Homemade Brunch and Saturday Productivity

Weekends call for brunching, right?

I had every intention on waking up early and getting waffles and pecan coffee with my friends... but I had a little too much fun by firelight last night, and wound up sleeping until noon. I even missed my family taking off for a day adventure to find burgers, fries and root beer floats.

No big deal, though. I don't mind staying home and doing 12 loads of laundry while sorting my mail and RSVPing to weddings, while also coming up with Facebook content and editing all 16 pending posts in the Urban Cashmere blog.

I guess I really was meant to get shit done today.

I made a cup of coffee and added a tablespoon of this amazingly delicious new vegan coffee creamer I found. The brand is Califa Farms and the flavor is Pecan Caramel. It's actually everything I have ever needed it to be and more, and it tastes so good in coffee and hot tea.

As I sipped my coffee, I paced around the kitchen wondering what I could make that would be brunch-y and all around delicious? I started to settle on a piece of toast and an egg when I realized I had one BOCA Burger left AND an avocado. I then put my creative brain to the test and off we went.

I also made a delicious Chocolate Cookie Butter smoothie which I devoured way too quickly. It was supposed to last me through my editing, and it made it through this sentence.

Amazingness on Toast

Ingredients

1 piece of homemade bread (or whatever you eat for bread)

1 egg

1 BOCA Burger

Half of an avocado

Sriracha

Vegan cream cheese (or not vegan)

Cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. Crack egg over small cooking pan and let cook, try to strategically flip it without getting yolk everywhere. I fail at this constantly so I eat my eggs sort of hard, though runny eggs are so delicious.

2. While this is cooking, cut up your avocado, toast your bread and heat up your BOCA Burger.

3. Put cream cheese on toast, throw egg on top, strategically lay burger on top of the egg, followed by avocado and sriracha. Add cheese if you're feeling crazy.

4. Eat with fork and knife.

Chocolate Cookie Butter Smoothie

(Not pictured, but freaking awesome)

Ingredients

1 banana

Half of an avocado

Half a tbsp of cocoa powder

2 tbsp of Biscoff Cookie Butter (Trader Joe's makes a good copy cat version)

1 cup of almond milk

Half cup of ice

Vanilla sugar (optional)

Instructions

1. Put everything in blender of Ninja and blend it. Then drink it and weep.

Peach Pie and the Best Crust Ever

I've been craving a homemade pie as of late, but the biggest issue I have faced when baking them is that my crust is typically awful. I shouldn't say awful, it's not awful per se, but it isn't necessarily the tastiest. In fact, my crust has always been thick and chalky and I have had the worst time finding a solution for it. I received a few pointers from some fellow pie-bakers who had some great tips - use half regular flour and half quinoa flour, or use piping hot water instead of ice cold. These were all good ideas, but the best solution I found was a recipe on Pinterest that required butter. 

I've probably mentioned this before, but I have a dairy allergy. I'm not lactose intolerant, so I won't get a stomach ache if I eat something with lactose. I have an actual dairy allergy. I experience apprehension - my heart races and I feel like I'm panicking, I get heavy eyes and I feel foggy, and sometimes I break out into hives or a rash. One time, after eating something buttery, I wound up having to get steroids injected into my throat because everything began to tighten and I almost stopped breathing. Aw :)

With that being said, I wasn't sure if my vegan butter would be an ideal substitution for this pie crust, but I was willing to try.

This weekend I bought a boat-load of peaches with the intention of baking a peach-blueberry pie, but I literally forgot the blueberries were in the fridge when I went to bake, so peach pie it was.

I have to say that as I began baking this pie, I was extremely impressed with the pie crust. By the time I had flattened it, I knew it was going to be the crust that would change my life. As I put it in the freezer to firm it, I thought to myself 'I think this just may be the answer I have been waiting for'.. and it was.

Although a piece of my top crust got stuck to the wax paper while I transitioned it over to the pie, thus making one side of the pie look like a murder scene, the pie still turned out better than expected. NOTE: I roll my dough between two pieces of wax paper, hence why the "stuck." The crust was exceedingly flaky and the peach filling was sweet and gooey. 

