Sweet U C

December Recipe Swap

2011-12-04T14:09:00.000-08:00

This month's recipe swap includes one of my favorite foods - Cookies! When Christianna put this up

Around the same time my little girl came along, asking to do a cookie swap in school for Xmas. Monkey Cookies were specially developed for the event, with loads of smarties, vanilla bean and....... Bananas!

We need,

1 Cup Mashed Bananas,
1 Cup Raw Sugar, finely powdered.
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste.
3/4 to 1 Cup of Nuttelex.
2 Cups of Unbleached Self Raising Flour.
Lots of Smarties for the top.

To make,

1. Beat the sugar and Nuttelex together till creamy.

2. Mix in the mashed bananas with vanilla bean paste.

3. Fold in the flour in by spoonfuls to prevent lumps. Mix gently.

4. The result is quite cake like batter rather than a cookie dough. Roll into logs and refrigerate.

5. Cut and roll rounds of the cold dough and place on a lined baking tray.

6. Set the smarties in at this stage, chocolate chips or nut pieces or dry fruit would taste equally nice. Warm the oven while adding the toppings.

7. Bake at 180 for 15 - 18 minutes, keeping an eye on them.

Serve warm, cold, with milk, with juice, water... You get the drift :)

November Recipe Swap

2011-11-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my dearest recipe swap group!

To start off the celebration, the lovely Christianna put a Maple Syrup Cake recipe -

I has some leftover Maple syrup leftover from a previous daring bakers challenge and lots of roses blooming in my garden.... So what do we end up with?

I present to you my Rose infused Maple Syrup Cake.

The recipe goes like this,

1/2 cup softened Nuttelex
3 cups Unbleached Self Raising Flour
2 teaspoons Egg Replacer + 1/4 cup water, to mix it with.
3/4 cup Soy Milk
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
3/4 cup Raw Sugar, powdered
2 Tablespoons Rose Infused Syrup

To make -

1. I used a 11 inch Bundt pan sprayed with non stick baking spray.
Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celcius.

2. Mix Egg Replacer and 1/4 cup water well till frothy and set aside.

3. Mix some soy milk and Maple syrup and, the rest of the soy milk with the rose infused syrup in separate bowls.

4. In a large bowl beat Nuttelex until it is creamy, about a minute (I used my Kitchenaid bowl).

6. Add the sugar in spoonfuls until well creamed.

7. Mix in the soy milk and maple syrup mix in. Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan.

8. Add in the flour, reserving the last 1/3 rd, lightly mixing.

9. Mix the remaining flour with the soy milk - rose infused syrup till the batter looks silky smooth.

10. Slowly add the pink batter into the pan and use a skewer to lightly swirl the pink mix into the batter.
Bake at 175 degrees Celcius, for about 55 minutes, or until done.

Enjoy!!

To make the Rose infused Syrup, I added equal amonuts of rose petals to sugar and covered with a half and half mix of Vodka and distilled water.

Please check out the rest of my really talented swappers,

Bubble & Squeak - September Recipe Swap

2011-10-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

Sydney presently is having the wettest & the coldest Spring ever, in my opinion. The Current Recipe Swap recipe is for a Hot Slaw with a salad. I'm still craving warm, fattening & stick - to- your - ribs food, at the moment.

So, when I looked at the recipe, for some reason all I could think of was that I used to hate Cabbage as a kid. Hated the smell, hated the texture, hated the feel, everything!! Now, now don't worry... things have changed since.... slightly!!

Here's the original recipe in all its glory - http://www.burwellgeneralstore.com/

When I read through it, I decided on Bubble & Squeak with a creamy dressing, which sounded perfect, given the weather.

So onto the recipe,

Patties,

We need,

A big head of Cabbaage, shred finely
2 medium sized boiled Potatoes
1 Zucchini, grated
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt
Crushed Black Pepper, to taste.

What to do next,

1. Mash the boiled potatoes.
2. Heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a pan, saute the zucchini & cabbage till soft & dry.
3. Add the mashed potatoes in & season. Cool.
4. Pat the cooled mixture into small rissole`s.
5. Heat the remaining oil on a non stick pan & slowly coat the pan. Lay the rissole`s carefully, making sure that they are not touching each other.
6. Flatten with the back of a heavy spatula. Turn & cook on the other side, till golden brown on both sides.

Serve hot plain with a creamy dressing (recipe follows), or sandwich between cut sides of a bun for really filling meal.

Creamy Dressing

We need,

Tofutti, cream cheese - 1 pack
8 - 9 Tablespoon Soy Milk
1 teaspoon hot English Mustard
1 teaspoon White Pepper

Blend all the above ingredients to a soft consistency & spread either on the bun or, use as a dipping sauce for the Bubble & Squeak.

Enjoy!

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Vegan Gluten Free Cupcakes

2011-08-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

August 2011 Recipe Swap - Vegan Gluten Free Cupcakes.

I haven't had much time to bake or experiment lately with work, children & a, new course I just started off. When Christianna sent the reminder out about the recipe swap early this week, it sent me scrambling around for any recent examples of gluten free baking.... These cup cakes were made for a friend to take along to her office as she has a colleague with gluten issues unfortunately, I never manged to take any good pictures either... Yay for camera phones!!

Here's the original recipe -

Please check the rest of the talented swappers, Dennis, Toni, Shumaila, Alex, Lora, Lindsay, Mari, Crissy and Lauren, Pola, Jamie, Claire, Shari, Joy, Monique, Linda, Rachel, Alli, Katy, Emily, Krissy and Jaclyn.

