Monday, November 22, 2010

Mushroom "Scallop" Piccata Over Creamy Polenta, and a Viva Vegan Giveaway!

I would like to introduce you to my brunch today. King Trumpet mushrooms make a really good vegan scallop! I made an easy piccata sauce to serve them with and served them over some wonderful creamy polenta. I am a lemon freak, so know that this is really lemony. If you are not as crazy about lemon as I am, you might want to start with half the lemon juice and scale up from there. I didn't use the capers in my dish today, but they would be wonderful if you are a fan. You could also throw in some veggies. Spinach would be delicious, and so would red bell pepper.

Mushroom "Scallop" Piccata over Creamy Polenta

polenta

1 ½ c unsweetened non-dairy milk, water, broth, or a combination
½ c polenta
1 T vegan butter
1/4 t salt or truffle salt, or more to taste

Mushrooms and sauce

8 oz king trumpet mushrooms, cleaned, and stems sliced into scallops
olive oil
juice of a lemon, about ¼ c
1-2 T white wine
1 t capers in brine, optional
1 T vegan butter
Salt or truffle salt
Freshly ground white pepper
Green herbs of your choice to garnish (chives and parsley are good)

Sauté the mushrooms in a non-stick pan with a little oil over medium heat until soft, flipping, about five minutes. Set aside.

Now, make the polenta. In a small saucepan, heat the liquid and butter over medium heat. When it starts to steam, add the polenta in a steady stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Continue to stir until the sides start to pull away from the pan. If you are using non-dairy milk in combination with other liquids or on its own, this should take about five minutes.

Heat the remaining vegan butter in the nonstick skillet with the wine, lemon juice, and optional capers. Bring to simmer and allow to simmer until reduced by half. Add the mushroom scallops to the sauce and gently heat. Add pepper and salt to taste. Garnish with herbs.

Spoon the polenta into two medium-sized bowls. Divide the mushrooms and sauce over the bowls and enjoy!

* * *

Today I have for you a giveaway from Perseus Books. It's the VegNews Cookbook of the Year, Viva Vegan, by Terry Hope Romero! If somehow you have escaped the rave reviews this cookbook has been getting, head over to the PPK to read some Viva Vegan love.

To enter, please leave a comment below. Tell me what you want to make from Viva Vegan, or tell me who you'd love to give a copy to, or tell me about a vegan cookbook you'd write if you had the chance . . . or anything at all. This giveaway is open to everybody, everywhere, from Austin to Vienna to Tijuana and all points in between! The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and posted tomorrow below tomorrow's giveaway.

The winners of yesterday's Lightlife giveaway are vegga and Anne! Congratulations to you both! Please send your name and address to me at miso...@yahoo.com. (<---make sure to click on the . . . link for the rest of the email address. This is a spam avoidance thing.)

38 comments:

  1. I would love to try making the Coconut Tres Leches Cake. Thanks for the great giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooh, I love polenta! I was already contemplating making some this past weekend (but then I got swallowed up by a really crazy cooking project). ;))
    And Terry's book!!! Eeeee! To cool to think about.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That dinner looks delicious! I really should use polenta more often.
    I would love to win viva vegan, ive heard loads of great reviews on this book.

    Rose
    chocolatesoap@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have heard so much about the Coconut Tres Leches Cake from this book - but I'd also love to try the Chocolate Churros and Seitan Saltado. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I so so so want this book. I'll actually be able to get hold of all the ingredients which makes such a nice change for me. So I would love to give a copy to me. Or my boyfriend, so as he can cook for me.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. My brother-in-law is from Veracruz, so I'd like to see if there are any uniquely Veracruzano recipes and make him feel at home :]

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your dinner looks fabulous! Like you, I am very fond of lemon. I'm going to have to try it.

    I already own Viva Vegan and absolutely love it. Everything I've made from it so far has been fantastic. So if I won a copy, I'd give it to my friend, a fellow vegan and cooking enthusiast. She needs to try it for herself!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Vegan scallops are really making the rounds, huh? Not that I'm complaining, because that looks mouth-watering, nom!

