Newfoundland Pea Soup with Doughboys

Now I have to admit, I didn't even know there was a Newfoundland Pea Soup until I was searching for a recipe. Being Canadian I've always known about the French Canadian Pea soup of course and was intending to make that when I came across this. It's more or less the same as the Quebecois version except has added veg (very good) and is often topped with dumplings (very, very good!) Yes, I do have a dumpling addiction... Anyway, this was delicious simply flavoured with salt and pepper and is very hearty - perfect for this time of year, and as the UK is facing a cold snap this coming week I figured it was a good time to blog it!

I got the recipe from Natalie McMaster's website here , she of the Nova Scotian fiddler fame....not from Newfoundland but oh well! I did make a few changes, I added a bay leaf, used smoked sea salt to try and replicate what salt beef or ham hock may bring to pea soups, and used my own dumpling recipe as I prefer herb dumplings to plain. I'll post the recipe here as well as I have calculated the weights for it. Only thing I can not figure out is where the name doughboys comes from for the dumplings, all searches for Newfoundland Pea Soup call for dumplings, except her version here, so if anyone can enlighten me on where the name comes from please let me know! It's great though, think I'll always call them doughboys from now on....

Serves 2-3:
200g yellow split peas
65g onion, diced
75g celery, diced
100g waxy potatoes, peeled and diced
50g turnip, diced
135g carrots, diced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp smoked sea salt, grinded
black pepper

First, I don't soak split peas, I know it's argued what to do with them, my package of split peas insists you must but I think the general concensus out there is that split peas don't require it. I never do and I've never gotten ill but if you feel better then by all means do, it just won't take as long to cook. So....

Wash the peas well and place in a large saucepan with 3 cups water and the bay leaves, do not add salt. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 10 minutes. Reduce to a simmer for 1 hour, stir now and again. When there is 20 minutes left, if the peas have turned to mush that's good. If not mash them with a masher, you don't generally need to mash peas but we have very hard water where we are and if you do peas never fully break down so you may have to give them a hand. Add the veg, stir, bring back to the boil and reduce to a simmer for the last 20 minutes. Keep a kettle boiled to add more water as need be and stir now and again. Stir in the smoked sea salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper and turn up the heat for the dumplings.

Dumplings:
62g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
1 Tbsp vegetable suet
about 3 - 3 1/2 Tbsp cold water

Mix all the dry ingredients then stir in the water to make a dough. Shape into 3 or 4 balls and drop into the soup. Cover and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes, until they are puffed up and cooked. Give a stir now and again, particularly under the dumplings as the soup may stick.

French Toast

click on pic for more detail!

This is so, so good, I really thought I wouldn't be able to have french toast again, after all, you would think the eggs were rather necessary! Turns out they are not, as I really couldn't tell the difference with this. It's the same base recipe as the one I used in the mushroom filled french toast with just the seasonings changed. Just a note on the tofu/rice milk mixture, when it sits in the fridge it will very unattractively separate, just give it a good whisk and all is fine.

Basic French Toast - serves 1:

125ml of the basic tofu/rice milk mixture, recipe below
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cinnamon
vegan margarine
maple syrup
fresh blueberries (optional)

Tofu/rice milk mixture:
1 package silken soft tofu (340g)
250ml rice dream (or other diary free milk)

Put the tofu and rice milk, or whatever dairy free milk you use into a blender and blend well. This makes more than you need, handy if you are making more than 1 serving of french toast but will also keep in the fridge for a couple days. I also use it to make french toast dipped sandwiches.

Place 125ml of the tofu mixture, vanilla and cinnamon into a wide shallow bowl and whisk well. Cut 2 slices of nice french bread to your desired thickness, but not too thin. Heat a non stick frying pan and melt some vegan margarine, dip one slice of bread into the mixture, both sides, letting it soak a little bit. This depends on how old the bread you are using is, preferable it should be a day or two old and I just dip it in a few seconds both sides, if it's fresher don't leave it in too long. Place into the hot pan and repeat with the other slice, turn heat down low and keep moving the bread to stop it sticking. When golden and 'dry' looking, remove to a plate, put some more margarine in the pan and flip toast over to cook the other side. Remove when golden on both sides, cut in half diagonally and serve with margarine, maple syrup and fresh blueberries (if you have them, but they do go very nice with the maple and cinnamon flavours).

