Gluten Free Frozen Margarita Pie with Tequila- Vegan Mofo Day 30

I really wanted to finish vegan mofo with something original and awesome and I think this easily fits the bill.

Toby gets the credit for finding this recipe after I stomped around the house saying that we need to make something amazing for the last day of vegan mofo last night. I found plenty of recipes but they all required a visit to Radical Grocery or the Asian supermarket and both were closed by this stage. This recipe actually comes from the examiner and rocks. Am I getting to old to say 'rocks'? It's salty, sweet, sour, alcoholic, creamy, crunchy all in one!

We used Eskal brand gluten free pretzels which I am addicted to. I hated them when I first went gluten free but now prefer them to gluteny pretzels. We also halved the recipe which made enough for four small ramekins and used less tequila but next time will use the full amount. Part of me thought I might hate this but it was fantastic and I think I am hooked on the idea of salty pretzels in desserts!

Gluten Free Vegan Frozen Margarita Pie with Tequila

 For the crust:

- 2 ½ cups of small salted pretzels, finely crushed (use a rolling pin or put them in the food processor)

- ½ cup vegan margarine, melted

- 1 tbsp sugar

For the pie filling:

- 6 cups So Good vanilla nondairy frozen dessert

- ¼ cup tequila

- 3 tbsp frozen margarita mix (or limeade mix) ( I just used more lime juice mixed with a teaspoon of icing sugar)

- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice

Directions for Frozen Vegan Margarita Pie

To make the crust, stir together the crushed pretzels, sugar, and melted margarine. Press into the bottom and against the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Freeze the crust for at least an hour. We only put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes but it didn't seem to matter.

For the filling, let the vegan ice cream soften so that it is easy to work with. Stir in the tequila, margarita mix, and lime juice and blend everything very well. (You can do this in a food processor if you like.) Spoon into the frozen pretzel crust, cover with waxed paper, and freeze until firm.

Let the pie stand for a few minutes before serving so it’s easy to slice.

 

Vegan Mofo has been a blast, we have managed to blog every day for a month, that's 27 posts by me and 3 from Toby, but who's counting? It has forced us to be way more creative and try more recipes than we regularly do and has been a nice distraction when other things have been stressful. But I now look forward to having a few days off blogging, having slightly more time on my hands, checking out some of the other mofo blogs that I haven't already and making tired old favourites that we have previously blogged about.

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Pepper and Chive Crusted Cashew Cheese-Vegan Mofo Day 29

I like the look of the pepper crusted cashew cheese from vegetarian times but the whole idea of waiting 2 days to make something is crazy to me. So instead I opted for the Affairs of living version which in comparison only takes 4 hours waiting time.

Pepper-Crusted Cashew Cheese with Herbs 
yield: 2-3 cheese wheels, or roughly 1 1/2 cups cheese
If you don't tolerate pepper, feel free to garnish with minced herbs instead. It will still be delicious and beautiful!  See note at end of recipe.

1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp vitamin C crystals (or 2-3 tsp lemon juice)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black peppercorns
optional: 1 tsp chickpea miso 

water, as needed
2 Tbsp minced fresh herbs (I used chives) 

2 tsp coarsely ground fresh black peppercorns
fresh chive flowers 

Place cashews in 4 cups of water and let soak for 4 hours.  Drain and rinse well.  Place in a food processor fitted with the "S" blade or a high powered blender (like a Vitamix). Process until coarsely ground, then scrape sides and garlic powder, vitamin C crystals, salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and miso, and continue to process until smooth, adding water by the 1/2 teaspoon as necessary for it to come together.  Once smooth, add fresh herbs and additional salt/pepper to taste, and pulse a few times to incorporate.  
Use the cheese as is as a tasty spread, or to make lovely little wheels continue to the next step!
Line a 1/2 or 1/3 cup measuring cup with plastic wrap, smoothing the bottom as much as possible, and leaving at least 2 inches of plastic wrap around the edges.  If you use a 1/2 cup measure, you will end up with 2 wheels and some leftover cheese. If you use a 1/3 cup measure, you can get 4 slightly smaller wheels.  You could also form one big ball (or a bunch of smaller ones) and just roll it in peppercorns.  Whatever, the choice is up to you.  :)
Once lined, sprinkle in black pepper to fully coat bottom of cup, then pack cashew "cheese" firmly into the cup.  Lift gently on edges of plastic wrap and pull out wheel, wrap well, and refrigerate until ready to serve, or at least 1 hour. It will become firmer as it cools.  When ready to serve, gently peel off plastic wrap and place on a plate. If desired, garnish with chive flowers.
HERB GARNISH VARIATION: to make pepper-free, omit pepper from the recipe, and use 2-3 tsp of finely minced fresh herbs in the plastic lined measuring cups.  Your cheese wheel will have a lovely green top!
ROASTED GARLIC VARIATION: omit garlic powder and add 3-4 roasted garlic cloves while processing.  So tasty!

