Lemon-Dill Petite Pois Falafel with a Chargrilled Asparagus and Red Onion Salad

Well, hello Spring! I've missed you asparagus!! This has easily become my new favourite salad: chargrilled tender asparagus, soft sweet chargrilled red onions, avocado, mixed baby leaf with a simple drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar then topped with these fantastic spring fresh lemon dill petite pois falafel. Phew! This is definitely a main dish, knife and fork kind of salad....It's also what we are having for Easter dinner this very evening with a nice chilled glass of white wine :-) 

This salad also works beautifully as a filling and satisfying wrap...

Same ingredients as the salad but instead of the balsamic dressing I've added a crazy simple "cheats" garlic cream sauce. Hint: it's just vegan sour cream, garlic powder and a pinch of salt! Apologies - I did get photos of the wrap with the sauce but they all looked positively obscene, lol! Anyway, it's just a white cream sauce, nothing you need a photo of ;-) For the wrap I also fried up smaller falafel than I do for the salad then simply wrap it up in a warmed flour tortilla. It's gorgeous!

♥

The falafel themselves are wonderful, recipe is adapted from Cassie Best's recipe for Pea Falafel on BBC Good Food. Mine took a few attempts to get right, I was mostly having problems with texture. They were initially much too soft inside, almost like deep fried balls of houmous (actually, that doesn't sound too bad!) Not what I was after though of course. In the end I reduced the liquid by omitting the lemon juice, upped the dry ingredients by adding my vegan parmesan - which also adds wonderful flavour and making sure I only briefly pulsed the mixture. Over mix and you'll end up with houmous. 

The other aspect that made a big difference was the brand of chick peas I used. Apologies as this will only apply to those of you in Ireland or the UK but I used Tesco's own label tinned chickpeas here which are smaller and much more firm than most tinned chickpeas making them perfect in falafel. After all, traditional falafel is made by using dried chickpeas that have just been soaked then they are cooked from deep frying. I've always found that much too risky to attempt at home so these firm little cooked chickpeas are a god send! You can still use the larger, softer type chickpeas more common in tins, but do be careful not to overprocess....

~ Recipe Notes ~

• As you can tell from the length of this post, the recipe is rather involved. I recommend making the falafel batter the day before so it is ready to fry.

• I've used smoked sea salt throughout the recipe here as I feel it really adds to the chargrilled flavour of the asparagus and red onion but obviously you can use regular sea salt if that's all you have.

• I've had the salad both with the onions and asparagus warm and with them room temperature. Both are good but I definitely give the edge to having them warm. It's easier in that case to make them first and just give them a quick re-heat in a frying pan before assembling the salad.

• I didn't do it here in these photos but my Tamari Roasted Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds are an awesome addition to this salad! 

• .....and yes, if you don't fancy making the falafel, this salad is just as good without it :-) 

Crispy Corn Fritters with a Sweet Chilli Apple Glaze

I just might have a new favourite snack! These are absolutely incredible, really light and crispy corn fritters with an almost tempura style batter and a gorgeous sweet chilli apple glaze. It's a match made in heaven! Both the fritters and the glaze have taken many attempts to get just right but I have it now and am so happy. These will be featuring in my life many times I predict :-)

I was actually inspired by an episode of You Got to Eat Here, I can't remember the name of the restaurant but they had these corn dogs with a chilli apple glaze that just looked incredible. I knew I had to make something similar and opted for corn fritters instead and started experimenting with the glaze.

The glaze (or dip - you can use it either way) is amazing, essential with these fritters and something I can see going with many other things like spring rolls, wontons or anything else you might use say a Thai Sweet Chilli sauce with but honestly, this is better. 

It's also SO easy to make, just organic natural apple juice, apple cider vinegar, light brown sugar, shallots, garlic and red chilli. Give it a blitz in a blender then simmer in a saucepan until thick and lightly syrupy then chill to thicken a little more. Simple.

Due to the sauce having so much flavour I've opted for really simple corn fritters here. They are SO light as the addition of sparkling water gives them a tempura type texture and they have a perfect fluffy texture inside. They also reheat in the oven brilliantly (if you manage to find yourself with leftovers!) Just 5-10 min at 200C and they are as good as new :-)

Light and Crispy Corn Fritters:

Yields about 17 fritters

100g plain flour (2/3 cups)

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp caster sugar

½ tsp salt

1 Tbsp melted vegan butter

90ml sparkling water – 6 Tbsp

90g plain or unsweetened soy yogurt - 6 Tbsp

1 x 165g tin of sweetcorn, drained (1 cup drained) 

Vegetable oil, for frying

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Whisk together the soy yogurt, melted butter and sparkling water.  Mix to create a batter, then fold in the corn. Let it sit while the oil heats. 

