Adventures in Vegetarian Marshmallow Making

I didn’t publicize it too much, but I moved back to Colorado for awhile. Since I wont be in Spain to celebrate with my friends for Christmas I decided to send a box of homemade cookies and marshmallows to them. I had everything all set up and was about to open the packs of gelatin to get the marshmallows started when I thought…uh oh…is this gelatin made from Pork? Most of my friends in Spain don’t eat pork for various reasons so I would feel terrible sending them something that I knew had pork in it. Turns out Knox brand and all the store-brand gelatins are made from pork and beef.

Not a problem, I thought. How hard can it be to get pork-free gelatin? After all, Denver is a great foodie town. My dad and I hopped in my car and went on what turned out to be LONG tour of Denver’s different super markets. We went to 3 Arab super markets, Whole Foods, a Kroger brand super market, Vitamin cottage and a Korean super market. No luck. While we were out driving my dad found out that there is a kosher supermarket not that far from where we live. I went there the next day and was happy to find Leiber’s Unflavored Jel which is a vegan gelatin made from a product of a chemical reaction. I had done some research which said that this stuff substitutes for regular gelatin without problems, so I bought 2 boxes and headed back to the kitchen.



It did not work. At all. The marshmallows turned out like the texture of the inside of a Junior Mint and had a disgusting aftertaste. I was starting to get defeated, but I am never one to give up on something in the kitchen.

Marshmallow fail

Luckily, I have been keeping up with this season of Top Chef and remembered that one of the contestants made a shrimp noodle with agar agar. Agar agar is a vegan substitute for gelatin and is made from algae. While we were at the Korean supermarket I picked up 2 packets of powdered agar agar to play around with. Get your Agar Agar Here.



Once the Leiber’s marshmallows failed miserably I started looking for a recipe for agar agar marshmallows. Again, this turned out to be way harder than I thought. Don’t get me wrong, there are many bloggers with recipes for them. Only one of them has a recipe that works.
First, I will tell you all the ones that didn’t work.

University of Indiana: Vegetarian Marshmallows
Inhabitots: Vegan Marshmallows
Oh My Sweetie Pie: Vegan Marshmallows
Vegetarian.Lovetoknow: Vegan Marshmallows

Yes…I did try all of those. Side note to all of you recipe hunters: If you are going to try a recipe off a blog, make sure you read the comments. If the recipe doesn’t work, you’d better believe the readers will let the blog writer know.

At this point I was about ready to give up, but while on hold to sign up for health insurance I came across an interesting website that said vegan marshmallows usually don’t work because they need some sort of strong protein (ie. animal protein) to hold them together. This explains why none of the recipes listed above worked.

Deep in the pages of Google I came across the blog Be Miam and her recipe for Agar Agar Marshmallows. To make up for the lack of animal protein she uses egg whites. I was so happy to find out that based on the comments, her marshmallows actually worked! And they did!!!! These marshmallows turn out a little more dense and less squishy than normal marshmallows, but considering how many failures I had before I was unbelievably excited to finally have a recipe that works! Thanks Miam.

Agar Agar Marshmallows from Be Miam Christmas-ified by me
Note: These marshmallows don’t do well in hot chocolate.

Ingredients:
3 egg whites or vegan egg substitute
8.82 ounces Sugar
3.38 fl.oz water
1 Tbs Honey
1 Tsp Agar Agar Powder
1 cup crushed peppermint candies
Powdered sugar for dusting (about 1 cup)

Directions:

• Grease a 4x4 baking dish and line with parchment paper. Brush the parchment paper with cooking oil.
• While preparing the rest of your ingredients, dissolve the agar agar in 100ml of cold water.
• In a small sauce pan, boil the sugar, honey and agar agar until it reaches 250 F on a candy thermometer.
• Whisk egg whites in an electric mixer until they are very firm. You should be able to take out the whisk and have the egg whites stand up in peaks.
• When the sugar mixture reaches 250 F, lower the mixer to a slower speed (so the hot syrup won’t splash out and burn you) and slowly pour in the syrup mixture.
• Once all the syrup is in, raise the speed to high and mix until the syrup is incorporated.
• Add the candies and mix until they are blended in.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and let dry for at least 10 hours.
• Once the marshmallows are dry, unmold them and cut to your desired size.
• Roll the marshmallows in powdered sugar and enjoy!

