faux meat » Thrifty Living

Slow cooker vegan Irish stew

Nov 032010

Stew is one of those meals that’s satisfying and hearty… just not very exciting. It also isn’t something I make very often, but today Mr Thrifty was hankering after stew, and I obliged him.

The stew turned out delicious, and I will definitely be making it again.

I decided to use the slow cooker, so it could cook happily away whilst I did other things.

For the protein part of the stew, I used TVP chunks. (If you’re a TVP newbie, see my concise explanation in this recipe’s preamble.) I browned the chunks in a bit of oil first, an idea I got from Vaishali over at Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes. I also sauteed the onions and garlic to enhance their flavour, before adding them to the slow cooker.

I found vegan bacon bits at ASDA a few weeks ago, and used them to add a bit of smoky flavour. Although I could really taste the bacon flavour at the start, it kind of disappeared into the other flavours of the stew by the time it was finished. But I’m sure they added a certain… je ne sais quoi.

The cider in this recipe is what Americans will know as “hard cider” (i.e. alcoholic). I used Thatcher’s Green Goblin cider, which is medium-dry.

I used low-salt bouillon (Marigold brand), so the stew needed more salt than if I’d used regular bouillon.

Mr Thrifty had also requested dumplings, which were cooked in the stew for the last 30 minutes or so. I’m not including the dumpling recipe as they turned out a bit dense, and I’ll be tweaking it next time.

The stew was a kind of thick at the bottom, so I added a bit of water before we piggishly had seconds.

I really like the texture of the TVP chunks in this recipe. When the stew has cooked for, say, three or four hours, the texture of the TVP is still a bit sponge-like, but after a couple more hours, it becomes less spongy and more, well, meat-like I suppose. Mr Thrifty reckoned the texture was very much like lamb (an effect achieved, thankfully, without having to harm either a lamb or your karma).

Enjoy!

Slow cooker vegan Irish stew

British		American
4 teaspoons	olive oil (divided)	4 teaspoons
50g	dry TVP chunks	generous 1 cup
120g	onion, diced	1 medium
2 cloves	garlic, finely chopped	2 cloves
1 pint	vegetable bouillon	2-1/3 cups
1 tablespoon	nutritional yeast	1 tablespoon
100ml	medium-dry cider	3/8 cup
300g	potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks	10 ounces
110g	carrots, peeled & cut into chunks	2 small
3 tablespoons	pearl barley	3 tablespoons
3 tablespoons	vegan “bacon” bits	3 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon	salt, or to taste	1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon	fresh or dried rosemary	1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon	coarsely ground peppercorns	1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon	dried sage leaf	1/2 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon	dried thyme leaf	1/4 teaspoon
1	bay leaf	1
	spring onions for garnish (optional)

1. Heat two teaspoons of the olive oil and saute TVP chunks until lightly browned. Remove to slow cooker.

2. Heat remaining two teaspoons of olive oil and saute onion for 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and continue to saute for another minute. Remove to slow cooker.

3. Make up vegetable bouilon with boiling water. Add nutritional yeast and stir to dissolve. Add this to the slow cooker along with the cider.

4. Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker: potatoes, carrots, barley, vegan “bacon” bits and seasonings. Stir well.

4. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Makes two generous servings.

Slow cooker TVP chili

Nov 022010

This is a delicious and easy chili for the slow cooker. It’s not quite a throw-it-all-in-and-turn-on-the-slow-cooker recipe, but close. The onion & garlic is sauteed first to give the chili extra flavour, and the cumin seeds are toasted. These extra steps don’t take much time, but the end result make them well worth the effort.

For the uninitiated, TVP (textured vegetable protein) is a meat substitute made from defatted soy flour (I realise that does not sound especially appetising, but have faith). It comes in dry form, as either chunks or granules (this chili uses granules). TVP doesn’t have a lot of flavour on its own, but absorbs the flavours of other ingredients. The texture is very similar to mince (ground meat), except much cheaper and healthier. I buy mine from Holland & Barrett, where it’s called “soya protein mince”. You’ll probably want to ensure that the TVP you buy is made from non-genetically modified soybeans. The last time I bought TVP (about a year ago) from H&B, they assured me it was made with non-GM soy, but this may have changed; it’s worth checking before you buy.

