Monday, July 20, 2009

Ridiculously Decadent Chocolate Peanut Butter Nice Cream Pie

Remember the chocolate pie I made a few weeks ago for the 4th of July Barbeque? I really, really liked that pie, but here's the thing: I felt like it could be more decadent, more ridiculously awesome, more...ice creamy.

Long ago, I had a vegan pot luck, and I planned to serve vegan s'mores using Sweet and Sara's delicious vegan marshmallows...but the marshmallows had sold out, so I was stymied. There I was with a bunch of chocolate bars and vegan graham crackers, but no marshmallows. I had just recently discovered the gloriousness of homemade vegan ice cream (I call it "Nice Cream"), so I decided to try a vegan nice cream pie. I crushed the some of the graham crackers for a crust, which I filled with homemade chocolate Nice Cream. Next, I topped the pie with vegan marshmallow fluff. Then, I used the chocolate bars and remaining grahams to make chocolate-covered graham crackers, which I arranged on top of the fluff and...voila! Vegan S'Mores Nice Cream Pie.

Now, this pie was good. But I didn't ask for a lot of opinions about it, so it was only recently that I learned that many people feel that Nice Cream Pie has replaced Ambrosia on Mount Olympus. Isa's Shmlove Pie seemed a good candidate for Nice Cream-ization, so that's what I did. It was pretty easy and utterly delicious.

I tweaked the recipe. A lot. By far, my favorite part of the original Shmlove Pie was the Peanut Butter Caramel. I kept that part. I used a store-bought vegan chocolate cookie crust for that pie, but for this one, I thought better of it. Anyway, here it is...

Ridiculously Decadent Chocolate Peanut Butter Nice Cream Pie

Ingredients:

Crust
A bag of Peanut Butter Newman-Os
1-2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil, melted

Nice Cream
1 bag of chocolate chips, or a couple of semi-sweet baking bars
1 can of coconut creme - (AKA creme de coco, creme de coconut...it's the same as the drinks mixer, also found in the Goya section. You know, this stuff:

Keep this in mind because it'll come up again when we discuss my Otherworldly Vegan Tres Leches Cake. Danged useful stuff)
1 can of regular coconut milk

Peanut Butter Caramel
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons brown rice syrup
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Chocolate drizzle
1 cup of chocolate chips
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Instructions
For the crust:

I ran half a bag of Peanut Butter Newman-Os through the food processor, with a spoonful of melted coconut oil, and then pressed the resulting crumbs into a pie plate. This was almost as easy as just buying a pre-made crust. It was a little crumbly---maybe a little more oil would've helped?

I had some extra crumbs, so I set them aside and used them as topping.

If you do not have a food processor, you could just pour some cookies into a ziplock bag and smoosh them with a rolling pin, or a mallet, or...well, anything like that.



For the Nice Cream:

I used to have a Nice Cream Maker. It died, but you don't need one for this. I melted two bars of Ghirardelli's 60% baking chocolate in my own version of a double boiler - a small saucepan sitting inside my frying pan, which I filled with about 1/2 inch of water. This works very, very well for melting chocolate!

Once the chocolate was melted, I used a rubber spatula to spoon the melted chocolate into a blender with the can of coconut creme and the coconut milk. Blend away, and pour it into your prepared pie crust!

If you don't like the sound of my Nice Cream, I recommend you peruse Vegan Ice Cream Paradise and find a recipe you DO like.

Either way, freeze until the pie is nice and firm, then cover with plastic wrap until you're ready for toppings...here's the pie, midway through preparation (excuse the plastic wrap marks and the frost - I have a crazy freezer):


Next, make the peanut butter caramel. It's best to use a peanut butter with a consistent texture, like PB & Co's White Chocolate Wonderful, my go-to PB for all purposes.

To prepare the caramel:
Stir all the ingredients (peanut butter, brown rice & maple syrups, and vanilla) together in a small sauce pan. Gently heat everything over low heat, stirring constantly with a fork, just until smooth and heated through. It should fall from your fork in ribbons. If it seems stiff, turn the heat off immediately and add a little extra brown rice syrup, until it's fluid again. This happens because different peanut butters have different amounts of moisture. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Once it's cool, spread gently over your frozen pie. Return pie to freezer.

