A few weeks ago, I tried this recipe for seitan cutlets from vegan yumyum. Both Mr Thrifty and I really liked them, but I found them a tad “bouncy”, so the next time I made them (a couple of days ago), I substituted besan (aka gram flour or chickpea flour) for some of the wheat gluten.

This made the dough a lot softer, which on the plus side made it VERY easy to flatten into cutlets (it didn’t keep bouncing back), but also quite delicate until completely cooked. It was more difficult to turn the cutlets during simmering, but I was able to do so after they had firmed up enough.

I also had to simmer them longer, about an hour instead of 20-30 minutes. Next time I may not reduce the amount of gluten quite so much, to make them a bit easier to work with.

Once they were cooked, I cooled them in the broth and then, to turn them into schnitzels, coated them with panko breadcrumbs and pan-fried them. They were soooo good, the texture was perfect! They were even better than the Fry’s Veggie Schnitzels we used to buy. (And with no strange ingredients like in the Fry’s product… I mean, “nature identical flavour”, what the heck is that? A new word for artificial flavour?)

I made a couple of other small changes. Since Old Bay seasoning isn’t available here, I subbed Himalayan salt plus some celery seed. I used regular soy sauce instead of low sodium. And, I used a chicken-style vegan bouillon cube in the simmering broth. All the salty things meant they were probably quite high in sodium, though we didn’t find them too salty.

Seitan schnitzels

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the wheat gluten, gram flour, nutritional yeast and herbal salt until well mixed. Crush celery seed in a mortar and pestle, add to dry ingredients and mix again.

2. In a measuring cup, put the soya milk and soy sauce, then add water until it reaches the 250ml (1 cup) mark. Add the olive oil and whisk the mixture with a fork.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix well. The dough will be very soft. Plop it onto a cutting board, form into a rough ball, and cut into four pieces. Flatten each piece with your hand until it is about 1.2cm (1/2 inch) thick.

4. Meanwhile, put 2 cups water and bouillon cube in a deep-sided frying pan and bring to a simmer. When just simmering, stir to dissolve bouillon cube, then gently slide cutlets into the broth.

5. Cover and simmer cutlets for about an hour. Keep checking to make sure the broth does not come to a boil, it should be barely simmering. After about 40 minutes, the cutlets should be firm enough to turn over.

6. When the cutlets have firmed up (about 1 hour total cooking time), turn off the heat and let them cool slightly in the broth, then transfer to a storage container along with the broth, to cool completely.

7. Spread some panko breadcrumbs onto a plate. Take a cutlet from the marinade (make sure it’s moist from the marinade so the crumbs stick), place onto the plate and sprinkle more crumbs on top. Press the crumbs in well, then turn over and repeat. Gently shake off excess crumbs and prepare remaining cutlets the same way.

8. Heat some olive oil in a heavy frypan (I use cast iron). Fry schnitzels on each side until golden.

Makes four large schnitzels.

A week ago I tantalised you with a photo of an unusual vegetable that we grew on our allotment this year. Thanks, Jeni and Bethany for your guesses, although you were both ultimately stymied!

The identity of the mystery veg is… achocha! Hey, even the name is cool, doncha think?

Apparently, it’s got a bunch of other aliases… like caigua, slipper gourd, lady’s slipper, sparrow gourd, but I know it as achocha.

I bought the achocha seeds, and the oca tubers, from a great little company called Real Seeds. They sell heirloom, open-pollinated seeds (you know, the kind you can save the seed from) of lots of really interesting varieties of familiar veg, as well as more unusual veg like quinoa, amaranth, exploding cucumbers, melothrie (another cuke relative), salsola, winter cooking radish etc. As well as oca tubers, they also sell ulluco and yacon tubers.

But anyway, back to achocha. This is our second year growing it, and it is really easy and fun. Achocha fruits are crunchy and delicious, tasting (to me, anyway) like a cross between green beans and peas. The little spines are soft and edible, but they can also be rubbed off easily. They’re best eaten at a size of about 2.5cm (1 inch) long.

Unlike peas and beans, achocha doesn’t get powdery mildew, which cut short our pea crop this year in the very very wet summer we had. Achocha doesn’t really seem to get going until about September (though maybe our wet summer was to blame), but then it’s very prolific, and keeps chugging out the fruit until frost (which, sadly, came in October this year). And we had NO pest problems (though you do watch out for those pesky slugs & snails before the plants get established).

Anyhoo, I’d highly recommend growing this interesting veg, very easy and rewarding. And because “weird vegetables are us”, you can look forward to more fun garden guessing games in future!