Back to the cupcakes now,

Ingredients

1.5 cups Gluten free Flour Mix + 1.5 teaspoons Baking Soda, sifted at least thrice.
1 cup Raw Sugar
1/3 cup Cocoa Powder, gluten free
(Omit this if making white cuppies. I made half a batch of each.)
1/3 cup Canola Oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste
1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup Water

To Make

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.

2. Line a 12 cup cake pan with paper liners.

3. Sift together all the dry ingredients.

4. Mix in the oil, vanilla, vinegar, and water.

5. Whisk together until smooth.

6. Pour into liners filling up to 3/4 mark.

7. Bake for 22 - 25 minutes & check centre is done.

8. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 5 - 6 hours before icing.

Vegan Gluten Free Fondant

We need,

910 grams of powdered White Vegan Sugar (sifted well)
1 Tablespoon Agar Powder
1/2 cup of Glucose Syrup
1/2 teaspoon Natural Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon Glycerin
1/4 cup Warm Water

What to do with this:

1. Sift the powdered sugar very well to prevent lumps of hard sugar bits in the fondant.

2. In a heat-safe small bowl, sprinkle the agar powder over the 1/4 cup of warm water to soften & expand for 3- 4 minutes.

3. Either use a double boiler or, put the smaller bowl in a big pot of about a half-inch of water to simmer. Place small bowl with agar over the simmering pot of water to melt over.

4. Turn off the heat and mix the rest of the liquid ingredients & stir till well blended.

5. I used my KitchenAid stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add the liquid mix & the warm, melted agar flakes along with approximately 1/2 the sugar.

6. Mix the rest of the sugar slowly a couple of tablespoons or so at a time.

7. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. In a couple of minutes the mixture gets quite stiff & is not very sticky.

8. Dust a flat surface with sugar & rub some on your hands too.

9. Knead the fondant with the base of your palm till soft & lump free.

10. Double wrap the fondant with cling film & put into an airtight box. Let this sit for 4 - 6 hours at least before tinting with colour and using.

July Recipe Swap - Coconut chocolate Ganache Cake with Strawberry Jelly filling.

2011-07-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

A Very Happy Birthday To My Dearest Hubby!! The date of this month's Recipe Swap hosted by the lovely Christianna from http://www.burwellgeneralstore.com/ coincides, with my better half's birthday . The recipe was for a gorgeous Jelly Cake recipe.

Small problem.... vegans & gelatine don't gel.. (Ha, ha ha bad pun! gotcha!!)

Here's the original recipe -

I put my thinking cap on and decided, that it needed to contain Coconut in some form, because that is his favourite flavour in everything sweet and savoury. So, I present to you a Coconut Cake with a luscious Strawberry Jelly Filling topped with Rich Chocolate Ganache.

For the Coconut Cake, I used my mother's recipe which is very simple to make and good to eat. It apparently does not have a long shelf life but, it hasn't gotten to the shelf yet :)))

We need,

For the Cake,

1 Cup Unbleached Self Raising Flour

1 Cup Raw Sugar

1 Cup Coconut Meal

1 Cup Coconut Milk

To Make,

Throw everything together in any order you fancy, and mix with a wooden spoon till all the lumps dissolve. Preheat the oven to 175 Degrees C at fan forced setting and grease and line a 6 inch square cake pan. (I used square because, hubby prefers it to round cakes). Bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Check if baked through. It has a lovely golden crumb crust.

Cool before cutting.

For the Strawberry Jelly,

1 Cup Strawberries, hulled and chopped finely

1/2 Cup Raw Sugar

2 Tablespoons Corn Flour

1/2 Cup Water

2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

To make,

Add the strawberries and raw sugar into a thick bottomed pan and heat gently. Whisk the corn flour & water till smooth. Add this mixture to the pan. Stir well to combine everything. Bring to a boil while mixing constantly. Turn the heat off and quickly mix the lemon juice in.

For the Chocolate Ganache,

1 Cup of Vegan Dark Chocolate (I used Sweet William)

1/2 cup Tofutti Cream Cheese

To Make,

Add both the ingredients into a sturdy microwave proof bowl and heat for 20 - 30 seconds at high. My ingredients were at room temperature so it required very little time. Whisk till smooth and silky looking and tasting :)

To assemble,

Slice the cake into equal layers and pour the Strawberry Jelly on the bottom half to spread. It starts to set if allowed to cool so, I needed to work quite fast.

Spread all over with Chocolate Ganache and sprinkle some flaked, dessicated coconut on top, if desired.

Lamingtons

2011-06-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

Lamingtons are essentially Aussie icons served at morning and afternoon tea time. I fell in love with the coconut covered chocolatey morsels at first bite. How can anything with chocolate not be good???

We need,

A Sponge/ White Cake
Chocolate Frosting
Desicated Coconut Flakes

For the Cake, I used -

2 cups Self Raising Flour

3/4 cup Raw Sugar - powdered

1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 cup Soy/ Rice Milk, at room temperature

4 - 5 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

To Make,

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and, grease a round/ square 8 inch cake tin.

