Chopped – VeganMoFo

Announcing the VeganMoFo 2014 Chopped! Champion!

September 22, 2014 jess sconé Comments 7 comments

It’s time to announce the winner of this year’s VeganMoFo Chopped! competition! Our contestants showed up for a vibrant, well-rounded entree round with Oolong tea, fresh prune plums, spicy jalapeños and every Fraggle’s favorite, the hot-headed radish.

Here’s a listing of our fab contestants and their variety of exciting submissions, in random order:

Sweet Heat Tacos, Veganista Mama
Barley Paella with Grilled Tofu & Fresh Plum Salsa, Cadry’s Kitchen
Plum and Jalapeño Glazed Tempeh with Picked Radishes and Butternut Squash Purée, The Picky Vegan
Plum & Radish Tart with a savory Jalapeno, Oolong Tea, and Apricot Preserve Glaze, Bedazzled Vegan
Stuffed Sweet Dumpling Squash in an Oolong-Plum-Red Wine Reduction with Jalapeno-Apple Radish, Rubber Cowgirl
Oolong Banh Mi Burger, Zsu’s Vegan Pantry
Assam Tofu, with braised radishes topped with Jalapeno, Assam, Plum sauce, Hasta La Vegan
Mexican Hot Lips Cake, The Mess in Messenger
Oolong Marinated Tofu with Plum Chutney and Pickled Apples and Radishes, @marylangmt
Dumpling Soup with Radish & Radish Leaves, served with Jalapeño, Plum Chutney and Spiced Lentil-filled Dumpling, Eating with the Rabbits
Channa Masala with Plums, Radish Salad and Oolong Rice, Vegan Needs Sauce
Radish cakes with Prune Sauce, Kohlrabi and Quince
Sweet Heat Sushi, Veganista Mama
A Very Special Marinara Sauce, Monsieur Avocado

You can check out all their photos and more on our Chopped! Contestant! Roundup!

Here we go! After much deliberation on who really got creative and elevated their ingredients, plus much discussion on presentation, perceived taste and the use of those mighty ingredients, our judges (Julia Legume, Dan Reed & Chelsea Hoshi) came to a decision!

Without further adieu, our new VeganMoFo Chopped! Champion is….Emily of the Vegan Needs Sauce tumblr and her Channa Masala with Plums, Radish Salad and Oolong Rice!

Our 2014 Winner! Vegan Needs Sauce’s Channa Masala with Plums, Radish Salad and Oolong Rice

Our judges agreed that incorporating all these flavors into a channa masala, which is a dish they already enjoy, was super special, intriguing and seemed quite balanced in terms of flavor combinations, bonus fresh herbs and that lovely tea-infused rice!

Emily wins a special sweet prize from our friends at Chicago Vegan Foods, a Vegan Iron Chef tshirt to show her vegan cookin’ pride, and the coveted title of VEGANMOFO! CHOPPED! CHAMPION!

Chopped! Contestant! Roundup!

September 17, 2014 jess sconé

Oolong Tea! Jalapeño! Fresh Prune Plums! Radish!

Today, I’m featuring our 2014 Chopped! VeganMoFo Edition contestants! You all seriously rocked this collection of intriguing, hand-picked ingredients and showed us flavor combinations we never thought possible. Thanks for all the hard work and showing your kitchen skills! Your panel of esteemed vegan culinary obsessed judges, J. Legume, Dan Reed, and Chelsea Hoshi, along the spirit of VeganMoFo, are heatedly discussing the results and their consequent new cravings, so stay tuned for who’s being declared our new Chopped! Champion! and prize delivery info from our sweet friends at Chicago Vegan Foods later this week! –

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You can read more about the ingredients and rules at: Ready, Set…Chopped! VeganMoFo 2014 Edition!!! The official entries are below, in random order. Click on the links to read descriptions and cooking methods behind the dishes. Enjoy! –

Oolong Marinated Tofu with Plum Chutney and Pickled Apples and Radishes, @marylangmt on Instagram

Mary’s recipe + instructions are right here.

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Dumpling Soup with Radish & Radish Leaves, served with Jalapeño, Plum Chutney and Spiced Lentil-filled Dumpling, Eating with the Rabbits

It’s true, this contestant had some tweaks, just like on the show itself, but I still enjoy the presentation and these quotes a bunch: “Isn’t VeganMoFo the best? ” “So, yeah, this was far from perfect. BUT! The actual soup tasted pretty good, considering, and I never would’ve come up with this combination on my own. All in all, I’m happy with the result.”

