Winter Vegan Food and Beverage Pairing
Most of the year, being a vegan is hardly a challenge, but then the holidays roll around. Everyone’s table is covered with tempting meats, pies and other various desserts that all contain animal products and are off limits for vegans. Luckily, I’ve discovered there isn’t a single dish on Earth that can’t be done vegan. So, for this holiday season, I present to you the following: Vegan drumsticks and vegan apple pie served with two delicious alcoholic beverages.
Vegan Drumsticks and Indian Pale Ale
So, turkey and chicken are two obvious holiday-staples that vegans and vegetarians miss out on every year. No worries, though. With a little bit of work you can make your own vegan or vegetarian drumsticks that are just as delicious as the real thing. Then you can wash them down with your favorite Indian pale ale (IPA).
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 3 cloves of minced garlic
- 3 thinly sliced green chilies
- 2 large russet potatoes, chopped (leave the skins on)
- 1 finely chopped red onion
- ½ tbsp soy sauce
- Baby corn
- 2 ½ tbsp of corn starch
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ chopped cilantro
- 1 cup vegetable or peanut oil
Step 1.
Steam and mash the potatoes.
Step 2.
Mix all of your other ingredients, except for the all-purpose flour, oil and baby corn, with the mashed potatoes.
Step 3.
Form the dough. After you’ve mixed all the ingredients together with the potatoes, you should have a thick dough that resembles cookie dough. Now, just roll the dough into little balls as if you were making cookies.
Step 4.
Pierce the dough balls with an ear of baby corn. If you haven’t guessed already, the baby corn is going to be the stick in your drumsticks. Once you insert the ear of corn into the dough, you can use your fingers to form the dough into more a drumstick-like shape.
Step 5.
Roll the drumsticks in the all-purpose flour.
Step 6.
Pour the oil into a frying pan and set it on medium heat. You can use any type of vegetable oil you like. I prefer peanut oil, though.
Step 7.
Fry the drumsticks in the oil until they are golden brown. After they are done frying, lay them out on a paper towel.
Step 8.
Serve with a glass of your favorite IPA.
Note: if you eat dairy, you can add 2 cups of grated paneer to the mixture.
Vegan Apple Pie and Krupnik
For desert we’ll be having vegan apple pie and krupnik. Krupnik is one of my favorite holiday drinks. It also goes by the less-imaginative name, “honey vodka.” Krupnik is served hot and it has a sweet, cinnamony taste that goes perfectly with apple pie.
Vegan Apple Pie
You will need:
- 5 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped
- 1/3 cup of non-dairy margarine, melted
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp nutmeg
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- Ready-made pie crust
Note: Be sure to check the ingredients of the pie crust to make sure it contains no animal products.
Step 1.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2.
Put the apples and half of the margarine in the pie crust.
Step 3.
Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and the rest of the margarine. The mixture will form crumbles that you can crumble on top of the pie.
Step 4.
Place the pie in the oven and let it bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
Krupnik
You will need:
- 1 cup of raw honey
- 1 cup of water
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 6 cloves
- 2 vanilla beans
- Orange zest
- 2 ½ cups of vodka
- 1 tsp nutmeg
Step 1.
In a medium sized pot, bring the water and honey to a boil.
Step 2.
Scoop the foam off the top of the water.
Step 3.
Add the rest of the ingredients except for the vodka. Cover the pot and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
Step 4.
Remove the pot from the heat and let it stand for 30 minutes.
Step 5.
Bring the pot to a boil again and add the vodka. Let it boil for 1 to 2 minutes.
Step 6.
Pour the mixture through a fine strainer and serve. Garnish with a cinnamon stick, if you like.
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