Coca-Cola Chili

         The Mid-South has two seasons: can't stand it, gotta whip your clothes off as soon as you come home, fry an egg on your forehead hot, and a bleak, grey, "Winter". I swear, I haven't seen the sun in nine days. It was about time to bring some heat back into my life. Thank goodness for this chili! Sweet and spicy enough to make your lips burn, this chili is just what the doctor ordered. I love the kinda dish that's easy as pie to make, smells so dang good everyone thinks you're Julia Child, and so filling and satisfying that you've gotta unbutton your pants after a bowl. A guaranteed crowd pleaser, this Coca-Cola chili is so heavenly you might find yourself ladling it over french fries at three in the morning. Not that I would know anything about that.

Time to assemble the troops. This may seem like an overwhelming amount of ingredients, but all you gotta do to them is throw 'em in a big ole stock pot. I'm making a double batch, cause I like to freeze half. This chili is perfect for cheese fries, chili dogs, tofu scramble, Mexican pizza, on top of veggie burgers, a whole host of different goodies. As far as replacing the ground beef found in traditional chili, I do recommend the Gardein brand. I have found I gotta work with it a little bit though, hence my addition of Liquid Smoke and Bragg's Liquid Amino's. Of course, you could leave it out entirely and just double up on beans.

The only real prep work involved is rinsing and draining your beans, and dicing your veggies.

Optional ingredient for my heat seekers: chocolate habanero! This added such a rich, deep, hotter than hot spice. I'm a spicy food fiend, but this is not for the faint of heart! You could replace with something milder, like jalepenos, or nothing at all if you prefer.

Sweat all your veggies while singing The Bad Touch by Bloodhound Gang. Necessary to sweating veggies properly.

Pour in all the liquid ingredients, give it a good stir, turn the heat down, pop a lid on it, and relax for a couple hours. Or, you know, vacuum, do laundry, run after your ten month old, scream on the phone with Comcast. Whatever floats your boat.

Serve it piping hot, when you can no longer wait on it any longer. Top it with a myriad of things, green onions, vegan sour cream and cheese, avocados, corn chips, anything! BUT I personally think it is crucial to always have some cornbread with chili.

Coca-Cola Chili

Author: The Porkless Peg

Serves: 16-20

INGREDIENTS

• 2  15 oz cans rinsed and drained kidney beans
• 2 15 oz cans rinsed and drained pinto beans
• 1 package beefless grounds (Gardein for example)
• 1 large sweeet onion, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, diced
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 habanero
• 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 12 oz can plum tomatos
• 1 10 oz can rotel
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 tbsp Sriracha
• 1 tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos
• 2 tsp Liquid Smoke
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp steak seasoning
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 16 oz Mexican Coca-Cola

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sweat onions, peppers, and garlic on medium high heat in a large stock pot until soft.
2. Add in beefless grounds, beans, and dry seasonings.
3. Add plum tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste, and all other wet ingredients. Give it a good stir, cover, and turn the heat to low.
4. Cook on low for two and a half hours, stirring every so often. Use wooden spoon to break up plum tomatoes.
5. Before serving, fish out bay leaves.
6. Ladle into bowls, topping with vegan sour cream and cheese, avocados, corn chips, or corn bread.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Classic Cream Cheese Frosting

               First snow of the year this morning! I know most of y'all would be running for the hot cocoa and chili, but there is just something about baking that really warms my soul. Baking carrot cakes especially. The way the spice cake smells as it bakes, creeping into every crevice of your home, hugging you in cinnamon, and enveloping you in warmth, is enough to send me up a wall!

                I've veganized this recipe from one of my Grandma's old recipe cards, a tried and true family favorite. To replace the original six eggs (yes, SIX eggs!), I have used apple sauce, upping the fiber content, and adding natural sweetness. You could maybe even tell yourself that these are healthy enough for breakfast! Licking the spoon was all it took to convince me, so I proceeded to stuff my face with seven.

Nothing quite as pretty as fresh, organic carrots!

I usually always have homemade apple sauce and pineapple puree on hand,
 cause they're some of my lil piglets favorites,
but store bought should work fine.

