The Great Bread Making Adventure: Scottish Morning Rolls & a St. Andrew's Day Feast

 

To honour my Scottish ancestry, I thought of observing St. Andrew's Day, November 30. Unfortunately, I have been so busy making quilts that I didn't get around to it until now. I had, however, done an internet search on how the Scottish celebrate St. Andrew's Day, and one of the things mentioned was eating haggis and Cullen Skink. I knew what haggis was but Cullen Skink? The name doesn't give me any clue as to what it is. Well, neither does haggis for that matter. But the internet is such a useful thing and not only did I find recipes for vegan haggis (Ultimate Vegan Haggis and Easy Vegan Haggis), but I also found out that Cullen Skink is a creamy smoked haddock soup, named after the village of Cullen, where it apparently originated. And skink? It is a Scots word that refers to a shin, knuckle or hough of beef that would traditionally be used to make a broth. But somewhere in its history, it must have been switched to fish. Whatever, at least it's not lizard soup, which is what a skink is in English in the rest of the world. And I was able to find a vegan version of Cullen Skink as well. And I was very thankful that the recipe didn't include seaweed to make it taste "fishy". Seaweed probably ranks higher than cilantro in my list of what not to eat. 
What else to serve? Well, my research said some type of bread and greens - cabbage or kale - and tatties and neeps. I already knew that tatties were potatoes and neeps were turnips or rutabagas (known as Swedes in Great Britain), often served together in the same "mash". I had some cabbage in my fridge, so I googled once again to find how the Scots served it, and found a recipe for Rumbledethumps, which is a mixture of mashed potatoes and cooked cabbage, topped with cheese and browned in the oven. That recipe was easy to veganize and incredibly tasty. You'll see it at the top of the picture. And that took care of the "tatties" part of the "tatties and neeps", so I just made mashed rutabaga as another side dish (on the left in the picture). 
The Cullen Skink was also very tasty. It called for a can of banana blossoms, which I didn't even know were a thing. Maybe I could find it in an Asian food store or one of the large supermarkets in the city. But I wasn't planning a trip to the city any time soon. Fortunately, the recipe did offer the options of artichoke hearts or green jackfruit, both of which I had. And I chose the artichoke hearts, which I should have rinsed as they had a bit of a tang, which I don't think was needed in the soup. But it was still delicious. 
I chose the Ultimate Vegan Haggis recipe and certainly, the ingredients are far more palatable than in the original haggis. I don't imagine I would have ventured to try it even when I was a meat eater. But, to me, nutmeg is a sweet spice, belonging in desserts. And I'm not even that fond of it in desserts. So, to put it in a savory dish just isn't my thing. The flavour is not horrible, but I think I might try it with a sauce or gravy to try and tone down the nutmeg. And if I ever decide to try it again, I might switch to sage or poultry seasoning instead of the nutmeg. I'm really not sure why people like that flavour in a savory dish. I'm also not to sure about the texture - is haggis supposed to be crunchy/tough? Because my steel-cut oats did not get well done, and I don't know if it's supposed to be that way. 
And since it was a Scottish meal, I decided to try the Scottish Morning Rolls for the bread, even though this wasn't a morning meal. The odd thing about the recipe on page 140 in The World Encyclopedia of Bread and Bread Making is that it includes no added fat: no lard, even though the description on page 55 states that they are made with lard; nor any butter, shortening or vegetable oil. That left me scratching my head, and wondering if the person writing the recipes actually corroborated with the one that wrote the descriptions. And also wondering how authentic the recipes actually are. And even though I had no intention of using lard, I wanted a more authentic recipe, and I would choose how to modify it. So, once again, I resorted to the internet, and found a more authentic recipe for Morning Rolls, which gave me the option of lard or vegetable shortening. I also switched out the white flour for whole grain (using a combination of hard red and hard white wheat flour) and adding extra water, since whole grain flours absorb more moisture than white flour. I probably should have added more as it was a rather stiff dough, and I'm wondering if there was sufficient liquid in the original recipe, as it says that it should form a "sticky dough" and it definitely was not, even with the extra water. Either that or I had very "thirsty" flour. 😁 One thing I found rather amusing in both this recipe and the one in the cookbook was baking sheet size. This recipe, which makes 8 rolls, says to grease a "large" baking sheet, and the one in the book, which makes 10 rolls, says to grease 2 baking sheets. For 8 rolls, I used one of my smaller baking sheets, and even then, there likely would have been room for a dozen rolls. And my largest baking sheets would hold enough rolls for a banquet. So, just how big are baking sheets in the United Kingdom? For that matter, how big are their ovens, if my smaller baking sheet would be considered large over there? Anyway, you'll see my results in the centre in the picture above. The taste was good, but I think the texture could have been a little softer. I also found that working in only 30 g of shortening into 500 g of flour did not yield a breadcrumb-like texture. I could barely tell that there was any fat in the flour at all. But I wouldn't want any more fat, especially since shortening is a particularly unhealthy fat. 
So Rumbledethumps and Cullen Skink are definite keepers. The haggis could use a little work, as could the morning rolls. 

Vegan Breakfast Sandwiches

 

