Mum and her new husband are in Melbourne at the moment, so yesterday we celebrated an early Christmas together. While, in my less sane moments, I dream of cooking up a Christmas feast for a dozen plus people, cooking a fancy dinner for just four was quite enough effort. The photos aren't brilliant as I took them in a hurry so that people could start eating, but they give an idea of what was on the table.

The centerpice dish was a Seitan Roulade, from Food Craft Lab, the sister site of veganbaking.net, run by the same guy. This was quite a success. Mine wasn't quite as well rolled as it should have been, but put flat and viewed from above, it looked pretty good. If you want to try this, it's a bit of effort, but worth it. If you want to try this, I found that kneading for the full 5 minutes, as I did on my test run, gave a slightly tough result, probably because it gets a little extra "kneading" in the sheet forming process. The second time, I kneaded for only 3.5 minutes, and that had a better texture. Also, the glaze may need a bit more water, and easily makes enough for two roulades, probably enough for three.

This was accompanied by Gracious Vegan Gravy, also from Food Craft Lab. This is not a quick gravy, but it is seriously good. I recommend making it a day or two before so you one less thing to worry about.

Side dishes were roast potatoes - baked with olive oil, fresh rosemary (absolutely do not use the stuff out of a tube for this - it tastes bitter when roasted), garlic powder, and freshly ground salt and pepper

Roast butternut pumpkin, purple carrot and sweet potato, with olive oil, salt and pepper. I swear the stuff in the middle is not burnt! It's just dark purple carrot...

Stir fried Bok Choi - made as per Veganomicon p. 113 and sprinkled with sesame seeds on top.

I thought I had over-catered, but before long, all that was left was a little roulade and gravy, along with some overly full and lethargic humans.
 

There was also dessert, but dessert deserves a post of its own.
Update: Desert post now up

Happy Birthday to Me

Saturday was my birthday, so I baked myself a cake. Happy birthday to me!

Since it was my birthday, I chose to have a chocolatey chocolate cake. What else? The cake recipe was from veganbaking.net, topped and filled with a (not quite) double amount of Rich Chocolate Ganache from of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, p. 143, and drizzled with melted white chocolate. A friend helped with the strawberry arrangement. I would never have thought to stand them on end like that, but I was quite pleased with the result.

A few notes on the recipe:

• If you're looking for a rich vegan chocolate cake, this is a good one. You could look at it as a rich chocolate cake, or a light mud cake. Either way, it was good.
• The cake recipe explicitly said to use natural, not Dutch processed cocoa powder, and someone commented that they had had poor results using dutched cocoa. However, I bought a 5kg bag of organic fair trade Dutch processed cocoa powder earlier this year... The cake still rose as it should have. If you're Australian and confused about what I'm talking about, most cocoa in Australia is dutched.
• I didn't have any bread flour on hand, so I mixed vital wheat gluten/gluten flour into ordinary plain flour. Use 1 teaspoon per cup. I removed the equivalent amount of plain flour first, or, in other words, used 1 teaspoon of gluten flour for 1 cup minus 1 teaspoon of flour, though that may have been unnecessarily pedantic.
• I went easy on the espresso powder, because I didn't want a coffee flavour in my cake.
• There are two layers of cake here, sandwiched with chocolate ganache. To do this, I doubled the recipe and spread it between two cake tins. 
• Be careful watching the cake towards the end. I tested mine at the minimum time, and it was still underbaked, but a few minutes later, the toothpick came out completely clean, and I was aiming for not quite clean to ensure moistness - and it was on the dry side, though not badly so.
• There is a lot of cake here. You could get at least 16 slices out of this.
• I need to figure out how to ice the sides of a cake without also icing the plate...
• To do the white chocolate drizzle, I used a small round icing tip. However, if you don't have any icing tips, you should still be able to get a good effect using one of these methods
• Just dip a spoon in melted chocolate and gently drizzle it from a height. This will produce a thick and thin result, but I've done it in the past for other applications, and it still looks great.
• Snip the corner off a ziplock bag, fill it with melted chocolate, and use the snipped off corner as make-shift piping tip. The hole should small, err on the small side, you can always make it bigger.

My first multi-step decorated cupcakes

No new recipes today, I'm afraid, But I have some pictures of my recent efforts that I want to share. Yesterday was a good friend's birthday, and as I'm finished exams (Yay me!), I tried my hand at some decorated cupcakes to take along. This is only my second attempt at piping icing, and my first attempt at 2-part piping (the buttercream, and the ganache), but I think they looked impressive enough, if not exactly the product of an experienced and steady hand. Unfortunately, most of the photos didn't turn out (the photos of all the cupcakes laid out in rows for a start), but here are a couple of half-decent ones.