Pour enough vegetable oil in a high sided saucepan to about 4-6", depending on the size of your pot. Make sure it's not too full. Heat oil to 190C/375F. 

Drop by heaped teaspoons into the oil and fry until golden and puffy, turning them over once. As the batter is fairly runny it's best to scoop up with 1 teaspoon and quickly push it off with another teaspoon. The quicker you do this the more rounded shaped fritters you will get. Remove with a heat safe slotted spoon and drain in a paper towel lined bowl. This type of batter absorbs quite a bit of oil so I recommend changing the paper once more and flipping the fritters to ensure all excess oil drains off. They can sit for quite a bit before they get cold so do let them drain well.

Sweet Chilli Apple Glaze:

½ cup cloudy organic apple juice 

¼ cup light brown sugar (45g)

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

1 small shallot

½ red chilli, de-seeded and membranes removed

1 clove garlic

Note: when I first made this and tested it I found it too hot and was going to make it again with just 1/4 of a chilli. But when it is used as a dip or glaze it's perfect. So don't be alarmed if you find it a bit hot at first too :-) Of course if you really like super spicy food you might like to add even more! Thankfully this dip/glaze is so easy to whip up you can experiment with the heat levels.

Place everything in blender and blend until really smooth and pink in colour. I used my awesome Froothie 9400 which took no time at all :-) Transfer to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil, stirring frequently until reduced, glossy and thick yet still a bit runny, about 10 minutes. Keep in mind it will thicken up some more in the fridge. Transfer to a bowl and let cool then refrigerate until fully cool. I like to bring it to room temperature before serving.

Serve the crispy warm fritters with the glaze. You can either dip them as you go where the fritters retain their crispiness. Or you can pre-glaze the fritters - they lose their crispiness a bit this way but it's also really good having the fritters saturated with that glaze! I recommend trying both ways :-) Oh, and yes - a nice crisp lager or blonde ale essential here. Enjoy!

♥

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliated links with Froothie UK.

Nutritional Information

Corn Fritters: per fritter after frying (out of 17 fritters)

Calories: 92

Protein: 1.1g

Fat: 6.8g

Sat Fat: 0.6g

Fibre: 0.4g

Carbs: 7g

Sugar: 1g

Sodium: 117mg

Sweet Chilli Apple Glaze: whole recipe

Calories: 237

Protein: 0.5g

Fat: 0.1g

Sat Fat: 0

Fibre: 0.2g

Carbs: 60.1g

Sugar: 43.9g

Sodium: 24.7mg

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Portobello Mushroom Katsu Curry with Japanese Rice

Back in my vegetarian days I used to order this "vegetable katsu curry" from a Japanese restaurant back in London. It was mixed vegetables, breaded and deep fried served over steamed rice with a thick curry sauce and oh my word, I loved it! I've been wanting to have a go at making my own for awhile now and am so glad I did. Here, I've opted for just mushrooms instead of mixed veg - in this case portobello mushrooms mostly for their good size when sliced and because they are simply one of my favourite mushrooms!

What I am most excited about is the breading recipe here, I used to do my breading with cornstarch then my homemade egg replacer, then the breadcrumbs. I decided to try replacing the egg replacer with straight up unsweetened soy yogurt and wow! This makes the absolute BEST breading for deep frying. Tasty and SUPER crispy, with a nice thick breading that does not fall off. It's just perfect.

The sauce took a couple of goes to get right, my first attempt just wasn't very good at all! I then saw this recipe on allrecipes and decided to try it (with a little adapting to my personal tastes) and thankfully it worked perfectly! Great flavour altogether, in fact, I couldn't stop "testing" it while I was waiting for the mushrooms and rice to cook :-)

For the rice, when I first made this I simply used boiled white basmati rice and it was fine but as this is a Japanese curry dish I felt it should really be with sushi/Japanese rice. I've always had problems getting sushi rice just right when I'm not using it for sushi, in other words when I'm not adding sushi seasoning afterwards. Thankfully, The Kitchn has come to the rescue with their tutorial on "How to make Japanese Rice on the Stove" - finally I'm getting it right everytime - tender rice with just the right amount of stickiness. I'll post the recipe here for my quantities but do click on the link for their full tutorial if this has been an issue for you as well.  