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Sweet Heat Sushi, Veganista Mama Assam Tofu, with braised radishes topped with Jalapeno, Assam, Plum sauce, Hasta La Vegan

Plum & Radish Tart with a savory Jalapeno, Oolong Tea, and Apricot Preserve Glaze, Bedazzled Vegan

Bedazzled has my favorite quote so far: “Voila! The finished product was edible!” Score!

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Channa Masala with Plums, Radish Salad and Oolong Rice, Vegan Needs Sauce A Very Special Marinara Sauce, Monsieur Avocado (The blog’s in French, so GO GO Google Translate if needed)

Plum and Jalapeño Glazed Tempeh with Picked Radishes and Butternut Squash Purée (plenty of oolong in there too, I just couldn’t fit it into the tile), The Picky Vegan

Oolong Banh Mi Burger, Zsu’s Vegan Pantry

Mexican Hot Lips Cake, The Mess in Messenger

Radish cakes with Prune Sauce, Kohlrabi and Quince

Barley Paella with Grilled Tofu & Fresh Plum Salsa, Cadry’s Kitchen

Stuffed Sweet Dumpling Squash in an Oolong-Plum-Red Wine Reduction with Jalapeno-Apple Radish, Rubber Cowgirl

Sweet Heat Tacos, Veganista Mama (Another creative submission from Veganista Mama!) Thanks to everyone who joined us for this eye-opening and tastebud-pushing competition! I hope they’ve gotten folks thinking differently about all of these lovely flavors and foods.

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Stay tuned for the big reveal, our Judge’s Choice of Chopped! Champion!, and let us know what’s piqued your interest!

Ready, Set….Chopped! VeganMoFo2014 Edition!!!

September 13, 2014 jess sconé

Thanks for entering this edition of Chopped! for VeganMoFo!

The contests is now closed and we’ll have the judges weigh in with their decisions later this week!!!

Hi everybody! Jess here, and I’m taking over Chopped! for VeganMoFo 2014!

I spent four weeks this summer cat-sitting at my sister’s in Brooklyn, watching some fairly fancy cable, glued to the Food Network, and catching up on what seemed like 2 years’ worth of episodes, so I feel like that makes me right for the job. Plus, I’ve got a little thing – a penchant, if you will – for putting an obsessive, vegan-spin on culinary competitions for my own personal amusement (and you know, large audiences! the good of the world! community! and the future of veganism!! and Isa! ) And most importantly, I have two of the ingredients below in my own kitchen. Right now, being all inspirational and stuff. Adorn your aprons! Down to business! This Chopped! VeganMoFo Edition stars four ingredients I think are swell. Let’s get started. Your four ingredients* for this round!:

Jalapeño!
Radish!
Oolong Tea!
Fresh Prune Plums! (I’ll explain more below)

aka Fraggle food

Fresh prune plums! Image source: my hand. — Fresh prune plums! Image source: my hand and the farmers market.

Yes, fresh! Curious? Read more about Italian prune plums here. They’re really plums!!!

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*Okay, okay, if you can’t track down prune plums or oolong tea (what?!) this weekend, just get close enough with purple plums and black tea, or whatever, if you must! But it’s like on the actual series Chopped!, if you miss an ingredient, you could still win, but we’re gonna take it into account.

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Your mission: Create a dinner-appropriate entree plate utilizing all four ingredients as little or as much as you want. You can also use any other items in your pantry. And unlike the television competition, you can make one plate. Or two. Or three. Or forty. Totally up to you, your dinner company and your appetites!

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The rules: You must use from-scratch, vegan ingredients to the best of your ability (if it’s covered in packaged vegan cheeze and made out of trademarked faux-meat products, sorry but you won’t win.) Submissions will be judged on perceived taste, creative use of the mystery ingredients and presentation. The photograph is important, so if you’re not a professional photographer, use natural light where you can, feel free to use a real camera or fancy smartphone, and remember, flash on food photos is rarely appealing. There is no time requirement besides getting it in by the deadline below, so take all the time you need. This competition and the prizes are open to everyone, everywhere!