To make the chocolate drizzle:
Use your double boiler (or my sneaky "not really a double boiler" method, described above) to melt the chocolate chips. Add the coconut oil. Use a fork to stir it until completely combined. Turn the heat off and let cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then...drizzle over the top of your pie. If you have leftover cookie crumbs, you can add those, too. Then...back to the freezer again!

You may want to move the pie to the fridge 30 minutes before you serve it, to make sure it's soft enough to slice.

Here's what my finished pie looked like (I forgot to take photos until it was halfway gone!):


Obviously there are endless modifications that you could employ here. There are Mint Newman-Os, for example...hmmm...

More to think about...

RE: Michael Vick. An article I clicked on over at Yahoo. What worries me is that it all seems to be about how Vick wants to avoid coming off as cocky or entitled or bitter, and is back in training, and whether he'll have to play in a league other than the NFL.

Wouldn't it be nice if ANYONE said something like, "Hopefully he won't beat any more animals to death with tire-irons." or "Vick expressed heartfelt remorse about the shocking ignorance that led him to ruthlessly abuse and torture the animals that relied on him for care."??

After all...he wasn't in prison because he didn't train enough, or because he was too self-assured. Hmph.

On a lighter note...
I have some fun food posts coming up soon - I created a faux farmer's cheese-caramelized onion-balsamic reduction-tartlet in puff pastry that initially seemed to underwhelm everyone, but then came back from initial setbacks and turned out to be delicious. I made the vegan spanakopita from Vegan With a Vengeance and it is AWE-SOME. And I ramped up the stakes on that chocolate pie I made for a barbeque a few weeks ago - and dear gods, it was a thing of delicious, decadent beauty.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

"All That Stands Between Me and a Vegetarian Diet"

A slightly stupid, but nonetheless important, article about vegetarian diets in the Washington Post today. The author claims that she wants to go vegetarian, but evidently cheeseburgers are more powerful than her desire to be healthy or her abhorrence of factory farming/animal slaughtering - she doesn't specify her motivation, such as it is.

Once she is finally done explaining how close she is to being vegetarian - she doesn't consume any animal products except: dairy products, eggs, and meat, including fish, fowl, and mammal - she finally gets to the point, which is: the American Dietetic Association has finally accepted that vegan and vegetarian diets are healthy. !!

After years of misleading people by saying that they cannot be nutritionally complete and are not suitable for certain age groups (the very young, the very old), the ADA has finally confronted the mounting evidence and has sort of accepted that EVEN BEING VEGAN won't actually kill you.

They also indicate that you must take special pains to ensure that you get your B-12. The article makes it sound like we have to scour the remotest regions of the earth searching for B-12, but actually I just buy little bottles of it for $5 at Trader Joe's. Then I take the pills every day. Of course, I apparently have some sort of superhuman willpower because I can make decisions about my life even when offered cheseseburgers.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Dogfighting

So, dogfighting. It's evil, bad and wrong. There have been raids on lots of dogfighting rings, but I doubt very much it's enough. Today I read this article in "Unleashed" about over 400 dogs being "seized" during a raid on a multi-state dogfighting ring. This part was the most disturbing:

Many of those arrested in the raids appeared to live seemingly normal lives apart from their alleged ties to the shady world of dogfighting. One man arrested in Texas is a Little League coach; two men arrested in Missouri were a registered nurse and a teacher in a state-run school for the disabled, the Associated Press reported.

The other dogfighting issue that has been on my radar lately relates to the ultimate baddo dogfighter, Michael Vick.

