Gilly's Kitchen on the Road: Changsha

I recently flew to Changsha (the capital of the Hunan Province in China) to attend my brother-in-law's wedding. I also visited Hong Kong for several days, and I will write about my dining experiences in that city in a later post. Our visit preceded the Chinese New Year by only one week. Oh, and clearly this post has nothing to do with vegan baking.

The majority of our meals in Changsha took place in banquet-type facilities (rather normal given that the meals were part of larger events, such as the rehearsal and the wedding itself) so I cannot discuss actual restaurants, but did take plenty of photos of some interesting dishes. We did have a meal at the Changsha Sheraton the first night we were there, even though we were not staying in the Sheraton. We also ate at Pizza Hut, which is a little different (ahem.. extremely different) than U.S. Pizza Huts! Therefore, this post will be more of a photographic tour of my dining experiences in Changsha.

Our first meal, as mentioned above, was at the Sheraton at an upscale restaurant and bar named Bar Zen. I had delicious bacon-wrapped giant prawns, and my husband had some sort of lobster pasta (not pictured).

Bacon-wrapped giant prawns (and a side of fries)

The following day consisted of meeting our translator/friend of the bride's family (a local college student preparing to further her education in the U.S.) and taking a trip to a main shopping district. We stopped for lunch at Pizza Hut, which in Changsha is a somewhat upscale-sort of restaurant with a very extensive menu. The bride and groom even suggested we stop in for a meal, so we took their advice. We ordered a rather odd array of dishes, from benign mashed potatoes and lychee smoothies to a fried shrimp pizza (which also had crab and octopus buried in the cheese) and a shrimp stuffed crust pizza (the stuffed knots alternated between cheese and shrimp).

Friend shrimp pizza (half eaten by the time I remember to take a photo)

Shrimp stuffed crust pizza

We then spent an hour or two walking around the shopping district, popping in and out of various stores and generally people-watching as our translator told us about cram schools and other interesting tidbits.

Gilly's Kitchen on the Road: Changsha

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens: Vegan Pumpkin Pie

If you are vegan (or just allergic to certain ingredients), store-bought pumpkin pies are most likely just a hazy memory. I experimented with several recipes just prior to Thanksgiving and settled on this particular pumpkin pie recipe. Please note that this pie does not taste like a store-bought pie, which may tend to have a very dense filling and a very certain taste (I cannot describe it, but store-bought pumpkin pies all seem to taste the same delicious way). This filling, which is also somewhat dense, has a slightly different taste -- still perfectly pumpkin-y, however -- so you might need a few bites to adjust. As usual, my vegan pumpkin pie passes the stepson test (it is also pareve), and is therefore worthy of publication.

This recipe comes from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's "The Joy of Vegan Baking."

You will need:
a pie crust (I used a 9-inch pre-made graham cracker crust from the supermarket, but you should feel free to make your own -- and if you do, 9 inches should be the absolute minimum size)
12 ounces silken firm tofu
2 cups pumpkin puree (I used Libby's)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a food processor, blend the tofu, pumpkin puree, syrup, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cloves until smooth and creamy. Scrape the bowl if necessary to get everything fully blended. (my own note - my food processor was actually a touch too small to hold all of the ingredients, and I therefore had to make some creative mid-recipe ingredient adjustments, but it turned out well because generic, store-bought pie crusts tend to run a bit small sometimes anyway.)
3. Pour the mixture into the crust and smooth as necessary. (my own note - to get the "homemade" looking swirls as in my photo, don't smooth the mixture perfectly in the crust. Store-bought pies are always perfectly smooth, probably because they are made by machines.)
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned and the outermost inch of the filling appears to be set. The remaining filling towards the center will firm up a bit as the pie cools.
5. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. (my own note - I left the pie in the pie pan and just put the pie pan itself on a wire rack to circulate the air.)
6. Let the pie cool until it is at room temperature and then put the pie in the fridge for 1-2 hours to set.

I find that this pie holds well in the fridge for at least 3 days. For all I know, it holds even longer, but we always eat it all by day 3!

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens: Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens - Vegan Chocolate Mousse Pie

Vegan chocolate mousse is perfect for dark chocolate lovers, who find themselves drawn to the bitter side of the spectrum. This is rather obvious, given that dairy milk and dairy chocolate are clearly missing from the equation.

This recipe only requires 4 ingredients, 5 if you count the crust, and takes a matter of minutes from start to finish. No baking is actually required, and this is therefore the perfect recipe for when you need a fabulous dessert but you have no time to make one (but please note that the mousse must set in the fridge for at least an hour before serving).