The spices are key to me for a perfect carrot cake. I prefer a blend of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger to give the cupcake a surprisingly spicy bite.

I threw some chopped walnuts in with the carrots, and the rest of the wet ingredients, but this tastes great with pecans, raisins, or nothing at all! I've made this with many different variations, and all have turned out as tasty as the next.

Gently fold in the dry batter with the wet, going in batches. I pour half the dry in, mix until it is incorporated, then repeat. Try not to overwork the batter.

Pairing these cupcakes with my classic "cream cheese" frosting is HIGHLY recommended. The sharp taste of the frosting really cuts the sweetness of the cupcake. I usually tend to garnish with pistachios, dried cranberries, or toasted coconut. All are as beautiful as they are delicious!

Well Butter My Biscuit

         My family is what you would call "Old Memphis". Being such, one must adhere to certain southern niceties. Namely, always having something to offer your guests.  My choice? These warm, flaky "buttermilk" biscuits. What could be better than offering your guests a plate stacked sky high with warm, buttery biscuits and a nice, cold pitcher of perfectly sweetened iced tea?!
       

First things first, we have to replace the buttermilk when veganizing Southern style biscuits. An easy trick is to just add any acid to your favorite non-dairy milk. I've mixed one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with a cup of almond milk, but you could use lemon or white vinegar as well. Let this chill in the fridge to curdle, while you work on your dry ingredients.

I like to sift my flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, but this is a completely unnecessary step. I do think it adds a certain fluffiness to the biscuit, but honestly I like doing this because it reminds me of chilly mornings baking biscuits with my Mama. Sifting flour was second only to licking the spoon!

Make sure when pinching your vegan butter in, and adding your "buttermilk" that everything is COLD. This is crucial to biscuit making.  When the biscuits are baking, the butter evaporates, and this is what causes the biscuits to have that perfect, flaky texture.

Pat, never roll, your biscuit dough out about an inch thick. I'm lucky enough to have my great, great, grandmothers biscuit cutter, but any old cup should do the trick!

Well butter my buns, and call me a biscuit!

Luck & Money

        Collard, turnip, and mustard; greens are a cornerstone of good Southern eatin'. A recent study even measured the effectiveness of greens against the prescription drug Choloestyramine for lowering and blocking the body's cholesterol. Wildly enough, greens beat out the drug by thirteen percent! And mine ain't made with no damn ham hocks or fat back either.
        It being the new year and all, I figured it was about time to return to this classic dish. Growing up, my Mama always made sure I ate my black eyed peas and greens for good luck and a fat pocket. If we can foretell my year from the way I gobble up these black eyed pea cakes and sweet, smoky greens, in 2015 I'll be fuller than a tick and sittin' in high cotton!

As with most things, it is better to get your hands a lil dirty to form these cakes

Don't you dare waste any of that good pot likker!

Hey Y'all

       Confession time: I love pork.  Specifically, barbecue. Oh, sweet baby Jesus, do I love barbecue. I mean, I'm from Memphis, home of Central BBQ, Three Little Pigs, and of course Charles Vegos' Rendezvous for cryin' out loud. When I dream, it is of smoke assaulting my vision, stickiness covering my fingers and dripping from my chin, and that sweet, tender meat melting in my mouth. Ecstasy. I used to carry wet wipes on my person at all times for such occasions.
      Confession number two: I am a masochist. Perhaps that is why I transitioned into veganism around a year ago. Adios, fish tacos. Arrivederci, buttery Italian leather boots. Au revoir, to God's gift to this blessed earth, macaroni and cheese. Or so I thought. Apparently, I am a maven in the kitchen. I guess that's what you get when your mother's idea of home cookin' is the nearest Chinese take away menu (sorry, Mama). When I realized I didn't have to eat self-described "rabbit food" all day it really lit a fire under my ass. Soon, I even found myself immersed in a world of cruelty free makeup and Matt & Nat handbags. And, you know what? I don't miss the pig. Really, I don't! I have never felt lighter, more energized, and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in my life.
       So, here we are. After encouragement from friends and family, I have succumbed to the blogosphere. I'm here to show you that you can still be a Southern soul-food lover while eating and living vegan. Richly, luxuriously, sinfully vegan.

Always, Peggy