Toasting the cumin seeds really brings out the flavour, so don’t skip this step.

Raw red peppers can be substituted for the roasted ones (if you must), in which case saute them with the onion in step one.

If you’re cooking beans from scratch, start with 110g (generous 1/2 cup) of dry beans. You can let Stanley cook them the day before (or overnight), if you like.

There are a couple of tablespoons of Puy (continental) lentils in the chili as well, because… well… lentils *rock* in chili.

Chili is great served with toppings such as spring onions, vegan sour cream, vegan cheese, fresh tomatoes, fresh coriander (cilantro), diced avocado, pickled jalapenos, and so on.

Serve with rice, garlic bread or tortilla chips, and a side salad.

Slow cooker TVP chili

British		American
1 tablespoon	olive oil (or oil from sundried tomatoes or roasted peppers)	1 tablespoon
90g	onion, diced	3/4 cup
3 cloves	garlic, finely chopped	3 cloves
1 teaspoon	cumin seeds, toasted & lightly crushed*	1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon	mild paprika	1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon	sugar	1 teaspoon
3/4 teaspoon	oregano	3/4 teaspoon
3/4 teaspoon	salt, or to taste	3/4 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon	coarsely ground peppercorns	1/2 teaspoon
1/8 teaspoon	cayenne, or to taste	1/8 teaspoon
400g tin	chopped tomatoes	14 oz can
400g tin	kidney beans, drained & rinsed	14 oz can
	(or 1-1/2 cups of cooked kidney beans)
90g	roasted red pepper, diced	3/4 cup
45g	dry TVP granules	1/2 cup
2 tablespoons	Puy lentils (or other lentils)	2 tablespoons
375ml	water	1-1/2 cups
	Toppings of choice: vegan sour cream, spring onions, shredded vegan cheese, fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped fresh tomato, etc.

1. Saute onion in oil for 5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and continue to saute for another minute.

2. Add toasted & crushed cumin seeds, paprika, sugar, oregano, salt, pepper and cayenne and mix well. Turn off heat.

3. In slow cooker, combine tomatoes, drained & rinsed kidney beans, roasted red pepper, TVP, lentils, water and sauteed onion mixture.

4. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.

Makes four servings.

* Toast cumin seeds in a heavy skillet (I use cast iron) over medium heat for a few minutes, until fragrant. Remove to mortar and crush lightly with pestle.

Chargrill style veggie burgers

Aug 042010

ASDA has come out with a new range of vegetarian just-add-water mixes. The range includes burgers, sausages, falafel and nut roast.

When I first spied them in the store, I perused the ingredients list and noticed the presence of soy. It was not specified if this was genetically modified or not, so I called the ASDA help line on the back of the packet to enquire. Unfortunately, despite a 12-minute phone call at my expense, the customer “service” rep could not tell me if the soy was genetically modified or not. I asked if ASDA had a blanket policy on GM foods, but the rep was clueless on that as well. He took my contact details and promised a response within a couple of days, which (weeks later) I am still waiting for. Zero out of 10 for customer service on that one, ASDA!

We bought a couple of the packet mixes anyway, with the idea that we’d return them if it turned out they contained GM soy. After several days, and having received no response from ASDA, I searched the internet for the information. Turns out ASDA does have a GM-free policy, which applies to all of their own-brand food ingredients, but does not extend to “the feeding of GM derived materials to livestock”. No GM worries for vegans, then!

Back to the food. The mixes sell for 78p, but are currently on offer at two for £1. Depending on the mix, they make from two to four servings each, so are really good value, and are a great idea when you’re pressed for time and want something quick and nutritious.

The first one in the range we tried was “Chargrill style meat free burger mix”, and we were not disappointed.

Preparation couldn’t be easier, as you simply add water to the dry mix and let stand for 10 minutes. You can then form the mixture into burgers. The directions called for making eight small burgers, but I made four “normal”-sized ones instead. I made the burgers using my burger press, but you can also form them by hand. They were then pan-fried until golden on each side. I fried two of the burgers; the remaining two were frozen uncooked for another meal.

