Kittens Gone Lentil

Recipe Round-Up: 1000 Vegan Recipes

2011-12-05T14:26:00.004+10:00

Back to familiar ground, with another recipe round-up. Today's is from 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson, which I have already made several round-up posts about. Today's round up will look at some combinations of recipes I have made from the book and served together. I thought I would keep up my system I started during Vegan MoFo of writing down my ratings for each recipe.

Sesame Spinach Noodle Pie, Ginger-Tamari Braised Eggplant, and Soy-Glazed Tofu

Sesame Spinach Noodle Pie: Linguine and fresh baby spinach, baked together in a pie plate with a creamy sauce made from tahini, garlic, miso and lemon. 4 stars.
Ginger-Tamari Braised Eggplant: This was a nice, salty and gingery dish - the flavours came through really well. It is good, though my money is still with the amazingness of the Mahogany Eggplant in Robin's Vegan Planet. 4 stars.
Soy-Glazed Tofu: I think have written several odes to this tasty, quick tofu delight. 5 stars.
All up: This made for a really nice dinner. The creaminess of the noodle pie went nicely with the saltier flavours of the eggplant and tofu. Some steamed broccoli would go great as well!

Springtime Rice Noodles with Coconut Creme, and Ginger-Soy Marinade (on Tofu)

Springtime Rice Noodles with Coconut Creme: This is a creamy, Asian twist on pasta primavera. Vegetables included edamame, green onion, carrots and peas, though you could really add anything you wanted. I only used 200g of dry rice noodles (the recipe calls for 12oz - approx 330g) and I had enough to serve 5-6 people. 4 stars.
Ginger-Soy Marinade (on Tofu): This recipe is in the Marinades section. It is amazing - gingery, salty and sweet. I baked the tofu in the marinade, and one recipe was perfect for my 500g block of tofu. This is awesome. 5 stars.
All up: My brother's friend ended up staying for dinner this night, so thankfully there was enough to feed an extra mouth, and it was a huge hit. I also served some baby spinach leaves on the side.

Portobello Po'Boys, Pumpkin Soup with Chipotle Puree, and Butterhead Lettuce and Walnut Salad with Raspberry-Walnut Vinaigrette

Portobello Po-Boys: Mushrooms cooked in a Cajun seasoning with all the fixings makes for a great sandwich. 4 stars.
Pumpkin Soup with Chipotle Puree: I used fresh pumpkin puree here, and I admit I used butternut as it was just easier. It was a great flavour, chipotle makes everything awesome. 4 stars.
Butterhead lettuce and Walnut Salad with Raspberry-Walnut Vinaigrette: All hail the salad spinner for giving lovely dry, soft lettuce leaves. This is a really nice salad - it's fancy! The dressing is delicious. I am not the hugest fan of walnuts, but I stuck with them for this recipe and the dressing makes them amazing! 5 stars.
All up: The sandwich and the soup were made for each other. The salad was amazing, though maybe a bit fancy for the rest of the meal, but I liked how it went together anyway.

Thai-Inspired Coconut Soup, and Thai Pesto Foccacia (from Vegan Planet)

Thai-Inspired Coconut Soup: This soup is very rich from all the coconut milk. The book suggests serving it with the Thai-phoon Stir-Fry, but that also has coconut milk so I think would be too much for me.
Thai Pesto Foccacia (from Vegan Planet): Robin's recipe for Thai Pesto is delicious, so I had high hopes for it on foccacia. Unfortunately, a friend showed up while it was baking to give me her house keys and I overcooked it! So some parts of the pesto were burnt, others weren't and the foccacia was way crispy. Woe.
All up: I haven't given these ratings. I can't blame to foccacia for my distraction, and knowing how good the pesto is, it would have been great had I done it properly! Also, unbeknownst to me at the time of eating this I was brewing a tummy bug, and by that night was in a woeful state, so I can't fairly reflect on these recipes as they kind of remind me of that illness. Poor innocent bystander recipes!

Seitan Piccata, and Ted's Artichoke and Green Bean Bake

Seitan Piccata: I love piccata. Love it. The sauce is magical! This is a good piccata recipe. I skipped the step where you dredge the seitan slices in flour and just pan-fried them straight. 4 stars.
Ted's Artichoke and Green Bean Bake: This recipe has a history - buy the book and read about it! It was a really nice bake, artichokes, mushrooms, celery, onion, no capsicum for me, and a slightly creamy sauce. 4 stars.
All up: These are a funny pairing of recipes. I just opened the book up at random when menu planning for this night and committed to whatever came up. They are both lovely, though perhaps not the most conventional to have together. I also served with some white rice.

Chickpea and Vegetable Loaf, and Spiced Tomato and Peach Relish

Chickpea and Vegetable Loaf: The ingredients for this were a bit too much for my 2L food processor - I need to upgrade! I found that I had to add a few splashes of soy milk to hold it together, or the mix was too dry. When it came out of the oven, the flavour was good but I found the texture a bit gummy. 3.5 stars.
Spiced Tomato and Peach Relish: This is really good. Like, really good. Really, really, really good. You can just eat the leftovers on toast or on a spoon or mixed into things. Good. 5 stars.
All up: These two worked really well together. The relish really lifts the loaf! I also served with roasted sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli. This was the night I forgot to put water into the saucepan when I was steaming the broccoli, and then I ruined the saucepan. So silly of me! :(

Quinoa-Stuffed Zucchini, Fresh Tomato Sauce, and French-Style Potato Salad

Quinoa-Stuffed Zucchini: I love stuffed zucchini! I think my medium zucchinis may have been smaller than Robin's, because I didn't even end up using half the quinoa stuffing mixture. This is OK though, because it is great on it's own. Have it on toast for breakfast. 4 stars.
Fresh Tomato Sauce: This is a very easy sauce to make, and it is really smooth and nice. Definitely fresh. 4 stars.
French-Style Potato Salad: I prefer potato salad with a vinaigrette rather than a creamy, mayo dressing. This was lovely, especially made with tarragon vinegar. I decreased the amount of oil in the dressing by using 1 part olive oil and 3 parts water. 4 stars.
All up: A very delicious and summery dinner!

Couscous Pilaf, and Beets with Green and Slivered Apricots

Couscous Pilaf: This pilaf has the perfect couscous:vegetable ratio, and the vegetables are so lovely in it. There is red onion, carrot and peas, plus some chopped dried apricots and dried cranberries. This would be perfect to take to a pot luck, or to make ahead for work lunches. 5 stars.
Beets with Greens and Slivered Apricots: I hand't read this recipe properly, and when I came to make dinner I suddenly realised I was meant to have roasted the whole beetroot and the set aside to cool! Well, instead I sliced the raw beetroot as required by the recipe and I roasted at 200dC for 30 minutes and it was fine. Also, as it was pre-sliced, I could just plonk it straight into cooking without waiting for cooking. I found the apricots in this dish a bit too overpowering for me, I am funny about apricots in savoury dishes (I thought they were fine in the couscous above). But apricots aside, this was lovely. 4 stars.
All up: A really nice and colourful plate, these went so well together! I also served some Moroccan chickpeas, which was just a tin of drained chickpeas mixed with some Moroccan spice paste and baked in the over for about 30 minutes at 180dC.

Seitan Pot Roast, and Baby Spinach with Lemon and Garlic

Seitan Pot Roast: I posted about this during MoFo, as an amazing recipe. Reduce the liquid afterwards for a great sauce. And definitely serve with horseradish. 5 stars.
Baby Spinach with Lemon and Garlic: Be on the ball with this, because baby spinach turns from wilted to mush very quickly! It is a nice, lemony side dish. I left out the optional butter at the end, which would have added some extra richness. But I think it was just great without it. 4 stars.
All up: A classic Sunday dinner. And I made it on a Sunday. I felt so nifty doing this! Eat up, kids!

Fudgy Chocolate Sauce

A bonus sweet treat to finish. After making the roast dinner, above, it seemed remiss of me not to provide dessert. So I quickly put together this rich, thick, fudgy chocolate sauce. So yummy. I made a sundae with vanilla ice cream, bananas and raspberries. 4 stars.

(% 1000 Vegan Recipes Blogged: 18.9%)

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

For those who don't follow me on Twitter, check out these cuties. Everyone should have a chance to look at this adorable trio. Rosie, Lizzy, and Nate are three kittens that will soon be available for adoption. Their mother had them in a garden bed outside an office building, so they came to live with us (sadly the mother was not able to be caught). They will be ready for adoption in a few weeks! Nate already has a hold on him. Live near Brisbane? Call 3367 0011 and speak to the clinic for more details!

Cooking for a Cure 2011

2011-11-21T11:21:00.005+10:00

Every year for the last few years I host a Girl's Night In for the Cancer Council, to raise money for women's cancer research and support. Though mine is more of a Girl's Day In. One Sunday afternoon each year, the ladies from the clinic all come around to my house for afternoon tea, and I provide lots of vegan goodies for them to eat. This year was a smaller group - a lot of people were away, but I still tried to make a good spread. Here's what we ate.

Blueberry Orange Bundt Cake

(From Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)
Bundt cakes make me excited, and this lovely citrus blueberry cake was beautiful. I suspect my bundt pan may be a bit deeper than the US bundt pans, as I often have to bake my bundt cakes for about 15-20 minutes longer, and they come out looking taller than the ones in the book sometimes. Also, if you are using silicon, make sure to wait until it is completely cooled before sliding out. This was a big hit, one of the girls took some home for her partner, who I believe said it was the best cake he'd had all year.

Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cupcakes

(From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
There were adorable in the end, but did give me some stress when doing. The recipe says if you are coordinated enough, you can pour the vanilla and chocolate batters in side by side to the liner. I started this, but the vanilla batter was thicker than the chocolate and did not pour well. I ended up doing the other option, alternately dropping spoonfuls of each side by side. I marbled them using a toothpick, but I wonder if using a knife would get a better pattern, as they did not marble much. I also used these cute little cupcake liners, which you can see above. The recipe calls for filling to the top, so I only got 10 cupcakes using these. In these liners they did come out looking a bit funny on top, I think because they don't allow the normal shape of a cupcake to form, maybe? Next time if using these liners I would split the batter between the full 12. For the frosting I made the buttercream frosting from the book, and blended half of it with Dutch cocoa powder. I then firmed each frosting up in the fridge in separate bowls before marbling them together, put in the fridge again, then just dolloped onto the top. They ended up looking adorable, I think. And they tasted yummy. They also seemed to improve in taste as they sat in the fridge, so consider making these in advance. Here ends the essay!

The following pictures all appeared during my MoFo posts, so you may recognise them and some of the comments if you read my posts during that time. Still, they are pretty to look at again. :)

Deluxe Cocoa Brownies

(From Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
I think that brownies are a pretty sure bet for any sort of social gathering. Rich, moist and chocolatey.

Cranberry Almond Cookies

(From The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur by Kelly Peloza)
These are large, comforting cookies. They would be great with a glass of plant-based milk of your choosing! One of the girls took home all the leftovers and her partner apparently ate them all before his bike ride the next morning! Carbing up, I assume.

Mango Cashew Balls

(From 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson)
This recipe was a last minute addition to the menu. You know how you suddenly panic and worry that you won't have enough food (even though you have more than enough)? I am so glad I did. This is a variation of Apricot Walnut Balls, and I chose it because it sounded like a delightful tropical mix. They are heavenly!

Of course, there needs to be some savoury snacks as well.

Hummamole

(From Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson)
What happens with hummus and guacamole love each other very much. Delicious. Also, even though it has avocado in it, it didn't go brown over several hours. This was gobbled up with lots of fresh vegetable sticks - carrots, celery and green beans.

Red Bean-Chipotle Dip

(From Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson)
This stuff takes less than five minutes, and is seriously delicious. I only used one chipotle, which gave it a nice smoky kick. I think if you left out the water in this recipe, it would make a great almost-instant refried-bean style tasting filling for tacos and burritos. Served with tortilla chips.

Cheezy Cashew-Roasted Red Pepper Toasts

(From 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson)
Another of those last minute additions. I am so glad I added it, because it ended up being the star of the show! This is the only way capsicum should be eaten - roasted and blended up into a cheezy sauce. There it just adds a depth of flavour, and does not give me indigestion. Yay! Instead of making toast and cutting it into small shapes, I bought some mini melba toasts. This is one of my favourite things ever.

Here are some photos of the table, with all the food set out.

The dips with all their dippy friends.

Tiered serving stands always make everything extra adorable.

You can just see here the watermelon I also cut up and served. I like to serve some fruit at these things. The watermelon was perfect as well.

So, that is done for another year. It is a great way to showcase delicious vegan food, have a good time with friends and colleagues and raise money for a great cause. I'm already thinking about what I shall make next year!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Possum chilling out on the carpet, like the total stud he is. Look at his little toes!

Cooking for a Cure 2011

2011-11-21T11:21:00.003+10:00

30th Birthday part four

2011-11-20T11:33:00.004+10:00

This is the final instalment in my 30th birthday posts. My parents were not at my birthday party, so to celebrate with them I wanted to go out for a fancy pants dinner on my actual birthday. I put out the call, and Arly highly recommended Matt Moran's Aria on Eagle Street Pier. Cale from The Green Edge also said he had had a fabulous dinner there. So there is where we went. My parents agreed they too would eat vegan for the evening, as obviously I wanted all of my birthday celebrations to be cruelty free.

We had an early reservation as I had to work the next day, and we arrived a little early. That didn't matter though, as it is a beautiful spot to sit for a little and watch the river. Here is the Story Bridge.

You can also see the cliffs at Kangaroo Point. Sitting here looking at the peaceful river, it was hard to imagine that at the beginning of the year this river was flooding the city.

You know it is November (and exam time) in Brisbane when the Jacaranda trees are in full bloom. Purple bursts of colour everywhere! There are several restaurants down at Eagle Street, so I also did some browsing and made a note of those who mentioned vegan somewhere on their menu.

And then it was time for dinner. We had a lovely table that overlooked the river. For the first two courses, we were given two options. As there were three of us, that meant that we at least had one of everything so I could sample to one I didn't get.

First the brought out some litter appetisers - spoons full of heirloom tomatoes, shallots and capers. It was bright and delicious. After this photo, I turned off the flash as it was a bit too intrusive in the dim lights of the restaurant. I also had my mum's point and shoot, as my camera is a bit big and again would have seemed a bit intrusive. I also apologise that I don't remember everything that was in each dish, but I will do my best to describe!

After the appetisers, they brought around some fresh white bread rolls and some lovely olive oil for dipping. Nom.

For the entrée (US readers note: in Australia, the entrée is the first course, not the main) both my dad and I had the Tomato Consommé. It was amazing, and I have been craving it ever since. The beautiful clear, red broth was poured over sliced heirloom tomatoes, radishes and fennel.

Sorry for this shocker of a photo. This is mum's entrée, which was an asparagus and pea salad. In addition to grilled asparagus, it had an amazing pea purée as well as pickled shallots, some lovely purple flowers and pea shoots.

Between entrée and main, the brought around more bread. This time I had a large chunk of delicious sourdough.

For mains, mum and I both had the warm corn salad, which had grilled baby corn and baby leeks on top of corn salsa with mushrooms.

My dad had a dish with cauliflower and broccolini with chili and raisins, and I think it had some cous cous as well. I tried a bit of the cauliflower and it was yum.

We also ordered two vegan sides that were available. First was sautéed broccolini with chilli and crispy shallots, which was lovely. But it paled in comparison to the caramelised Brussels sprouts and shallots side dish, which was out of this world amazing. Mum has since Googled the recipe, so we can try and recreate it ourselves.

There was only one dessert option, but it was a doozie. A beautiful summer berry salad, that included strawberries and raspberries as well as freeze-dried raspberries, with two small scoops of berry sorbet and one larger scoop of pina colada sorbet. The latter of the sorbets was the best sorbet I have ever had in my life! Plus they gave me a candle, which was super cute. The only downside was that the chocolate that they wrote on the plate with was not vegan, they told me straight away up front not to eat it, which was good. But they said they didn't know what else to write it in. Next time I would just request to have my plate writing free. Even if I'm not eating it, I still don't want it on my plate.

Blowing out my candle. The angle of the photo kind of makes my look like I have a hump back.

I finished off with some peppermint tea, and they brought out these amazing candied walnuts. I could eat these all day, and I am not even a big fan of walnuts.

Then it was back to the house to eat a piece of leftover birthday cake on my actual birthday, and into bed before work the next day. I loved Aria, and would definitely go back there again for a special occasion. It is a great example of what good chefs can do with beautiful, fresh, seasonal fruit and vegetables. And before anyone cries out about the lack of a typical protein dish, I was incredibly full and satisfied after this dinner.

Now, does thirty years and one month old qualify to go back??

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Action shot of Sahara playing with the magnetic ladybug swinging toy I bought the girls for Christmas two years ago.

30th birthday part 3

2011-11-17T10:43:00.003+10:00

I mentioned my birthday festivities spread out over a weekend. On Sunday, we arose and after breakfast (I just had toast with Vegemite and avocado, and then a second breakfast of leftover finger sandwiches) and saying farewell to Brendan and Diana, Leigh and I went off in search of vegan adventures.

Our first stop was The Green Edge. The Green Edge is a magical place! It started out as a vegan grocery store, but has morphed into an amazing meeting place. It also serves pies, smoothies, milkshakes, hot drinks and sundaes, with burgers coming soon. And the range of vegan supplies available is extensive. I was taking Leigh there today to show her the coolest vegan place in Brisbane, and to have some sundaes! Leigh was also excited to see that they stocked Teese, which apparently you can't get in Sydney (score one for Brisbane!), so she did some shopping as well.

We both chose the banana split - with some strawberries on top. It was so good. Banana, Cocoluscious ice-cream, Soyatoo topping, homemade butterscotch sauce, strawberry sauce, chopped nuts, strawberries and a cherry! Heavenly.

This is one of their strawberry sundaes, which I had at a previous visit. It has strawberries, Cocolucious ice-cream, strawberry sauce, Dandies marshmallows, Soyatoo whipped cream, sprinkles and more strawberries. They also have a chocolate sundae of doom, that I am yet to tackle. I will post when I do!

Our plan was to then head on to lunch at Brisbane's first World Vegan Day Fair. We were looking forward to some Hellhound Hotdogs. However, thanks to texting, I found out that the hotdogs weren't there, and there was not much food to be had as several people had fallen through. We ended up heading out to Kuan Yin, with Matt and James who were also on the lookout for lunch. Sadly I don't have photos of all the noms we had! Leigh and I shared the fried dumplings (which are AMAZING), the Taiwanese spicy 'chicken' (so crunchy and salty and good), fried 'calamari' (I was suspicious, but they are actually delicious) and the sweet and sour 'pork' bento box, along with a Taro soy milk tea with pearls (also known as Cookie Drink, as it tastes like cookies). It was so yummy and filling!

Leigh and I didn't end up making it to the fair, and that night I dropped Leigh off at the airport and said farewell!

The next morning was my actual birthday - 30! I had arranged to go down the coast for lunch with Brendan and Diana, who were staying down there for a few days. We went to The Magic Apple.

It was hot and I was feeling like something a bit lighter (I had a big dinner coming up that night), so I got the tofu steak (normally served on a burger) with three different types of salad, all covered in vegan mayo and Gado Gado sauce. It was quite nice, but some of the 'roasted' vegetables in one of the salads were pretty raw.

I wanted a little something sweet to end up with. Unfortunately, half their dessert case was marked Vegan (tho honey). I am not looking to stir up any big debates here, but by simple definition honey isn't vegan. It was pretty disappointing. So there were only a couple of truly vegan options. I ended up getting this piece of mango and apricot pie, which was quite nice.

Then it was time to head back to Brisbane to get ready for my big dinner, which will be the subject of the next post!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Day (with bonus Unicorn)

(Photo courtesy Brendan Waite).
One of the presents I got at my party was this beautiful blue cat vase. I am totally besotted with it, because it kind of reminds me of a teal cat. Only blue, and obviously the proceeds didn't go towards a kitty shelter. But it is just as cute! I had really wanted a teal cat but they don't ship internationally, so I was very happy to get this light blue cat!

This photo is a bit blurry - I was arguing with my camera and couldn't get a better one. Another friend gave me this gorgeous unicorn necklace (I had been talking about unicorns a fair bit of late). His name is Paul!

30th Birthday part two

2011-11-16T13:36:00.004+10:00

So all that food I showed you before? That was just the first course of the party! After stuffing ourselves with finger food, it was time to burn off some of it to make room for dinner. It was a garden party after all, so how about some garden games?

There was bocce.

And ring toss.

People claimed they were too full to eat another bite, however when dinner hit the table (buffet style), there was a queue of people lining up to fill their plates.

There were Leigh's soon to be world famous sausage rolls, which will be featured in her upcoming cookbook. These are the best sausage rolls in the world, even omnis love them. They are magic!

Baked BBQ tempeh and tofu triangles.

(Photo courtesy Brendan Waite).
Mac and Cheese muffins. These were so cute when they came out!

(Photo courtesy Brendan Waite).
I also had sunflowers. Two were in coloured glass bottles with their long stems, and another two cut short and peeking out of tea pots. So bright and happy.

There was also a loaded quinoa and black bean salad.

Also a lovely green salad, with cos, baby spinach, rocket and roasted asparagus. This was served with Caesar Chavez dressing, from Appetite For Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, on the side.

My plate - nom! Unfortunately my dress, which was lovely, had a really tight waist band that cut right across my stomach. It was fine generally, though did kind of limit the amount I may otherwise have eating. ;) Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of me in my dress. Maybe I shall have to recreate the look for my scrapbooking.

I also had some of these lovely pink Astors in a vase, decorating the table with my matching pink iPod.

Dinner was delicious! But what is a birthday party without cake?

(Photo courtesy Brendan Waite).
For those who have read this blog for a little while, my love of the chocolate cherry combination is well known. So of course I had a chocolate cherry cake. It is decorated with strawberries as fresh cherries weren't yet in season. I had local vegan cake maker Kamina make the cake. She makes fabulous cakes, cheesecakes and slices where are available at The Green Edge as well.

Inside shot. That's a layer of chocolate mousse in the middle, as well. This cake was so good!

And thus ended my party. My guests waddled off with full bellies, except those who were staying at my place, who instead entered a reclining phase. And I entered the epic clean up phase. My tootsies were sore, but future me was very thankful to come down to a clean kitchen in the morning.

I was really happy with how my party went, it was small and sweet and had loads of amazing food and my favourite people - just the way I like it! A huge thank you must, of course, go to Leigh. It was she who made all this eating possible! Also a thanks to my adorable friend Lisa from the clinic, who helped me plan the theme of the party. And thanks to everyone who came, and everyone who sent birthday wishes!

There are still more birthday shenanigans and food to come!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

My Gizmo strikes a pose.

30th Birthday part one

2011-11-14T12:50:00.004+10:00

I turned thirty last week, thus entering what I hope to be the best decade of my life thus far. To celebrate I had a weekend of festivities, which I will be sharing over the next few posts. There was a lot of food involved.

The weekend really kicked off on Thursday night, when I went and picked up Leigh from the airport. Leigh is a fantastic vegan chef and creator of vegan recipes, as well as being a published cookbook author. She is also a cat lady and sci-fi geek. She is also my friend. In fact, Leigh was the first other vegan I met! Leigh had come up to cater for my birthday party. Friday involved many hours in the kitchen preparing, before heading out to Loving Hut for a huge dinner, and then heading home again for more food prep (while watching Josie and the Pussycats and Bring It On).

