Holiday-Friendly Recipes + Umeshu-kan (Japanese vegan jello shot)

Cream Puff

Just thought I’d round up some holiday-friendly recipes before the Thanksgiving whirlwind (recipes from this blog and tasty-looking recipes from other bloggers).

Note – The holidays are probably not the time you want to experiment with recipes you haven’t mastered, but it can be nice to try out new things!

make ahead dishes, for the day or two before

• My Third Grandma’s Cranberry Salad; (this is a smash, smash hit whereever it goes);
• Three Bean Salad; (very delicious and inexpensive)
• My Tropical Fruit Salad; (no added sugar & will be totally adored by your guests.)
• Kohi Kanten (Japanese Coffee Jelly) ; (a so sooo delicious, extremely low-calorie, and vegan dessert – nice contrast to rich foods

oven multi-tasking

• Roasted Portobello and Asparagus; (super easy)
• (Kalyn’s Kitchen) Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pecans;
• (Wednesday Food Blogging) Spinach and Tofu Strudel; (vegetarian and looks spectacular); and
• Cream Puffs. Delightful and terribly Easy; (very scrumptious, inexpensive, and can be made ahead). Yes, the picture above shows one in close-up.

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Umeshu-kan

Umeshu-kan mise en place

Umeshu-kan

I have read about people using umeshu (Japanese plum wine) to make kanten desserts. It went on sale the other week, so I pounced on it! It’s been many, many, many years since I’ve had umeshu. I quite forgot that it is VERY potent, like any other fruit-based liquer.

I made a very small amount of umeshu-kan, just enough to test. I’ve never had a Jello Shot, but I think it’s similar…except that it’s fancy and delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup boiling water;
• 1/2 cup of umeshu;
• 1″ x 2″ rectangle of agar-agar if using the sheet form (least expensive form of agar-agar).

I poured out all of the boiling water into a large mug, then returned 1/4 cup to the saucepot. I threw in the agar-agar, making sure it really melted all the way. Then I added the umeshu, let it heat up, and put it in a mold. I let it set in the fridge for about 1.5 hr. It was ready for eating. So I and my taste testers sample it. It was SO good. But I could not have very much of it because of the potency (made with distilled liquor!). Very good with a big cup of black tea.

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Container Gardening Update

My two first broccoli rapa (container-grown). They were delish!

in the container

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

My Mom’s Kohi Kanten – Coffee Pudding (Vegan – and about $.10 per serving!)

Kanten…so many reasons I love it:

1. it’s a naturally ZERO calorie food. That’s right. I said, ZERO!
2. it’s filling and yet not wiggly-jiggly (unlike gelatin);
3. even the laziest prep yields yummilicious results; and
4. I grew up eating it!

Below is a picture of agar agar in stick form.

At any Asian market you can find premixed packets of almond kanten for less than 2 or 3 dollars – really tasty with even the least interesting fruit cocktail. Growing up, we had that all the time. Perfect summertime dessert. Nice and cool! But avoid buying agar agar at Whole Foods. I have seen the Eden versions for almost 6 dollars!!! You should be able to buy the stick agar agar for $2.00 or less per 10 grams (.35 oz). the urban vegan recommends buying the stick format and sticking the sticks into the food processor to make flakes.* I’m used to the stick forms, but, I think this is a great tip for people accustomed to the flake format. Also, people can get quite glamorous with agar agar (also known as kanten in Japanese). I am stockpiling ideas for what do with it. And coffee kanten is a classic (kohi = coffee in Japanese). So here it is!

Mom’s Kohi Kanten

• 2 cups of boiling coffee – sweeten to taste (pennies);
• 5 grams of powdered agar agar (about 1/2 of a stick of agar agar – about $.50 worth); and
• coconut milk – this is optional (about 10 teaspoons – roughly 1/4th of a 13 oz can – $1.59 = $.40 cents worth).

Dissolve the agar agar in the boiling hot coffee in a saucepot. Mix mix mix. Add your sweetener. Mix. Pour the piping hot mixture into a pie plate. Alright, just cover and chill it for about 2 hours. Done. It’s traditional to cut it into squares (as you see above). Splash on a teaspoon of coconut milk per serving. If you have them around, put a roasted coffee bean on top. Makes eight~ ten servings, depending on the size (less than $.10 per serving – half of that if you do not use the coconut milk of course). Be sure to have this with some lovely tea!

(you can also cool it into cute little cups for individual servings)

* the urban vegan’s post is actually VERY helpful for gaining a good understanding of agar agar. Read it and let the erudition flow!

P.S. I don’t really follow diet news, so, maybe someone can tell me if there are any standards for what is “low-carb”? My very casual research shows me that the FDA hasn’t made a decision yet, but, I’m guessing that might not be the latest info.

Update: VegCookingBlog, thanks for linking to this post! My stats are blowing up !!!! I’ve also written a post on making Mango Kanten.

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Housekeeping notes:

(1) I’ve added a “Tips” page to the blog to park handy things I learn about (and/or blog about). For example, last week, limes went on sale – 10 for a dollar. So…I’m not going to use ten in a given week…and they don’t last forever…but they can last longer if you slice them and freeze them. Like so:

Might be better to peel skin off – haven’t tried it that way yet. Works grrrrreat in iced tea. (This is a tip contributed by my mom.)

(2) Not sure why, but Feedburner sent off an old post (from April ’07) on May 10. It wasn’t my doing! I’ll try to find out why that happened.

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Only for people who want a high fiber, high protein, insanely delicious and cheap snack. Or if you want to get major props. Because people will like them. They will disappear like nobody’s business. And they are way more exciting than popcorn! Since I have that 2kg bag of dried chickpeas, I thought I should find a way to enjoy them. Many, many, many, many, many people love roasted, spicy chickpeas. “Addictive” is the perfect word to describe them. I had no idea. But now I know, and I can never be the same. I encourage you to go forth and seek chickpeas!

Roasted Spicy Chickpeas

• 1 lb cooked chickpeas(about $.30 cents worth of dried, cooked chickpeas – 1/2 lb or less) ;
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (likely any type of oil would suffice – pennies); and
• 2 ~ 2 & 1/2tablespoons of seasoning (I used a mixture of Pappy’s and dried cilantro (coriander) – pennies).

Um…but…it’s complicated…first you have to turn on the oven, to about 400…then you have to mix the cooked chickpeas (which you have patted dry) with spices and olive oil…then you pour the beans in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Whew! It’s a lot to think about, but, you can do it! When’s the last time a 3-step recipe yielded you insanely gratifying results?

P.S. Even before roasting, as seen below, they tasted pretty good! But the popular vote was to try roasting…and a good thing was rendered into the hallowed dimensions of fabulousness.

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Other DWTS recipes involving chickpeas (both very inexpensive to prepare – less than $1.00 per serving):

Chana Masala (Chole) and
Madras Chicken Curry.