Fish Fingers

I'm a big fan of the television show "Doctor Who".  The new season started tonight and so I knew that dinner had to be special for the kids.  When this version of the Doctor started off last season he ate Fish Fingers (sticks) and custard.  I'm not quite that crazy but I wanted the Fish Fingers.  I knew that I needed a starch as well, so why not bake some "Daleks" (one of the arch-enemies of the Doctor) and the peas, well those are "Slitheen eggs".

I found a recipe on good baker.com and then modified it

You will need the following:
3/4 cup of plain soymilk
1 block of firm tofu, drained but not pressed
1/4 cup hemp seeds, ground (I used a mortar and pestle)
1/2 cup panko
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/8 cup dulce flakes (seaweed - if you don't have dulce, grind up some nori)
1 tbsp corn starch

Heat the oven to 400

Mix the corn starch into the soy milk in a bowl.
Place the tofu largest side down, then cut 1/2" slices in the "short" direction.  Once those are all cut, put them on their large side and cut them in half. 

Soak the tofu in the soymilk/corn starch mixture.

Mix all of the other ingredients in a pie plate.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper

Dredge each piece of tofu in the mixture and place on the parchment.  Once they are all dredged, bake for a total of 20 minutes, flip them over around 10 minutes.

If you want some tartar sauce as well, mix in the following ratio: 1 Tbsp relish to 2 Tbsp vegannaise with  1/2 tsp onion powder.

Potato Latkes

So I'm not quite sure what happened, but I thought hmmmm maybe I should make some latkes.  So I did a search, found a recipe, and then did what I always do, which is to take it and then modify it in my own way.

So, here you go.  This recipe turned out 12 latkes of roughly palm sized.

2 lbs of potatoes peeled and grated
1 medium onion grated
1 1/2 tsp Adobo
1 tsp freshly grated pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 /4 cup flour

Peel the potatoes and grate them into a bowl.  Squeeze the liquid out of the potatoes with your hand and move the potatoes to a different container.  Add the onion, Adobo, pepper, garlic powder, baking powder and flour. 

Use your hands to combine all of this together.

Heat the oven to 275 and heat a large fry pan over medium heat.  Add some vegetable oil to create a light layer.

Create 3-4 palm sized pancakes from the bowl and place them into the heated oil.  Turn once it starts to turn golden brown.  Once both sides are browned, move to a plate in the oven (on paper towels to drain the oil). 

Add additional oil as needed.

Serve with apple sauce and/or "sour cream"

Paella!

Today I was going to a party and needed a dish to bring.  Along with a batch of the "Angelic Potatoes" (see August 2010), I wanted something a little more substantial.  So... after some looking I found a recipe in "Vegetarian Recipes" by Better Homes and Gardens and made a couple of changes to it. This is my version of the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 Green Bell Peppers - largely diced

1 Red Bell Pepper - largely diced

1 Yellow Bell Pepper - largely diced

2 medium yellow onions - diced

1 large red onion - diced

8 cloves of garlic - finely diced

4 stalks of celery diced

1 cup dry red lentils

1 cup dry brown lentils

2 cans diced tomatoes - drained

1 can whole black olives drained

1 jar pimento stuffed green olives - drained and sliced

4 cups veggie stock

3 tsp olive oil

1 tsp turmeric

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot and then add the peppers, onions, garlic, and celery and cook until tender. 

Add turmeric and stir to mix in.

Add the lentils and veggie stock, bring to a boil, cover, reduce to a simmer and let cook for 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender (add more stock if needed).

Add the tomatoes, olives, and peas and cook for another 10-15 minutes. 

You can serve this over rice or by itself - people really enjoyed it.

Seitan Bourgogne

Traditionally this is a beef dish, but hey, I'm not eating meat. This recipe came to me from the fine people at http://www.meatoutmondays.com/.

This recipe calls for 6 medallions of seitan. If you already have these, you're ready to start on the next part, if not, you're going to need to make a batch of seitan and for that I suggest following this recipe.
Ingredients:
6 Medallions of seitan
6 medium sized carrots sliced
2 medium onions largely diced
2 cups from a bottle of dry red wine (I used a cabernet sauvignon)
3 cups vegetable broth
3 garlic cloves finely diced
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp corn starch
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Sautee the seitan medallions in a little bit of oil over medium high heat, until golden brown on each side (2-3 minutes per side). Remove the seitan and set aside
Add the garlic to the pan and sautee for two minutes
Add the wine, broth, onions, carrots, and bay leaves to the pan and bring  a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook partially covered for 30 minutes, reducing by 1/3.
Add the seitan, some salt and pepper, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Remove the seitan from the pan. Remove 1/2 cup of the liquid from the pan, add the corn starch and stir until smooth. Add this liquid back into the pan and stir to combine and cook until slightly thickened.
Serve over rice, mashed potatoes or noodles.

