Epicuriousity: the 'Catch-up is a good condiment' edition =p

Hello again anonymous and known readers of my bloggy blogdom.
It's been a while, but here we go with the show and tell of what I've been up to culinarily over the last how ever many weeks =)

Enjoy the photos!

My Vegan Banana Bread =)

My Vegan Coconut, Macadamia Nut, Apricot Loaf

One of the many permutations of my Fusion Curries

Coconut based Vegetable Curry with Noodles

I cannot take credit for the bread. It came from Ninawa market where they bake it daily in their huge stone oven. I did make the confit'd mushrooms though. Lusciously roasted in the oven with onions and garlic with a generous amount of olive oil and a touch of vinegar. Yumminess =)

It's okay you can 'confit' in me. =p

These two are from Patel Brother's Market. They make them daily. Meet Samosa and Vada Dal =)

Vegan Vanilla and Chocolate Halloween cookies that I made in October

Sauteed Gai Lan with Organic Udon noodles in a Ginger, Garlic sauce

No, those are not pieces of diced smoked pork. That's actually sauteed marinated and pressed tofu with some pea pads from a local Michigan farm. 

More Noodle goodness

Vegan Banana Pancakes that I made for my 3 nieces a few weeks ago. They scarfed them up =

The impromptu stirfry that happened with the help of my 3 little sous chefs (my nieces). They did such a good job cutting up the Vegetables for me with the supervision of their Mom of course =)

the impromptu succotash of blue potatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and deliciousness.

You should recognize this one, it's a bowlful of my Lugaw!

Not cooking , but steeping a beautiful blend of Rooibos from a local Michigan company. I believe this one was called 'Michigan Sunset.' Sooo good. 

I can't take credit for this except for the heating part. This is a Dal Puri that I bought in the frozen section of Patel Brothers and usually you would fry these, but I just cooked it in a nonstick pan and I think the results are pretty good. Dal filling was really spicy; so a good raita is recommended to accompany this one =)

Broccoli Raab and Peapads with a spiced pressed tofu in a homemade chili peanut sauce

My spiced stove-top Naan bread

Adventures in breadmaking, this time a take on a Middle Eastern style of bread

Top of a stuff bread I made

A peek inside of the stuffed bread. It was a mixture of Indian/Middle Easter spices with vegetables blended  together into a nice harmony.

Can you spot some of the whole toasted spices I used in there?

My Cinnamon Rolls in their Raw state

My Cinnamon Rolls in their cooked state

One of the only decent shots of my last batch of Lentil soup. This one used tiny red lentils that were from the Middle East. 

My Multi-seeded (chia, flax, sesame and pumpkin seeds) and fruit (dried Michigan: cherries, cranberries, strawberries and blueberries) with a handful of old fashioned oats in there for good measure. Came out beautifully. It's a keeper.

Sitting pretty in its baking pan

Do you feel inspiraled to bake yet? =p

Most recent stir fry that I made. Bok Choy, sweet peppers with a spiced marinated tofu in a garlic/ginger hoisin sauce with a little bit of chili for kick.

 So, those are it for now and that's not even all of them! Let me know which ones caught your eye the most or if you have any questions about them.

Happy cooking, healthy eating and well being to all of you!


Love,
Jessica

Epicuriousity for One and All!

On the book of face, I kept notes of what I cooked and also shared photos of those items as well as other photos from a number of outings to restaurants or shops. I used to call these notes 'Epicuriouslogues', but since I'm starting over with them in this quadrant of webtastica; I've renamed it Epicuriousity.

 Hopefully you'll enjoy it.

I had to use a Taro Bubble Tea to defeat this guy trying to steal my car. The power   of sago compels you!
Mmmmm tasty and refreshing justice ;p

This is Puto. Please stop laughing, I know what it means in Spanish. This is  one of many styles of rice cakes. This typical triangle shape is one formed of the steamed variety. I think in Tagalog we could also refer to this a some sort of Bibingka (a cake, but usually made out of rice or with rice in the ingredients. I bought this from QQ a Local Malaysian bakery.

I bought these at a local Asian Grocery store.  These are very good; they're surprisingly not  sickeningly sweet. It tastes like the middle of a butterfinger, candy bar except it doesn't have all that extra crap in it. It's just pure peanuts and sugar. The most similar product to it in the States would maybe be Atkinson's Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars.

Stir-fried Zucchini, Tofu and Garlic Chives with vermicelli rice noodles that I made for dinner. 

Eat me, I am your sustenance! 

Blueberry Flax cake that I made. Omega 3, whole grain and Anthocyanins, never tasted so good together. Yum Yum =)

This is what my Pico de Gallo and blackbeans rice looked like when the timer went off for my rice cooker. Yep, the rice cooker is a wonderful thing. It takes up way less energy than using the stove ( I have an electric one) and the results are marvelous. If you have to buy a rice cooker, make sure you get one with the ability of different functions and if possible get one that comes with a steamer basket.

This is what the Pico de Gallo and Black Bean rice looks like when it's all mixed up and fluffed.

I made tostones  from some ripe plantains. Usually they make them with the green plantains, but I don't think anybody is going to arrest me for doing so =)

Ohhh how we love those delectable tostones. Look at the caramelization on that tostone.

These are GF/DF/V Lemon Lotus Bars that I made. These came out alright, but I want to change a few things and make them thicker. Tasted great though. If the crust looks a bit purple; it's because of the little amount of buckwheat flour that I used in the dough.

I made quesadillas with some awesome corn tortillas from El Milagro (Local Michigan  Company)  it's filled with quesadilla cheese with oregano, a dash of adobo spice and black pepper, fresh Pico de Gallo from Dos Hermanos (another local latino grocery store).

These were all the vegetables that went into one of my Thai Curries. The  eggplant that you see is actually from my home garden =) I didn't have a photo of the finished curry because it didn't last that long =)

Paku Choi  in a tomato, garlic and turmeric sauce. Paku Choi is one of a gazillion in the Chinese cabbage family. This variety is on the bitter side (Yay, lots of Antioxidants and Phytochemials) similar to the taste of Rapini (an italian variety of broccoli). 

Sauted Sesame Yu choi. Notice how my bamboo utensils always try to sneak into my photos? ;p

So, that's it for this installment. Did any of them make you salivate in particular? Any of them weird you out completely? Still curious about these foods? Feel free to ask me any questions about them. I'll try to give you as much info as I can give you about them. 

It's always fun to try new things.

'Epicuriousity begins at birth and never ends.'

                          - J. G. I =)

Be well =)

Love,

Jessica