Around the World in 80 Plates: France

Like the reality cooking show, I will be spending a bit more time in France than some places. It is one of those countries that is synonymous with great food. I decided to start with crêpes since I knew my little man would love them too. I had tried the Ginger Pear Crêpes from Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day! back during testing and fell in love so I knew just where to go when I needed a recipe for the crêpes. I decided to change up the fillings since the ones in the book are more dessert like so I filled them with a combination of homemade strawberry jam and homemade peach jam (both from Canning for a New Generation) and drizzled it with some of Miyoko's yogurt from Artisan Vegan Cheese. I slightly sweetened the yogurt with some powdered sugar since it is not sweetened at all when you make it. Mac prefered his with just jam but I really loved the extra creaminess and tang that the yogurt was bringing to the party. A little sprinkle of powdered sugar on top for that fancy touch and hey the kid (and me, alright!) likes a little sugar on top!

Around the World in 80 Plates: Spain (cont)

I have made this delicious Paella about twelve times since I tested it a few months back for Tamasin Noyes' upcoming book, Grills Gone Vegan. The book comes out in early January but it is up for preorder now so why not show her some love and order yourself a copy early and treat yourself for Christmas! 

From what I have read about paella it is from Valencia, a specific region of Spain. This paella is less than traditional, both in cooking method, pan and ingredients. Tami had cooking instructions for both the grill and in the oven but both were cooked in a cast iron pan. I have mostly made it in the oven just for ease and it comes together incredibly quick, quick enough for a weeknight supper. Tami's version is topped with grilled tofu, lemon slices (definite must, it adds so much) and grilled pepper rings. Underneath all that grilled goodness is the most flavourful rice that is studded with Field Roast apple sage sausages. It is a definite showstopper too! I guarantee with one taste you will be in love and savouring what I think should be the new tradition. 

Around the World in 80 Plates: Spain

Next up is Spain! I have never been to Spain and I don't know much about the food except everyone always talks about tapas. I decided to use my trusty copy of 30 Minute Vegan Taste of Europe for some inspiration. I landed on Babe's Bocadillos. It is an iconic sandwich made on a baguette that may contain different types of fillings, according to Wikipedia, and for this vegan version, it is filled with tofu ham. There is a recipe included in the book but I had already prepared the night before a batch of Baked Pressed Tofu from Terry Hope Romero's soon to be released cookbook, Vegan Eats World, so I went ahead and used that. I wanted to have lots of paper thin slices of tofu ham and thought about how to make that happen. I landed on using my potato peeler and it worked like a charm. It made the texture much more close to sliced ham. The recipe said to load it up with sliced tomatoes, red onions, vegan cheese and a mix of mayo and mustard. I used the Air Dried Cheddar from Miyoko Schinner's Artisan Vegan Cheese and it really stood out in the sandwich as a rich cheddar with the tofu ham. I also used this tasty mustard that I picked up at Farm Boy recently called Saucy Mama (how could I resist!) Smoky Garlic Mustard. It is soooo tasty and I think it worked really well with the tofu ham.

This sandwich is seriously delicious! I made it on a half baguette and thought I would just eat half but I shamefully admit I ate the whole thing. It was one of those, I'm full but it tastes good kind of moments but after I was done, I wasn't sorry. It is full of flavour and crunch. Ryan was jealous as I was describing it over the phone at lunch time so I guess I will have to make it again soon and maybe I'll share it with him...maybe!

Around the World in 80 Plates: England (cont)

My Nan was my favourite person when I was growing up. She was funny and loving and she loved to be in the kitchen baking buns and making jam and I loved being by her side to be her taste tester! I like to think I take after her like that and every time I'm in the kitchen I think about her and what she would think of me making things from scratch.

Another memory that always stands out is how she would say she wasn't hungry and would just like a few berries with cream instead of supper. It always amused me that she wanted to forgo the heavier meal but always had room for something sweet.