Trust me kids, you will want to try this recipe at home.

All regular flour, shortening and Earth Balance Vegan butter sticks

Perfection wedged between two sheets of wax paper.




Hand peeled, hand sliced - went a little beyond the 6 cups recommended because... look at them.



I'm so in love.




Added an extra touch of flour for maximum firmness.




THE MOST FRUSTRATING THING IN THE WORLD.




Gorgeous. [not pictured: Pie's bad side]

Below is my recipe for amazingly banging peach pie!

Pie Crust

Ingredients:
2 1/2 C flour
1/2 C vegan butter
1/2 C shortening
pinch of salt
ice cold water, add teaspoon by teaspoon until you form the right consistency

Instructions:
1. Place flour, salt, butter and shortening in bowl.
2. Use your hands to combine ingredients until small pebbles form
3. Add cold water a teaspoon at a time until the dough begins to hold together and form a ball.
4. Do not over handle the dough. Dough should be soft, moist but not wet.
5. Divide dough in half.
6. Place ball of dough onto wax paper and flatten. Place another piece of wax paper over the top and roll out the pastry into a circle. If your pie pan is 9 inch make sure your circle is bigger than 9 inches so you have enough for the edging.
7. Remove the top layer of wax paper and place pastry into pie tin. Remove other piece of wax paper and press pastry into pan. Use your fingers to crimp the edge of the crust.
8. Freeze for 30 minutes to firm up the pastry. This helps prevent pastry from shrinking during baking.
9. Prick the bottom of crust to prevent bubbling during baking.
10. If pie calls for a baked crust bake at 400 degrees. For the first 10-12 minutes keep the edges of pie covered with foil and then remove for the last 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown.

Peach Pie Filling

Ingredients:
3/4-1 C sugar (depending on how sweet your peaches are)
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
6 (or more) cups peeled, sliced fresh peaches
2 tablespoons butter (optional)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add to peaches and mix lightly (not too rough).
3. Fill your crust - dot with butter, if you'd like
4. Add top crust; make edges look nice.
5. Bake in oven for 45 minutes, or until juices are bubbling and crust is browning.

Make sure to share your pie recipes with me in the comment section below!

Fourth of July Picnic: Chopped Mexican Quinoa Salad with Chili Lime Shrimp

Happy FIFTH of July!

Well friends, something really terrible happened to me this past Friday. My year-old Lenovo Yoga laptop hit the pavement with great force. Not only did my screen crack, but I seemed to have broken part of my hard drive. To my great fortune, I found out that a majority of my Facebook friends are IT people, or know a damn good one ~ THANK YOU FACEBOOK FRIENDS. Right now I am waiting for my new hard drive and screen to be delivered.

In the meantime, I'm going to have to work off of any random PC or phone to get my blog posts up.

I'd have to say, my three day fourth of July vacation started off on the wrong foot. Breaking my laptop at 8am on my day off was not ideal. I then went immediately to dog-sitting, to a doctor's appointment for my mother, back to the dogs, on to a meal with my mom, a haircut, getting my laptop checked out by a friend, the dogs, to a family friends house to look at my laptop, THE DOGS, then to the grocery store before 9pm. Needless to say, after putting the groceries away around 10:30pm, I was ready for bed.

I had to have slept roughly 12 hours straight-through, as I don't recall getting up until a knock on the door jolted me awake at quarter to 11am.

Now typically a good sleep-in session is the least of worries, but on the day of the fourth - the day I had already committed to soaking up the sun's rays in the pool by 1pm, I wasn't overly thrilled. I STILL HAD A VERY DETAILED RECIPE TO PREPARE.

So after glaring at my phone's clock, I threw on my slippers, put on some coffee and began to prepare my recipe for the day.

I have been practicing a strictly pescatarian diet as of late - although the 45345 pieces of salami I munched on yesterday can detest to this - so I wanted to make something I knew I would be okay eating. I have a dairy allergy and figured that everyone and their mother puts cheese on everything (I used to too, until I wound up needing to get steroids injected in my arm after eating cheesy vegetables one time), and I wanted to make this holiday as emergency room free as possible for me.