I was pleased that the burgers held together nicely in the frypan. Both Mr Thrifty and I loved the savoury, delicious taste that was a bit reminiscent of fried onions.

When the time came to use the frozen burgers, I partially thawed them before frying, as I didn’t want them to overbrown before being hot inside. This worked beautifully, and were indistinguishable from the freshly-made burgers.

I highly recommend the new ASDA Chargrill style meat free burger mix as a quick, convenient, delicious and thrifty purchase. Reviews of other products in this range are forthcoming!

Faux meat experiments

Jul 302010

The other day I decided to experiment with a couple of faux meaty things.

I made “white seitan” from the book Viva Vegan (recipe can be found here; I made 1/4 of the recipe). I first steamed it for 30 minutes, then let it cool for a few minutes and tried it. It was gummy and unappealing, so I wrapped it back up and let it steam for 90 minutes total. This time the texture was nice and chewy. The flavour is good as well. It can be sliced very thinly. I think I still prefer seitan made with the addition of tofu though, as in this experiment.

I also had a package of bean curd skin in the freezer, and had wanted for ages to try making “ham” from it.

I started by cutting the bean curd skin into julienne strips, then poured boiling water over to soften. Drained it well, then added soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds and sugar. Wrapped it tightly in a piece of muslin and steamed over simmering water for 90 minutes.

It worked pretty well. Both Mr Thrifty and I really liked the texture, but the flavour was nothing like ham. It has to be sliced quick thickly or it breaks up. The problem is going to be trying to get the flavours into the ham before steaming it. Using too much liquid seasoning means it just leaks out when being steamed. Next time I am going to try making my own bean curd skin from homemade soya milk, as I’m concerned that the bought bean curd skin may be made from genetically modified soya beans.

Further faux meat experiments to come!

Vegan hamburger steaks

Apr 092010

Vegan hamburger steak

These meatless hamburger steaks are really amazing. The texture is EXACTLY like what I remember hamburger being like, and Mr Thrifty concurs. The taste is most delicious, though the flavour could be tweaked to make it more meat-like if you so desire.

The hamburger steaks are a combination of TVP, gluten, minced veggies and seasonings. They’re formed into steaks and steamed, then pan-fried. They hold together very well, and would probably work great on the barbecue.

A thinner version of these would make fab burgers as well.

A note on ingredients: Marmite lends a rich, salty taste. If you don’t have it, try adding some veggie “beef” bouillon powder instead. The gravy browning is optional, but adds a nice dark colour.

Vegan hamburger steaks

British		American
100ml	water	1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon
50g	textured vegetable protein (TVP)	5/8 cup
1/2 teaspoon	Marmite	1/2 teaspoon
10 drops	gravy browning (optional)	10 drops
75g	finely chopped onion	2/3 cup
60g	finely chopped mushrooms	3/4 cup
50g	finely chopped red pepper	1/4 cup
3 tablespoons	olive oil	3 tablespoons
3 tablespoons	soy sauce	3 tablespoons
2 tablespoons	tomato puree (tomato paste)	2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons	steak sauce or barbecue sauce	2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon	vegan Worcestershire sauce	1/2 teaspoon
50ml	water	3-1/2 tablespoons
30g	uncooked porridge oats (oatmeal,) ground	1/4 cup
1-1/2 tablespoons	nutritional yeast	1-1/2 tablespoons
130g	vital wheat gluten flour	1 cup

1. Bring 100ml (1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon) water, Marmite and gravy browning to a boil in a small pot. Stir in TVP, off heat, cover and let stand for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a heavy skillet and saute the onion, mushrooms and red pepper for 10 minutes, until softened.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine TVP with cooked vegetables. Add soy sauce, tomato puree (tomato paste), steak sauce or barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce and 50ml (3-1/2 tablespoons) water. Mix well, then stir in ground oats and nutritional yeast.

4. Sieve the gluten flour over the wet mixture and combine well.

5. Divide mixture into four portions and shape into oval steaks. Wrap each steak in baking paper, then in aluminium foil.

6. Bring water to boil in a pot that has a steamer insert. Steam steaks for 40 minutes over gently simmering water, switching positions halfway through (bottom steaks on top and top ones on bottom). Check water level regularly to ensure the pot does not boil dry and add boiling water as necessary.