2. Sift together all the dry ingredients - flour, sugar & baking powder into a large mixing bowl.

3. Make a well in the center and add in, the melted Nuttelex, vegetable oil & Soy milk.

4. Mix thoroughly for atleast 5 minutes by hand. I used the whisk attachment on my mixer for 3 -4 minutes.

5. Pour the batter into the greased pan.

6. Bake at 175 degrees C for 20 to 25 minutes. Check with a skewer inserted in the center to check if done.

7. Remove from oven and cool completely. In the mean time cut the Cake into squares or cubes and keep a flat plate ready with lots of Coconut Flakes.

8. Mix 1/2 cup Of Cocoa, 1 Cup Powdered Sugar with 5 to 6 Tablespoons of warm water to make a thick but runny chocolate paste.

9. Use a fork to coat the cake pieces with the chocolate mixture.

10. Roll them next in the coconut flakes till well covered and then, set them on to dry on a flat surface.

Yummy!!

Tandoori Aloo Parathas - June Recipe Swap

2011-06-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

The colder the weather gets, the heartier and warmer my food seems to get. The lovely Christina, of the http://www.burwellgeneralstore.com/ came up with a delicious potato donut recipe swap idea this month.

I have made Tandoori Aloo Parathas, which are essentially flatbreads made with pizza dough stuffed with a spicy and filling potato mixture and barbequed. They are eaten hot off the BBQ plate spread with lots of Nuttelex, with a Tomato - Red Onion salad and green pepper pickle.

Read about our kitchen escapades and brainstorming by visiting them all - Dennis, Toni, Sabrina, Lora, Lindsay, Mary, Crissy and Lauren, Pola, Jamie, Claire, Shari, Joy, Monique, Linda, Tricia and, a warm welcome to the new ones this month Rachel, Merry-Jennifer, Alli & Katy.

The dough recipe -

300 ml Warm Water

3 Cups Strong Bread Flour

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon Instant Yeast

2 Teaspoons Raw Sugar

For the Potato mixture, we need,

4 Boiled Potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon Dry Mango Powder
1 teaspoon Dry Coriander Powder
1 teaspoon Roasted Cumin Powder
1 teaspoon Carom Seeds
1 teaspoon Minced Garlic

To make,

1. Knead using a machine with the dough hook or, by hand till a smooth dough is formed.

2. Cover and rest in a warm area for 45 minutes.

3. Knead again and push the dough down till all the air is excluded.

4. Make small rounds and roll out after dusting with dry flour.

5. Let the rolled out bread rest for 10 - 15 minutes before cooking for really fluffy and melt - in - your - mouth bread

To Combine,

1. Mix all the ingedients except the Carom seeds, together with a potato masher and mash, till smooth. Add the Carom seeds now and then mix to distribute uniformly.

2. Take 1 spoon on the potato mixture and place it in the center of the rolled out dough.

3. Fold the edges over to seal the mixture in and roll gently into a round.

4. Dust with dry flour and roll out gently to get an even thickness all around.

5. Carefully place on the heated BBQ plate. Cook on both sides till brown spots appear.

Drizzle with olive oil or herb flavoured oil before serving.

Eat Hot!!

Cupcakes Galore

2011-05-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting very regularly lately because, I've been busy making a gazillion cupcakes for my little one's 6th birthday to send to school, for the party at home, for the official party for her friends... Whew!!

The good part about vegan cupcakes are that they taste as good if not, better than the egg & dairy ones. Since they cater to most allergies if I leave the nuts out, the cupcakes literally went off like........... hot cakes.

White Vegan Cupcakes, we need

2 cups Self Raising Flour

2/3 cup Raw Sugar - powdered

1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 cup Lukewarm Water

1/2 cup Soy/ Rice Milk, at room temperature (not cold)

2 Tablespoons Nuttelex - softened

3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste

To mix,

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and, set paper cups in the baking tray.

2. Sift together the flour, sugar & baking powder into a large mixing bowl.

3. Make a well in the center and add in, the melted Nuttelex, vegetable oil & vanilla bean paste.

4. Mix thoroughly. I used the whisk attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer & mixed for 4 minutes.

5. Slowly ladle out measured spoons into the prepared paper cups.

6. Bake at 180 degrees C for the first 7 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 160 degrees C for the next 12 to 15 minutes. Check with a skewer inserted in the center to check if done.

7. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack. Do not add icing or any toppings before 2 hours.

I used sugar decorations and a simple vegan fondant recipe for the smaller cupcakes and fluffy white icing for the larger cupcakes.

Enjoy!!

Hot Plum Chutney

2011-05-06T01:15:00.000-07:00

Plums again!! We went plum and apple picking on the weekend. The girls in their enthusiasm collected raw, bird bitten and every other kind of unedible plums. Now looking at all the damaged plums, chutney making seemed to be the only way out. With Autumn setting in good and proper I decided to make a spicy plum chutney.

We need,

25 - 30 Damaged Plums (that is what I had :)), soaked for 30 minutes in hot water with salt dissolved
Dry the plums thoroughly and chop into rough quarters.

8 Tablespoons Raw Sugar

4 teaspoons Rock Salt

1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika, more if you want it really fiery

1 teaspoon Dry Ginger Powder

1 teaspoon Cloves roasted and powdered

1 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Coriander Powder

1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds, roasted and powdered

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

To make,

Combine the plums, sugar, spices and salt into a large, thick bottomed pan on low heat.

Cook away, mixing every now and then.

Add the Apple Cider Vinegar towards the end.

Turn the heat off when it reaches sauce consistency, i.e. can be poured and goes splat!!

I prefer to let the pieces remain if, desired use a potato masher to blend everything.

Cool before bottling.