Today I present something that I know my Nan would have passed on supper for...Trifle! It is a dish I used to make before but previously I had used a store bought angel food cake and tinned custard. I wasn't really sure I could replicate the cake...until I found the perfect recipe for Vegan Sponge Cake in Bryanna Clark Grogan's World Vegan Feast. Bryanna has included a recipe for a delicious sounding trifle but I only used the cake recipe for this particular one. I had already imagined based on my Nan's love of berries and cream what I wanted to layer with the light and airy cake. Fresh Ontario strawberries sprinkled with just a touch of sugar, a healthy dose of Healthy Top, a jar of homemade strawberry jam from early in the berry season (I used the recipe from Canning for a New Generation), a little bit of Lavender Lemon Curd (recipe from Joni's new book Vegan Food Gifts) and a bit of custard I made using a mix which was less than perfect so I used it sparingly). I skipped the traditional bit of sherry since Kiddo would be eating it and we don't really have any alcohol in the house but you could totally add it for a more traditional flavour. I baked the cake in small tube pans and tore it into bite sized pieces to make it easier to serve and to make sure you got a bite of everything in each spoonful. The cake is absolutely perfect and tastes delicious. It was quick and simple to make, Bryanna is truly a genius but I'm sure we all know that by now!

Mac seriously loved this dessert and has been talking about it since and how we should make that again...really soon he always adds. You can see below he couldn't contain himself and got right in there with his little fingers as I was taking my picture of all those beautiful layers. After finishing off his first taste of it, he quietly reached over and pulled the trifle bowl closer to him and grinned at me and without saying a word I knew he wanted seconds, just like Nan would have.

It might look a little messy but it tastes like heaven!

Around the World in 80 Plates: England

This next one was a request of my husband's. I mentioned England and his eyes lit up as he offered "bangers and mash?" The boy loves his mashed potatoes and any chance to eat them he's in. I had a pack of Field Roast Apple Sage Sausages in the freezer so I quickly defrosted them and got to peeling. Not much of a recipe to share here but it was definitely a taster supper. The mashed potatoes were jazzed up a bit by the addition of some homemade sour cream, using Miyoko Schinner's recipe from Artisan Vegan Cheese (amazing!), and a bit of prepared horseradish. Maybe not traditional but oh so good! I added some steamed broccoli and carrots from the farmer's market for some colour and hey, we like veggies!

Around the World in 80 Plates: Ireland (cont)

I'm a Newfie with Irish roots so I had to spend a little more time on the food of the Emerald Isle since it's my comfort area for sure. When I think Irish, I think Irish Stew so that was the next dish we tried. This time with a side of Boxty which is a potato dish I had not yet been introduced to. And here I thought I had tried them all the ways possible! Boxty was something I found when googling Irish cuisine and knew that my boys would love since they are both potato monsters. It combines mashed potatoes with raw grated potato, some milk and flour and you make a little potato pancake that you fry up in the pan. I read a bunch of recipes and then sort of stuck them all together and took what I liked and made my own recipe up. Goodness knows if they taste like the real thing but they did taste great...especially with the stew poured right on top!

Irish Stew

Serves 6-8

Broth

1-2 tbsp olive oil

4 medium carrots, cut into a small dice

1 leek, halved and sliced thinly into half moons

2 small yellow cooking onions, diced

3 medium stalks celery, diced

1 8oz package of button mushrooms, diced

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

4 cups of water

3 McCormick All Vegetable Beef Bouillon cubes

Stew

4 cups of water (this is additional to the first 4)

1/3 of a medium sized rutabega, diced

1 medium onion, diced

3-4 medium carrots, sliced into coins

3 large yukon gold potatoes, diced

1 1/2 tsp Marmite (sticky stuff, spray your tsp with oil first)

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp rubbed sage

1/4 tsp dried marjoram

1 bay leaf

1/8 tsp ground rosemary

Kitchen Bouquet, optional just to darken the stew

salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add the carrots, leek, onions, celery and mushrooms and saute in the pot until they are softened and start to caramelize. Once you start to see the vegetables start to brown, add the smashed cloves of garlic and continue to cook for two minutes, stirring occasionally. Next add the water and the "beefy" bouillon cubes (crumble them between your fingers as you add them) and let the pot come up to the boil stirring to help the bouillon cubes dissolve into the water. Once it reaches the boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for 30 minutes to let the vegetables soften and flavours meld.