♥

Caramel Corn

I've never made caramel corn before, even before being vegan so had no idea how this would work out. I'm pleased to say it was perfect, absolutely delicious and really very easy. They turned out nice and crisp on the outside and not at all sticky or chewy, with great flavour. I am sorry to say that I did use an ingredient that is not readily available here in the UK - corn syrup. I get mine online as I do use it often and feel it really cannot be substituted very well. I have seen others using maple syrup in place of it but I wouldn't recommend golden syrup, it may work in this but I know I tried replacing corn syrup with golden once when making butter tarts and it was an absolute disaster! So, if anyone tries this with replacing the corn syrup please let me know how you fared and I'll update this. Thanks!

4 cups freshly air popped corn
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar, I used light muscovado sugar
2 Tbsp vegan margarine
2 Tbsp light corn syrup, I used Karo with added vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 150C and lightly butter a non-stick pan and sides. Place the margarine, sugar, syrup and salt in a saucepan and stir while bringing to the boil. Boil gently for 1 minute without stirring. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, then the baking soda - it will foam up here. Tip the popcorn into the pot and gently fold in making sure the corn is covered. Transfer to the greased pan and spread out. Bake for 5 minutes, remove and stir - it should change from being cloudy and foamy to clear and darker. Bake for another 5 minutes where again it should foam up a bit more. Remove and stir again where it will be clear again. Transfer to a large plate and gently seperate with your hands while it cools, being careful of course as it will be hot. (I've got tough hands.) Let cool and serve. We get 3 servings out of this (1 for each of us) so double as you need, it's quite rich so you wouldn't want loads.

Cheezy Mushroom Filled French Toast

This was a gorgeous, gooey delicious mess :-) I got the idea from the 2008 Canadian Living magazine Christmas edition that my mom sends me every year. I already have a good recipe for sweet french toast so just based my vegan version on that.

Cheezy Mushroom Filled French Toast:


1 package silken soft tofu (340g)
250ml rice dream (or other diary free milk)

Put these into a blender and blend well. You do not need all of this for 1 sandwich! I do the whole lot at once because, a) my blender cannot cope with blending small quantities and b) I can then keep this mixture in the fridge for making more sandwiches or 'traditional' french toast quite easily. Pour some of this mixture into a wide shallow bowl and whisk in well to taste:

salt and pepper
pinch of garlic powder
few drops tabasco sauce

For the filling:
1 clove garlic
about 1/4 red onion, sliced
about 80g portabello mushrooms, sliced
salt
pepper
fresh lemon thyme, leaves only
vegan margarine
slices of 'cheezly' extra mature cheddar

Put a pat of margarine into a frying pan, melt and add the onion, garlic, mushrooms, lemon thyme and salt and pepper. Fry until onions and mushrooms are soft and any water is evaporated. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 190C and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Cut 2 slices of large french bread (preferably a day or two old).  Dip a slice into the batter and place on the baking sheet. Top with about 1/4 cup of the mushroom filling then dip another slice of bread and place on top.

Bake, turning once until crisp and golden brown on top 20 - 25 minutes. I found it never got golden and gave the baked sandwich a quick fry in a greased frying pan, that gives it a nice crispy top and bottom.

As I have the basic tofu mixture in the fridge, I hope to blog the basic french toast soon as well. Edit - here it is!

♥

Happy Burns Night!

'Buttered' Leeks

Vegan Haggis
(I know, it's the centrepiece and should be the top picture, but lets face it, haggis may taste good but it ain't pretty!)

'Neeps & Tatties'
(potatoes and turnips)

Plated up.....

Cranachan for dessert!
(well, a veganized and ever so slightly Canadianized version!)

Phew.... that was a lot of food.... but yes, being partly Scottish I always enjoy taking part in Burns night, and as it's his 250th anniversary felt I must! I have made vegetarian haggis once before and really enjoyed it, I have also bought the vegetarian/vegan one that is out there, it's very good but there is something just too funny about making your own vegan haggis! The first time I made it I followed the Vegetarian Society's recipe and it turned out great but I felt like messing about with it this time. Mainly their recipe called for red lentils and red kidney beans but I thought of using puy lentils which are so good and thought they would fare well in this. I also used half pinhead oatmeal and half rolled oats and added 25g vegetable suet. For the nuts, I couldn't find the ground ones they called for so used half ground almonds and some chopped hazelnuts and increased the mushrooms. Altogether it was delicious and I would only increase the amount of cayenne next time, it was spicy before going into the oven then really mellowed out while baking.