The recipe I used was the Peanut Butter Bombs on p. 37-38 of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World . I followed the instructions exactly, except that I only used 2 cups of icing sugar in the frosting instead of 2.5, and didn't add any soymilk to thin it out as a result. The icing was still more than sweet enough. I was a bit concerned that with less sugar, the icing mightn't be stiff enough, but I iced them the night before, and the icing was still well-defined the next day. I also sprinkled them with crushed nuts instead of chocolate shavings, for no particular reason.

I can see more decorated cupcakes in my future.

Roast pumpkin pasta sauce (vegan)

I tend to eat a lot of pasta, I suspect most vegans do. It's quick and easy, but tomato based sauces can get repetitive, and creamy sauces just aren't an everyday thing. I usually have a chunk of pumpkin mouldering in the back of the fridge... pumpkin lasagne is good, why not pumpkin pasta sauce? The first time I made this, I raved about it for days afterwards, it really is that good, and simple enough to make for an everyday dinner.

Roast pumpkin pasta sauce

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 3 cups mashed roast pumpkin
• ½ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 vegetable bullion cube
• ¾ cup soy milk, or to desired consistency
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• I cup walnuts, Crumbled (for garnish)

• 1 packet fettuccine

Method

1. Get water boiling, and then prepare fettuccine according to packet directions.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, in a medium saucepan, cook onion and garlic until translucent.
3. Meanwhile, dry-toast walnuts in a frying pan or in the oven until fragrant (optional but worth it).
4. Add pumpkin, bullion cube, soy milk and nutritional yeast, and some freshly ground black pepper. Heat through
5. Use an immersion blender to puree. Alternatively, cool, and transfer to a blender.
6. Serve atop fettuccine, garnished with walnuts, and some more freshly ground pepper

How to roast a whole pumpkin

A lot of American recipes call for canned pumpkin. I don't know if you can actually buy it here, I haven't checked, but it's certainly not an everyday pantry item. Besides, I like to avoid cans, because waste and expense.

Since roast pumpkin tastes so much better than boiled or microwaved, roast pumpkin puree is obviously the way to go, so I've always chopped up my pumpkin and roasted it to use in recipes that call for canned pumpkin. However, I recently tried a method with less prep work, and I don't think I’ll ever go back.

Roast pumpkin (whole)

Ingredients

• 1 whole smallish pumpkin
• Olive oil for brushing

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180.
2. Wash and dry the pumpkin, any dust left on the skin can cause problems as it collapses with cooking.
3. Cut in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy bis.
4. Brush cut face with olive oil and place face down on a rimmed baking tray. If there's no lip, you will end up having to clean pumpkin juice off the bottom of your oven. Don't ask me how I know.
5. Put the tray in the oven, and cook until you can easily pierce the skin with a fork. This will vary depending on the size of your pumpkin, but it will probably take around 1.5 hours, start checking earlier if your pumpkin is on the smaller side.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until you can safely touch it.
7. Flip the pumpkin over, and scoop the flesh out. I transfer it to a bowl and roughly mash it. If you need it to be sans any stringy bits for a more fancy dish (such as scones), then you can either push it through a mesh sieve, or attack it with a stick mixer or blender. If you're baking with it, you may also wish to drain it through a strainer to get rid of the excess water.

Pumpkin-based recipes coming soon (I hope!).

Almond and cranberry muesli bars (vegan)

I've eaten a lot of muesli bars in my life. Most commercial muesli bars are not vegan. The ones that are (I'm talking to you Be Natural) taste rather crap. My favourites as a kid were the Uncle Toby's yoghurt topped ones, something I haven't figured out how to reproduce yet, although I believe it could be done at home with the help of a dehydrator. So, yoghurt topped these are not, but delicious they are, and pretty healthy too. Chewy, hearty, and not too sweet.

I've been cycling a lot lately, a long ride every weekend on top of my usual commuting, and find that one of these makes a great mid-ride pick-me-up. They also make good study food. I eat too much study food...

Almond and cranberry muesli bars

Makes: about 18 bars, depending on how you cut them

Ingredients

• 1½ cups rolled oats
• ½ cup almonds, roughly chopped
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• ¼ cup agave or maple syrup (or honey, if you're ok with that)
• ¾ cup smooth peanut butter (or other nut butter)
• ⅔ cup sweetened dried cranberries (craisins)
• ½ cup chocolate chips

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 and toast the oats in a brownie tin for about 15 minutes, or until lightly golden and crispy, then transfer to a large bowl.
2. Now roast the almonds for about 10 minutes, or until fragrant, then transfer to the bowl.
3. Turn off oven, then toast the coconut in the still warm oven for about 5 minutes, until golden. Watch closely, as coconut burns quickly.
4. Meanwhile, mix the agave and peanut butter in a small saucepan over low heat until combined.
5. Add all the remaining ingredients to the bowl, including the peanut butter mixture, and mix thoroughly.
6. Once the brownie tin is cool enough, wipe it out, and line the bottom and sides with cling wrap. Fill with muesli bar mixture, and use the back of a spoon to distribute evenly, packing it down firmly to help it hold together.
7. Cover with another layer of cling wrap,and transfer to the freezer for about 1 hour, or until solid.
8. Remove all the cling wrap, transfer to a cutting board, and cut into bars, squares, or whatever you prefer. I cut mine in half lengthways, and then into small bars.
9. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Cranberry "turkey" bagel (vegan)

I haven't forgotten this blog, I've just had a mini explosion of uni assignments. I've still been doing some blog-related stuff, but I just haven't been able to get any recipes finalised, photographed and written up. Sorry.


