Strangely enough yesterday was the first time I had ever ventured into the Tenderloin. I had heard fables and tall tales abut how awful and scary the Tenderloin is, equivalent to Vancouver’s Surrey. In fact, the Tenderloin is a gem and only those daring enough to adventure into it’s decrepit belly are going to experience an important part of San Francisco history.  My friend from Albuquerque (Kayla) just so  happens to live in the Tenderloin so she invited me to her neck of the woods for brunch on Sunday morning.

I’ve been to a lot of coffee shops and cafés in my day, all of which have either be part of the homogenous blob of capitalism or unique to their own neighbourhood. Little Bird is a perfect example of a small café that keep true to the vibrance of their neighbourhood by keeping there menu simple, but versatile and having the walls  be a stage for Tenderloin art and artists.

I had no idea what to expect when I visited this gem in the heart of the Tenderloin. Upon entering I immediately realized that almost every item on there menu was veganizable. Hell yeah! Their options for sandwich fillings were also incredible, house roasted tomatoes, hummus, avocados, garlic, vegan pesto, daiya. Amazing!!

After I ordered, the woman making my sandwich came and sat down next to me to inform me she was out of tofu scramble for the sandwich, but would make me a sandwich with avocado, daiya, hummus and roasted tomatoes. It was $4, panini pressed, delicious! I couldn’t be more happy in my surroundings with the service and with the food. Next time I go back I’m going to be prepared to try everything I can on the menu, especially this thing they call a kombuchosa, locally-made kombucha mixed with oj!

Thank you little bird for putting faith back into small cafés for me. Vancouver take note!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/little-bird-coffeehouse-san-francisco

0.5 cup cooked or canned beans, drained (I used pinto because I had them)
1 cup vegetable or mushroom broth
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp soy sauce (I only had 2 tsp Braggs, but wish I could have used 2 tbsp soy sauce)
1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
2 cloves garlic, pressed, minced, or grated
1.25 cups vital wheat gluten
0.25 cup nutritional yeast
2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed with a knife – some whole, some crushed
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground celery seed
Freshly grated pepper
1/4 cup diced green apple

I would recommend playing with the spices… I wasn’t totally sure what to do here. It’s good but could probably be more mindblowing!

I followed the technique for the Cherry Sage Sausage recipe from Vegan Brunch. Get ready to steam – get your water boiling. I usually steam with a metal strainer (or more recently, a drop-in metal steamer) set into a big pot with a lid. Also, have four pieces of tinfoil ready.

In a large bowl, mash the beans until no whole ones are left. Toss the rest of the ingredients in and then mix it all together with a fork. Separate into four even portions, then roll each one in tin foil – as a tube. Twist the ends to make sure your tin foil tubes are sealed.

Steam the tin foil tubes for 40 minutes.

After steaming.

Texture.

After I finished steaming them, I put 3 in the fridge and opened the fourth. I cut it into slices and fried it up with my tofu scramble. One sausage was so much more than I needed that I’m not sure what I’m going to do with myself. Groan, I guess.

I was reluctant to let this recipe go, but as any good cook knows, it isn’t the recipe that makes a good cook. It’s the passion and creativity that goes into the creation of each element. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do, it’s the best pancake recipe I’ve come across, hands down.

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I love southern food and I love whiskey. Two loves come together to bring you this week’s southern style brunch menu.

MENU

BENEDICT
Moist, southern-style cornbread topped with barbecue tempeh, tomato, caramelized onion, and a fresh shaved fennel and cabbage slaw. Served with scalloped potatoes.

PANCAKES
Rice and buckwheat flour gluten-free pancakes flavoured with orange and currants. Served with a decadent whiskey butter sauce and fresh fruit. This option is gluten-free.

SOUTHERN BREAKFAST
Creamy baked beans and maple-soaked greens with homemade fennel and apple sausage. Served with potatoes, coleslaw, and a piece of cornbread. This option is soy- and gluten-free.

Last Saturday (January 29th) we hosted our fourth Vegan Mischief brunch, but the first that was entirely managed by Kaylie and I. It went swimmingly! I was really impressed with everything – we had a great group of friends and strangers come out to eat, and everyone loved their food. It went well enough that we’re going to do it again this weekend – and good thing, too, because we had reservations piling up for February 5th before last weekend’s brunch was even on the table!

I was way too busy to be taking photos, but luckily my lovely friend Jocelynn grabbed the camera and shot a few pictures of our first seating at 10:30am. I’ve also included some photos I took with my phone.