ISAR, the International Society for Animal Rights, started a campaign against Michael Vick when Mr. Vick was released from prison and started working with the Humane Society (HSUS) and taking sensitivity courses with PETA. Here's the gist of ISAR's gripe against HSUS and Vick:
ISAR, along with many others in our movement, has received your “What’s next for Michael Vick” essay. You make a persuasive argument that Vick could, and I repeat could, be a force for good regarding the obscene practice of dog fighting. ISAR’s fear, however, and that of many of our colleagues in the animal protection movement, is that the allegedly repentant Michael Vick is actually the sociopath Michael Vick who is using HSUS to further his own professional and financial goals. Is Mr. Hyde still there, behind the façade of Dr. Jekyll?
I was a little conflicted about this at first. Yeah, I don't trust Vick, and I doubt that anyone who could do the things he did to helpless animals would really, truly change his ways. But I was unsure about the usefulness of this campaign. Yes, I agree that Vick's punishment wasn't fair, but I also know that it was unusually severe for an animal abuse case. I agree with ISAR's position that he shouldn't benefit from his dogfighting crimes. I guess I was unsure about how they would draw that line - if he gains publicity from campaigning against dogfighting with HSUS, does that count as benefiting from dogfighting? And while we're parsing this, is anyone else getting anything like a two-year prison sentence for dogfighting-or any other abuses?

I agree with ISAR's anti-Vick-benefiting-from-dogfighting stance. But. I also find this pretty legitimate:

If he makes the most of it, and demonstrates a sincere, long-term commitment to the task, then it may prove to be a tipping point in our campaign to eradicate dogfighting. If he demonstrates a fleeting or superficial interest, then it will be his own failing, not ours. Our campaign will march forward regardless. It’s up to him, and we at The HSUS reserve judgment until he demonstrates that he’s part of the solution rather than a further part of the problem.

Maybe if there had been an intervention program in Newport News 15 years ago, a young Michael Vick would have grown to love and respect pit bulls, and he would not have done these terrible things to dogs. For me, it’s not about Michael Vick and providing endless punitive treatment. It’s about stopping other young people from going down the road Vick took. It’s about having kids today put down their break sticks and destroy their pit bull treadmills.

So, I guess I'm still conflicted. I still have lots of questions. Like, would this be different if Michael Vick were white? If he were just a guy, and not a pro football player? Would people be more likely to belive that he could learn and change? Since he pretty much HAS to do a bunch of public "mea culpa" work if he expects to have any kind of career, is there any chance that this is sincere? What would he have to do to prove that he is serious about reforming and helping stop dogfighting?

I WANT to crush everyone who participates in dogfighting. Honestly - I kind of think there is something seriously wrong with anyone who can inflict that kind of suffering on a dog, or any other kind of sentient being. But I also want to help people see the error of their ways and start being part of the solution. I used to eat meat, and now I'm vegan. I used to be a pretty thoughtless, fickle, self-centered person and I have broadened my perspective in a variety of ways. Is it fair to assume that others are not capable of making the connection and becoming more compassionate?

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said the public can "definitely expect more" arrests and raids, because "dogfighting remains a distressingly widespread activity." I guess that although I'm still trying to figure out where I stand, I should focus on the areas where I AM on solid footing: DOGFIGHTING. SUPER-EVIL. Let's get to work to bring this to an end, by any reasonable means.

Veganism and Diabetes

Interesting research on the effects of a vegan diet on Type 2 diabetes (no news on Type 1) by the Physicians' Council for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).

Here's a link to a summary of results from the study. It was compared to the standard diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association for Type 2 diabetics. Ummm...I guess you've probably figured out that I wouldn't be posting about this if the vegan diet didn't pretty much rock that diabetes study, right?

PCRM has been advocating a lot of research into the effects of vegan diets. There are a bunch of clinical studies referenced at their website - all of them of interest to vegans, people worried about vegans, people thinking about becoming vegan, diabetic people, people who are concerned about heart disease, people who want to lose weight, people who are just interested in stuff, whatever.

Since you will notice that PCRM has conducted a lot of research concerning veganism, you might conclude that they have a vested interest in promoting veganism. Especially since they also state that they oppose unethical human experiments and animal testing. You might feel that they have a sneaky vegan agenda. Like this guy. Promoting research into nutrition, advocating for preventive medicine and higher ethical standards in research, establishing The Cancer Project, and the Washington Center for Clinical Research. Working with the National Institute of Health. Who does he think he is?