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Here’s how to enter (please read carefully): On Sunday, September 14 at 12pm EST/9am PST, you can begin to post your entries in the comments of this thread. Please don’t post before then because a) you don’t want your ideas stolen, do you? and b) it makes it harder to go through when entries are interspersed with questions and other comments. Your link, including at least your rough recipe and a photo, can be posted anywhere, so long as it’s public and everyone can see it (your blog, your friend’s blog, Instagram, Facebook, your mom’s Tumblr, FlickR, etc.) All entries must be in by 2pm EST/11am PST, on Monday, September 15th.

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If you’re posting on social media, you can use the tag #VeganMoFoChopped to represent!

And please make sure when you leave your comment, that a valid email is used so that you can be contacted if you win. Along with a panel of special vegan judges from across the internet and the spirit of VeganMoFo (aka the organizers in a top secret thread), I’ll announce the winner by mid-week!

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Super important stuff! Your entry must contain 3 things:

The title of your dish
A picture of your dish (you can have more than one pic)
A description of your method/ at least a rough recipe.

Please mention all ingredients used, not just the four mystery ingredients. Describe what you did as best you can so that people can recreate it if they like! A recipe would be ideal, but not totally necessary.

Our VeganMofo Chopped! Champion will receive:

~Oodles of fame, glory & the 2014 Chopped! VeganMoFo title

~A sweet prize pack from Chicago Vegan Foods

~Limited edition Vegan Iron Chef tshirt! I know, wrong show riff, but my connections only go so far sometimes.

Psssst. Mini Dandies are here! Dessert is served.

If you need a little inspiration, check out these past PPK & VeganMoFo Chopped! competitions: 2012 Brunch Chopped!2012 Dessert Chopped! And if you have no idea what Chopped! is, then you can read about it here on the official site, and watch a few episodes (warning: lots of animal products, sometimes pretty gruesome looking ones, and occasionally vegan goodies like chia, vegan lobster and even vegan chefs represented!) You can also watch it on Hulu.

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P.S. Isa also gets credit for writing the rules! Duh.

Wednesday Roundup: Instagram Gallery & Chopped Returns This Weekend!

September 11, 2014 jess sconé Comments 10 comments

It’s a two part roundup! Pardon my late night update if you’re in North America like me, and good morning to everyone in Europe! I was busy enjoying a late night dinner of kale, sweet potato & black bean tempeh tacos with a good friend, and welcoming early September’s near evening cool here in Portland. I have been impatiently waiting all summer for this, but I certainly didn’t forget about my rounduppin’ today, don’t you worry. Now, have you forgotten about VeganMoFo? Is it the mid-week day off? That’s okay! Look, I ask because after 15+ click-throughs on RandoMoFo.com, I only saw one mere update from earlier today. I saw a lot of lovely posts, no doubt, but there was so much more happening over on the Instagram hashtag! That’s definitely worth talking about, and equally enjoyable to get lost wandering through in the #veganmofo and #veganmofo2014 (they both work for our purposes, feel free to go with one or the other!)

1) With all my ranting down, let’s take a break from our regular roundup and try this out, because I’ve been searching for so long for an Instagram hashtag-taker, gallery-maker that doesn’t blow. This one comes from Instagme.com and I’ve highlighted a few rows of recently tagged photos. Click on ’em for more and to explore! You can also make a slideshow, OoOOoOOoo.

#VEGANMOFO Instagram gallery:

2) Moving on, I wanted to give a big heads up to your shopping lists that you just may wan to consider some flexibility this weekend if you’re feeling adventurous and enjoy some fun competition, because CHOPPED: VEGANMOFO Edition returns this Friday, September 12th!

And to give you a little edge and one less item to pick up on Friday morning when the lineup is debuted, I’m gonna break my normal NO SPOILERZZZZZ lifestyle and sneak one of the four ingredients into the conversation: jalapeños!

We’ll see you back here Friday morning for the rules, the remaining 3 mandatory(ish) ingredients, your judges and a very special and particularly seasonally-enjoyable prize from our good friends at Chicago Vegan Foods!

And The Chopped/Vegan Champion Is…

October 16, 2012 isachandra Comments 27 comments

Oh no, you guys, you made this decision very very difficult! And that is a good sign. The future of vegan cooking is bright, and thanks to you, my faith in nooch dusted kitchens across the globe has been reaffirmed. There could be no better way to celebrate the Post Punk Kitchen 10th Anniversary than with a little culinary inspiration. So thank you!