7. When steaks have finished steaming, let cool. Unwrap and saute until lightly brown.

Makes four hamburger steaks.

What I’ve been up to lately…

Mar 112010

Vegan hamburger steak 2

I know I’ve been neglecting my blog somewhat, but I’ve been a busy little beaver in the kitchen.

I created the most amazing vegan-hamburger-steak-type thing which had just the perfect texture and a savoury and delicious flavour. And on the first try as well!

I also made some awesome vegan pepperoni sticks:

Vegan pepperoni sticks

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Not to mention some very tasty butter bean burgers with a lovely crunchy crust (which all good bean burgers must have):

Butter bean burgers

.
AND, I also tried my hand at homemade crisps. It would be truly dangerous if I made these on a regular basis:

Homemade crisps

.
Recipes will be in forthcoming posts!

But that’s not all…

I took a look in my freezer a month or so ago and realised there were still a couple of drawers full of fruit, waiting patiently to be made into wine. I’ve been making a gallon a week since then and so far have brewing: blackberry-raspberry; plum-blackerry; cherry-cranberry; elderberry-blackcurrant; and plum-blackcurrant-blackberry. YUM!

I also invested in a brand-spanking-new SoyQuick 930P, kind of the Rolls Royce of soya milk makers. Woohoo! I’ve made not just soya milk but also hemp milk, and will soon be experimenting with homemade tofu. Very exciting!

And I’ve bought a few exotic and somewhat hard-to-find ingredients: carrageenan, agar-agar and locust bean gum. These have been used to make a delicious garlic pâté (which was supposed to be cheese, but ended up with a consistency and flavour like pâté), as well as the aforementioned pepperoni.

Not only that, but we’ve been starting to prepare the allotments for the new growing season, and Mr Thrifty will be utilising his exceptional garden DIY skills to make raised beds for our second allotment. It’s a new and better design (hopefully) than the ones that are on our first allotment.

And if that weren’t enough, we’ve also joined a food co-op, and now can buy all kinds of delicious organic food at wholesale prices! Our first order has come in and we’ll be picking it up tomorrow. Yay!

Stay tuned, cyber-friends, details of these new ventures will be coming soon!

Chickeny seitan cutlets with mushroom gravy

Feb 252010

Chickeny seitan cutlets with mushroom gravy

Sometimes I’m in the mood for a big ol’ slab of protein… seitan, that is!

A couple of days ago, I made Matt’s recipe for Chickeny seitan cutlets. I tweaked the spices slightly (I omitted the bay leaf and instead added celery seed and freshly ground pepper); used regular tofu instead of silken; and made half a recipe.

I like this recipe because it involves cooking the seitan cutlets in broth in the oven. This is easier than cooking them in a pot on the hob, where inattention can mean the difference between seitan cutlets and seitan brains. I checked them after about an hour, and they still seemed a long way from cooked, so I increased the temperature to 180C (350F). That did the trick and they were perfectly cooked in a total of just over 1-1/2 hours.

I then dusted the cutlets with flour and panfried them.

We served them with Mr Thrifty’s special mash, creamy mushroom gravy and a red cabbage salad from Epicurious.

The cutlets were delicious, tender and tasty, and the gravy was a perfect accompaniment. As for Mr Thrifty’s mash… well let’s just say, this is the mash that turned me into a mashed potato lover. The salad, I have to admit, was not my favourite; the flavours just didn’t seem to work together very well.

The best thing about the cutlets is that there were four left over. Yesterday I thinly sliced two of them to use as chickeny strips in Buddha bowls, and they were excellent in that role as well.

So when you have a few minutes, go and check out Matt’s blog My Veggie Kitchen, he’s got a lot of great vegan recipes.

Creamy mushroom gravy

British		American
375ml	vegan mushroom or “chicken” bouillon	1-1/2 cups
1 tablespoon	nutritional yeast	1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon	soy sauce	1 teaspoon
1/8 teaspoon	dried thyme	1/8 teaspoon
to taste	salt and freshly ground black pepper	to taste
2 tablespoons	cornflour (cornstarch) or arrowroot	2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon	vegan cream cheese (optional)	1 tablespoon
70g	thinly sliced mushrooms	1 cup

1. Reserve two tablespoons of the bouillon and heat the rest in a small pot over medium heat. As it is heating, add the nutritional yeast, soy sauce, thyme, and salt & pepper to taste.