It is a luscious chutney that goes excellently with fritters, wedges, plain tortillas, flatbreads, in sandwiches as a spread and.... just plain to lick off the spoon when the kids aren't looking :))

Vegetable Chowmein with Peanut Tofu Curry

2011-05-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

Chowmein is supposed to be a way of cooking noodles separately and then, topping them with your choice of vegetables, sauces and the rest.

I boiled thick noodles separately for my Chowmein, but vegan, egg free prepackaged ones from the supermarket are good too.

We need,

2 cups Boiled Noodles

1 Large Brown Onion, cut into crescent shape

1 cup Cabbage, shred finely

1 Carrot, peeled and cut into long strips

1 Green Capsicum, cut into strips

1/2 cup Mushrooms, finely sliced

1/2 cup Green Peas, frozen or fresh peeled

4 Tablespoons Peanut Oil

2 teaspoons Chinese 5 Spice Powder

To make,

Heat oil in a wok and toss the onions in.

Cook till they lose their raw smell and chuck the cabbage, carrot, capsicum, mushrooms and peas in.

Saute lightly till the vegetable wilt a little.

Season with salt and spice powder.

Add the noodles and cook till well coated. Sprinkle with Chillie Vinegar just before serving.

The Peanut Tofu Curry was made out of leftover tofu and vegetables. I used,

1/2 packet Firm Tofu, cut into cubes

2/3 cups Peanut Powder

1 Tablespoon Corn Flour + 1/2 glass water

1 teaspoon Sweet Chillie Sauce

1/2 Carrot, cut into rounds

3 Banana Peppers, sliced finely.

1 Tablespoon Oil

Salt, to taste

To make,

Heat the oil and add the banana pepper and carrots in.

Mix salt, corn flour, water in a cup and add to the vegetables.

Add the tofu and slowly coat with the vegetable mixture.

Add the sweet chillie sauce when the mixture starts to thicken.

Garnish with Shallots, if desired. Serve hot.

April Recipe Swap

2011-05-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

The lovely Christianna, from the Burwell General Store organises absolutely awesome recipe swaps every single month. I have long lurked on her site before I decided to join in. This month's recipe is "Ozarkian Taffy Apples".

When I looked through the recipe wondering what on earth I was going to make, I suddenly remembered an Apple Cinnamon cake I had made last month. It was terribly plain but with beautiful flavours. I wondered how I could jazz that recipe and turn out something good enough to send to the recipe swap. So my experiments started, layered apple cake... not the best!!
Vegan Apple Pie - very everyday!!

Finally.... (drumroll please) I give you Apple Bundt Cake.

We need,

2 cups Apple Puree

10 Tablespoons Nuttelex, non dairy spread - softened

1 cup Finely Chopped Apples

2 teaspoons powdered Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean paste

2 cups packed Unbleached Self Raising Flour

1 1/4 cups Raw Sugar

8 - 10 Tablespoons Warm Water, to use as required.

To make

Mix the apple puree, Nuttelex, vanilla bean paste and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat till fluffy.

Add the chopped apple pieces, cinnamon and mix well. Set aside for the flavours to mix.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees C and line a muffin pan with paper liners.

Now slowly fold in the flour and mix very lightly.

If the batter seems lumpy add the warm water by the spoon and mix every time. I used up almost 4 tablespoons to get a smooth looking batter.

Measure into the muffin pans and bake at 200 degrees C at fan forced setting for 20 - 25 minutes.

Keep checking them after 15 minutes to make sure they do not over cook.

Cool thoroughly before topping.

I ended up with little delicate bits of apple inside every mouthful.

My First Daring Bakers' Challenge April 2011

2011-04-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge is being hosted by the lovely Evelyne. She chose a beautiful edible Bacon container served with Maple Mousse. She also gave lots of options for non bacon cups. Now veganising the challenge wasn't very difficult because, I love edible containers and possibly, over use them :).

I tried making vegan chocolate cups and then wanted to do something different. The Easter break, along with the Royal Easter Show, fruit picking and apple collecting unfortunately, left very little space for any creativity. I had packed Cake Balls for a picnic lunch to take to the circus on Easter Monday. The leftovers got rather squished on our way back not looking very appetising any more, and I had my "Bingo!!" moment- Cake Ball Cups with Maple Mousse and a glazed, candied Raspberry topping.

The Cake Ball Container,

1. Press 2 - 3 cake balls together and knead well with a little Nuttelex (or any other Non Dairy Spread) till all the cracks disappear.

2. Roll into a circle about 1 inch thickness.

3. Spread aluminium foil on the outer side of a dessert bowl. It helps to grease the foil too.

4. Pat the cake dough around the foil wrapped bowl. Cool for 3 - 4 hours in the refridgerator.

The Vegan Maple Mousse (Adapted from Evelyne's recipe) needs,

340 grams soft Silken Tofu, at room temperature

170 ml pure Maple Syrup

2 teaspoons Agar Powder

To make,

1. Using a food processor, blender or hand mixer, to blend the tofu until just smooth. (I used a blender.)

2. Sprinkle agar-agar on the maple syrup and let it rest for 10 minutes. Heat maple syrup on the stove to a boil and then let it simmer 5 minutes until the agar-agar has dissolved.

3. In the blender bowl, blend the tofu with the maple syrup until creamy.

4. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Remove from the fridge and divide among your edible containers.

Refrigerate to set before garnishing.

