I Can't Even Deal With: "Garage Sale Mystery" on TVby Randi / September 6, 2013
Hello everyone! If you are sticking with me through all of this “Fun with Friends” veganization, then you know that on Monday, I had a very interesting experience that left me feeling for a while like the guys do in the picture at left. It was a bit rough at times, a bit revolting, but overall it was really fun. And you know what?
I also apparently missed an opportunity to overuse “Friends” pictures. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.
Anyway, we’re moving on and today we’re going to try to create something delicious for a friend’s birthday. And, with Monica Fallula Gellar as the source of all wisdom, the most sophisticated way to celebrate a birthday is with birthday flan. Remember? From “The One With Two Parties”:
Phoebe: Ok, here are the birthday candles. Where’s the birthday cake?
Monica: Ok, we’re not having birthday cake, we’re having birthday flan.
Chandler: Excuse me?
Monica: It’s a traditional Mexican custard dessert.
Joey: Oh that’s nice, Happy birthday Rachel, here’s some goo.
Ok, all of the Friends were rightly skeptical of the flan idea – who wants goo instead of birthday cake? Birthday cake rocks. I would never serve flan as the sole dessert on a birthday. That’s pretty sad. Sorry Monica. Today, we’ll make mini flans, which will leave room in the belly for lots of birthday cake and ice cream and whatever other goodies want to play. And, since I have about an hour to do this, we’re going to give it JUST ONE SHOT. I hope you are crossing those fingers and toes!
Let’s just go for it.
Let’s just go for it.
Using the above ingredients, I created a really simple custard that we’re going to call flan. It took a total of like 20 minutes (not counting chilling time), and it tasted pretty good.
Ingredients
- 1.5C unsweetened almond milk, separated
- 1/2t agar powder
- 1t cornstarch
- 1/4C sugar
- 1/2t cinnamon
- 1/2T coconut oil
- pinch salt
Directions:
- In a sauce pan over high heat, mix 1C milk and the agar, and bring to a boil. Turn down to medium or med-high, keep it at a low boil for about 5 minutes, and stir often.
- Mix the other 1/2C milk and cornstarch in a measuring cup, then add to the sauce pan. Bring to boil, turn down heat to a low boil. Keep stirring
- Add the sugar and cinnamon. Stir while mixture is bubbling at a low boil for about 5 minutes.
- Add the coconut oil and salt. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes, keep stirring.
- Pour mixture into small ramekins or dishes (it filled two 4-inch ramekins for me) and refrigerate for at least an hour
This turned out pretty nicely! I topped the little bowls of goo with a burnt sugar caramel, made by just boiling sugar and Earth Balance in the same pot I made the flan in. Not bad!
It’s nice to be able to make such a custard in case friends or guests ever request such a thing, which they likely will. Just not on their birthdays! Monica, I love you, but you should’ve made Rachel a birthday cake. (And never invite her parents anywhere!)
It’s nice to be able to make such a custard in case friends or guests ever request such a thing, which they likely will. Just not on their birthdays! Monica, I love you, but you should’ve made Rachel a birthday cake. (And never invite her parents anywhere!)
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Sarajevo Vegan Scene: Zaatar & Co. Restaurant
Zaatar & Co. is one of the few Middle Eastern restaurants in the region. I dumbly expected to find a lot of hummus on this trip, I don’t know why. (Because hummus should be available like water, right?) However, this was the only place I could find it. So, if you’re like me, that should be enough motivation to go here.
Man alive, did we have trouble finding this place. All of the info from Google maps and Happy Cow is WRONG. Like, wrong sections of the city wrong, not just wrong side of the street wrong. The restaurant is actually located just off the main street in the Old Town, across from Caffe Libris and generally behind the Old Synagogue. Luckily, there was a clapboard sign on the main road leading to the alley.
We had such a hilarious time here. First of all, when we walked in, the owner proclaimed, “Bosnia is out of chickpeas.” It was kind of hysterical. She explained that there was something of a chickpea shortage going on, resulting in exorbitant prices, and they were out of them that day. I was on the verge of tears, because it had been almost a week without hummus. Luckily, she checked for me, and found some hummus and falafel stored in the fridge from the day before. Yay!
Man alive, did we have trouble finding this place. All of the info from Google maps and Happy Cow is WRONG. Like, wrong sections of the city wrong, not just wrong side of the street wrong. The restaurant is actually located just off the main street in the Old Town, across from Caffe Libris and generally behind the Old Synagogue. Luckily, there was a clapboard sign on the main road leading to the alley.
We had such a hilarious time here. First of all, when we walked in, the owner proclaimed, “Bosnia is out of chickpeas.” It was kind of hysterical. She explained that there was something of a chickpea shortage going on, resulting in exorbitant prices, and they were out of them that day. I was on the verge of tears, because it had been almost a week without hummus. Luckily, she checked for me, and found some hummus and falafel stored in the fridge from the day before. Yay!
“Bosnia is out of chickpeas”
Carrot soup
I begged her to bring me the hummus and falafel, and then we ordered a bunch more. To start, I ordered carrot ginger soup. It was brothy, not creamy like most carrot ginger soups I had. It was a bit plain but fine, and I was happy to have some sort of vegetable.
Next, she brought us elderflower juice. This was amazing. She said this glass was mixed with some other flowers. The juice was just sweet enough, and really pleasant.
Next, she brought us elderflower juice. This was amazing. She said this glass was mixed with some other flowers. The juice was just sweet enough, and really pleasant.
Elderflower juice |
Hummus, tabbouli, pita |
Falafel and tahini sauce |
Zaatar manakeesh
The hummus and falafel were pretty good, not the best I’ve had but considering I asked for it knowing it wasn’t fresh, it was fine. We also had tabbouli. The herbs seemed really fresh.
The best food we ate, by far, was the zaatar manakeesh, a pizza dough-like flatbread with zaatar spices and olive oil on top. When I was in Jordan, I fell in love with this dish. It’s everything you could want from fluffy dough. Delicious. This version was really hot and the crust was awesome. Want now.
While we ate, the woman was frantically dealing with a million different things – she was on the phone with her supplier (arguing about chickpeas, I assume), doling out assignments to employees, seating customers and discussing the menu, and conducting a job interview with the poor guy sitting near us, waiting nearly throughout our entire meal to talk to her. During all this, she spent considerable time talking to us about her life in Bosnia, her husband, her years spent in America and Asia, and more. I kind of love her.
ZAATAR & CO, Sarajevo
The best food we ate, by far, was the zaatar manakeesh, a pizza dough-like flatbread with zaatar spices and olive oil on top. When I was in Jordan, I fell in love with this dish. It’s everything you could want from fluffy dough. Delicious. This version was really hot and the crust was awesome. Want now.
While we ate, the woman was frantically dealing with a million different things – she was on the phone with her supplier (arguing about chickpeas, I assume), doling out assignments to employees, seating customers and discussing the menu, and conducting a job interview with the poor guy sitting near us, waiting nearly throughout our entire meal to talk to her. During all this, she spent considerable time talking to us about her life in Bosnia, her husband, her years spent in America and Asia, and more. I kind of love her.
ZAATAR & CO, Sarajevo
- Water speed: I had to ask for it a lot, but she was incredibly busy. My standards for water became much, much lower in the Balkans.
- Bathrooms: It’s downstairs, again past the kitchen. I guess that’s common in Bosnia.
- Service: Slow, but worth the comedy.
- Food: Good for lunch.
- Bonus: The owner is a character. Also, once you find it, it’s very convenient to a lot of sights.
