Week 10: Raw - Chocolate Banana Coconut Tartlets

Hmm... falling behind with this thing, which is not entirely unexpected considering my ability to actually complete things I start ;) This weeks effort was inspired by a friend who has been making an effort to eat raw vegan as much as possible over recent months, and has introduced me to a great brand of dried figs and brought some amazing dates around to dinner which I promptly forgot about then found, untouched, in the fridge the next morning. Rather than just eat all the dates in one sitting I decided to use them as a raw pie crust, but by the time I had eaten most of the box I'd scaled my plan down to tarlets. These are great from the fridge, however if you throw them in the freezer for 20-30 minutes before eating them both the filling and crust solidify and make for a much more convincing pie experience.

Chocolate Banana Coconut Tartlets

• 5 Dates
• 3 Dried Figs
• 2 Tbsp Ground Cacao Nibs
• 1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 Cup Mashed Banana
• 1 Tbsp Ground Chia Seeds (optional, but helps the filling set)

Crust

1. Process 3 dates, figs, 1 tbsp cacao nibs, shredded coconut (reserve a small amount to top the tarlets) and salt until combined. The mixture will start out looking quite white from the coconut but will turn brown as the figs and dates are broken down.
2. Line four small tartish containers with greaseproof paper. I use small glass bowls, about 2.5" in diameter, that I normally use to keep measured spices in while preparing food.
3. Press a quarter of the crust mixture into each bowl and place them in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Filling

1. Process 2 dates, 1 tbsp cacao nibs, mashed banana and chia seeds until combined.
2. Put a quarter of the mixture into each crust, top with a little more coconut, and chill in the fridge until 20-30 minutes before you want to eat them, and which point put them in the freezer so they harden up slightly.

Week 9: Your Cultural Background - Mince on Toast, Tomato Soup and Mother Mary's Apple Rolls

Rather than the taste of my cultural background, which would probably taste like colonisation and oppression of pre-european settlers, I've gone for food I remember eating as a child that I haven't had in a long time. The tomato soup and mother mary's apple rolls recipes were adapted from hand written recipes in my mother's recipe binder, which I remember her cooking out of as I started to learn to cook around 25 years ago. The minced 'beef' on toast is a traditional New Zealand dish (and according to Google, often served out of US Navy and Marine Corps kitchens among plenty of other locales).

Mince on Toast

• 1 Onion
• 1 Celery Stalk
• 1 Carrot
• 1 Small Parsnip
• 1 1/2 Cups Fine TVP
• 2 Cups 'Beef' Stock
• 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1 Tbsp Braggs Seasoning Sauce or Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Dried Oregano
• 1 1/2 Tsp Dried Thyme
• 2 Tbsp Fine Chopped Fresh Parsley
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat some oil in a skillet over medium heat; add onion, celery, carrot and parsnip and cook for about five minutes, until the onion softens.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, other than parsley, salt and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes until the liquid has reduced considerably. You can add 1 tsp corn flour mixed in 1/4 cup of hot water to help thicken if it is not reducing to a gravy-like consistency.
3. Add parsley, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Toast some sourdough bread and rub with a half clove of garlic; serve topped with mince.

This tomato soup is an enduring memory of my childhood and, paired with freshly baked bread, was a standard lunch after my brother and I had played games of soccer on a wet winter's Saturday. My grandparents used to preserve a lot of fruit and veges, managing to stuff a store cupboard by their backdoor with enough food to feed a family for months, and this tomato soup was my favourite from the selection we would bring back from holidays to their house. The original recipe, which yields 3-4 times as much as the recipe below, is available here.

Tomato Soup

• 2 Kg Tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 4 Small Onions, diced
• 1/2 Heart Celery, diced
• 2 Tbsp Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
• 10 Cloves (in bag)
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Boil all ingredients for about 30 minutes, until all ingredients are soft.
2. Allow to cool, remove bag of cloves, then put through a food mill/mouli, discarding leftover solids.
3. Bring back to a boil, add sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes.
4. Season with Salt and Pepper, and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and more fresh parsley.

Mother Mary's Apple Rolls were my favourite dessert as a child and it always seemed like such an effort to make when watching my mother, but in reality there's not that much to it. It's basically apple sections wrapped in scone dough baked in butterscotch sauce. I asked my mother who Mother Mary was, but she wasn't sure and couldn't remember where she got the recipe from. Whoever she was, thanks for the tasty dessert! The original recipe is available here.

