping for a nice Asian flavor?

The sauce recipe is basically the same with the addition of fresh ginger and Chinese dried mushrooms. Next time I would also add a bit more water for a little more sauce for use on the cutlets.

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