The party started on Saturday afternoon. It was a garden party theme, so everyone was required to wear their garden party pretty clothing. It was lots of fun seeing everyone in their pretty dresses (and snazzy ties for the boys). It was a small party, only 13 guests. I much prefer small gatherings with my closests to huge parties. Several people had come up from Sydney as well, and I was so thankful they made the trip to celebrate with me.

Now, onto the food! I'll break this up into two posts. First up, the finger food portion for the afternoon! Some of these photos were provided by my friend Brendan Waite, who is a snazzy photographer with a snazzy camera, and thus had better photos than I did!

(Photo courtesy Brendan Waite).
Mini caramelised onion tarts. These are from Leigh's upcoming pastry cookbook. A savoury shell filled with the most delicious white bean mixture you've ever tasted and topped off with caramelised onions.

(Photo courtesy Brendan Waite).
Mini sundried tomato quiches. Leigh makes a magical quiche filling. These had a layer of sundried tomato on the bottom of the pastry as well as the little slivers on top.

You can't have a garden party without finger sandwiches. I had three kinds - Cucumber and Cream Cheese, Tomato Basil and Cream Cheese, and BLTs. The bacon was made from both tempeh and smoked tofu. Leigh also makes an addictive herby cream cheese spread. I loved them all, but the cucumber was my favourite. Must respect the classics.

I consulted with Twitter friend Arly for some decorating tips, she has a wonderful sense of whimsy and style for these things. She suggested flowers in teapots. These freesias were a super cute centerpiece in a purple teapot. The tablecloth was lace, of course.

Chipotle-Lentil Balls with Guasacaca. The balls are made from the burger recipe in Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and the guacamole is from a recipe in Viva Vegan by Terry Hope Romero.

Smoked Tofu Balls with Spicy Mango BBQ Sauce. The smoked tofu balls are a Leigh original, and the BBQ sauce was based on the recipe for Mango BBQ Baked Beans in Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

(Photo courtesy Brendan Waite).
Lemon Risotto Balls with Tomato Basil Sauce. The risotto is made super lemony and also has peas in it. Yum!

Most of the party was on my back deck, which I decorated with garlands of flowers (fake, I'm afraid), and some adorable pink paper lanterns. They were lit up later on as it was getting dark and were super pretty.

(Photo courtesy Brendan Waite).
How about some sweets? Mini-versions of Peanut Butter Caramel Blueberry Tart, also from Leigh's upcoming cookbook, and Mini Fruit and Custard Flans. These little flans were the first thing I ever ate made by Leigh, on the day that I met her all those years ago, and I still love them. The pastry shells are coated in chocolate on the inside.

One must have appropriate garden party drinks. I don't drink alcohol, so it was virgin affair. This is some raspberry lemonade. I would love to say that I made it, but I just bought some big bottles of Charlie's Honest Old-Fashioned Raspberry Lemonade, which just happens to be delicious.

We also made some iced tea. This is a T2 blend called Red Green Dreamy, which is Rooibos flavoured with peaches, plums and berries and makes a great iced tea. I normally drink my tea straight up, so Leigh took charge and sweetened it with a bit of agave nectar.

More floral decorations - crysthanamums in a jug. There was a second white jug as well, slightly different, which I filled with these down the other end of the deck. Flowers are pretty!

That is part one of the birthday party post! If you can believe it, there is even more food to come! I will cover that, as well as some other fun garden party stuff, in the next post.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Yesterday I caught Sahara sleeping on the pink snuggie, which belongs to Dim Sim but is often stolen by Gizmo. I've never seen Sahara sleeping on it before, though!

Cook.Vegan.Lover Package Swap 2011

2011-11-10T15:21:00.005+10:00

This year I took part in the annual Cook.Vegan.Lover package swap, and I was matched with Amanda from karMama.

I was very excited to receive a little box filled with goodies. Amanda is from NB in Canada, and sent me some exciting local goodies. This included some sweet potato chips (which were delicious... they are better than the sweet potato chips we get here), some amazing blueberry tea (so good, I can't wait to ice it as well for summer!), some dried cranberries (they are awaiting their fate) and some maple candy (I was so excited to try this!), as well as a really cute little place mat called a Mug Rug, some stickers and some lovely prints made by Amanda herself.

Thank you Amanda! It is wonderful to find a swap buddy who is willing to post to the other end of the earth.

I must apologise for being horrendously late posting this, it was meant to be up by the 21st of October! However thanks to the international postage system, I received my package in late October and was in full MoFo engulfment, and then it was my 30th birthday. That's right, I am now 30! I celebrated with several food related activities, you will be very happy to know, and I'll be popping up some blog posts for that soon!

Have you taken part in a package swap before?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

My Gizmo's paw, holding on to her tail. Squeee.

Gizmo's 15th birthday

2011-11-02T10:09:00.003+10:00

Yesterday, the 1st of November, was Gizmo's 15th birthday. For those of you in the US, it is still Gizmo's birthday right now! So celebrate. :)

Gizmo is my eldest girl, and over the past year she has had a bit of a rocky time. She has frequent urinary tract infections (and she gets sick on almost every oral antibiotics, so I have to inject her - sometimes every day depending on what antibiotic she needs!) and was also diagnosed with stage 2 kidney disease last year. A few months ago, Gizmo got a bad UTI that actually went all the way up into her kidneys, she had to go into the clinic and stay there on IV fluids for five days. Her kidneys took a big hit, and never fully recovered. She is now in stage 3 kidney disease (there are four), but is also losing a lot of weight. I am hoping I can get at least get her to maintain weight and then hopefully a long period of stable kidney disease... I hope.

So with all that is going on with her, celebrating her birthday was especially important. Especially for a 15th birthday! Here are some photos for you.

This is Gizmo on Monday night, her last night of being a 14 year old.

And this is Gizmo on the morning of her 15th birthday! Isn't she lovely?

I had to work a 12 hour day on Gizmo's birthday, so you imagine how eager I was to get home to her! I found her on the sofa, sleeping on the pink Snuggie. The Snuggie was originally mine, but then my black kitty Dim Sim decided she loved sleeping on it, so it became hers. Gizmo loves stealing the sleeping spots of other cats, and she has taken to stealing the Snuggie, much to Dim Sim's disgust.

So, for her birthday, I got Gizmo a new bed! (She has lots of other beds/blankets/sofas/etc as well). This is an adorable reversible bed by Fuzz Yard, the pattern is called Carnival. On the inside is a caramel colour fleece, and on the outside it is cream coloured with big pastel spots. And it is reversible, too! So I can switch from a fluffy inside to the material inside. Very cute and clever.

Verdict? After an initial few minutes of completely ignoring it (she has to maintain that aloof kitty air, after all), Gizmo decides that she loves it. Like, really loves it. The cats sleep up in my room with me at night, and after I fell asleep last night Gizmo hopped off our bed and went back downstairs to her bed! She has been in her bed a lot this morning, too!

So happy birthday my beautiful girl, I hope the universe sees fit to grant us many more together. <3

What did you give your animal companion for their last birthday?

VeganMoFo 2011 Coda (Where do we go from here?)

2011-11-01T15:12:00.001+10:00

Today is actually the first of November here in Australia, but it is still the 31st of October in the US, so MoFo is still going somewhere in the world. I thought I would just write this quick final post to wrap it all up.

My cookbook shelf! When I first started MoFo this year, I post a picture of my cookbook shelf. At the time it was only two shelves, and the rest of the books were piled around in various places. I was very happy when my mother suddenly offered me another shelf - now all my vegan cookbooks have a home near the kitchen.

I blogged through a total of 33 cookbooks during this MoFo (there were two posts where I looked at two books), but there were several others that I didn't get to blog - there just weren't enough days in October! I chose the books I had used the most, so the books that didn't make the cut were books that I had only made a couple of things out of, or a few where I haven't made anything at all! (I know of only one person in the world who has attempted something from Great Chefs Cook Vegan... anyone else??).

Here is a list of my other cookbooks, that weren't blogged about during MoFo:

Cafe Flora Cookbook by Catherine Geier with Carol Brown (not 100% vegan)
Colour Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson
Great Chefs Cook Vegan by Linda Long
Kansha by Elizabeth Andoh
Party Vegan by Robin Robertson
Sifully Vegan by Lois Dieterly (I'm afraid I can't recommend this one at all)
The Candle Cafe Cookbook by Joy Pierson and Bart Potenza with Barbara Scott-Goodman
The Complete Guide to Vegan Substitutions by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman
The Everyday Vegan by Dreena Burton
The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson
Vegan Desserts by Hannah Kaminsky
Vegan Italiano by Donna Klein
Vive Le Vegan! by Dreena Burton
Yellow Rose Recipes by Joanna Vaught

Not cookbooks as such, though they do contain recipes, I also have Vegan's Daily Companion and The 30 Day Vegan Challenge by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, which are two beautiful books I wouldn't be without.

And, of course, Vegan Pie In The Sky by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, which landed in my letterbox earlier this week!

While I am very happy to have another shelf for my cookbooks, when I look at them all together I think 'I don't have as many as I thought... I need to get more! Also, there are now some gaps on the shelves because they aren't all crammed in... which means I definitely need to get some more! Though I think I want more than will fit in the space created by my new shelf!

Cookbooks I am keen to get:

American Vegan Kitchen by Tamasin Noyes
Celebrate Vegan by Dynise Balcavage
My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky
Quick and Easy Vegan Bake Sale by Carla Kelly
Quick and Easy vegan Comfort Food by Alicia C. Simpson
Sweet Utopia by Sharon Valenick
The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet by Joni-Marie Newman
The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak
The Urban Vegan by Dynise Balcavage
Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry
World Vegan Feast by Bryanna Clark Grogan

Please give me your opinions on any of these books, plus any further recommendations!

What is the next cookbook you are hoping to get?

Happy MoFo everyone! I am way behind on reading posts, so I will be doing that over the next month (or two?) and I have found many new blogs to add to my permanent rotation. I hope you have enjoyed stopping by my little corner of the interwebs as well. MoFo has really reignited my love of blogging, so I hope this blog will be a lot more regular from now on! I have some ideas for some semi-regular new segments as well, and of course I will continue to review recipes from cookbooks and have photos of kittens!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

A photo of my Gizmo. Today is actually Gizmo's birthday - happy birthday my love! I will make a fuller post about Gizmo and her birthday in the next couple of days, once we've had present time when I get home from work tonight!

P.S. Bonus points to anyone who spots the Buffy reference in this post!

VeganMoFo 2011 #31: 'Quick Fix Vegan'

2011-10-31T15:39:00.001+10:00

It is the 31st of October... the end of MoFo. I can't believe I managed to make a post every day! There was a lot of planning involved. I am so far behind in my reading, though, so don't be surprised if you find me commenting on your posts over the next several weeks post-MoFo. I'm going to end my cookbook reviews with a look at the most recent cookbook to join my home. (Actually, Vegan Pie In The Sky arrived during the week, but I haven't had time to even think of making anything from that yet).

Quick-Fix Vegan
Robin Robertson, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011

I love cooking and baking, I love spending the time putting together menus or decorating cupcakes. However, my lifestyle does not always allow for the time I would like to spend in the kitchen, sometimes a 30 minute meal is in order! This is where Quick-Fix Vegan steps in, providing a wealth of speedy recipes for when you are short on time.

The book is paperback, it is illustrated throughout with some pretty green photos of produce, but no photos of the actual recipes. There are no menu suggestions here, I guess because it is a quick meal cookbook! Chapters include:

*Introduction
*Getting Started
*Starters and Snacks
*Stovetop Suppers
*Pasta Express
*Soups in Short Order
*Speedy Sandwiches
*Snappy Salads
*Easy Make-Ahead Bakes
*Sauces and Condiments
*(Almost) Effortless Desserts
*Metric Conversions and Equivalents

I have been cooking with this book through October. It has been a very busy month for me, so it provided a great chance to try out this book. I'm going to share with you all that I have made!

Hummamole

What happens with hummus and guacamole love each other very much. Delicious. Also, even though it has avocado in it, it didn't go brown over several hours. 4 stars.

Red Bean-Chipotle Dip

This stuff takes less than five minutes, and is seriously delicious. I only used one chipotle, which gave it a nice smoky kick. I think if you left out the water in this recipe, it would make a great almost-instant refried-bean style tasting filling for tacos and burritos. Yum! 5 stars.

Tofu 'Scampi' with Spinach

I think I erred in this recipe. I didn't have dulse flakes, but I had kelp powder, which ended up being quite gritty. I suspect dulse flakes would impart the flavour of the sea without the grittiness of the powder. I made some great leftovers with this, by adding a splash of soy sauce and dipping the tofu chunks into mayo. Yum! 3-4 stars.

Tropical Quinoa and Black Beans

This was a great dinner to make on a warm, spring evening. The flavours of black bean and mango go so well together! You could the quinoa separate and then mix it into the rest. I didn't add all the quinoa, I added about three large serving-spoonfuls (and saved the rest of the quinoa for snacking on later). I served this with roasted asparagus. This is also great at room temperature for lunch the next day! 4 stars.

Coconut Curry Chickpeas and Cauliflower

The first thing I made from here, who can resist a nice curry! I roasted some zucchini to go on the side here, but it would also be great just added in to the vegetable mix. 4 stars.

Chipotle Corn and Quinoa with Pintos

This is a magical dish, that I cannot recommend enough. Another great room temperature lunch the next day. 5 stars.

Ziti with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomatoes

The first time I made this, I accidentally deleted the photo, so I had to make it again. Such a shame to have to eat delicious pasta with roasted cauliflower and grape tomatoes in a yummy white wine sauce with raisins and capers twice. Or maybe it was a blessing in disguise, because this s one of my favourite pasta dishes. The thought of it makes my taste buds yearn! 5 stars.

Linguine with Artichoke and White Bean Alfredo

I made this with 8oz, rather than 12oz, of linguine and had enough for three big servings. I love how the artichokes and the white beans blend up into a thick, yummy, protein-rich sauce. 4 stars.

Rotini with Creamy Avocado-Herb Sauce

I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but I had a bag of avocados to use up so I took the plunge, and I was very well rewarded. While the sauce is creamy, it is incredibly fresh tasting thanks to a combination of herbs and lemon juice. I only used 10oz of pasta, not 12. This is something eat up fairly quickly so the sauce doesn't go brown, though I did take some leftovers for lunch the next day and it was just as amazing. 5 stars.

Lemon-Cashew Cream Sauce

Some sauces are lucky to make it into a recipe, because they are so good you just want to eat it with a spoon. This is one of those sauces! It takes almost no time to make, and you will be rewarded with one of the best sauces I have ever had. I eventually managed to put the spoon down long enough to mix it up with some pasta, white beans, peas and roasted zucchini slices for a great dinner. 5 stars.

What is the newest cookbook to join your collection?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

OK, this is a terrible photo. But it is the only photo in the world that has all four cats in the same picture. Gizmo is sitting on the arm of the chair, you can see Sahara jumping off the sofa in a red blur (which is why the photo is so fuzzy, I rushed to take it before she left), Possum is sitting on my mum's lap, and you can just see Dim Sim's ears poking out from where she is sitting on the sofa.

Even though today is officially the last day of October in Australia, I will still be making a final MoFo post to wrap things up tomorrow, which will still be the 31st of October in the US.

VeganMoFo 2011 #30: 'Hearty Vegan Meals For Monster Appetites'

2011-10-30T14:53:00.002+10:00

Hearty Vegan Meals For Monster Appetites
Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman, Fair Winds Press, 2011

When I first heard there was going to be a book called Hearty Vegan Meals, I was excited. I am in possession of a Monster Appetite myself, so this book was made for me. This book is sort of the opposite to yesterday's Appetite For Reduction - low calories are not on the menu. I bought this book from Powell's in Portland when I was in the USA earlier this year (along with two others) and I was eager to start cooking through it.

The book is a paperback and is full of beautiful photographs taken by Celine. While there is no menu section, there are many serving suggestions throughout the book. Chapters include:

*Introduction
*Complete Prep Guide for Wicked Good Meals
*Down-Home Breakfasts
*Mean and Mouthwatering Mains
*Over-The-Top, Totally Tantalising Sides
*The Bottomless Bread Basket
*Condiments, Sauces and Other Staples
*Ooey, Gooey, and Downright Sinful Sweets

This is Hearty Vegan Meals' first outing on my blog. I have blogged too many to share all the photos with you today, so I will share my favourites and list all the others I have made at the end (I will blog all the photos at a later date through my regular blogging schedule post-MoFo).

Hearty Breakfast Bowl

This is so amazing, I had to post two photos. I already knew I was going to get this book, but if I'd had any doubts this recipe would have sealed the deal. Imagine a large bowl full of scrambled tofu and tater tots, topped with cheesy gravy and TVP bacon bits. I added some roasted cauliflower to the bowl for veggie content, and it was the perfect addition. This is a bowl of heaven. A billion stars (5 seems not enough).

Orange Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins

How good are these muffins? Well, good enough that my kitty Sahara punched me in the face with her paw trying to get the muffin I was eating. There is surprising power in a furry little paw intent on getting food. Cranberries and chopped tinned mandarins are studded through the muffins, and cream cheese is mixed into the batter. So good. 5 stars.

Savoury Cheesecake and Mamou's Magical Vinaigrette

I was so proud with how this cheesecake turned out, and the taste is fantastic. The base of the cheesecake is made from Skillet Cornbread, another recipe from the book. This is a make-ahead dish, you need to chill it overnight. You can reheat it or eat it at room temperature, I ended up doing it at room temperature, and it was great. Is fantastic for lunches at work as well. 5 stars.
The book suggests serving it with Mamou's Magical Vinaigrette, which is a nice, peppery, light, herby dressing that sparkles on salads. 4 stars.

Chorizo and Potato Lasagne Bake

This is the first recipe I made from this book, and it blew me away. This slices of potato take the place of pasta sheets in this lasagne. They are cooked before baking, so there is no issue with potato that won't bake through. The filling is delicious and would make a great savoury mince on its own. I needed to microwave the topping for twice as long before it thickened enough. 5 stars.

Five-Cheese Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Caution: This is some serious mac and cheese! Five cheeses come from: 1) a noochy sauce (I didn't use as much butter as the recipe called for), 2) tofu-ricotta mixture (this is not like other tofu ricotta mixtures), 3) Tofutti Cream Cheese (a whole tub!), 4) shredded vegan cheese (I used Cheezly Cheddar), and 5) Walnut Parmesan Sprinkles. This is a seriously rich mixture. I made it even richer by having the amount of pasta used, so I had double the concentration of the cheesy goodness. 5 stars.

Pasta Alla Formiana

You take uncooked pasta and it bakes into perfect softness in the tomato sauce in the oven - genius! The parmesan mix within here is outstanding, you will be eating it by the spoonful. 5 stars.

Hush Puppies with Mexican-Style Dipping Sauce for Corn and Eat Your Collar Dreams

I debated long and hard over how I would make these. They call for deep frying - which terrifies me slightly. Also, I don't like eating really fried food as it makes me feel ill. I thought about baking them, but ended up doing a compromise and shallow frying. I was so pleased with how they turned out! Even though they are in the sides section, these are super filling! 4 stars.
They are served slathered in the Mexican-Style Dipping Sauce for Corn, which is creamy and tangy and goes great with these little fried morsels, as well as being delicious with fresh corn on the cob. 4 stars.
The book suggests the vegetable side of Eat Your Collard Greens. We can't get collars in Australia, so I used silverbeet. These are so delicious, I could have just kept on going back for more. 5 stars.
(I also served with some steak-sauce glazed soy sausages).

Mozzarella

Your own, homemade mozzarella is just two minutes in the microwave away, plus is totally adorable to boot. 4 stars.

Orange Seitan Stew - 4 stars
Stew-tatouille - 4 stars
Chocolate Stout Chili - 3 stars (only because I am not a fan of the strong stout taste, so next time would go half stout and half stock)
Seitan Burgers for Stews and Chilis - 4 stars
Sloppy Jo-nis - 4 stars
Better Love Your Beans Bake - 4 stars
Cheesy Chili Bake - 4 stars
Creamy All-In-One Bowl - 4 stars
Beefy-Cheese Mac - 4 stars
Traditional Red Lasagna - 4 stars
Pasta alla Carbonara - 4 stars
Eggplant Parmigiana - 4 stars
Deli-Style Macaroni Salad - 4 stars
East Coast Meets West Coast Pasta Salad - 4 stars
Skillet Cornbread - 4 stars
Walnut Parmesan Sprinkles - 4 stars
Hemp-Almond Parmesan (made with sesame seed option in place of hemp) - 4 stars
TVP Chorizo - 5 stars
Imitation Bacon Bits - 4 stars

What is your favourite hearty meal?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

The handsome Possum, having some roly poly time in the grass.

VeganMoFo 2011 #29: 'Appetite For Reduction'

2011-10-29T19:03:00.002+10:00

Appetite for Reduction
Isa Chandra Moskowitz, De Capo Press, 2011

Pretty much anything that comes out from Isa, I buy. There have been other low fat vegan cookbooks around that I haven't ever really considered buying, but it was a no brainer that this one would find its way to my bookshelves. I don't really think of Appetite for Reduction a a 'diet' cookbook, as it is a book bursting with delicious, fresh and healthy recipes that everyone will love. I certainly have loved cooking from this book - everything is so packed with flavour, and you certainly don't feel like you are on any sort of restricted eating. This book is full of noms!

The book is a paperback with a middle section of glossy colour photos of some of the recipes. The front cover has that lovely matte feel like Vegan Brunch did. I'll list the chapters in a moment, but I will point out that there is no dessert chapter. Some people have felt this to be a gross omission. However, there are a trillion vegan dessert books available (Isa herself has written many of them!) so turn to those or just have some fruit if you need something sweet to end with. There is no menu list, as such, in the book, but there are lots of suggestions throughout for recipes to combine. The chapters that are in this book include:

*Introduction/Metric Conversion Chart/Mission: Nutrition/About the Icons
*Full-On Salads
*Totally Stuffed Sides
*Rub-Your-Tummy Veggies
*Main Event Beans
*Sink-Your-Teeth-Into Tofu and Tempeh
*Talk Pasta To Me (& Noodles)
*Soul-Satisfying Soups
*Comfort Curries, Chili, & Stews
*The Elements of a Bowl (fun suggestions for putting together delicious bowl meals)
*The Importance of Eating Sandwich (fun suggestions to putting together great sandwiches and wraps)
*Appendix: Recipes by Icon (Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, 30 minutes or under, Downtime)

I've blogged a lot from this book, and I have more photos awaiting upload than I could fit in this post. So I am going to put up some of the best things I have made but haven't blogged yet, and I'll list the other five-star recipes that don't have photos today at the end. I'm going to kick off with some of the menu suggestions. I'll often eat more than what is considered one serve here, so I'll mention how many servings I got from each if they differ from the book.

Chickpea Piccata and Broccopots

This is a delicious combination. I chose the broccopots for something different.
The piccata is great, that delicious, rich, tangy sauce that I have come to crave. I got 3 servings, instead of 4. 4 stars.
Broccopots is the green version of the famous and fantastic caulipots. This variation, with broccoli mashed into the potato instead of the cauliflower, is one of my favourite variations. I find the caulipot recipe makes a huge amount! Probably 5 serves, rather than 4. 5 stars.