Mother Mary's Apple Rolls

Butterscotch Sauce

• 55g Spread with a neutral flavour, such as a sunflower or canola based spread
• 110g Soft Dark Brown Sugar
• 110ml Soy Milk
• 140ml Water
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Scone Mix

• 2 Cups Self Raising Flour
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Soy Milk
• 1/4 Cup Oil (Canola or Grapeseed are good)

• 4 Apples, Cored, Peeled and Quartered

1. Make up scone mix by combining ingredients in scone mix list.
2. Roll out scone mixture thinly on a floured board, until about 3mm thick.
3. Cut scone dough into squares about 10cm square, and wrap each apple quarter in a square of dough before pressing into a pie dish.
4. Combine all ingredients for butterscotch sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil then take off the heat.
5. Pour butterscotch sauce over apple rolls.
6. Bake, uncovered, for about 45 minutes at 200C/400F. The water should be absorbed and the rolls brown.
7. Serve with a non-dairy ice cream.

When I made this I was convinced there was too much liquid, but you can see from the photos below that the liquid amount was just right.

Week 8: Lentils - Brown Lentil Patties, Baba Ganoush, Garden Salad and Pita Bread, with Puy Lentil and Baby Fennel Salad with Lemon and Parsley

Normally when I cook with lentils it's dal or some other Indian dish, so I was pretty light on inspiration when it came to lentil week. My other go to lentil dish, in that it's super cheap and my kids love it, is Mujadara but that recipe post would be very short (cook rice and lentils with cumin and cinnamon, mix in a touch of lemon juice, some salt and pepper and serve topped with caramelised onions) so I thought I would make something a bit more substantial.

Browsing the /r/52weeksofvegancooking subreddit I came across mzglitter's post with a recipe for Baba Ganoush, and was instantly taken back to visiting my mother in the United Arab Emirates where we would eat in a cafe full of locals, and spending only a few dollars could get a heaping platter of fresh salad veges, falafel, hummus, baba ganoush and pita bread. Having a couple eggplant sitting on the bench at home, it was settled; I wanted to make an approximation of that meal with lentil patties. The pita bread is quite important in this dish... a local lebanese place (Alamir Bakery) make very good pita that is thin and light, unlike the fat and filling pita I often see at the supermarket, which make the whole meal much better. I served the patties and baba ganoush on a bed of mizuna, yellow bell pepper and red onion... but the presentation doesn't really matter, as it quickly gets destroyed when things get wrapped in pita and devoured.

As lentil patties and baba ganoush are quite earthy, I also decided to make a puy lentil salad with the fresh tastes of fennel and lemon as a counterpoint (and because decent Le Puy green lentils are amazing). Also, in my defence, I'm not the sort of 'foodie' who specifies you must use baby fennel or it just wont work... I looked for mature fennel at my supermarket and they didn't have any, so I had to by the baby fennel - honest! ;-)

Brown Lentil Patties

• 3 Cups Brown Lentils
• 4 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 Shallots, diced
• 2 Zucchini, grated
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Curry Powder
• 3 Tbsp Fresh Chives, roughly chopped
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

1. Process half the lentils in a food processor to a smooth paste.
2. Put the paste and the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl, and mix.
3. If the mixture is not quite thick add something flour like to thicken. I added about 1/2 a cup of chickpea flour... the amount required will depend on the water content of the lentils.
4. Heat a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat, and spooon two tablespoons of the patty mixture in per patty and pat down with the spoon until it's roughly patty shaped. They should take about 1 to 1 1/2 mintues per side to turn golden brown, before being put on a paper towels to absorb any extra oil they picked up.

Baba Ganoush (almost exactly this recipe - http://mzglittersvegan.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/recipe-baba-ganoush)

• 2 Eggplants
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Tahini
• 5 Cloves Garlic, crushed
• 1 Tsp Cumin
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• 1 Tbsp Parsely, chopped finely
• Salt and Cayenne Pepper, to taste
• Smoked Paprika, to dress

1. Heat oven to 200C/400F.
2. Cut eggplants in half lengthwise, puncture eggplant skins with a fork, brush cut side with olive oil and place on an oiled baking tray.
3. Roast eggplant for 30-45 minutes, until very tender, then leave to cool for 15 minutes.
4. Scoop eggplant flesh into a bowl with a spoon.
5. Mash eggplant flesh with a fork so it's fairly smooth, but still retains some texture.
6. Add the rest of the ingredients, other than the paprika, and mix to combine.
7. Dress with paprika. I did this after it was on the plate, but if serving in a bowl then dress it in the bowl and perhaps drizzle with some high quality extra virgin olive oil as well.

