Seitan Worshipers

Our Moroccan Chickpea adventure through the pages of the Candle 79 cookbook was too good to stop at just one meal!  After all, it was the best thing that has ever come out of the Veg-Berger kitchen!  So for KT's final night at home before heading back North, we decided to celebrate with one more incredible meal.

This is Candle 79's Seitan Piccata.  The vegan entree that the restaurant is known for!  It consists of seitan cutlets, creamed spinach, fried potato cakes, all drenched in a lemon-caper sauce good enough to bathe in.  At first glance, the recipe seemed daunting, but we were up for a challenge!

First, we prepared the potato mixture, formed it into cakes, cooked and creamed the spinach, and created the elegant sauce. The day before, Pam made sure to whip up her famous vegan seitan roast (chicken style), which we sliced into cutlets.

We fried up the potato cakes and the cutlets. Then it was time to assemble!

We stacked the separate components right in the middle of a moat of sauce.  First the potato cake, smothered in greens....

Followed by the seitan cutlet and garnished with caper berries!  It was a gourmet feast for the history books!

These delicious stacks didn't stand a chance!! It was the perfect ending to a perfect visit.  It was a blast!

Peace, love, and book nooks
Pam and KT

Nifty Pizza #16 - KANSAS!

Somewhere over the rainbow....

After 10 months in Minnesota, it was time for KT to come home for a few weeks to celebrate the holidays!  Our schedule was jam-packed with people to see, places to go, celebrations to attend, and food to make.  One of the most important things on our to-do list was to create our sixteenth nifty pizza...Kansas!

We took our inspiration from what is possibly the most famous Kansas-centric story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  We went over a rainbow created from farm fresh vegetables which could have been picked by Uncle Henry himself!  Dorothy would have been so much happier in Kansas if while she was lamenting about her plight, she had just made this pizza.

Nifty Pizza #16 - Kansas!

Dough for 1 Pizza Crust
Pizza Sauce
Vegan Mozzarella Style Cheese
Grape Tomatoes, sliced
Orange Bell Pepper, sliced into strips
Yellow Squash, sliced
Zucchini Squash, sliced
Black Olives, sliced
Red Onion, diced
Vegan Parmesean Style Cheese
Italian Seasoning, Crushed Red Pepper, Salt, and Pepper, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Slice and dice your colorful collection of vegetables.
3. Top your crust with pizza sauce, followed by vegan mozzarella.

4. Arrange the prepared vegetables in a rainbow like fashion! Like so:

5. Top the pie with a sprinkling of vegan parmesean cheese, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper.

6. Slide your rainbow pizza into the oven and let bake for 10 minutes on the middle rack, and 10 minutes on the bottom rack.
7. Remove from oven, slice up your own piece of the rainbow, and be as happy as those "happy little blue birds."

As you can see, one pizza just wasn't enough for us.  We made two...A DOUBLE RAINBOW!!

KT is headed back North soon, but this break has been awesome.  We got to spend lots of time with family and friends, bake delicious treats, make amazing pizza, and enjoy our time together.  Because after all...

There's no place like home!

Peace, love, and Winkies
Pam and KT

3...2...79...Happy New Year!

On January 1st, 2012, Pam and KT were recovering from a raucous good time in the heart of the biggest party on earth.  New York City!  That day was amazing.  With bright blue skies and the sun shining down on us, we gallivanted around the city all day, hitting up the high line and central park.

As great as the morning and afternoon were, the best part of the day happened later, when we had a celebratory New Year's dinner at Candle 79 , one of the most famous vegan gourmet restaurants in the world.  It was an experience of a life time, and we were able to cross it off our bucket lists! KT ordered the Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Cake, and claimed that it was the best thing she had ever eaten (besides the brownie sundae that she had for dessert).  

Chickpea Cake served with seasonal vegetables, coconut curry sauce, apricot chutney, and toasted almonds.

Since Pam is the proud owner of the Candle 79 cookbook, and since the past New Year's Day dinner started off such a fantastic year, we decided to just...do it again!  Veg-Bergers style!

We started by roasting red peppers for the coconut curry sauce.  

After forming the delicious patties, we slid them in the oven to keep our roasting brussel sprouts company!

Once everything was prepared, it was time to plate!

 

We served the cakes just like they do at the restaurant:  On top of a pool of mouth-watering sauce and a bed of roasted brussel sprouts.  A dollop of apricot chutney went on top, all garnished with slivered almonds. It was the best thing we have ever made. 

If 2013 is anything like 2012, then the Candle 79 Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Cake will definitely become a good luck Veg-Bergers tradition. From us to you...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Ringing in 2013!!

Peace, Love, and Brownie Sundaes
Pam and KT