Their advisory board is impressive as well. T. Colin Campbell wrote "The China Study," which you should really read if you are a human who relies on food to live.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

A Useful Resource for Lettuce-killers

I have all kinds of useful resources linked to this blog, but I thought I'd draw some attention to this one, the FAQ section of Gary Francione's Abolitionist Approach website. Believe it or not, people really do confront vegans with questions and remarks like, "If everyone went vegan tomorrow, wouldn't the amount of vegetables we'd have to grow like, destroy the world?" or "I saw a study that PROVED that plants feel pain, so you're just as bad as everyone else and you might as well give up, carrot murderer."

I invite you to enjoy Dr. Francione's well-considered responses to many of these challenges.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Maybe

In light of the recent goring during the running of the bulls, and the goring of a matador during a bullfight, maybe it is time to discuss the senselessness of torturing animals for sport?

I mean, look at this. The bull has been horribly wounded. The man has been horribly wounded. Unfortunately, the bull will be killed regardless of what happens in the ring. The whole thing is just a bloody, horrible tragedy. Why do this?

Bullfighting is one of the most indefensible types of animal abuse. The running of the bulls is part of this tradition, and while I respect traditions, I also think that they are constantly being adapted and re-created by new generations of people.

My hope is that as new generations take on the responsibility of carrying on these traditions, they might decline to practice such wanton cruelty. I think, at this point, people have demonstrated their triumph over other animals. Anyone can do whatever they want, to any animal, no matter how depraved and sick, and there will be little or no punishment. Congratulations. At this point in our civilization, what does it prove for a group of humans to stab an animal to death?

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Veganomicon: Isa's "Smlove Pie"

I just noticed this pie the other day in the Veganomicon, and decided to try it. It's less trouble than it sounds like and it was WONDERFUL. I took it to a 4th of July Barbeque.

For the graham cracker crust:
12 graham crackers (or 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs)
1/4 cup canola oil

OR: I found a vegan chocolate cookie crust at Whole Foods and used that. I was short on time.

For the chocolate pie filling:
1 lb silken tofu (NOT the vacuum packed kind), drained
1/4 cup hazelnut liqueur (I used Kahlua and it was fine, or just use rice milk or soy milk)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons arrowroot
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

For the caramel peanut butter:
1/3 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or chunky, at room temperature
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup

For the maple candied pecans:
1 cup pecans
2 teaspoons canola oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup

For the chocolate drizzle:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or 1/4 cup chocolate chips)
1/4 cup soy or rice milk

Preheat oven to 350F.

Prepare the crust by processing the grahams into fine crumbs. Place them in a bowl and drizzle the oil into them. Use your fingertips or a fork to mix the oil in until all crumbs are moistened.

Spray a 10 inch pie plate with cooking spray. Pour the crumbs into the pie plate and firmly press them to the bottom and sides of plate. Set aside.

Prepare the filling:
First melt your chocolate. Crumble the tofu into a blender or food processor. Add the liqueur, vanilla and arrow root and blend until completely smooth. Scrape down the sides to make sure you get everything. Add the chocolate and blend again until completely combined.

Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 40 minutes. The center may still be jiggly, but that's fine. Let cool on a counter top for 10 minutes then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours, the top of the pie should be firm to the touch.

Meanwhile, prepare your candied pecans.

Have ready a large plate, preferably covered in parchment paper. Preheat a heavy bottomed frying pan over medium heat. Add the pecans and stir them very frequently for 3 minutes, until the start to brown. Stir constantly for 2 more minutes, until they are a few shades darker and relatively uniformly toasted. (If a few don't look toasted don't worry about it. That's better than having them burn.) Add the oil ans salt and stir for another minute. Add the maple syrup and stir constantly for about a minute. The maple syrup should get bubbly and dry.

Use a spatula to transfer the pecans to the plate and spread them out as much as you can, it's best if they aren't touching. Place in the fridge until ready to use.

Once the pie has been chilling for at least 3 hours, prepare the peanut butter caramel and chocolate drizzle. Have your pie out and ready to be assembled.