Haggis recipe:
2 small onions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp sunflower oil
1 large carrot, finely chopped
100g mushrooms, finely chopped
100g dry puy lentils
1 pint vegetable stock (make with whatever cube/powder you like)
35g ground almonds
25g chopped hazelnuts (or any other nuts you have)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp cayenne (or more)
1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
100g pinhead oatmeal
100g rolled oats
25g vegetable suet

First wash the lentils well and place in a pot and cover with cold water - do not add salt. Cover, bring to the boil and fast boil for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C and oil and line a 1lb loaf tin with baking paper - set aside. Fry the onion in the oil for 5 minutes then add the carrot and mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. Now add the drained par cooked lentils, lemon juice, herbs/spices and the stock and cook over medium heat with the lid on for 15 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and the nuts and oatmeal and simmer for another 10 minutes, you may have to add more water. Press mixture evenly into the loaf tin, smooth out the top and bake for 30 minutes. Serves 4 - 8 (it's pretty filling so I would say 8 but to each there own!)

'Buttered' Leeks recipe:
Comes from BBC Good Food and I just used vegan margarine instead of the butter, used more of it and scaled the whole thing down - I used 450g of leeks to 25g margarine.

Neeps & Tatties:
That's potatoes and turnips in other words! Recipe also comes from BBC Good Food and was very, very good, partially down to the fact that my hand slipped with the salt whilst cooking the turnips making them even more yummy but really it's a very good recipe. I followed it directly but quartered the recipe and just used vegan margarine instead of the butter. The second baking in the oven essential as is making sure the oil is really hot when you add the parboiled potatoes. Do leave the skins on too as they suggest, they got nice and crispy in this which was lovely.

Cranachan recipe:
This is a traditional Scottish dessert made with double cream, whiskey, honey, toasted oatmeal and berries. There are loads of different variants of this out there so I didn't really have a 'base' recipe to base this on. Mostly the problem was replacing the cream - I don't like the soy whipped creams out there and anything else is too runny i.e soy yogurts etc.. I was happy to read that it was also made out of crowdie, a type of cream cheese so thought of using some tofutti cream cheese for the filling, I was thinking of a floppy, whiskey, maple infused cream cheese type thing. I'm happy enough with what came out of it although I personally would have liked more whiskey, think I would double the whiskey/oat cream/ cornflour stage in this. I decided to use pinhead oatmeal for the topping (it's inside as well) and read somewhere that Nick Nairn suggested adding sugar to oatmeal while toasting so thought that maple sugar I got recently would be nice. It is. Only other thing I may change next time is to mash up some of the raspberries to swirl over the cream layer as it needed a little more of that.

113g tofutti cream cheese
75g tofutti sour cream
1 Tbsp oat cream
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1Tbsp whiskey (again, next time I would double the oat cream/maple/whiskey/cornflour stage)
40g icing sugar (??? I'm afraid I lost count while adding this - just go to taste and thickness)
1/2 Tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
fresh raspberries or blackberries
pinhead oatmeal - no measurement, I just tossed some in a frying pan
maple sugar, or demerara, again no measurement here I just eyeballed it against the oatmeal.

Whisk together the cream cheese and sour cream, set aside. Mix together the cornflour with the whiskey and set aside. In a small saucepan heat up the oat cream with the maple syrup, stirring well. When it just comes to a simmer add the whiskey mixture and stir constantly as it thickens up, remove from the heat. Take some of the cream cheese mixture and mix into the whiskey mixture briskly then add this mixture to the rest of the cream cheese mixture and whisk everything together. Now add the icing sugar whisking as you go until very smooth, thick and sweet enough. Don't worry if it's not super thick as it does set up a little more in the fridge. Place the oatmeal and sugar in a dry non stick frying and fry carefully until the sugar starts to melt and it starts getting sticky. Quickly transfer to a plate and carefully separate it all with your hands as it cools. In serving glasses layer cream, oatmeal, raspberries - serves 2 well.

Bounty Bars

best damn mashed potatoes I've ever had....

Yes, that's right, there is mashed potato in those! Actually I wasn't that surprised when I saw it in the recipe as I've seen other confectionery recipes calling for mash, a truffle recipe if my memory serves me correct. This is of course potatoes not cooked in salt and mashed without milk or butter added, it's not that mad! I had asked K what he really misses and if there was anything I could 'veganize' for him and he immediately chose the dark chocolate bounty bar, or mounds to those of you in North America.