I found a recipe on Pinterest the night before (on my phone, no less) for a "Chopped Mexican Quinoa Salad with Chili Lime Shrimp" that looked to die for, and I thought to myself, "Why not give it a go?"

First,  I followed a recipe from the same blog (The Cafe Sucre Farine) to make the perfect quinoa. Have you ever had quinoa where maybe ONE tiny piece out of a million baby grains was not thoroughly cooked? When this happens, it feels like you're biting into a piece of sand - it's the worst feeling. This occurs more often than not for me, so I was a bit hesitant to try a new method of cooking it.

I used the Ancient Harvest brand quinoa and followed Chris and Scott's directions verbatim. Guys, I'm not sure if it was the placebo effect of trying something new, but this quinoa was to die for! It was cooked to perfection, with a hint of the vegetable broth I mixed in.

While my quinoa was setting, I thawed out my shrimp and got a chili honey lime marinade prepped for them.

I grabbed three unhusked ears of corn and used that viral "cooking and shucking" microwave method to get them ready. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, this video explains it best. It helps if the corn you buy is really sweet. There are a lot of flavors that go into this recipe, and sweet corn really just adds its own to the mix.

The only thing I didn't have for this recipe were scallions, but I did have both white and red onions. I ended up splitting half of each colored onion into the recipe - and I think I wouldn't have had it any other way. I LOVE red onion, probably more than any normal person should, so I think mixing it into the recipe was a very smart decision on my part.

This concoction was a hit to all who tried it (well, all those who love seafood) and I definitely think it's worth sharing. Take a look below to follow this recipe and create your own Chopped Mexican Quinoa Salad with Chili Lime Shrimp.

CHOPPED MEXICAN QUINOA SALAD WITH CHILI LIME SHRIMP

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Super delicious, super healthy and bursting with fresh, south of the border flavor, this entree salad is sure to please! Skip the shrimp and you have a perfect side for parties, picnics and potlucks!

Author: Chris Scheuer

Recipe type: Salad, Main

Cuisine: Mexican

Serves: Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups cooked quinoa, I use this method for preparing perfect quinoa (3 cups is half of the recipe.)
• For the dressing:
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup fresh lime juice
• 2 medium cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• For the corn:
• 3 medium ears fresh corn, unhusked
• For the shrimp:
• 2 tablespoons sunflower, canola or other mild-flavored oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped
• 1 ½ pounds raw, peeled and deveined shimp
• For the salad:
• 2 medium zucchini, diced in ¼ inch pieces*
• 1 medium white onion, diced in ¼ inch pieces*
• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced in ¼ inch pieces*
• 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh oregano
• 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a medium-size glass jar. Cover tightly and shake until well combined. (If dressing is made ahead and refrigerated, oil may solidify slightly. If this happens just let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes and it will liquify. You can also warm it in the microwave for 15 seconds to liquify.)
2. Prepare corn by placing the three ears in the microwave, unhusked. Cook on high power for 12 minutes. Remove from microwave with a clean kitchen towel or oven mitt to a cutting board. Holding the corn with the towel or oven mitt, cut off 2 inches at the bottom of each ear. Hold corn at the silk end and push the corn out of the husk. The corn comes out perfectly cooked and free of silk! Here's a video demonstration of the technique.
3. Cut corn from ears. Set aside. (I like to leave some of the corn in bigger pieces.)
4. About 30 minutes before grilling, combine all marinade ingredients in a zippered bag. Gently squeeze bag and tilt back and forth to combine ingredients. Add shrimp and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and drain well, discarding marinade.
5. Prepare a medium-high (about 450˚F) gas or charcoal grill fire.
6. Clean and oil grill surfaces. Sprinkle shrimp lightly with salt and pepper. Grill the shrimp on the first side for about 3 minutes, or until they begin to curl up, turn pink and look charred here and there on the surface facing the grill. Flip shrimp to other side and grill for another 2-3 minutes or until done. Don't overcook or shrimp will be tough and dry.
7. For the salad, combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and stir gently to combine. Drizzle lightly with dressing and stir again. Top with shrimp. Pass extra dressing at the table.