But there can be only one Vegan/Chopped champion! Unless…

I’ve actually decided that for this competition, there are two champions. Brunch is such an indecisive meal, and my judging should be no different. I’ve picked two winners, one sweet and one savory. Both will be getting a $50 Vegan Essentials gift certificates, a PPK apron, the signed Isa book of your choice and any other goodies I feel like sending. But enough with the dilly dallying.

In the SWEET brunch category, your Vegan/Chopped champion is…
Butternut Squash Bread French Toast with Mascarpone Cream, Rosemary Popcorn Streusel, Apricot Maple Syrup and White Wine Poached Pear from Nichole Lontz!!!!

Thank you for your creativity and effort, Nichole! The judges (um, me and Allison) were impressed with your homemade butternut quickbread, your poached pear technique and your use of quality from-scratch ingredients, both from your pantry and from the basket. You cut no corners and it shows and that’s why you, Nichole, are our Vegan/Chopped champion! Plus, the adorable pic of your kitty helper didn’t hurt. Listen up, cheftestants, a kitty pic never hurts.

Now. The SAVORY category. Which might also be known as exactly what I would have made. Your Vegan/Chopped champion is…
Chick’n & Waffles from Stephanie at Ripe Cuisine!!!!!

Ok, the pic could be a little bigger, but let me elaborate. This is Butternut Squash Waffles With Homemade Popcorn Chick’n Tenders And Apricot Rosemary Syrup. Yes, there is a sweet element, but I say this is the savory category and what I say goes. The judges were impressed with, well, the absolute yumminess of it all. I would order this in a restaurant without blinking an eye. Unless my eyes were blinking uncontrollably from deliciousness.

But wait! We still have a few runner-ups who will each receive the Isa book of their choice.

The popcorn award goes to PJ at Vegan Cine Grub for Butternut Squash Swedish Pancakes topped with Rosemary-Apricot Cashew Ricotta and a Molasses Popcorn Candy Tower! Can you resist a Popcorn Candy Tower? Me neither. Coupled with Swedish Pancakes, a vampire movie and a bloody mary? GTFO! No, wait, stay. Brunch is not yet finished.

The double trouble award goes to Suburban Vegan for her two entries, one for sweet, one for savory. Pancakes and a breakfast sandwich, both utilizing all of the basket ingredients. I would like to marry you and have brunch every day!

Favorite baked good award goes to Joy at Braisen Woman for her amazing looking Fall in your Face Sticky Buns (Butternut-Popcorn Flour Buns with Rosemary-Cinnamon-Apricot Filling and Apricot-Rosemary Caramel.) I would like one still warm, please!

The “oh-no-she-didn’t” award goes to Vegan In The Sticks for her Rosemary Popcorn Breaded Scotch Eggs with Butternut Squash Yolk and Hot Buttered Popcorn Scones with a Sweet Apricot Glaze. Scotch eggs? Oh yes she did!

I’m not posting any more pics, but the following are still runner-ups who receive a book:
The “Polenta? Good thinking!” award goes to Cadry’s Kitchen for Popcorn Crusted Polenta Stacks with Barbecue-Glazed Squash & Cashew Cream.

The “Cute pic, good story, yummy crepes” award goes to X Means No Onions for her Butternut Squash Crepes with Apricot Glaze.

The “Captured-My-Tart” award (har har) goes to Colynn at But Yes I Do Eat Potatoes for her Butternut Squash, Apricot, and Raspberry Tarts With Rosemary, Popcorn, and Pecan Crust.

The “Holy Crepe! And Ooh a Rosemary Cocktail” award goes to Allysia at the Real Meal for her Sweet vs. Savory Crepe Showdown! I will take one of each!

The “Thank You For Overdoing It” award goes to Big Mike’s Eats for his five course menu! I usually go for quality over quantity but it didn’t look like quality was at all sacrificed in these five courses which each contained all of the basket ingredients. BRUNCHMAZING!

Ok, thank you everyone for making this so fun! The next few honorable mentions don’t get any prezzies, but they do get honorably mentioned.

Think Care Act gets a mention for her Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Mushrooms. Maybe more of a dessert? But who am I to say!

Johnnycakes at My Munchable Musings! Love me some Johnnycakes and these were the only ones entered.

Butternut Caramel Rolls from Krista Wilder look divine.

I wish I could reach in and grab a fritter from Spa Bettie!

Napoleans? Triangles? Don’t mind if I do! Thanks, Killeen.

Vibrantlea Vegan offered a faboo looking sammy.

And Vandano Industries totally turned me over!

