#Delectable December: Going Vegan with Francis Gideon #gayromance #recipe
Delectable December continues with special guest Gideon Francis, who will strike a chord with anyone who has tried to change their diet to be healthier and found it’s quite a challenge. He’s even got a yummy vegan gingerbread recipe, so it’s an automatic thumbs up from me. He’s also giving away an awesome prize: Your choice of his Christmas e-book or a tarot reading… enter on the Rafflecopter below and leave a comment.
When a friend of mine became vegan, it meant that I pretty much had to relearn how to cook most things. At the time, we lived together in a small two bedroom apartment near our university. The kitchen was cramped enough when the two of use decided to make dinner that we often traded off the responsibility to save on time and leftovers. We also spent a lot of time at one another’s family homes over the Christmas break. While we normally passed most of December trading our favourite dishes back at forth, this particular December (around 2010), we had to spend a little extra time getting used to the adjustment.
There are many reasons to go vegan – health, welfare of animals, political, or even allergies – but what I really think matters is the food. And instead of looking at veganism as an unfortunate chore that had to be done, my roommate and I both began to think of it as a fun new way to “re-write” our favourite meals. When you re-write something, not only do you change specific things to evoke a different reaction, but you get to know the work a little better. Veganizing a recipe is a lot like translation, too. Over the years we lived together, I got so good at making vegan food that I could look at a recipe and know how to replace the eggs or sub out the butter in an instant. I even memorized her specific favourite comfort food and would always have it ready when the time came. When you eat vegan, it means spending a lot of time in the kitchen, since you can’t rely on the quick fixes anymore. Though that classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich from childhood is still okay in a vegan diet and a definite plus.
In my book How to Make a Carrot Cake (MLR Press, forthcoming 2014), the two men find themselves in a similar position to myself and my roommate. Nate wants to get to know Billy and one of the ways to do this is to get him into the kitchen. After meeting in a grocery store, Nate invites Billy back to his apartment where they make an impromptu dinner with stuff around the house (soy sauce and peanut butter make a good base for a stir fry). Later on, as their relationship progresses, the two of them learn how to (obviously) make a carrot cake. That’s the recipe I’ve provided here – along with some really, really great recipes for vegan gingerbread cookies for the holidays as well.
When you get into veganism, you pretty much hear two names over and over: Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Sarah Kramer. They are great chefs, but both tackle very different types of cooking and food preparation. Kramer is all about time, ease of access, and the ability to make meals for two or fewer people. She’s the pragmatist, while Isa is the artisan. I still haven’t touched all the recipes in Isa’s massive book Veganomicon, but the ones I have touched are utterly beautiful and awesome.
Smell is extremely tied to our memories. Marcel Proust (who wrote the seven tome epic Remembrance of Things Past and was a delightful gay man) knew this about our brains and spent most of his literary career devoted to the subject matter. Food also marks a place in our memory through its uses in rites of passage. Laura Esquivel’s Like Water For Chocolate displays this fact by retelling a family history through the dishes they used for weddings, holidays, and birthdays. Cooking is always a process of creation. Veganism, I have always liked to think, is just another type of expression. (Just to note for those who are curious: I am not vegan or vegetarian, but man, I do love tofu.)
With the rising amount of eggs and milk allergies and people becoming more socially conscious (even Bill Clinton, Jay z and Beyonce have all announced vegan diets at some point), it can be good to have some other options. Just don’t look at vegan cooking as giving up something you love. It’s more than health or ideology. Think of it as another chance to make something different and bring some yummy goodies to a vegan or egg-allergic friend who may have to excuse themselves from most holidays’ festivities. And more importantly, enjoy!
Vegan Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies*
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup plain soymilk
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour (or a mix of both)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Spice blend:
1/2 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
In a large bowl whisk together oil and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add molasses and soymilk. Sift in all of the other dry ingredients, mixing about half way through. When all of the dry ingredients are added, mix until a stiff dough is formed. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or up to 3 days in advance. If you chill longer than an hour you may want to let it sit for 10 minutes to warm up a bit before proceeding.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease your cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutters and use a thin spatula to gently place on cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a cooling rack. Wait until they are completely cool before icing.
Makes about 16 cookies (depending on the size of your cutters).
*Recipe originally from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s cookbook Veganomicon, with certain instructions and ingredients tweaked.
Vegan Carrot Cake*
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup soy milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup oil
- ¼ cup of applesauce (to be used as an egg replacer)
- 1/2 cup carrot, finely grated
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add remaining ingredients and mix gently until just mixed. Pour into lightly oiled 9-in cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
*Recipe originally by Sarah Kramer and in her Vegan A-Go-Go cookbook, with certain items tweaked slightly.
Nate Reid never considered veganism until he meets Billy Lawson, a skinny, quiet kid who works at the local grocery store. With Billy’s help, Nate slowly learns what he can and cannot make during the beginning months of their relationship until a family secret from Billy’s past threatens their bond. Will their conflicting desires in the kitchen make an exciting partnership or will Billy’s refusal continue to isolate him? Nate searches through cookbooks, his best friend Marlee’s advice, and his favourite novels from his college years in order to find answers for both of their futures.
Excerpt:
“I brought you something, too,” Nate finally confesses. He pulls out the container and slides it across the counter. Jake and the man in front of him continue to talk and there is no one else in line. Billy does a quick sweep of the area before he undoes the top.
“It’s carrot cake,” Nate says after a moment. “Well, carrot cupcakes.”
Billy laughs a bit, and then lowers his brows. “I see that. It’s even from the nice bakery around the corner. This friend must be very special.”
Billy slides the treat aside for a moment, as he helps a man who suddenly appears and must obtain a pastrami sandwich before the afternoon is over. Nate waits patiently to the side, his breath knocking around in his lungs. When Billy’s eyes return to him again, his knees wobble. He wonders if he already has a sugar rush from Marlee’s insistence on baked goods before lunch.
“That’s not vegan, you know,” Billy finally says, motioning with his chin towards the package. His tone is not accusatory, not like the way Nate’s old boyfriend would get angry at waitresses for not understanding his dietary requirements. It is clear, from the way that Billy laughs and rolls his eyes after his statement, that he is kidding in the same breath that he’s declining the dessert.
“Really?” Nate says, leaning forward. “But carrots!”
Billy shakes his head. “It’s really nice. But I’ll have to pass.”
“No worries,” Nate says. He takes the package, and his sandwich meat under his arms, tipping from side to side on his nervous toes. “You’ll just have to show me what’s vegan, then.”
“I guess so.”
Billy sweeps his eyes around the aisles again. In a lowered voice, he says over the counter, “My shift is done at ten. Does that work for you?”
“More than you know.”
“Great. See you then.” Billy smiles.
* * * *
Francis Gideon is a fiction writer, essayist, and editor. He has appeared in Microscenes’ Monster Issue, Gay Flash Fiction, and JMS Books. His new novel entitled How to Make a Carrot Cake is due out on MLR Press in 2014. He lives in Canada with his partner and their dog.
On the web: www,thedovekeeper.com and paintitback.tumblr.com
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One Response to “#Delectable December: Going Vegan with Francis Gideon #gayromance #recipe”
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OMG – those Gingerbread cookies sound amazing! And I usually haven’t paid much attention to vegan recipes.
I love how you have written this into your book 😀