Veggie Pot Pie Stew with Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits

The stew is very satisfying. I did find that the base of the stew needed a bit more flavour, so I would increase the amount of stock powder I used to make the stock next time (but this will vary depending on the strength of your stock). I got 4 servings, rather than 6. 4 stars.
The biscuits are great with the stew but also very nice as a snack. I only got 8 biscuits, rather than 10, so I must have made them a bit too big. As a result, I needed to bake them for a bit longer. 4 stars.

Tofu Chimichurri with Chipotle Caulipots

Chimicurri is one of my favourite sauces and marinades, but often has a lot of oil. This is full of flavour and completely oil free. 5 stars.
The chipotle caulipots call on the old favourite of chipotles in adobe to lend a smoky heat. I didn't use the full four chipotles called, I probably used only one or two. 4 stars.
Served with a salad.

Apple-Miso Tofu, Scallion Potato Pancakes, and Orange-Scented Broccoli

The tofu is an unusual but very addictive flavour. The marinade ended up more of a thick paste, rather than a liquid like most marinades, so it clings to the tofu and apples perfectly. 4 stars.
Orange-Scented Broccoli sounds delicious, and is very nice. Quick to make, it is a nice way to dress up broccoli. 4 stars.
The scallion pancakes were tasty, though didn't brown as much as I would have liked in the oven. Using 1/4 cup for each, I got 11 rather than 12. They are yummy cold taken for snacks at work the next day. 4 stars.

Tamarind BBQ Tempeh & Sweet Potatoes, Shaved Brussels Sprouts, and Polenta Stuffing

Thanksgiving isn't an Australian tradition, but I have read a lot about what people eat on blogs. This is kind of what I imagine a healthy Thanksgiving in a bowl would be like. Served with Cranberry Sauce (from Eat, Drink & Be vegan).
Tempeh and Sweet Potatoes have a lovely tamarind BBQ sauce coating them. Make the time to marinate well, because the flavours are great. 4 stars.
The Brussels sprouts have a great texture. It takes a little bit of time to slice them so thinly, but it isn't that long and it is work it. 4 stars.
I've mentioned that I love polenta, and this stuffing is seriously addictive. 5 stars.

Mushroom & Cannellini Paprikas with Scarlet Barley

The paprikash is delicious, and is amazingly creamy without a drop of sour cream. I love dill, and this has lots. 4 stars.
Scarlet Barley is a stunning, colourful dish thanks to grated beetroot. It makes the plate look fantastic. I had to simmer the barley at a medium-high temperature, rather than on low, to get the water to absorb in time. 4 stars.

Upside-Down Lentil Shepherd's Pie (with Garden Variety Caulipots)

I think this dish is the talk or the town, everyone I know who has made it is in love with it. It is so tasty. The shiitake mushrooms and the Worcestershire sauce make this something special. 5 stars.
This recipe also calls for caulipots (hence the upside down part). I chose Garden Variety Caulipots, which have chives and parsley. 4 stars.

Pasta Con Broccoli

This is so simple, but so delicious. Pasta and broccoli in a white wine sauce. I added white beans for protein. Sprinkle nooch on top! I got three serves out of this, rather than four. 5 stars.

Caldo Verde with Crumbled Tempeh

I have recently discovered that I love Caldo Verde! This version uses silverbeet (chard) for the greens, and delicious chunks of sauteed tempeh. Make sure to brown the tempeh well. 4 stars.

Classic Black Bean & Veggie Chili

This chili is fresh tasting and packed full of veggies. A great taste! 5 stars.

Other 5 star recipes:
Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing
Eggplant Bacon
Cheezy Pots
Creamed Corn
Eggplant Dengaku
Baked Falafel
Forty-Clove Chickpeas & Broccoli
Jalapeno-Cilantro Hummus
Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup

Do you have a favourite Isa cookbook? Can you choose?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

The last of my paintings by Maryanne Oliver. This time a little bit of punk creeps in with my lovely girl Gizmo. I love how Maryanne paints cats, and I love how Maryanne paints her red-haired girls.

VeganMoFo 2011 #28: 'Vegan On The Cheap'

2011-10-28T13:35:00.002+10:00

Vegan On The Cheap
Robin Robertson, John Wiley & Sons, 2010

I've already discussed two other books by Robin, Vegan Planet and 1000 Vegan Recipes, and I have a review of her latest Quick Fix Vegan coming up. Today's post is about Vegan On The Cheap. I don't need to worry about food costs too much (not that I am living it up with mounds of truffles and bathing in maple syrup... actually that would be sticky), but I had to get it because it is a Robin Robertson cookbook! Plus it is never a bad idea to save money where you can. I recently learned on Twitter that Robin is a fan of Battlestar Galactica, which means you should definitely buy her books if you haven't already.

The book is a paperback and there are no photos inside. Chapters include:

*The Big Picture (talking about veganism and being a thrifty vegan cook, it also includes a 7 day menu plan)
*Cooking Basics
*Soup and Sew Savvy
*Satisfying Salads
*Noodle Know-How
*Skillet Sense
*First-Class Bakes and Casseroles
*Pizzas, Burgers, and Casseroles
*Slow-Cooker Favourites
*Sweet Delights
*Online Resources

I haven't blogged anything from this book yet, but I have made too many to put all the photos in one post. So I will post a few of my favourites from each section and then list the others at the end with my rating system.

Caldo Verde

I really wanted to make this as it has two of my favourite things - kale and tempeh. The tempeh is smoky to boot! It uses the Smoky Tempeh Bits recipes from the Basics chapter, which are some of the best things ever just on their own. This soup didn't disappoint. 5 stars.

Cincinnati Suburb Chili

This is a delicious and intriguing combination. I guess it is not that interesting if you live in Cincinnati. But the chili is served over spaghetti and topped with Cheezee Sauce, and when you put those three things together, magic happens. 5 stars.

Curried Vegetable Salad

This is a great salad to make ahead for the week's lunches. The creamy, curry dressing is really yummy. 5 stars.

Red Bean and Corn Salad

This salad suggests serving with rice to bulk it up, by I took it to work with lots of avocado and corn tortillas. Delicious! 4 stars.

Linguine with Lentils and Roasted Butternut Squash

This is a beautiful dish. I used 250g linguine (instead of 12 ounces) and just over 1kg butternut for the 'medium' butternut squash. Initially the sauce looked a bit too runny, but it is absolutely fine and coats the pasta perfectly. 4 stars.

Penne and Broccoli with Tomatoes, Walnuts, and Raisins

I halved the amount of penne pasta required here to obtain my optimum pasta to sauce ratio. 4 stars.

White Bean and Barley "Risotto" with Kale and Tempeh

Fantastic, everything good in the world in a bowl. This makes three large servings for Susan-sized appetites. The recipe uses more of those amazing Smoky Tempeh Bits. 5 stars.

Tofu Fried Rice

This is pretty simply in terms of ingredients, but magic happens in the saute pan. I could not stop eating this. I served it with some amazing sauteed broccolini. 5 stars.

Cacciatore Noodle Bake

This is a delicious, big dish - I got 5 servings from it. I used a blend of tofu, seitan and tempeh (I had a bunch of odds and ends left over) and used peas instead of green capsicum. 4 stars.

Other things I have made:
Marinara Sauce - 4 stars
Cheezee Sauce - 4 stars
Handy Hummus - 4 stars
Smoky Tempeh Bits - 5 stars
French Lentil Chili - 4 stars
Bean and Barley Salad with Creamy Dijon Dressing - 4 stars
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cashews and Kidney Beans - 4 stars
Tabbouleh Chickpea Salad - 4 stars
Quick Lo Mein - 4 stars
Coconut Curry Rice - 4 stars
Better-Than-Takeout Tofu Stir-Fry - 4 stars
Baked Ziti - 4 stars
Deluxe Vegetable Lasagne - 3 stars

What's your favourite 'splurge' food item?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

This is the second painting that Maryanne did for me, and it is of the pretty red-haired girl with Dim Sim. I told Maryanne about how Dim Sim didn't like her sisters, but loved spending alone time with me. So Maryanne made this beautiful painting of the two of us sitting on the moon gazing at the stars, with no other kitties around.

VeganMoFo 2011 #27: 'Viva Vegan'

2011-10-27T14:47:00.002+10:00

Viva Vegan!
Terry Hope Romero, De Capo Press, 2010

Terry Hope Romero's first solo offering will make you see Latin food in a whole new light. By and large in Australia, Latin food is pretty far from being even remotely authentic, I believe. Terry's book has so many fantastic recipes that cover all aspects of Latin Cuisine, as well as introducing some fun new ingredients to your repertoire. The book is paperback (you can see here that my copy has a crease right through Terry's nose! That happened in transit), and there is a middle section of colour photos. Part one of the book includes an introduction, the vegan latin pantry and kitchen tools. Part two is the recipes:

*A Few Essential Latino Vegan Recipes
*Salsa and Condimento
*Bocadillos, Snacks, and Appetisers
*Ensaladas
*Beans and Rice, Los Dos Amigos
*Vegan Asoado: Tofu, Tempeh, and Seitan
*Complete Your Plate: Vegetables, Plantains, and Grains
*One-Pot Stews, Casseroles, and Cazuelas
*Super Fantastico Latin Soups!
*For the Love of Corn: Arepas, Pupusas, Tortillas, and More
*You, Too, Can Tamale
*Empanadas!
*Drinks
*Desserts and Sweets

There are also several appendices, including menus (yay!), shopping list guides, cooking terms and techniques and a conversion charts.

I actually thought I had made only a few things from this book, but I have actually made a few things. I've just tended to make combinations of dishes from the menu list, so it's more that I have just cooked a few times from this book. There are three categories of menu - large dinners for 4-6, smaller dinners for 2-3, and two recipe meals for weeknight cooking.

Smaller Dinner #1

This menu includes:
*Chimichurri Sauce with Smoked Paprika: This sauce is amazing, you will want to do much more than just the tofu recipe below, like eat it with a spoon! It is a delicious sauce in its own right. 5 stars.
*Chimichurri Baked Tofu: Very yummy. 4 stars.
*Brazillian-Style White Rice (subbed in from original Savoury Orange Rice, Brazillian Style) is some of the tastiest rice ever. 5 stars.
*Swiss Chard with Raisins and Capers: I love capers and raisins and greens together, so this really was great. 4 stars.
*Baked plantains (I just added this for fun, because I had some plantains that needed using up)

Smalled Dinner #4

This menu includes:
*Creamy Potato Peanut Stew: This is a very rich stew, so serving it with these other recipes helps to balance it out nicely. 4 stars.
*Pickled Red Onions: These are so easy and so pretty. It makes a lot, so halve the recipe if you won't be going through them fast enough. 5 stars.
*Basic White Rice: Simple and yummy. I have made this in the rice cooker before too, where it becomes quite chewy but I kind of like it. 4 stars.
*Steamed plain greens (no recipe)

Two-Recipe Meal #6

This menu includes:
*Quinoa-Oyster Mushroom Risotto: I found this a little bland, but in a good way. I would add more mushrooms, because that is how I roll. 4 stars.
*Braised Brazilian Shredded Kale: Kale is the bestest. I like how this is cooked, it is fun to eat with the finely shredded kale. 4 stars.

Buenos Aires Potluck

This menu includes:
*Creamy Corn-Crusted Tempeh Pot Pie: ZOMG this is one of the best things you will ever eat. It says to use an 11x7 inch, but it all fit into my 8x8 inch casserole dish with no issues. 5 stars.
*Tomato Salad with Sweet Crisp Onions: I cut down the amount of onions here from 1 large to 1 small, but it was still incredibly oniony. I am not the biggest fan of large amounts of raw onions. The tomatoes and the dressing are delicious, and next time I would just use a small amount of diced onion in it. I kind of woke up with super strong onion breath at 4am. Eeep! 3 stars, or 4 stars for the tomato and dressing part.
*Dulce de Batata, served with vanilla ice cream: Dulce de Batata is a sweet potato sweet mash. It is amazing, it cooks down almost like an apple pie filling. I can't wait to try it in the recipe which uses it between chocolate cake layers! 5 stars.

Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Olives, and Roasted Peanuts

I made this for lunch and it is amazing! It says to serve immediately, but it keeps really well, so make a batch on the weekend and be in lunch heaven all week. 5 stars.

Quick Red Posole with Beans

The first thing I ever made from here, with a tin of hominy I had kicking around in my pantry for ages. It was really yummy, and I loved that you could garnish with all sorts of options. Avodaco is particularly amazing. 4 stars.

Mandee at Cupcake Kitteh is the master of Viva Vegan! Check out her blog to see all the amazing things she has made from this book. She is gluten-free and soy free too, so this book is truly for everyone!

What is your favourite international cuisine?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

I thought I'd share something a bit different today. Once there was a beautiful cat called Bandii, who sadly got cancer. Her mother, Maryanne, happens to be an amazing artist. We bonded while I was helping with Bandii's care, and Maryanne painted this beautiful picture in my honour. It is based on my Facebook photo, where I am holding Sahara. I fell in love with this painting, and some friends bought it for me for my birthday. After this, I asked Maryanne if she could do two more paintings - one with a black cat, one with a tabby, and each with a red headed lady. I will share the other two with you over the next two days.

VeganMoFo 2011 #26: 'Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar' and 'The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur'

2011-10-26T20:21:00.002+10:00

Another combination post today, this time celebrating cookies!

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, Da Capo Press, 2009

Following up from their amazing cupcake book came the cookie book comes this delicious cookie book (the third book in the series - Vegan Pie In The Sky - is out now and currently making its way towards my mailbox!). The book is paperback and square, and full of lovely colour photos. Chapters include an Introduction, Cookie Science (Ingredients, Tools, Substitutions and Troubleshooting), Drop Cookies, Wholesome Cookies, Bar Cookies, Fancy Cookies, and Sliced and Rolled Cookies. This book also get mad props and geek points for referencing the Joss Whedon classics Firefly and Serenity, with the inclusion of a recipe named Fruity Oaty Bars!

I will be showing you all of the cookies I have made so far.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think this was the first recipe from the book to be published on the PPK blog to whet our appetites prior to the book being released. Delicious chocolate chip goodness, and pretty easy to boot. I love the inclusion of brown sugar here. 4 stars.

Blackstrap Gingersnaps

I baked these in humid weather, so they were more chewy than snappy, which the recipe intro does mention. These are super quick to make, too. 4 stars.

Cowboy Cookies

These cookies are jam-packed with goodness. A large cookie with oats, coconut, chocolate chips and pecans. 5 stars.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

A classic cookie. 4 stars.

Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Another pre-release recipe on the PPK, I have made these a few times. They tend to get requested. The cookies have a gentle heat from cayenne pepper mixed into the dough, and the cinnamon sugar topping just makes them insanely good. 5 stars.

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

These are moist, not too sweet cookies that make a great snack. I have these more for morning tea, but I think they would live up to their name and make a great breakfast cookie as well. 4 stars.

Peanut Butter Cookies

These are so dense - there is only a touch of flour in them, so they really are peanut buttery. I found that this sunk in the middle a little when I took it out of the oven. 4 stars.

Deluxe Cocoa Brownies

These are rich, dense, moist brownies that are just delightful! 4 stars.

The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur
Kelly Peloza, Skyhorse Publishing, 2010

Can you have too many vegan cookie books? The answer is absolutely not! Kelly brings a unique twist to her cookie book. This book is hardback and also is square! I think every single recipe has a full colour photo - lovely! Chapters include Introduction, How to be a Cookie Connoisseur, Cookies Inspired by Drinks, Totally Nuts and Seeds!, Blissfully Chocolate Cookies, No Bakes, DIY Versions of Massed Produced Cookies, Fruity Cookies, Bar Cookies, A Take on Tradition, Healthier Cookies and Baking for Specific Needs, Nostalgia: Everyone's Favourite Cookies, Cookies You Would Find at a Tea Party, and Decorating: Ideas and Recipes for Homemade Cookie Fixin's.

I haven't had this book for as long, so I have only made a few tasty treats.

Cranberry Almond Cookies

These big cookies are very tasty. I made them for a work gathering, and two of the girls took a bunch home as well! 4 stars.

Chocolate Jam Thumbprints

When these came out of the oven they were very soft, but they firmed up just right while cooling. I made four flavours - strawberry, raspberry, apricot and blueberry. The apricot is a little odd, strawberry and raspberry are very nice, but the blueberry was the best of all! 4 - 5 stars, depending on the flavours you choose! (Hint: choose blueberry).

Autumn Clouds Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are soft, pumpkinny cookies. I had some left over pureed butternut, which was lovely here. I love pumpkin and chocolate chip baked goods. 4 stars.

Bakery-Style Crispy Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (with a Hint of Maple)

These have a long name but they live up to it all. These cookies are large and delectable. I needed to cook an extra five minutes. 5 stars.

What is your favourite cookie flavour?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Another photo of a young me (though I am getting older each time!) with my fourth kitty Pascall. Please ignore the atrociously patterned tights I seem to be wearing. I had a lack of fashion abilities as a younger person.

VeganMoFo 2011 #25: 'Vegan Brunch'

2011-10-25T20:12:00.002+10:00

Vegan Brunch
Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Da Capo Press, 2009

I am in love with the idea of brunch, it seems such delightful thing. Unfortunately, I rarely get the chance to have a proper brunch. Perhaps this is why I have not made all that much from this book yet, which makes me sad. I have never made one of the famed omelets, and my bag of black salt sits unopened. Why? I enjoy making brinner every now and then, but it just doesn't have the same charm as a proper brunch! Regardless, I need to kick my butt into gear and make some more stuff. This book is gorgeous. It is paperback, with some sort of matte cover material that I just really like - this book feels great! The pages are shiny, and the book has many lovely colour photos in it as well. The book is divided into four sections: The Savoury (scrambles, omelets and skillet favourites you'll devour), The Sweet (pancakes, waffles, french toast, and anything that will have you licking syrup from your plate), The Sides (potatoes, sausages, and a stuffed veggie or two - everything you need to make brunch complete), The Bread Basket (scrumptiousness from the oven, from muffins to bagels), The Toppings (gravy, sauces, and spreads to mess up your bib), and The Drinks. In addition to the introduction, there is also a section on a brunchy pantry and tips for setting up your ultimate brunch.

Because I haven't made that much, this post will share what I have made, along with their ratings.

Basic Scrambled Tofu

The thing I love about Isa's basic scramble, is that for something 'basic' it packs a punch of flavour. In addition to the basic basic version, there are also several variations with different add-ins for extra taste and fun. 4 stars.

Pesto Scrambled Tofu with Grape Tomatoes

This is a wow dish, no doubt about it. Homemade pesto mixes with tofu, cherry tomatoes and lovely red onions combine to make something that is all kinds of special. 5 stars.

Banana Flapjacks

Banana pancakes are lovely. I can't wait for bananas to become affordable again, so I can make more banana goodness. I find these burn easily, so be careful. 4 stars.

Perfect Pancakes

A classic, every time. Pancakes are the perfect food for anytime and any mood! 4 stars.

Individual Baked Hash Browns

I suspect I used the wrong sort of potatoes here and maybe didn't squeeze them enough, because these weren't so much individual as a big pile of grated potato. They were still yummy. I will report back once I have sorted the potato issue!

Tempeh Bacon Revamped

Amazing stuff. I love tempeh bacon, and this is one of my favourites. 5 stars.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Lemon Poppy Seed is one of my favourite combinations for muffins, and these are amazing. 5 stars.

Cocoa Raspberry Muffins

I love these muffins, they are so rich and tasty and not too sweet - excellent for a morning snack. I found them to be quite small muffins, so make less if you want larger ones. 5 stars.

Coffee Chip Muffins

I made these to send out to feed the amazing volunteers clearing up after the floods in Brisbane earlier this year. Of course I tried one before I packaged the rest up, and I was very happy! I am not a fan of coffee generally (drinking it makes me feel ill, so the smell and taste are kind of off putting), but I found the coffee flavour here very subtle. 4 stars.

East Coast Coffee Cake - Berry Variation

East Coast Coffee Cake is one of my favourite cakes! Delicious variations about. I like making this on a Sunday for cake and tea in the afternoon. This berry variation includes raspberries and blueberries, with a hint of lemon zest. 5 stars.

East Coast Coffee Cake - Raspberry Chocolate Variation

The chocolate chips are baked as a layer between the cake and the crumb, leading to a delicious experience. One of the great things about this coffee cake is the crumb topping, which isn't dry and crumbly like some other cakes. It holds up perfectly. 5 stars.

Cinnamon Rolls

I cheated slightly and used the breadmaker to knead and rise the dough. I love cinnamon rolls!! These are amazing. I didn't use the icing, because I don't want to cover up the delicious flavour of these with extreme sugar. 5 stars!

English Muffins

I was so happy when these came out of the oven - my own homemade English muffins! 5 stars.

One of the good things about MoFo is going through my cookbooks and marking all the recipes I want to make in the near future. I hope to make at least 2-3 recipes from each book where I have said 'I must make more', and I will blog about these as I go along after MoFo is done.

What is your perfect brunch?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Another photo of young me with our third kitty, Patches. Apparently he wasn't looking at the camera, so I helped in. Though it kind of looks like I am choking him a little! But I promise I wasn't.

VeganMoFo #24: '500 Vegan Recipes' and more Liebster love

2011-10-24T16:30:00.002+10:00

500 Vegan Recipes
Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman, Fair Winds Press, 2009

Celine's beautiful blog Have Cake Will Travel has long been a favourite of mine, so when I found out she was releasing her first cookbook (along with the wonderful Joni Marie Newman), I jumped on it. This actually arrived on the same day as 1000 Vegan Recipes! Adding 1500 new recipes to my collection in one moment certainly increased the challenge of cooking through everything! This is a large paperback book. There are no photos. There are 20 chapters, so I will list them in dot point again.

*Introduction: What is a Vegan Diet?
*How To Use This Book
*Breakfast
*Sweet and Savoury Muffins
*Dips and Spreads
*Snacks, Appetisers, and Finger Foods
*Salads and Salad Dressings
*Soups, Chilis, and Stews
*Pasta, Grains, and Potatoes
*Casseroles and Savoury Pies and Tarts
*Faux Meats
*Main Dishes
*Side Dishes
*Sauces and Condiments
*Sweet and Savoury Quick Breads
*Sweet and Savoury Yeast Breads
*Cookies and Biscuits
*Pies, Tarts, Crumbles, Crisps, and Crusts
*Cakes and Cupcakes
*Candies and Bars
*Puddings, Mousses, Ice Creams, and Libations

I haven't even come close to scratching the surface of this amazing book. Here are the things I have made.

No-Fail Buttermilk Pancakes

These live up to their name - they are no-fail and they are the pinnacle of pancake perfection. This batter also works great after a night in the fridge, so you can mix it up the night before and then wake up to pancakes quick smart. 5 stars.

Spicy Chick-Wheat Savoury Muffins

These are some great savoury treats. 5 stars.

Double Chocolate Muffins

These are quite delicate little muffins. Yummy chocolate batter plus chocolate chips make for a nice treat, and can be dressed up (as shown) for a fancy dessert. 4 stars.

Matcha Almond Muffins

This was my first time cooking with matcha. I found the muffins quite sweet, and they had a kind of fudgy texture... I am not sure if that is because of the matcha? They are beautiful and green! 4 stars.

Chocolate Orange Marmalade Muffins

These are fantabulous. I took the option to make ten muffins for a higher rise, though they were still a bit smallish. But they pack a punch of flavour that will have you reaching for more. 5 stars.

Blueberry Orange Muffins

I love the citrus and blueberry combination. 4 stars.

Zucchini White Bean Spread

Raw grated zucchini is the key here, and it is a golden key. 5 stars.