I've been wanting to make vegan breakfast sandwiches for some time. But trying to find the right recipes for the sausages and eggs was a challenge. I didn't want just store-bought processed vegan food products. Those are okay in a pinch, but I prefer to make my food from scratch and then I'm in control of the ingredients, and can make sure that they're mostly (if not all) whole foods and healthy. 
I tried the vegan Unsausage recipe first, and was happily impressed. Nice texture, great flavour. I found it in my cookbook, Give Them Something Better. But I have since found that the cookbook authors have posted it online here. This time, I cut they cayenne to 1/4 teaspoon as the first time I made them, I found them a little hot for my taste. I also allowed the mixture to sit for at least 10 minutes, not the 5 that's in the recipe. Using a wide mouth canning jar lid to form the patties, I found it made about 13. With a narrow mouth lid, it makes about 25. 
The next thing to tackle was the "egg". I had tried a chickpea omelette once before and really wasn't impressed with the taste or texture. Recently, I decided to make foods that reminded me of my mother on what would have been her 99th birthday, Valentine's Day (she passed away in 1998). One of those things was a western sandwich, which is basically an omelette between 2 pieces of toast. I googled "vegan western sandwich" and found one that sounded tasty, but it was basically a scrambled tofu recipe. And the filling in a western sandwich is not scrambled. So, instead, I googled "vegan omelette" and found The Best Vegan Omelette Recipe. Honestly, I can't say that I've tried every single vegan omelette recipe out there, so I can't say that this is "the best", but it certainly worked out best for me. It's simple, fast and tasty. To use it in a sandwich, I mixed sauteed onions and red peppers into the batter and cooked it on both sides, rather than fold it. In order to fit it into the breakfast sandwiches, I cut it into 4 pieces, so there was enough for 4 sandwiches (and no, I didn't eat four sandwiches. I ate 2, and regretted it about halfway through the second sandwich). 
Originally, I had planned on putting these sandwiches into store-bought English muffins. Eventually, I am going to try making my own, but in the meantime, I can at least find whole wheat ones in the supermarket. However, I have been playing with sourdough lately (more on that in another post) and have been trying to find ways to use up the discard (you have to discard some of the starter daily or twice daily before you "feed" it with more flour and water). I don't like to waste food, so I've been following recipes that use sourdough discard, so I don't have to "discard" it. This is the recipe for the biscuits I used for the sandwiches: Buttery Sourdough Biscuits. Buttery is the operative word, and I likely won't be using this recipe again because there is too much fat! I used Earth Balance Buttery Spread for the butter and whole wheat pastry flour for the flour. They taste good, but I don't want to be consuming things that high in processed fat on a regular basis. 
So, two thumbs up for both the sausage recipe and the omelette recipe. One thumb up for taste on the buscuit recipe, but one thumb down for fat content. 

Holiday Meals: Recipe and Cookbook Reviews

For my birthday this past year, my daughter gave me an Indigo gift card. It took me awhile to decide what to get with it, but finally on Cyber Monday, when the cookbooks were 30% off, I ordered these two. 

I follow Dreena Burton on Instagram and Facebook and have tried a few of her recipes, so I figured her cookbooks would be good.
As I was flipping through Dreena's Kind Kitchen, I discovered that it has a Holiday Fare section that has some interesting recipes in it. With Christmas coming up, I decided to give some of them a try. 
I generally make the whole Christmas dinner myself. Because of this, I like to have as much made ahead as possible, just having to reheat on Christmas morning. That way, I'm free to enjoy my company without too much hubbub with dinner preparations. 

2022's Christmas dinner consisted of tossed salad (no recipe: spinach, grape tomatoes, red onions, black olives, pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries with vegan mayo), Roasted Squash and Sweet Potato Puree (Dreena's Kind Kitchen), Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes (Oh She Glows), Mary's Brown Gravy (Country Kitchen Collection), Shamburgers (Country Kitchen Collection), Old Fashioned Bread and Celery Stuffing (old family recipe), Guinnessless Sheet Cake (Dreena's Kind Kitchen) and Coconut Cream (Country Kitchen Collection). 
Originally, I was planning on using more recipes from Dreena's Kind Kitchen, but was a little too overwhelmed (very easy to happen when you have mental health struggles) and decided to stick with some old standbys. 
The stuffing was delicious as always.

Country Kitchen Collection is an old favourite cookbook. I find it rather amusing that one of the things that younger people complain about is no pictures in a cookbook. I think I can safely say that the majority of my cookbooks have no/few/black and white pictures/line drawings. And this is one of them. But I've still been happy with this cookbook and Shamburgers is a recipe I have used multiple times. Scrumptious without too much fuss. I had tried Mary's Brown Gravy before, but it's been years. It didn't disappoint. The Coconut Cream I used to top the cake was a new recipe to me, but it was quick and easy and quite tasty. Dreena's Kind Kitchen did offer a couple of topping options for the cake, but this one was simpler and didn't require any obscure ingredients (more on this later). 

I have made the Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes from this cookbook a couple of times before. Prior to that I would never have dreamed of the combination, but it is delicious and has become my standby for mashed potatoes. Tasty and more nutrition, a winning combination. 
The Roasted Squash and Sweet Potato Puree was delicious. The taste was reminiscent of pumpkin pie. However, I don't necessarily want to eat pumpkin pie for my main course. I actually enjoy the taste of squash and sweet potatoes without the addition of spices, except maybe a little sweetening. And what is the purpose of pureeing it? It's just an added and unnecessary step, in my opinion, unless I'm feeding someone with swallowing difficulties. And the Guinnessless Sheet Cake was good, but not great. And I think the spices could have been toned down in this as well. 
Unfortunately, the weather was not great Christmas day, and my family (daughter, grandson and ex-husband) did not make it. I hadn't heated the food up yet, so we planned to try again the next day. As it turned out, we eventually decided to try for New Year's Day, and I ate the leftovers all week, with plans to create a totally different menu for New Year's.