Portobello Mushroom Katsu Curry with Japanese Rice

Breaded & Fried Portobello Mushrooms:
2 - 3 Portobello Mushrooms
½ cup or so of unsweetened soy yogurt
2 cups breadcrumbs or panko
¼ cup cornflour (cornstarch) to coat 
Vegetable oil to fry
Salt

Coat the mushroom slices in the cornflour, tapping off any excess flour. Turn over in the yogurt until coated and then coat in breadcrumbs. Note: it may seem difficult at first to coat them in the yogurt but just keep turning them in the yogurt - they will coat eventually :-) Set aside. Heat the oil to 350F and deep fry until golden brown – ensure mushrooms are cooked through by testing one. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt.

Curry Sauce:
1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil
1 onion, sliced
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
½ large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
½ tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 tablespoon plain flour
2 teaspoons curry powder
¼ tsp turmeric
300ml vegetable stock – I made mine with 1 tsp Marigold Vegan Bouillon Powder
1 teaspoon light sweet freedom syrup (or light agave)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 small bay leaf

Heat the oil in a saucepan until melted, add the onion and carrot and cook on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli for the last couple of minutes.

Add the flour, turmeric and curry powder; cook for 1 minute. Gradually stir in the stock, I added about a quarter of the stock, stirred well, then another quarter etc..until all added. Now add the syrup, soy sauce and bay leaf. 

Bring to the boil then turn down heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until sauce thickens but is still of pouring consistency. Pour the curry sauce through a sieve and discard the vegetables. Return the sauce to the saucepan and heat on low heat until it thickens a little more. If it seems a bit runny just remove from the heat and set aside for 5-10 minutes. It'll thicken up a bit without getting cold, stir it now and again to keep smooth.

Sauce adapted from: allrecipes: Chicken Katsu Curry.

Japanese Rice:
125g sushi rice (1/2 cup)
140 ml water (1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp)
1/8 tsp salt

Wash the rice really well, several times until the water runs clear. Place in a non-stick pan with a tight fitting lid with the water and salt and let sit for 10 minutes. Set timer for 10 minutes then turn the heat on to high. When it is boiling, reduce to the lowest heat to simmer. When the time is up, remove from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes – do not lift the lid! Toss the rice with a rubber spatula to loosen before serving.

Rice method source: The Kitchn - How to Make Japanese Rice on the Stove.

Spoon the rice onto plates, spoon over most of the sauce, lay the breaded mushrooms over top and drizzle some more of the sauce over the mushrooms. (Don't put all the sauce over the mushrooms like I did here or you will lose all of the crispiness!)

♥

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Vietnamese Mushroom Balls with an Apricot-Ginger Dipping Sauce

I was going over some old blog posts with the intention of deleting some of them. You see, in the early days I would blog almost everything I made - successful recipes and the experiments. I would always state in those old posts when something didn't quite work out and what I would do next time, etc...Of course for the past few years that has not been the case - I only post tried, tested and perfected recipes but I was simply more casual in the start. 

I came across this post for "Vietnamese Mushroom Balls with Plum Sauce" from October 2008 and while reading the post remembered that although they tasted great it just wasn't a very successful recipe and decided to delete it but then noticed that it has been pinned over 600 times!!! What the frack?!?! I really have no idea how that could have been, it's a terrible photo and I even mentioned in the write up that it was a bit of a botched up experiment. I mean it's appreciated of course but baffling! :-)

Well, I decided I couldn't very well delete a post that's been pinned that many times but I could definitely get in the kitchen, experiment some more and get this one right! 

Originally this recipe came from "The Asian Vegan Kitchen" cookbook and called for some pretty obscure ingredients like dried wood ear mushrooms and straw mushrooms. I decided to make them with just regular ol' mushrooms to make things easier and also changed the process quite a lot to get the texture just right (they were like raw dough balls before!) Now, I am very happy with this recipe and am so glad I returned to it - these things taste incredible - packed with flavour, crispy on the outside and soft inside... So good, in fact, my husband boldly claimed that these are the best savoury things I've ever made! I think I have to agree with him :-)

For the dipping sauce, the old post just called for store bought plum sauce and I thought I could probably do a bit better than that now :-) Apricots actually go really well with mushrooms and I just happened to have a jar of apricot jam in the fridge not doing anything so I thought about making a plum-style sauce but apricot flavoured instead. I found a recipe for plum sauce that called for plum jam and based this one on that. 

OMG - I can safely say that I will never buy plum sauce or even Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce again. It is incredible: sweet and spicy with a good flavouring of ginger - it is the perfect accompaniment to these balls and best of all - incredibly easy and only takes 10 minutes to make.