The Chocolate Cup with Maple Mousse filling with Cappucino mix dusted on the top.

Please headover to http://thedaringkitchen.com/ to check out more gorgeous edible containers and please, vote for me if you like my idea :))

Autumnal Cardamom Plum Jam

2011-04-24T02:19:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to make my own jams & relishes. A couple of weeks ago I got some plums at the fresh market, they seemed rather raw but I thought they would ripen up. So, I waited and waited and waited.... when they still did not ripen, I decide it was time to deal with them.

We need

2 cups Plums, chopped roughly.
1 1/4 cup Raw Sugar
4 Green Cardamom Pods, crushed lightly

To make

Set a thick bottomed pan with the plums in it on the hob.

As the plums look like they are softening and wilting, add the sugar in.

Mix well on a very slow heat.

When the mixture starts to bubble and thicken, mix in the crushed cardamom. My kitchen smelt divine by now!!

After it dries up a little more (a few minutes) drop a bit on a cooled plate. Plums contain a fair bit of pectin and do not need a setting agent. If the drop of jam solidifies on the plate, turn the heat off rightaway.

I tend to fill sterilised jars with hot jam because as it cools down it gets tougher to pour it out. Let the jam cool completely in the bottle before capping the jar with a sterilised lid.

It tastes beautiful with bread, buns, fruit cake, everything!!

Daring Alternate Cooks Challenge April 2011.

2011-04-18T00:12:00.000-07:00

I finally got into the Daring Bakers/ Cooks Club this month. The present challenge is to make a savoury edible container and fill it with something appropriate.

I looked high and low for exotic ideas and then finally made dinner, which was Red Kidney Bean Curry with Chapatis & Fresh Stuffed Banana Peppers from my backyard garden. Bingo!! I found my edible container & stuffing... Yay!!

What we need

10 Large Banana Pepper (I grow the green kind)
1/2 Cup Chick Pea Flour (Besan)
1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
1/2 teaspoon Dry Mango Powder
1 teaspoon Salt, or to taste..
2 Boiled Potatoes, medium sized
2 Tablespoons Warm Water.
5 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil.

To make,

Dry roast the flour till it turns a light golden brown. Mix in all the spices and keep aside.

Mash the boiled potatoes and then, add the dry mix in.

Knead till you get a soft non sticky dough.

Wash and wipe dry the banana peppers. Slit them from the tip to the stalk part witha sharp knife (I used a pariung knife.) Get the seeds out!! I did not do it for the first few and regretted it when I had mass hiccuping at the table.

Stuff the potato mixture into the slit peppers.

Heat oil in a flat, shallow pan and slowly tip the stuffed banana peppers in. Cook on both sides gently. A few broke because I was rough :((

Serve hot!!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins

2011-04-17T05:09:00.000-07:00

Do you know the muffin man???
The muffin man... the muffin man...

No my girls haven't managed to drive me insane yet...

Its been a rainy morning begging for baking. The girls voted in favour of Apple Cinnamon Pancakes, Chocolate Chip Muffins & Hot Chocolate. The question that arises is..... how much chocolate is too much????

The Choco Chip Muffins need,

1 cup Unbleached Self Raising Flour

1/2 teaspoon Soda Bicarb

1/2 Cup Raw Sugar, powdered finely

140 ml Non Dairy Milk + 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar, mixed and set aside

2 Tablespoons Flora, softened (Any non dairy margarine is good)

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

50 grams Vegan Dark Chocolate Chips

To make

Sieve the flour, sugar and soda bi- carb into a mixing bowl.

Heat the oven to 220 degrees C and line the muffin pan with paper liners.

Make a well in the center of the dry mix and slowly pour in the buttermilk, vanilla extract, dark chocolate chips and softened margarine.

Mix gently with a wooden spoon till the batter reaches a reasonably smooth, dropping consistency.

I use an ice cream scoop to drop measured spoonfuls of batter into the paper liners.

Bake for 20 - 22 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

These muffins need to be on the softer side for the gooey chocolate feel.

Eat warm, when they taste the best!!

Carrot Peas Pulao

2011-04-16T00:37:00.000-07:00

I am an absolute fan of One Pot Meals & Pressure Cookers. They simplify life and save so much time & trouble. The biggest advantage One Pot Meals have are......... more time to make dessert :))

I had some home grown carrots that got sent to the freezer whole, with skin, tops and all!! I looked for inspiration here and there, and finally struck on making dinner with it.

This is probably one of my quickest meals. We need

1 cup Carrots, finely chopped (I used the chopper on pulse setting for a minute)
2 cups Basmati Rice, washed, rinsed thrice and soaked
1 Large Brown Onion, chopped roughly
3/4 cup Green Peas
1 Green Chillie chopped finely
2 teaspoons salt
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil.

To make

Heat the pressure cooker with oil in it and carefully add the onion.

After the raw smell goes off add the chopped chillie and saute` for a bit.

Add the carrots and stir well.

In the meanwhile, drain the Basmati rice carefully and add it in.

The important thing is not to stir with a heavy hand as that breaks the rice grains.

After stirring the rice in, cover with double the quantity of water. Add the salt and stir gently.

Set the lid on and cook for 5 minutes on full pressure. This differs for separate pressure cookers. I refer to the booklet that comes with the cooker for cooking times.

Cool thoroughly before opening the lid. Serve with microwaved Pappadams and fresh salad for a complete meal.

Serve hot!!

