Around the World in 80 Plates: Italy (cont)

I will honest, these next ones I made back in September for Food Network Cookalong but never got around to posting it. First up is Giada de Laurentiis' take on Fritto Misto and I really wanted to share it with everyone  because it was so very delicious and is the recipe that showed me how amazing fennel bulbs could taste.

The recipe is basically vegan just having to replace the mayo with Vegenaise for the dipping sauce. She suggests a few veggies to try but I couldn't get my hands on good fresh green beans so I substituted mushrooms. The fennel was super scrumptious especially the browned caramelized bits. You have to make sure you slice them thinly so they get that way though. My only issue was keeping it all warm and crisp as I was frying it in my small pan on the stove top. This probably would have been a good one to break out the deep fryer. Everyone in the house tried this one out and found something they liked...Mac went for the cauliflower and my mom liked the chickpeas, Ryan and I loved it all!

To balance out the fried goodness I served the Fritto Misto with another Giada recipe, Caramelized Pancetta and Fennel Salad. Again, not terribly hard to veganize...it was just that pancetta that needed to move on out. I decided to make some Smoky Curls from Vegan Diner and tossed them in at the end in their place and as always, they were perfection! The caramelized fennel was sweet and garlicky, a very interesting combination that worked perfectly with the red wine vinaigrette. This one only the grown ups tried but there was a symphony of mmms around the table as we (gracefully) scarfed it down!

Food Network Monthly Cookalong: Chick'n Parmesan

One dish, that was Ryan's very favourite I think, that I have yet to make vegan is Chicken Parmesan. I just hadn't bothered for some reason. I think it was because of the mozzarella blanket on top that was synonymous with the version I was used to that kept me away. It must be because as soon as I made Miyoko Schinner's Meltable Mozzarella from her new book, Artisan Vegan Cheese, it was the first thing I thought to make. I saw Giada's recipe and that's what brought it to my mind but I went a little different than her version, closer to the version I would have made pre-vegan. A breaded chick'n cutlet (No Cluck Cutlets from Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day which was frozen so I just half defrosted it so it wouldn't overcook while being pan fried) covered in marinara sauce with mozzarella on top. I'm not including a recipe but for the cutlet, it is almost exactly what I have done before for the eggplant parmesan sandwich using panko bread crumbs for the superior crunch factor and Vegg to adhere the breading. I pan fried the breaded cutlets in olive oil and then transfered them to a sheet pan, poured a bit of sauce on top of each, a few slices of the aforementioned Meltable Mozzarella and broiled it to just melt the cheese. I didn't want to cover them with too much sauce to undo all that hard work to get the outside crispy of course and added a little chiffonade of basil on top since we have a bunch on hand and it just brightens the whole dish up. It was served up with a bit of whole wheat spaghetti with more of the marinara sauce (store bought to make this a quick weeknight supper) and some peas. It was so perfect, so close to what I remember and hit that spot perfectly. Ryan was in heaven and had a hard time walking away from the extra piece I had made for his lunch the next day (they make a great sandwich too by the way). It was crisp of the outside with the perfect panko crunch, moist and juicy on the inside thanks to Tami and Celine's perfect cutlet recipe, the mozzarella melted and gave a nice creamy addition to each bite as well. It is my new speciality that I know Ryan will be asking for again and again and I will happily oblige.

P.S. If you haven't picked up a copy of Artisan Vegan Cheese, I strongly urge you to do so! It is an amazing cookbook that I have definitely become a bit obsessed with. I rarely get a book and immediately start making things out of it. I will say this one came and I was ready. I had already ordered and received my carrageenan and made a batch of rejuvelac. I got to work quickly and made the soft gruyere. It came together so quick and easy and made an amazing addition to my baked potato. I made a batch of the Cashew Yogurt and fell in love. I made a double batch (it works perfectly by the way) within a week. I have tried so many different homemade vegan yogurt recipes and none have worked, this one is amazing! My picky mom is in love with it and she has refused to eat any vegan yogurts because they just don't taste right. This one is just the right amount of tart and super creamy. I even used my dehydrator to culture it and it worked like a charm. Another use for this once uni-tasker! The sour cream in the book is also super easy to make and super creamy and tangy. We had some tacos just last night because the sour cream was just right and demanded to be used. I won't be buying sour cream any more since this one is so quick and just three ingredients! It has become one of my favourite cookbooks and has more than just recipes for cheeses. There are loads of intriguing recipes in the book to use those perfectly crafted artisan cheeses. This one is definitely highly recommended from this (vegan) cheese lover!

Food Network Monthly Cookalong: Eggplant Rollatini

I am slow to post but I made this dish right at the beginning of the month. I got some amazing eggplants at the Brewer Park Farmer's Market and knew that I wanted to make this dish with it. It was easy to veganize and came together fairly quick.

Giada's version is stuffed with ricotta that is mixed with eggs and Parmesan so I decided to make tofu ricotta which is thick enough to use as it was without adding anything else. I used lots of fresh basil in it too which added lots of flavour and pretty colour to the ricotta. For the eggplant I did as Giada suggested and salted and rinsed them to remove any bitterness and then sprayed with spray oil. I took mine to the grill instead of the grill pan since the weather was nice. This way I didn't heat up the kitchen too much either. The eggplant slices grilled nicely and super fast and then all that was left was to stuff and roll. I thought it would be tricky and the eggplant would fall apart but it totally didn't. It went together perfectly and they all nested in the pan awaiting their tomato sauce blanket. I went with the quickest solution for this and used a jarred sauce. It is a passata type sauce that is super simple, just tomatoes, basil and salt. It worked nicely in this and saved me having to make sauce which was nice since I was making this for a quick lunch. I sprinkled the top with nutritional yeast and baked it for a bit longer than Giada since my sauce was room temp not warm. Then I served it up with toasted ciabatta and lots of broccoli. Everyone really enjoyed it (even my eggplant phobic mother) so I would definitely make it again!

I don't really use a recipe for the tofu ricotta, it's become sort of an amalgamation of a few different recipes I've tried. I usually take a whole pound block of tofu and tear it into smaller pieces and put it in the food processor then add 3/4 cup of cashews or pine nuts (depends on the day). I blitz this up then add nutritional yeast, yellow miso, a few cloves of garlic, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper then stream in some unsweetened soy (or almond) milk until it reaches the consistency I want/looks ricotta-ish. I never add the same amount of anything or measure, it's more of a taste and see what it needs kind of thing.

Food Network Monthly Cookalong Theme - September

It's heading into fall now and I'm feeling like something a little hearty and rustic and the first food that comes to mind is Italian comfort food. This month's theme will be Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis! There are over 600 recipes on foodtv.com from this show so I'm sure anyone can find something they love! Of course, you could always just make your favourite Italian inspired dish and blog about it. Giada's style is to infuse the Italian food of her family's lineage with the Californian cuisine she grew up around. Maybe you can take your family's heritage and fuse it with Italian and see what you can come up with. Get your pasta water boiling and show us what you made! As usual, at the end of the month, send me an email with a link (or links) to your blog posts and I will include them in the monthly roundup!

Links for inspiration

http://www.foodnetwork.com/giada-de-laurentiis/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/giada-at-home/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/everyday-italian/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/delegate.do?Nr=Record%20Type:Result&N=501+4294959884&fnSearchString=everyday%20italian