2. After 30 minutes, in batches, blend the broth until it is completely mixed and mostly smooth. Make sure you are careful when you are blending hot liquids as it can be tricky. I use my Vitamix and leave the plastic cap off and cover it with a pot holder. Once you have blended it well, pour it all back into the large stock pot and then add in the diced rutabega, onion, carrots, potatoes and all the seasonings as well. Stir to combine then bring up to a boil. Once it is boiling, reduce the heat and let simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, about 45 minutes depending on how much of a simmer you have going. 

3. You can serve it immediately after you have the vegetables cooked through or keep warm and serve later. Don't forget to remove the bay leaf before serving. This definitely tastes amazing the next day too as the flavours meld together and improve.

Boxty

Makes 16 potato pancakes

1 cup soymilk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

600 g mashed potatoes, mine were leftover and cold when I put them in

400 g finely grated yukon gold potato

300 g unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

salt and pepper

Vegan butter or margarine for pan frying (you could use oil if you like but the butter adds a nice flavour)

1. Combine the soymilk and apple cider vinegar and let stand for five minutes to get all curdle-y and buttermilk like. 

2. While it stands, combine the mashed and grated potato in a large mixing bowl so they are as uniformly combined as possible. I'm not gonna lie, I used my hands and got in there. Sprinkle the flour, baking soda and some salt and pepper on top and stir to combine. Now add the soy buttermilk you made in step 1 and mix until it is well combined and looks like a really thick pancake batter. 

3. Heat a cast iron frying pan (or whatever you have that works for you) over med-high heat and add a few pats of vegan butter/margarine (whatever floats your boat). Scoop out 1/4 cup of the boxty mixture using a measuring cup and with damp hands scoop it out onto your hands and flatten slightly so it resembles an actual pancake. I experimented with a few methods while cooking and this worked the best for me. Place it in the hot pan and if necessary, flatten a bit more with a spatula or spoon so they are same thickness all over and will cook evenly. Flip after the bottom side appears set and browned from the top, about two minutes, then allow the other side to brown as well, about another two minutes. If it wasn't browned enough after two minutes let the other side cook first and then reflip and let cook some more. The crispy outside really makes them.

4. Serve as soon as they come out of the pan for best texture but you can keep them warm in a low oven as well. Serve with the Irish Stew...even better pour some on top!

Around the World in 80 Plates: Ireland

My in-laws just got back recently from a bus tour of Ireland. They had an amazing time and took about a million pictures of all the green. I asked them what they ate while they were there since I'm all about the food and they said a lot of the time they had a cream of (fill in the blank vegetable) soup with Irish Soda Bread and LOTS of potatoes as one would entirely expect. So when I was thinking of what to make for my first stop in Ireland I decided on a nice warm and hearty Cream of Cauliflower Soup with a side of Irish Soda Bread and roasted potatoes.

It has been getting colder here, definitely soup weather so this was a welcome addition to the supper table. We all really enjoyed it and Mac even tried it. This was only his second soup experience since he always said it was too tricky to eat. I think the potatoes and the soda bread convinced him to give it a try. I also threw some quickly steamed green beans on the plate since I thought it needed something green like the Emerald Isle...not really I just like green vegetables but it sounds better like I put some great thought into that doesn't it?!

The soup was my own creation, the potatoes I just simply roasted in the oven with a little olive oil, a few garlic cloves and salt and pepper. The Irish Soda Bread is from The 30 Minute Vegan Taste of Europe by Mark Reinfeld, that I recently picked up not even knowing how handy it would come in so soon. The soda bread was super quick to get together and bakes quickly too. It was delicious and we all enjoyed it with a bit of vegan margarine slathered on it and dunked in the soup. It also toasted nicely the next day to enjoy with the leftover soup for lunch. It will all definitely get made again.

A few notes for the recipe...you will notice there isn't actually any cream in the soup but it didn't need it at all with the smooth velvety texture I got from the cauliflower. Also you don't have to be too careful with how you chop the vegetables since you are going to puree the soup later, you just want them to cook in roughly the same amount of time.

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

Serves 6-8

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large leek, halved then sliced thinly into little half moons

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into a small dice

2 medium stalks of celery, cut into a small dice

1/2 of a giant head of cauliflower (very scientific I know), cut into small florets

8 cups of water

6 tbsp + 2 tsp vegetable broth powder (or replace the water and broth powder with vegetable broth)

pinch of dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over med-high heat then add the leek, carrots and celery and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stirring occasionally, saute the vegetables until they are softened and just starting to caramelize.  Add the cauliflower and stir it to fully mix it with the other vegetables. Again cook for a few minutes and let it start to soften.