    Vegan churros or maybe the cafe con leche flan. I hope amazon is not lying to me, those recipes better be in the book - they sound amazing! I don't know a whole lot of about Latin food, but the describtion sounds fantastic, lot's of things I've never tried. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Viva! I would write a cookbook about 50 ways to eat tater tots. The possibilities are endless.

    ReplyDelete
  10. If I knew what kind of cookbook to write I would write one and give up on med school hehehe. I'm really glad you're featuring this book! Word on the street is it's awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  11. That recipe looks super delicious! I'm going to try it with spinach.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I would love this cookbook because I want to give it to my friend who cooks me delicious vegan meals and has a birthday coming up! the reviews look great and I cant wait to try everything.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Looks yummy!

    I've heard some amazing things about Viva Vegan and I would LOVE to win a copy! What recipe do I want to try? The first review I saw was for the Black Bean-Sweet Potato Tamales...and they looked so stinkin' delicious, so I'd probably start there. Thanks for the opportunity!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I was lucky enough to be a tester for this book. Terry introduced me to the joys of aji panca and aji amarillo. So fantastic. It is hard to pick one thing that stands out because there were so many stars. I need to dust this one off!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow! I've heard so much about this book! I'd love to have it while I'm here in Spain because I've seen so many Latin American ingredients here, all I need is a collection of recipes to put them to use!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I have been wanting that cookbook for a while. I am working on my own now, but it is taking me longer than I though.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'd love to give this away to a friend who is new to veganism and this cuisine is her fav!

    ReplyDelete
  18. would like to give it to my dad..it pains me to see him doing bean stew and brown rice every sunday!
    Like did u lost your crazy creativity when you went vegan!
    I have a copy already and I love that limey seitan dish that you can use for cubanos.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Tres leches, tres leches, tres leches. And plantains. Ah, y todo lo demas!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your mushroom piccata looks awesome! Thanks for having a book giveaway. I'd probably make any and all recipes. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. I want to try the white seitan because I've heard how amazing it is and it looks delicious in the pictures I've seen. And after that I'd just love to try out new awesome recipes for foods I've never tried before...
    Your piccata looks great, by the way! I need to make polenta more often.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Yum, I'm all for lemony polenta! And I cannot tell you how often I've considered buying Viva Vegan but somehow there had also been some kind of thing stopping me... money shortage and the likes ;-) Mh, I would love to make a latin foods night with recipes from Viva Vegan since seeing non-vegan friends stuff their faces with food I made is just too awesome... :-)

    ReplyDelete
  23. I just want to make a massive Viva Vegan feast for the omnivores with whom I am currently crashing. (I just moved.) Not only would that be a nice big "thank you for letting me sleep on your couch!" but it could also WOW them with Latin vegan deliciousness.

    ReplyDelete
  24. this looks amazing! I never thought of making "scallops" from mushrooms. Clever! Piccata is the best. <3

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow your "scallops" look so real! I would love to win this cookbook but I do not know anything in it to tell you I would make. =(
    I am a vegan newbie so any cookbooks are awesome to me!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I would love to be a able to make a vegan version of 'flan'.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Mushrooms, potatoes, and polenta all in one cream dish?!!! Why did i never think of this?!

    You are awesome celyn :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. What a great idea! I love king mushrooms, and you're right, they have that squeaky, spongy texture like scallops! I will definitely be inspired by this recipe! Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'd like to make the potato-chickpea enchiladas with green tomatillo sauce. Sounds yummy! :)

    ReplyDelete
  30. I'd really like a copy of Viva Vegan. I think the first thing I'd try to make would be the vegan churros.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I love the use of those trumpet mushrooms!

    ReplyDelete
  32. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I would love to make anything from Viva Vegan that has plantains in the recipe! Thanks for the giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  34. I wanna say how awesome Terry is- Viva Vegan looks fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Been eying this cookbook in the book store lately, would love to win it! Not sure what I would make first, probably something sweet:) If I could consider parting with it, I'd give it to my aunt Susie, but that might be tough!

    ReplyDelete
  36. I am a lemon freak too! That looks awesome. I already have Viva Vegan, so I'd give a copy to my mom who keeps wanting vegan recipes.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Dinner looks great! Mmm, polenta. I have Viva Vegan, and I have to say that the potato-chickpea enchiladas rock my world. The green sauce is awesome!

    ReplyDelete