I used a combination of black pepper and plenty of chives to coat the wheels.  I would have loved to use chickpea miso, has anyone seen it in Australia? I increased the lemon juice and salt. I also pulled them out of the fridge before they had completely set because I am impatient!

And then mixed the rest of the cashew cheese with even more chives into a spread.

While it is not going to convince anyone that it is cheese, it is delicious in it's own creamy tangy way. I was impressed with how smooth it became too. It would make a great picnic snack.

What's your favourite nut cheese?

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Fudge Babies and Sandwiches- Vegan Mofo Day 28

I stumbled Chocolate Covered Katie's Fudge Babies and was intrigued, exactly how good could cocoa powder, dates and cashews combined taste?

Katie has various flavours on her blog, so I made a double batch of the hot chocolate fudge babies so I could experiment with a couple.

Hot Chocolate fudge babies

• 30 grams cashews
• 80 grams dates
• 5 grams (1T) dark cocoa powder ( i used regular cocoa powder)

1. Chop/blend all the ingredients, using a food processor, Magic Bullet, etc. 
2. Roll into cutey-pie little balls or make sandwiches.  (Use plastic wrap if you need to.)

First I just followed the standard recipe above and used bunny cookie cutters to cut out bunnies.

Then I added some peanut butter and made sandwiches. They did look cute but I felt like the date flavour kind of overpowered the other flavours.

So then I made two types of balls or 'babies' as she calls them.  First I added choc chips and simply rolled into balls. For the last batch I put the mixture with the choc chips back into the food processor and added as sprinkling of cinnamon and golden syrup. The last batch was by far my favourite. The cinnamon and golden syrup watered down the date flavour a little and the choc chips were cut down a little which meant that there was more chocolate bits. It just resulted in a such a nice combination. I think maple syrup would have been good too but we didn't have any. They are definitely a lot healthier than other desserts I normally make and they do remind me of lara bars. I think these would make a great traveling snack too.

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Vegan Vanilla Slice- Vegan Mofo Day 27

Vanilla Slice is a bit of an Australian classic, although according to Wikipedia it's a version of french dessert called Mille-feuille. It's one of those desserts that you would think would be difficult to veganise but as Cindy has shown it's possible. Toby insisted that he make it again for his colleagues and of course he set aside a small amount for us too. Yes you read correctly, Toby made dessert, not me!  It was just as delicious as Cindy's and his omni colleagues loved it too. He didn't have the same issue with the custard initially, because he sifted the cornflour and custard powder prior to heating it. I'm so glad that I have gotten to eat this 3 times while eating gluten. I wonder if a gluten free version is possible with g/f puff pastry and g/f custard powder.


Vegan Vanilla Slice -original recipe from IVU, a Melbourne woman actually posted it.

• 2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry
• 1 cup castor sugar
• 3/4 cup fine cornflour
• 1/2 cup custard powder
• 1 litre fortified soymilk
• 60g milk-free margarine
• 2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Bake pastry sheets at 200C for about six minutes or till lightly browned.
When cool, flatten sheets with hands and set aside. 2. Combine sugar, cornflour, custard powder in saucepan and gradually stir in milk, stir until smooth. 
3. Add margarine, stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens.(It will be very very thick, almost like paste)

4. Remove from heat and stir in essence.
5. Place one sheet of pastry in 23cm slab tin (we used a 20cm square tin which was the perfect size).