Barcelona Eat Guide Giveaway!

This is the first year of my three years in Spain that I haven’t been able to go to Barcelona. I’m pretty bummed about it because it is one of my favorite cities in Spain. I usually spend all day walking around looking at the pretty buildings and stopping about every 45 minutes to snack on something.
Finding a good restaurant in a city that big and touristy can sometimes be tougher than it seems. I have been tricked a few times thinking that I was getting a good deal, or eating where the locals are only to find out I got stuck with the tourist prices and menu.

Fidua or noodle paella

Luckily for you, future Barcelona travelers, I have two copies of this amazing e-book from the authors of The Spain Scoop about restaurants in Barcelona to give away! It was written by an American and her husband who is from Barcelona, so you can get a true locals perspective of where the best restaurants are. It has tons of Spanish/Catalan listings and some other cuisines, too, for the days when you just don’t feel in the mood for Spanish food. There are lots of different price points and restaurants from all over the city. It is a great resource to have on your phone, ipad, kindle or whatever other device you have.

Regina and Adrian, the authors of Barcelona Eat Guide

One of my favorite parts is reading the little stories the authors have about each restaurant from the first time they tried it. I have a bunch of places bookmarked to try when I make it back to Barcelona (hopefully) soon!

What food are you most interested to try in Barcelona?

UPDATE: The contest is over and the winners have been notified. :) If you didn't win you can still get your very own copy here.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Food Mule

Food Mule [ˈfuːd ˈmjuːl]
Noun [c]
A person who takes food products between countries: Her suitcase is full of food, she must be a food mule.

This is the definition of me whenever I travel. It is pretty common knowledge that when I travel, one of the first things I want to visit is the city’s markets. There I usually window shop and pick up a few things to keep in my bag for snacks for travel. Before I leave whatever country I am in I usually buy a few foodie souvenirs to take back and enjoy at home.

Here are a few of the random things I have picked up over my travels:

Portugal: A bottle of Port and a bottle of cherry liquor
Belgium: Chocolate (of course!)
Poland: A bottle of Bison Grass Vodka and salt
Palestine: Za’atar and Arabic coffee
Italy: (I literally wanted to buy everything I saw, but we flew Ryanair. ) Orzo, Farro, and Spinach pasta.
Austria: Salt

I try to buy something special from every country I visit. It is always nice to cook with a little reminder of your travels.

My most recent trip was to Colorado (my home state!) Since I went home for Christmas I had to bring back food presents for everyone. Whenever I send a package to my parents I include some Spanish saffron and, if I can find them, pine nuts from Spain. So shopping for their Christmas present was very easy! Rice from Valencia, Saffron from Spain and a real Paella pan! My cousin got some saffron as well.



My all time top food mule experience was leaving the US. I had some friends ask me for candy from the US. I am also addicted to Reese's so I had to load up on those as well. Also included was some instant yeast, cream of tartar, maple sugar,  candy canes for my adult students and BBQ rub. I was very lucky this time that I didn’t have much clothes to take back! What’s your favorite thing to buy when traveling??

A Super Expat Thanksgiving

When I was growing up Thanksgiving was never a holiday I really understood why people got excited for. My family is full of good cooks, so we had gourmet meals practically every day. So, for us Thanksgiving was just a day to eat dinner at 3pm and in the dining room instead of the kitchen.

My feelings on Thanksgiving took a 180 turn once I moved abroad. Suddenly, I was very excited to share this American holiday with all my new friends! I have been lucky enough to be able to celebrate my 3 years here with people from all over the world. Here is the story of my first Spanish Thanksgiving 2 years ago, a very eclectic mix of food. Last year was a small celebration with my good friend, Roisin, who was visiting from England.

My vegetarian Thanksgiving with Roisin

This year I wanted to make Thanksgiving as traditional as possible. Since we don’t have a break here, we had to celebrate the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I spent the week preparing the menu and gathering the ingredients. Going off tradition, I didn’t get a turkey because I didn’t order it in time (oops!) So, we ended up with 2 chickens instead. The funny thing about poultry here, is it isn't as clean as it would be in the US. Sometimes there are still big feathers in the skin and little feathers that need to be burned off. Friday night, I went through each bird with a pair of pliers to take out the rest of the big feathers. Then, to get the small feathers off, Mo made a blow torch with the stove. I was a little worried we would explode, but it all worked out in the end.