Meanwhile, there were a LOT of crepes, but the ones at Weekly Vegan Menu really stood out.

A well-rounded tart and salad at Two Cups Of Love.

And last but not least, Spade & Spoon. So long and thanks for all the hash browns!

Thanks for playing, see you at the next Chopped/Vegan challenge! Winners. Please email me at postpunkkitchen@gmail.com and let me know which signed softcover book you would like, and who to sign it to, along with your addresses! For the champions, the Vegan Essentials gift certificate will come to you via email. Congrats!

Chopped/Vegan: Your Time Starts….Now!

October 11, 2012 isachandra Comments 170 comments

Welcome to a very MOFO edition of Chopped/Vegan. This one is gonna’ be off the hook for so many reasons. (That is, if people even say “off the hook” anymore.) Number one is: it’s Chopped/Vegan and it’s always an amazing time! Also, it’s the Post Punk Kitchen 10 year anniversary and I want to give away prizes like nobody’s business. And finally, this Chopped/Vegan is super duper special because it’s neither an entree round or a dessert round. Yet you can make something savory or sweet. It’s a friggin’ riddle, and I’ll give you a moment to catch up.

OK. Have you guessed what it is?

That’s right, it’s the Chopped/Vegan BRUNCH ROUND! Which means, you can go either savory or sweet here. Heck, you can go BOTH! OK, now lift your jaws up off the floor, sweep up the confetti and compose yourself.

So…before getting boring and going into the rules and stuff, let me announce the mystery basket ingredients. (But you still have to read the rules, ok?)

The four mystery basket ingredient for Chopped/Vegan Brunch are… (drumroll please, but like a synth-pop Depeche Mode kinda drum roll.)

Butternut squash, popcorn, fresh rosemary, and apricot preserves!

Ooh, I think this is gonna be a good one! Now read the rules and then we’ll get to the other fun part…the prizes!

Here’s the deal:
Create a BRUNCH utilizing all four ingredients as little or as much as you want. You can also use any other items in your pantry.

Here’s the rules:
You must use from-scratch, vegan ingredients to the best of your ability (if it’s covered in packaged vegan cheeze and made out of trademarked faux-meat products, sorry but you won’t win.)

Submissions will be judged on perceived taste, creative use of the mystery ingredients and presentation. The photograph is important, so if you’re not a professional photographer, use natural light where you can, try to use a real camera (not a cell phone) and remember, flash on food photos is rarely appealing.

There is no time requirement, so take all the time you need. This competition and the prizes are open to everyone, everywhere!

Here’s how to enter (please read carefully):
On Sunday Oct 14th at 5pm EST, you can begin to post your entries in the comments of this thread. Please don’t post before then because a) you don’t want your ideas stolen do you? and b) it makes it harder to go through when entries are interspersed with questions and other comments.

Your recipe can be posted anywhere, so long as it’s public and everyone can see it (your blog, Facebook, FlickR, Geocities, etc.) All entries must be in by 3 PM EST on Monday Oct 15th. Please make sure when you leave your comment, that a valid email is used so that you can be contacted if you win. I will pick the winners on Tuesday October 16th and announce them in a brand new thread.

Your entry must contain 3 things: the title of your dish, a picture of your dish (you can have more than one pic), and a description of your method. Please mention all ingredients used, not just the four mystery ingredients. Describe what you did as best you can so that people can recreate it if they like! A recipe would be ideal, but not totally necessary.

The Chopped Champion will receive:
~Fame, respect and the Chopped Vegan title
~A $50 Vegan Essentials Gift Certificate
~A signed copy of any of Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s (um, that’s me) softcover cookbooks
~A Post Punk Kitchen Apron
~I’ll throw in some other prizes, like vintage spatulas, candy, drawings and whatever I feel like sending you. It’ll be good, promise!

And this time, there will be prizes for 10 Runner-Ups!
~5 cheftestants will receive a signed copy of any of Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s (um, still me) softcover cookbooks
~5 cheftestants will receive a Post Punk Kitchen apron!

If you need a little inspiration, here are two past Chopped/Vegan competitions from my Facebook. The entree round and the dessert round.

And if you have no idea what Chopped! is, then you can read about it here, and watch a few episodes (warning: lots of animal products, sometimes pretty gruesome looking ones.) There are also episodes on Hulu.

Ok everyone, good luck, and your time starts….now!!!!

VeganMoFo

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