2. Meanwhile, mix the cornflour (cornstarch) into the reserved bouillon and set aside.

3. When the bouillon in the pot comes to a simmer, give the cornflour/bouillon mixture a stir and add it to the pot, whisking continuously, and bring again to a simmer, whisking all the while. The mixture will thicken as the cornflour cooks.

4. Whisk in the optional cream cheese until incorporated.

5. Add sliced mushrooms and stir. Cover, turn heat to low, and cook at a gentle simmer until mushrooms are cooked, about five minutes.

Seitan turkey roast version 2.0

Dec 252009

Seitan turkey roast

This year for Christmas Day dinner, I made the same centrepiece as one year ago: seitan turkey roast with wild rice stuffing. This scrumptious vegan dish is similar to commercial products like Tofurkey or Cheatin’ Roast. Only better.

For side dishes, we had stuffing balls; veggie bacon-wrapped sausages; various roasted veggies: potatoes, oca, parsnips, carrots and brussels sprouts; along with braised leeks. All served with homemade turkey-style veggie gravy and lingonberry sauce (which is like cranberry sauce), accompanied by delicious homemade wine from our postman and friend, Hugh.

A vegan feast!

I decided to do the seitan turkey a bit different from last year. The technique of kneading the seitan dough, letting it rest, then kneading it again is rather time-consuming. And I found that it is not necessary to do it this way, as the texture of the seitan is not any different than simply using a basic seitan deli slice recipe. This method involves blenderising the wet ingredients, then stirring in the dry ingredients to make the dough. No kneading and no waiting.

I made the seitan turkey the day before. This meant that on Christmas day all I had to do was wrap the roast in the beancurd sheet (optional, but gives it a nice crispy “skin”) and heat it in the oven. I think the texture is a bit better if the roast is left to rest in the refrigerator overnight, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.

If you don’t want to use beancurd sheet to make a “skin”, I suggest basting the roast so that it doesn’t dry out. There are a few basting suggestions on the Tofurkey site.

I’m posting this seitan turkey roast recipe as the “new and improved” version over last year’s.

Happy Christmas to all creatures!

Vegan Christmas dinner 2009 2

Seitan turkey roast with wild rice stuffing (version 2.0)

British		American
TURKEY
Wet mix
30g	ground raw cashews or almonds	5 tablespoons
250g	tofu	9 ounces
1	vegan chicken-style bouillon cube	1
	(enough to make 2 cups of bouillon)
1 tablespoon	soy sauce	1 tablespoon
3 tablespoons	mild vegetable oil	3 tablespoons
34g	finely chopped onion	1/4 cup
2 tablespoons	nutritional yeast	2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon	minced fresh garlic	1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon	salt	1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon	freshly ground pepper	1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon	dried sage	1/2 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon	minced fresh rosemary	1/4 teaspoon
1/8 teaspoon	dried thyme	1/8 teaspoon
Dry mix
160g	vital wheat gluten flour	1 cup + 3 tablespoons
1 teaspoon	arrowroot or cornflour (cornstarch)	1 teaspoon
STUFFING
40g	wild rice, rinsed	1/4 cup
2 tablespoons	vegan margarine	2 tablespoons
60g	finely chopped onion	1/2 cup
40g	finely sliced mushrooms	1/2 cup
1 stick	celery, finely chopped	1 stick
90g	fresh breadcrumbs	1-1/2 cups
60-120ml	veggie chicken-style broth	1/4-1/2 cup
2 tablespoons	dried cranberries, finely chopped	2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons	walnuts or pecans, finely chopped	2 tablespoons
to taste	salt, pepper, sage, thyme & rosemary	to taste
TO FINISH
40x50cm sheet	bean curd skin	16×20″ sheet
1 tablespoon	mild vegetable oil	1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon	soy sauce	1 teaspoon

1. First, make stuffing. Rinse rice thoroughly with cold water. Bring a small pot of water to the boil, add rice and simmer for 40-45 minutes, until grains are beginning to pop.