I had a look online and there were recipes calling for cream and butter which would need replacing but this recipe was vegan. I have gotten it from a couple sources, first it comes from the Is that my bureka? blog where he made a fantastic looking lime coconut fudge, but the idea to use that recipe to make homemade bounty bars came from the dinner for one blog. As I scaled this down and made a couple changes I'll post my version here but do go look at those blogs for great step by step photos. I didn't add the lime as I wanted to recreate the bounty bars but am thinking lime in these would be amazing....will do that next time. Oh, and yes, they taste just like bounty bars!!!

Makes about 11 bounty size bars: (depends on what size you want)

2 Tbsp cold mashed potato (you'll need about 1 medium potato)
1 cup icing sugar (more or less)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 - 1 cup desiccated coconut
75g dark vegan chocolate (I used Bourneville baking chunks - not the bar as it's not vegan)
1 tsp extra virgin coconut oil - you want this in the solid state, original recipe called for veg oil so just use that if you don't have the coconut oil.

Peel and quarter the potato and boil in unsalted water until ready to mash. Drain and return to the pan on low heat for a couple minutes to dry out slightly. Mash well and let cool. Strain the mashed potato through a fine sieve, pushing it through with a rubber spatula - you don't want any chunks at all in this. Measure out 2 Tbsp of this and place in a bowl. Add the vanilla and about 1/4 cup of the icing sugar and stir well. At this point it gets all scientific and the sugar turns the potato to liquid. I don't know why, I should really look that up! But it's a cool thing to see... then keep adding the icing sugar, 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture turns whiter and thick and fondanty. Stir in the coconut.

Now you should have a ball of mixture that's hard to stir, if not add more icing sugar or coconut as need be. Now in hindsight I could have added less as the texture of a bounty bar isn't quite as dense as mine turned out. The original recipe was for fudge after all, so just keep an eye on it, think of the texture of a bounty and base it on that. When I was happy with it I then greased my hands slightly with the coconut oil and started shaping them into little mounds and placed them on a baking paper lined baking sheet. When done, place in the fridge till cool and set.

For the coating, place the dark chocolate and coconut oil in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water and stir until all melted and glossy. Take the coconut mounds and dip in the chocolate, covering all over and place back on the tray. When all coated pop them back into the fridge until the chocolate sets. Keep in the fridge, but really, they won't last long!

Macaroni Goulash

Now I know this isn't a traditional 'Goulash' but it's what we called it growing up and after searching online we weren't the only ones, seems most North Americans have a version of this "macaroni goulash". I really wanted to recreate the one I had often growing up and this is it. It's very yummy, quick, easy and kid friendly - hard to beat! I've used a short cut macaroni here, regular macaroni would work too as would any smallish pasta shape.

Macaroni Goulash
Serves 2-3


150g macaroni
150g frozen soya mince
150g mushrooms, sliced  (not in photo but I always add this now)
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt (use less if your tinned tomatoes contain salt)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp dried mixed herbs
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp tomato paste (puree)
1 400g can peeled whole plum tomatoes with juice
*45g grated cheezly or daiya* optional

Put the water on for the pasta and cook according to package directions. Meanwhile in a large pot heat the olive oil and gently fry the onion, celery, mushrooms and bay leaf with some ground black pepper until onions are soft and the mushrooms are cooked.

Stir in the garlic and tomato paste, then add the tinned tomatoes, salt and herbs. Stir well roughly breaking up the tomatoes as you do. Add the soya mince and about 80ml water (I fill the tomato tin about 1/3 of the way up and add that). Turn heat up and cook until mince is cooked and the sauce has thickened up then stir in the drained pasta. If using add the cheezly or daiya and stir until melted. Dish goes lovely with some buttered soft white bread rolls.

Nutritional Information: based on 1 serving out of 3 (will vary slightly depending on brand of mince)

Calories: 386

Protein: 19.4g

Fat: 8.9g

Sat Fat: 1.2g

Carbs: 53.6g

Sugar: 12.7g

Fibre: 7.4g

Sodium: 619mg

♥

Glazed Doughnuts - Photo Update

I recently realized that I never showed any pics of the inside of the doughnuts made awhile ago - too busy stuffing my face to take a pic probably! These are from the last batch I made and I just glazed them all over with the apple fritter glaze and I have to admit - these were my favorite....I also decided to cook up the doughnut holes for little bite size (or 2 bite size!) doughnuts and they were fantastic - almost too cute to eat!