6. Pour custard over pastry sheet in slab tin.

Even out and place other pastry sheet on top.
Press down firmly.
Refrigerate until cool.



Icing

• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp milk-free margarine
• pulp from one passion fruit (We copied Cindy and used 3)
• 1 tsp water

Mix ingredients to a workable paste.

Spread onto slices with a knife dipped in hot water.
 

 

Return to fridge to set before cutting. Done!

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30 minute lamb roast

Preparation Time

5 minutes

Cooking Time

25 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 750g trim lamb mini topside roasts
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 bunch baby (Dutch) carrots, ends trimmed, washed
• 1 x 400g pkt Woolworths Fresh Baby Potatoes With Butter and Herbs
• 5 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 200g sugar snap peas
• 60ml (1/4 cup) Woolworths Select Thick Mint Sauce
• 375ml (1 1/2 cups) water
• 40g (1/4 cup) Woolworths Select Traditional-Flavoured Instant Gravy
• 80ml (1/3 cup) red wine

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°C. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a roasting pan over high heat. Add the lamb and cook for 1 minute each side or until browned.
2. Arrange carrots, potatoes (including butter from the packet) and rosemary around the lamb. Roast for 20 minutes for medium or until cooked to your liking.
3. Meanwhile, cook the sugar snap peas in a small saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes or until bright green and tender crisp. Drain and return to the pan. Add the mint sauce and stir until well combined. Whisk together the water and gravy in a jug.
4. Transfer the lamb and vegetables to a plate and cover with foil. Place the pan over high heat. Add the wine and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the gravy mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute until the gravy thickens.
5. Divide the roast vegetables and sugar snap peas among serving plates. Thickly slice the lamb across the grain. Divide lamb among the plates and drizzle over the gravy to serve.

Notes

• 
  

  Variations

• Roast chicken with fennel & potatoes: Omit the sugar snap peas and mint sauce. Replace the lamb with 4 single chicken breast fillets. Replace the carrots with 3 baby fennel bulbs, ends trimmed, thickly sliced. Replace the rosemary with 5 fresh tarragon sprigs. Replace the red wine with white wine. Replace the traditional-flavoured instant gravy with Woolworths Select Chicken-Flavoured Instant Gravy. Roast the chicken and vegetables in oven for 15 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with foil. Roast the vegetables for a further 10 minutes or until tender. Divide chicken and vegetables among serving plates. Serve.
• Roast pork with apple sauce: Omit the mint sauce. Replace the lamb with 4 pork chops. Roast the pork and vegetables in oven for 15 minutes. Transfer pork to a plate and cover with foil. Roast the vegetables for a further 15 minutes or until tender. Divide pork and vegetables among serving plates. Serve with bought apple sauce.
• Beef with asparagus & bearnaise sauce: Omit the carrots, mint sauce and gravy. Replace the sugar snap peas with 2 bunches asparagus, woody ends trimmed. Replace the lamb with 4 x 2cm-thick beef eye fillet steaks. Roast beef and potatoes for 10 minutes. Transfer beef to a plate and cover with foil. Roast the potatoes for a further 15 minutes or until tender. Divide beef and vegetables among serving plates. Serve with bought bearnaise sauce.

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Egg nog panna cotta

Preparation Time

15 minutes

Cooking Time

15 minutes

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1/4 cup (60ml) cold water
• 20g (2 sachets) powdered gelatine
• 2 1/2 cups (600ml) cream
• 1 1/4 cups (300ml) store-bought ready-made custard
• 1/3 cup (80ml) brandy
• 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice powder
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar mixture, sifted

• Peach and cherry compote

• 2 cups (500ml) water
• 1 cup (220g) sugar
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 yellow peaches, cut into wedges
• 2 white peaches, cut into wedges
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, extra
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen thawed cherries