Vegan Hot Cross Buns

2011-04-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

With Easter around the corner, everyone is out in full form with Hot Cross Buns, raisin ones, chocolate chip ones, iced ones... but no vegan ones :((
My daughter has been asking for them for a whole month by now, so I decided to take the plunge and got my mother's old, old, old bread baking book by Mary Norwak, out and it has this listed under Festive Recipes with loads of butter, whole milk, eggs ... sigh!!!

But the good bit was that it had a flour paste mixture to make the crosses on the top instead of the normal overly sweet icing.. The paste is piped on after the buns have risen for some time and then baked to a beautiful crusty finish.

Here's my version and to make it we need,

1 teaspoon dry Instant Yeast

100 ml Warm Water + 100 ml Warm Rice Milk

1 Tablespoon heaped Raw Sugar.

Whisk well and keep in a warm place covered for 2 hours till the mix doubles. Depending on what the temperature around you is, it might take lesser time. In the meanwhile get the rest ready,

350 grams of Wholemeal Pastry Flour (mine has baking powder mixed in)

100 grams Vegan Margarine softened

65 grams Raw Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg powdered

3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon powdered

1/4 teaspoon Dry Ginger powdered

1/2 teaspoon Cloves, powdered

1 cup raisins, sultanas and mixed peel, chopped.

1 cup warm water, may not need all of it.

To Proceed -

After the yeast mix has doubled pour it into a large mixing bowl.

Add all the dry ingredients except the fruit on top of it.

If using a machine to mix with, use the dough hook attachment if not then knead with your hands.

After all the yeast mixture has been absorbed, mix in the softened margarine. Add warm water spoon by spoon and knead/ process continuously. Add some more water and do this till the dough looks soft.
I had a little lesser than 1/3 rd glass of water left, which I kept aside for the flour paste topping.

Add the raisins, sultanas & peel in at this stage.

Knead well till the dough is soft & sticky.

Cover with cling wrap and let the dough rest for some time while we make the flour paste.

The flour paste needs,

5 Tablespoons Plain White Flour

2 Tablespoons Water

1 teaspoon oil.

mix this thoroughly till it looks gluey. Pour into a piping bag with a round tip.

Heat the oven to 240 degrees C and line a flat cookie tray with non stick Baking paper.

At this stage, separate the risen dough into 12 portions and roll into round balls. Grease palms with a little oil if needed.

Set the balls on the lined tray leaving at least 1 inch space all around.

Pipe the flour-y, glue-y mixture in the shape of a cross onto the buns.

Bake at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes on a fan forced setting.

While the buns are baking, mix up equal parts of jam & warm water.

As soon as the warm buns are out of the oven, coat them with the jam mixture.

Eat warm with jam or cool and eat with plant margarine.

Enjoy!

Gulab Jamun Veganised

2011-04-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

Gulab Jamun is one of my husband's favorite sweets and possibly one of the most famous Indian desserts. The delectable little dumplings that taste like donuts dunked into cardamom flavoured sugar syrup are definitely a special occasion dessert. I hardly ever make it at home because,

a) it's completely dairy based
B) it's deep fried so does not help all my weight loss efforts : ((

I finally decided to make a Veganised version to see how it would turn out. All that I did actually was using dairy substitutes in place of milk solids.

Here's my test recipe. Feel free to tweak the flavours to your liking. Saffron & Rose Syrup are also an excellent combination.

We need

1 cup Instant Soy Milk powder (I used Bonvit)

4 tablespoons Self Raising Flour

2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening softened (Little extra to grease your palms with)

40 - 50 ml soy milk (you might not need it all)

For the sugar syrup

1 1/2 cups of Raw Sugar (or, your choice of Vegan Sugar)

1 3/4 cups of Water

4-5 Cardamom Pods, pounded coarsely.

2 teaspoons Rose Water.

To make -

Mix the soy milk powder, self raising flour and vegetable shortening together, till it resembles bread crumbs.

Slowly add the soy milk, kneading all the time. I ended up using about 35 ml, it depends on the brand of soy milk powder I expect.

Once the dough gets sticky and really soft, place aside in a covered, greased bowl for 1/2 hour.

Make the sugar syrup by combining the raw sugar, water and Cardamom pods and bringing the syrup to a boil and then, reduce the heat and simmer for another 2 minutes, removing any scum that rises to the top with a slotted spoon.

After 1/2 hour, make little balls out of the dough. If they are far too large they stay uncooked at the center and, if too small they burn easily.

Also heat oil in a deep vessel to fry the little dumplings.

Drop one of the balls in to the hot oil and see if it sizzles and slowly rises to the top, before adding the rest.

Depending on the size of the frying pan the little dumplings may need to be fried in batches.

After they are all fried, cool them a while. In the meantime add 1 - 2 Tablespoons of water to the sugar syrup and bring to a boil again.

Add the rose syrup after the heat has been turned off.
Carefully drop the fried dumplings into the hot syrup and soak for at least 2 - 3 hours before garnishing with nuts (I used sliced Almond pieces) or candied cherries on the top.

Yummy!!

Coconut Lentil Curry

2011-04-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

The Food Frenzy Challenge for this month is using Coconut as a main ingredient in food. I was thrilled to bits when I read that. As a child growing up on the west coast of India, coconuts were plentiful and used for making, starters, mains, stews, desserts and even, eaten fresh as is with big chunks of jaggery (molasses).

This simple and comforting Coconut Lentil Curry is quick and easy to make.