In the meantime, here's a simple to prepare but rather gourmet lunch idea. I don't think I can get away with calling it a recipe, and it requires quite a few processed ingredients, but it's an awesome combination that I've had for lunch several times in the last few weeks, and it makes me oh so happy. You could do this as a sandwich instead of as a bagel, but having eaten it both ways, the bagel tastes way, way better.

 

Cranberry "turkey" bagel

Serves: 1


Ingredients

• 1 relatively plain bagel - seeds are ok, but don't go for any strong flavourings
• Vegan cream cheese such as Tofutti
• Cranberry sauce
• Mock deli meat - I've been using these, available at Woolies and probably Coles
• Avocado
• Salad leaves

Method

1. Halve your bagel, and spread Tofutti on one half, and cranberry sauce on the other
2. Put 2-3 slices of deli "meat" on the cranberry side, top with some sliced avocado and lettuce, then but the lid on.
3. Stuff into your face and enjoy escaping, for a time, from the thousands of words you're supposed to be writing.

Teriyaki Sauce (vegan)

The first time I made a home made a teriyaki noodle bowl, I kept making contented humming noises and saying things along the lines of "I've cracked noodle box." This sauce is good. Really good. The day I took these photos, I was home alone and made a half recipe over noodles and veggies, which should have been enough for dinner and lunch the next day. I had to find something else for lunch...

Teriyaki Sauce

Makes: Enough sauce for 3-4 servings of stir fry
Adapted from: Oh She Glows

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 tablespoons mirin
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
• 3 teaspoons raw sugar, or to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced (out of a tube/jar is fine)
• pinch of chilli flakes

• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 2 tablespoons cold water

• sesame seeds for garnish

Method

1. Mix together cornflour and water in a small dish until smooth, and keep separate.
2. Whisk together all the other ingredients in a small-to-medium mixing bowl.
3. Set aside, to let the flavours meld, and prepare your stir fry or noodle bowl ingredients.
4. Once your stir fry is done, pour in the sauce and bring to the boil
5. Re-mix your cornflour, and then add to the sauce and stir through for about 30 seconds or until sauce is thickened, then remove from heat.
6. Serve, garnished with sesame seeds.

Why isn't The Doctor a vegetarian?

This past year I have turned into a bit of a Doctor Who nut. We started watching the reboot just before Christmas, and finished all seven seasons with a few weeks to spare before yesterday's launch of season 8. I freely acknowledge that it's not brilliant TV, it's no Game of Thrones, and most episodes have plot holes, often giant ones, but it's fun, entertaining, and, unlike Game of Thrones, rarely leaves me feeling depressed.

When I found out that yesterday's season premiere was going to be shown in cinemas, I immediately booked tickets, even though they were overpriced, because I wanted the experience of being introduced to Peter Capaldi's Doctor in cinemas. I even dressed for the occasion.

However, there is one thing that really bothers me. The Doctor has lived for over 1000 years. He always gives his enemies a chance, and is friends with all different species, and tends to reject differences between species as being relevant. He has a strong objection to causing harm, and an incredibly deontological (what you do matters more than the overall consequences) approach to ethics (Time War complexities aside). Why then, is he perfectly happy to eat roast beef, not to mention fish fingers and custard? It's true that humans (and presumably Gallifreyans) are good at cognitive dissonance, and he is probably better than most, considering his history in the Time War, but I still don't think that meat eating makes sense for his character.

Of course, The Doctor is supposed to be appealing to the everyday Brit, and I guess a vegetarian Doctor, let alone a vegan one, would probably damage that appeal somewhat. Furthermore, it probably wouldn't have occurred to the scriptwriters in the first place. That doesn't stop it from being jarring every time I see him tucking in to something he shouldn't. Furthermore, when I did a bit of digging, I discovered that the Sixth Doctor became vegetarian, and the Doctor wasn't seen to eat meat again until the reboot (source). Why couldn't that have been kept in for the reboot? They needn't have made a thing of it, just not shown the doctor sitting down and happily chowing down on animal flesh.

What do you think? Am I overanalysing an in general superficial storyline? Alternatively, what do you think of the Season 8 premiere?

I'm feeling cautiously optimistic that Clara is finally going to develop some character depth, and the throwaway line "Last time I checked you weren't a vegetarian" (no context given to avoid spoilers) was particularly interesting given that I already had this post half-written last night. I also fell like I'm going to like the new doctor. Of course, the only one I didn't like on intro was Tennant, who I think ended up being my favourite.