This is totally brilliant. Zoa of The Airy Way devised this incredible recipe for vegan egg yolks, which I made last night, and it is absolutely mindblowingly incredible. As a long-time vegan who misses runny yellow egg yolks more than anything else in the world, I would like to say that this recipe may have changed my life a little. And it was incredibly easy.

Airy Way photo

I made a few alterations to the recipe, so I’ll post my version here. For hers, visit her post. She does hers in the microwave, but I prefer to do things on the stove – plus I have a really small saucepan. This recipe bears doubling quite well.

Vegan Egg Yolks (makes 2)

1 tbsp Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
1/2 tbsp Vegenaise
1+ tbsp vegetable juice (I used V8)
2 tbsp vegetable broth (or 1 tbsp nutritional yeast and 2 tbsp water)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp tapioca starch
1/8 tsp black salt (optional)

Combine all ingredients in your smallest saucepan over medium heat. Whisk slowly but constantly until it’s got a pudding-like consistency. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, re-mix, then use as yolk. I spooned mine on top of some tofu scramble.

I won’t lie – this is one of my most successful dishes. I perfected the recipe about four years ago and haven’t looked back. It employs several of my favourite ingredients, which you will find in many of my signature recipes. For more information about what these ingredients are and where to get them, check out our ingredients & tools page.

In lieu of fenugreek leaves, you might want to try tarragon, or even basil.

1 block firm tofu, drained
3+ tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
1+ tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/2 onion, diced
1+ tbsp vegetable oil for frying
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 handfuls mushrooms, bite-sized or chopped
1 crown broccoli, separated into bite-sized pieces
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 small zucchini, chopped

Note: omit some vegetables if you like, or add different ones – mind your cooking times.

Crumble tofu into a bowl. (It’s easier to crumble a block of tofu if you slice it first.) Add nutritional yeast, fenugreek, salt, mustard, and 2 – 3 tbsp of coconut milk. Mix until the tofu is evenly coated. Add more nutritional yeast or fenugreek here.

Sauté onion in oil in a medium-sized, deep-walled frying pan over medium heat until soft. Add garlic and mushrooms; toss and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tofu and cook, tossing regularly, until golden – about 10 minutes. Add the broccoli, red pepper, zucchini, and the rest of the coconut milk, mix, and cover. Let it steam for 5 – 6 minutes until the broccoli is bright green and tender.

Serve with hot EB’d toast.

After a long night of drinking, kissing and eating it’s important to reinvigorate your body with a flavourful breakfast. It isn’t to hard to use elements of last night dinner to create a tofu scram that is more satisfying than the dinner you had the night before.

Things you need:

1 yellow onion (cut into rings)

4 cloves of garlic (minced)

5 kale leaves

1 C Portabello & Red Wine Tomato Sauce (refer to prior post)

2 Tbs vegan margarine

1 lemon

1/2 small zucchini

8 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

6 white button mushrooms

1 tps Tarragon

Salt

Place garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 block tofu, & portobello tomato sauce in a bowl and let set until you are done prepping everything else.

In a skillet, sauté onions rings with vegan margarine until slightly brown and caramelized.  Add sliced mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and tarragon until mushrooms and tomatoes are slightly soft. Add tofu mix, a pinch of salt and kale. Let simmer stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes in total. Add zucchini last and only let the whole mixture sauté for only 3 minutes more, you don’t want your zucchini to be over cooked!

Plate your scram and add a squirt of lemon juice on top!

Make toast, slice fruit, pour coffee and eat!

Last weekend, I didn’t have my camera – I’d left it at a friend’s house – so when Kaylie and I started putting together this incredible breakfast, we decided to record it on video. After many painstaking hours subtitling it for the deaf and hard of hearing, during which iMovie crashed as if on a 15-minute schedule, the video is done! Voila, here’s Kaylie and I being dorky!

In this video, I used a variation on the tofu egg patty I keep talking about but which I feel nobody has actually tried to make. (That’s okay, it means you’ll come to my restaurant someday, right?)

Let us know if you want some more clarification on how we did anything in this video – I personally think K should share the recipe for those potato rice cakes.

I recently went on a bike trip with my brother down the west coast. I was met with a barrage of questions on how I could stay true to my veganism during such a strenuous adventure. Here are a few creative recipes that kept my brother and I energized while on the road.

TVP and Broccoli over Pre-cooked rice

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