VeganMoFo 2019 #10: H is for Happy Birthday Dad! (Menu: Let It Snow from Chloe's Italian Kitchen)

Regular blog friends know that I like to make special dinners for my parents for their birthdays and for mothers and fathers day. My dad recently celebrated his birthday, and this year he asked for something Italian. So it seemed only natural to pull out Chloe's Italian Kitchen and flip to the page for menu ideas. He picked the Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow menu. While we don't have snow here, his birthday is in winter so it was appropriate. Plus this is a menu I'd had my eye on, so it worked out well! You can see other things I have made from this book here.

Pomegranate Roasted Brussels Sprouts: I scaled down the amount of sprouts used from 750g to 400g, as I was serving three people, but I still made the full amount of pomegranate glaze. The glaze, made from pomegranate juice and maple syrup, simmered down for ages without really getting syrupy, I ended up taking it off after 15 minutes (when there was not that much left!), and it thickened up as it cooled. This was a nice combination of roasted sprouts, a sweet tangy glaze, and crunchy toasted almonds.
Rating: :)



Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Sea Salt: I'd already made this recipe before (it goes well with a number of other recipes in the book), and the first time I was a bit overpowered by the fresh garlic in it. So I used powdered garlic here, which is just what I need to do these days because raw garlic no longer suits my stomach. I also used some oat milk as the liquid, which made them nice and creamy.
Rating: :)



Butternut Squash, Caramelised Onion, and Apple Pizza: I took a shortcut and used a ready made base from the shops for this. This pizza has a garlic white bean puree as the base. Again, I used powdered garlic in this rather than fresh. I also used water rather than oil, just because too much oil makes me sick. I only needed about half of this to spread over the pizza base, but the other half is great as a dip or on toast. The pizza is then topped with a mix of roasted butternut, caramelised onions, sauteed apples, and wilted spinach. It is a really nice combination of flavours, and leftovers were also good cold.
Rating: :)



Thyme for Stuffed Portobellos with Rosemary Gravy: I scaled this recipe down by half, a I was only serving three, and I was super pleased with how it turned out. The mushrooms are stuffed with a lentil, rice, and cashew mixture that is nice and savoury. And the amount of stuffing was almost perfect for the three mushrooms (I just had a very little left over). I used panko for the breadcrumbs because I always have that on hand, but I let it sit under the liquid for a bit to soften before stuffing. The rosemary gravy that goes with it is absolutely amazing, I would very happily just eat a whole bowl of it!
Rating: :) (but the gravy is really a :D )





And here is everything together on a plate. This dinner has a lot of components, so I spent several hours in the morning getting different things ready... the white bean puree and the vegetables for the pizza, the pomegranate glaze, the gravy and the stuffing. And then at dinner time it was very easy to just assemble and pop in the oven and make the potatoes.



Of course the last part of any menu is dessert, and for a birthday it has to be cake. This menu called for Italian Apple Cake, which was wonderful. A bit nerve wracking though, as the batter is very thick and it is so full of apple slices that I was sure it wouldn't bake properly! But it did, though the bottom was a bit lumpy, but the top lovely with prettily arranged apple slices. A very lovely cake, with a hefty dose of cinnamon that I loved.
Rating: :D



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



One of our sweet clinic kitties, for many years ago. It has been a while since he left us, but we have an artwork of Prince hanging in our reception. And of course, we have our photo. Like him sleeping in this basket bed, so snug.