How to make genuinely delicious tofu

When I was in primary school, Mum went through a phase where she tried cooking with tofu quite a bit. Actually, I only seem to remember one tofu recipe that she made repeatedly, it was tofu, capsicum and tomato in a watery sauce. At the time I had to hold my nose to eat it. My tastes have matured since then, but I suspect I would still find that meal bland and unappealing.

Fast forward to my first trip to Japan in late high school. There I thought I learned the trick to making tofu edible - it was using it as a meat filler rather than a meat replacer - minced meat + crumbled tofu was ok, if not as good as the mince without the tofu.

After returning to Australia, however, I'm pretty sure that I barely, if at all, saw tofu again until my next time in Japan. This time around, I discovered Aburaage, tofu that's been pre-deep fried for you, and that was pretty good, if you define good based on taste rather than the effect on your arteries. I actually bought that to cook with every now and then, but unfortunately, it's very expensive to buy here in Australia

After returning from Japan, I turned vegetarian, followed by vegan. It was time for me to forge a new relationship with tofu. It took a while. I've been vegetarian for nearly two years now, and it was only recently that I discovered how to make really good tofu.

A lot of people recommend freezing tofu to give it a meaty flavour and help it absorb the marinade. That definitely improves the tofu, but it's not the method that had me dancing around the kitchen and snatching pieces of tofu from the pan and shoving them into my mouth. Crispy on the outside, smooth and creamy on the inside, I never knew tofu could be this good. It's lightly salty though otherwise rather bland, but in a pleasant way, like chips are bland. Of course, once you've added it to a stir-fry with a flavoursome sauce, you won't need to worry about bland. Admittedly, it's not exactly low fat, but I'm ok with that.

How to make genuinely delicious tofu

Most of what I write here came from Herbivoracious. Definitely read that article in full. However, I'm going to reproduce the basics here, with some of my own perspective.

Step 1: Buy good tofu

Get good, fresh, firm or extra-firm tofu. Do not use the shelf-stable dry packed tofu. It has it's uses, but a stir fry is not one of them. If you can, buy tofu from your local Asian food shop rather than from Coles or Woolworths. I find this one to be excellent, even though I think it's only firm rather than extra firm.

It's made locally, so I'm not sure how readily available it is, but they sell it in my local Asian grocer. If you're in Melbourne, you may be able to find it. Whatever you do, do not use the organic firm tofu they sell in Coles, it has a really lumpy texture, which will not give you the effect we're after here.

Step 2: Cut your tofu

Rather than making big cubes, slice the tofu into thin slabs about 1cm thick. Then slice the rectangles in half on the diagonal to make triangles (my preference), or alternatively cube it, slice it into strips, or just leave as rectangles.

Step 3: Soak the tofu

This is optional in the guide I was following, but I have decreed that it is not. Soak the tofu in freshly boiled well-salted water for about 15 minutes, making sure that the pieces of tofu are separated so they all have water exposure. This pulls some of the moisture out of the tofu, improving the texture, and also makes it slightly salty and delicious straight out of the pan.

Step 4: Dry the tofu

Lay out a clean tea towel, spread out the tofu on top, then put another tea towel on top. Pat dry.

Step 5: Pan fry the tofu

Heat a pan over high heat, using a high smoke point neutral tasting oil. Peanut oil is good. You want to make sure there is a decent amount of oil in the pan. Do not skimp on the oil.

I go against instructions and do it in a non-stick pan (I don't own a cast iron one), though I turn the heat down a notch, and it still works great. Put the tofu in the pan in a single layer. You may need to do several batches, but if you overcrowd the pan it won't crisp.

When the tofu is golden brown, flip it over. When it's golden brown on both sides, set aside on some paper towel.

If you're making a stir fry, or curry or whatever, removing it from the pan is important. If you dump everything on your tofu, you will ruin all the work you have put into crisping the tofu. Add the tofu back into your dish right near the end, when you're putting the sauce into the stir fry, or just in time to heat up if it's a curry. Or just season it with some more salt and eat it. It really is surprisingly good.

Note: when I took these photos, I used (sustainably harvested) red palm oil for frying, because Mum bought it for me last time she visited. The vivid yellow colour comes from the red palm oil, so if you use peanut oil, expect a more ordinary colour. I couldn't bothered redoing it all with an ordinary oil just for the sake of realistic looking photos.

Traditional Lasagne - Veganized

Growing up, Mum's lasagne was one of my favourite foods, and it easily beat any other traditional lasagne I'd ever eaten. I used to rave to my friends about how good Mum's lasagne was, especially when we got fed some terrible lasagne look-alike on school camp. In retrospect, I expect my friends found it rather tedious.

I don't usually cook with fake meats, but to make this vegan version taste authentic, I needed to try something other than lentils. Enter TVP, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at the result. In this dish, I suspect it could fool most omnivores, although it's not easy for me to test this theory.

