VeganMoFo 2018 #16: Menu: Show Them Your Curry from The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook

Welcome to week three of MoFo! This week, my theme is menus. These are similar to recipe round-ups, except they focus on a specific menu suggestion from a book, and how it all comes together. Some may be more elaborate, some may be quite simple, but hopefully all are delicious.

I always make my parents a special dinner for their birthdays, and also for Mother's and Father's dad. My dad loves Indian, so that normally forms the theme of his dinners. Last year for his birthday, I made the 'Show Them Your Curry' menu from The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. It is actually in the Valentine's Day chapter, but whatever! Here's what I made, and stay tuned at the end for bonus cake! You can see what else I have made from this book here.

Potato Samosas in Phyllo: As I was serving only three people, I cut the recipe in half and ended up with nine samosas... which still only used half of the filling that I had made! Was I making them too small? I saved the rest of the filling and just ate it as leftovers with some rice and chutney another day. Confession: phyllo is one of my least favourite things to work with, and as you can see my rolling certainly needs practice. About half way through I was wishing that I had made a samosa strudel! Oh well, practice makes... not perfect but adequate? As well as potato they have onion, carrots, peas, and lots of spices in them.
Rating: :)



Pistachio Lentil Biriyani: I made this in a rice cooker for ease, first sauteeing the garlic in a pan before adding it. I also only used two and a half cups of water rather than three and a half cups, based on the instructions with my rice. This was a nice, fragrant rice dish, with lentils, pistachios, and raisins.
Rating: :)



Cauliflower Tikka Masala: I made a half recipe of this as well, baking it in an 8 x 8 inch pan rather than a 9 x 13 inch one. This is really easy to make ahead, but I gave it an extra 10 minutes in the oven to bake as it had cooled a bit before I put it in. I didn't have fire crushed tomatoes, so I just used a tin of regular ones, as well as some light coconut milk and water to make it a bit less rich for me. The cauliflower is roasted first, then layered in the casserole dish with the sauce.
Rating: :)



And here it is all together! Served with some Brussels sprouts, and some mango chutney. Happy birthday Dad!



Of course, you can't have a birthday without a cake. The cake comes from Blissful Basil by Ashley Melillo. You can see what else I've cooked from that book here.

Cadamom & Pecan-Pear Upside-Down Pudding Cake: I love upside down cakes! This is a lovely one, with some great flavours. Plus, pretty! I subbed Nuttelex in for everywhere that called for coconut oil. I needed to cook mine for the longer side, about 40 minutes all up, to make sure it cooked through. It is topped with a caramel sauce, but in all honestly I think it would be better without it. Just served with some vanilla ice cream. The sauce was a bit over-powering, though I did use peanut butter as the base rather than almond butter (that stuff is just so expensive), so that would have been a bit stronger in flavour. I also subbed Nuttelex for coconut oil in the sauce, which would have made it a bit saltier.
Rating: Cake :), Sauce :)





Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Gizmo and Sahara, sweet sisters, snuggling, making kind of a love heart.