Puy Lentil and Baby Fennel Salad with Lemon and Parsley

• 1 Cup Puy Lentils
• 8 Baby Fennel
• 1 Medium Red Onion
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 3/4 C Parsley, chopped finely
• Juice and Zest of of 1 Lemon
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

1. Chop red onion into large chunks and cut 4 baby fennel in half lengthwise.
2. Put red onion, 4 cut fennel, lentils, bay leaves and 2 cups of water into a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce temperature and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the lentils are cooked but not soft.
3. Drain lentils and let cool, then remove onion, fennel and bay leaves.
4. Trim ends of remaining baby fennel, retaining fronds to dress the salad, and slice finely lengthwise.
5. Add sliced fennel and remaining ingredients to the lentls, and mix to combine.
6. Chop fennel fronds finely to dress salad when served.

Week 7: New To Me - BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Sandwich

I'd heard of jackfruit being used as a meat substitute before, but I'd never come across it outside of a blog before I ended up having trouble finding chat masala in my local Indian market for last week's cauliflower meal. Luckily for me, I strayed into the cans of fruits I've never tried before section and found some cheap cans of unripe jackfruit which blogs had assured me could become a tasty sandwich.

Once I got home I found I'd need nearly a cup of BBQ sauce but only had about a quarter cup. This seemed a pretty good excuse to try my hand at making some, so I mashed a few ketchup rcipes, BBQ sauce recipes and the Tuatara Aotearoa Pale Ale I was drinking together... and not long after had the pot below bubbling away on the stove. Many recipes include worcestershire sauce which is generally not even vegetarian, let alone vegan. I've replaced it with some tamarind chutney which I picked up at the Indian market.

BBQ Sauce (about 3 cups)

• 200g Tomato Paste
• 2 Cups Brown Sugar
• 1 Cup Tuatara APA (or some other inferior beer)
• 1/2 Cup White Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 Tsp Liquid Maple or Hickory Smoke
• 1 Tbsp Dry Mustard
• 2 Tsp Paprika
• 2 Tsp Tamarind Chutney
• 2 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Pepper
• 1 Tsp Ground Cumin
• 1/2 Tsp Cayenne
• 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 Tsp Ground Cloves
• 1/4 Tsp Allspice

1. Throw all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

While the BBQ sauce was cooling I rinsed the jackfruit a few times to try and wash out as much of the salty brine as I could, then patted them dry with a paper towel. The recipes I've seen for pulled jackfruit use a crockpot or some other slow cooking device, but as I don't have one I just threw the jackfruit in a Dutch oven with 3/4 Cup of BBQ Sauce and 1/2 Cup of water, covered the pot and put it in the oven at 100 C / 212 F.

After six hours, the sauce had darkened a little but it looked much the same.

Using two forks, the jackfruit can be pulled apart into strands and then after a few minutes on the stove top over a medium heat the sauce had reduced a little and was looking a lot more like pulled pork.

Once the pulled jackfruit was finished, all that was left to do was make up a sandwich with a kaiser roll, cabbage in tofu mayo and plenty of sliced jalapenos.

Week 6: Cauliflower - Cauliflower and Eggplant Coconut Curry, Cauliflower with Potatoes and Fenugreek Leaves, and Tomato and Mung Bean Dal

A couple weeks ago I got an email from a friend at a job I recently left letting me know that the Bhut Jolokia/Ghost Pepper plant we had been grown from seed was now producing fruit and I should take a few peppers to sample. The Bhut Jolokia has a scoville rating around 850,000 - 1,000,000 and was the hottest chilli in the world until the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion took its title in 2012. Almost a year to the day from the seedling showing itself for the first time we had pods for eating, and calling me a little bit excited by this would be an understatement! Because I'm sure you all love pictures of plants, here's a gallery showing what happened before the chilli pods below arrived http://imgur.com/a/t6Eam#0

The pods arrival pretty much settled that this week's Cauliflower challenge was going to be something Indian and spicy. As one of the guests had a bike race the next day, and didn't like the idea of riding the day after a meal full of very spicy food, I made three dishes ranging from very mild, to medium to fairly hot. The recipe order below reflects the order, with the medium and fairly hot dishes being the ones that include cauliflower.

If you don't have any Bhut Jolokia pods, or aren't that big a fan of heat, you can substitute mild green or red chillies. The Aloo Gobi would look good with some yellow chilli powder for provide some colour as well.

There are some ingredients used that are less than common in many western kitchens, including amchoor/dried green mango powder, asafetida powder, curry leaves, fenugreek leaves and three dals (moong/mung bean, chana/chickpea and urad/black dal). This is a perfect excuse to hunt out an Indian supermarket if you live in a city that has one... here in Wellington, New Zealand we have Moshim's in Newtown which has an amazing range of products, smells completely amazing and don't appear to be interested in making a profit if their low prices are anything to go by. I can't recommend the store enough, and also highly recommend buying random things you don't recognise and googling them when you get home as a sure way to find a crazy culinary adventure.