Bubble and Squeak Cakes

These were absolutely delicious, I initially only tried them to use up some leftover brussel sprouts from Christmas but they are so good I now buy sprouts especially for them. I'm rather ashamed to admit that this is a Gordon Ramsey recipe but pleased to admit that it's my addition of spring onion that really makes these, take that Gordon! Anyway, it is a very good recipe to give credit where credits due and while I would like to say that I have some amazing sauce recipe to serve these with, I honestly love them with ketchup....

Makes 4 good sized cakes:

270g unpeeled weight mashing potatoes (vivaldi mashing potatoes very good for this)
10g vegan margarine
135g brussel sprouts (weigh before preparing)
14g flour
1/4 tsp salt
10 - 12 grinds of black pepper
1 spring onion, finely chopped
olive oil to fry

Peel and quarter the potatoes then boil in salted water for about 20 minutes. Drain and return to the pan for 1 -2 minutes on low heat to dry out slightly. Mash with the margarine, then add the salt, pepper and spring onion. Meanwhile, wash and pat dry the sprouts. Slice the bottoms off then cut in half, removing and skins that fall off. Cook in boiling salted water for 5 minutes then drain, rinse in cold water then plunge into ice water. When cool, pat dry then grate the sprouts with a grater and add to the potatoes, mix well.

With slightly oiled hands shape into four patties....


dredge in the flour.....


Then fry in about 5mm olive oil on medium heat until golden and crisp both sides.

Creamy Vegetable Pot Pie

It's really not my intention to make vegans fat with all these creamy, fatty dishes I've been doing lately! It's just that creamy leek sauce turned out so well and I keep thinking of things to use it in....and the doughnuts, well, I blame the weather, I should get out more....Anyway, I used to make this now and again as is featured on my old blog . It's always been a favorite and I've been waiting until I had a good creamy, cheesy type sauce to replace with, and have now found it. The leek cheezly sauce works perfect in this, I just added a large clove of garlic to separate it from a macaroni sauce slightly. Again though this is well over 700 calories so not something to have too often! The veg can be adapted to whatever you like, these are just my favorites, beans of some sort would go great as well of course. I actually didn't have any potatoes when I made this one so just upped the quantities of the other veg to compensate, it's very versatile, as long as you keep the weight quantities about the same it will work.

**2011 Edit - I haven't used oat cream or milk for years and felt this needed updating. I really prefer this version. I have fallen in love with Kara Coconut milk, it's not like coconut milk in a can, you buy it like soy milk and it has a really neutral flavour, perfect for savoury sauces. I also used in the sauce a Kallo Organic Garlic and Herb stock cube - gave the sauce perfect flavour and was so easy. I added some Flageolet beans for extra protein and omitted the cheezly from the sauce. I didn't take a photo as really, it looks just like this one. **

This version serves 4 at just 411 calories per serving, so a vast improvement all around!

Creamy Vegetable Pot Pie - 2011 edit, serves 4

100g broccoli florets
100g carrots, diced
100g new potatoes, peeled and diced
100g petite pois
100g sweetcorn
100g flageolet beans, drained
♥
25g vegan butter
100g onions, diced small
25g plain flour
500ml dairy free milk
1 Kallo garlic and herb stock cube, or one you like.
♥
200g ready rolled puff pastry

Boil the carrots and potato together until just fork tender in salted water. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and keep aside. Add the peas, corn and broccoli and boil until the brocolli is just fork tender, be careful not to overcook it. Drain and add to the carrots and potatoes.

Heat the milk with the stock cube until it has dissolved and the milk is warm.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onion, fry until soft. Add the flour and fry gently 1 minute. Add a small amount of the warm milk and beat well with a wooden spoon, keep adding the milk a bit at a time until it is all incorporated. Bring to the boil and simmer until thickened. Add all the veg and the beans to this and fold gently with a rubber spatula until everything is nicely coated.

Tip it all into a buttered casserole dish and top with the ready rolled puff pastry. Brush the top with some milk and pop it into the preheated oven for about 15 - 20 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes then serve.

♥

Original Version: serves 2

Vegetables:
100g broccoli florets
100g carrots, chopped
100g potatoes, diced
50g frozen peas
50g frozen sweetcorn

Sauce:
50g leek
10g flour
20g vegan margarine
200ml oatly cream
50ml water
2 small or 1 large bay leaf
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
50g extra mature cheddar style cheezly

Topping:
about 167g ready rolled puff pastry (check vegan, most are)
some dairy free milk for brushing on top (I used rice dream)

Preheat oven to 220C/425F

Boil carrots and potato together in salted water until just fork tender. Scoop out with slotted spoon and set aside. Add rest of veg to water, bring to boil and cook until the broccoli is just fork tender. Do not overcook or the broccoli will just turn to mush, it's really just for a couple minutes. Drain and set aside.