Saturday morning I woke up early to start preparing everything. First thing to hit the oven was a pumpkin pie made from homemade pumpkin puree (actually a butternut squash.) Thanks to King Arthur Flour for the amazing recipe.

Beautiful color!

The pie. DELICIOUS!

Mashed potatoes are my specialty, and something I always have been in charge of for Thanksgiving back home. I FINALLY found “my” secret ingredient (I stole the idea from my mom, who has been nice enough to let me claim it as my own. Thanks mom!) so I was very excited to be able to make the perfect potatoes. I forgot how much time they take to peel! Well worth the time though.

After the potatoes were done I started on the stuffings. There were two vegetarians at the meal so I made one for the chickens and one with a watered down cream of mushroom soup for the base. Man, it turned out good! The stuffings were both flavored with rosemary, thyme and sage. We were very lucky to have some dried sage in the house all the way from Palestine! Although sage grows in the mountains near Valencia, I have, unfortunately, never seen it in the stores here.

After all those dishes were done, I took a quick nap and went out for a coffee to try to get ride of a headache that was bothering me all day. A side effect of some antibiotics for strep throat.

When I was ready for the kitchen again, my roommate was finally awake to help me with the chickens. To keep with the flavors of the stuffing we made a butter, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme and dried sage rub for under the skin of the chickens. We had a little too much fun listening to Christmas carols and dancing with the chickens while they were sitting on beer cans to let the rest of the blood drain.

Notice the green twine....

A few hours before our guests arrived we finished the stuffing the chickens. I realized then that we didn’t have any butchers twine! Luckily, she had some string from a craft project that worked just fine. It was colored though, so the only thing that was going through my head while we were tying the legs together was the scene from the movie Bridget Jones’s Diary where she uses blue Christmas ribbon to tie some herbs for a soup and the soup comes out blue! Luckily, our chickens came out a perfect toasty brown color and not green.

The spread!

The desserts! Homemade pumpkin and apple pies

This was probably my favorite of all the Thanksgivings I have had here. It was full of great people and great food. Did I mention we had 4 countries represented?? Talk about a true expat party!

American, Palestinian, Egyptian, Spanish, American, American. A very international Thanksgiving!

Tourist in My Own City: Mercado Central

As many of you may know, one of my favorite things to do is go to the city food markets and window shop. Most Mondays and Wednesdays after my Arabic class, I will go to Valencia’s Mercado Central to wander around and get some inspiration for meals for the week.

This market is right in the center of the city, just a few minutes walk from the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. It is a huge building with a lot of space to walk around in. So, instead of fighting through huge crowds, like in Barcelona’s La Boqueria, you can actually take your time and enjoy looking at all the delicious food. The market is divided into two parts. The meat and vegetables are in the front and all the fish and seafood are in the back.

Right in the middle of the market is a big open space. Look up when you get here and you will see a beautifully painted dome which reaches up 30 meters. This open space is sometimes used for events. Even Spain’s first season of Master Chef has filmed here!

Top Chef

This market has a long history similar to La Boqueria. It began as an outdoor traveling market, in 1839 it became a permanent market called Mercado Nuevo (New Market). Some years later, it started to become too small for the expanding city. After seeing many architectural plans for a building the government decided on a design form architects Alejandro Soler March and Francisco Guardia Vial. Construction began in 1910 and finished in 1928. King Alfonso XIII was the leader at the ground breaking ceremony.

Both tourists and locals frequent this market every day. It is one of the highlights of a trip to Valencia! But, make sure you go in the morning. It is open Monday to Saturday from 8:00-2:30. But most of the stalls start packing up around 2.

The Greatest Food in the World

How can I have a blog about being a foodie and not dedicate a post to the best cuisine in the world (Italian)? Like I mentioned in my Walnut Pesto post, Italian food has been a part of my life for a LONG time. So, when I go to Italy I take full advantage of eating as much as possible. Luckily, this time I didn’t actually gain any weight! lucky me! I chalk it up to being cheap and not taking the metro.

Click the picture to see more flags made from their country's traditional food!