Tomato and Mung Bean Dal
Moong Dahl, centre of picture above

• 3/4 Cup Mung Beans
• 7 Cups Water
• 1/2 Tsp Turmeric
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1/8 Tsp Asafetida Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Cumin Sseeds
• 1 Medium Oonion, Finely Chopped
• 2 Cups Tomatoes, Chopped
• 1 Tbsp Ginger, Peeled and Grated
• 1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 Tsp Garam Masala
• 1 Tsp Lime Juice

1. Wash and then soak beans for four hours.
2. Combine drained beans, 7 cups water, salt and turmeric in a large pot. Bring beans to a boil then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 60 minutes.
3. While the beans cook, heat oil in pan over medium-high heat.
4. Add the asafetida and cumin seeds and cook for a few seconds, until cumin seeds are golden brown.
5. Add onion and fry 2-3 minutes, until golden brown.
6. Add tomatoes, ginger and cayenne pepper and cook for two to three minues, until tomatoes are soft.
7. Add ingredients from pan to the beans and add more water if dal is too thick.
8. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer dal for five to ten minutes.
9. Stir through garam masala and lime juice.

Cauliflower with Potatoes and Fenugreek Leaves
Aloo Gobi Methi ka Tuk, bottom of picture above

• 2 Medium Potatoes, Cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 Medium Head Cauliflower, Separated into florets
• 6 Tbsp Oil
• 1 Ttsp Mustard Seeds
• 20-25 Curry Leaves
• 3 1/2 tsp Ginger Paste
• 1 1/2 tsp Garlic Paste
• 3 Cups Fenugreek Leaves, Chopped
• 1 Bhut Jolokia Pod, Chopped finely
• 1 tsp Amchoor / Dried Green Mango Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Cumin
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
• Generous Pinch of Dried Fenugreek Leaves, Crumbled
• Salt

1. Cook the potato cubes in boiling water for about 5 minutes, until still quite firm. Drain and set aside.
2. Blanch the cauliflower in boiling water for a few minutes to par-cook. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat oil in pan over a medium heat, add the mustard seeds and stir-fry for about a minute until they start sputtering.
4. Add the curry leaves and stir-fry for a few seconds before adding the ginger and garlic pastes and bhut jolokia. Stir-fry for a couple minutes until the moisture has evaporated.
5. Add the fenugreek leaves and cauliflower then season with salt.
6. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about five minutes.
7. Uncover, increase the heat, add the potatoes and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
8. Sprinkle over the amchoor, cumin, black pepper and crumbled fenugreek leaves.

Cauliflower and Eggplant Coconut Curry
Adapted from potato dish Uralaikizhan Sagu, right of picture above

• 2 Medium Eggplants, Cut into 1 inch cubes
• Half Medium Head of Cauliflower, Separated into florets
• 3 Onions, Chopped
• 2 Bhut Jolokia Pods, Chopped
• 1 Tsp Fresh Ginger, Grated
• 4 Tomatoes, Chopped
• 1/2 Tsp Turmeric
• 1 1/2 Cups Coconut Cream
• Salt

Spice Paste:

• 1 Tsp Poppy Seeds
• 2 Dried Habanero Pods
• 1 Tbsp Chana Dal, Roasted
• 1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds, Roasted
• 1/2 Tsp Fennel Seeds, Roasted
• 1 Cinnamon Stick, About 1cm long

Tempering:

• 6 Tbsp Oil
• 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds
• 1 Tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 Tsp Urad Dal, Rinsed and Drained
• 1 Tsp Chana Dal, Rinsed and Drained
• 1 Sprig Curry Leaves

1. Put all ingredients for spice paste in food processor with a little water and process to a paste. Set aside.
2. Add all spices for tempering to vegetable oil over a medium heat and stir-fry for a minute. Add the onions and stir-fry for about 5 minutes, until golden.
3. Mix in bhut jolokia chillies, ginger, tomatoes, turmeric and salt and fry for two to three minutes.
4. Pour in 1 cup water and add the eggplant and cauliflower.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Mix in the spice paste and coconut milk and simmer until sauce thickens and eggplant and cauliflower is cooked.

Week 5: Halloween - Edible Graveyard

Last week I was in too much of a hurry to bother with typing anyhing up, so just uploaded the Halloween meal as an imgur set at http://imgur.com/a/NKC8i#0

Week 4: Kale Challenge - Kale and Black Bean Enchiladas with Kale Rice and Kale, Tempeh Bacon and Pepita Salad

This was always going to be an interesting challenge as I've never cooked with Kale before. It's not that common here in New Zealand, and as I learnt about veganism before LiveJournal was founded and don't own a single achingly hip vegan cookbook I haven't had much reason to become acquainted with it. I also pretty much made up the recipes as I went and was in a hurry so I don't have detailed recipes this week and will have to settle for a rough description of the process without quantities.