Seitan - the other non-meat

Seitan is one of the staples of the vegan world. It replicates the shape and texture of meat. Easy to make and very versatile. I made my most recent batch to use in dinner.

Ingredients:
2 Cups of Vital Wheat Gluten
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/4 cups water or veggie stock
3 Tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos

Mix the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients, then add the wet to the dry. Mix vigorously. When it forms a stiff dough, kneed 10 - 15 times.

Let the dough rest for five minutes and then kneed again a couple more times. Let rest for another 15 minutes.

In a pot combine four cups water and 1/4 cup tamari and bring to a boil.

Cut the seitan into cutlets and slowly place them into the broth. Reduce the broth from a boil down to a simmer, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove the seitan from the broth and drain (I place mine on cooling racks in a baking sheet.

Once cool place in a container and store in the fridge.

Green Gumbo

While reorganizing the home office I came across an older cookbook "Vegetarian Recipes" by Better Homes and Gardens from 1993 (I realize it isn't that old, but at almost 20 years it certainly isn't on the cutting edge of veg cuisine. I opened it to a random page and saw the recipe for "Green Gumbo" and my first thought was - yeah, I'm going to make that. This is green (as you can see in the picture). Really green. So you'll be getting some calcium, iron and other good things all packed into one bowl of yummy. I did modify the recipe (as often happens) as I felt it needed a couple of things. So what follows is the recipe for the dish I made based upon their original recipe.

Ingredients:
1 package of chopped frozen spinach
1 bag of watercress (I thought this was some English thing, I was surprised to find that I could buy it here) chopped roughly
2 medium onions largely diced
5 cloves of garlic finely diced
2 stalks of celery diced
1 yellow bell pepper largely diced (the recipe called for a green one, but I didn't want that strong a flavor)
1/2 package of fake bacon chopped into small pieces
2 heads of broccoli chopped into small florets 2 parsnips peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 cup water
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cajun seasoning
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 can small white beans rinsed and drained
2 cups or more of rice (I used freshly cooked jasmine)

In a large pot combine the spinach and watercress and 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil, break the spinach up and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the greens pressing the liquid out of them. Reserve the liquid. Set the liquid and the greens both aside.

While that is cooking in a small fry pan cook the bacon pieces and remove from heat.

In the same pot as the greens were cooked, stir together the flour and the oil until smooth. Cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes stirring constantly with a whisk.

Reduce to medium heat, stirring until the flour/oil turns to a reddish brown.

Add the onions, pepper, and celery. Cook and stirl over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until tender.

At this point I added another 1/2 cup or so of water to help it avoid burning. Add enough water to the reserved liquid to make 2 1/2 cups. Add the liquid, reserved greens, salt, red pepper, cajun seasoning and black pepper to the onion mixture. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the broccoli, bacon, and parsnips. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Add additional water if it seems too thick. Stir in the beans until heated.

Ladle gumbo over a serving of rice.

This had a sweet flavor to it. Consider adding more cajun seasoning or cayenne if you are looking for a little more kick.

German Food!

Schnitzel and Spaetzel! I saw a recent episode of Sandra Lee's show on Food Network which featured German food and my first thought was... I need to make this! This dinner had two major pieces to it: the Schnitzel and the Spaetzel.

I'm going to include both recipes here (modified from the ones that Sandra has on food network)which means that this will be a long entry.

Lets start with the schnitzel first as it can be kept warm in the oven (at 200) after you cook it. You are going to need the following ingredients:
1 package of Tempeh
1/2 cup of flour
1 cup of bread crumbs (I used panko)
2 eggs worth of Energ-G egg replacer
olive oil
1 package of mushrooms (pre-sliced if you want to save time)
1/3 cup vegan sour cream
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
3 cloves of garlic - diced
1 Tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
2 cups of veggie stock

Turn the tempeh on edge and cut it into two long pieces, roughly 1/4" thick. Then cut these two long pieces into thirds, with the result of six pieces that are almost square in shape. Soak these in the veggie stock for about 15 minutes.