Sesame Bean Spread

I found this spread to be a bit dry when I made it, I would add a bit of stock to loosen it up a bit. The sesame taste wasn't a strong as I was expecting. 3 stars.

Curried Butternut Squash Hummus

A tasty twist on hummus. 4 stars.

Broccoli Hummus

If you find yourself with some extra steamed broccoli, whip up this amazing and tasty dip. 5 stars.

Deviled "Egg" Salad

I don't know if I have ever eaten Deviled Eggs, but this is just plain tasty. I used it to make sandwiches. There is also a cute variation to make deviled 'eggs' by piping the mixture into little squares of tofu. 4 stars.

Moroccan Spaghetti and Garlic Flatbread Rounds

This is an interesting and flavourful spaghetti dish, that makes a nice change from Italian-inspired pastas. 4 stars.
The garlic flatbread rounds are amazing, they are so garlicky. It is easy to divide to make a smaller quantity, but I was sorry I did because I wanted to eat more. 5 stars.

Israeli Couscous with Curry, Cashews, and Currants

This is a great dish. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of oil, but I just used a glug. I also used roasted cashew pieces for extra flavour and crunch, and I used mint instead of parsley. I served this here with some Moroccan rubbed tofu, a Moroccan cucumber and tomato salad, and Moroccan minted dressing - very yummy. My mum has also made this recipe several times for company. 4 stars.

Ginger Lime Tofu

This is a great, tangy tofu. The marinade makes enough for two batches. With the leftover marinade, I poured off the oil and simmered it up fr extra sauce. 4 stars.

Lemon Thyme Quick Bread

A fantastic flavour, really special. 5 stars.

Chewy Ginger Cookies

Yummy ginger cookies. 4 stars.

Butterscotch Pecan Cookies

These beautiful, caramel cookies are great. 4 stars.

Strawberry Bundt Cake

This pretty cake was made for a friend's birthday this year. There is cardamom in it, which gives an unexpected and very nice flavour. 4 stars.

Sache Torte

This is a variation of the Chocolate Cake recipe, and it is amazing. I am sad I have no inside shots. Two layers of chocolate cake and sandwiched together with raspberry jam and then ganached all over. Is great to make ahead the day before as well. 5 stars.

Most of what I have made so far seems to be baking! Some of the mains I have my eye on are a bit time intensive, so it is just finding the right day for it. I have so many things marked that I want to make, so I really need to give some more attention to this book. I have heard from several people that the Seitan en Croute recipe will BLOW. Your. MIND. So that is high on the list, possibly for Christmas!

Have you bought a cookbook released by a beloved blogger? Tell me about it!

More Blog Love

Michelle over at A Bit Addicted To Cookbooks and Kelly from La Vida Vegga have nominated this blog for another Liebster award. I love how this award is doing the rounds, there is so much love and appreciation for each other out there. Yay for vegan bloggers!

The word “Liebster” is German for ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’ but it can also mean ‘favorite’, The idea behind this award is to bring attention to bloggers who have less than 200 followers. (Though I don't know about blogger numbers, I just pick at will!)

So the rules are as follows:
Show your thanks to those who gave you the award by linking back to them.
Reveal 5 of your top picks and them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
Post the award on your blog.
Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!

I'm going to pass this on to five more great blogs I've been enjoying.

Aweseom.Vegan.Rad
Darkside of Knitting
In The Mood For Noodles
Two Vegan Boys
Vegan In Arkansas

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

This is little Max again, this time with my brother when he was a kid. Poor little Max was only with us for about six weeks before he was taken from us in a mysterious accident (probably hit by a car... these were the days when cats were allowed to roam around outside at night).

VeganMoFo 2011 #23: '1000 Vegan Recipes'

2011-10-23T12:11:00.002+10:00

1000 Vegan Recipes
Robin Robertson, John Wiley & Sons, 2009

(Can you see Gizmo's foot in this picture as well?)

Welcome to thunderdome. 1000 vegan recipes, all in one book. I don't know if there is a larger vegan cookbook out there? You've read how much I loved Vegan Planet, so this book was always going to be mine. I ordered it off the Book Depository, and was so excited when it came. The book is a hardcover, and what you see above is the book in its nifty little dust jacket. This looks odd to me, because I use the book so often that I don't keep the jacket on it. In fact, I have been through this book so many times that parts of the binding have come away - I love that!

Some people find this book intimidating... so many recipes, where to even start? Don't be intimidated, just jump on it. You have to start somewhere, so pick something that catches your fancy and you will be on your way. I am hoping to one day make all 1000 of the recipes, so far I have made just over 25% of them.

The book is divided into an Introduction (including much of the usual about vegan diets), the recipe chapters, an index of fast recipes, menus (yay!), resources, recommended reading and an appendix. There are so many sections for each chapter, I thought I'd list in dot points to give you a better idea of the book.

*Appetizers and Snacks: Snacks, Dips and Spreads, Cold Appetizers, Hot Appetizers
*Salads: Leafy Green Salads, Vegetable Salads, Potato Salads and Slaws, Bean, Grain and Pasta Salads, Fruit Salads, Salad Dressings
*Sandwiches, Pizza, and More: Sandwiches and Wraps, Burgers, Fajitas and Burritos, Pizzas, Calzonies, Strombole, and Turnovers,
*Soups: Vegetable Broths, Clear Broth Soups, Hearty Soups, Creamy Soups, Cold Soups
*Pasta and Noodles: Pasta and Noodles, Pasta with Tomatoes, Pasta with Pesto, Pasta with Vegetables and More, Lasagne Eight Ways, Baked and Beyond, Stuffed Pasta and Dumplings, Asian Noodles
*Main Dishes: Beans, Grains, Tofu and Tempeh, Seitan, Vegetables, Stuffed Vegetables
*Vegetable Side Dishes
*Breads: Yeast Breads, Quick Breads, Biscuits, Muffins, and Scones, Flat Breads, Crakers
*Desserts: Cookies, Brownies and little Bites, Cakes and Cheesecakes, Pies, Tarts, Crisps and Cobblers, Puddings and Parfaits, Fruit Desserts, Nice Creams, Sorbets and Granitas, Dessert Sauces and Frostings
*Breakfast and Brunch: Breakfast Casserole, Frittatas, and More, Pancakes, Waffles, and French Toast, Cereals, Breakfast Sides
*Sauces, Relishes, and Condiments: Brown Sauces, Tomato-Based Sauces, Other Savoury Sauces, No-Cook Sauces, Chutneys, Pestos, Salsas, Condiments and Relishes, Marinades and Rubs

So, I have posted about a zillion photos already from this book. What I will do here is show photos of five star recipes I haven't posted before. I will have a list of all my other five star recipes below as well. Remember, five stars just means my absolute favourites, there are many excellent recipes in this book. My four star rating means still very good!

Smoky Chipotle-Pinto Hummus

This is a delicious, smoky bean dip. Is perfect with tortilla chips. It would also be great on nachos with some guacamole and sour cream.

Cheezy Cashew-Roasted Red Pepper Toasts

I made this the other day for an event I was having (will post more on that after MoFo) and it was the hit of the show! I know what you are thinking... Susan used capsicum? Well, yes... occasionally I enjoy roasting it and blending it up into other things. It doesn't taste bad then and it doesn't hurt my stomach. This spread is OUTSTANDING! A trillion stars! I took the cheater route here and found some cute vegan mini melba toasts to serve with it instead of making toast shapes. MAKE THIS! (Left over spread is also great stirred through quinoa with some broccoli and tofu!)

Indonesian-Style Potato Salad

Two of my favourite things - potatoes and peanut sauce. Yum!

Summer Berries with Fresh Mint

This is very sweet and refreshing. Cherries, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries in a tangy, minty dressing.

Creamy Tahini Dressing

This is a great dressing, very thick and delicious. And also used to make the Best. Salad. Ever. Quinoa, baby spinach leaves, grape tomatoes, olives, roasted cauliflowers and smoked tofu chunks all mixed up with this.

Beans Bourguingnon

This is great with crusty bread rolls.

Country-Fried Tofu with Golden Gravy

I made this one cold winter's night when comfort food was in order. The gravy here is delicious! I only 'country-fried' some of the tofu, the rest I pan-fried.

"Ka-Pow" Tofu

This recipe makes use of Nothin' Fishy Nam Pla, another recipe in 1000 Vegan Recipes. The Thai basil is beautiful here. Use carrots instead of capsicum, and serve over rice with greens.

Creole Tempeh

This simple sauce is delicious. Served with rice and greens.

Seitan Pot Roast

I made this one Sunday, and I felt so domestic putting a beautiful pot roast on the table! I reduced the cooking liquid afterwards to make a delicious sauce. The prepared horseradish on the side is great too. I served this with Baby Spinach with Lemon and Garlic, also from the book.

Seitan and Broccoli Shiitake Stir-Fry

This is a really simple stir-fry, but it is amazeballs.

Seitan Noodle Casserole

So yummy. I cooked the pasta towards to end so it was still fresh and hot when mixed it. It bakes up beautifully.

Mango-Cashew Balls

This is one of the suggested variations on the Apricot-Walnut Balls. They are heavenly.

Orange-Coconut Cake

This beautiful cake is HUGE! 9 x 13 inches. So you may want to halve it. On the other hand, I would suggest making all of it so then you can eat more! I made this for a friend's birthday this year. The icing is a cream cheese based coconut and orange concoction. This is a version of Ambrosia cake, and Robyn mentions that she leaves off the tinned mandarin segments because she doesn't like them. I kind of do like them, in a trashy way, so they could be cute here!

Scrambled Tofu with Chiles and Salsa

A great tasting way to start the day/ The tofu scramble keeps well, so you can make up a batch and then reheat it over a few days. Avocado makes a great additions here too.

Two very special mentions need to go to these two recipes, even though I have already blogged them before.

Soy-Glazed Tofu

You know when you need a tasty protein side but you didn't think ahead to marinate some tofu overnight? This will give you deliciously flavoured tofu in an hour. A very simple marinade is heated up and poured over the tofu slices, left for half an hour and then baked for half an hour. The marinade is simple but very yummy, and will suit any sort of cuisine. It is also great in salads or sandwiches. Just this week I took some of this chopped to work just as a snack. I have made this so many times, you will too!

Tempeh Bacon

Robyn makes tempeh bacon almost instant here - no need to marinade, so it is ideal when you tempeh bacon in a flash.

Here are the names of other five-star recipes that I have already blogged:
Lemony Rice-Stuffed Grape Leaves
French Onion Pastry Puffs
Chopped Salad
White Bean and Broccoli Salad with Parsley-Walnut Pesto
Puttanesca Seitan and Spinach Salad
Eight Treasure Barley Salad
Ginger Soy Vinaigrette
Cheezy Tomato Macaroni
Sesame Soba Noodles
Autumn Medley Stew
Green Tea Rice with Lemon Snow Peas and Tofu
Millet, Chard, and White Bean Casserole
Ginger-Peanut Tempeh
Rustic Cottage Pie
Sesame-Baked Vegetables
Asparagus Dijon
Creamy Cauliflower
Corn Fritters
Shiitake Snow Pea Stir-Fry
Rosemary Fingerling Potatoes with Caramelized Shallots
Chocolate-Rum Coffee Cake
Vegan Tiramisu
Pan-Fried Spuds
Basic Brown Sauce
Vegan Aioli
Spiced Tomato and Peach Relish
Ginger-Soy Marinade

Phew! As always, to see more photos of food I have made, you can click on the 1000 Vegan Recipes tag at the bottom of this post, or click on a photo to go to my flickr site, and click on the 1000 Vegan Recipes tag there.

Overall this is a great book! There is something for everyone in here, and it is full of great meal ideas that will keep you entertained for a long time!

(% 1000 Vegan Recipes Blogged: 17%) <- a running tally of how many recipes from this book have appeared on my blog!

There are a few other blogs dedicated to this mighty book:

My Adventures Testing 1000 Vegan Recipes
Cooking From 1000 Vegan Recipes - has not been updated for a while, but lots of good pictures and comments.

Do you have 1000 Vegan Recipes? How many recipes have you made?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Another trip down memory lane. This is a baby me, showing my love for cats at an early age with my first kitty Mo.

VeganMoFo 2011 #22: 'The Voluptuous Vegan' and 'The Asian Vegan Kitchen'

2011-10-22T19:25:00.004+10:00

Today I will be looking at two books, as I have only cooked a little from each one. So this way you can still have lots of photos of food!

The Voluptuous Vegan
Myra Kornfeld and George Minot, Potter, 2000

A menu book! A menu book! I love menus, so of course I had to buy this. This book is paperback and does not stay open easily. There are no photos either. The book is divided into the following chapters: Introduction, Ingredients, Equipment and Cutting Terms, Soups, Main-Course Menus, Desserts, Glossary and Resources. The Main-Course Menu section is made up of many different menus with several components. The menus cover all sorts of cuisines and ingredients. Unfortunately, as much as I love menus, I often don't have time to make menus. And because I am obsessed with making menus, I don't like to make single dishes out of menus. This is the reason why I have yet to make anything from the amazing Party Vegan by Robin Robertson, and why I have only made a few menus from this book. I do find a lot of the recipes in this book quite fiddly and time consuming as well, which is another limiting factor with time constraints. Anyway, let's have a peek.

Gingery Split Pea Soup

The soup chapter of the book contained stand alone recipes, as does that desserts chapter. This yummy soup has a great smokey flavour from chipotles. 4 stars.

Menu Page 123

This menu includes:
*Thai Vegetable Stew - includes eggplant, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots, sugar snap peas and others. 4 stars
*Baked Tofu Triangles - amazing little morsels. 5 stars.
*Jasmine Rice With Coconut - 4 stars.
*Mint, Orange, and Red Onion Salad - makes a small amount. 4 stars.
*Total menu rating: 4 stars.

Menu Page 166

This menu includes:
*Mesclun with Raspberry Vinaigrette - fast and tasty. 4 stars.
*Seitan Bourguignonne - this has an amazing marinade, it makes heaps so there are leftovers for all sorts of things. It is quite time consuming. 4 stars.
*Mashed Potatoes with Parsnips - a fun twist on mashed potatoes. 4 stars.
*Total menu rating: 4 stars.

Menu Page 205

This menu includes:
*Indonesian Sambal - mixes together really well and is super addictive. 5 stars.
*Rice Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce - I used 250g of rice stick noodles here. 4 stars.
*Stir-Fried Vegetables - A yummy mix of different fresh vegetables. 4 stars.
*Mango slices - not a recipe at all, just instructions how to cut mangoes. 5 stars (because mangoes are awesome).
*Total Menu Rating: 5 stars.

There are a lot of fun recipes in here, though some of them do call for some more obscure ingredients. I look forward to making more menus, if I can find the time! Savannah over at In Her Grace is blogging about recipes from The Voluptuous Vegan this week, so check things out over there as well!

The Asian Vegan Kitchen
Herm Parekh, Kodansha, 2007

If you look above the book in the photo, you can just see two little Gizmo feet! This is a great book that is packed full of authentic recipes, including recipes for making many sauces and pastes from scratch. This book does mean a bit of a trip and trawl through the Asian grocery shop, but it is worth it. The book is a paperback with a glossy dust jacket. There are is a middle section of lovely colour photos. Chapters work through different Asian countries, and include India, Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia and Korea. Each chapter includes four or five sections such as Soups and Salads, Main Dishes, Rice Dishes, Noodle Dishes, Side Dishes and Snacks, Pancakes, Breaks, Drinks, and Desserts. There is also a glossary of ingredients (which is very handy) as well as a great index of main ingredients.

Again, I have not made much from this book yet. But let us see where I have been!

Chickpea Curry (India) with Bhatura Bread (India)

The chickpea curry gives instructions to soak and cook chickpeas from scratch. I had to cook them for much longer than the hour called for. In the future I would just use tinned, as any sort of woody chickpeas give me tummy aches. There are only one or two brands of chickpeas I can buy, even. Anyway, this is quite a spicy little curry, and great with the bread. 4 stars.
Bhatura is normally a deep fried bread. I shallow fried it here and it worked well. 4 stars.

Biryani (India)

I like biryani - rice and vegetables and seasonings make for an easy and yummy dinner. I served this with the above two dishes. 4 stars.

Red Curry Paste

My own homemade red curry paste! Beautiful. 4 stars.

Red Curry with Vegetables (Thailand) with Pineapple Fried Rice (Thailand)

The red curry used some of that beautiful curry paste. This recipe uses 3 cups of coconut milk, which I found way too rich! Either use light coconut milk, or even sub in some stock if you get overcome. I added lots of extra vegetables as well. 3 stars.
Pineapple Fried Rice is one of my favourite dishes to order from a Sydney vegan Thai restaurant. This is also amazing! Plus super cute. I used peas in place of capsicum. The restaurant one has fake prawns in it, which skeeves me out. This one has sliced up strips of inari skin (the closest thing I could find to abura-age deep fried tofu). 5 stars.

Food I have made but not photographed:
Dashi (Japan) - 4 stars.
Miso Soup with Tofu and Wakame (Japan) - Very quick and easy. 4 stars.
Green Tea Ice Cream - Was not good, but I realised that my green tea powder was not matcha. So I will report. Made me sad because it uses a cup of maple syrup - that is like $9 worth of syrup in something that didn't work great. Star rating pending retrying with proper matcha.
Sukiyaki (Japan) - This is delicious and so beautiful. I am sad I have no photo. 5 stars.

There is so much more for me to make from this book!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Possum smooching it up on the carpet.

For more kitten action, check out my girls in their international debut - they are featured in this week's Feline Friday on Lauren's wonderful blog Whoa Wren. They are besides themselves with glee!

VeganMoFo 2011 #21: 'Now Vegan' and the Liebster Award

2011-10-21T19:52:00.004+10:00

Now Vegan!
Lynda Stoner, New Holland Publishers, 2008

I snapped up this book when I saw it in the book store, as it is an Australian vegan cookbook - something that you don't see too often. This book is hardcover and yes, another square book! There are colour photos of many of the recipes. Chapters include Introduction, Where To Get Your Vitals, Soups, Entrees, Side Dishes, Mains, Salads and Dressings, Baking and Desserts, Condiments and Drinks, Conversion Guide and Contributors. American friends, Entrees is used here in the Australian sense, so what you would call appetisers. I would rate this book as OK. One of my major criticisms is that a lot of recipes just call for 'one packet' or such of something. I really don't like it when recipes don't include specific quantities. I can get tofu in 250g, 375g, 500g and 750g blocks here... that is a lot of variation for a 'packet'. The Side Dish section is also fairly basic, but I like how it has some fun suggestions for making different types of vegetables into sides.

I haven't explored this book that much, so I will share with you here all that I have made and their ratings!

Greek Pasta Casserole and Greek Salad

The casserole is a fantastic dish. It uses a can of Sanitarium casserole mince as well as a tin of their Savoury Lentils, with kidney beans and tomatoes and a lovely, creamy white sauce. This also reheats superbly. 5 stars.
The salad is also great, with homemade marinated tofu (though not as good as the recipe for Tofu Feta from How It All Vegan), lettuce (or spinach here), red onions, tomatoes and cucumber. 4 stars.

Lentil Cottage Pie

A crappy photo - clearly before I started thinking about what was in the background and the quality of utensils that would appear in my photos! But this is a satisfying, warming dish. The recipe only calls for 1/2 cup for crushed tomatoes, but I just went ahead and used the whole tin anyway and it was fine. A bit of cayenne to the lentil mix lifts it. 4 stars.

Mum's Curried Sausages

Simple comfort food, made even better by serving over creamy mashed potatoes. 4 stars.

Coconut Korma

A tasty curry including lentils, tofu, your choice of vegetables and lots of spices. 4 stars.

Berry and Apple Crumble

This was strange, because the topping ended up all gloopy and not crumbly at all. It still tasted nice, but a crumble it wasn't. The picture in the book has a crumble topping, though. 3 stars.

Pear Upside Down Cake

Super awesome stuff, this tastes like a gingersnap in pudding form! The topping goes all glorious and sticky and toffee-like. 5 stars.

Strawberry Shortcake

I made this for my friend Lisa's birthday. It is quite easy and super cute. The recipe just has you put strawberry jam and strawberries in the centre, however I think strawberry shortcakes should have some sort of cream! I added a layer of the Macadamia Creme from Vegan With A Vengeance. 4 stars.

Black Forest Cherry Cake

Of course I had to try a black forest cake. The instructions for this include reference to adding soy milk, but none is listed in the ingredients. I just ignored it. The cake did need to cook for a bit extra, and I found it to still be very moist and crumbly and hard to transfer. This has no cream layer, so to me is really more a chocolate cherry cake. You make a mock chocolate cream to cover it, which ended up looking completely ratty. This is because I put it into the freezer to chill quicker as I was in a rush and accidentally froze it, then tried to gently warm it in the microwave but made it too runny again, and repeat cycle. 4 stars.

Jelly Tart

This is easy to make and is a cute way to use up vegan jelly. The instructions for the base make no sense to me - a packet of plain biscuits (again, how big is a packet?) and a huge amount of margarine, so I used a doubled recipe of the cookie base from the Joy of Vegan Baking. 4 stars.

Things I have made but don't have pictures for:
Baba Ganoush: A bit bland, needs more garlic and lemon. 3 stars.
Chocolate Orange Cake: 4 stars.
Vegan Vanilla Slice: OMG so awesomesauce for reals! 5 stars!

I talk about my love of chocolate and cherry a lot. What is your favourite flavour combination?

... and an Award

The wonderful Savannah over at In Her Grace, the lovely Kate at The Spade And Spoon, the amazing Jojo over at Vegan In Brighton have given this blog an award!

The Liebster Award
“Liebster” is German and means ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’ but it can also mean ‘favorite’. The idea behind this award is to bring attention to bloggers who have less than 200 followers and show your support during Vegan Mofo! ('lieb' is actually part of my last name, so this award makes me smile).

The rules of winning this award are as follows:
1. Show your thanks to those who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!

I am not sure about follower numbers, but here is who I have chosen to share with!

*Angst Loves Spinach
*Joyfulgirl's Cupcakes and Crafts
*Tales of a Vegan Food Fetishist
*Tea and Sympatico
*Vegan Food for the Hungry Student

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Dim Sim has recently taken to sleeping in the cat turret again of late.

VeganMoFo 2011 #20: 'Vegan Indulgence'

2011-10-20T13:55:00.002+10:00

Vegan Indulgence
Leigh Drew, Aduki Independent Press, 2008

Vegan Indulgence is a great little dessert book written by Australia's very own Leigh Drew. As well as being an amazing vegan cook and recipe creator, Leigh is also an awesome sci-fi geek, a lover of kitties and also is one of my friends - yay! I was lucky enough to be able to test for this book. I also did a teeny bit of testing for Leigh's upcoming book about pastry - it is going to be a good one! Leigh's recipe for pastry has revolutionised my life.

Back to the book at hand. There are no chapters in this book, it is a lovely collection of 20 dessert recipes. As a bonus, each recipe also has a beautiful colour photograph to go with it. My own photographs from things that I have made were taken early on in my food photo life so are quite pathetic, but the photos in the book are stunning. Here we go!

Beesting

I loved beesting cakes in my preegan days. A delicious almondy cake filled with thick custard and topped with candied almonds. So delicious. Leigh has veganised this recipe and it is outstanding. I took this cake to work and people raved about it. Some said it was the best cake they'd ever had!