Kale and Black Bean Enchiladas

Filling:

• Onion
• Garlic
• Mushrooms
• Black Beans
• Curly Kale
• Cumin
• Basil
• Fresh Chipotle
• Ground Chipotle
• Cayenne Pepper
• Canned Tomatoes

1. Saute onion for a few minutes, then add garlic and saute for another minute.
2. Add roughly chopped mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are reduced.
3. Add cumin, basil, fresh and ground chipotle and cayenne pepper and cook for a minute.
4. Add tomatoes and kale, lower heat and cook until the tomatoes are reduced and the mixture is thick.

Enchilada Sauce:

• Onion
• Garlic
• Oregano
• Sugar
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Canned Tomatoes

1. Saute some onions and garlic.
2. Add tomatoes, oregano, sugar and balsamic vinegar and cook over a medium heat until thickened.

The recipe for Cashew Cheese Sauce can be found here.

To make the enchiladas:

1. Pour a little of the sauce on to the bottom of a baking dish.
2. Throw some of the kale and black bean mix on a soft tortilla, and roll the tortilla around the mix.
3. Put the tortilla and kale and black bean mix into the baking dish with the loose part of the tortilla facing down.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you run out of tortillas, kale and black bean mix or baking dish to fill.
5. Pour most of the enchilada sauce over the enchiliadas.
6. Bake at 200C/400F for about 30 minutes until things are looking cooked.

Chances are the enchiladas will look a bit rough after cooking, as below, but they're about to be slathered in sauces so it's no problem.

To serve:

Put a couple enchiladas on a plate, then top with some enchilada sauce, plenty of cashew cheese sauce and some avocados or guacamole.

Kale and Rice

I threw a cup of rice, 2 cups of kale and 1/2 a teaspoon each of cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and paprika into my rice cooker with some chicken style stock and let it do its thing.

Kale, Tempeh Bacon and Pepita Salad

The tempeh bacon was made by marinating thinly cut strips of tempeh in a mixture of wheat-free tamari, maple syrup, ground chipotle, paprika, cumin and liquid hickory smoke for a few hours and then pan frying them until they were starting to crisp. While they were cooking I also threw a handful of pepitas in the pan to toast them. Once the cooked parts were done I tore up some kale, sliced up some radishes and cut up some avocado. This was all tossed with a lime vinaigrette.

Week 3: Meal under $10 - Polenta Fries with White Bean, Sage and Pumpkin Ragout and Leek with Cashew Cheese Sauce

Price for four people: $9.34 New Zealand Dollars / $7.93 USD (full pricing info below)

This is not only a cheap meal, but one of my favourites too. The recipe is from Peter Berley's Modern Vegetarian Kitchen and I can't recommend both the recipe and book enough. Most of the recipes are quite simple, yet tend to get rave reviews from the harshest of critics (my kids). This recipe also shows that the difference between decent food and food you love is probably going to be a few decent ingredients. In this case it's using a good quality cinnamon quill, fresh sage rather than rubbed/dried sage and fresh ginger to turn what could just be a tomatoey mess into something special.

In addition to the polenta fries and ragout, I had a large leek laying about and some leftover thick cashew cheese which I had made to use as a panini filling. I added a little almond milk to thin it out for pouring over the leeks.

In total this came in comfortably under $10 to feed four, and there is still at least one more meal's worth of leftover ragout after my daughter asked for some in her lunch for school today. This is after four dinner servings have been taken out of the pot.

Polenta Fries

• 1 Cup Polenta - I use a fine polenta to lessen the cooking time
• 3 Cups Vegetarian Stock (check for gluten to confirm entire meal is gluten free)
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Tsp Salt

1. Bring stock and oil to a boil.
2. Slowly add the polenta while whisking to avoid lumps.
3. Reduce to a low heat and cook until the desired consistency is reached. For me, it took about 5 minutes with instant polenta to reach a thick consistency.
4. Pour the polenta into a greased or non-stick container so that it's just over 1cm thick, then let it set in the fridge for at least an hour. I use a 20cm by 20cm baking pan for this.
5. Once the polenta is set it can be sliced in the pan into 1cm by 5cm 'fries.' The size isn't too important, which become evident when you my total lack of uniformity in the picture below.
6. Bake at 200C/400F for about 25-20 minutes, turning half way through cooking. The longer they cook the crunchier/more awesome they get. I didn't cook these for too long as I was in a hurry to get my kids fed.

You should end up with something like this, but probably beginning to brown for extra crunch. However, as the polenta is cooked before becoming fries it's entirely up to you how long you bake them for.