I’ve been given The Butterfly Award from Jeni, my fellow cochlea-phile (couldn’t find the word for snail-lover, so made one up).

Here’s da roolz:

• post about the award
• link back to the person that nominated you
• place the award on your sidebar and then choose 10 blogs that you think are really cool, link to them, contact each person and talk about why you think their blogs are cool

Here goes:

Jeni at Heathen & Vegan: Jeni, you are so cool. You are such a creative cook, I am in awe! I love your blog pic with the fish-lips, it makes me laugh every time I visit. And of course, you see the inherent beauty in snails, like only a die-hard animal lover does. (I think we may have been snail-pals in a previous life.) AND you aspire to being a crazy cat lady, oh yeah!

Tracy at A Vegan for Dinner: My fellow Canadian gal, your sense of humour and speak-your-mind attitude have me LOL much of the time. I mean, if you don’t know what the f*** hominy is, why shouldn’t you be able to say so? Your creative ways with seitan would convert the most die-hard carnivore. Who else but you could come up with a recipe for vegan t-bone steak?

Monique at The Happy Veganarian: You have such interesting and unique recipes, reading your blog inspires me. Who woulda thought to wrap sausages in handkerchiefs for steaming! Your food photos are awesome, the no-bake cakes and gingerbread muffins look so amazingly delicious… I can’t wait to try them. Now how about a recipe for vegan Dutch pancakes, heehee?

Kristin at Beans & Greens: All your recipes are so full of vegetable goodness… you are like some kind of veggie goddess, spreading the wonderfulness of vegetables throughout the interweb. You also see the delicousness that is roasted Brussels sprouts, how many people can say that?

Becks at I am not a rabbit: Well for starters, you love my home country so much you actually got married there! Like me, you wonder why no one on this side of the pond knows about pumpkin pie. I love your animal vignettes. And your recipe for vegan cinnamon rolls… droool…

Bethany at Spotted Devil Cat: Anyone who shares their home with as many furry children as you do AND who fosters dogs is ace in my book. Your food always looks sooo good, and I love reading about your cooking classes and restaurant meals. And of course, your fur-children photos are endearing.

Tami at vegan appetite: Your recipes sound delicious and I love all the great food photos you post. If we lived remotely close to each other, I’d be wrangling for some dinner invites, lol. And you not only made homemade soup, you make homemade soap… how cool is that!

wingraclaire at Here’s What You’re Missing: I love all the photos you post of your town and family/friends… and of course, your food. I am so envious of your homegrown tomatoes, ours all had blight this year. I reckon you’ve got a few decades of recipes to share with us all…yum!

Zoey (or rather, Zoey’s mum) at Zoey’s Kitchen: You named your blog after your cat. You are resigned to your fate as a crazy cat lady (who do not, contrary to popular belief, have to be single). Your pancake recipes make me drool onto my keyboard. Need I say more?

Monique at Mosetta Stone: I love your kitchen creativity and The Great Cheeze Project is going to be one fun ride! Thank you for sharing your world. Oh, and anytime you wanna pop over for some vegan fish & chips, you just let me know!

Phew, now that’s a lot of vegan love!

I know that every vegan probably has chili in their kitchen repertoire, so yeah, yawn, another chili recipe.

But this is one darn fine chili, very nicely flavoured with just the tiniest bit of heat (though feel free to crank it up a few Scoville units and set your tongue on fire.)

It’s based on this recipe, though of course it’s much much better in its vegan incarnation. (I say this with confidence although I have never tried the meaty version.) You could serve this up to die-hard carnivores and they’d be none the wiser. And of course, there’s no risk of contracting the human version of that nasty mad-cow disease.

It looks like a long list of ingredients, but it’s mostly spices and flavourings. For more heat, add red pepper flakes, fresh hot chilies and/or hot pepper sauce. For the veggie mince, I usually use Realeat VegeMince.

1. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and saute for five minutes, until softened. Add red pepper, cook another five minutes, then add garlic and continue to cook for another couple of minutes, or until vegetables are softened and fragrant.

2. Add veggie mince (veggie crumbles) and 125ml (1/2 cup) water. Saute until water is absorbed.

3. Next add Worcestershire sauce, paprika, cumin, cocoa powder, sugar, chili powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.

4. Now add the sundried tomatoes, tinned tomatoes, passata (tomato sauce) and another 125ml (1/2 cup) or more of water and mix thoroughly. (How much water you add will depend on the brand of veggie mince you use, as some seem to suck up the water more than others. You want a nice bit of sauce, but not too runny.)