Method

1. Place water in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatine over the water and set aside for 5 minutes or until gelatine has set and is spongy.
2. Place the cream, custard, brandy, mixed spice and icing sugar mixture in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved and mixture is well combined. Whisk if any lumps form.
3. Once the custard mixture is hot (but not boiling), slowly add the gelatine mixture. Stir for 2-3 minutes or until the gelatine has fully dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour into a greased rectangular (5-cup capacity) tin. Cover and refrigerate for 5 hours or until set.
4. To make syrup: Place the water, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and add the peaches. Simmer for 1-2 minutes then remove the peaches with a slotted spoon. Set aside to cool slightly, then peel away the skin (reserve skin).
5. Sprinkle peaches with extra lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
6. Meanwhile, return the syrup to the heat, add the peach skins and increase heat to high. Simmer for 4-5 minutes or until the syrup has reduced and thickened slightly. Cover and chill completely.
7. To serve, turn the chilled panna cotta on to a large serving platter. Top with the peaches and cherries and drizzle with a little syrup.

Notes

• 
  The panna cotta can be made up to 2 days ahead. The peaches and syrup can be made a few hours ahead (chill both in the refrigerator until ready to serve).
  

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Mankoushe - Vegan Mofo Day 26

Falafel is an amazing fast food.  It is delicious, cheap and relatively healthy. I like it simple: three or four falafel balls wrapped in pita bread with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and tahini.  I also prefer the the Egyptian fava beans falafel from Half Moon cafe to the Lebanese style ones.

Couple of months ago, I read about a new Lebanese bakery called Mankoushe on Mess+Noise . Before I had a chance to blog about it, Cindy and Michael had already given them raving reviews, not once but twice.

My friend's band YIS eat there every week before band practice.  Bassist Bronwyn (a fellow Egyptian falafel fan and ex-chef) gave their food two thumbs up and said "the zaatar bread was almost as good as my grandmother's".  You can also read frontman Simon's review on their blog.

We went on Saturday night with Lisa, she got the Za'atar extra - Za'atar with salad and mint on top. It's not as oily as the usual one, it's wholesome and the mint makes it refreshing.

We also ordered the stretched Za'atar.  It was similar to normal Za'atar but much crispier.

K and I shared the spinach triangle which is the best spinach triangle I have ever had. The dough is superior to places like A1 and Tabet's.

The falafel roll was fantastic and filling. Their falafel balls are chunkier than normal Lebanese falafel and almost as good as Half Moon's. The pita bread is made to order just like all their baked goods.  Their falafel rolls are massive and "normal" people, unlike me, can only eat half of them. 

 

Mankoushe is like the cool little cousin of Tabet's and A1.  We were served by the young Lebanese hipster in a stylish op-shop outfit and they played great music on the stereo. They were playing The Rolling Stone's Sympathy for the Devil and Bob Dylan's Ballad Of A Thin Man really loud when we were there. 

Mankoushe

Address: 325 Lygon Street, East Brunswick

Tel: 9078 9223

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Traditional pavlova

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 6 eggwhites
• 1 1/2 cups caster sugar pinch cream of tartar (see note)
• 300ml thickened cream
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar mixture
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 250g strawberries, hulled, sliced
• 2 kiwifruit, peeled, sliced
• 150g blueberries

Method

1. Preheat oven to 120°C/100°C fan-forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Mark a 23cm circle on the paper.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites until stiff peaks form. Add caster sugar. Beat for 10 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Add cream of tartar. Beat for 1 minute. Spoon mixture onto circle. Using a palette knife or spatula, shape into a circle with high sides. Make 'furrows' up the sides.
3. Bake for 1 hour or until firm. Turn off oven. Allow to cool in oven with door slightly ajar.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat cream, icing sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Place pavlova on a serving plate. Top with cream mixture and fruit. Serve.

Notes

• Cream of tartar increases the volume of eggwhites when beating and gives the pavlova a crispy crust.

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Cherry blondies

Ingredients

• 100g butter, chopped
• 180g white chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
• 1 cup (175g) pitted cherries (see note)
• Icing sugar mixture, to dust

  Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease an 18cm x 28cm (base) rectangular slice pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang on all sides. Melt butter and chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
  2. Add sugar, eggs and flours to pan. Stir to combine. Spread into prepared pan (mixture will be thick and may appear split). Press cherries into mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until edges are firm and top golden. Cool in pan. Dust with icing sugar. Serve.

  Notes

  • You could use a 415g can stoneless black cherries in syrup, drained, instead.