All it needs

1 cup of Split Yellow Lentils, soaked for 4-6 hours

2 fresh Green Chillies (increase or decrease according to personal preference)

1 can of light Coconut Cream

3 teaspoons Coriander Powder

1 1/2 teaspoons of Cumin Powder

1 teaspoon Turmeric

2 teaspoons Tamarind Paste ( Concentrate)

Salt to taste

To make

Heat a scant Tablespoon of oil in a deep thick bottomed pan and coat it all over.

Add the coriander and cumin powder and roast till aromatic. At this stage add the turmeric and chopped green chillies.

When it smells absolutely mouthwatering, add the soaked lentils.

Coat the lentils with the spices before adding the can of coconut milk and tamarind concentrate.

Add salt and mix well.

Bring to a boil and reduce the heat and cover the pan.

Cook for 20- 25 minutes stirring in between.

Garnish with fresh grated coconut, if desired. Serve hot with fluffy Basmati rice or Wholemeal Puris(Fried, Puffed Flatbread) and Sweet Potato Fritters.

Comfort food at its best!

Vegan Gluten free Baked Chakli (Spritzed Savoury Crisps)

2011-04-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

These spiky savoury rounds have always been a favourite. My mother used to make them in great quantities and store them in this really large air tight stainless steel box to nibble on.

To make them we need,

1/3 cup Chickpea Flour

1/3 cup Rice Flour

1/3 cup Rice Semolina

4 Tablespoons Vegetable Margarine

1/4 to 1/2 cup of Warm Water

1 teaspoon Asafoetida

1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds (skip in case of seed/ nut allergies)

1/2 teaspoon Carom Seeds

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper Powder

Salt to taste

What To Do

Sift the dry ingredients to mix them and add the seeds and spices.

Add the margarine slowly till the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

Gradually add spoonfuls of warm water kneading constantly to get a soft dough.

Leave the dough to rest a while covered while the oven is heated to 200 degrees C on fan forced setting. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Spritz out whorls of the dough straight onto the greaseproof paper.

Bake for 18 - 20 minutes at 160 degrees C.

Cool completely before storing in an air tight box.

Enjoy!!

Autism Awareness Day 1st & 2nd April 2011.

2011-03-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

When katefromscratch threw open the gates to finding "Blue Food" to raise awareness for Autism on the 1st & 2nd of April, I hadn't dreamt it was so difficult to find/ cook/ turn food blue!! Literally since Sydney seems to have plunged headlong into Autumn so now, I have blue toes & a blue nose to match : )

The following is an excerpt from Kate's post - Autism awareness day is on Saturday, April 2. “Light It Up Blue” is a campaign designated to spreading Autism Awareness. So many of us are touched by Autism is one way or another. This is because currently 1 in 110 children has been diagnosed with autism (CDC). 1 in 70 boys is diagnosed with autism (CDC).

For more info go to http://www.lightitupblue.org/

Kate has the most inspiring blue recipes I have seen so, head over to http://bit.ly/hNZQtM to check them out.

Now onto my experiments with blue food as a vegan, Blue cheese was a no - no. Honestly except, Blueberries & blue colouring, I couldn't see too many options.

So here are my choices

1. Vegan Blueberry Pikelets with Strawberry Jam topped with the mock cream that was leftover from the red velvet cupcakes.

Blue, blue batter for the pikelets -

To make this we need,

1 cup Wholemeal Pastry Flour

1/2 cup of Non Dairy Milk + 1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar, left for atleast 5 minutes

2 Tablespoons Blueberry Syrup ( you could use fresh blueberries, lightly crushed too)

1 Tablespoon Raw Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Method

Toss all the dry ingredients together.

Add the curdled milk in gradually follwed by the blueberry syrup , gently whisking to mix completely.

Use a large tablespoon or a small scoop to pour little rounds onto a heated griddle.

Flip over as soon as the surface of the pikelets starts to bubble, cook the other side till its a light golden.

These keep excellently on cooling and, are good to eat sasndwiched with jam for lunchboxes.

2. Vegan Blue Spaghetti Bolognaise, made with soy mince & lots of vegetables instead of meat.

Here's another picture of my blue spaghetti in all its glory -

So folks, Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness Day.

Vegan Szechuan Egg plant & Sticky Peanut Noodles

2011-03-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

I love noodles, thick ones, thin ones, wheat ones, rice ones..... Especially the Hawker style ones but sadly very few are vegan as most sauces contain shrimp.

Both these recipes are adapted from numerous asian cook books.

For the Sticky Peanut Noodles, you will need

500 grams cooked thick hokkein noodles (not egg ones)

1/2 cup smooth Peanut butter (smooth or chunky, your preference)

4 garlic cloves finely minced

2 Tablespoons Soy sauce
1 inch piece of lemon grass stalk, crushed and finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Chilli sauce
2 Tablespoons peanut oil.

What we do,

Combine the Peanut butter, soy sauce & chilli sauce.

Heat a thick bottomed wok with the oil & add the garlic and lemon grass. Roast till fragrant.

Now mix in the peanut butter mixture, and combine everything on a low heat. Don't let it boil.

Add the Hokkein noodles at this stage and toss around to coat properly.

Serve warm.

The Szechuan Eggplant traditionally is made with meat, so I decided to leave the meat and put in everything else. I had a lovely flavoured gravy with chunky eggplant, which demands second helpings!

