Put A Ring On It-A Beer Battered Onion Ring

The Hungry Vegan Bear has finally crawled out of hibernation.  And the best way to wake up is by cooking for a whole slew of friends, which is exactly what she did for the 4th of July!

Batter Ingredients:
1/2 gallon canola oil
2 c unbleached flour
1 1/2 bottles of Corona
1/2 lg lemon
1/2 tsp baking powder
Lawry's seasoning
black pepper
cayenne pepper
sea salt
3 large yellow or white onions

Cut the onions about a centimeter wide.  I like a relatively thick onion ring, but if you prefer to slice the onion a bit thinner that is fine, too.  Next, begin the batter preparation by adding the flour, beer lemon, and other ingredients.  If you can find a lemon tree I highly suggest using a fresh from the tree lemon.  I was lucky enough to have a bag of California lemons given to me by a friend this past week whose grandmother has a tree, which provided a nice zesty taste to the breading.  I use about five to six shakes of the Lawry's seasoning.  Also, I find that adding spice to the breading is a nice contrast to the onion and shakes things up a bit, which is why I use both the black and cayenne pepper. 

Heat the oil on high until several small bubbles begin to form inside the stock pot (a cast iron pot would be best unless you have a deep fryer). 

Dust the raw onions with a bit of flour prior to dipping them into the batter.  Once the onion is coated drop gently into the heated oil.  The ring will begin to fry and float to the surface.  When the ring begins to turn a nice golden brown flip it over.  Make sure both sides of the ring are nice and gold and then place on a plate covered with a napkin (absorbs excess oil).   

Also, if you're not fond of canola oil there are plenty of other oils to chose from, but I like the light flavor of canola and it does not seem to make the rings too greasy. 

Once the rings have cooled, sprinkle a bit of sea salt over the rings and enjoy! And if you can't get enough lemon...add a bit more over the rings or to make it a bit more spicy sprinkle hot sauce on top.  Personally, I like to break out a bit of my bbq sauce as a nice dipping sauce on the side.

A Hungry Vegan Bear Thanksgiving!

There are a few spices and herbs that I find are an absolute must during Thanksgiving, such as, thyme, rosemary, and sage.  And I cannot live without cinnamon and nutmeg in a pumpkin pie, oh my!  The best part of Thanksgiving is not only the food on the table, but the enticing aroma’s, so don’t hold back when it comes to herbs and spices and, most importantly, have fun!

I like to do some preparation work the evening before, because our kitchen is modest in size.  Prepping the evening before also eliminates being overwhelmed on the holiday.  I plan to enjoy the day with friends instead of making myself crazy bouncing between the kitchen and grill.  I began the pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and the stuffing together the night before the big day.  Also, I’m a huge fan of marinating, so I threw the Portobello’s together and set them in the refrigerator overnight.

And, just in case one of my veggie dishes did not turn out, I had an alternative veggie dish waiting in the wings.  My advice during Thanksgiving, any holiday really, is don’t sweat it and ask for help, if you need it, after all this is what family and friends are there for and, in my opinion, Thanksgiving is not a spectator sport.

Portabella Mushrooms

3 cloves garlic

½ bottle Cabernet Sauvignon

Black pepper

Fresh rosemary

Fresh thyme

Dash of salt

Begin by cleaning up the mushrooms a bit with a dry paper towel and cut a little off the stems, if desired.  Set the mushrooms in a Tupperware container and pour the wine directly over the mushrooms, add the crushed garlic, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and salt to the mix.  Cover the container and refrigerate.  

Place the mushrooms on the grill and cook for about 10-15 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie

1 container firm silken tofu

25 oz pumpkin

1 Tbsp Cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

Dash of salt

3 Tbsp Flax seed (as egg replacement)

1 c brown sugar

2 Tbsp molasses

Begin by preparing the crust by crushing the crackers into tiny pieces.  I used a hammer to crush the crackers, but you can use a rolling pin or, if you're bored, your car.  Add the melted margarine to the crackers and if you think the mix is still a bit dry, add a smidgen more margarine.  Bake the crusts on 325 for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Once the crusts are done baking, set them on a cooling rack, and begin prepping the wet mixture for the pie.

I used a blender for this mix, because it makes the process go very quickly, which I absolutely adore.  Begin with the tofu and then proceed to add the rest of the ingredients.  I like a spicy pie and I have a tendency to add more cinnamon and nutmeg, because I can't quite help myself.

Makes 2 pies

Bake 30-40 minutes at 350

Graham Cracker Crust

Little less than 2 packages of graham crackers

¼ c margarine (until crackers are moist)

Stuffing

1 bag bread cubes
1 1/2 Tbsp margarine

Fresh sage

Fresh rosemary

Fresh Thyme

Black pepper

1 box of veggie broth

½ pack of soy sausage

2 c celery

½ medium red onion

Begin by emptying the bag of bread cubes into a large plastic bowl and set that to the side for a moment.  Next, take a large frying pan and drop in the margarine.  I use a higher setting on my stove top, not quite on high, but enough to make a nice sizzle when I begin to add in the celery, soy sausage, and onion.  Add in the fresh and dry spices.  Once the soy sausage, onion, and celery is golden brown, add in half the box of the veggie broth.  Then dump the heated mixture on top of the bread cubes.  The next step is entirely up to you, if you would like to heat the rest of the veggie broth, you may do so on the stove top, but I did not heat the rest of the broth and opted to dump the rest of the broth into the bowl. 

Finally, dump the contents into a deep cake pan and cover with foil.  Place the stuffing into the oven and cook at 375 for about 30-45 minutes.  Every so often stir the stuffing to ensure that it does not stick to the pan.

Cranberry Sauce with Apples

2 Gala apples

1 bag of cranberries

¾ c brown sugar

Bit of water to cover the base of the saucepan

I love cranberries, I love cranberries, because I can cook 100 other things in my kitchen while the sauce is cooking.  Begin by peeling the apples and cutting out the core.  Next, add a bit of water to the base of your saucepan and then slice and dice the apples into the pan.  Take the bag of cranberries and empty them into a strainer-wash the berries and look for any stems that might have made their way into the bag.  Then dump the clean cranberries into the sauce pan.  Stir the apples and berries together in the saucepan and then set the mix on the stove.  Cover the saucepan and set the temperature to high.  Then as the boiling process begins, drop the temperature down to low and add in the brown sugar.  A wonderful thing will occur as you are attending to a half dozen other things...the sauce will begin to go from a thin liquid to a nice thick sauce.  This year I decided to experiment a bit and use apples in the sauce instead of oranges.  The consensus at the end of our dinner was, "it's great, but the oranges are better."  Needless to say, if you're like me, and looking to branch out with your Thanksgiving menu then give this recipe a shot.