 

Pizza

America’s favorite Italian food. It is a lot different in Italy than it is in the US. The crust is a lot thinner and homemade (at least at every restaurant I have been to in Italy). The toppings are also a little more adventurous than in the US. In the US its taboo to eat an entire pizza, but this is the norm in Italy! Since the crust is so thin a whole plate size pizza makes a perfect meal. One of my favorite things about pizza in Italy is when you can find it cooked in a wood fire oven. The taste is unbeatable!

Pasta

 

In my opinion,it is so much better in Italy than in the US because most places, apart from the tourist restaurants, make their own. It is delicious when you have homemade pasta! There are so many different shapes and sizes in Italy they would need their own blog! My favorites are the stuffed pasta. There are endless combinations from basic cheese and herbs to foie gras and seafood! So much fun! My most favorite stuffed pasta of all time is pumpkin or butternut squash with a sage butter sauce. Very simple and VERY delicious. Also, incredibly easy to make!

 

Gelato

 

Ice cream’s more delicious sibling. Gelato is a lot creamier and softer than the traditional American ice cream. Its soft texture and higher serving temperature make it so you can taste the flavors more. This is an interesting article I found awhile ago that talks about the differences between ice cream and gelato. One tip I can give for people looking for good gelato in Italy: stay away from the shops with extreme colors of gelato. (For example, pistachio gelato should be a pale green, not a bright crayon color)Just don’t even try at those places, the faker the color the faker the flavor. There are tons of artisanal gelato shops and are definitely worth the walk down the side street! Trust me, I think I have eaten my weight in gelato after 3 trips to Italy!



This is just the tip of the iceberg of all the food I could talk about Leave me a comment if you have a delicious Italian food story!

Recipe: Walnut Pesto

I recently just returned from my third trip to Italy (Stay tuned for posts about that!) I love living in Spain, but if I had the chance to live it Italy I would take it in a heartbeat. I love everything about Italian culture. The people, the architecture, the art and of course the food!

When I was 16 I started working as a hostess at an Italian restaurant called Mama Roma. I was lucky enough to have a boss who was willing to let me start working back of house almost immediately. I wanted to be a chef for the longest time so I was incredibly happy for the opportunity. I learned so much there and was really sad when I had to quit to go to college.

Me checking a pizza at Mama Roma

The summer between my freshman and sophomore year in college I started as a prep cook at the now defunct Grazio Italian Bar and Grill. I worked under an amazingly talented chef, that, unfortunately, the owners refused to use his talents. Never the less I learned a ton from him.

So as you can see, Italian food has been a part of my life for A LONG time. I love cooking it at home for friends and family.

My all time favorite herb is basil and whenever I have enough from one of my plants I jump at the opportunity to make some pesto.

Most pesto recipes use pine nuts. But, these are expensive, and lately are becoming increasingly hard to find nuts not grown in China in the US. So, using walnuts is a great alternative.

Here is my simple recipe for Walnut Pesto:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Place the basil leaves, olive oil, walnuts, and garlic in a emersion blender or food processer and mix until well blended.
• add parmesan cheese and continue blending until everything is well mixed.
• At this point, you can add more olive oil to achieve the consistency you want. Also add salt and pepper to your liking.

That’s it! Super easy right? No need to buy a 4 dollar bottle anymore! Enjoy this pesto with pasta and chicken or just on a piece of toast with some fresh tomatoes.

Delicious!

Birthday Cheesecake

I love celebrating birthdays. Not so much mine, but other peoples. I like to make them feel special. One of my favorite things to do is bake and try out new recipes so birthdays where I can give people a cake as their present are perfect in my mind.

My boyfriend’s 29th birthday was on August 10th. I had been planning what I was going to do for months before. I bought him a NY Yankees hat that he had been eyeing and then had to use all my power to make sure he didn’t buy it himself. Of course, as soon as I bought one online, they showed up in ALL the stores here. So, I am proud of myself that I succeeded.



He has told me many times that he has never celebrated his birthday, even when he was a kid, since he was from such a big family. So, this was his first real birthday party! I couldn’t let him down.
His favorite candy is snickers and I have always wanted to try making a cheesecake. So, what’s better than a snickers cheesecake?

 

I used the recipe from My Baking Addiction, one of my favorite blogs with tons of delicious recipes. Let me tell you it turned out AMAZING. Like seriously perfect. No cracks, no crevasses and super creamy. Everyone loved it.



I also made the caramel sauce on top from Two Peas and their Pod which was a perfect complement to the not overly sweet cheesecake.