This recipe is long and contains a lot of steps. It is time-consuming, but it isn't difficult. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed

Recipe Notes

• Liquid smoke isn't the easiest ingredient to find in Australia. If you can't find it, it doesn't matter, I just added it to compensate for the smokiness of the missing bacon. You may be able to find it in a health food store, or, if you have one nearby, an import store.
• It may seem like there's quite a bit of oil in the sugo. This is because meat naturally contains fat, but TVP doesn't have any, and needs fat added to give it a nice mouth-feel.
• You shouldn't need to add any salt to the sugo because of the salt in the beef style stock. If you use a salt free stock powder, you might need to add salt. If you use a salty stock powder, and it's not salty enough, I'd recommend adding more stock powder instead of salt.
• You can prepare this the morning of or even the day before. Just cover with clingwrap and store in the fridge. This makes it ideal for entertaining. I think that the fact that the lasagne noodles have time to absorb juices prior to going into the oven more or less compensates for the fact that the lasagne needs to be heated up from cold rather than warm.
• You can use commercial vegan cheese on top instead of the cheesy sauce. In that case, just make half the amount of bechamel base, and then add the nutmeg to it.

Traditional Lasagna

Serves: 6-8
Veganised from Mum's lasagne recipe, which I think originally came off a lasagne box a long long time ago

Ingredients
TVP "Mince"

• 3/4 cup TVP crumbles
• 2/3 cup hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1 tablespoon beef style stock powder (I use Massel brand)

Sugo (the tomato layer)

• 2 + 2 tablespoons light oil (not virgin), divided
• 1 Small onion
• 1 quantity "mince"
• ¾ cup dry white wine
• 2 x 400g tins peeled and diced tomatoes
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 1 heaped teaspoon Italian herbs
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Freshly ground black pepper

Bechamel/Cheesy topping

• 4 tablespoons light olive oil (not virgin)
• 4 tablespoons plain flour
• 1.2L soymik 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1/3 cup Nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon Lemon juice

Other

• About 1 box instant lasagne sheets (6 large sheets)

Method
TVP "Mince"

1. Mix the stock powder and liquid smoke into the water
2. Add the dry TVP to a medium sized pot, cover with the stock mixture, and cook over low to medium heat until the water is completely absorbed
3. Add half the oil, and try to brown it, or at least cook until all the oil is absorbed, and then a few minutes afterwards. I find it difficult to get to brown.
4. Set aside.

Sugo

1. In the same pot you used for the mince, heat the remaining oil, and cook the onion over medium heat until golden brown, then add back the mince.
2. Increase to high heat, add wine and stir until it evaporates.
3. Add the tinned tomatoes and tomato paste, and bring to the boil.
4. Season with freshly ground black pepper, sugar and mixed herbs. Taste, and if it needs salt, add more beef stock powder, or if you prefer, salt.
5. Cover, and set aside. 

Bechamel

1. Heat oil over medium heat, and whisk in flour.
2. When the roux turns lightly golden, gradually pour in the soymilk, stirring constantly. It will go really lumpy at first, but as you keep adding milk and stirring it will smooth out.
3. Season with salt and pepper and continue to stir until sauce has boiled and is smooth and thick.



4. Divide in half
5. Season one half with nutmeg. This forms the bechmel.
6. Stir nutritional yeast and lemon juice into the other half. This forms the cheesy topping.

Assembling the Lasagne

1. Lightly grease an oven-proof lasagne dish.
2. Pour a thin layer of bechamel into the dish. 

3. Arrange uncooked lasagna sheets over the bechamel. 

4. Cover with half the sugo and half the remaining bechamel.


5. Add another layer of lasagne sheets.
6. Repeat step 4 and 5.

7. Cover the top with the cheese sauce, making sure that there isn't any lasagne sheet left uncovered, or it won't have the moisture it needs to cook.

8. Bake in oven at 180°C for 35-45 minutes or until the lasagne sheets are soft (you can try pricking it with a fork to test). 
9. Take from oven, cover, and allow to set for 10-15 minutes. Don't be tempted to skip this, or you will end up with slop. Tasty slop, but not at all attractive looking.

10. Serve with garlic bread, or even better fresh hot bread (Coles/Woolworths bake-at-home dinner rolls are a deliciously easy option) and a fresh garden salad.

At this point, I need to rant about lasagne photography. If it's hot, it falls apart and forms a gloopy mess that is completely not photogenic. If it's cold, it holds together well, but somehow, it's visibly cold and unappetizing in the photo (see below). I think the trick is to cool it completely, then cut it, and then microwave it a little bit, so the top is warm but the insides are still cold, and then it holds together fairly well but doesn't have that unappetizing cold look to it. At that point, however, I'd rather given up. It was the third time I'd made this lasagne to develop the recipe (you can see that some of the photos were taken in different kitchens), and it was the second day of eating and photographing that particular lasagne, and I didn't want to reheat two extra serves of lasagne that weren't going to be eaten that day.