Choc Cherry Squares

This is amazing. I am sure people are tired of me talking about chocolate and cherries and how wonderful they are, but it's just that that is the truth. I certainly don't get tired of eating it. I love the chocolate cream cheese frosting as well.

Chocolate Melting Moments

This photo doesn't do these morsels justice. The melting moment is an Australian classic, for those not familiar it is a rich shortbread biscuit with icing in the middle, and it comes in all sorts of flavours. Here it is chocolate on chocolate! I found had some chocolate icing left over.

Coconut and Raspberry Sandwiches

The Monte Carlo biscuit goes vegan and homemade! These are way tastier than the ones you get out of a packet (does everywhere get Monte Carlo biscuits or is it regional?). Coconut biscuits are filled with coconut icing and raspberry jam. I accidentally made the biscuits here too big - they are meant to be a bit smaller.

Orange and Fig Slice

I am not a figgy fan, so I used dried dates here in place of the figs and it worked great. It is topped with a cream cheese icing. This recipe uses quite a lot of orange zest, more than you will get from the orange to get the juice required. I zest lemons, limes and oranges everytime I have to juice one and keep the zest in the freezer, and if you do this too it will be no problem having the required amount of zest.

Passionfruit Melting Moments

You can see here that this was back when my biscuit shaping skillz were not so mad. Leigh's passionfruit melting moments are my favourite flavour. For those curious, I have also tried lemon and ginger versions of her melting moments, and passionfruit rules them all).

Raspberry Choc Mud Cake

Chocolate and raspberry is a great combination. Not quite as good as chocolate and cherry, but pretty amazing as far as combinations go. This is a delicious mudcake. Leigh recommends leaving the cake to chill overnight if possible, which allows time for the raspberries to make their own coulis.

I don't have a photo of this little number:
Frozen Banana Split - We all know about keeping frozen bananas on hand. This uses partially defrosted bananas mixed up into an ice-cream, then drizzled with a very quick and easy chocolate sauce and topped with broken nuts and biscuits. Should you wish to add cream or a cherry, go ahead!

Have eaten (these are recipes that I haven't made myself, but have eaten):
Black Forest Cake - This is amazing! Black Forest Cake is my favourite cake. Nom, nom, nom, nom. I could eat this forever!
Cherry Pie - This is so good! I do love me some cherries.
Poached Pears with Chocolate Sauce - Classic and classy

Yet to make:
Baklava
Banana Cheezcake
Creamy Fruit Sorbet
Creme Brulee (can make now that I bought a little blowtorch on Wednesday - yay!)
Fruit Skewers with Blueberry Sauce
Gluten Free Almond Citrus Syrup Bundt Cake
Peach and Coconut Tart
Spiced Sweet Potato Pie with Candied Pecans
Tiramisu

Here is a bonus picture of a chocolate mousse that I tested that didn't end up in the final book.

You can visit Leigh's blog here.

Have you ever tested for a cookbook?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

A special treat today - three kitty photos!

I mentioned Leigh was a lover of kitties. Here she is with my Sahara, who Leigh is quite taken with. Sahara is standing on our friend Diana's back.

Here is Leigh with Gizmo, who demands love from everyone in her path.

I don't have any photos of Leigh and Dim Sim, because Dim Sim has this thing where she is suspicious and hides. But so she is not left out of this post, here is a photo of Dim Sim and myself.

VeganMoFo 2011 #19: 'Tofu 1-2-3'

2011-10-19T14:24:00.002+10:00

Tofu 1-2-3
Maribeth Abrams, John Wiley and Sons, 2006

I love tofu. I didn't always. Back when I was vegetarian I hated tofu. However, I had never had tofu done properly. I would often ask for vegan meals when I went to events because I only ate cheese with non-animal rennet, and a few times was presented with a pile of over steamed vegetables and unseasoned, steamed tofu. Poor tofu never stood a chance. A lot of people thing they don't like tofu, but really they just don't know what to do with tofu. Numerous people I have spoken too have used silken tofu where they should have used firm. Now, of course, I am a tofu convert! I found the docket inside this book, so I know I bought it from Borders on 30th of May 2008 at 2.23pm!

Tofu 1-2-3 is packed full of 125 recipes, all using tofu! Yum, yum! It is a paperback. The book is square (ugh) (if you aren't on the PPK, that is a joke) and has a middle insert of colour photos. Obviously not all of them. Chapters include a Preface (taking the mystery out of the big white blob), Tofu: It's Not Just for Vegetarians, Everything You Need To Know About Tofu But Didn't Know Who To Ask, Glossary of Ingredients, Breakfasts, Appetizers, Entrees, Stews and Soups, Salads and Sandwiches, Smoothies and Other Concoctions, and Happy Endings. I don't think the book ever actually says the word vegan, but all the recipes are.

I've made a fair amount from this book. Below I will share some photos of my five star favourites, as well as some photos of recipes I haven't uploaded yet. I will also list other recipes I have made with thoughts and ratings below. As always, you can click on the Tofu 123 tag to see posts that show what else I've made from here. You can also click on the photos to go to my Flickr page and click on the Tofu 123 tag there, which will bring up all the photos I have uploaded from things I have made from this book (you can do this for all the cookbook posts for MoFo if you want to see more).

Hot Apples with Cashew Cream

The cashew cream here is just fantastic! It goes well with the hot apples. I needed to cook the apples longer than the recipe said to get them hot enough. I served it over waffles (the waffles from Easy Vegan Cooking). 4 out of 5 (5 out of 5 for the cashew cream).

Spicy Peanut Noodles

I love peanutty sauces, and this is a great one. 5 stars.

Sweet and Sour Tofu

I like this sauce because the sweet and sour is not too sweet. 4 stars.

Chef Rory Macaroni

This is quick and easy to make - pasta I used shells) with a cheezy tomato sauce. Silken tofu is blended into the sauce here. I added more nooch, of course. 4 stars.

Pan-Fried Tofu Filets with Crimini Mushroom Sauce

Yummy stuff! I love mushrooms, and this is delicious. I love how thin the tofu slices are here.They are lightly seasoned and pan-fried, and then I kept them warm in the oven while I was making my sauce. 4 stars.

Baked Stuffed Eggplant

Eggplants are stuffed with firm tofu, peas, tomatoes and lots of seasoning. 5 stars.

Orange Jubilee

There are several drinks in this book, but this is the only one I have made so far. They are a good way of using up small amounts of leftover silken tofu. This one blends OJ, tofu, maple and vanilla together. 4 stars.

Fudge Brownies

These are super rich and fudgey! The batter includes melted chocolate. 4 stars.

The other things I have made from here:

Tofu Parmesan - 4 stars (I used the garlic marinara sauce from Veganomicon here)
Shepherd's Pie - 4 stars
Captain Tofu - Tofu is coated n a flour/nooch mix here before cooking. 4 stars
Baked Penne Florentine - A bit bland, even with extra nooch added to the sauce. 3 stars.
Thai Style Tofu with Butternut Squash - 4 stars
Szechuan Tofu - Nice and spicy and very quick and easy to make. 4 stars.
Glazed Apricot Stir-Fry - Stir-fry to tofu first in some peanut oil first for nice texture. This sauce is fairly sweet, so I added a bit more soy sauce. 4 stars.
Orange-Scented Campanelle with Plum Tomatoes and Zucchini - The orange taste here is nice, but the flavours don't quite meld. The tofu seems more like an afterthought here. 3 stars.
Farfalle with Mixed Sauteed Mushrooms and White Wine Stroganoff - Silken tofu is blended into the sauce. I found the sauce here far too runny for the pasta, I think it would be better with noodles.
Ilyse's Crispy Cutlets with Creamy Dijon Sauce - So yummy! 4 stars.

What is your favourite way or ways to enjoy tofu? Did you always like it?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

My lady Gizmo, in repose.

VeganMoFo 2011 #18: 'Vegan'

2011-10-18T14:01:00.002+10:00

Vegan
Tony Weston and Yvonne Bishop, Hamlyn, 2004

I had my eye on this book for a long time before I finally bought it - there were some recipes in there that I was fascinated by! The book was produced in association with The Vegan Society (it is a UK book). Despite that, it is not something I have made a great deal from, though I have made some lovely things. The book is paperback and about an A4 size. There are lots of lovely colour pictures all the way through, though not one for every recipe. The first part of the book includes an Introduction, What is Veganism, Are You Getting Enough? , Useful Ingredients, Basic Recipes (including stock, yoghurt, cream cheese, dressings, mayo and pizza bases) and Quick Food Fixes. It them moves onto the recipes, which are divided into Breakfasts, Light Meals, Main Meals and Desserts.

Because I haven't made so much from this book, instead of just showing my favourites I'll show you what I've cooked and tell you what I thought about it, and then also talk about what I am keen to make as well.

Pizza Muffins

I have made these so many times because they are so tasty and easy and quick. Take muffin and top with tomato sauce (or ketchup if you are me and that is what you have open in the fridge). The topping is then a mix of mayo, Dijon and Vegemite (yeast extract) all blended up. It is not exactly cheesy, but there is something very delicious about it. Add your toppings - this photo shows mushrooms and olives, as suggested in the book, but I have made all sorts of toppings (ham and pineapple - yeah!) then bake. Delicious. 5 stars!

Crispy Duckless Pancakes

These were pretty much the reason I wanted this cookbook for so long, and they didn't disappoint. You know those tins of mock duck you can buy? I was never a fan until this recipe showed me what to do with them. Delicious! I couldn't find any of the rice pancakes they were talking about, so I had to make them rice paper rolls instead. But they were still so yummy! 5 stars!

Butter Bean and Pumpkin Seed Dip

This is a really nice dip that is packed full of protein and other good things. 4 stars.

Seaweed Quinoa Kedgeree

This is super tasty. The seaweed gives that nice sea-like flavour, and there is smoked tofu as well, which is always a good thing! Avocado too, amongst others. It is a bit of an odd ingredient list when you read it, but all works really well together. 4 stars.

Cauliflower and Asparagus Tart

A lovely tart. The pastry comes together quite easily. Also the filling is very delicious. I doubled the amount of shiitake mushrooms in it, because that's the way I roll. 4 stars.

Mushroom Stew with Herb Dumplings

Cold night food! I found the dumplings a little dense, but I made them by hand rather than with the food processor so that may be why. The stew also has carob powder, molasses, yeast extract and sherry in it for great flavour! 4 stars.

Chocolate Mousse with Banana Cake Hearts

The mousse here is easy to make and ridiculously delicious. It involves chocolate, coconut oil, OK, dates and Cointreau along with other ingredients. The banana cake is nice and sweet and a good counterpoint to the rich mousse. I served with cashew cream, and it was amazing. 5 stars.

Things with no photos:
Spicy Avocado Toast - a little bland. 3 stars.
Pasta Leeky - quite bland. 2 stars.
Mild Coconut Curry - definitely very mild. 3 stars.

Things I am keen to make:
Croissants
Creamy Mushrooms on Toast
Smoky Tofu Nuggets on Toast
Asparagus Pancakes
Smoked Tofu and Horseradish Pate
Chestnut Cottage Pies
Enchiladas with Mushroom and Sweetcorn Filling
Black Forest Chocolate Cake
Creme Caramel
Banoffee and Quinoa Custard Pie
Sticky Pudding with Quinoa Coconut Ice Cream

This book also calls for ackee, which is something I cannot get here but which I am really keen to try out.

What cookbook have you had your eye on for a while?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

It's my Sahara again! What can she see outside the door?

VeganMoFo 2011 #17: 'The Vegan Gourmet'

2011-10-17T15:36:00.002+10:00

The Gourmet Vegan
Susann Geiskopf-Hadler and Mindy Toomay, Three Rivers Press, 1999

This book is written by the same people who wrote The Complete Vegan Cookbook, which I reviewed earlier this MoFo. This book is smaller in size, but is still packed full or beautiful, fresh recipes. A few of the recipes are the same as in the original book, and indeed the cover art is from the same photo too! But this is a lovely book in its own right.

It is paperback, with no photos. Chapters include Appetizers, Salads, Soups and Stews, Side Dish Vegetables, Pasta Dishes, Grain Dishes, Sautes and Stir-Fries, Entrees from the Oven, Morning Meals, and Sandwiches and Wraps. There is no baking or desserts section. The book also includes recommended menus (yay!), a glossary of special ingredients, a list of almost instant recipes, suggestions for further reading and an international conversion chart.

Braised Turnips with Chives and Parsley

This may seem like an unlikely five star dish, but it is absolutely delicious. The turnips become so soft and melty-in-your-mouth, and the herbs and seasonings just make this fantastic.

Hearty Sicilian Supper Menu

The above recipe is part of an amazing recommended menu. Also on the plate are Bucatini with Green Beans, Tomatoes, and Olives as well as Mushroom, Radish, and Celery Salad with Lemon and Garlic.

Simple Spaghetti Sicilian-Style

This recipe is ridiculously easy but very good. It makes a great pasta side when you want something with a bit of extra flavour. Red pepper flakes make it a little spicy.

Vermicelli with Curried Eggplant and Chard in Ginger Tomato Sauce

This is a great flavour combination. I used rice vermicelli noodles here, rather than wheat vermicelli. While delicious, I did not find this very filling.

Beets and Greens with Bulgur and Miso Tahini Sauce

This was my first time using beet greens, but it certainly hasn't been my last. It is a beautiful dish, that you will be happy to place on your table. The tahini sauce is fantastic, and is just the thing to go with the sweetness of the beetroot.

Stir-Fry of Cauliflower, Tomatoes, Orange, and Basil

If this photo looks familiar, it is because this recipe also comes from The Complete Vegan Cookbook!

Curried Eggplant and Garbanzo Patties

These are delicate patties that need to be handled with care, as they will fall apart easily. They are very yummy, though. They are great served in sandwiches or burgers with mango chutney, tomato and lettuce.

These burgers are also amazing served with the bulgur, beetroot and tahini dish. Yum!

Do you like to follow menu and serving suggestions from cookbooks?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

This is Prince, who was also a clinic cat. Prince started life as a street cat in Singapore, before being rescued and brought back to Australia by his mum. Many years later, when his mother ended up moving back to Singapore, Prince came to live with us as he had a few too many health issues for the trip - though his mum would come and visit everytime she was back in the country! She loved her Prince. Prince became sick over Christmas last year, and at that time one of our nurses took him home as he needed full time care. He would come into the clinic with her everyday in his papoose, and wander around. Unfortuately earlier this year, Princes health problems became too great for him, and he is now in the kitty skies up above. We love you and miss you Prince!

VeganMoFo 2011 #16: 'Vegan Cooking For One'

2011-10-16T19:54:00.002+10:00

Vegan Cooking For One
Leah Leneman, Thorsons, 2000

It took me a while before I finally bought Vegan Cooking For One. The title just sounded so sad! I finally bought it from Borders with a 'Three Cookbooks for the Price of Two' voucher. When I bought this, I was already back in Brisbane and cooking for my parents, so my days of cooking just for myself were mostly over. But it is quite a nice little book, and I can see how useful it would be for those vegan who do just cook for themselves. Sometimes I make recipes from here for myself if my parents are out, or sometimes I double or triple or recipe and make it for my family. Scandal!

The book is identical in size and shape to Leah's other book, Easy Vegan Cooking, which I reviewed earlier this month. This book differs in format from others. It starts off with an introduction, covering pantry basics and the like. The book is then separated into two seasonal sections - Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. Within each section are several weekly menus. Each menu includes Sunday Lunch, Sunday Dinner (a bit fancier), Sunday Dessert, Monday Dinner, Tuesday Dinner, Wednesday Dinner, Thursday Dinner, Friday Dinner and Saturday Lunch. The book assumes you will eat out at least one night a week, and also manage your own breakfast and workday lunches. At the start of each menu is a shopping list for the week. This is very useful, as it groups recipes to allow the vegan cooing for one to use up that big tin of beans or that head of cauliflower in a couple of recipes for the week.

I don't make a week's menu from this book, as I mostly am cooking from other books for my family or am having leftovers if I am late home from work. But it is useful for the odd meal when I am cooking just for myself (other favourite cooking for one meals include using sauce or pesto recipes from other cookbooks and making up a pasta/vegetable/protein dish). I've made a fair bit of this book, here are some of my favourites. A note: I find that the serving sizes in this book are often very generous - even for my hungry belly! I tend to cut down on the amount of grains/rice/pasta called for.

Potato and Lentil Bake

This is in the Spring/Summer section, but would be equally delicious in winter. A bed of mashed potatoes is topped with a lentil sauce and baked. Delicious!

Mediterranean Noodles

I added zucchini and carrot instead of the capsicum to this yummy tomato sauce. The noodles (I used spinach fettuccine) are made especially delicious by mixing through some vegan margarine and some nooch through them before adding the sauce. I served this with some herby soy sausages for protein.

Cheesy Rice Savoury

Yay for cheesy stuff! Rice, tomato, mushroom, peas and onion mixed up with grated vegan cheese. Yummy!

Tofu, Mushrooms and Greens in Teriyaki Sauce

This is simple and delicious, with an easy homemade teriyaki sauce. Instead of using lettuce leaves for the greens that the recipe calls for, I used some left over kale - fantastic! I love kale. I served over soba noodles.

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

This is a lovely cauliflower soup, and is one of my fondest memories from the time I could only eat soup for two weeks after getting my wisdom tooth out. Some cauliflower soups can be a bit bland, but this has a lovely flavour.

Tempeh and Mushroom Stew on a Mashed Potato Base

This filling stew is the ultimate in comfort food.

Spaghetti with Cauliflower Romagna Style

This is very simple, a sauce of cauliflower, garlic, tomato paste and pepper, but the taste is amazing. Served here with some roasted green beans.

Pasta with Three (or Four) Cheeses

Of course I made this with four cheeses. Cheezy! I used 100g wholewheat penne here. The four cheeses were cream cheese, nooch and two types of Sheese.

Caribbean Rice and Beans

This is simple but so amazingly delicious. Black-eyed beans with rice and spices in coconut milk. Superb! Looks like I served it here with some sauteed zucchini and grape tomatoes.

What do you cook when you are cooking for just yourself?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

A few days ago I shared a picture of Abby with you, one of our clinic cats. This is Jarvis, and he is the grand man of our clinic. He has lived with us for the last several years after some wonderful clients of ours found him on the street. He's an older boy, and he has some intestinal disease and now also diabetes, but he continues to trundle along and will likely outlive us all! He is super handsome, and protects out clinic. Don't let your dog near the door, or Jarvis will get grumpy and ready to defend!

VeganMoFo 2011 #15: 'La Dolce Vegan'

2011-10-15T18:31:00.001+10:00

La Dolce Vegan
Sarah Kramer, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2005

I was originally not going to get this book, to be honest. I enjoyed 'How It All Vegan' and 'The Garden Of Vegan', but was not overly swept away by them. I had flicked through this book, but with all the amazing cookbooks sprouting forth left, right and center, it hadn't really grabbed my attention. At the time I was buying 'Eat, Drink & Be Vegan' I had a voucher for a second cookbook at 30% off. Of the selection there at the time, this was the only one I didn't have, so I bought it. And it's been OK. I haven't cooked as much from this book as I have others, but there have been a few standout dishes. There are a few things about the book that irk me a little, and I am not always a fan of the writing style. The recipes seem to be a collection of Sarah's own recipes and recipes collected from other people on the internet, especially someone called Wolffie. There are a few recipes that are included twice in different sections, which I do find silly. Also most of the sauces chapter is from other recipes in the book.

The book is paperback and is in much the same format as 'How It All Vegan' and 'The Garden of Vegan', except with a blue colour theme. There are no photos of the food. Chapters include Introduction, Kitchen Wisdom, Breakfasts, Appies & Snacks, Salads & Dressings, Soups, Entrees, Sauces, Side Dishes, Desserts, Baked Goods, Faux Fare, Odds & Sods, DIY, and Measurement Equivalents.

As I haven't made much from this book yet, I so far only have four five-star recipes! Here they are.

Roasted Asparagus Potato Salad

This is a really good salad, probably because I love roasted asparagus. The red onion is also roasted, which adds a yummy sweetness. This made enough for two lunches.

Wendy's Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole

This is hands down my favourite thing I have made from this book. It takes a bit of time to bake, but is so simple to put together. It is perfect on a cold night. The vegan cheese is optional, but I love what it adds to the finished dinner.

Mama Mayhem's Tofu Extravaganza

This is like a mashed tofu salad, which I used on sandwiches. it is really yummy with strong flavours. Walnuts give some crunch, and dill pickles and dried dill make me a happy camper.

Wolffie's Snickerdoodles

These were the first snickerdoodles I ever made, and it turns out I love snickerdoodles!

The following are four star recipes where I haven't uploaded the photos yet, so you can have a bit more food to look at!

Cold Coconut Curried Noodle Salad

The sauce on this salad is really delicious! I found that when the salad is chilled it became a bit gluggy, it is much better at room temperature.

Wolffie's "Pepperoni" Pasta Salad

I enjoyed this salad. I used one of those pepperoni sticks that come in the plastic with the cardboard around it... you know the ones?? Sure. Anyway, they were really nice in this. No green capsicum for me, though.

Wolffie's Quick Peach Cobbler

I skipped a step with this recipe as we don't have frozen peaches. Instead I used an 825g tin of peaches, and instead of the sugar syrup I used 1/4 cup of juice from the tin. Then proceeded with the recipe. The top of this cobbler was a bit off, it covered everything evenly like a batter, I am used to cobblers having some more texture to their topping. It is very nice, though.

Cranberry Apple Crisp

This is a great way to use up those boxes of cranberries in the freezer that you stocked up on when you saw them at Christmas time. I would ideally double the topping (I like my crumbles topping heavy), and I baked for an extra five minutes.

Wolffie's Cocoa Cake with Chocolate Fudgey Frosting

This is a nice cake, and looks quite pretty. The chocolate fudgey frosting gets super thick, but makes way more than you would need for one cake. Which just means you can have the rest with ice cream!

Flicking through La Dolce Vegan to write this post, there are a few things that catch my eye. I think I shall try and make a bit more from this book.

Do you have La Dolce Vegan? What recipes do you suggest I make?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

This is Casper! Casper is a six and a half year old male neutered Tiffany kitty. He came to see me with his person on Wednesday morning for not eating and having a funny coat. Actually, his coat was completely matted to the point where he couldn't even poo! Casper's person bedgrudingly agreed to have him clipped. When he came back for him that afternoon, it transpired that he wasn't really committed to the long term care or Casper, and he surrendered Casper. Casper is now loving life without his matted coat, he is eating well and is bright and happy and very sweet. Does this sound like a plug? Why yes, it is! Casper is available for adoption! We are sure there is a special person out there who wants to give Casper a forever home and keep him healthy and happy. Casper is FIV, FeLV and heartworm negative. He has had his first F3 vaccination, but will need another booster in four weeks as he wasn't properly vaccinated either! Do you live in Brisbane and think that maybe Casper is the boy for you?? Click here for more details!

VeganMoFo 2011 #14: 'Eat, Drink & Be Vegan'

2011-10-14T14:23:00.005+10:00

Eat, Drink & Be Vegan
Dreena Burton, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007

I can tell you the exact moment I purchased this book - 10.36am (and 34 seconds) on the 27th of April, 2009. I know this because I found the Borders docket still tucked away between the pages. This was the first book of Dreena's that I purchased, and it is definitely my favourite book of hers. This book has an entire chapter devoted to hummus, how can you not love that? There is a good range of recipes in this book. Dreena also loves to use spelt and oat flour in a lot of her recipes instead of white flour, so you can pretend you are being super healthy while nomming on your cookies.