5. Add beans, mix again, then cover and bring to a simmer. Cook on low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water if it seems dry.

6. Stir in sweetcorn (corn niblets) and cook for 10 minutes more.

Nice served with rice and a green salad.

Makes six servings.

Our second batch of wine was elderberry raspberry. Nigel Deacon recommends adding raspberries to elderberry wine for an improved bouquet (hoity-toity as that may sound).

The wine has now been fermented and bottled, and happy days, tastes great! In fact, we’ve gone through four of the six bottles already (we’re keeping the other two for awhile to see how the wine matures).

My FIL (who used to be into homebrew) was very impressed, said it was difficult to distinguish from grape wine.

The elderberries were in the freezer from last year (or was it the year before?). Elderberry trees are quite common here, but sadly we didn’t pick a lot of elderberries this year. Knowing how excellent this wine is means we will be sure to pick a lot next year!

When we made this wine, there were not quite enough elderberries to make up the required 1.6kg (3-1/2 pounds), hence the addition of a few blackberries and sloes.

The procedure is the same as for Blackberry pineapple wine. Instead of pineapple juice, we used 100% blackcurrant juice blend by Ribena (this is a new product, not the same as regular Ribena, which has sugar in it). And OMG in looking up that link I’ve just discovered that Ribena is owned by GlaxoSmithKline, well that is the last time I am buying that! Red or purple grape juice would also have a complementary flavour. We used Gervin wine yeast no. 2.



Elderberry raspberry wine

1. It’s best to start with frozen berries. Freezing the berries sterilises them without having to use chemicals or boiling water. (The former of which is undesireable for obvious reasons, the latter because it makes the wine more difficult to clear.) Put frozen berries into a muslin hop bag, then into the fermentation bin, and add two pints (38 ounces) of filtered water and the juice. Cover and let stand 24 hours, or until the fruit is thawed and the whole mixture has come up to room temperature.

2. Dissolve sugar in one pint (19 ounces) water over low heat. Let cool to room temperature, then add to the bin.

3. Start yeast. Sprinkle yeast over 50ml (2 ounces) of warm water to which 1/2 teaspoon sugar had been added, then leave to stand for 20 minutes. After this time it should be foamed up. Stir and add to the bin, then stir again. Cover.

4. Put bin in a warm spot (around 20C/70F), or if you’ll putting it in a cooler location, use a heating strap around the bin.

5. Every day or every couple of days, stir the mixture in the bin, mashing the hop bag to help break the fruit up.

6. After a week or so, the wine will be ready for transfer to a demijohn. After giving your hands a really good scrub, squeeze the hop bag to remove as much juice as possible. (We compost the pulp.) Then pour the wine into a sterilised one-gallon demijohn. Don’t forget to also sterilise any equipment that will be used in the process, such as the funnel and bung/airlock. For sterilising, we use a chlorine-based agent for the demijohn, and boiling water for anything else. Although you can get plastic demijohns, we always use glass, being wary of plastic for a variety of reasons. Glass demijohns are available from homebrew shops, Wilkinsons stores, charity shops, eBay, etc. Fit a bung and airlock. Put the wine back into a nice warm spot (or cooler spot, with heating strap).

7. The wine will continue to ferment, and the sediment will start to settle to the bottom. A week or two later, syphon the wine into a second sterilised demijohn and then let it stand again. When the wine has cleared and fermentation has finished, it is ready to transfer to bottles (which also need to be sterilised). You’ll know fermentation has finished when there are no longer any tiny bubbles forming at the top of the wine, and no more bubbles going through the airlock.

How long you let the wine mature is up to you. Some sources say the wine is ready for drinking when you transfer to the bottles, other sources say to let the wine mature for some months or even years. We drank some bottles very young and plan to leave others to mature.

As for the cost, one gallon (six bottles) of this wine cost about £2.80 ($4.20), which works out to less than 50p (70 cents) per bottle. That’s about 1/6 the cost of the cheapest supermarket wine.

I have actually been cooking lately, not that you’d know it from how few food posts there have been. Everything has turned out well though the recipes still need tweaking, but I will let you salivate over the photos.

This is a roasted mushroom lasagna, based loosely on a veganised version of this recipe from epicurious. Although I reduced the recipe proportionally, there was not nearly enough filling, so next time I will use a lot more mushrooms, and perhaps a mixture as well (oyster mushrooms are especially nice roasted). I was very pleased with how the cheezy white sauce turned out, though next time I’ll use a bit of Cheezly mozza on top as well. Instead of the prosciutto, I used some marinated roasted peppers.