For the Vegan Szechuan Eggplant we need,

1 large Eggplant, cubed into 1 inch pieces

1 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic paste

1 teaspoon chilli paste or 3/4 teaspoon chilli flakes

5 Tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying the Eggplant

2 Tablesppons Soy sauce

2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

3 teaspoons corn flour & 1/2 cup water to mix into

5 green Shallots, finely chopped

Salt to taste.

What to do next

Heat the wok with the oil in it and, add the eggplant pieces. Shallow fry till golden and remove the eggplant. Keep aside.

In the leftover oil, heat the ginger garlic paste. Add the chilli paste after the raw smell's gone.

Add the Soy sauce, Balsamic vinegar and salt and stir well.

Add the corn flour mixture in and combine well, as it starts to thicken add in the eggplant and coat well. Turn off the heat.

Garnish with the green shallots before serving.

So tell me dear reader, what is your favourite hawker fusion food?

A Fund Raising Tea Party for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund

2011-03-30T22:05:00.000-07:00

The Foodbuzz folks have hosted a Tea Party fundraising event for Ovarian Cancer Research, a cause which is very, very close to my heart after losing my mother to ovarian cancer 3 years ago. Head over to the http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/3434277-electrolux-and-kelly-ripa-confidential-tea-party-event to participate.

My Tea Party Menu consists of,

1. Tea, courtesy the lovely folks at Vibe Village supporting my Veganism, have sent me lots of Tetley Soy Tea bags to try out.

2. Vegan Shrewsbury Biscuits, recipe follows.

3. Vegan Flower Cookies, these are a tribute to my mum who used to painstakingly make them every time I asked for them.

4. Vegan Snow Bundt Cake with Strawberry glaze.

Vegan Shrewsbury Biscuits

This is an old recipe from a newspaper cutting which, my mother had collected and pasted into a book. I veganised it by dropping the eggs and butter.

We need,

1 cup Self raising Flour

3/4 cup Sugar (powdered)

1/2 cup Non dairy salt free spread (I used Flora)

2 Tablespoons silken tofu ( a blended fine uniform paste)

1 Tablespoon lemon zest (grated finely)

Method

Cream the tofu and margarine till well mixed. Add the mashed tofu and beat well.

Rub the flour into this mixture alongwith the Lemon zest.

Knead till you get a firm dough without cracks.

Preheat the oven on fan forced setting to 175 degrees C and cover a large cookie tray with grease proof paper.

Flour a flat surface and roll out the dough to 1/2 an inch thickness.

I used a 5 cm round cookie cutter to cut the biscuits out. Carefully, transfer it to the cookie sheet, leaving an inch space betweeen them.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, till golden brown. Keep for 15 minutes after removing from the hot oven before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely

Cool for atleast half hour before storing in an air tight box.

Dal Bati

2011-03-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a Dal - Bati, a mixed lentil curry (Dal) with tiny wholemeal stuffed dumplings (Bati). Most recipes I had come across contained deep fried batis and, they were deep fried in clarified butter. I finally found a lovely recipe that had baked batis and, I was in vegan fat free heaven.

It is lovely to find tried & tested recipes to simply follow and get, fabulous food at the end. The lovely lady who writes http://usmasala.blogspot.com/ is definitely one after my own heart. Vegetarian, in a foreign country and has picky children! Her recipes are simple, gorgeous & absolutely delicious.

The only changes I made to the recipe was not adding yogurt and, using baking soda in the batis instead. I was also out of any cilantro leaves so, no garnishing either. Here is the recipe in all its glory http://usmasala.blogspot.com/2010/10/daal-baati.html

Isn't it lovely and, completely drool worthy?

So, what are your favourite recipes dear reader that absolutely beg to be tried out?

Vegan Red Velvet Cakes

2011-03-25T00:38:00.000-07:00

I have always found the hype surrounding Red Velvet Cakes a little funny. I thought it might be something to do with being Australian. Now that, I have decided to seriously blog about food, I found the March Monthly Mingle (notice the alliteration, so poetic!) which is being hosted by Maison Cupcake at http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/

This being the brain child of Meeta’s from What’s for Lunch Honey, whom I have always immensely admired. Her savoury steamed chickpea flour cake (Dhokla) cooked in the Microwave is one of my absolute favourites.

My submission to this event are.... Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes. My main worry being that vegan cupcakes tend to dry out fairly fast, I used a home made strawberry jam glaze (still in the pink mode, see?) to cover my cupcakes before slathering them with "Cream Cheese" frosting.

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart's cupcakes.

What we need

2 cups unbleached self raising flour
1 cup raw sugar
3 Tablespoons heaped unsweetened cocoa powder
1.5 cups of non Dairy Milk + 2 teaspoons vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/3 cup vegetable oil
150 ml luke warm water

4 Tablespoons red powder colour mixed into the luke warm water

Method

Heat the oven to 175 degrees C and line a muffin / cupcake pan with paper liners.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder together and mix in, the sugar. Set aside.

Combine the curdled milk, vanilla bean paste, oil and red coloured water in a big bowl. Mix well.

Add the dry flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir till smooth.

Measure out scoops of the batter into the prepared paper liners.

Bake at 175 degrees C for 18 - 20 minutes.

Brush with a glaze made up with equal parts of strawberry jam and water, while warm.

Cool completely before slathering on a Tofutti Cream Cheese Frosting.

I haven't added too much red colour. I have heard about some red velvet cake recipes that use beets for colour and moisture. So what do you think my dear readers?