Heat the margarine in a small saucepan and fry the leek and bayleaf till soft, about 5 minutes. Mix the flour, salt, dry mustard and few grinds black pepper together then add to the leeks with the garlic. Stir for 1 minute then add the water in 2 batches, stirring well between both until nice and creamy. Slowly add the oatly cream until fully incorporated, stirring constantly. Stir in the parsley and cheezly and stir until melted.

Add the veg to this and toss gently with a rubber spatula until well incorporated. Tip into a 'buttered' casserole dish (individual ones would be great for this if you have some). Pat some water along the edge of the dish then place the ready rolled puff pastry over top, right on top of the filling, cut the edges and flute if desired, I never get fancy with my pastry edges! Brush the whole surface with dairy free milk and place in the oven until puffed up and golden. I think mine took about 10 - 15 minutes.


Let cool slightly then serve, serves 2.

Apple Fritters

Yum, these were so good.....An apple fritter has always been one of my favorite doughnuts, right up there with a maple glazed. Ever since making the glazed doughnuts I wanted to try these but could not find any recipes for them. This style seems unique to North America as others were frying battered apple rings and calling them fritters.

So I thought I would just use my doughnut recipe and add some chopped apple and some cinnamon, still not quite sure how I was going to get the irregular shape that fritters have.... After I got started I did find some recipes and it appears that apple fritters are not a yeast risen doughnut at all but a looser, baking powder risen dough that you then drop into the hot oil with a spoon to get the wonky shape...it soon became evident why that is as I tried to knead a dough with large chunks of apple in it like a fool....(!)

I was so sure this wasn't going to work out that I was going to dump the dough and try again without yeast but decided to give it a go. So, so glad I did, it worked out fantastically, sure it was hard to knead and it didn't rise as much as the regular doughnuts but they are very tasty, moist and soft, crispy on the outside, just like they should be. The glaze turned out perfect as well, I tossed the whole warm fritters into the glaze then set aside to set.

Like the doughnuts they are best eaten right there and then, just wait to the glaze sets to crispy but they are still warm - perfect! They will get drier as the days go by, like the doughnuts did, so try to make enough too eat in 1 day or 2. The recipe below is my doughnut recipe halved, I got 10 fritters out of this as they are smaller than the doughnuts.

1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
20g vegetable fat (shortening)
60g sugar
40ml dairy free 'milk' (I used rice dream)
20g egg replacer
250g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
90 - 100g peeled chopped apples (about 2 small/medium apples)
vegetable oil to fry

Follow the directions for the doughnuts adding the cinnamon to the first batch of flour and the chopped apples after you add the first batch of flour. After the first rise, instead of rolling out and cutting into shapes just tear off into rough shapes, you want them wonky and rustic, and place on the baking sheet for the second rise. Proceed to fry as per instructions.

Glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
enough boiling hot water to make a thin glaze.

After frying the fritters, place them on paper towels to drain slightly, then while still warm toss them about in the glaze then place back onto paper lined baking sheets to let the glaze set.


**I have to say it's really nice to not be able to just pick up some doughnuts in a shop and to be 'forced' to make my own. It's enjoyable, fairly easy, you get fresher doughnuts and it means you don't have them that often, which is a good thing for a fat, sugary treat! Above all that though, look at my ingredients for apple fritters, now look at Dunkin Donuts ingredients:

Ingredients: Donut Dough {Dough Mix [Enriched Flour (Bleached Wheat Flour, Barley Malt, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Dextrose, Soybean Oil, Contains 2% or less of: Salt, Soy Flour, Maltodextrin, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda), Wheat Starch, Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate (Dough Conditioner), Cellulose Gum, Guar Gum, Gum Arabic, Carrageenan, Xanthan Gum, Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier), Enzymes, Artificial Flavor, Modified Food Starch, Vegetable Color (Annatto, Turmeric), Milk (Trace), Egg (Trace)], Water, Yeast}, Apple Filling [Water, Sugar Syrup, Corn Syrup, Evaporated Apples, Modified Food Starch, Contains 2% or less of each of the following: Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives), Salt, Cinnamon, Malic Acid, Nutmeg], Glaze [Sugar, Water, Maltodextrin, Contains 2% or less of: Propylene Glycol, Mono and Diglycerides (Emulsifier), Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Agar, Citric Acid, Carboxymethyl Cellulose, Artificial Flavor], Shortening (Palm Oil, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil and Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil with TBHQ and Citric Acid added to help protect flavor), Cinnamon.