This is the first time I’ve made a non-tomato lasagna that I’ve really liked, and with a few adjustments, this will be a great recipe.

I’ve also tried simmered seitan again, and this time ended up with cutlets and not brains (YAY!)

I used a recipe from vegan yumyum. I found the detailed cooking instructions very helpful… eg. this time I used a deep skillet rather than a pot, and it made it very easy to check the progress of the cutlets.

Both Mr Thrifty and I really liked the end result, though I thought it just a tad too “bouncy”, and next time I’ll add a bit of chickpea flour to reduce this. I also didn’t have Old Bay seasoning (I’ve never seen it in this country), but I used a bit of celery seed instead and LOVED the flavour it imparted to the cutlets.

And here is the jambalaya I made recently:

Actually, I’ve been using this recipe for awhile, and it’s delicious, so I really do need to write this one up to share.

I’ve also been perfecting my vegan meatball recipe, so you can look forward to that one soon.

Hope you are all having your own happy kitchen adventures!

Okay, so I had y’all on tenterhooks, didn’t I, when I asked you the identity of the mystery vegetable a few posts back.

Thanks to everyone for your guesses, Bethany came the closest when she guessed it was mashua, as both the mystery veg and mashua are root vegetables from the Andes, and have a very similar appearance.

The mystery vegetable is actually oca, here is the Wiki entry on it, though I have to say the Wiki picture does not look like my oca… on the other hand, the picture on the mashua page of mashua and oca, THAT looks like my oca (except for the colour).

It is a really great crop to grow, very easy and virtually pest-free. (A couple plants did get an early infestation of blackfly, which was quickly sorted with an organic pest spray.) The tubers form AFTER frost has killed off the top growth, which is usually at the beginning of November in this part of the UK (though we had an early frost this year). They keep for months if kept in a cold, dark place, and they’re easy to grow from the previous year’s tubers (this is our second year growing oca).

So far we’ve dug 1/3 of the bed, total useable weight was around  2.3kg (5 pounds), so hopefully we should get about 7kg (15 pounds) from the 1.2m x 1.8m (4ft x 6ft) raised bed.

Oca can be eaten raw or cooked. The tubers are crunchy and tangy (kinda lemony) when raw, but lose this sharpness when cooked. They’re really good roasted too. In New Zealand, oca are called yams, and are a common crop (or so I’ve read). I found this page on different ways to prepare oca, and will definitely try some of them out.

Now for the second mystery veg, which we also grew this year:

Have fun guessing



This isn’t so much a recipe as an idea.

Sometimes when Mr Thrifty and I are out somewhere and want something quick and cheap to eat, we’ll stop at the nearest supermarket for the ingredients to make these. It’s a lot tastier than fast food fare (assuming you could even find vegan fast food) and less expensive to boot.

First get yourself a baguette. This works better than regular bread, which isn’t really sturdy enough.

Next is the hoummus, any type will do (though do double-check it’s vegan).

And then, of course, the onion bhajis. Vegetable bhajis or pakoras will work as well.

Tomatoes are a nice, but optional, addition.

If the baguette is one of those big suckers, cut or tear it into pieces, then cut or tear each piece in half. Spread generously with hoummus. Add an onion bhaji or two, and top with sliced tomatoes.

That’s it! So easy and yet so tasty. And beats the heck out of a McDeath Burger.

So before I tell you an absolute cats-pajamas way of ridding your carpet of those annoying feline odours (you know, the ones that happen when your dear sweet kitties decide that the litterbox is not going to be the toilet du jour, but instead settle upon an area of carpet to be the chosen spot to empty their bladders), it’s first time to…

Meet the Moggies!

First, I introduce to you King Bart:

He is the Lord and Master of All Things (and doesn’t he just look the part).

Next there is Cefer, aka Monsieur Le “C”, we’ve decided that he is French at heart.

Can’t you just imagine him with a beret on his head?

And then of course, the little lady of the house, Spooky, aka Princess:

(Okay, so she doesn’t exactly look like a princess in that photo.)

And now on to removing those wretched cat odours.

I’ve tried both homemade and commercial remedies over the years, but the home remedy I found at care2.com is the best of the lot. Better yet, it’s very cheap to make!

I’m reproducing it here because I didn’t do it exactly as written, and also I have a few observations which may be useful.

Home remedy cat urine removal

Important: You should first test if your carpet is colourfast by dabbing a bit of 3% hydrogen peroxide solution in an inconspicuous spot and waiting 24 hours to see if there’s any change in colour. I didn’t do this, because I’ve got a fairly light-coloured carpet that’s pretty old anyway, but consider yourself warned.

