The Tipsy Vegan Offers Recipes with Oomph
Does anyone say “oomph” anymore? I think it was in vogue before I was born, but I have a fondness for out-of-date colloquialisms which seem suitable accompaniment to the corn I’m usually dishing out.
The Tipsy Vegan: 75 Boozy Recipes to Turn Every Bite into Happy Hour may look like a bar guide, and one might expect it to contain 75 recipes for vegan cocktails. But aren’t most mixed drinks vegan (except the ones containing cream, milk, or meatballs)? Isn’t alcohol vegan? Well…yeah…but The Tipsy Vegan is a cookbook that features vegan goodies that contain alcohol.
Some of the recipes contain only a tablespoon or two of package goods (Pampered Asparagus with Vegenaise Verte calls for two tablespoons of Cointreau; The Guzzler’s Green Beans + Yellow Peppers with Currants includes two tablespoons dry white wine in its ingredients list) while others use a healthier (?) amount (Penne alla Vodka Martini includes ¾ cup of vodka and ½ cup dry vermouth).
John Schlimm, author of The Tipsy Vegan, is no stranger to boozy cooking; he also wrote The Beer Lover’s Cookbook, The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook, The Straub Beer Cookbook and The Straub Beer Party Drinks Handbook (I’ve yet to try a recipe that calls for white wine that didn’t work out well when beer is substituted). Schlimm is also “a member of one of the oldest brewing families in the United States.”
One suspects that a large part of the fun in cooking with alcohol is making it a group activity with drinks for everyone (anyone remember the Galloping Gourmet?). To accompany your Drunk Hummus in a Blanket or Hot Toddy Tofu with Shiitakes, Schlimm provides recipes for 10 mixed drinks. None are difficult to master (The Laughing Stinger is a shot of brandy and a shot of white crème de menthe; a Rum Tum Tum is an ounce of white rum, ½ ounce of Cointreau, and a splash of lime juice shaken with ice and strained), some will take a little more time (Dandy Brandy Punch includes the juice of 8 lemons and 2 oranges).
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