The book is a paperback, the size means it does not stay open easily. There are several inserts with colour photos of some of the recipes. Contents include Introduction (kitchen equipment, cooking and food prep, cooking tips), Top o' the Mornin'! (Breakfasts), Hummus Hummus (and more Hummus), Bits & Bites (Other Dips & Nibblers), Pour It On! (Sauces, Dressings, & Toppers), Soup's On! (Soups & Stews), The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread (Sandwiches & Spreads), The Main Events (Casseroles, One-Pot Meals, Pastas & More), Sidekicks (Side Dishes & Accompaniments), Sugar 'n' Spice & All Things Nice (Desserts & Baking, Baking Notes, Baking Tips), A Toast To Being Vegan (Beverages), Grain & Bean Cooking Guides, Measurement Conversion Tables and a Glossary.

Now, five-star food times!

Berry Goodness Muffins

These muffins are so yummy. The berries in them are strawberries - my favourites! The flour mix include spelt, oat and chickpea powder, so they are practically good for you. Plus they keep you quite full.

Peanut Sesame Hummus

Chickpeas, lime, peanut butter and sesame oil form the basis of this wonderful savoury dip. It is quite rich, but you won't want to stop eating.

White Bean Hummus with Fresh Thyme & Basil

This is made with white beans rather than chickpeas, so perhaps technically not a hummus. But it is delicious. The herby flavours come through very strong here.

Simplest Garlic Bread

I love this bread, though I don't know that I would call it garlic bread. Frozen baguette slices are rubbed with a raw garlic clove to impart the garlic flavour, but it is not as strong as I would normally make my garlic bread. The mix on the bread is Nuttelex (vegan butter), sea salt and nooch, so it is a wonderful cheesy and salty bread. Next time I will mix some minced garlic into the buttery spread.

Creamy Basil Dressing

I love this beautiful dressing, particularly over cucumbers and tomatoes as pictured here. The 'creamy' comes from non-dairy milk and raw almonds.

Polenta Croutons

Take prepared polenta, cube, toss with olive oil and seasonings and bake. Oh my goodness, I like to make these just as a snack! They are so delicious.

Traditional Cranberry Sauce

This is my go to cranberry sauce, and with this in my repertoire I need never buy cranberry sauce again. I like this cranberry sauce recipe above others because it is easy and fast to make, and has only four ingredients that I generally have on hand (assuming I have a box of frozen cranberries). It thickens up beautifully, and has a fantastic flavour.

Broccoli Cashew Teriyaki Tofu Stir-Fry

Served over soba noodles or rice, this is a delicious quick and easy dinner. I love that it is a homemade teriyaki sauce as well, no bottled stuff here. Of course I left out the capsicum.

Orange Sesame Tofu

There is lots of flavour in this tofu. Plus, there is lots of extra sauce leftover to drizzle over everything. I served this with Coconut-Lime Basmati Rice and Simple Swiss Chard, also from this book.

Coconut-Lime Basmati Rice

Here is the rice I served with the above! It is really delicious. I had some leftover basmati-wild rice mix so I mixed that in with the regular basmati rice. This also cooks well in the rice cooker!

Cornmeal-Crusted Plantains

This was the first thing I ever made with plantains - and they are so yummy! Lime juice is a must for serving.

Potato Squashers

These are everything I love about potatoes. Bake potatoes, squash potatoes then bake again on both sides with olive oil and salt. This is so good. I like to give them an extra five or ten minutes in the oven at the end to make them extra crunchy on the outside.

Rosemary Cornmeal Polenta Fries

One of the other things I love is baked or fried seasoned polenta. These 'fries' are really good. The recipe says 510g of prepared polenta will give you 3-4 serves, but I used an entire 1kg block and found I got four servings out of that. I just give a minimal sprinkling of salt is all these need.

Olive & Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus
Back-to-Basics Balsamic Vinaigrette
Cumin-Cinnamon Vinaigrette
Living Caesar Dressing
Lentil Veggie Chimichangas

What is your favourite hummus?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

This fluffy tummy fur belongs to the handsome Possum. You know you want to blow raspberries on it!

VeganMoFo 2011 #13: 'Vegan Planet'

2011-10-13T19:58:00.002+10:00

Vegan Planet
Robin Robertson, The Harvard Common Press, 2003

Even though this book was published in 2003, I did not come upon it until several years later. I was back in Brisbane and I found it in our local Borders (which is now gone). It was my very first Robin Robertson cookbook, and since then she has become one of my favourite cookbook authors. She has written something like a zillion vegan and vegetarian cookbooks - pretty amazing stuff! I don't have all of them, but I have several and you will be seeing some more during MoFo.

The book is paperback, and there are no pictures. The middle pages of the book stay open pretty easily, but if you are working in the front or back sections, you'll need something to hold them down. There are 400 recipes in this book. Chapters include Vegan Basics (including making seitan from complete scratch... as in from flour, not vital wheat gluten), Love and First Bite, Soups that Satisfy, Salads and Slaws, Sauces and Dressings, Chutneys, Salsas, and Other Condiments, Veggies in the Middle, Going with the Grain, Universal Pasta, The World of Beans, From the Stew and Chili Pot, Food that Sizzles: Grilling, Sauteing, and Stir-Frying, The Global Oven, Simply Stuffed, New World Pizza, Sandwiches, Wraps, and Burgers, A Baker's Dozen of Breads, Dessert Heaven, Smoothies, Shakes and Other Quenches, and Don't Skip Breakfast. There is also a resources section. And there are menus! Hurrah!

Much like with Veganomicon yesterday, I have made way too many five-star recipes in this book to post photos of all of them in a single post. So I will be posting new photos that I haven't posted before, as well as some older photos I think were pretty and photos of the recipes that just stand out above all the rest. I will also post the full list of the remaining five-star recipes at the end. Let's get eating!

Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup

Yeah, I know I also posted a similar soup yesterday. But remember how I said this was my favourite kind of soup? I also think it makes for a pretty photo. This has fried tofu strips in it - total heaven!

Rosemary-Lemon Potatoes with Black Olives and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Oh this is amazing. I also love potatoes, and these potatoes taste as good as they look!

Barley Risotto with Wild Mushrooms and Fresh Herbs

Barley and mushrooms just go together. This risotto has an amazing, earthy taste. I served it with a green vegetable and some baked marinated tofu.

Mac and "Cheese"

This is an excellent, saucy and delicious mac and cheese recipe. I always add extra nooch to everything, because I am addicted.

Mahogany Eggplant

This recipe gets a standing ovation. It has the most incredible flavour, and has been requested several times by the parentals for birthday or other dinners. I've found that the recipe makes four small side-servings, though maybe I am using smaller eggplants, so plan accordingly.

Pan-Fried Tofu and Watercress with Lemon-Caper Sauce

This is a very classy dish, with fabulous flavours. Plus I always love using watercress! I find that right at the end I needed to add an extra tablespoon or both lemon juice and white wine to keep it saucy enough.

Hoisin-Drenched Garlic Seitan with Baby Bok Choy

I think the name alone of this recipe gives you all the information you need. It lives up to it in delicious style.

Cheesy Potato-Chili Gratin

I love cheesy things with chili things, and I love potato. This is delicious, though I did not find it very filling. I used some leftover chili from another recipe in this book to make this recipe, but I don't remember which one!

Wild Mushroom Pizza with Garlic and Fresh Thyme

I made a cute little individual pizza here using a pita bread as the base. The mix of mushrooms with the garlic is amazing.

Mom's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies - Only Better

This makes a nice thick dough, which is super tasty in its own right! But it bakes up into some amazing chocolate chip cookies.

And here are the other five-star recipes I've made from this book:
Indian-Spiced Lentil Soup
Winter Vegetable Bisque
Asian Cole Slaw
Summertime Tomato Sauce
Ziti, Artichokes, and Olives with Spicy Tomato Sauce
Linguine with Pesto-Kissed Tomato Sauce
Udon-Shiitake Stir-Fry with Sake and Ginger
Grilled Portobellos with Rosemary-Roasted Vegetables
Jerk-Spiced Portobello Steaks
Garlic and Herb-Marinated Vegetable Kabobs
Teriyaki-Glazed Tempeh
Spring Vegetable Gratin
Layered Polenta-Chili Casserole
Chili-Macaroni Bake (using East Coast Chili)

Bearing in mind, as always, that these are only my very favourites. I have made lots of other amazing recipes from this book. I certainly recommend it!

Do you own a Robin Robertson cookbook? What was the first one of hers you bought?

Want to get one of Robin's cookbooks for yourself? She's having a giveaway of Vegan Fire and Spice on her blog Click on the link to find out how you could win!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

My Gizmo. Two days ago I posted a picture of Dim Sim with some shaved patches. Here is Gizmo. She just had a kidney ultrasound last week as she has been having some issues with her kidneys. So now she has two shaved spots over each kidney. You may also notice that my doona here is all crunkled. This was shortly after I had woken up, Gizmo got comfy and I couldn't make the bed properly!

VeganMoFo 2011 #12: 'Veganomicon'

2011-10-12T16:15:00.003+10:00

Veganomicon
Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, Marlowe and Company, 2007

That other book I was waiting on from Amazon for Christmas was none other than Veganomicon, that mighty tome but Isa and Terry. Being completely besotted with Vegan With A Vengeance and having very much enjoyed Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, it stands to reason that I was eager to get my hands on Vcon as soon as possible.

Veganomicon is a lovely book, it is large and hardback, so it stays open very easily on the bench. There is a middle section of colour photographs. The book starts with sections on the pantry, equipment, cooking and prepping terminology and instructions for basic cooking of vegetables, grains and beans. Chapters for Recipes include Snacks, Appetizers, Little Meals and Dips, Brunch, Salads and Dressings, Sammiches, Mix-and-Match (Vegetables, Grains, Beans, and Tofu, Tempeh, and Seitan), Soups, Casseroles, One-Pot Meals and Stove-top Specialties, Pasta, Noodles, and Risotto, Sauces and Fillings, Breads, Muffins, and Scones, Cookies and Bars, Desserts. There is also a lovely section of Menus.

So I went through and made a list of all the five-star recipes from this book. It is way too many to post photos of all of them in the one post. I have a couple of photos I haven't posted before, so I have uploaded those. Otherwise I have reposted some of the prettier photos, plus a few recipes that have an extra special place in my heart.

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango, and Tangerine Baked Tofu

First off, let's talk about the salad (made here with red quinoa). It is amazing, and to me is just the taste of summer. I used carrot in place of capsicum. When I first made this I still didn't like coriander leaves (cilantro) so I made it with mint. I not love coriander leaves, but I actually think I like this better with mint! Now, the tofu. This is chewy and delicious. I subbed in mandarin and oranges for the tangerine. Put these two recipes together and you have a perfect summer night's dinner.

Chickpea Cutlets with Mushroom Sauce

Two amazeballs recipes. The chickpea cutlets are the stuff of legends. I always mean to make a big batch to keep in my freezer to have on hand. The mustard sauce is also fantastic. I served here with some roasted asparagus and some mashed potatoes. Take that meat and potato omnis!

Hot and Sour Soup with Wood Ears and Napa Cabbage

Hot and Sour soup is my favourite sort of soup - yum! I found with this soup that I had to double the amount to the liquid ingredients to get it soupy enough for me. I love all the textures in this soup!

Eggplant-Potato Moussaka with Pine Nut Cream

This is a beautiful casserole, and is made all the more awesome by the pine nut cream that tops it. Zucchini also joins eggplants and potatoes as they roast up to deliciousness. Then they are layered with a lovely tomato sauce and topped with that amazing cream.

Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits

I don't think there is anyone alive who could try this and not be in heaven. It is what you want on a cold winter night, plus it has biscuits!

Kabocha-Udon Winter Stew

This is a wonderful, warming and very pretty stew. It also makes a lot, so your belly will be full and happy. When you are making it, it may seem like the vegetables are too much for the liquid, but it all cooks down just fine.

Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe with Rotelle

Special mention to this recipe as not only is it a total five-star recipe, it was also the first recipe I ever made from the book! I used broccolini instead of broccoli rabe, which are apparently similar though not quite the same.

Sour Cilantro Cream

This isn't one of the prettiest photos, but this recipe has to have a very special mention. I once hated cilantro, I made a face if I so much as smelled it and I would sub it out for mint or parsley. However, it was in so many of my recipes and I felt like I was missing out on something special. So I decided to teach myself to like it. This was the recipe that started to change my mind towards cilantro.

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip-Walnut Cookies

These cookies are crispy, chewy and awesome. I usually use pecans rather than walnuts, because that is my preference. Initially I found the dough to be quite sloppy, but it thickens on standing so you can roll these out.

Coconut Lemon Bundt Cake

I love bundt cakes. They are fun to say and pretty to look at. I also like making them in my nice non-stick silicon bundt pan. This cake is delicious, moist and light.

Here are the other five-star recipes I've made:

Mediterrnean-Style Cashew-Cucumber Dip
Diner Home Fries
Chocolate Chip Brownie Waffles
Portobello Salad with Spicy Mushroom Dressing
Maple Mustard Dressing
Black Bean Burgers
Roasted Portobellos
Soft Poppy-Seed Polenta
Saffron-Garlic Rice
Chickpea Romesco
Baked BBQ Tofu
Mole Skillet Pie with Greens
Cauliflower and Mushroom Potpie with Black Olive Crust
Tomato and Roasted Eggplant Stew with Chickpeas
Parsnip Chips
Penne Vodka
Mac Daddy
Lasagne Marinara with Spinach
Asparagus and Lemongrass Risotto
Curried Udon Noodle Stir-Fry
Backyard BBQ Sauce
Cheezy Sauce
Citrus-Date-Sesame Sauce
Banana-Wheat Germ Mushrooms
Carrot-Pineapple Sunshine Muffins
Cranberry-Orange-Nut Bread
Pistachio-Rose Water Cookies
Orange-Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies
Fudgy Wudgy Blueberry Brownies

And these are just my favourites, it doesn't even scratch the surface of all the other great recipes that I have made from here. To see other things I have made from Veganomicon, click on the veganomicon tag at the bottom of this post, or search Veganomicon in my blog. There are lots of posts! Now, do you need this book? Well, many people would have it already! But if you don't, the answer is yes.

Do you take photos of your food?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

I've posted this photo before, but it seems fitting in today's post to post it again. Sahara is reading Veganomicon!

VeganMoFo 2011 #11: 'The Joy of Vegan Baking'

2011-10-11T20:37:00.002+10:00

The Joy of Vegan Baking
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Fair Winds Press, 2007

I had recently purchased a vegan baking cookbook, but I was not very happy with it. I will not be reviewing it this MoFo because I have not made much from it at all. However, almost as soon as I had realised that this book was not what I was after, I came across The Joy Of Vegan Baking. My prayers were answered! I ended up ordering this book from Amazon as a Christmas present from my mother (along with the book I will be reviewing tomorrow), and it arrived right on time. I was so excited. I have since come to know of Colleen as an amazing ambassador for compassion and the vegan way of life, as well as the author of wonderful cookbooks and inspiring tomes. However back at the time I got this cookbook, I just thought she was answering all my baking prayers!

So, the book. It's a paperback-type thing, and has many beautiful colour photos throughout. Chapters include The Whys and Wherefores of Choosing Vegan, The How-to's and What-nots of vegan baking, Rise and Shine (Muffins, Biscuits, and Scones), Cozy Comforts (Sweet and Savoury Quick Breads), Cause for Celebration (Cakes and Cupcakes), Timeless Temptations (Pies and Tarts), Familiar Favourites (Cookies, Brownies, and Bars), Bearing Fruit (Crumblers, Cobblers, Crisps, and Whole Fruit Desserts), Decadent Delicacies and Elegant Eats (Strudel, Crepes, Blintzes, and Pastries), Ancient Wonders (Yeast Breads and Rolls), Creamy Concoctions (Mousses and Puddings), Sweet Somethings (Confections and Candy), Frozen Treats (Sorbets, Shakes, and Smoothies), Fundamental Foundations (Crusts for Pies and Tarts), Restorative Refreshments (Hot and Cold Beverages), and Over the Top (Frostings, Sauces, Syrups, and Spreads). Phew! What a mouthful. That's what happens where you cram oodles of delicious recipes into one lovely book. There are also two appendicies: Stocking Your Vegan Pantry and Making Sense of it All (which includes terms, cake pan substitutions, yields and equivalents of common ingredients, reading and viewing suggestions). There are also three indices: General, Seasonal, and Celebrations and Occasions. This makes for an excellent and comprehensive resource. I especially love the baking pan substitution and also the yields of common ingredients - they will come in handy when you can't find your bundt pan or you need to know how heavy one cup of chocolate chips is so you can melt down cheaper block chocolate instead. The book is also filled with variations and suggestions for recipes, bits of food lore and helpful hints!

Okies, on to delicious, delicious fuds!

Chocolate Cake

This is hands down my go to chocolate cake recipe. It takes minutes to mix up the batter, and cooks quickly. It is also made from basic ingredients that anyone who bakes will have in their pantry, even if they are not vegan. Not a drop of non-dairy milk or flax egg in sight. The cake itself is moist and delicious. Here it is topped with Chocolate Frosting, but most of the time I make it just plain and as is. I used it as the base chocolate cake for the peanut butter chocolate engagement cake I made. Colleen credits Jennifer Raymond and her cookbook The Peaceful Palate for this amazing cake. With this cake in your repertoire, you are always less than an hour away from delicious chocolate cake.

Strawberry Cupcakes

I love these. Partly because strawberry is one of my favourite flavours, and partly because they are so beautifully pink - my favourite colour! It doesn't come out too well in this picture, but I have actually tinted the buttercream frosting pink as well. Pureed strawberries are responsible for the beautiful colour and flavour here. These are high tea pretty.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

This is a crappy photo of an incredibly rich and delicious pie. A jar of peanut butter mixes with silken tofu and melted chocolate to make an amazing sensation. It is super rich, so it will likely last a while as you work through small doses.

Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies

Amazing cookies. They travel well and make a bunch, so will impress if you need to take something along to feed vegan or omnis. I did find the dough a little bit dry when I made them, but using slightly damp hands they are easy to form into balls. Nommies!

Banana Crumble

This is amazing and satisfying, especially on a cold winter night. The crumble topping is made with coconut and nutmeg to give it an extra yummy lift. If you are looking to fancy it up a bit, you can also mix some chocolate chips in with the bananas before baking. But I kind of like it just as it is. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is a must.

Blueberry Cobbler

Oooooohhhhhh yeeeeeaaaahhh. Delicious blueberries topped with a biscuity dough. This is really great. I make this with frozen blueberries, because even in blueberry season the little things are still quite pricey, but it doesn't suffer for the frozen fruit. Some lemon zest mixed into the blueberry mixture gives a lovely little lift.

Chocolate Cherry Strudel

Anyone who knows me knows that I go made for the chocolate cherry combination. This is pretty great. The recipe calls for crushed graham crackers, but I just can't find graham crackers here in Australia. I made this with crushed up Nice biscuits (ninja vegan) in their place, and it was very yummy.

Some other five star recipes that I have no photos for:

Currant Scones
Lemon Bars
Chocolate Fudge Sauce
Cashew Cream

I have really enjoyed every recipe I have made from this wonderful book, and looking through it now I realise that I still have so much more baking to do. This book certainly lives up to its name - it makes baking a joy! If you love vegan baking, I definitely recommend getting this book.

What's your favourite thing to bake?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Back to my kitties! This is Dim Sim sleeping on her pink snuggy, taken a few weeks ago. You can see she has some shaved patches on her side. She was losing weight, with normal bloods, so she had to have an ultrasound of her tummy. Everything seemed OK on ultrasound, so we are doing a diet trial with her. But she was very cute with her little shaved tummy. Her fur has almost grown all back now!

VeganMoFo 2011 #10: 'The Garden of Vegan'

2011-10-10T14:59:00.002+10:00

How is everyone enjoying MoFo so far? It is pretty full on. My Google Reader is flooded with posts, and I imagine I will be reading MoFo posts well beyond the end of the month! I am trying to comment on posts as well! Unfortunately, Blogger is being stupid and if you have a Blogger blog with the comment section down the bottom of the post, it won't let me comment! Rude. Oh well. Thank you to everyone who is commenting on my posts, too! I am enjoying reading about your cooking and cookbook experiences.

The Garden Of Vegan
Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2005

The Garden of Vegan is the second book by Barnard and Kramer. It is in almost identical style to How It All Vegan, except red instead of green. Chapters include Introduction, Kitchen Wisdom, Breakfasts, Lunchbox, Microwave Meals, Soups, Salads & Dressings, Appies & Snacks, Side Dishes, Dips & Spreads, Sauces, Entrees, Breads & Muffins, Desserts, Odds & Sods, and Parties. I bought this book from Borders, a long time ago, when a new store had just opened. They had a beautiful vegan section, with lots of titles and several copies of each. Those were the days!

Tantalizing Tofu and Spinach Salad

I am totally in love with pan-fried tofu. It is delicious, and I could snack on it all day. This salad puts it on a bed of baby spinach and green onions, and tops with a yummy dressing and gomashio.

Fantastic Dijon Potato Salad

Fantastic by name and fantastic by taste, this is a simple salad with a vinaigrette made from olive oil, red wine vinegar and Dijon. It also has dill, I add extra because I love dill!

Zoe's Grandma's Roasted New Potatoes

I think I've said before that I love potatoes. Simple roasted potato recipes excite me every single time.

Avocado Salsa

Make double of this delicious recipe, and have those corn chips on hand. This is delicious! I made this for a party with work people, and they loved it too. One of my friends took the recipe home, and just a few weeks ago made it for us to nom on during a scrapbooking day.

Portobello Mushroom Bake

This is pretty delicious. It is very rich, so there is no problems with the small serving sizes. The sauce is very strong tasting with the earthy mushrooms, but the onion slices provide a lovely sweet counterpoint. Serve with rice and greens (Swiss Chard and Garlic from the book makes a nice side).

Almond Coconut Muffins

I don't have an notes written down for this one, just the five star logo. So they must have been good!

Banana Walnut Bars

I baked these to take to work one day, where they proved a surprised hit! What really takes them over the edge is the delicious cinnamon sugar topping.

Here are a few other five star recipes that don't have photos:

Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches
Fried Egg Sandwiches
Hungry Person Stew
Sarah & Tanya's You-Must-Make-This Dressing

My overall feeling about The Garden of Vegan is much the same as How it All Vegan, though I think the savoury offerings are a bit stronger and more varied in this second book. The baked goods section is strong, as in the last book. It is a solid book with lots of options, though it lacks the wow factor for me of some of my other books.

Do you make food for your workplace or work events? What recipes do you like to make the most?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

This is Little Silver Kitty. She lives in our neighbourhood and frequently visits our yard. I don't know who her people are, but they let her roam all day and all night out and about - this is not good! It is raining today, so I hope she is somewhere warm and dry. She's quite sweet, but my girls don't like her.

VeganMoFo 2011 #9: 'Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World'

2011-10-09T14:30:00.002+10:00

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World
Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, Marlowe and Company, 2006

Wheeee! Cupcakes! When the cupcake craze exploded, vegans were right there with them showing those omnis that cruelty free cupcakes are the way more delicious option. And there was this book, the definitive vegan cupcake book. How many of us have made cupcakes from here to share with friends, families and coworkers, and watched their faces light up with delight at the delicious noms. This is a little, square paperback book, with some lovely colour photos throughout. Not one of every cupcake, it is true, but remember that Flickr thing I mentioned? Go there. Chapters include How To Make Kick-Ass Cupcakes (ingredients, tools, troubleshooting and decorating), Basic Cupcakes, Classic Cupcakes, Fancy Cupcakes and Frostin's and Fillin's.