2. Add the water and broth powder and pinch of thyme and bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce the heat to low and cover. You want it to simmer so adjust the heat if you have to. Simmer until the cauliflower is tender and cooked through. Once it has cooked, using an immersion blender, blend the soup until it is creamy and no longer has small chunks of vegetables. You could also use a blender here if you don't have an immersion blender, just be careful blending hot liquids.

3. Once it has been blended, taste it and add more salt and pepper to your preference. It can either be served right away or you can let it sit over low heat until you are ready to serve it.

Just for reference...this was the giant head of cauliflower that inspired this soup

Vegan Mofo Theme for this year

I'm so excited to be participating in Vegan Mofo again this year. Last year was my first taste and I did a whole month of firsts. This year I decided to use the Food Network Cookalong as my inspiration. I chose to use Around The World in 80 Plates as my muse which aired in Canada on our Food Network since we are being deprived of Bravo. I loved watching the show and also watching what Hannah Kaminsky would make while she was cooking along with the show as it aired. Her talent wasn't unnoticed either since she totally won the blogger competition and now gets to take a trip to somewhere fun in the world!

My approach to this month is going to be to cook some tasty International cuisine using the vegan cookbooks I already own for recipes as well as making up some of my own along the way. I have been prepping a bit ahead to make sure I can keep up with it and it has already brought me some new favourites that I can't believe I haven't tried before. I hope you will enjoy reading all about my one month food tour of as much of the world as I can fit into it and all the amazing veganized versions of the traditional dishes of each country I feature. If the recipe is my own I will include it but if it is a published recipe I will just include the title and author so you can go out and buy a copy and support some amazingly fantastic vegan authors! And as always, if you would like to submit a blog entry that you do that would work with this show as it's theme, send me an email and I will include you in my end of the month round up.

My First All Edible Candy Land

Over the past month I think I have played Candy Land with Mac about a zillion times. Boy loves his Candy Land. Then awhile back he said "we should make a Candy Land that you can eat" and I said "sure buddy" and then I started thinking...could I actually make an edible Candy Land? I decided I would go for it and try to make it as close as I could to the board game version we have. So over the past three days I have been baking and icing and I'm pretty sure I'm literally candied now. It's hard not to lick your fingers and take a little taste here and there, right?! For the final day of Vegan MoFo, my biggest challenge yet and here's the final product...

Here's a few close up shots...don't want you to miss all that detail I went to so much trouble to put in there. And you will notice, I paid attention during Top Chef Just Desserts and I didn't forget the back so it's a full panorama experience!

At the end of all of that...I made 12 batches of vanilla cake using the cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I used almost 4 kg of icing sugar, 1 bag of Dandies, 3 packages of Earth Balance Shortening, 3 packages of Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, 21 ice cream cones, 3 bags of jelly beans, 1 bag of Enjoy Life Brand Chocolate Chunks, almost all of my natural food colouring, 1/2 a tube of marzipan, 1 recipe of gingerbread and about all of my patience and creativity! I'm drained but it is so worth it seeing it all finished and seeing how happy Mac is to see it "in real life" as he said. My personal favourites are Chocolate Mountain, which is made of Dandies treats, covered in Chocolate Chunks then I poured melted chocolate over top of those to get some real texture to it to make it look all craggy like the one in the game and I love the Ice Palace (mostly because I had no idea what I was going to do to make it just this morning and some how I pulled it out by custom made gingerbread and icing). Now I'm off to enjoy what's left of Halloween with my family and hopefully we will get a few trick or treaters!

Thanks to everyone who has read my posts over MoFo, I'm so happy somebody is reading this! I hope you stick around, I have lots more to share and now that I have finished this big project, it's back to recipe testing and more!!