2023's New Year's Menu consisted of Lemon-Dijon Roasted Potatoes (Dreena's Kind Kitchen) topped with Golden Gravy (Dreena's Kind Kitchen), Smoky Kale Caesar Salad with Smoky Caesar Dressing and Bread End Croutons (Dreena's Kind Kitchen), Cran-Apple Compote (Dreena's Kind Kitchen), Rice and Pecan-Stuffed Squash (Vegan Holiday Kitchen), Holiday Dinner Torte (Dreena's Kind Kitchen), Carob Nut Balls (Vegetarian Cooking: a World of Difference), Dreena's Nanaimo Bars (Dreena's Kind Kitchen). 
First of all, I will say that the menu from this meal did not reheat as well as the menu from last week. I can also honestly say that, aside from dessert, the first meal was tastier than the second. 
I ended up making most of the recipes from Dreena's Kind Kitchen that I had originally hoped to make for Christmas dinner. The potatoes were good fresh from the oven when they were first roasted and really didn't require gravy. I did find that they were slightly lacking in flavour and likely would have benefited from more of the marinade. Or possibly a vegan chipotle cheese sauce. The gravy improved them after reheating. The difficulty of making both this recipe and the torte was that they required different cooking temperatures. That would have made it very challenging to cook them both on Christmas morning unless I had a second oven. And my Breville Smart Oven is too small for either of these dishes. I've been eating a vegetarian/vegan diet for a lot of years (decades) and I don't remember ever having to prepare an entree in the food processor. Yet that's what the instructions said to do with the torte ingredients. As my food processor is not very large, I had to do it in batches. It also said to cook it in a springform pan, which would not lend well to reheating. So, I cooked it in a pie plate. Oddly, the recipe called for a diced apple tossed in lemon juice. I know the lemon juice was to keep the apple from turning brown, but since it was being baked in a savoury dish, I was puzzled why the lemon juice was used. Personally, I just waited until I had processed the rest of the ingredients and then peeled, cored and diced the apple, but I did still toss it with lemon juice just in case it was somehow needed in the recipe. I covered my serving with gravy and didn't notice any fruity taste. But my daughter did not use gravy and did notice and didn't like it. I found the flavour fine, but not as delicious as the Shamburgers from last week. And adding the cranberries to the top was a bad idea as they mostly ended up black. As far as the gravy was concerned, I had downloaded the Golden Gravy recipe from the web and tried it on a previous occasion. It said that it only took about 5 minutes, but I was still struggling with it half an hour later, while my guests were waiting for dinner. Trying to make a roux using tahini is, in my opinion, a foolish endeavour, as tahini doesn't melt like butter or margarine. And adding one ingredient at a time prolonged the process unnecessarily. This time, I browned the flour - and I used hard whole wheat flour, not spelt, whole wheat pastry flour or millet flour. When the purpose of the flour is to thicken the gravy, you want the gluten to do the job. I dumped the browned flour into the blender, added the rest of the ingredients (except the bay leaf), whizzed it to combine, poured it into a pan, added the bay leaf and cooked it long enough to thicken. The gravy was fine and much less hassle than following the directions in the book. The compote was not exciting and I found it a little too tangy for my taste. 
The salad was not as exciting as the title sounded. I chose to wilt the kale by pouring boiling water over it first, though the directions said to add dressing and salt to it and leave it to sit before adding the Romaine. Mature kale is pretty tough and I didn't think that just adding salt and dressing would do the trick. I'm beginning to think that humans were not meant to eat kale. It really isn't delcious and even after removing the stems and poring boiling water over it, it still was kind of like chewing on plastic. Which impacted how delicious the salad wasn't. The dressing was good and the croutons were good, but the kale was not. 
The Nanaimo bars were fabulous, but much too sweet. You can find the recipe online here, but it only calls for 3/4 cup of sugar. In the book, it calls for 3/4-1 cup, and it said that the sugar helps to firm it up. I figured I'd better err on the side of caution and used the full amount. Much, much too sweet. I think I could likely get away with half a cup. I used carob, by the way, which is naturally sweet, not cocoa or chocolate, so that was a factor as well. The main ingredient in the middle layer is coconut butter. I live in a small town in rural Alberta - where to find coconut butter? I didn't have time to order online or drive into the nearest city. Fortunately (???), I found instructions for making my own online. It says it should take ten minutes. Well, I didn't run my food processor continuously because I was also working on other recipes and the processor was really vibrating and I was afraid it would rock itself onto the floor. Or burn itself out. However, I would say that it took about 30 minutes of processing time not 10, and even after adding some coconut oil to try to expedite the process, I was still not happy with the results. So I dumped the goopy, grainy mess into a plastic container and stuck it in the fridge and figured we would just have the carob balls for dessert, which I had already made. The following morning, which was New Year's Day, for some perverse reason, I decided I was going to try again with the Nanaimo bars, substituting cashew butter for coconut butter. But when I went to the fridge, the goopy mess had solidified and, after warming it a little in the microwave, I was able to use it in the recipe. 

I picked this cookbook up at a thrift store and hadn't used it at all yet, but I figured the stuffed squash would kill two birds with one recipe: a stuffing and a squash dish. Unfortunately, when I went to Walmart, all they had left for squash was over-ripe and very orange pepper or acorn squash. I'm not sure if that was the problem or the fact that I didn't cook them long enough after stuffing, but parts of the squash were still hard and inedible. The stuffing was delicious, however, and I will try this recipe again when I can get better quality squash and maybe alter cooking times. 

This older cookbook has been in my library for years, but I've seldom used it. That's what happens when you're a cookbook hoarder. Nevertheless, I did remember a carob ball recipe from this book and I made those for dessert. Very good and nowhere near as sweet as the Nanaimo bars. By the way, they are not pure vegan because they are made with honey. 
Now, I'm going to get back to my discussion of Dreena's Kind Kitchen. Most of the recipes I've tried so far are relatively tasty. But I have found some of them are more labourious than they need to be. The gravy and the puree, for example, as I mentioned previously. And even the torte probably doesn't need to be processed in a food processor. 
If you go to the Cookbook Criteria tab at the top of this page, you'll see that number 4 is "limited use of obscure, exotic and specialty ingredients". That's my second issue with this cookbook. I already mentioned my problem with finding coconut butter, but I didn't mention that the recipe also called for "natural icing sugar". Yes, it does give the option of grinding coconut sugar in a blender, but still... (I used organic, unbleached cane sugar). The two topping recipes suggested for the sheet cake both called for pure vanilla bean powder. One of the things I believe about being vegan/whole food plant-based is that it shouldn't cost a fortune. Try looking up how much vanilla bean powder costs (if you can even find it). Another issue is the regular use of fresh herbs. I have nothing against using fresh herbs except that they're not always readily available, they can be expensive and they go bad quickly unless you use them soon after purchase. Then there's aquafaba and coconut milk. If I have a recipe that calls for aquafaba that doesn't also call for chickpeas, where does the aquafaba come from. Yes, I can store it in my freezer as some anonymous beige liquid in individual cubes... And it's really frustrating to open a can of not cheap coconut milk to only use a couple of tablespoons. Then I have to look for more recipes calling for coconut milk before it goes bad. I really believe that whole food, plant-based/vegan cooking should be simple or people are not likely to do it. That includes the shopping, the processing, the time and the cost involved. I have to be honest that some of my older, no pictures cookbooks are more user friendly than this one. I'm on the fence as to whether or not I regret buying this cookbook. I probably should have bought a quilting book from my wishlist instead.