Who wants a cupcake?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Heaven Cakes

Heave in a cupcake. The centre of this little cupcake is stuffed full of peanut butter icing and it is topped with chocolate ganache. Everyone knows that PB and chocolate is one of the greatest combinations! This cupcake inspired the peanut butter chocolate engagement cake that I made for my friends.

Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

Chocolate and orange are also one of the great flavour combinations. This chocolate cupcake has orange extract added to the batter, then is topped off with an orange buttercream. Yummy!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

More peanut butter and chocolate, but this time with peanut butter as the base. Beautiful PB flavoured cupcakes are topped with chocolate ganache and chopped peanuts.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

I made these one year for a work function, and people still talk about them to this day. Chocolate and mint flavoured batter with mint icing, chocolate ganache and a vegan M&M on top.

The Elvis

Peanut butter also goes very well with banana. In this variation of the Banana Split Cupcake, a plain banana cupcake is stuffed and topped with vegan buttercream, and decorated with chopped peanuts, banana chips and a chocolate chip, just for fun.

Apricot-Glazed Almond Cupcakes

These are very cute, and very tasty. Apricot preserves are baked into the centre of each cupcake, and then they are decorated with almonds. Jojo over at Vegan In Brighton made some of these just the other day, and hers are way cuter than mine!

Lemon Macadamia Cupcakes

These are very beautiful, delicately flavoured cupcakes. Chopped macadamias are mixed into a lemon batter, and then the finished cupcakes are topped with some lemon buttercream. The lemon buttercream makes a nice, small amount, so these cupcakes have the sort of icing to cake ratio that I like! You can mix some white chocolate chips into the batter, if you are into that sort of thing.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

My first recipe from this book, and it was a good one! Coconut milk, cocoa, corn flour, almond meal, cinnamon and cayenne combine to make a delicious cupcake with a unique crumb. The topping is sifted icing sugar, cocoa and cinnamon.

Coconut Lime Cupcakes

I am quite horrified by how bad this photo is. What was I thinking trying to photograph them like this? *sigh* Oh well, these are some tasty cupcakes, despite the horrific photo. The cupcakes themselves are sublime! But this recipe makes a lot of icing, it ended up being almost more icing than cake! I would cut way back on the icing next time.

Chai Latte Cupcakes

Isn't this the sweetest? A lovely chai-inspired cupcake is topped with a frothy delight. First dust to top of your cupcake with plain icing sugar, then cut out a template and dust with the topping mix in the book. Do this right before you serve, though, otherwise it will go soggy. The topping mix makes more than you need for the cupcakes, but can be used in many places - including on top of hot chocolate. Yum!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Pumpkin-based baking does not come easy to me, as I don't have access to tinned pumpkin puree so have to make my own. It is worth the effort though. I love pumpkin and chocolate chip baked goods! These have a cinnamon glaze on top. I had lots of fun piping different patterns on top of the cupcakes, but it was a but runny so next time I wouldn't add as much liquid to the glaze.

What is your favourite flavour of cupcake?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

I promised you happy kitty tales. This is Abby. She's a chocolate Burmese lady who lives at the clinic. Abby was a long term boarder with us, and then her parents moved overseas, so they bequeathed Abby into our care. Now Abby is the lady of the clinic, she lives free range in the clinic and has a pretty strenuous life of sleeping on her sofa, sleeping on the deck, sleeping on her poof or demanding pats of clients. Abby was a diabetic, but she has gone into remission - yay! She also was the first kitty who took part in my diabetic remission study. She is a good girl. She has really cute, fat toes. I will have to take a photo to share with you!

VeganMoFo 2011 #8: 'The New Vegan'

2011-10-08T19:16:00.003+10:00

The New Vegan
Janet Hudson, Thorsons, 2005

I first saw this book in a little shop in Newtown several years ago, and liked what I saw with a quick glance through. However my student self could not at that point afford another $40 cookbook. But my friends got it for me for my birthday. Yay for birthday presents! The book is a paperback in the sort of size and thickness that does not stay open easily. Also, the binding in my copy fell to pieces soon after I got it, just from opening it occasionally. Contents include Hors d'Oeuvres, Salads, Soups, Entrees, Companion Pleasures, Desserts, Pantry Essentials, Break the Fast, Sandwiches and Snacks, and Juices, Smoothies and Shakes. There is one to two recipes per page. I am not overly fond of the font used for the recipe titles, though that is me being fussy.

I don't have a lot of photos from this book, though I have made more recipes than I have photos of, so I will give you a bit of a run down of some of the better things I have made.

Greek Toasts

These are nice, crisp little squares of toast with a yummy cream cheese, olive and sundried tomato, cucumber and caper filling.

Roasted 'Chicken' with Apple Creme Sauce

I didn't have access to any 'chicken breasts' to split in half, so I used two 'chicken chops' and sandwiched the stuffing between them. Served here with a bed of Blow Me Down Lemon Spinach, a nice side dish from the book.

Stars and Stripes Timbale

Quite nice flavour, but mainly a star because it was my first timbale and I was so happy it turned out. It was also the first dish I ever took a photo of, thus starting me down this addictive path of food photography.

Tempting Cacciatore Tempeh

This recipe gets its photo here by virtue of being the long photo from this book hanging out in my 'To Upload' folder. It is a nice recipe. It called for smoked tempeh, which I had never seen, so just add a little bit of liquid smoke if that floats your boat. The tempeh is cut into four portions, so it is more of a tempeh steak in a cacciatore sauce.

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich

This book does have some good sandwiches, and this is a great one. I decreased the amount of oil and vinegar used for sauteeing the mushroom (and skipped the capsicum).

Rancho Scripps Patty Melt

This is a great sandwich. It is creamy, cheesy and just yummy. I used Fry's burger patties here. The recipe calls for almond Jack Cheese... sure. I just used some Tofutti slices.

Here are a few five star recipes that I don't have photos for:

Aviary Ravioli with Hip Herb Pesto (uses wonton wrappers for the ravioli and is so delicious and so cute!)
Tomato Phyllo Pie
Vegacotti
Cranberry Oatmeal Drops
... Lettuce, Tomato - I Beg Your Pardon... BLT Not!

So how do I feel about this book? Fairly meh. Which is hard for me to say, because I like to be sunshine and light to everyone. One of the things that turns me off about this book is the huge reliance on vegan versions of meat and dairy products. At the time that I got this book, the availability of these things to me was very limited. However, I have had good success making some of the recipes by subbing tofu, tempeh or mushrooms for the meat. But it does read very much like an omni cookbook with the word 'veggie' in front of the meat/dairy product. Now don't get me wrong, I love me some plant-based meat and cheese, I have a very high tolerance for faux. However, it is not something I want to eat all the time. Plus having to source these things and then the expense of these things make it not something I want to do all the time. Maybe it depends on where you live. One of the recipes also calls for bonita, which I assume means bonito, which is fish, so I am not sure what is going on there. I also find that I need to use my own judgement very much with some of the quantities of liquids or sugars being called for in the recipes. There is a naan recipe in it that has so much sugar we had to eat them for dessert as pancakes. However, to be fair I have made some very nice food from this book, even some great food. I will probably make the odd thing from it here and there in the future, but I will not be reaching for it frequently.

What cookbooks have you been given for birthdays?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

This little sweetie is Pascall, who was my fourth childhood kitty. Unfortunately, we lost Patches (from my last post) to a blood clot when he was three and a half. Pascall was a gorgeous little silver tabby from the RSPCA. Sadly, she lost a fight to kidney cancer when she was not even a year old. She was beautiful, and she used to sleep with her head on my pillow and her body under the covers with me.

Well, that was a bit of a downer post. Lost kittens and not favourite cookbooks. Come back tomorrow though, there will be cupcakes and happy kitty tales!

Vegan MoFo 2011 #7: 'Vegan Lunch Box'

2011-10-07T12:10:00.004+10:00

Vegan Lunch Box
Jennifer McCann, Little "S" Press, 2006

In my final year of uni I didn't have lectures, instead my time was spent out in various vet clinics doing rotations. I was enjoying my new kitchen and was keen to have the coolest lunches possible. I had heard of Vegan Lunch Box from a friend, and checked out the blog. Totally adorably lunches. And yes, they were for a young school child, but whatever. Everyone deserves cute lunches!

Recipes in the book are arranged into lunch menus, and menus are arranged into chapters. These chapters include Quick and Easy, Rise and Shine, Ready and Waiting, Lunch Box Adventure and Special Occasions. There is also an allergen free index if you are looking for recipes suitable for certain dietary needs. The book is paperback. There is a centre sections of photos, with 16 colour photos in total.

I will share some of my favourites with you from this book! This will be a little different, given they are presented as menus in the book. So I am presenting the five star menu list! These were given five stars because of fullness and how much I liked the combination of dishes, not all recipes themselves were five stars (though they were all four stars at least). Please note that I took these to act as my main lunch, and packed several other snacks to keep me going throughout the day. I am a hungry lady, after all. Sometimes the snacks will appear in the photos, and sometimes not.

Quick and Easy Menu Page 22

This lunch box includes:

- Lunch Nibbles (Vegan deli slices and vegan cheese with crackers. I used that Sanitarium stuff that comes in a roll, with squares of Tofutti cheese slices and some oat crackers)

- Easy Potato Salad, which is a pretty good potato salad, though not the most outstanding I've made. Capers make a nice addition.

- Grapes

- Back-To-School Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are pretty soft cookies. They make a bunch and are good for a crowd.

- Non-dairy milk (in the thermos)

Quick and Easy Menu Page 33

This lunch box includes:

- Pups In Blankets, which are easy and delicious and oh I want some now. They are great fresh out of the oven, but travel well and are still really nice at room temperature or even straight from the fridge!

- Ketchup or Mustard (I packed both!)

- Cooked frozen vegetables. I was skeptical about this, but it is actually oddly tasty. No need to even cook, just pack the night before and they will be thawed when you are ready for them at lunch time.

- Creme-Filled Sandwich Cookies. AKA Oreos.

- Non-dairy milk.

Quick and Easy Menu Page 50

This lunch box includes:

- Beans and Dogs. I don't think I need to explain why this is awesome. And why yes, I did take these in an adorable pink little thermos with butterflies.

- Baked Pita Chips (I actually took pre-purchased beetroot chips in this photo).

- Cucumber Crescents and Edamame (I have peas here, as I couldn't find edamame).

- Chocolate Banana Pudding. A crappy photo, but an awesome pudding. Banana slices topped by chocolate pudding. The end!

Quick and Easy Menu Page 53

This lunch box includes:

- Grilled Pepperoni Sandwich. Awesome! I took this to a place that had a sandwich press. Don't forget to take some alfoil to press yours in, because no one ever cleans the cheese or meat juices off communal sandwich presses! Gross, omnis!

- Tomato Sauce

- Broccoli Piccata. My first ever piccata experience!

- A nectarine

- Vegan candy (I have some squares of vegan coconut ice).

Rise and Shine Menu Page 106

This lunch box includes:

- Lunch Box Fondue. Amazing! I just gave it a quick zap in the microwave before lunch (this was before my nifty pink thermos), but it is good cold too.

- Assorted fondue dippers. Mine included carrots, celery, grape tomatoes and steamed broccoli.

- Apple chunks. Also great for dipping in the fondue!

- Dark Chocolate Squares. Lindt is where it's at.

Ready and Waiting Menu Page 174

This lunch box includes:

- Broccoli Calzones. These were easy to make, the dough behaved perfectly.

- Sneaky Momma's Tomato Sauce For Dipping

- Fresh apricots

- Aplet or Cotlet. Apparently some sort of jellied fruit candy. I took some tea bread instead.

Here are some other lunch boxes I have made that scored the five star rating, but that don't have photos.

Rise and Shine:
-Menu Page 74: Easy Pasta and Beans, watermelon, baby carrots, Nut and Seed Butter Cookies, non-dairy milk
-Menu Page 78: Sausage Biscuits, Perfect Hash Browns, ketchup, vanilla soy yoghurt with frozen, mixed berries, Greg's Granola, OJ
-Menu Page 90: Tofu Fish Sticks, Tater Tots, ketchup, lightly steamed broccoli, grapefruit Segments
-Menu Page 112: Vegan chicken nuggets, baked potato chips, Raw Veggie Shapes, Cherry Chip Brownies, non-dairy milk

Ready and Waiting:
-Menu Page 160: Mini-Wellingtons, peas and carrots, pear, sugar wafer cookies, non-dairy milk

And here is a list of some recipes that were five star recipes, though not in five star lunch boxes!

Pumpkin Carob Chip Muffins (I used chocolate chips)
Sweet Potato Oven Fries
Blueberry-Lemon Mini-Scones
Cornish Pasties

This book is pretty fun, and gives you some very unique lunches that will make your co-workers impressed! It is a bit fiddly though, getting everything assembled, so these days I normally just take either a salad or some stew or some wraps/sandwiches or some left-overs to work, something that is one-dish. But when I have more time, I hope to slowly continue to make these quirky little lunch boxes.

What do you take for lunch?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Another one of my childhood kitties, this is Patches. He was huge and gentle.

Vegan MoFo 2011 #6: 'Vegan With A Vengeance'

2011-10-06T10:12:00.003+10:00

Vegan With A Vengeance
Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Marlowe & Company, 2005

Enter the game changer. Imagine, if you will, the opening chords of Eye Of The Tiger (with Dean Winchester playing thigh guitar optional, but enjoyable) as this book swaggered onto my bookshelf. I didn't even know what I had come into possession of. I was in a pretty awesome bookstore in Newtown called Better Read Than Dead perusing their vegan cookery section when I saw this book, it looked OK so I bought it. I was chatting with a vegan friend later about how I got this book, but didn't know what it would be like. When she found out what it was, she said that she had been waiting to try and find this book but they hadn't had it in stock. I had also recently moved house, from a tiny kitchen with zero bench space to a newer, larger kitchen with much more bench space. The stage was set for VWAV to up the ante.

It's not like I was suffering in a wasteland of bland food options, you have seen the photos of some of my earlier cookbooks. But VWAV was different. It was special. The food was unique, it seemed to kick it all up a level. The writing style was witty and entertaining, plus there were tips included from Fizzle, Isa's cat. I like cats! There are lots of technique tips, but it is never confusing or condescending. VWAV also introduced me to the PPK, and there it was. I found my community. A community of amazing and awesome vegans. Many with excellent taste in kitties and geekery. Sure, I wander on and off the PPK these days, but it kick started something that I will be forever grateful for.

So, what is VWAV like as a book? Well, I'm sure the majority of us already own well worn and splattered copies, but in case you don't here's the run down. It is paperback, and there is a middle section of beautiful colour photos. If you want to see what more recipes look like, just hit up Flickr, there are bazillions. Chapters include the Introduction (including How To Use This book, Tools and Kitchen Stuff, and The Post Punk Pantry), Brunch, Muffins and Scones, Soups, Little Meals, Sammiches, and Finger Foods, Sides, Pizzas and Pastas, Entrees, Cookies and Bars, and Desserts. There is no salad section (a fact later referred to in the opening to the salads chapter in Veganomicon). There is one recipe to a page (or two if it is a longer recipe). The book is also peppered with little snippets of wisdom and stories and advice. It's like being invited in to your cool big sister's awesome vegan world, and then you find out it is where you were meant to be all along!

So... food pictures, then?? This is a very picture heavy post. I can't help it, Isa writes amazing recipes!

Asian-Style Scrambled Tofu

There is a 'basic' scrambled tofu recipe in the book, which is yummy, but my favourite is the Asian-Style variation. Probably because it has shiitake mushrooms in it, which I love! I haven't made the Sweet Potato Hash with Five-Spice and Watercress yet, but when I do I will make it with this!

Herb-Roasted Potatoes

I love potatoes, and I think every meal is improved by them. But especially brunch. This is a very simple recipe, but the results are amazingly delicious. They make a great side to pretty much any brunch dish.

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I made brinner one night, and these were for dessert. These are amazing, chocolatey and rich. They are also great as a snack cold from the fridge. These are in the brunch chapter, but for me these are definitely a decadent dessert!

Potato-Edamame Samosas with Coconut-Mint Chutney

These were the first samosas I ever made, and I am entranced by how adorable they are. Even now, looking back on the photos! They are also delicious. I found I had a bit of filling left over, but it is super yummy to eat all on its own. The coconut-mint chutney is also a unique and yummy dressing for them. I also love that these are baked and not fried.

Chickpea Broccoli Casserole

You know some meals are a little bit bland, but in just the most perfect kind of way. This one of those meals (it even says so in the introduction). A big dish of mashed up chickpeas with loads of little bits of veggies. Served here with some herby vegan sausages and a salad.

Spicy Indian Rice with Toasted Almonds

This is an amazing rice dish, the flavours are superb. Isa is right, a quick fry up of some almonds takes it to a whole new fancy-schmancy level. I made this alongside the Braised Cauliflower with 3-Seed Sauce, and the are great together.

Mashed Potatoes with Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy

Remember how I said I love potatoes? Well, I also love potatoes smothered in one of the best gravies ever. Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy will have you drinking it out of the saucepan, so desperate will you be for it.

Maple-Mustard-Glazed Potatoes and String Beans

This is a fantastic dish. The sauce is awesome, and will take your vegetables to a whole new level. Use the largest pan you have, my veggies were a little crowded and it took a bit longer to cook as a result.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Garlic

A simple, delicious side dish. I have never not liked Brussels sprouts, so I can't imagine not wanting to eat them, however I'm pretty sure roasting them will change even a Brussels sprouts sceptics mind. But seriously, what's up with not liking Brussels sprouts anyway? I needed to toast my garlic for a little longer than the five minutes in the recipe.

Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy

So, I think this might be one of my favourite recipes ever in the whole wide world. I make it at least once or twice a year (which is a lot for me considering I am on a quest to make every recipe in every cookbook so I don't do many repeats), and even just thinking about it makes me crave it. The amazing miso gravy, the potatoes, the tofu... oh, heaven. I cannot make this without serving it on some mashed sweet potatoes (carbs on cards, yay!) and some steamed broccoli. If you haven't made this yet, do it. Do it now!

Seitan

This is my favourite seitan recipe that I have tried so far. I will make seitan recipes from other books once, then come back to this one as my base.

Brooklyn Pad Thai

It may not be authentic, but it is delicious. The sauce is amazing and tangy - use tamarind concentrate if you can get it, rather than the lime juice option, as it is definitely the best. The tofu is fried at the beginning to be golden and crisp, lending great texture to the dish. The recipe calls for one pound of rice noodle. I used 200g of dried rice noodles, which fed 3-4 people easy.

Sparkled Ginger Cookies

I like to make these cookies every christmas. They are yummy, chewy and spicy, plus they always turnout just perfect and look adorable. Excellent for taking to any sort of function where you need to bring food.

Big Gigantoid Crunchy Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Cookies

These are really, really big. Seriously. Also they are really, really delicious.

Macadamia Blondies with Caramel-Maple Topping

While these will cost you a small fortune in macadamia nuts, they are totally delicious and well worth the expense!

Ginger-Macadamia-Coconut-Carrot Cake

This is the carrot cake to end all carrot cakes. I actually find this cake quite filling. Also quite delicious.

Raspberry Blackout Cake with Ganache-y Frosting

This cake will blow everyone's mind, and leave omnis gasping in amazement. This is the cake you make for a birthday party. This is the cake you make if you are bringing dessert for a dinner party. The ganache makes a heap, and I always end up with some left over, even after decorating. It has just occurred to me that the only thing that would make this cake better would be replacing the raspberry jam with cherries... Oh my goodness, I am going to do this! I shall report back down the track.

Chocolate-Rum Pudding Cake

Who wouldn't love a cake that tastes like a giant rum ball? I love the flavours in this cake, but I am yet to master the execution. I have found that when baking it in my springiform cake tin, the sauce will always leak out (thankfully I always have it on a cookie sheet), but it makes a huge mess. It also sinks in the middle slightly. Next time I make it I am going to bake it in a deep pie plate and then just serve it out in big scoops warm from the oven.

Coconut Heaven Cupcakes

This is a crappy photo. It was right when I was starting to take photos of food, and I knew nothing (I still know not much, but at least I am a little bit better!). However, these cupcakes are amazing. The frosting is so rich and coconutty, all piled on top of a delicious coconutty cupcake. If you like coconut, this is your cupcake!

Strawberry Shortcake

These are fantastic. First you take the Scone recipe from earlier in the book (which is a five-star recipe all on its own), then you make a very simple strawberry sauce (mix sliced strawberries with sugar and syrup and chill) and you crown it all with macadamia creme - which is amazing and should be made often and used frequently in all sorts of things!

Phew! Well, that was longer than I thought. But I wanted to share it all with you. Obviously I have made much more than these, though these were my favourites so far. I still have much to make from this book though, and I am sure I will love every delicious step of it. So, if you don't have it, should you get it? Yes! But you probably have it!

What cookbook was your 'game changer'?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

My second cat of childhood was Max. He was pretty punk. Here he is kicking my young butt at table soccer, that is how cool he was. Poor little Max was only with us for about six weeks before he left for the great kitty heaven in the sky.

Vegan MoFo 2011 #5: 'How It All Vegan'

2011-10-05T14:51:00.003+10:00

How It All Vegan
Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer, Arsenal Pulp Press, 1999

I am sure many of us came across this book during out vegan beginnings. I found this book one day at Glebooks on Glebe Point Road in Sydney, and promptly bought it. Then I spent the afternoon back at uni reading it between lectures.

The book is a paperback, and its size and shape means it stays open easily. There are no photos of recipes. Contents include Introduction (including the stories of how the authors became vegan), Alternatives and Substitutions, Vegan Milk and Beverages, Vegan Soups and Stews, Vegan Salads and Dressing, Vegan Sauces and Spreads, Vegan Side Dishes, Vegan Entrees, Vegan Breads and Muffins, Vegan Desserts, Vegan Odds and Sods, Vegan Kids Stuff and Vegan House and Home. The appendix includes a list of non-vegan ingredients that often lurk in food.

Amusing anecdote time: In Australia, we call appetisers entrees, and then we have main courses. So when I was first looking at the contents of this book, I was confused why there weren't any main courses, and why the entrees were so large! Now, of course, I know that entrees = mains, and the world makes sense again!

Now, onto some of my favourites.

Aunt Bonnie's Lively Lentil Stew

This is one of my mother's favourite dishes of all time, and is frequently requested. It is easy to make, smells great on the stove and delivers a warming and filling dinner. Great on a cold night.

Vegetable Pasta Salad

Sometimes the simple things are the best, and this delicious pasta salad proves that. It is deliciously fresh tasting, packed with zucchini, green onion, peas (my substition for icky capsicum), tomato, snow peas and fresh herbs (but you could add whatever you wished). The salad is then tossed with faux parmesan cheese (or just use nooch), which puts you in pasta salad heaven!

Hole Moly Hummus

This is a great hummus recipe - it is packed full of flavour. Onions and loads of garlic are sauteed lightly before being blended into the mix, which really seems to add something special.

Roasted Garlic Potatoes

A fairly straight forward and simple recipe, but totally delicious.

Brilliant Baked Beans

I like this recipe, but I am including it in the superstar photo line up because my mother (who loves baked beans) loves this recipe. It was her most asked for baked bean recipe for ages (though it has since been displaced by the recipe in Vegan Planet). It is very saucy, and not sweet at all, which I like.