Seriously though, make this lasagne. It's seriously good comfort food.

Vegan butter

Giving up butter was a major hurdle for me in going vegan. Let's face it, Nuttlex tastes rather like the solidified grease it is, and while I know of one other brand of vegan margarine in Australia, I'm not prepared to go to a health food store to buy my butter alternative, nor am I prepared to pay health food store prices. In fact, I've never even tried Melrose. So Nuttlex it was, and it did the job in some contexts, even while it failed miserable on hot fresh bread or on pancakes.

So when I came across a recipe for homemade vegan butter that claimed to taste just like the real thing, it caught my attention. It took me a while to track down all the ingredients, but it was definitely worth it. I've made it a number of times now, and while there's still some Nuttlex sitting in my fridge, it's been abandoned - I haven't had to replace it since I discovered this recipe. While I don't think it tastes exactly like dairy butter (it has a faint coconut aroma for a start, though that could be the oil that I'm using), it's an excellent alternative, not just a lacklustre replacement.

The only problem is that I always want to make a tipple batch (to fill my giant ice cube tray), and the original recipe is awkward to multiply out. This is further complicated by the fact that Australian cups and tablespoons are slightly different to US ones, something that I usually ignore, but in this case, I find it important to measure as accurately as possible. As such, I've reproduced Mattie's genius recipe below, with measurements converted to Australian units and tripled. I've also modified the steps slightly to incorporate some things I found helpful. However, I highly recommend you also read his spiel about how and why it all works. If you like this one, you might want to try some of his other vegan butter recipes. So far, I've also made the garlic butter, which was amazing, though not quite as versatile.

Vegan Butter

Makes: 6 x 100g (approx) blocks
Tripled and updated for Australians, with permission, from veganbaking.net

Notes

• Making smooth Vegan Butter is dependent on the mixture solidifying as quickly as possible after it's mixed. So when melting your coconut oil, be careful to just barely melt it. I find that a few floating lumps are dealt with just fine by my blender. If you're doing this on a hot day, you may actually need to cool your oil in the fridge before you start.
• Mattie recommends using this ice cube tray, and I also find that it does the job very nicely. However, any small container will do the trick.
• I know weird, hard to pronounce ingredients like lecithin and xanthan gum are scary to a lot of people. However, I know where they come from, what purpose they're serving, and I consume them only in moderation - probably a lot less than the average person since I rarely consume packaged foods. Don't tell me about health risks, I'm not interested. If you're concerned, just don't make this recipe.
• I wanted to avoid using multiple teaspoon increments on all these measurements, but unfortunately, without using non-standard kitchen measuring tools, it's not possible to be accurate enough going by weight for such small quantities, and I don't have anything to measure small quantities of liquid by volume. Sorry.
• Some advice on chasing down ingredients:
• Lecithin granules can be found in the health food section of Coles or Woolworths. I believe that liquid lecithin would give a better result and I intend to track some down, but the granules are fine for a first try.
• Coconut vinegar can be hard to find. My local Asian Grocer didn't stock it, but I found it at the Asian Grocer at the Prahran Market, and it was dirt cheap. If you're not in Melbourne, you're on your own as far as finding it goes, but if you can't find it, just use all apple cider vinegar.
• I found xanthan gum in a health food store. You may also be able to find it in Coles or Woolworths in the health food aisle. It's a common additive for gluten free baking.
• I haven't yet found a good bulk source of refined coconut oil. Currently, I'm using this coconut oil, but as it's purified and deodorised rather than refined, it leaves a faint though not unpleasant coconut flavour. If you know of another source, please let me know in the comments.

Ingredients

• 200mL soy milk
• 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar 
• 1 ½ teaspoons coconut vinegar
• 1 + ⅛ teaspoons salt
• 390g refined coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon canola oil, light olive oil or rice bran oil
• 3 teaspoons liquid soy lecithin or liquid sunflower lecithin OR 1 tablespoon + 2 ¾ teaspoons soy lecithin granules
• ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum or 1 ⅞ teaspoons psyllium husk powder

Method

1. Measure out soy milk in a small measuring jug, and add vinegar(s) and salt. If using lecithin granules, add now to give them time to soften. Whisk together with a fork, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until it curdles and thickens.
2. Meanwhile, melt the coconut oil in the microwave so it's barely melted.
3. Add the coconut oil, soy milk mixture, canola oil, lecithin (if not already added), and xanthan gum to a food processor or blender.
4. Blend/process for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides halfway through if necessary. If using lecithin granules, you may need to process for slightly longer.
5. Pour the mixture into a mould and immediately place it in the freezer to solidify. Depending on how cold your freezer is set, it should be ready in 1-3 hours.
6. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month or wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 year.