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Chocolate Candy Cane Ice Cream- Vegan Mofo Day 25

I got really excited the other day when I saw vegan candy canes at Coles. I love candy canes because they are edible decorations which I think is incredibly cool. I made candy cane cookies for a xmas potluck a few years ago and so was thinking I need to find something else to do with them.

I stood in the supermarket with my phone and searched for vegan candy cane ice cream recipes, vegan ice cream paradise blog popped up straight away.  If you haven't already checked out her incredible blog I strongly recommend it. She hasn't posted as regularly for a few years due to health reasons but has so many great looking vegan ice cream recipes which everyone can access for free. I've also made and enjoyed the blueberry 'cheesecake' ice cream from her blog before.

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk- I used soy milk)
1 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. sugar
1½ c. chocolate chips (i used good quality bitter dark chocolate chips)
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract (i forgot this)
2 t. peppermint extract (i only used 1 teaspoon)
1 c. chopped candy canes (I used about 12 candy canes which was a little under a cup)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, sugar, and chocolate chips together in a saucepan. Heat gently until the chocolate melts, then bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add the chopped candy canes in the last 5 minutes of freezing.

I wasn't sure what would happen to the texture of the candy canes when frozen, but they appeared to maintain their nice crunchy texture which is great because I prefer some crunchy bits in ice cream. I halved the amount of peppermint extract because last time I made peppermint choc chip ice cream, I thought 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract was enough but the chocolate flavour is incredibly rich and slightly bitter which overpowers the peppermint flavour in the ice cream base. I think it really works though because the candy canes have a strong peppermint flavour which provides a nice contrast of flavours and textures. This was super delicious so I will have to make it again closer to xmas time.

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Easy oven-baked frittata

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 medium (400g) sebago potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 70g pancetta, chopped
• 100g baby spinach
• 200g red grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 red capsicum, chopped
• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup thickened cream
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup grated tasty cheese

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly grease a 5cm-deep, 26cm x 16.5cm (base) ovenproof dish. Pierce each potato 4 times with a bamboo skewer. Place in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high (100%) for 4 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool. Thinly slice.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add pancetta. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until onion is tender and pancetta golden. Add spinach. Cook for 1 minute or until spinach is just wilted.
3. Combine onion mixture, tomatoes and capsicum in a bowl. Arrange half the potato, in a single layer, over prepared dish. Top with half the onion mixture. Repeat with remaining potato and onion mixture.
4. Whisk eggs and cream in a bowl. Gently pour egg mixture over vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan and tasty cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until egg mixture is set and top golden. Stand for 5 minutes. Serve.

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Chocolate angel cakes

Makes

3

Equipment

We used 250ml (one-cup capacity) bundt pans from Ikea.

Ingredients

• 125g plain flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• 7 eggwhites
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 185g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Softened butter, to grease
• 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
• 1/2 cup glace cherries
• Silver dragees (see note), to garnish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Sift flour and cocoa into a bowl. Place eggwhites in the bowl of an electric mixer with the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Add two tablespoons of caster sugar and continue beating until the eggwhites are quite stiff. Fold in remaining caster sugar, the vanilla extract, flour and cocoa powder.
2. Grease pans well with butter, then divide mixture between pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool slightly, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
3. Place icing sugar in a bowl and add some warm water, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a soft icing.
4. Drizzle tops of cakes with the icing, allowing it to drip down the sides. Quarter the cherries and use to decorate the cakes along with the dragees.

Notes

• These cakes should be eaten on the day they are made as they do not keep well.
• Silver dragees are available from supermarkets.

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Chinese Style 'Steak' Sauce with Tofu and Noodles- Vegan Mofo Day 24

Toby made another dish using his Chinese style 'steak' sauce that he veganised and posted about last time, this time though he used tofu instead of tempeh and didn't coat it with flour.

I think it tasted even better with tofu but then I am not really a great fan of tempeh.  Toby disagrees and preferred it with tempeh as it has a more meaty texture and flavour. So go ahead and make both and help us decide which one is better :-)

I'm not sure if it worth posting the recipe but since the last recipe was a bit messy I thought I would try to tidy it up.This dish is gluten free as long as the worcestershire and soy sauce is gluten free.

• 2 packet of firm tofu 
• 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce (ketchup for you Americans)
• 2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce (make sure it's vegan)
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of corn flour (mixed with 3 tablespoons of water)
• a few drops of sesame oil
• a few dashes of soy sauce
• salt and pepper
• oil

1. Cut tofu into thin slices.
2. Marinade tofu in soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil.
3. In the mean time fry onions and remove from the pan/wok just before they turn brown. Put aside.
4. Mix tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tablespoon sugar and rice wine vinegar together in a bowl.
5. Add cooked onions and sauce to the tofu and gently stir fry it on low/medium heat. 
6. Add in corn flour mixture and cook til the sauce thickens.
7. Serve with noodles and stirfried greens.

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Veg Out Time and Vegan Android Apps? Vegan Mofo Day 23

I'm not a huge fan of chapel st but I went there on the weekend to check out Chapel St Bazaar which is a huge vintage store which is mostly overpriced but has some decent stuff. While in the area we couldn't resist going to veg out time. It's cheapish and quick and always delivers decent Asian food. We always get the brown rice plus two dishes for $8.90 but I kind of regret not ordering the Pad Thai off the menu because it looks awesome.  Also they have g/f options.

I got the pumpkin curry and Penang tofu. The pumpkin curry was so creamy and went well with the roasted pumpkin which was just a tad spicy (too spicy for Toby but perfect for me). The Penang tofu was great, I always wonder how they get their tofu to soak up so much of the liquid, our dishes at home are never as good.

Toby got the tom yum tofu and the eggplant sweet potato Masada. The tom yum tofu was awesome (I stole a bit) but I didn't get to try the eggplant sweet potato Masada but I had ordered and loved last time and Toby said that it was nice and mild. 

 

I couldn't find other blog mentions of veg out time in google (including our own post), so please let me know if you have blogged about it and I'll add your link.

Veg Out Time-South Yarra
366 Chapel Street, South Yarra
(03) 9827 7570
Open Daily 11:30am-10pm

These are the first food photos I took with my new toy: HTC Desire HD

I'm not usually a phone person but love my new phone because it means I can have access to my personal email, facebook, twitter at work and use sporty pal to map my runs. Also, tonight I stood in the supermarket and googled what ice cream to make next (you'll see the result soon). I think I've been enjoying it so much because for once I did some research before buying a phone, I was initially going to get an iphone4 but figured out this is better!  Plus it has a massive 4.3 inch screen and a 8 megapixel camera which I think takes awesome photos for a phone.  These photos and the Johnston st fiesta ones were taken with my phone. Ok, enough going on about my phone. My point or rather my question to you is what vegan android apps have you used and do you recommend?

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DROITS D'USAGE

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Rich choc-caramel self-saucing pud

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 220g block Caramello chocolate
• 1 1/3 cups self-raising flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 125g butter, melted
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 3/4 cups boiling water
• Frozen raspberries, thawed, icing sugar
• Mixture and vanilla ice-cream, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a 3cm-deep, 19cm x 30cm (base) lamington pan. Place chocolate block in freezer for 20 minutes.
2. Sift flour and 2 tablespoons cocoa into a bowl. Add caster sugar, butter and milk. Whisk until smooth and combined. Spread mixture into prepared pan. Break chocolate into squares. Press into flour mixture. Using a spatula, smooth mixture over the top. Place on a baking tray.
3. Sprinkle brown sugar over mixture. Sift over remaining cocoa. Carefully pour boiling water, over the back of a large metal spoon, over mixture. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until top is just set. Stand for 5 minutes. Top with raspberries and icing sugar. Serve with ice-cream.

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Rum and raisin bread and butter pudding

Cooking Time

40 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• olive oil cooking spray
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 orange, rind finely grated
• 1 tablespoon rum
• 1 3/4 cups lite white milk
• 5 slices raisin bread, halved diagonally
• 1 tablespoon pure icing sugar
• 4 scoops low-fat ice-cream and 250g sliced strawberries, to serve

Method

1. Lightly spray a 5cm deep, 20cm (base), 5-cup capacity baking dish with oil.
2. Place sugar and eggs in a bowl. Beat with a fork until pale. Add vanilla, orange rind, rum and milk. Beat until well combined.
3. Arrange bread in dish, overlapping slices. Pour over egg mixture. Stand for 20 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 170°C. Place pudding on a baking tray. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until set. Dust with icing sugar and serve with ice-cream and strawberries.

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Rocky road pudding

Equipment

You will need an 8-cup capacity metal pudding steamer.

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 16 chocolate biscuits
• 1.25 litres vanilla ice-cream, softened
• 1 cup Foster Clark's vanilla custard
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
• 1/4 cup granulated nuts
• 1 cup frozen raspberries, roughly crushed
• chocolate Ice Magic, sprinkles and silver cachous, to decorate
• Foster Clark's vanilla custard, to serve

Method

1. Line an 8 cup-capacity metal pudding steamer with plastic wrap, allowing a 2cm overhang.
2. Break 10 biscuits into 2cm pieces. Combine ice-cream, biscuit pieces, custard, marshmallows, coconut, nuts and raspberries in a bowl. Spoon mixture into prepared steamer. Smooth top. Top with remaining biscuits. Freeze overnight or until firm.
3. Stand pudding at room temperature for 5 minutes to soften. Turn out onto a plate. Carefully peel away wrap. Drizzle with Ice Magic. Top with sprinkles and cachous. Serve with custard.

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Sticky orange & date puddings

Preparation Time

18 minutes

Cooking Time

28 minutes

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 180g pitted dates, chopped
• 3/4 cup (185ml) fresh orange juice
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 80g butter, softened
• 2/3 cup (140g) brown sugar
• 1 cup (150g) self-raising flour, sifted, plus 1 tbs extra of same flour
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp finely grated orange rind

• Caramel syrup

• 1 cup (220g) caster sugar
• 1/2 cup (125ml) fresh orange juice, strained

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease six 1 cup muffin pans. Place dates and orange juice in a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Add bicarbonate of soda and remove from the heat. Cool for 15 mins.
2. Meanwhile, beat butter and sugar until pale. Add tablespoon of flour and vanilla essence and beat.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in flour, date mixture and orange rind. Divide between muffin pans. Bake for 25 mins. Cool for 5 mins. Turn out and keep warm.
4. For syrup, heat sugar and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan until sugar dissolves. Simmer until a rich golden colour. Remove from the heat. Carefully add orange juice. Return to heat and stir quickly until smooth. Spoon syrup over warm puddings. Top with orange zest and double cream.

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Sticky date toffee puddings

Preparation Time

20 minutes

Cooking Time

55 minutes

Ingredients (serves 8)

• Melted butter, to grease
• 235g (1 1/2 cups) pitted dates, chopped
• 310ml (1 1/4 cups) boiling water
• 1 English breakfast tea bag
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 125g butter, at room temperature
• 155g (3/4 cup) brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
• 75g (1/2 cup) plain flour
• 1 x 100g pkt flaked almonds
• 110g (1/2 cup) white sugar
• 60ml (1/4 cup) water
• Vanilla custard, warmed, to serve
• Fresh raspberries, to serve
• Mint leaves, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Brush eight 185ml (3/4-cup) capacity dariole moulds with butter. Line the bases with non-stick baking paper.
2. Combine the dates, water and tea bag in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil. Add bicarbonate of soda and set aside for 10 minutes to cool. Remove the tea bag.
3. Beat the butter and brown sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, until just combined. Stir in combined flours, alternating with date mixture. Pour among moulds. Place on a baking tray and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool. Turn onto serving plates.
4. Meanwhile, line a baking tray with nonstick baking paper. Place almonds on tray. Place white sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat and stir for 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Cook, without stirring, brushing down side of pan with a brush dipped in water, for 5-7 minutes. Pour over almonds. Set aside to cool. Break into shards.
5. Top puddings with custard and toffee shards. Serve with raspberries and mint.

Notes

• If you haven't got dariole moulds, try using a 185ml (3/4-cup) capacity Texas muffin pan.

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Banana and date pudding with butterscotch sauce

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 100g whole hazelnuts
• 20g butter, softened
• 1 cup (150g) coarsely chopped dates
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 11/4 cups (310ml) boiling water
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 3/4 cup (155g) brown sugar
• 60g butter, softened, extra
• 1 1/4 cups (190g) self-raising flour
• Double cream or ice-cream, to serve

• Butterscotch sauce

• 1 cup (200g) brown sugar
• 300ml thickened cream
• 100g butter, chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Spread the hazelnuts over an oven tray. Roast in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Place hazelnuts in a clean tea towel and rub to remove the skins. Coarsely chop.
2. Line the base of a 20cm round (base measurement) springform pan with baking paper. Rub the butter over the base and side of the pan. Sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts.
3. Place dates and bicarbonate of soda in a heatproof bowl. Pour over the boiling water and set aside for 5 minutes to soak. Transfer to the bowl of a food processor. Add the banana, sugar, extra butter and flour and process until almost smooth. Pour into the prepared pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly.
5. Meanwhile, to make the butterscotch sauce, combine the sugar, cream and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until butter melts and mixture is well combined and heated through.
6. Pour half the sauce over the pudding. Cut into wedges, drizzle with remaining sauce. Serve immediately with cream or ice-cream, if desired.

Notes

• You will need 2 ripe bananas for this recipe.

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First Meal from Viva Vegan- Vegan Mofo Day 22

A mishap from book depository meant that my viva vegan book didn't arrive on time, so I cancelled the order got a refund and raced out to dymocks and got the last copy. I couldn't wait any longer after hearing how fabulous it was from so many bloggers including Cupcake Kitteh who has written six posts on it and Zbvegan who has two massive glowing reviews. The first recipe that we tried from Viva Vegan was the refried beans and the lime coconut rice. Like Cindy, we also used canned red beans which made this dish much simpler but I am going to remake it with dried black beans just to compare.  As for the lime coconut rice, we skipped the coconut but it was still delicious and served it with some quacamole (also from the book) and some cheddar cheezly. Toby and I both thought that the beans were superior than other refried bean recipes that we have made but I can't pinpoint exactly how. Overall we loved our first meal from Viva vegan recipes and look forward to trying many more.

Refried beans from Viva Vegan

2 tbsp corn, peanut or olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, diced small
1 to 2 jalepeno or serrano chilies, seeded and minced (we skipped this)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground chile powder such as ancho or a blend (we used regular chilli powder)
2 (15 ounce) cans pinto, black or pink beans, drained and rinsed, or 3 - 4 cups cooked beans
1 bay leaf
2 cups water
Salt and fresh pepper
1. In a large heave cast-iron skilled, combine the oil and garlic and cook over medium heat. Allow the garlic to sizzle for 30 seconds, then add the onion and jalapeno. Using a wooden spoon to stir occasionally, fry until the onions turn translucent, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in the cumin, oregano, and chile powder, and fry for another 30 seconds.
2. Stir in the beans, bay leaf, and water, and increase heat to medium-high. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium again and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, or until more than half the liquid has been absorbed, but about an inch of liquid remains.
3. Remove the bay leaf and discard. Use a potato masher to mash the beans smooth, then stir to form a thick, moist paste, anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes. If refried beans appear to dry out, add a little water a few tablespoons at a time, until your desired consistency is reached.

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Johnston St Fiesta & Casa Iberica- Vegan Mofo Day 21

We stopped by Case Iberica yesterday to get some more essential ingredients to make dishes from Viva Vegan. We got some hominy, Harina pan(masarepa) and Epazote.



The Johnston St Fiesta was on and they had a big dance class:


Toby got a can of Inca Kola, which he said that he didn't like.

And I got a cup of Horchata which I've always wondered about. It tasted like a watery rice milk with cinnamon flavour but has a slightly powdery feel. I liked it and it has inspired me to try making it. I also got a potato swirl, which was like one massive deep fried and salted potato cake swirled around a stick which was awesome. 

Johnston St Fiesta is on again today, so feel free to go check it out. There was much more food but we had just had lunch so didn't have much room.

Casa Iberica 
25 Johnston St
Fitzroy
9419 4420

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