Parmesan Crusted Veggie Sandwiches

Hello delicious sandwich. Packed with mayo, mustard, avocado, tomato and sprouts in the inside. Then the outside is coated with a cheesy mixture and it is fried until crisp and golden.

Blue Banana Muffins

My notes for this read 'so very amazing', and that they are. I threw in some more blueberries than asked for to make it extra berry. I think just by looking you can tell that these are pretty awesome! I haven't made any banana baked goods for ages because the cost of bananas has been ridiculously high in Australia of late.

Chocolate Rice Crispy Squares

Oh my, these are fantastic. These were the first rice crispies I ever made as a vegan. The recipe is made in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Amusingly, it says it makes 6 large or 12 small bars. I don't know what sort of sugar tolerance these people have, but I cut it into 60 small bars, and nibbling on one of those was just right!

Here are a few more five star recipes that I don't have photos of:

Kieran's Favourite Rice
Ginger Bread
Zucchini Bread
Original Pepper Tofu Jerky

OK, so this book is generally pretty good. Most of the recipes I made were fine, though few were outstanding. I also found some of the recipes a bit bland. I tried making the burgers in here and they did not stick together well. I also tried making the cream cheese recipe in here and I am not sure exactly what happened, but it was fairly inedible. The baking section is pretty solid, however.

Do you like to read cookbooks like novels when you get them?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

This is a photo of my first every kitty Mo. She was very tolerant of young Susan.

Vegan MoFo 2011 #4: 'Vegan Vittles'

2011-10-04T18:00:00.001+10:00

Vegan Vittles
Joanne Stepaniak, Book Publishing Company, 1996

Vegan Vittles is a really great little gem of a cookbook. I remember buying it, it was from a bookshop in Sydney in the city. I bought it, and then spent some time sitting in the foodcourt reading through with eager eyes.The book is a paperback with a special lay-flat binding. It does work, though over time my binding has started to fall apart a little. There are no photos of the food, but each chapter starts off with a black and white photo of a critter from Farm Sanctuary, along with a beautiful story about their rescue and new happy lives. The book also has lots of cute little sayings throughout, where they take a common animal-based saying (such as 'Slippery as an eel') and replace it with an animal free version ('slippery as oil'). Recipes are set out nicely,and have serving sizes and nutritional information. Many recipes also have variations listed, and 'The Cook's Secret' tidbits have information on using ingredients.

Chapters include Tips & Tails (Handy Hints & Basic Recipes), Beverages, Breakfasts & Breads, Uncheeses, Butters & Spreads, Hearty Soups & Stews, Salads & Dressings, Sandwiches, The Main Dish, Sauces, Gravies & Condiments, and Happy Endings. The front section of the book also has a section about being vegan, substituting for animal products,a glossary of ingredients and suggestions for daily menus. As well as a general index, the book also has an index arranged by main ingredients. This is really nifty if you are looking for a recipe to use something up. The Tips and Tails section has seitan and bacon recipes, as well as a pie crust and an extended maple syrup.

Now, on to photos of some of my favourite recipes.

Tempeh Bacon

My first ever Tempeh Bacon recipe, and an introduction to one of my favourite things. Before tempeh bacon, I had to buy expensive vegan bacon products, none of which really hit the spot. Tempeh bacon is essential!

Hickory Bits

I know that some of the 'bacon bits' you can buy are vegan, but the thought of them freak me out. The colours and flavours! Thankfully, I need never brave those waters again. These were my first homemade bacon bits.

Breakfast Tofu Scramble

I have enthusiastically scrawled on the sticky note for this recipe 'colour and taste of eggs!' This was the first scramble to grace my little taste buds in many a year. In fact now I know it is way better than eggs could hope to be. Seriously, why would you even eat eggs which you could eat delicious scramble? This is a simple little scramble recipe - nooch, salt and pepper make up the seasonings with a pinch of turmeric and some grate carrot for colour.

Muffins That Taste Like Donuts

They really do! Around the time I started getting into my cookbooks, I also started firing up my love of baking, and I started making sure I always had yummy baked goods around to take to uni for lunch or for snacking on. These are some very tasty little morsels. My favourite donut is the cinnamon sugar donut, and these really hit the spot flavour wise.

Banana Tea Loaf

This is a pretty amazing little loaf, and makes a great gift as well. Vegan Vittles introduced me to apple juice concentrate as a sweetener, and this is used in this recipe. It is studded with pecans (well, walnuts technically, but I am not a fan) and currants.

Onion Lover's Chip Dip

Every Christmas, my mother would make a french onion dip. It involves cream cheese, french onion soup mix powder, some green shallots and some ham. I loved the oniony flavour of it. This captures that taste so wonderfully, minus the dairy and the ham (though I'm sure you could add some chopped vegan ham if you wished, I prefer it straight up all onions!).

Unstuffed Shells

This is easy and yummy. Cook pasta, make ricotta style stuffing, mix together with tomato sauce on top. Make sure your ricotta is at room temperature before making (or make with room temperature tofu), otherwise it won't heat up well when you toss with the pasta. You can also heat it over very low heat while mixing with the pasta, but make sure not to brown it. I like extra sauce for mine, as well.

Pot Roast

The thought of having a delicious vegan pot roast had never even crossed my mind until I had this book. While I believe that VWAV taught me how to make seitan, this book has some great ways to use it! Like this yummy pot roast. I found when cooking it that you needed to be careful that the sauce didn't dry out, so have some extra stock on hand in case you need it. The gravy is amazing. And leftovers make an awesome sandwich.

Barbecue-Style Braised Short'Ribs'

Having mastered the pot roast (not that it is particularly hard to master!), these BBQ ribs were next in my sights. Again, they are very easy to make, and highly delicious. Especially served with some mashed sweet potato and soy-sauce sauteed broccolini. This recipe makes 6 ribs, and these ribs are very filling. One rib will do you right, unless you opt to forgo the vegetables!

Some other amazing recipes from this book that don't have pictures:

Cool Fools
Pecan Sticky Buns (my first ever homemade stickbuns... OMG)
Oven-Roasted Tom Tofu
Velvety Cheese Sauce
Ultra-Fudgey Fudge Brownies
Aunt Bunny's Carrot Cake (with Creme Cheeze Frosting)

This book is also memorable because it introduced me to my first versions of what I now would consider vegan staples, but at the time were very exciting to finally be able to make myself. Things such as Eggless Omlets, Phenomenal French Toast, Banana Flapjacks, Almond Cream Cheese, Mayo and Sour Cream.

This book really is great, even all these years on. They have since released a new edition with even more recipes. I don't have this new one yet, as I get kind of annoyed when people re-release previous books with a few new recipes, meaning that you need to go and buy it again. New cookbooks with new recipes, peoples! Anyway, if you don't have it you should buy it if you get the chance. It's pretty groovy.

What cookbook (or cookbooks) taught you the basics of homemade vegan staples?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Possum is looking with his hopeful face. Someone must be eating something at the table that he hopes to get his chompers on!

Vegan MoFo 2011 #3: 'Easy Vegan Cooking'

2011-10-03T15:33:00.002+10:00

Easy Vegan Cooking
Leah Leneman, Thorsons, 1998

Another of my early cookbooks. Easy Vegan Cooking appealed to my young vegan self because the picture on the front cover is a slice of gorgeous looking chocolate cake complete with icing and a strawberry. How could I resist? I actually have cooked heaps and heaps out of this book, but sadly most of it was before I had a digital camera or before I learned the joys of food photography once I had a digital camera, so even though I have cooked through entire chapters of this book, I have very few photos. I am working on remaking the best of it!

Aside from the beautiful cover photo, there are no other photos in this book. It is paperback, and the size of it mean that I generally have to weigh down the page I want to make it stay open. This book allowed me to explore whole new concepts and ingredients. Chapters include The Vegan'Dairy', American Breakfast and British Afternoon Tea, Soups, Salads, Starters, Spreads and Snacks, Rice and Other Grains, Pasta, Beans, Vegetables, Nuts, Tofu and Other Soya Foods, Ready-Made Health Food Products, Sea Vegetables, Vegetable Side Dishes, Fresh Fruit-Based Desserts, Miscellaneous Desserts, and Cakes and Biscuits. Recipes are normally one to two to a page, in side-by-side columns.

Here are some of my favourite recipes from this book that I have photographed.

Waffles

This is a simple little waffle recipe, but they are amazing. They crisped up really nicely in my waffle maker (not always a given in my maker) and they are not too sweet, making them ideal for any topping.

Macaroni 'Cheese'

This was the very first mac and cheese recipes I made, and it is still one that I love. The only alteration I made is to decrease the amount of dried macaroni from 3-3 1/2 cups to 2 cups. It is a nooch based sauce, probably fairly standard but it is my first memory of mac and cheese, something that I love, so it is pretty special to me. Here I have served it with some white bean, sage and garlic cutlets. Nom nom!

Spaghetti with Tahini Sauce

Back in the days when I wasn't a big tahini fan, this sauce made a believer of me. Tahini, tomato puree, yeast extract and water blend together to make an amazing, rich sauce that is ridiculously fast to make. You can add in beans and vegetables to the pasta (here I have added peas), or you can serve them on the side, depending on your preferences.

Italian Macaroni and Beans

This is super fast, super simple and super delicious. I use 2 cups of macaroni instead of 3 cups, which gives about three servings. The other change I made it to up the garlic by at least double. Serve with lots of nooch to sprinkle on top!

Smoked Tofu, Courgette and Sweetcorn Risotto

You know this is going to be delicious just from the title. It's not a true risotto, but uses cooked brown rice as the base, making it quick and easy to cook. This makes a large amount! Here I have served it with some asparagus and potatoes (both recipes from another cookbook).

Tempeh Burgers

Juicy, tasty tempeh burgers. These are essentially tempeh steaks, simmered in a delicious sauce (think lots of tomato ketchup). The recipe calls for 450g of tempeh cut into 4 pieces, but here my blocks of tempeh are 300g. I still cut it into four pieces, but I only used half the quantity of ingredients for the sauce.

Vegetable Gratin

This is some pretty delicious comfort food. The recipe calls for vegan cheese spread, and I used Sheese Cheddar Cream Cheese here with great results. Served with Fry's schnitzels and baked potato wedges.

Lemon and Chocolate Treats

These are some super cute little banana dessert treats. Banana's are halved lengthwise and sandwiched with a lemon buttercream, then drizzled with melted chocolate and sprinkled with coconut. Yummo!

Here is a list of those five-star recipes from this book that I don't have photos of.

Vegetable Soup
Grilled Garlic Mushrooms
Chick Pea Spread
Tempeh Spread
Barley and Cashew Casserole
Baked Tahini Pasta (uses the same sauce as Spaghetti with Tahini Sauce)
Chick Pea Stroganoff
Lentil Pastichio
Cabbage and Potato Casserole
Smoked Tofu Stew
Arame and Tofu Pancakes
Gingerbread

Just to elaborate on my rating system, five star is the absolute most awesome. There are many four star recipes in all my books, but they would make too many to put in the one post! I use sticky notes to write my thoughts and comments and ratings, and then stick one in for each recipe (I don't like to permanently mark a book, though I will use pencil to link up recipes for menus).

Do you keep notes and ratings for recipes that you make? How do you record it?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Sahara is staring at you. What is she saying? I believe it is hello. Hello and give me some oatmilk!

Vegan MoFo 2011 #2: 'The Complete Vegan Cookbook'

2011-10-02T09:59:00.002+10:00

The Complete Vegan Cookbook
Susann Geiskopf-Hadler and Mindy Toomay, Prima Publishing, 2001

Still hanging around in the cookbooks of my early young vegan years, I was very excited to add The Complete Vegan Cookbook to my collection. It may have been the second vegan book I bought, but I can't be sure, there are a couple from around that time. However, my little fledgling cookbook collection mainly spent its time sitting on the shelf, where I would occasionally flick through it. By this time I was a vet school in Sydney, and had been vegan for a few years, but my cooking was boring. Think pre-purchased pasta and stir-fry sauces as my base for dinner. Ho hum. However, one day it occurred to me that maybe I should make something out of these books that I kept on buying. And thus started me down the path of cookbook obsession.

The book itself is nice to use. Again, it is a paperback with no pictures. Chapters include Cooking Fundamental, Stocking the Vegan Pantry, Menus, Appetizers, Salads, Soups and Stews, Vegetable Side Dishes, Pasta Dishes, Grain and Bean Dishes, Sautes and Stir-Fries, Baked and Grilled Entrees, Sandwiches and Wraps, Morning Meals, Desserts and Frequently Used Ingredients. There is also the ubiquitous nutrition appendix and glossary of ingredients. The book is very nice to read. Because of the size, the pages easily sit open when on a bench. There is one recipe per page, and I like the way they are presented. Each recipe also includes serving sizes and nutritional information. In addition, there are some fun little facts sprinkled throughout the book about different ingredients. Recipes that are quick to make are marked Almost Instant.

This book was the first book I started cooking out of regularly, and it all started with one recipe that became almost a weekly dinner in the early days.

Classic Lentil, Tomato, and Potato Stew

This stew is simple and delicious, and wonderful on a cool or chilly night. I made it again just recently (for the first time in ages), which is why you get a picture!

As I started branching out and discovering the joy of making all these new and wonderful dishes, this book went into fairly heavy rotation. Thankfully, for the purposes of making this blog post prettier, I have photos of several of the dishes I have made. Below are some more of my favourites from here!

Pasta Puttanesca with Artichokes

This pasta dish is simple, yet amazing. The addition of artichokes makes for a delicious puttanesca, and I added some kidney beans as well for protein. This is on the table fairly quickly, and makes four big servings. Yum!

Stir-Fry of Cauliflower, Tomatoes, Orange, and Fresh Basil

Another dish I remade recently (because I don't have photos of a lot of them that I made early on, I am remaking my favourites to get their pictures). This is has quite a unique flavour, and is wonderfully fresh tasting. The first time I made this, many years ago, I didn't have access to tomatillos (I had never even heard of tomatillos), but when I made this recently I did have some to add. They make a great extra dimension! I serve this over rice.

Mushroom-Tempeh Saute with Sage

The earthy flavours of tempeh and mushrooms get a lift with sweet onion, sherry and sage. This was one of my first experiences with tempeh - yum! I serve over brown rice. It says this makes 4 main-dish servings, I would disagree with that unless you have a teeny tiny appetite. However, it is a very rich dish. Balance out with some steamed broccoli for your greens!

Polenta and Onion Casserole with Fennel Seed and Soy Mozzarella

OMG. This is amazing, just perfect for a cold winter night. Think creamy polenta base with a tangy tomato sauce and sweet red onions, topped with vegan cheese and then baked. Hello! The first time I made this I only had access to Kinglands Soy Cheese, us Australians know the one. The second time I made this I used Cheezly - much better! I served it with some marinated, baked tofu and a salad. The whole recipe says it makes eight servings, I make this as a half recipe and get three decent-sized servings.

Avocado and Watercress Sandwich with Dried Tomato Mayo

When I first spied Tofutti Cheese Slices, I knew that I could finally make this delicious sounding sandwich. The combination is just so amazing. It was my first time trying watercress as well. If you can't find watercress, sliced cucumber also makes a nice addition. I found the mayo (made by mixing sun dried tomatoes into soy mayo) didn't make quite enough for my tastes, so I make a double batch of that. Combined with creamy avocado and crunchy watercress. This actually makes an excellent sandwich to take to work or study, as it won't go soggy.

Cumin-Seared Tofu Wrap

Another great lunch option. I find you only need to make about 2/3 of the tofu mixture to fill the six wraps it makes, but make the whole lot anyway so you can make yet more wraps, throw the extra into a salad or just eat it with a fork. This gets a bit soggy once wrapped if you are taking it for work, but it is still very yummy.

Mushroom and Soy Cheese Quesadillas

This recipe is pretty simple, but often the simple things are the best. It will take all your strength not to devour the whole batch. Go ahead, just do it!

Dried Apricot and Coconut Pudding

A fairly bad photo of a pretty amazing dessert!

Baked Tofu

This stuff is pretty amazing, unlike many other marinated and baked tofu recipes, this is baked in a small pan in the marinade. The result is a beautiful crust of depth of flavour to the tofu. It is delicious served hot as part of the meal, but just as amazing served cold on a sandwich, in sushi, cut into chunks for dipping or just nomming on straight out of the fridge.

So, this book has given me some pretty great food memories! All the recipes above gained five-star ratings (yes, I have a rating system!). Here are the names of the other five-star rated recipes I've made from this book, but have yet to remake again for photos.

Caramelised Onion and Tempeh Spread
Spiced Garbanzo and Carrot Spread with Mint
Black Olive Tapenade with Capers (let mellow overnight to blow your ind)
Chinese Hot-and-Sour Soup
Savoury Mushroom, Oat, and Almond Burgers
Sushi (my first ever home-made sushi, made with brown rice and lots of filling suggestions)
Chocolate-Cinnamon-Walnut Cake

So, would I recommend this book? Yes. I still do see it around. It is fun, lots of fresh and yummy recipes, using lots of wholefood ingredients. I think aside from the occasional soy cheese, there are no processed foods involved. All these years later, I am still getting joy from it, be it remaking old favourites or discovering new recipes.

What was the first vegan recipe you put into regular rotation? Where did it come from?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post!

My beautiful Gizmo. She's been having troubles with her kidneys lately, my poor baby.

Vegan MoFo 2001 #1: Welcome and 'The Vegan Cookbook'

2011-10-01T10:23:00.005+10:00

It's the most wonderful time... of the year! Well, for some. For the vegan blogging world, it is certainly the most hectic. Vegan MoFo is here, the vegan month of food. Over 600 blogs are participating this year, all with the aim to post almost daily for the month of October about vegan food.

I did not take part last year, and the two years before that I did take part but didn't reach my hoped for posts. This year I am back in the ring and ready to take on the challenge!

I am having a theme for this MoFo, though it is kind of the theme of my blog. Each post I will be reviewing one of my cookbooks, as well as posting photos of some of my favourite meals and some recently cooked meals. Books will range from some of my older books, to the hot new things, to those books that have made the biggest difference in my cooking. I'll be going into more depth about the book itself than I usually do in my photo round-up posts, so looking at layout, writing style, recipe selections and things like that. I'd also love to hear from you about your favourite cookbooks - I am always on the look out for more!

Here are some of my cookbooks, the rest are scattered around in piles on other shelves and on tables. I am currently in negotiation for more shelves of this bookshelf for my books, given that I actually use my books so it is handy for me to have them neatly near the kitchen! Plus it is pretty to see them all together!

The Vegan Cookbook
Alan Wakerman and Gordon Baskerville, Faber and Faber, 1996

I am kicking off MoFo with my first ever vegan cookbook. My parents gave me this for Christmas one year, I can't remember which year it was, but I think maybe 1999. I was definitely still in Wagga. It was pretty exciting to be in possession of a completely vegan cookbook, I think this was even before I was fully vegan!

The book is a simple paperback. No photos. Chapters include Soups, Startes, Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Salads, Desserts, Sauces and Dressings, Spreads, Baking, The Alternative Dairy, and Miscellaneous Recipes, as well as appendices on vegan nutrition, reasons for veganism, glossary of ingredients and others. Recipes in chapters are arranged in order of quicker/cheaper/simpler (for everyday use) and slower/dearer/more elaborate (for special occasions). The recipes are easy to read, and include both metric and imperial measurements as well as a nutritional breakdown, serving sizes and preparation time.

Although I have had this book the longest, when I first got it my cooking bug hadn't fully bitten yet, so I haven't cooked extensively from it. The recipes are, for the most part, quite appealing. It is definitely a cookbook of its era (it was first published in 1986, and there is are several recipes for vegetable flavoured jellies and mousses). I do find that the recipes trend towards the bland/dry side, so mix things up to your preferences. It was my first introduction to making loafs, vegan baking, breads, cream substitutes and other things that we now just whip up without a moments thought.

This book introduced two very important recipes to me.

Rum Truffles
I still make this recipe almost every Christmas, I love them! Though I find it doesn't have a strong enough rum flavour, so I add a few more slugs. Warning: the alcohol is NOT cooked out of these! I have also made a fun variation where I switch out the raisins and rum for dates and Cointreau. Really, you can make all sorts of fun stuff!

Rum and Chocolate Cheesecake
My first ever vegan cheesecake, this was before the days of vegan cream cheese. Tofu is the base, but the flavours of the chocolate and rum mean there is no soy taste. I made this when I was living in my uni house, and everyone loved it. Though, funny story, the only rum we had at the time was OP Rum... Hooooo heeeee! That made for one super rummy cake! Alas no photos, this was long before the days of my digital camera!

I don't have many photos from this book, but I will share a couple of soups I have made recently (I still pull this book out every now and then for old times sake).

Tomato Soup
This is super quick to make, and has a strong tomato flavour. However, I found it lacked a depth of flavour compared to other tomato soups I have made.

Cauliflower Soup
Nice enough, but a little bland.

Sorry I don't have more exciting photos! I am very fond of this book for sentimental reasons, and I find some of the recipes kind of amusing (I will make those jellies one day!). I don't think it has the same sort of iconic nostalgic value as some other older cookbooks (none of which I have, but which I read about on people's blogs... Tofu Cookery?).

What was your first vegan cookbook?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Kitty photos are back! Here is Dim Sim's sweet sleeping face.

Possum turns 17!

2011-09-30T19:51:00.003+10:00

Two kitty dedicated posts - you know you love them. Sweet little fuzzy faces, what is not to love? Anyway, I am much more timely with Possum's birthday post than I was with Sahara's (which was about a month late). Who is Possum? Possum is my family cat. I live with four cats at home - my three girls and the handsome Possum, who has been very gracious about having his solitary life interrupted by my three kids for the past three and a half years, with probably many more to come!

Possum turned 17 on the 28th of September. He enjoyed some of his favourite special treats. I was out at work all day and had a vet meeting until late that night, so I didn't have much time to spend with him on his birthday. I did take these adorable photos of him before bed.

Happy birthday little man!

Tomorrow is the first of October, which means it is Vegan MoFo! I will be participating this year, and I am determined to make the quota this year!

Sahara turns 10!

2011-09-26T13:07:00.003+10:00

It's hard to realise that your little ones are growing up. Especially when they are so very little and cute and furry. But apparently not even my will can stop the passage of time. Sahara had her tenth birthday on the 28th of August - my youngest hit double figures.

Here she is the night before her birthday, still only nine years old.

When we woke up on her birthday, she started the day with some Greenies in bed. Sahara loves her Greenies!

Then it was downstairs for some morning oatmilk. Actually, this wasn't a birthday treat - Sahara likes to share my oatmilk with me every morning!

She spent the day as she always spends her days - lounging around, napping, playing in the cat max, chasing toys and being adored.

For dinner, in addition to her normal dinner (which is super non-vegan so I didn't get a photo of that) she also enjoyed a bowl of steamed broccoli. Broccoli is one of Sahara's favourite things, and whenever I make it she is always around, trying to steal it off your plate. She was very happy to get her own bowl of it, just for her!

Here she is with her present - a Kong Kickaroo! She loves to kill things, and the bigger the better, so this is great for her! She knew what to do with it straight away, unlike the other two - they think it is more of a Sniffaroo and just like to smell the catnip. I haven't been able to get a photo of her playing with it yet, she always knows and jumps up quickly! One day.

Love you my little bear!