White Bean, Sage and Pumpkin Ragout

• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Large Onion, diced
• 500g Buttercup Pumpkin (or Butternut Squash, preferably), roughly chopped
• 5 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp Minced Fresh Ginger
• 800g Canned Diced Tomatoes
• 3 Cups Cooked Haricot Beans (from 1 cup dried beans)
• 1 Tbsp Minced Fresh Sage
• 1 5cm Cinnamon Quill
• Salt and Pepper

1. Heat the oil over medium heat, then cook the onion and a little salt under the onion is softened.
2. Add the pumpkin, garlic and ginger and saute for about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomatoes and raise the heat to bring to a boil.
4. Add the beans, sage and cinnamon. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the squash is tender.
5. Remove the cinnamon and add some water if the ragout is too thick.
6. Season with salt and black pepper.

Leeks with Cashew Cheese Sauce

Cut the dark green top off the leek, sliced it in half lengthwise then chopped the leek halves into strips about half a cm wide. Once chopped wash the leek in a colander under a cold tap to get rid of the dirt that leeks love to bring with them to the store, then cook in a little olive oil and salt over a low heat until very tender (about 15 minutes). The cashew cheese sauce is the recipe you can find here, but without the chipotle added... I used about 4 tablespoons of the cashew cheese and thinned it with almond milk until it reached a good pouring consistency and threw it in the microwave for about a minute.

Pricing

The prices below are in New Zealand dollars, and some of them should be cheaper as they were bought for me from road-side vege markets and I don't know the price paid... the prices I've used are from a local supermarket in the city. I've also not priced the olive oil, salt or pepper... but it's negligible.

Polenta - 64c
Stock - 25c

Onion - 40c
Pumpkin - $1.25
Garlic - 30c
Ginger - 20c
Tomatoes - $1.66
Beans - $1.60
Sage - 15c
Cinnamon - 10c

Leek - $1.79
Cashew Cheese Sauce - $1 - This is a rough, and exaggerated, estimate


Notes:

• I use Massel's Chicken Style stock for polenta, as the flavour goes well with corn/polenta and it's gluten free.
• In the Modern Vegetarian Cookbook the ragout is served over soft polenta. I prefer the crunch of polenta fries so am happy to make the polenta a couple hours in advance. If you're pressed for time soft polenta is fine; just use 4 cups of liquid rather than 3, and serve in a bowl straight after cooking so it's still soft.
• I much prefer Butternut Squash in this recipe, but Buttercup Pumpkins were cheaper so I grabbed one. It would still come in under $10 with the squash and I would recommend it over the pumpkin.
• I actually used one 400g can of tomatoes and a few very ripe tomatoes that would otherwise have gone bad. For something that is going to cook a while I almost always use canned tomatoes.
• Normally the ragout is made with Great Northern Beans, but I used Haricot Beans as they are readily available at my local supermarket.

Week 2: Breakfast - Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Cacao Tofu Cream

I'm not much of a breakfast person, preferring to grab some fruit and a coffee on my way to work than spend time preparing something, so I again had a short list of ideas for this week's meal.

The first idea I had was trying to clone the awesome Scrambled Tofu they serve at Maranui Surf Life Saving Cafe (http://www.maranuicafe.co.nz/) here in Wellington. It's a great, if often crowded, cafe where you can sit and watch the feeble Wellington waves come ashore while enjoying one of their vegan options and a decent long black. However, it turns out they've been nice enough to share their recipe already (http://recipefinder.msn.co.nz/recipes/campaign1/765180/scrambled-tofu) making a cloning attempt redundant... and ruining my one good idea. I'd highly recommend making their scrambled tofu recipe, or come to Wellington and let them make it for you :)

In the hopes of finding some inspiration I headed off to the supermarket and as I walked in I noticed some buttercup pumpkins stacked precariously in a corner. I love the natural sweetness of buttercup pumpkins and figured there had to be a decent sweet breakfast option in there somewhere. Further into the store I noticed the pre-packaged pancake mixes and it was settled; I needed sweet pumpkin pancakes. I was hoping to make a cashew creme fraiche to top the pancakes with but raw cashews were the one bulk bin item the store had run out of, so I opted for a tofu cream instead. I prefer a cashew creme fraiche, but the tofu cream still tasted pretty good.