Happy Birthday Hunter! (vegan vanilla sponge cake with buttercream frosting)

It was Hunter's birthday yesterday. I asked him what sort of cake he wanted for his birthday, and he said "a sponge cake". Seriously, what sort of person, given an open choice of cakes, selects sponge cake? Where's the richness? Where's the decadence? Where's the adventure? Ok, scrap that last one, there's plenty of adventure to be had in baking my first ever sponge cake, using an untested vegan recipe, in a never-before-baked in oven, and along the way doing my first ever decorated cake. How have I got this far in life without ever decorating a cake?

After failing to find a recipe on any of my trusted vegan recipe sources, I did a lot of Googling, and settled on using this cake recipe, but went back to the trusted veganbaking.net for the buttercream frosting.

Based on the comments below the cake recipe, I reduced the sugar down to just over 150g, and it was plenty sweet enough, especially with the icing. The cake as a whole was good, but not excellent. It was light, but didn't have the airy softness of a truly good sponge, and I think next time I might need to try a slightly more complicated recipe, maybe this one, which I decided against because I didn't feel like also trying to make yoghurt on a cold winter's day.

For the buttercream frosting, I made a double batch (one for the middle and one for the top), but thought I'd only use the amount of sugar for one batch, and then slowly work up. In fact, I didn't need to add any more than that, it was already very sweet, and I could have comfortably used even less. The flavour blend in the icing was amazing, and I definitely recommend it, just adjust the sweetness to taste. The only problem was that as the cake was rather domed in shape, some of the strawberries exhibited an unwelcome tendency to be more interested in being friends with the plate rather than with the cake. This may have been at least partially due the the reduced sugar in the icing affecting its stiffness.

Overall, the cake was a success, and I have decided that sponge cakes, while never destined to be my first choice, need not actually be that boring after all. The birthday was also good. We had some friends over and played some games, though unfortunately we didn't have time for any Magic. Due to an organizational glitch I had to leave for a few hours to do some tutoring, and then we all went to see Guardians of the Galaxy. Happy Birthday for yesterday, Hunter.

An ode to public transport

After moving just over a week ago, we are now mostly unpacked. I haven't, however, had much time to experiment in the kitchen, especially as I'm also back to uni. Sorry about the scarcity of posts during the past few weeks. I do, however, have several half-written posts that just require me to remake the recipe again to tweak things or get better photos. In the meantime, here's a digression onto another topic I feel quite strongly about.

I am a regular public transport user. I also work and study with a lot of public transport users, and we love to gripe about how unreliable Melbourne's public transport system is. And by a lot of standards, for example, by Japan's standards, it's unreliable and infrequent. And when a heatwave cases public transport to grind to a halt, or when I experience 3 weeks of replacement buses in the evenings adding 20 minutes to my trip home after work, I love to have a good whinge.

But the truth is, I love Melbourne's public transport. It's not an unconditional love, and I firmly believe that it should undergo significant improvement, but I love it all the same.

Australians, on the whole, have a very negative relationship, with public transport, so I though I'd share some of the things I love about it, in a mini public awareness campaign to (microscopically) shift public perception:

• When I'm on the train, I can read, do my study, talk on the phone (yes, I'm one of those people), or read blog feeds. When I'm driving, I have to pay attention to the road, and am responsible for the safety of not only myself, but others too.
• Trains are much, much safer. It looks like since 1976, there has been precisely one Melbourne train passenger killed in a train accident, in 2012. The 1976 incident also only had one fatality (source). Car accidents are much more common. Furthermore, accidents involving trains are almost inevitably caused by drivers of cars, and not by drivers of trains (removing level crossings would remove this risk, are you listening state and federal governments?).
• While it's true that the trains are often overcrowded, at those times, so are the roads. I'd much rather be standing on a train than inching along through stop-start traffic, not to mention that the train is often faster at that time of day too.
• You don't have to spend lots of time driving around after you've supposedly reached your destination to find a park.
• You don't have to pay exorbitant inner city prices for parking.
• It's good for the environment. Climate change is real, and switching to public transport is, (after going vegan) one of the best things you can do to reduce your impact on the environment.
• I can easily take my bike on the train, even when it's busy. Ok, so this is more about my super awesome folding bike than about the trains, but I love combining bikes and trains to avoid walking/buses.
• Trams are cool, in an old-fashioned but still relevant kind of way. I'm afraid that's all I can say about trams and buses, I much prefer trains. 

What are your favourite things about public transport?

Coconut butter

Apologies for the absence. We've finally moved, and the past week has been a hectic blur of packing, cleaning, moving, cleaning, unpacking, waiting on deliveries/connections, and starting uni. It's now just barely under control (we still don't have an Internet connection), so here's a post that I prepared earlier. I meant to take a few more photos, but I'm sure what I've got will do.

Coconut butter is like peanut butter, but made with coconut. It's expensive to buy, but cheap and easy to make, and very tasty.