2. Heat margarine in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat and saute onion, celery and mushroom until tender, about 5-10 minutes.

3. When rice is cooked, add to the sauteed vegetables along with the breadcrumbs, cranberries and pecans; mix thoroughly. Add enough broth to make the mixture moist but not soggy. Add salt, pepper and herbs to taste. Set dressing aside.

4. If you’re starting with whole cashews or almonds, grind them in the blender first while it’s still clean and dry, then remove and set aside.

5. Crumble the tofu into the blender. Put the bouillon cube in a glass measuring cup and add a couple tablespoons of boiling water to dissolve the cube. Add the soy sauce, then add enough water so the mixture equals 100ml (6-1/2 tablespoons). Add this to the blender.

6. Add remaining ingredients to blender EXCEPT gluten. Blenderise until completely smooth. Empty into a large mixing bowl.

7. Whisk together the gluten and arrowroot or cornflour (cornstarch), then stir into the wet ingredients and mix until evenly combined. You’ll have a soft dough.

8. Place a large piece of cling film (Saran wrap) onto the work surface. Turn dough out onto the cling film and press flat into a 25x38cm (10″x15″) rectangle.

9. Spread stuffing evenly over dough, leaving a 1″ border at the edges. Roll into a log (starting from the short end), then press the ends together to seal. Make sure the log is short enough to fit into your steamer. You can gently press the log into a shorter, fatter shape if it’s a bit too long.

Seitan turkey before rolling

Seitan turkey before rolling

Seitan turkey after rolling

Seitan turkey after rolling

10. Wrap the log in a piece of baking paper (parchment paper), then in muslin and tie the ends with cotton string. If you don’t have baking paper and muslin, feel free to wrap the roast in foil (I personally don’t like to have foil in direct contact with food, but hey, you can live dangerously). If you use foil, use at least a double layer so that the expanding roast doesn’t burst the foil. Also, don’t wrap it super-tight… leave a bit of expansion room.

Seitan turkey wrapped in muslin

Seitan turkey wrapped in muslin

11. Bring water to boil in a pot that has a steamer insert. Steam turkey for two hours over gently simmering water, turning a quarter turn every half hour. Check water level regularly to ensure the pot does not boil dry and add boiling water as necessary.

12. The roast can be prepared ahead of time to this point. If preparing ahead, let cool and refrigerate.

13. For “skin” on turkey: Preheat oven to 400F (200C). When finished steaming, let turkey cool until it can be handled. (Or remove from refrigerator if prepared ahead of time.) Unwrap from muslin and baking paper/parchment. Take the sheet of beancurd skin and dip it into a bowl of warm water until it softens. Don’t oversoak it or it will start to fall apart. Fold beancurd skin in half and place on work surface. Place turkey on top of beancurd skin, fold in the sides and wrap around the turkey.

14. Combine oil and soy sauce. Brush over surface of turkey.

15. Bake in preheated oven for 30-45 minutes, rotating halfway through, until “skin” is crispy. Slice and serve with gravy and all the trimmings.

Serves 4-6.

Vegan turkey gravy

British		American
310ml	water	1-1/4 cups
2 tablespoons	soya creamer	2 tablespoons
3/4	vegan chicken-style bouillon cube (enough for 1-1/2 cups water)	3/4
1 tablespoon	nutritional yeast	1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon	soy sauce	1 teaspoon
generous 1/8 teaspoon	granulated onion	generous 1/8 teaspoon
1/8 teaspoon	granulated garlic	1/8 teaspoon
to taste	sage, thyme, salt and freshly ground pepper	to taste
2 tablespoons	cold water	2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons	cornflour (cornstarch)	2 tablespoons

1. Bring 310ml (1-1/4 cups) water to a simmer with bouillon cube. Add soya cream, onion, garlic, sage, thyme, salt & pepper.

2. Mix 2 tablespoons cold water with cornflour (cornstarch) until blended.

3. When broth mixture is simmering, slowly whisk in cornflour (cornstarch) mixture, until gravy is as thick as you like it. Continue to gently simmer for another couple of minutes.

Serve with seitan turkey roast.

