VeganMoFo 1: “World Class Vegan Express” cooking class + a biscuit recipe!

Happy Vegan MoFo!

Homemade biscuits that I learned how to make in Robin Asbell's NGI class last month.

Yep, it’s the Vegan Month of Food and that means hundreds of vegan food bloggers are committing to blogging five – seven days a week … about nothing but vegan food!  I did this last year, just four months after I started blogging, and I loved it. It challenged me as a blogger and, more importantly, it challenged me in the kitchen. My omnivore husband even got involved.

So, here we go!  I hope to post for the next 31 days!

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I love taking cooking classes.  Last month I teased you the morning after taking a fun, and delicious, class at the Natural Gourmet Institute with Robin Asbell.

I teamed up with Brandy and Daniel to make this gorgeous Korean Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Asian Pears.

Brandy and I made the Crunchy Buckwheat Biscuits (recipe below).

While I worked on the above mentioned dishes, other classmates made delicious eats:

The Minted Fettoush Salad with Seitan,

I-Tal Vegetable Rundow with Golden Quinoa  and  Chinese Tempeh Lettuce Wraps with Himalayan Red Rice,

Simple Chinese Cucumber Salad, Sushi Bar Seaweed Salad,

Mediterranean Kale Carrot and Edamame Saute

and Sweet Moroccan Glazed Tofu on Teff Polenta.

We prepped the buffet and then we ate!

Robin Asbell–the genius behind the gorgeous food we cooked, served and ate–has a fabulous teaching style.  She provided “loose” instruction, meaning she made a point to go from each station per dish and shared food facts, cooking techniques, etc. but then she just let us run with it.  Cut it the way you want; sure, bake it a few more minutes.  It was such a casual class, encouraging us to use our intuition, which is how I am inspired to learn. If you ever get a chance to take a class with her, do it!

Robin also has a new cookbook, Big Vegan,

and it is indeed big and it is wonderful! After an “Intro to the Vegan World” Robin lays her book out with chapters that cover pantry staples, breakfast, breads (you know I love my bread!), sauces and condiments, appetizers and snacks, salads, soups, side dishes, main courses, grilling, desserts and also includes resources and an ingredients glossary. Truly, if you are new to vegan eating, this is a terrific cookbook to help you along.

Because Robin is so nice, or perhaps because we realized that we have a childhood friend in common, she gave me permission to share the Crunchy Buckwheat Biscuits with you!  I made them at home a week after class and they came out perfectly!

Crunchy Buckwheat Biscuits
from Big Vegan by Robin Asbell

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup raw buckwheat groats
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I used organic whole grain pastry flour)
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional) NOTE: We did not use it in class but I used it at home, both ways are delicious.
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil or Earth Balance margarine (chilled) NOTE:  I used coconut oil in class and at home.
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 3/4 cup So Delicious coconut milk (or plain rice milk) NOTE: I used So Delicious coconut milk in class and at home.

PROCEDURE

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.  Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable oil.
2. In a large bowl, mix the buckwheat, flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Using the large holes on a grater, grate the cold oil into the flour mixture, tossing the shreds to coat with flour.  Use your fingers to work the shreds into corn kernel sized bits.
3. Place the vinegar in a measuring cup and then add coconut milk to make 3/4 cup. Quickly stir the liquids into the flour mixture, don’t over mix.
4. Use a scant 1/4 cup measure to scoop rounds of dough,  then tap them out onto the prepared pan, leaving 2 inches between the biscuits.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the bottoms are browned and the tops are golden.  Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

People, these biscuits are good!  Want more great recipes like this? Pick up Big Vegan STAT!

Finally, one of the reasons the cooking class was so special is because my close friend Lee, who you know as The Vegan Version, came to NYC and we enjoyed a girlfriend weekend that concluded with a vegan blogger meet-up over lunch at Candle 79…

…which I will write about later this month. See?  Still a tease.

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Did you see the latest Stop Chasing Skinny post yesterday? Check out This week’s body image links to love (9/30/11)

Tagged as: cooking class, natural gourmet institute, vegan cooking class