To prepare the caramel:
Here's the "by the book" method:

Stir all the ingredients together in a small sauce pan. Gently heat everything over low heat, stirring constantly with a fork, just until smooth and heated through. It should fall from your fork in ribbons. If it seems stiff, turn the heat off immediately and add a little extra brown rice syrup, until it's fluid again. This happens because different peanut butters have different amounts of moisture.

Here's what I did:
Just mixed it all together without cooking. It was fine.

Either way:
Pour the peanut butter over the center of the pie, leaving an inch or two at the edges because it spreads. Get your pecans and place them on top of the caramel, pressing them in firmly. You may have to break the pecans apart from each other if they were touching.

Prepare chocolate drizzle:
In a small sauce pan, heat the soy milk to boil. Once boiling, add the chocolate and lower heat. Use a fork to stir it until compeletely combined. Turn the heat off and let cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Isa says: "You can either drizzle the chocolate over the pie with a spoon, but I like to put it in a pastry bag fitted with a wide writing tip and drizzle it that way, in stripes."

I just did the spoon drizzle, and it was totally fine. See?



Chill for at least 10 minutes before serving.

So delightful! I thought it would be great with some soy whip or vegan ice cream. It's also totally fine, all by its lonesome.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Animal Rights Prof Says No Way to Consume Meat in Humane Way (and is correct)

By Gary L. Francione, Rutgers University School of Law - June 28, 2009 - see the original article over here at opposingviews.com.

You can watch the videos he mentions in the article here, at abolitionistapproach.com.

Scroll down and they're at the bottom. Or you can just take my word for it - the description he offers is accurate. They are profoundly difficult to watch. Nothing is worth doing that to any animal.

I never fail to be amazed when I hear people—including well-known promoters of animal welfare—claim quite remarkably that animals do not have an interest in continued life; they just have an interest in not suffering. They do not care that we use them; they care only about how we use them.

As long as they have a reasonably painless life and a relatively painless death, they do not care if we consume them or products made from them. I have discussed this issue in a number of essays on this site (see, e.g., 1; 2; 3) and in my books and articles. It will be a central topic in my forthcoming book, The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition or Regulation?, which I have co-authored with Professor Robert Garner and that will be published by Columbia University Press this fall.

On our video page, we have two videos from slaughterhouses. A significant number of visitors have viewed these videos and have written to us about them, particularly the video that does not show any slaughter. That video has obviously made an impact on many people and so I wanted to highlight it in a blog post.

The video shows two cows waiting in a chute to be led into the abattoir. An employee comes out and uses an electric prod to get the first cow to enter the abattoir. The second cow remains behind the door that has closed. She is clearly terrified. She knows that she is in trouble and this is not simply a matter of “instinct” (I do not even know what that means.) She is desperately looking for a way to get out of the chute. She may not have the same sorts of thoughts that beings who, like us, use symbolic communication, but it is clear that she has some equivalent sort of cognition. To say that she does not have a sense of having a life is beyond absurdity.

I find this video to be profoundly tragic on many levels. Watch it and then ask yourself whether animal organizations should be investing their time and your resources in trying to design “better” slaughterhouses or promoting “happy” meat, or whether we should all commit ourselves to veganism and to clear, unequivocal, nonviolent vegan education.

The video is apparently from a French slaughterhouse. But it does not really matter. All slaughterhouses are places of hell and unspeakable violence against the vulnerable. Never believe that such a place can ever be described as “humane” except by someone who is very deeply confused about fundamental issues of morality.

Someone who saw this video wrote to me and said the following:

"I am a vegetarian but have found it difficult to transition to veganism. My two weaknesses: ice cream and good Cheshire cheese. I watched this video. I looked into her eyes and I answered the question that you asked on your video page: “Is there anything that you want to eat that badly?” The answer was clear to me in a way it never was before. I am now a vegan. I also recognised that all of the suffering and death that is going on is not because of what “they” are doing but because of what “we” demand. You are right to say that “the people who are ultimately responsible are not those who own and operate the slaughterhouses; those who consume meat and animal products, who create the demand, bear the ultimate moral responsibility.”

Go vegan. Educate others in creative, nonviolent ways about veganism.