Spaghetti & meatless meatballs

Oct 222009

Vegan MoFo logo

Spaghetti & meatballs always reminds me of the “spaghetti scene” from Lady & the Tramp. These are so tasty that you may find it difficult to give that last meatball to your loved one.

Spaghetti & meatless meatballs

I made them a bit different than my usual meatballs. I added a third of a recipe of mushroom burgers to the mix, and omitted the oil. They were really good, a bit firmer than usual. Next time I’ll probably just add extra mushrooms to my standard meatball recipe. I think the mushrooms make the meatballs moist without having to add oil.

The sauce was bolognese from Seeds of Change (which, despite the name, contains no meat or faux meat).

Vegan Yorkshire puddings

Oct 192009

Vegan MoFo logo Mr Thrifty has been asking me for ages to try my hand at vegan Yorkshire puddings. Since I finally have a Yorkshire pudding tin, I have no more excuses.

Vegan Yorkshire puddings

Woo hoo… success on the first try!

I cannot take credit for this creation.. it’s from the now-defunct blog gorgeousveganblog.co.uk. They are super-easy to make, with only four ingredients: plain flour, gram (chickpea) flour, soya milk and salt.

They are sooo scrummy! Since I’ve never had traditional Yorkshire puddings, I relied on Mr Thrifty to critique their authenticity. He said the only differences between traditional ones and these vegan ones were that these had a slightly sweet taste (from the soya milk, which has a bit of sweetness that I’ve never really noticed before); and also they didn’t rise quite as much.

Roast dinner with vegan Yorkshire pudding

They were perfect with our Sunday roast dinner.

Sharing the plate is a beefy seitan roast, stuffing balls, roast potatoes, vegan gravy and stir-fried Chinese cabbage with garlic.

Inside a vegan Yorkshire pudding

For those who aren’t familiar with Yorkshire puddings (which is probably everyone outside of the UK), they’re like a pancake on the bottom with a crispy coating on the sides & top and a hollow middle. They are traditionally served with Sunday roast dinners, but Mr Thrifty has guiltily admitted to having them with curry in the past.

In future, these will make a regular appearance on the plate whenever we have a roast dinner.

The gal who created the original recipe made them in a muffin tin, and the recipe yielded six puddings, but my Yorkshire puddingn tin only has four holes. There is more batter here than is needed for four puddings, so I’ll tweak the recipe in future.

Because I’m lazy, I didn’t convert the UK “weight” measurements to US “volume” measurements, but will do so next time I make this recipe.

Here, thanks to gorgeousveganblog.co.uk, is the recipe for making these scrummy delights!

Vegan Yorkshire puddings

4oz plain (all-purpose) flour

salt to taste

1 heaped teaspoon gram flour (chickpea flour, besan)

half a pint of soya milk

vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 230C (450F). Pour a thin layer of vegetable oil in the holes of a Yorkshire pudding or muffin tin and place in oven. The oven needs to be hot and the oil needs to be hot.

2. Mix plain flour, salt and gram flour together with a whisk. Gradually pour in the soya milk taking in the flour slowly until all the milk is added and the flour is incorporated. Whisk with all your might until you can see bubbles. (I used the whisk attachment of my stick blender.) Note: the batter will be very thin, much thinner than pancake batter. It’s supposed to be that way.

3. Carefully remove tin from oven and fill the holes. If using a muffin tin, fill half way up; if using a Yorkshire pudding tin, fill all the way up. Put back in oven and cook for about 20 minutes. Don’t open the oven door to check them, as the oven needs to stay really hot. If your oven cooks hotter at the back than the front (like mine), you can rotate the tin halfway through, but do it quickly.

Enjoy!

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Thrifty Living

Slow cooker vegan Irish stew

Slow cooker vegan Irish stew

Slow cooker TVP chili

Slow cooker TVP chili

Chargrill style veggie burgers

Faux meat experiments

Vegan hamburger steaks

Vegan hamburger steaks

What I’ve been up to lately…

Chickeny seitan cutlets with mushroom gravy

Creamy mushroom gravy

Seitan turkey roast version 2.0

Seitan turkey roast with wild rice stuffing (version 2.0)

Vegan turkey gravy

Spaghetti & meatless meatballs

Vegan Yorkshire puddings

Vegan Yorkshire puddings

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