Most online guides I've read indicate that ordinary blenders (i.e. not in the Vitamix/Blendtech range) can't successfully make coconut butter. I tried it in my KitchenAid (a mid range blender) anyway, and it worked. However, if your blender is a cheapie, you might need to use a food processor.

Coconut butter

Ingredients

• Shredded coconut

Seriously, that's it. I haven't tried, but apparently flaked coconut works better, while desiccated has too much moisture removed so it doesn't work. I make a 500g bag's worth at a time

Method

1. Tip the coconut into a food processor or blender. If it doesn't all fit, add as much as will fit, pulse a few times to compress what's there, then add the rest. Keep blending until it's smooth. I've got some photos of the stages here. If your blender/food processor is getting hot, you may need to give it a break for 30 minutes or more, just don't leave it so long that the butter starts to solidify, especially in winter, or you'll probably kill your machine. 

Unprocessed shredded coconut

Finely chopped coconut

The oil is starting to release. As it progresses here, it may get to the point where the coconut just builds up on the sides and stops falling into the middle. You can turn the blender off, and push the coconut into the middle, or, if you're impatient, you can carefully, use the back end of a wooden spoon to gently nudge the coconut clumps towards the middle, making sure to keep the spoon well clear of the spinning blades. I find that it takes way too much time if I keep turning it off, but if you ruin your blender, I take zero responsibility.

After a bit more time, it will go liquid enough that it no longer needs assistance, but is still very grainy. You can start gradually upping the speed towards maximum speed now.

Then it will start to look smooth. However, you still need to keep blending for a good bit of time after it starts to looks smooth before it actually approaches smooth. Every now and then, stop it and dip a spoon in to taste test the texture. When you're happy with the texture, stop. Mine won't go perfectly smooth, but I guess that's because I'm only using an ordinary blender.


If your blender is struggling to get it to go liquid, apparently adding a bit of melted coconut oil can help, though I can't vouch for it as I've never needed to.


Usage suggestions

• Eat with a spoon
• Spread on toast, I like it on toast with jam
• Eat it with a spoon, did I already say that?
• Add to smoothies
• Use as icing for quickbreads or muffins 
• Do not use as a butter substitute for cooking, remember, it's butter like peanut butter, not like dairy butter. 

Storage
Transfer to an airtight container and store in the pantry. I find these jars from Ikea to be cheap and the perfect size. In winter it will go hard, in summer it may go completely runny. If it's too hard to use, you can sit it in warm water for a bit. It will separate, so try to stir it back together before you use it. It should keep for at least a year.
 

Wonderbao - Reliving tastes of Japan with Chinese foods

When I was in Japan, a steamed bun (called a man, rhymes with fun) with chocolate milk was my regular lunch when doing touristy things on my own. It was cheap and tasty. What more could I want? Oh yes, in retrospect, it would have been good if it had been vegan.

When I found out that there was a steamed bun shop in Melbourne with vegan options, I knew I had to try them, even if they make the mistake of calling them by the Chinese name of bao rather than the clearly superior Japanese term man.

Even though I wasn't actually that hungry, a quick look at the menu indicated that I had to order the veggie lunch pack - one of each of the three vegan options. How else was I to decide? These were the choi bao (shiitake mushrooms, tofu and veggies), the taro bao (taro, duh), and the fried silky tofu gua bao (with pickled mustard, coriander, sweet soy sauce and crushed peanuts). They also sell freshly made organic soy milk, hot or cold. Although I don't usually drink soy milk straight, I decided to be adventurous, and ordered a hot one.

I started with the fried silky tofu gua bao, the one that looks like a steamed bun taco. It was amazing, heaven for $4.20. I felt like I was back in Japan about to go and take photos of a temple, except that instead I was sitting looking out on a kinda cool old graffitied laneway, and the food was an order of magnitude better than any of nikuman (meat filled bun), kareman (curried meat filled bun) or pizzaman (meat and cheese filled bun) I ever bought from a Japanese kombini (convenience store). It beat the steamed buns I had from more authentic vendors too.

The choi bao was tasty enough but unremarkable, more in line with the quality I generally enjoyed in Japan, though I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd eaten it first. The taro bao, a sweet bun that I fortunately managed to leave till last by accident, was not really my thing. I found the texture a bit unpleasant, probably because it reminded me of sweet red bean paste which I also don't like.

As for the soy milk, as I said before, I don't normally drink any non-dairy milks straight. I didn't used to enjoy dairy milk straight either. However, this stuff was fantastic, a very pleasant flavour in its own right, no chocolate powder required. I asked if they sell it to take home, but unfortunately, they only sell it by the cup in store. I think I might have to try making my own soy milk, because this was in an entirely different league to the stuff that comes in cartons at the supermarket.

Even though I wasn't thrilled with every item I tried, I'm going to rate Wonderbao 9/10, because for the gua bao and soymilk, the price to taste sensation ratio is phenomenal. Next time, I'll just order two gua baos and a soymilk. Mmmmmm.