Save the stock for the mushroom gravy.

Heat enough oil to cover a medium frying pan over medium heat. Set up three bowls: one with the flour, one with the two eggs worth of replacer mixed with two additional Tbsps of water and the third with the breadcrumbs.

To the flour mixture add a healthy pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper. To this I also added a quick shake of onion powder and garlic powder (don't they belong in almost everything?).

Dredge each piece of tempeh first in the flour, then in the egg mixture, then in the bread crumbs and place in the pan. I was able to fit all six pieces in my pan at once.

Cook until the bottom side is golden brown and flip (10-15 minutes). Once done, remove from the pan, place on paper towels and keep in the oven at 200 degrees.

In the same pan add the garlic (and a little more oil if there is none left). Once lightly golden, add your mushrooms and cook down until most of the moisture is gone.

Add one cup of the veggie stock and reduce by a third. Add the worcestershire sauce and stir. Remove from the heat and add the sour cream. Stir to combine and serve over the pieces of schnitzel.

I would make the gravy last, while your spaetzel is cooking to avoid over cooking the gravy or having it cool too much.

Spaetzel - these are essentially small (very small) dumplings. Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs worth of Ener-G egg replacer and water
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt and both powders. In another bowl mix the egg replacer and then mix the egg replacer in with the dry ingredients and stir together until combined in a batter.

Over high heat, bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, pour half of the batter into a colander and hold the colander over the pot of water. (don't let the colander get into the water).

Use a spatula to push the batter through the colander into the water. Once all the batter is through, use a slotted spoon to remove the floating dumplings onto a baking sheet.

Once all of the dumplings have been removed, repeat with the second half of the batter.

Heat 2 tbsps of oil in a pan over medium high heat and quickly pan fry the dumplings until they are golden brown. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper while the dumplings are in the pan.

I served this with some freshly steamed broccoli and some sauerkraut.

Mac and Cheese

This recipe was listed on VegWeb as "the best vegan mac and cheese in the entire world....seriously" so I had to give it a try.

Credit goes to Beep_I_am_a_robot on VegWeb. This doesn't end up with the over the top "cheese" flavor of boxed Mac n Cheese but has a nice smooth texture and a rich, slightly nutty flavor.

I don't have a picture here either as it was devoured very quickly. You will want a box of elbows or small shells cooked and drained (we ended up with some small shells, some elbows and some penne that was cut up).

Put the pasta into a casserole dish (my dish was sprayed with cooking spray first). In a blender combine the following:
1 1/2 cups plain soymilk
1 1/2 cups nutritional yeast
1 cup water
1 cup oil
1/3 cup tamari
1 block firm tofu
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp Vegesal (if you don't have this just use salt)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
a couple of dashes of turmeric.

Blend until smooth. Then pour over your pasta and stir to combine. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until the top starts to get golden and crispy

Caesar Salad

Recently I made a quiche (.see the recipe) and it was incredibly yummy. I made a caesar salad to go along with it.

I felt this recipe needed something but everyone else was really happy with it. Perhaps some vegan parmesan would give it that final thing.

I don't have pictures of the salad but here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic diced finely (you can go with 3 if you like garlic)
1 lemon juiced
1 tsp (you will want more) vegan Worcestershire Sauce (I like Annie's)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
dash of salt (I used black indian salt which has a slightly "eggy" smell/flavour to it)
2 heads of Romaine, rinsed, dried and torn into small pieces.

Mix all of the ingredients (except the lettuce!) in a food processor, slowly adding the olive oil while it mixes).

Taste on a piece of lettuce and adjust as needed

Whole wheat spaghetti with pesto sauce

I got this recipe in my email today from http://www.meatoutmondays.org/. It sounded good so... this was tonight's dinner. The recipe calls for "salt to taste" and I would suggest a healthy dose of salt. I also modified it so what follows is the adjusted recipe:

1 bunch basil leaves (about 2 1/2 ounces)

1/2 cup pine nuts

2 avocados pitted and peeled

Juice of one whole lemon

3 cloves garlic (cut into chunks)

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt to taste (you will need to make a couple of additions here)

black pepper to taste (fresh ground here)

Put this all in the food processor and mix until blended. Toss with freshly cooked whole wheat pasta. Yum.