I've had a lot of fun lately raiding the library shelves and learning about Jewish cuisine. Here's my attempt at a bissel lunch (a little lunch). First, a veganized potato- cheese blintz. I made tofu crêpes (another masterpiece from Bryanna Clark Grogan) and filled them with mashed potatoes and crumbled "Betta Feta" from Ultimate Uncheese,
to replace the farmer's/cottage cheese called for in the recipe (I've always thought "Betta Feta" tasted more like "Betta Cottage Cheese" to me). I was told no blintz would be complete without a serving of applesauce, so I packed some in the large lidded container.Tzimmes reminded me of compote; it's a sweet, spiced mixture of vegetables and dried fruit. I made mine with sweet potato, carrot, raisins, and prunes, but I had to make sure shmoo's portion only contained carrots and raisins (more prunes for me!).
And for dessert I couldn't resist making chocolate babka -- yeasted sweet dough rolled with a chocolate-cinnamon filling and topped with streusel. Normally it's baked in a loaf, but when I read that "Barney Greengrass on Manhattan's Upper West Side" serves individual babkas baked in muffin tins, I had to give it a try for the lunch box. Hey, it's as close to Manhattan as I'll ever get (but if you try it at home remember to spray the muffin liners with nonstick spray, or the chocolate filling will stick).
Verdict: Such a production? The tofu crêpes were absolutely amazing -- so easy to make and work with, so tasty, and so, so crêpey! And excellent served cold -- shmoo practically inhaled it. The tzimmes, not so much. But, oh, the babka! Somebody stop me before I babka again! 5 stars.
16 comments:
Hearing about babka always reminds me of Seinfeld. :-) "You can't beat a babka!"
The blintzes look awesome--I definitely want to try that. I'm ordering the uncheese cookbook soon. Does the "betta fetta' taste enough like cottage cheese that you can eat it on its own, or is it better in recipes?
ooo babka...
alright, this is the final straw, lol.
As inspired by the wonderful Jenn, I've decided to make the leap into vegan baking. :)
I've survived 2+ of veganism quite well with minimal vegan baked goods (bread isn't too hard to get and I'll find the occasional organic veg-friendly treat at the farmer's market) and it's not something I really *need*...but better to indulge in those than be unable to resist the lure of non-vegan chocolate chip cookies or croissants, which is what tends to happen now. haha.
This is quite the big "next step" for me, and sites like this make it make it much easier. :)
Yes, please do share the babka recipe! I’ve never seen it in anything other than loaf form, that little individual one is so cute. I’ve never heard of Tzimmes, not sure if I would like it, sounds a bit too sweet and syrupy for me.
mmm sounds interesting. I'm with Belladonna on this one as a Jew it's fun to see something I can relate to.
I like blueberry blintzs myself. I like Tzmines but don't care for kugel much.
Yeah! I wonder if that betta feta could be used to make noodle kugel. Of course, it usually uses those wide egg noodles, but I'm sure I could find some regular noodles of a similar shape. That stuff used to be so good, especially as the first thing we would eat when we would break the fast after Yom Kippur. Mmmm
This is possibly the most amazing lunch I've seen you pack thus far--and that's saying something! Probably my favorite. I've been sort of interested in Jewish cuisine lately myself, but have yet to really try anything other than challah bread (from theppk.com). This is such a great lunch. Gush, gush, gush. . . ;)
Thank You! Its nice to see my culture represented in such a cute vegan way!
I don't cook much Jewish food either, mainly because I don't really know how. I'm definately gonna have to learn more!
please let us know where we can find bryanna's tofu crepe recipe! i've tried the recipe in "vegan with a vengeance," which is amazing, but it has chickpea flour in it, so the crepes come out tasting a little like indian dosas (really yummy, but not good for sweet fillings).
>>please let us know where we can find bryanna's tofu crepe recipe! i've tried the recipe in "vegan with a vengeance," which is amazing, but it has chickpea flour in it
The recipe is from "Soyfoods Cooking for a Positive Menopause", although you might be able to get it by subscribing to Bryanna's newsletter and archives.
They do contain a touch of chickpea (or soy) flour, but they don't taste like dosas. The recipe includes a variation for sweet recipes, too. They have the great "eggy" texture of regular crepes, and were so incredibly easy to make. We'll be making sweet ones for Mother's Day!
>>Does the "betta fetta' taste enough like cottage cheese that you can eat it on its own, or is it better in recipes?
Well, I would say better to use it in recipes. It tastes a bit strong on its own, so mixing it with mashed potato was perfect. But maybe if you used very mellow white miso and served it with a squeeze of lemon? It could work!
>>As inspired by the wonderful Jenn, I've decided to make the leap into vegan baking. :)
All right, Double Helix! Just for you and your new life as a vegan baker, I'll write up the babka recipe next week. :-)
I'll write up the babka recipe next week.
vegan fans in new york humbly thank you ;0)
So vegans are okay with yeast? I didn't realise that was okay.
Yeast is a fungus, not an animal-- so it's a-OK for vegans! A good thing, too, because I love bread. Mm, and babka, too.
This is maybe my favorite lunch I've seen on this blog!
mmm! blintzy goodness!! it looks like a great meal - warmth and textures . . . yum!
and i'm pregnant and i easily crave dosas. please stop talking about them!!! ;D
Shavuot is coming up and I'm looking for vegan blintz recipes (I'll convert them to gluten-free too). Yours looks great but could you please pass along the tofu pancake recipe? The link goes to a website that is being revamped and the author says to find recipes on her blog, but that one isn't there.
Many thanks,
Cyndi
Hi Cyndi! Bryanna's website says she is in the middle of revamping, so the recipes will probably be back soon. In the meantime, the best way to get the recipe is to do a Google search for "recipe Bryanna Clark Grogan tofu crepes". The very first link, click on "Cached" to bring up a Google cached version of the page. Scroll down quite a ways to get to the crepe recipe.
Here's the link to the cached page, not sure if it will work from here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:QY4fgi5JIJwJ:www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/page/page/1466680.htm+recipe+bryanna+clark+grogan+tofu+crepes&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
The link worked, thanks!
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