Even with the few extra ingredients the egg replacer and rice dream add, I know which ones I would prefer....

Peanut Butter Cup

I saw this recipe on the Joy of Baking website and had to try it - I only had to swap the butter with vegan margarine. I used to love peanut butter cups even though they are hard to find here and now as they are made with milk chocolate not an option at all. While there are online places to buy vegan peanut butter cups this was so, so easy. The recipe given made 36 mini cups, I made mine larger, it's like the size of a reece peanut butter cup, and scaled it down to just make the 1 as I just wanted to try it first (that's a lot of peanut butter used up if I didn't like it or they were a disaster!) So do click on the link for the full recipe but here's the scaled down version if you just fancy making the one like I did, although I had a bit of chocolate left over.

8g creamy peanut butter
2g vegan margarine
few grains of salt
5g icing sugar
34g dark vegan chocolate
1g vegetable fat (shortening)

I used a paper cupcake liner and cut it down to the size shown, then place the peanut butter, margarine and salt in a bowl and mix well. The recipe said to warm gently in the microwave but as margarine is softer than butter this wasn't necessary. Stir in the icing sugar. Melt the chocolate with the fat in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted. I then spooned a small amount of chocolate into the liner and swirled it around until all the sides and bottom were coated evenly. In hindsight I should have then placed this in the fridge to set before filling but didn't. As you can see it still worked out but it was tricky getting the much thicker filling to spread over the melted chocolate, if that makes sense.... Anyway, you then spread the filling in then spoon and spread over more chocolate to cover. Place in fridge until set then peel away the liner. I can't remember how long it was in the fridge for but it wasn't long at all and at that stage was set but still soft enough, I think hours in the fridge might make the chocolate too hard, just check it now and again.

Cheezy Leek and Macaroni - Revisited

As much as I loved the leek and macaroni bake two posts down I did feel the breadcrumbs slightly overpowered it and wanted to try it just plain, and to get a photo you can see the filling! This was delicious and I definitely prefer it this way, it's saucier, creamier and the breadcrumbs don't mix in while you are eating making it all grainy. Plus it has slightly less calories than before at 583, so all a plus. Recipe is the same as below for the filling but I used a touch more water, doubled the mustard powder (slightly) and omitted the parsley but only because I didn't have any. Also in this picture I used elbow macaroni, hard to find over here, must get back to Brighton!

Chickpea Noodle Soup (with herb dumplings)

I realize this dish may seem a bit 'confused' - it's because I was when making it. It's absolutely freezing here lately and I really fancied some dumplings for lunch, and wanted to make a chickpea noodle soup...so, sort of combined the 2 ideas. It works really well although feel free to omit the dumplings as it's hearty enough with the noodles and chickpeas in there, it's just given the choice I would probably put dumplings in everything! This was made up on the spot so I'll post the quantities I used although it may benefit from a bit less noodles and a little more chickpeas, but that's all to taste.

Serves 2:
40g carrots, diced small
40g celery, diced small
40g onion, diced small
50g small thin soup noodles
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 litre water
2 tsp marigold vegan powder veg stock (try and use this as it has a good, light, chicken noodle quality to it)
50g canned chickpeas, drained rinsed and skinned
1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
*for the dumplings I just used 1/2 pack of atora herb dumpling mix but my dumpling recipe from my old blog here would work well, although I would omit the paprika.*

Heat olive oil in a medium pot and fry the onion, carrots and celery until all soft. Add the water and stock powder, stir well and bring to the boil. Stir in the noodles, chickpeas and parley, cover and bring back to the boil. When boiling drop in the dumplings reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. I stirred it a couple of times to make sure the noodles weren't sticking. Serves 2.

Cheezy Leek and Macaroni Bake

I have been wanting to make the ultimate vegan comfort food, now this used to be macaroni and cheese topped with buttery cheesy breadcrumbs and baked. I have made a couple vegan mac and cheeses and while they are very good, are too different from mac and cheese. I saw this recipe here for a leek and cheezly gratin. I have been thinking of trying a mac and cheese with cheezly as I am now so used to cheezly that it tastes like cheese to me.