By the way, I'm not prepared to do a review on Oh She Glows or Vegan Holiday Kitchen yet as I don't feel I have tested enough recipes.  

 

Vegan Under Pressure - A Cookbook Review

When I posted to a facebook group for vegan Instant Pot recipes that I had received my order of this cookbook from Amazon, I was asked to share my opinion of it. So I figured the easiest way to do that was to write a cookbook review on my blog. First of all, here's the link to the cookbook:Apparently if you purchase through this link, I will get some money. I have no idea how much because I have yet to earn anything by posting Amazon links... 😄
You might want to click on the "Cookbook Criteria" tab above to review what I look for in a cookbook.
Is it vegan/plant-based? Check.
Is it whole food? Not 100%, but most of the recipes are. It does have a couple of recipes for Seitan, plus recipes that use Seitan, which, of course, is not a whole food. Oil is called for in many recipes, but is usually listed as optional, and it's only small quantities. And the risotto calls for Arborio (white) rice.
Does it use meat analogues (fake meat)? Not that I could find. It even provides a recipe for making your own vegan sausage.
Does it limit the use of obscure, exotic and specialty ingredients? Not sure whether I should put tempeh into this category or the above or the below, but there are recipes that call for it. And tomatillos, soba noodles, ume vinegar, kombu, miso paste, okra... I'm talking about things that are not readily available in the grocery stores in my small town in rural Alberta. For this category, it depends on the individual recipe - whether the item can be left out or subsititued. Or if I, or another cook, really want to try the recipe with that ingredient, am I willing to include it on a shopping list for my next trip to the nearest big city? Maybe or maybe not. Most of my trips to the city involve fabric stores, which are not generally reliable sources of ume vinegar...
Easy to follow instructions: yes.
Limited use of ingredients I don't like: fennel, mushrooms, cilantro and tempeh are found in recipes in this book. However, I have found plenty of recipes that either don't include these or I can readily substitute. Unfortunately, the vegan sausage recipe calls for mushrooms and I'm still debating on whether I will be able to substitute eggplant...
Awesome food photography? Yes, but not enough of it to suit my tastes, and I would rather have it accompany the recipe that's pictured than lumped together in one spot.
Glossary? yes. Plus lots of tips for cooking with a pressure cooker. And seasoning recipes for the seasoning blends called for in recipes in case you want to make your own or can't find them in the grocery store. Also cooking timetables for individual foods (grains, beans, vegetables). Excellent!
While some of the above comments are negative, bear in mind that there are very few cookbooks out there that would have no negatives in response to my criteria. These criteria are ideals, not absolutes.
Now let's explore some of the recipes.

The first meal I made was the Potato Vegetable Salad (page 140) and Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers (page 234), with a side salad. As I mentioned in my Cookbook Criteria, I do not like the taste of licorice. Anything with a licorice-like flavour is not included in my cooking. So I substituted fresh dill for the tarragon in the dressing. And it was delicious! The only correction I would make is that the directions fail to say to drain the potatoes before adding the dressing. Otherwise, you would end up with your potato salad swimming. 

Normally I use a canning jar ring and lid to make my burgers, and they turn out nice and round and uniform, but I couldn't find a lid. They still tasted good, but I felt that they needed some salt added. Perhaps it was because I used low sodium vegetable broth. Otherwise tasty and nice texture. 

The next meal was Graciela's Colombian Beans (page 108) and Basic Risotto (page 78). You'd have to really like "hot" in order to use a whole tablespoon of chili powder in the beans. I used only 1 teaspoon and I still found it too hot for my tastebuds. In step 4 of the recipe, you are to add the vegetables and either bring to pressure and cook for one minute or let sit with the lid on for 5 minutes. I tried just letting it sit for 5 minutes in my Instant Pot and found the veggies still hard and crunchy, so I then did the 1-minute pressure cook and they were fine. And the dish was tasty. For the risotto, I did not use white rice. I don't buy white rice. Instead I substituted short grain brown rice and cooked for 22 minutes, as per the instructions in the rice cooking table (page 53). I also sauteed the onion and garlic in vegetable broth, rather than oil. To the best of my memory, I have never eaten risotto. I wasn't even sure what it was, other than a rice dish. So, I googled it, and this turned out nice and creamy like Google says it should. I threw in some spinach for added nutrition. Afterwards, I looked down at the bottom of the page and saw that there actually is an option for Spinach Risotto, but it has more than just spinach added. I might try that next time. 

I get together with my ex-husband, daughter and grandson for Christmas, and all I'm generally expected to bring is my own vegan entree. So, while I don't generally make or eat Seitan because it isn't a whole food, I decided to give the Chicken-Style Seitan a try and make it "Kentucky Fried" using a so-called KFC Original Recipe that I found online. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture, but I will tell you what I did with the recipe. In the dough, I substituted 1 tablespoon of chicken style seasoning for the 1/2 teaspoon salt. (I used Blaney's brand, and if you're in Alberta, you should too, because it's a local product). In the broth, I switched Bragg's for the tamari and reduced it to 1 tablespoon, omitted the kombu and the ginger and added 3 tablespoons chicken style seasoning. It turned out delicious with a nice texture. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of following the recipe for KFC seasoning. It's been over 40 years since I've eaten KFC, but I highly doubt it was ever that peppery. And this was peppery in the extreme, to the point where pepper is about all I could taste. And I never was a pepper fan. So I definitely do not recommend that you follow this recipe without drastically reducing the pepper. But that's no reflection on this cookbook. The KFC recipe was from an external link. But here's what I actually did do differently with the KFC recipe: for egg, I substituted a ground flax/water combo and for buttermilk, I put a tablespoon of lemon juice into a 1 cup measure and filled it with soy milk and allowed it to sour. And I baked, not fried. If I had an air fryer, I would have tried that, but nothing would have helped tone down the overwhelmingly peppery taste. My grandson wanted to try it, but my daughter wouldn't let him after I commented on how peppery it was. Fortunately, I at least tried the Seitan before I nearly destroyed it with the KFC recipe so that I at least knew it had tasted good. 