Some googling when I got home revealed this pancake recipe, which I have basically ripped off with a few minor changes - http://cookieandkate.com/2013/pumpkin-oat-pancakes/

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

Wet

• 1 Cup Pumpkin Puree
• 1/2-1 Cup Soy Milk (start with a half cup and reserve the other half for later use)
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil (plus some more to oil your skillet)
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Tsp Maple Syrup
• 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tsp Grated Fresh Ginger

Dry

• 1 Cup Oat Flour
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 2 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1/4 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1/4 Tsp Cloves

1) Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl, using only half a cup of the soy milk.
2) Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
3) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir gently to combine.
4) The batter will likely be quite thick and a bit dry, depending on the moisture content of your pumpkin puree. Add more of the soy milk until the batter is more batter than dough, but not as thin as a standard pancake batter.
5) Let the batter sit for ten minutes, and heat a cast-iron skillet over a medium-low heat. The heavy skillet ensures an even heat across the entire surface, which pancakes love.
6)  Pour a 1/4 cup of batter onto the skillet and cook for three minutes, then flip with a spatula and cook for a further 90 seconds. These pancakes don't hold together quite as well as normal pancakes, so no matter how good you are at flipping pancakes with just the pan, don't - you will end up with a mess.

As I could only fit two pancakes in my skillet at a time I put the cooked pancakes on a cookie sheet in the oven at 100C/212F to keep warm while the rest cooked. I also made the tofu cream while cooking the pancakes, however making it in advance and letting it sit in the fridge would result in a thicker consistency. However, the cream will thin as it warms... and once served, these were never going to last long anyway so I wasn't too worried.

The recipe below yielded WAY more tofu cream than I needed... something in the order of ten times as much as I needed, so feel free to move the decimal point one place to the left to make a single serve batch (if you have small enough measuring spoons).

Cinnamon Cacao Tofu Cream

• 350g Box of Soft Silken Tofu
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Ground Cacao Nibs
• 3 Tbsp Maple Syrup
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

1. Throw all ingredients in a blender.
2. Blend.

I served the pancakes in stacks three high, with maple syrup between each layer with a couple teaspoons of the tofu cream and more maple syrup on top. My six year old pronounced this the best breakfast he has had, and he's not a fan of tofu or pumpkin... so this is definitely a winning combination in my mind!

Notes:

• The temperature these are cooked at is important. My stove is terrible and only allows for five heat settings... the perfect temperature would be somewhere between 3 and 4 on my stove, so I had to keep swapping back and forth in an attempt to get the pancakes to brown without overcooking. As you can see in the photos, they are 'well done' but still tasted awesome... and I also enjoyed the texture of the crispy edges - almost to the point that I'd claim I did it on purpose.
• The linked recipe states that these are gluten free but oats are not gluten free... however, the glutinous protein in oats (Avenin) does not cause issues for about 80% of people with coeliac disease. If you have coeliac disesase procede with caution.
• The COOKIE+kate site says to buy pumpkin puree rather than pumpkin pie mix for their recipe, as the pie mix is pre-sweetened. I haven't seen either product here in New Zealand, so I just make puree by roasting the quartered the buttercup pumpkin then blending it once cooled.
• I don't have oat flour, so just threw 1 1/4 cups of oats into a blender and blended to a flour-like consistency. This yielded just over 1 cup of oat flour.
• I only used fresh ginger as I didn't have dried ground ginger on hand. It's entirely likely the flavour would be better with dried ginger.
• If possible use freshly ground whole spices as they test so much better. I have a coffee grinder I only use for spices and a ginger grater I also use for grinding whole nutmeg.
• These taste way better than the photo makes them look... I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to taking photos, and only have a phone as a camera, so feel free to pretend there are some exquisite artistic photos that make them look as good as they taste. Also, I made these for my kids in a rush before heading to work so you can also pretend there are more photos of the pancakes being made, or just check out the nice photos at the COOKIE+kate site linked above.

Week 1: Comfort Food - Chipotle Mac and 'Cheese' Burger with Portobello Fries

When I think comfort food I think of three things: lasagne, mac and cheese, and burgers. As I was already eating leftover lasagne when I discovered the theme for the first week, and didn't want to eat lasagne for most of the next week, I thought I'd go with mac'n'cheese or a burger for my comfort food... or better yet, mix mac and cheese with a burger for something like comfort squared. All burgers need fries and portobello mushroom fries are a good choice to provide a facade of healthiness to part of the meal.

There are four main parts to this meal... making the vegan mac and cheese, forming and crumbing the burger patties, making the fries and assembling the burgers.

Vegan Mac and Chipotle Cashew Cheese (Makes enough for six burger patties)

• 250g Macaroni
• 1/2 Cup Raw Cashews
• 1/4 Cup Vegetarian Stock
• 3 Tbsp Savoury Yeast Flakes
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 Tsp Ground Chipotle
• 1 Tsp Salt

1. Soak the cashews in water for at least two hours, but preferably overnight. Soaking the cashews ensures they blend more easily and create a creamier sauce consistency.
2. Cook the macaroni noodles as per the instructions on the packet.
3. While the macaroni is cooking, strain the cashews and combine with the rest of the ingredients in a blender, and blend until the cashews are creamy... about 3 minutes in my blender.
4. Combine the sauce with the strained macaroni and stir to combine.