The recipe calls for 3% hydrogen peroxide solution. Here in the UK, hydrogen peroxide comes in 6% and 9% solutions (you can find it in chemists). To dilute to 3% solution:

If you’re starting with 6% solution, use one part hydrogen peroxide to one part water to obtain a 3% solution.

If you’re starting with 9% solution, use one part hydrogen peroxide to two parts water to obtain a 3% solution.

(At least, I think that’s right.)

Ingredients

• Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• White vinegar
• Washing up liquid (dishwashing detergent)
• 3% hydrogen peroxide

Directions

1. If the cat has recently urinated on the carpet, first absorb as much of the cat urine as possible using paper towels, as many times as necessary until you’ve soaked up all the pee you can. If the cat urine has dried and you’re not sure where it is, a black light will highlight where the soiled bits are. (I didn’t do this, as black lights are very hard to find and very expensive here. I knew more or less where the offending spots were, and treated all around that area.)

2. Next, wet the area with a solution of 50% white vinegar and 50% water. Use enough of the solution to penetrate the carpet fibres deep down. At this point, it will smell really, really bad. Cat pee and vinegar is not a pleasant odour combination! The original directions say to let the vinegar dry, but in our house, that would take days. So instead I wet the carpet with the vinegar/water solution, let it sit for an hour or two, then slop some more water on the area and suck it up with our wet/dry vacuum. Don’t try this with a regular vacuum cleaner as you will probably wreck it. If you don’t have a wet/dry vac, then follow the original directions, which are to assist drying by blotting with paper towels or with a fan.

3. Next apply a liberal amount of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) over the affected area. The cheapest place I’ve found to buy bicarb is Costco, where it’s about 1/3 the cost of those little tubs from the supermarket (it comes in a big bag, and is useful for lots of other things as well). After you’ve sprinkled it on, you’ll notice the odour is not nearly so strong.

4. Now mix 60ml (1/4 cup, or 4 tablespoons) of 3% hydrogen peroxide with one teaspoon of washing-up liquid (dishwashing detergent). I was treating quite a large area, so I used twice this amount. (Don’t forget to dilute the hydrogen peroxide solution if you’re using a 6% or 9% solution.) I found the easiest way to get this solution evenly onto the carpet was to use an empty spray bottle.

5. After you’ve sprayed the area with the hydrogen peroxide/detergent solution, work it into the carpet either with a brush or with your fingers (but use a rubber glove if doing the latter!) You’ll find the odour has pretty much disappeared at this point (YAY!).

6. Let the area dry, then vacuum.

Your cats may well try to pee on or near the area when it’s being treated, so keep them away as best you can (I use strategically-placed boxes).

You may have to repeat this procedure if you don’t get rid of all the odour the first time, but it really does work. An area I treated about six months ago has stayed completely odour-free.

I’ve been tagged by Jeni at Heathen Vegan.

Here are the roolz:

• Link the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links.
• Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here goes…

1. Of the various places I’ve lived, two were 7500km (4700 miles) apart, but in the same country.

2. I sleep with Pooh bear (hot water bottle version) who, along with Mr Thrifty, keeps me warm at night.

3. I like snails and think they’re very cute (part of the blame must go to the singing snails in Flushed Away, though I did like snails before I saw FA). I feel really bad when I accidentally step on one. Even those found blissfully munching my prized veggies are merely relocated.

4. Porridge oats make me gag… it’s not the oats per se, it’s the gummy texture. I literally cannot swallow a mouthful of the stuff… even the aroma makes me feel slightly queasy. I love granola, though, and eat it almost every day.

5. I once held a wombat, a koala and a Tasmanian devil (not at the same time!) The koala smelled menthol-y.

6. Growing up, my Barbie doll had GI Joe as her boyfriend. Neither Barbie nor I thought much of Ken.

7. More childhood weirdness: I thought the meal-time blessing my dad said was “Bless this food to our body’s shoes”. I found it most enigmatic that my dad should request that our food be blessed to our shoes until one day I realised my dad was actually saying, “Bless this food to our body’s use”. Doh!

I am tagging:

• Tracy at A Vegan for Dinner
• Kristin at Beans and Greens
• mihl at seitan is my motor
• Tami at Vegan Appetite
• Anna at Vegan Food for Thought
• monique at The Happy Veganarian
• Diann at eat’n veg’n

(Gad, that took as long as the 7 things!)