My First Molecular Gastronomy Kit

I know it's not every one's thing but Molecular Gastronomy is so interesting to me. I always used to ask for science kits and an Easy Bake oven for Christmas as a kid so it all makes sense right? I found this kit from Molecule-R in Montreal online and I immediately added it to my Christmas wish list. But I have it now you say...yeah, I'm crazy impatient and ended up talking my husband into getting it now instead of waiting til Christmas. The kit is so cool, even the packaging had me all geeked out. It comes with Agar-agar, Calcium Lactate (when I ordered I asked if it was non-dairy and they said yes but please check again for yourself before ordering since these things can change), Sodium Alginate, Soy Lecithin, Xantham Gum, a tool kit and an instructional DVD. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet but I did watch the DVD and look through the recipes they included. Good news to vegans, a lot of the recipes are already vegan or easily made so (eg. agave for honey or non-dairy milk for milk) though some are definitely not. I can't wait to get a moment to try this whole thing out. I really want to try making fruit noodles and there is a recipe on the DVD for a molecular egg and it's actually vegan...though it's made as a dessert with coconut milk. I think I might work on a savoury version too though since I have been seeing pictures of a vegan egg sandwich from Homegrown Smoker in Portland. I'll keep you posted! 

Sorry for the cover picture...the salmon is the only thing on there
that I think is not-vegan and it's right on the front. I apologize if anyone
is freaked out by that.

Contents of the tool kit you get with the kit

My First Picture Post

Totally copping out on this post but I'm up to ears in cake and dinner so hopefully you will forgive me! Here's some pictures from this week in our kitchen. Most are test recipes for Terry Hope Romero's newest book project! (And if anyone can give me some pointers on placing pictures in Blogger...please help me!!!)

Tomatoes Stuffed with Creamy Rice
 - Test Recipe for Terry Hope Romero

Fennel Salad with Oranges and Olives
 - Test Recipe for Terry Hope Romero

Crispy Eggplant and Zucchini with Garlicky Potato Dip
 - Test for Terry Hope Romero

Gyro Roasted Seitan
- Test for Terry Hope Romero

Lemon Garlic Roast Potatoes
- Test for Terry Hope Romero

Crazy popcorn I bought at Rainbow Foods last week
because I just had to know what it would look like popped

Looked the same once it was popped though

Greek Village Salad - Test for Terry Hope Romero

Scramble Tofu Breakfast Bahn Mi
- Test for Terry Hope Romero

My First Frito Pie

So over Vegan MoFo, I have been introduced to so many new blogs and new kinds of foods. I took a special interest in Lazy Vegan Smurf's blog post about Frito Pie. I had no idea this existed but once I did I had to try it! Today when I was doing the weekly restock, I spotted a bag of Fritos so it was fate that today be the day I tried out this dish. I decided to have it for lunch but only because I had a frozen bag of chili up in the freezer so I knew I could get it together pretty quickly. I mixed up a batch of cheesy sauce from Hearty Vegan (the one used in the Irish Nachos, it's my favourite), warmed up my chili, chopped up a bit of onion and pickled jalapeno and bust open that bag of Fritos like it was Christmas. Check out this plate of delicious!

I'm not really sure what one serving of this is supposed to look like but this was mine...all mine!!! I had a little Tofutti sour cream on the side because those jalapenos are hot (but I like it!). It is seriously one of the best junk food things I've ever eaten! I thought it would be just like Chili Cheese Nachos but the Fritos really make it special. It's crunchy and spicy and cheesy and sooo good, trust me you need this in your life! Next time I will definitely try the recipe for Texas Chili from the Sunny Days in Texas Zine because it looks super yummy and I hear is award winning! (by the way you should totally go buy a zine, I did and it is full of great recipes and adorable animal pictures if you get the colour version and all the money goes to Sunny Days Farms Animal Sanctuary!)

I ate up/inhaled the whole plate and then thought about my husband who was going to be very jealous that I had this for lunch without him...uh oh! I then realized I had enough left over chili and cheese sauce to make him up a plate later. But then something amazing came into my mind...Frito Pie Burgers! So, tonight I made some Gardein burgers (super yum!) and topped Ryan's off with a handful of Fritos, a big scoop of chili, smothered that in yummy cheesy sauce and sprinkled the top with chopped onions. Ryan took one bite, then another, then another...I'm like "soooo....?" and he says "Sorry I was too distracted with all this...eating...nom...." and he went back to eating. It's a hit! I did manage to scam a bite and it is really awesome as a burger too. It has a nice crunch from the chips and all that cheesy sauce oozing out the sides was just right. I know he will be requesting this one again and there will be no arguments from me!