Next up was the Spring Split Pea Soup (page 190). I'm not a seaweed fan (not to mention where do I buy it locally?), so I omitted the dulse. Instead, I added a couple of shakes of liquid smoke, and the result was yummy! The only change I'd make would be to cook it a little longer as I found the split peas still slightly crunchy. 

Finally, I tried the Herbed Polenta (page 70) 

and Greek Stewed Lima Beans (page 109). For the polenta, I ate a bowl of it, and then spread the remainder into a square glass baking dish, allowed it to cool, sliced it and baked it, topped with Daiya cheddar flavoured shreds (another product I seldom use, but I had it in the fridge and decided to try it on the polenta), in the oven at 450०F for 15 minutes. Next time I might try the broiler and crisp it up a bit. Otherwise, very good. Another first for me. I'm used to eating cornmeal mush for breakfast with maple syrup and milk. This is the first time I've eaten polenta. And it was good. 

For the lima beans, I swapped out the fennel bulb for celery and the fennel fronds for dill. And it was scrumptious. I brought leftovers of both these last two dishes to work and got comments, "Does that ever look good!" 

All of the recipes I've tried so far are "keepers": ones that I will likely use again. And so this cookbook is also a keeper. In addition to really good recipes, it gives lots of worthwhile information on using the pressure cooker as well. While the author uses a stove top cooker, I personally own an Instant Pot, which is what I used to test these recipes, and found that they worked well. I did do a fair amount of tweaking of the recipes, but that's mostly a reflection of my personal tastes and experience in cooking for many years, not how good this cookbook is. I already have several vegan pressure cooker/Instant Pot cookbooks on my Kindle. But I prefer an actual book when it comes to cookbooks. This one came highly recommended and I second that recommendation. I already have several more recipes from it on my menu for the coming week. It's seldom that I trial this many recipes from a cookbook without having at least one dud. But so far, it's all good.  

Vegan Pizza: A Cookbook Review

I remember one time going to Toronto with a friend to give her moral support during a hearing regarding her son's custody. After the hearing, she took me to what she regarded as the best pizza place ever. She was pretty aghast when I ordered pizza without cheese, however, but I have to admit that it was pretty awesome pizza, cheese or no cheese. And the best thing was that the restaurant had an extensive list of toppings from which to choose. Within the parameters of the vegan/vegetarian diet, I like being adventuresome. If I remember correctly, I chose eggplant and broccoli. And it was great. So, having 50 different pizzas to choose from in this cookbook was pretty exciting to me.
Before reading this review, you might want to click on the Cookbook Criteria tab above to see what I look for in a cookbook as I'm going to refer to those points in this review.
1. Plant-based or vegan: The title of this book is Vegan Pizza, and for the most part, that's 99.9% true. But vegan purists would not use granulated sugar, brown sugar or confectioners' sugar because generally they've been bleached using charcoal made from animal bones. Yes, there are some vegan substitutes, but the odd thing is that the author states specifically vegan margarine, when it's called for in a recipe, but doesn't do the same for the sugars. She does, however, point out the difference in the Pantry section under "sugar." And most vegans are aware of the concerns regarding sugar and can make their choices accordingly.
2. Whole foods: Vegan Pizza definitely fails on this category. None of the crust recipes utilizes whole grain flour, with the exception of the 1/4 cup of brown rice flour in the gluten free crust.
3. Limited use of meat (and cheese) analogues: This also fits under the whole foods category, as most of these are not whole foods. And, once again, Vegan Pizza is a definite fail in this category. While the author does give a few recipes for home-made cheeses near the beginning of the book, the majority of the actual pizza recipes call for "shredded vegan cheese." There is a fairly liberal use of "fake meat" as well.
4. Limited use of obscure, exotic and specialty ingredients - check.
5. Easy to follow instructions, simplicity of preparation - check.
6. Limited use of ingredients I don't like - yes, lots of recipes without mushrooms! (Why does everyone think pizza has to have mushrooms?)
7. Awesome food photography - no, very disappointing food photography. The only photographs of pizza are on the cover. Inside are only occasional "greenscale" (is there such a thing?) photos of ingredients.
8. A glossary of unique ingredients and cooking techniques - yes.
In order to review this cookbook, I chose 2 crust recipes (each recipe makes two 14" pizza crusts) and 4 pizzas to go on the crusts. I have to admit that I was really tempted to make my own whole grain pizza crusts, and just follow the pizza recipes from there. However, in order to do a more complete review, I decided to use the recipes in this book. I chose the Easy-Peasy Pizza Dough and the Cornmeal Dough. I followed her recipes, instead of my good sense, and I really regretted it. The author tells you to just stir the ingredients together and then let it rise for 2-3 hours: no need to knead. Ugh - a wet, sloppy, sticky mess that I had to grease my hands liberally in order to be able to spread out. I have no idea how the author was able to spread it out into a pizza shape, transfer it to parchment paper and then transfer it to a pizza stone in the oven. I would have been peeling pizza dough off the floor. Initially, I tried spreading the dough out on the parchment paper, but the dough stuck to it so badly that I was convinced the paper would bake right into the crust. I then tried wax paper and it was no better. That's when I greased the pizza pans and my hands and just formed the crusts in the pans. The most successful crust was the very first one that got stuck to the parchment paper first and then the wax paper. I finally set it aside, deciding to use it for my last pizza as I wanted to get at least one into the oven before I started fighting to separate it from the paper. I believe that all the handling it received developed the gluten more fully and it had a little more substance when I finally got it into the pan. I definitely would not use her crust recipes again.
The first pizza into the oven was the Garlic, Sausage and Onion Pizza. In order to assemble this one, I first had to make a recipe of Sausage Crumbles. I have used TVP numerous times over the years, but never have I had such a tasty result. I didn't have the sweet rice flour and it was not available locally. I did a quick google search and found that potato flour can be substituted, and it worked. I was very pleased with this pizza.