I adapted it slightly to use oatly cream instead of soy milk as I find it has no weird taste and is very creamy. I also used the mature white cheddar cheezly in the sauce (not super melting) and super melting mozza for the topping, plus a few seasoning changes. It is very good although could be slightly saucier and I used too much breadcrumbs. I'll post the recipe I used but next time I'll halve the breadcrumbs. Also, I grilled the topping and the breadcrumbs browned before the cheezly had time to melt so may oven bake in a hot oven next time, as per the recipe.

Will definitely be making this again, although at 750 calories per serving...not very often! No point trying to scale that down, it's comfort food....

25g finely chopped leek
75g macaroni (I used ditali rigati here, any 'short' pasta will do)
5g flour
10g vegan margarine
100ml oatly cream
25ml water
1 small bay leaf
1/8 tsp salt
1/16 tsp dry mustard
black pepper
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
25g extra mature white cheddar cheezly (can be regular, it melts in sauces)
Topping:
25g super melting cheezly (any flavour, I used mozza)
25g breadcrumbs, (use half that, I used paxo)
few grinds smoked sea salt
few grinds black pepper

Heat the margarine in a small saucepan and fry the leek and bayleaf till soft, about 5 minutes. Mix the flour, salt, dry mustard and few grinds black pepper together then add to the leeks. Stir for 1 minute then add the water in 2 batches, stirring well between both until nice and creamy. Slowly add the oatly cream until fully incorporated, stirring constantly. Stir in the parsley and cheezly and stir until melted. Meanwhile cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and add to the cheeze sauce, stir well then remove the bay leaf. Pour this into a buttered casserole dish and top with the breadcrumbs and super melting cheezly. Top with a few grinds of smoked sea salt (or regular) and pepper. Grill or oven bake till golden and bubbly. Serves 1.

Vegan Aebleskiver!!!!

This recipe has taken many attempts to perfect and I am so glad it has finally worked out as I'm not sure I could live without my aebleskiver. Here is the link to my old blog describing what they are and step by step photos on how to cook them.

They are traditionally made by mixing 3 egg yolks into the batter and then whisking the egg whites to stiff peaks and folding in. Clearly something difficult to 'veganize'. I have in the past just used a regular pancake recipe for these which turns out fine as well but unfortunately my vegan pancake recipe would not work. They turned out heavy and really gummy, tasted fine, but wrong texture altogether. Various attempts to change this resulted in the balls really sticking to the pan....

Then I found a recipe online for vegan yogurt pancakes and the photo of the batter looked nice and thick, just like the egg white whipped one is, so tried that. It tasted perfect but stuck the worst of all as the recipe actually didn't call for any fat. As my original recipe called for quite a bit of melted butter in the batter I combined the two recipes, the yogurt pancake one and my original aebleskiver recipe and this one is perfect! Absolutely perfect.... the yogurt gives them that buttermilk taste they really should have and they turn out crisp on the outside and light and fluffy inside and don't stick!! So happy with these...

Just a note on the milk, rice or oat milk won't work. You need a vegan milk that is higher in fat and protein, I have made these with unsweetened soy milk and sweetened almond milk. Both work well, as would sweetened soy milk. I think the almond milk was nicest as it gives the faintest hint of almond which is lovely.

Makes 2 pans of aebleskiver (14 balls):

160g plain flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 heaped tsp salt
4 tsp caster sugar
150g plain, unsweetened soy yogurt
100ml soy or almond milk (can be sweetened or unsweetened)
90g vegan margarine, melted (I use 'Pure' sunflower)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
vegetable oil for the pan

Mix the dry ingredients together. Whisk the yogurt, milk and vanilla together then slowly whisk in the melted margarine until fully incorporated. Pour this into the dry ingredients the fold in with a rubber spatula until no more flour shows. The batter will be very thick and lumpy, it may even look slightly curdled if using soy milk - that's ok. Heat your aebleskiver pan till hot then turn down to the lowest heat. Brush the holes with vegetable oil then spoon in the batter till level with the top. Unlike my past recipe where I used the knitting needle to turn them, I found these easier to turn with a very small teaspoon, just use it to loosen the edges then scoop under and flip them up, first onto their side then fully over. Cook until golden all over and a toothpick comes out clean. Keep warm in the oven while you make the next pan.

Serve with margarine and warmed maple syrup over top, and of course the applesauce and sugar!!

** I have also used this recipe to make blueberry pancakes, I increased the milk to 100ml, butter the frying pan, spoon on some batter, you'll have to spread it out a bit. Dot the top of the pancake with blueberries (don't add the blueberries to the batter), cook till golden underneath then flip over. Serve with margarine and warmed maple syrup.**