To make the burger patties I use egg rings as shown in the picture below, but something like round cookie cutters would also work. Refrigerate in the egg rings for about an hour so the cashew cheese sauce sets and the patties hold their shape.

Once the patties are set, they need to be crumbed. The standard crumbing technique involves coating things with three ingredients in order: flour, egg and bread crumbs. Instead of eggs I used a half cup of leftover vegetarian stock mixed with two teaspoons of cornflour to thicken. As the cashew cheese is not very solid at room temperature care should be taken when flipping the patties so they don't fall apart. The crumbed patties should be set to one side, to be cooked later when the portobello fries are baking.

Portobello Mushroom Fries

• 3 Portobello Mushrooms
• 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup slightly thickened liquid, such as vegetarian stock with 2 tsp cornflour
• 1 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs
• 1 Tsp Rubbed Oregano (optional)

1. Slice the mushrooms into chips about 2mm thick.
2. Season the breadcrumbs with salt and pepper, and add the oregano if you are using it.
3. Crumb the chips by coating them with flour, liquid then breadcrumbs.
4. Bake in a single layer on a cookie tray at 200C/400F for 15-20 minutes, turning once.

Before the fries go into the oven, they should look like the picture below. They're done once they've gone golden brown around the edges, which should take just over 15 minutes.

While the fries are baking shallow fry the patties over a medium heat, and assemble the burgers with any further ingredients and/or condiments you wish. My burgers, from the bottom up, go: burger bun bottom, hot sauce, rocket/arugula, mac and cheese patty, sliced avocado, tomatoes, more hot sauce and the burger bun top.

What really makes these burgers for me are the hot sauces. Here in New Zealand we have a fantastic hot sauce company called Fire Dragon Chillies that makes great hot sauces with home grown organic chillies. The sauces I used in my burger are pictured below. The NZ Chilli Eating Champs commemorative sauce provides a great chilli kick while the smokiness of the Sh!thot Chipotle sauce works really well with a creamy cashew cheese sauce.

Note:

The most important thing to me is the savoury yeast flakes. I use the Lotus brand Savoury Yeast Flakes below, as I can order them online from a New Zealand source at a reasonable price.

If I don't have any of these yeast flakes my only other option is a local organic food store which has a nutritional yeast they package themselves which is an entirely different beast. I once bought a bag of their nutritional yeast and made a 'cheese' sauce with it, and promptly discarded the unused yeast after tasting the sauce. The lotus flakes smell and taste cheesy, while the stuff from my local organic store smells and tastes like Marmite which is definitely not what I'm looking for in a cheesy sauce. If you're not aware of what marmite is, it's a yeast extract spread which many New Zealanders love on toast... but it most certainly doesn't taste like cheese.

Here we go... 0 weeks down, 52 to go!

This blog is a record of my attempt to take part in a challenge I noticed on reddit... 52 Weeks of Vegan Cooking - http://www.reddit.com/r/52weeksofvegancooking.

The basic idea is that each week there is a different challenge that posts need to align with, with the first week being something that I'm all about (perhaps a little too about)... comfort food. Here are the weekly challenges coming in the near future:

Week	Challenge
Sept.30th - Oct. 6th	Comfort Food
Oct. 7th - Oct. 13th	Breakfast
Oct. 14th - Oct. 20th	Meal Under $10
Oct. 21st - Oct. 27th	Obligatory Kale Challenge
Oct. 28th - Nov. 3rd	Halloween
Nov. 4th - Nov. 10th	Cauliflower
Nov. 11th - Nov. 17th	New to you
Nov. 18th - Nov. 24th	Lentils
Nov. 24th - Dec. 1st	Your Cultural Background
Dec. 2nd - Dec. 8th	Raw
Dec. 9th - Dec. 15th	Root Vegetables
Dec. 16th - Dec. 22nd	Soul Food
Dec. 23 - Dec. 29th	Vegan Non-denominational Winter Celebration!

Anyone else from the southern hemisphere might have also noticed that it's going to be a bit weird doing a 'winter celebration' in the middle of summer, but I'm sure I won't be excommunicated from the 52WOVC crew for being in the wrong season ;)

I'm hoping that this will force me to be a little more creative in my cooking, as I tend to cycle through the same recipes with startling regularity and being forced to cook to a theme each week should help elicit some creativity from me.

Time to start planning exactly what monstrosity I'm going to create for the comfort food challenge and get to work taking way too many photos of my food and pretending I'm a real food blogger ;)

I hope that if anyone reads this blog that they find something of interest in it for them... feel free to leave me a comment/encouragement/abuse!