Up next was the Sweet Potato and Kale Pizza - really healthy ingredients, but not a great pizza. This was the only pizza I tested that had a home-made cheese on it: Smoky White Cheese Sauce. The cheese sauce was good, but one odd thing about the pizza recipes in this book is that the instructions say to put the cheese directly on the sauce (or crust, in the case of the Sweet Potato and Kale Pizza), underneath the toppings. The author's rationale is that vegan cheese melts better this way. However, I found it difficult to keep the toppings on. And in the case of this pizza, the toppings really started to dehydrate. The Kale turned into dry flakes and the sweet potato got more dehydrated than cooked. It ended up being rather tasteless and unappetizing. This particular pizza is actually in one of the cover photos on the cookbook and I'm wondering how the author managed to keep her kale so moist. Perhaps drizzling a little olive oil on might have helped. Without a mandolin slicer, I'm not sure how I could have made my sweet potato slices any thinner so that they could have actually cooked. In the cover photo, they look like they might have had a dash of olive oil as well.

Finally came the Cowboy Pizza, which included making a batch of Sweet and Smoky Soy Curls. I just have to say that this author's treatment of both TVP and soy curls really impressed me. If nothing else, this cookbook is likely worth the price to know how to use these products "tastefully." My grandson was quite delighted with the "chicken" on the pizza and was picking it off the pizza and nibbling away before I even had a chance to cut him a slice. This pizza was also a hit with my daughter. I think it won the vote as family favourite of the 3 savoury pizzas.

Last, but not least, I made a dessert pizza: Babka Pizza, substituting carob for the chocolate/cocoa. While it was delicious, it was definitely not healthy: too many refined products and much too sweet. Eat sparingly. And, as the recipe says, this pizza is best eaten the day that it is made. It's still delicious the next day, but it hardens up a little too much. Best eaten warm.

While I have some definite issues with this cookbook, I really like the fact that it presents a lot of unique and out of the ordinary ideas for pizzas, not just the same tired old toppings. I also like it's treatment of TVP and soy curls. I'd definitely make my own whole grain crust and maybe switch back to putting my (mostly home-made, rather than store-bought) cheese on top, but there are still a lot of interesting ideas to try in there.

365 Vegan Smoothies: A Cookbook Review

I received a free digital preview copy of this book from Net Galley. I am not being compensated in any way for this review.
First off, I have to say that the cover picture in the ad above is certainly not as appetizing as the cover picture displayed on Net Galley. On Net Galley, it's a berry smoothie - a nice purple colour, which to me is much more appetizing than a green smoothie. I'm not really a green smoothie kind of person. However, I still like this cookbook because it is just chockfull of smoothie ideas, many that I would have never dreamed of myself.
It's got some nice food photography, with the exception of the green smoothies. I'm sorry, but my taste buds just shout, "Yuk" when I look at them. I would have liked more pictures, but it's a pretty hefty cookbook as it is (over 300 pages) and I understand the rationale behind not adding more pictures. There are, however, some other useful sections in this cookbook. The author shares a couple of recipes for plant based milks that can be used as base ingredients in the recipes rather than purchased soy/nut milks. She provides a glossary of ingredients, as well as tips on making smoothies. The recipes are divided up into 12 months, with a health focus for each month: Detox Smoothies for Month 1, Healthy Heart Smoothies for Month 8, for examples. The recipes all come with a "Boost It" suggestion that will increase the nutritional value of the smoothie by adding antioxidants, increasing protein, etc.
I believe that the "proof is in the pudding," or in the smoothie, in this case, so I taste-tested 3 recipes with my family, all from the "Strengthening Smoothies" section. I apologize for my unimaginative food photography. I was too busy blending and sampling to fuss with food styling.

Peanut Butter Dreams was really delicious and the family favourite of the three samples. I never dreamed of adding cinnamon to peanut butter, but the result was awesome.

Chocolate Pecan Pie Shake was next. It too, was very well received. I substituted roasted carob powder for the raw cacao powder.

We completed the trio with the Raspberry-Cashew Cheesecake Shake, also quite tasty.

Did you notice I didn't sample any green smoothies? LOL!

My objections to this cookbook (besides green smoothies) are the occasional use of obscure/hard to find ingredients (see my Cookbook Criteria page), such as vegan yogurt or Agave nectar. I also question the use of raw rolled oats in some of the smoothies. I'm not sure that they are readily digestible to the human system and I would especially caution those with any digestive issues (Crohn's, IBS, etc.). However, these are relatively minor, and I still think it's a great cookbook with a lot of unique flavour combinations.

A Very Vegan Christmas

Here is today's menu:

• Garlic bread
• Old Fashioned Bread and Celery Stuffing
• Jellied Cranberries (from a can)
• Spinach Salad 
• Honey-Mustard Poppy Seed Dressing
• Brussels Sprouts with Melty Cheese
• Mashed Potatoes
• Brown Gravy
• Gluten Nuggets
  
• Special T Loaf
  
• Buttercup Squash Casserole
  
• Carrot Pudding with Sweet Cream Sauce
  

The Spinach Salad and the Special T Loaf are from this cookbook:

I have to admit that I didn't really like the smell when I finished the Special T Loaf. It smelled like leftover meatloaf. That's why I decided to make the Gluten Nuggets as well, in case it tasted like it smelled. Gluten Nuggets are my "old standby" for holiday meals. However, the Special T Loaf did end up being rather tasty (better than it smelled), especially with the brown gravy on top. However, it is a rather expensive entrée: walnuts, pecans and two packages of Mori-Nu tofu go into this recipe. It's a mock-up of the Special K Loaf that used to be well known in Adventist vegetarian circles, though I have to admit that I'm not sure why the Special K Loaf recipe ever saw the light of day. It might have tasted good (it was my ex-husband's one major cooking accomplishment), but with all the eggs and cottage cheese, I certainly wouldn't consider it healthy vegetarian fare. You can see a sample of the original recipe here.
The Honey-Mustard Poppy Seed Dressing was from this cookbook:

Don't be deceived by the title  - there's no honey in this salad dressing.
The Melty Cheese recipe is found in this cookbook:


The Brown Gravy is from this cookbook:

I found the carrot pudding recipe here, though I modified it somewhat, and will continue to do so as I wasn't entirely satisfied with the end product. I added the seasonings found in this recipe, but I think I'll switch the cloves to nutmeg next time and cut back on all three spices as it was too strong. Instead of the margarine, I used apple sauce. I replaced the 1 cup of brown sugar with 3/4 cup of Sucanat and used whole wheat flour in place of white flour. Next time, I think I'll try whole wheat pastry flour or maybe spelt flour as it was a little too heavy. Maybe steaming it for 3 hours is not necessary either as a couple of the other recipes I looked at only called for 2 hours. I also forgot the dates. The cream sauce that I used to top the carrot pudding was a conglomeration of some leftover Silk Creamer I had in the fridge, some raw cashews, a little honey (yes, I do use some honey occasionally, though I could just as easily have used brown rice syrup or agave nectar), water, vanilla and cornstarch whizzed in the blender and then heated on the stove till thickened. I've got to look for a proper recipe for this for next year.
The Gluten Nuggets are from Recipes of Friendship by Katie van Petten. I wasn't able to find this one on Amazon, nor was I able to find the Atco Blue Flame 2011 Holiday Collection, from which the Buttercup Squash Casserole was taken. But I don't know if that one was worth repeating. The apple cider vinegar made it just too tangy and this recipe just can't compare to the deliciousness of the Sweet Potato and Caramelized Apple dish that I've made previously from this same cookbook.
So that was Christmas dinner 2014. There were only 6 of us for dinner and unfortunately, there was probably enough food to feed three times that many. I should have sent food home with my guests. I guess I won't be cooking for the next week or so. :-)

Meatless All Day: Cookbook Review

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic preview copy of this book from Net Galley. I did not receive any compensation for my review.
Please see my page, Cookbook Criteria, for what I look for in a cookbook.
I really wish that carnivores would quit trying to write vegan/vegetarian cookbooks. It seems that, since more and more people are pursuing a plant-based diet, the cookbook authors want to cash in on the trend. And the results are sometimes comical as well as disappointing. This particular cookbook starts off by instructing us how to cook eggs, which is probably an indication that you won't find much vegan fare here. After some other basic cooking information, the author then provides a list of what she refers to as power ingredients that are supposed to add a "meaty" flavour and/or texture to the dishes. Really, what's wrong with the flavour and texture of plant-based food without having to doctor it up with "power ingredients." I have been a vegetarian for over 38 years, mostly vegan for more than 20 of those. About half of the items on this list, I have never or seldom tried. Of the remaining items, I can't say that I used them for the purpose she is listing them here. Dried fruit to provide a meaty taste and texture? Sounds pretty odd to me. And she uses beets to replace meat. I don't particularly care for beets, but even if I did, I could not honestly describe them as "meaty" in taste or texture.
But that is one of the problems with a carnivore writing a vegetarian textbook. They can't wrap their minds around not having some tough gristle to chew on. Nor can most of them imagine how to get enough protein without animal products, since they view legumes and whole grains as side dishes, and so they throw as many eggs and dairy products into these recipes as possible. One quarter of the way into the book, I finally found a vegan recipe: Black Bean Burgers with Grilled Mango-Lime Mayonnaise. The following recipe uses tempeh and then it's back to lacto-ovo for numerous recipes before another vegan recipe again appears. Half-way through the book, I had only found 4 or 5 genuinely vegan recipes, plenty of eggs and dairy and few legumes. I would be interested in seeing a nutrient profile for these recipes, specifically the saturated fat and cholesterol content.
The recipe title, Thai Salad with Crispy Tofu and Peanut Dressing, sounded promising until I looked at the list of ingredients and saw that first on the list is 4 large eggs. The preamble for the recipe says to omit the eggs to make the recipe vegan, so why put them in at all? And that's not the only recipe where she pairs eggs with tofu. Even Fried Eggplant-Hummus Sandwiches contains 8 eggs (though the hummus itself is vegan)! In another recipe preamble, the author states that she uses "just 2 tablespoons of butter to keep the dish healthier." Why not use olive oil, or even water saute, to make the dish healthier? Yet again, she says that a recipe is healthful thanks to 2% milk and whole grain pasta, ignoring the butter and cheese included in the ingredients.
I don't deny that a lot of these recipes sound yummy, but even for a lacto-ovo cookbook, they are very heavy on the eggs and dairy. Not making room on my cookbook shelf for this one.

Report on Creative Stitches & Crafting Alive

It was a great day at the Creative Stitches Show in Edmonton. As usual, I spent too much money, but I don't have a husband to tell me not to. LOL! This year my niece, Julie, joined me, so that doubled the fun. We drove separately because she had constraints regarding her children's school day, but we managed to find each other using our cell phones. When she decided to go as well, I told her to bring a lunch. I don't remember what my rationale was for not eating at the café in the show's location, whether it was because the lines were too long or because they didn't have any vegan/vegetarian options, but I ended up eating junk food from the vending machine. :-( This year I determined to do better than that and took a lunch along. I decided to try Curried Tofu "Egg Salad Pitas" from one of my cookbooks. It was very tasty - the Curried Tofu Egg Salad that is, not the cookbook . Now that I've given my vegan commercial, back to the show...
The show starts at 9:30 in the morning. Last year I arrived around 9:00 and didn't have any problem finding a parking spot. My big pickup truck requires a lot more maneuvering room than a small car. This year I got there at 9:20 and had to park at the far, far end of the parking lot. Julie, who arrived later, ended up having to park in a different lot entirely.
The first items I bought were this book:

(I love table linens and I love nature, so this book was a win-win for me, especially since I got it for only $10).
And this Aurora Borealis panel for only $3:

There were several colour selections for this panel. but, of course, I chose purple. Simply gorgeous!

Lots of good deals on fat quarters and these ones appealed to me. I managed to find the Aurifil 2540 (the purple spool) that I need for topstitching my 10-minute blocks, and the same vendor also had beige in the large cone. Then, because I was spending more than $50 at this booth, I was able to buy the 6-1/2" ruler for $1.99. I didn't really need one, but it's the non-slip one and I sure couldn't beat that price!

I got this quilt kit for half-price. If it was made of ugly fabric, I wouldn't have purchased it, but since it was very pretty and I liked the pattern, that was a deal too good to resist. Mystery is impressed as well. 

I actually bought this fabric to use as backing for the above quilt kit. But I also have another quilt in my "back burner" quilt plans that it might be appropriate for as well.

Good deals could be found on every hand. More fat quarters - these ones were $1 each! Some charm packs, plus some rayon thread that I will use in my machine quilting course. I just love the Moda Rejoice charm pack. And the wonderful thing about buying at the show is, not only can I find good deals, but I don't have to pay for shipping!

Recently, I purchased Fons & Porter's Asian Influences quilting ebook, so this bundle of 1 metre cuts will be put to good use.

The wife of one of my nephews is expecting a baby in February. I have a girl's quilt made, but I need a boy's quilt as well, just in case. That's where this bundle of 1 metre cuts will come in handy. (You can see Mystery's tail in the lower left as he continues to test my new purchases).
While at the show, I introduced Julie to Sparrow Studioz and longarm quilting. I have offered to pay for her to take the longarm quilting course as a combined birthday/Christmas gift. She's still thinking about it, but I'm sure she'll become addicted as I am, once she tries it.
That's it for the show for this year. I left Julie exploring the scrapbooking booths as I wanted to drop off my Janome MC 8000 at Johnson's Sewing Centre for servicing and get out of the city before rush hour. While there, I purchased a couple of quilting stencils and a roll of quilting paper for my machine quilting class, plus some more Janome bobbins. Naughty me - I have been using some generic metal bobbins and I have been wanting to purchase the genuine article, but I can't find them in town. I have to go to the city to a Janome dealer. After getting my wrist slapped by the service technician telling me that using those bobbins could cause problems with the tension (or was it the timing?), I had extra incentive.

(Mystery's in the lower right this time).  I noticed after I took the picture that the pumpkin stencil is upside down. The top stencil is not very clear, but it's poppies.
I realized after I left the show that I still didn't get to the Copperfields Bookstore booth. I never got there last year and failed to again this year. But where was it? I looked at the map and realized why I missed them. They were way at the back past the scrapbooking, stamping and jewelry booths. Because those aren't my hobbies, I don't usually bother going back that far. Next year, I will have to do so. But I'd already spent more than enough money. It would have been easy to spend thousands at the show. I just need to marry well so that I can afford to. LOL! I've already decided that I want an APQS Millenium as an engagement gift. Who needs a diamond ring?

 



Vegan Slow Cooking: A Cookbook Review

I'm in love! With a cookbook, that is. In my experience, it's much safer to fall in love with a cookbook than with a man. As a matter of fact, when it comes to relationships, if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. But enough about my personal life. I want to talk about this cookbook, but let me start a few years back when I moved into my house. A couple of my friends that helped me move informed me that I had too many slow cookers. And I replied, "No, I don't. I use every one of them." I won't say how many I actually have, because I haven't counted them lately <smile>, but I do use them. Some more often than others, but they do get used.
Slow cookers are my favourite small appliance. I remember years ago thinking that someone needed to create a vegan slow cooker cookbook. Then Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker: A Slow Cooker Vegetarian Cookbook came out in 2006 and I purchased it. I do love that cookbook as well, but it's more family-sized recipes. And I'm alone (plus the cats, who don't eat vegan generally), and I don't always like to eat the same thing for a whole week. Or more. So this cookbook, Vegan Slow Cooking for Two or Just for You: More than 100 Delicious One-Pot Meals for Your 1.5-Quart/Litre Slow Cooker offers ideal sized recipes for my life. And the food is good!
The recipes are generally straightforward and easy to prepare. Most ingredients can be found in your local supermarket, and for those that aren't, there are some recipe replacements. Recipes for "Cashew Cream" or "Italian Seitan Coins," for instance, can be found in the Budget Rescuers section in the front of the cookbook. And no overabundance of mushrooms in this cookbook, or cilantro (both of which I detest). I've tried several recipes, with mostly delicious results. I'd never tried Old Bay seasoning before, but I was able to find it in one of my local grocery stores and it gave a really nice flavour to the New England Tofu Rolls. I used Vegannaise in this recipe and I found the lemon juice broke it down and made it too watery. Next time I think I will either half the lemon juice or omit it entirely. The Spicy Southern Chickpeas and Grits were also quite tasty, though my northern tastebuds weren't too sure about eating what should have been cornmeal mush as a savory dinner dish instead of breakfast. I will probably skip the grits next time and use rice instead. And I might add a little arrowroot/cornstarch to thicken up the tomato juice. Potato, Greens, and Chickpea Curry - yummy! The only "clunker" recipe I've found so far is Tofu Braised with Pears and Brussels Sprouts. I love Brussels Sprouts, but 7-9 hours to cook them when they're shredded was overkill. Overcooking in a slow cooker, I've found, renders a funky flavour, and that's what it did to this dish. And the whole house stank. Now, having said that, I will admit that I think my slow cooker cooks a little fast, even on the low setting, so I could try reducing the cooking time. I also prepared this the night before and kept it in the fridge before starting it in the morning, so not sure if that impacted it at all. Plus, as an abstainer, I used grape juice instead of the port wine. So the funky flavour may not have been entirely the fault of the recipe. However, I don't think I will retry this dish. One experience with funky-tasting Brussels Sprouts was more than enough. I did not eat the leftovers. Otherwise, an excellent cookbook that I'm really excited about. My only objection is that the recipes I've tried so far are too spicy for my tastebuds, but that's easily remedied.