I made this vegan chocolate mousse for our kosher Thanksgiving dinner. Every single guest tried one, and every single guest finished it. My stepson declared the mousse one of the best parts of Thanksgiving. If you have guests that are tofu-phobic, you might want to refrain from mentioning the ingredients until after they devour it.

For elegant presentation, do not put the mousse into the crust, but rather put the mousse into clear glasses (such as small wine or champagne glasses, as they typically do in restaurants). For beyond elegant presentation, put some berries on top.

This recipe comes from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's "The Joy of Vegan Baking."

You will need:
1 cup nondairy chocolate chips
12 ounces silken tofu (soft or firm -- I generally use firm)
1/2 cup nondairy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
optional - for a chocolate mousse pie, I use a chocolate graham cracker crust. Berries can also be added on top of the pie or the mousse in cups.

Directions:
1. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat for 1 minute, stir, and then heat for another minute (until melted). If you feel like doing this the slow way, melt via double broiler.
2. Put the tofu, milk, vanilla and melted chocolate into a blender or food processor, and watch as chocolate mousse is created in seconds right before your eyes. You may need to scrape chocolate from the side of the bowl and process some more. Process until entirely smooth (this should only take a minute, if that).
3. Pour the mousse into the crust, or put into individual cups, and place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Dessert is served.

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens - Vegan Chocolate Mousse Pie

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

First, my introduction. I will mainly be posting vegan recipes (generally of the baked goods variety), many geared at a person who doesn't cook often, doesn't have much time to cook (hello, gigantic international law firm), and may have a kid running about (for me, a 5 year old stepson on weekends). But anyone who knows me may be very confused, as I am not vegan! I eat steak, salmon, and oysters much too frequently. I eat entire blocks of cheese. The more ice cream, the merrier. But a few months ago I was finally diagnosed with a food allergy, after years of living unhappily with no understanding of why. I was.... allergic to eggs. This was totally unexpected. Add in the fact that my stepson is being raised to keep kosher by his biological mom, and I decided that it was easier to keep my cooking pareve (simply put, dairy-free) rather than try to figure out who could have dairy products and when. Because my stepson has an interest in food, I try to also incorporate recipes in which a child can assist. They may not be very complicated, but they definitely taste great and keep a kid entertained.

The first recipe -- the delicious chocolate chip cookie. Simple and pure. But without dairy and eggs? Without milk chocolate chips? Yes, yes and yes, and as my stepson said today, "These are REALLY delicious." He is the ultimate judge of my baking, and in the coming weeks I will be posting my pumkpin pie, chocolate mousse and Mexican wedding cookie recipes.

This chocolate chip cookie recipe comes from Robin Robertson's "1,000 Vegan Recipes." It is quick to make, can be mixed entirely by hand (a/k/a safe for kids), and tastes incredibly sweet.

You will need:
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened (my own note -- be careful when buying margarine because not all margarine is actually dairy free)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (my own note -- invest in PURE maple syrup, not the generic type you put on waffles. The taste difference is worth the extra money)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (you can find these in Whole Foods, specialty organic-y type of stores, etc.)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy (my own note -- I just mixed it with a spoon, and the result wasn't necessary light and fluffy but it didn't matter in the end). Then stir in the maple syrup and vanilla and mix until smooth.
3. In another large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Then add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir to combine (my own note -- I was surprised to see that the resulting mix was very dry and cumbly, as we are all probably used to having wetter mixes. This is probably due to the lack of liquid ingredients, such as milk. Again, it didn't matter in the end). Fold in the chocolate chips. (And let your kid chef help you out with all of the mixing, and perhaps some chocolate chip taste testing.)
4. Drop the dough by tablespoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet (my own note -- little kid's hands are a pefect measuring substitution, and any little kid will love to squish together the mix for you to put on the sheet. This particular mix is very dry, so you will need to actually squeeze the mix in your palm into a circle so it all holds together). Bake for about 15 minutes or until slightly brown on the edges. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes (or if you are impatient, cool just long enough until you can pick it up without burning yourself, because this is obviously how chocolate chip cookies taste the best).

The picture at the top of this post is our actual result. These cookies don't look fancy, totally circular, or overly professional, but they will satisfy any sweet tooth (I personally ate three for breakfast this morning before going to the gym, as ironic as that sounds).

Gilly's Kitchen in Queens: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies