Around the World in 80 Plates: Switzerland (cont)

As I said yesterday, Celine suggested not one but two yummy sounding Swiss specialities from The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions for me to try so here is the second! It is called Papet Vaudois and she told me it is the speciality of the canton she is from in Switzerland. I am so happy Celine introduced me to this dish since it is now one of my favourite things in the world. It makes me want to sing that song from The Sound of Music but I digress but know that I will be singing it the rest of the day at least. Needless to say, this is absolutely being added to my regular recipe rotation and it is quick and easy enough to make on a busy weeknight which is always a bonus.

The dish consists of potatoes and leeks that are cooked in broth and white wine (though this one I think you could sub it out with more broth) until the leeks are deliciously creamy and there is just a hint of liquid smoke in there that adds a certain yumminess that you will keep you coming back for more! I served it up with Tofurky Beer Brats that I grilled on a cast iron grill pan which hadn't tried before and they worked perfectly together.

P.S. If you are reading this post and live somewhere in Europe that I haven't posted about yet and have recipes to share, please email me or contact me through Twitter (@kellycvegan)!! I am eagerly seeking new recipes to try!

Around the World in 80 Plates: Switzerland

For Switzerland, I decided I needed to consult an expert. I immediately emailed the talented (and Swiss) Celine Steen and asked for her advice on what I should make. She kindly pointed me in the direction of two recipes in The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions. Both required white wine so I quickly checked with Barnivore for a few white wine suggestions and made a trip to the liquor store. I really don't drink any more, not for any particular reason, just don't love the taste of it so I was a little worried that the flavour of it in the food would turn me off but spoiler alert...totally didn't! I loved both that I tried!

I tried the Fondue first which required two cups of wine so I knew there was no subbing it out. I have always wanted to try fondue but just never did so I was really excited to see what it would taste like. I did make one little mistake while making it...I'm even embarrassed to admit it but when I was making it, in place of the potato starch I accidentally added 1/4 cup of powdered sugar! I was whisking away trying to thicken it up and no matter how much I cooked it, nothing was happening. It dawned on me that maybe I did something wrong and quickly went to check out the potato starch I used. Turns out I had both potato starch and powdered sugar in the same type of unlabeled container...lesson learned! I quickly added the potato starch to get it to thicken and tasted it to see if the sugar had totally ruined it. It was a bit sweet but nothing terrible to my surprise, just showing how great this recipe is. I added a bit more nutritional yeast and miso to try to amp up the savoury cheesy flavours and decided to go ahead and serve it any way. Truth is, I didn't have enough of everything needed to remake it or the time and it really didn't taste like I had added all that sugar. Now I'm not recommending that you add it or anything just thought I would share the funny story, I know Celine and I had a good laugh about it when I told her! As for what to dip, I had no idea. The recipe says to dip cubed bread and veggies so I tore up a few slices of crusty bread and quickly blanched some broccoli and cauliflower florets. I also roasted a package of white button mushrooms in the oven while I was making the fondue. Everything was tasty in it but the mushrooms were definitely my favourite to dip in the fondue. I also wondered how to serve it since I don't have a fondue set. I decided the next best thing was the tiny slow cooker that came with the big one we own that's for keeping soup warm at your desk and what not. It worked perfect since it was able to keep it warm and let us all dip around the dinner table. I will definitely try this one again since we really enjoyed it even though I messed it up a bit!