Recipe Notes

• If you can't find white rice flour you can use cornstarch (cornflour in the UK/Eire) but I do find the rice flour gives both a better texture and taste.

• I did try baking these as well as I know a lot of people are not keen on deep frying and basically, I can't recommend it. A lot of the breadcrumbs fall off, they don't get that crisp shell which is so important and the filling goes a bit chewy. Just fry them and enjoy these at their best! Fried they have 53 calories each and 3.2g of fat. Baked they have 38 calories each and 1.5g of fat. Really, it's not so much to worry about! Treat yourself :-)

Vietnamese Mushroom Balls:

1 Tbsp peanut oil
200g mushrooms, diced small
1/2 carrot, diced small
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 inch cube ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 fresh hot red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
1/2 tsp sweet freedom syrup (or light agave)
6-7 grinds of fresh black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup white rice flour
30g breadcrumbs or panko
~a little more peanut oil to coat the balls
~vegetable oil to fry

Heat the peanut oil in a wok. Add the mushrooms carrot, salt and pepper and fry until cooked and any liquid is gone. Add the garlic, ginger and chili and fry a few minutes more, until fragrant. Add the soy sauce and syrup and fry until most the liquid is gone, it’ll be wet looking but you don’t want any pools of liquid. 

Transfer to bowl and refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour. Remove from the fridge and sprinkle over the rice flour, toss with a fork until everything has a coating of flour.

Have a little bowl of peanut oil ready. The best way to make the balls and ensure they stick together is to press the mixture into a tablespoon (a measuring tablespoon, not a cutlery tablespoon) once it's pressed in, scoop it out then take some of the peanut oil to grease your hands and press and shape into a ball, ensuring that the ball is coated lightly in the peanut oil (this will help ensure the breadcrumbs stick). Repeat until all the mixture is used up - you should get 12 balls. 

Note: photo is from when I made a half recipe, hence only 6 :-)

Wash and dry hands then roll each ball into the breadcrumbs, pressing the crumbs lightly into the ball. Repeat until all the balls are coated.

Heat a pot of vegetable oil to 350F. I use a large pot and about 1 litre of oil, make sure the oil is only about halfway up the pot. Carefully lower 6 of the balls into the oil and fry until crisp and deeply golden brown – this should only take a few minutes maximum. With a deep fry safe slotted spoon, scoop them out and place in a paper towel lines bowl to drain. Repeat with the other 6 balls. Let cool slightly and serve with the Apricot-Ginger dipping sauce.

Apricot-Ginger Dipping Sauce:

113g apricot jam (¼ cup + 1 Tbsp)
½ Tbsp rice wine vinegar
¾ tsp dark brown sugar, packed
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon finely grated ginger
2 Tbsp water

Place everything into a small saucepan and slowly bring to a boil, whisking all the while until smooth. Once it just comes to a boil, turn off the heat. If you want the sauce right away then transfer the sauce to a bowl and place the bowl into another bowl of ice water (with ice cubes) to cool quickly. Give it a whisk now and again while cooling to keep it smooth and even. Serve at room temperature or chilled, cover and refrigerate leftovers. After chilling you may have to add a splash of water if it's gone a bit too thick.

♥

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Corn Dawggies with the Most Wonderful Ketchup, Okra Fries with White Barbecue Sauce and a Pomarita Cocktail.

Well hello again!! Yes, I am back from my somewhat extended holiday :-) First, I should explain that we spent 4 weeks in Canada this summer, back to my hometown to visit my family. We had an absolutely fantastic time, it was my first time back in 6 years and it was SO good to be back. 

We returned late July but then unfortunately the old lupus decided to act up and I just haven't had the energy to blog. At all. So, that's why the break was a little longer than expected but I'm feeling OK now, it comes and goes but I'm happy to be back for the time being anyway! I would also like to apologise for all the late comment posting, responding to emails/twitter and book reviews....everything gets put on hold when I have a flare up.

Speaking of book reviews, I was contacted way back when, just before we left for Canada if I would mind reviewing Brian Patton's (aka - The Sexy Vegan) new cookbook "Happy Hour at Home - Small Plates, Big Flavours and Potent Cocktails" and I was only too happy to oblige. After all, I love cocktails and anything snacky - this sounded right up my alley! 

It's a great, fun book combining diverse cocktails with small bites, great for parties and small get-togethers. The book is divided into menu's like: "Little India" with samosa pizza, roasted chana and stuffed dates or "Really Little Italy" with rigatoni poppers, grilled asparagus and figs and grilled basil-mint watermelon skewers or "Satay-day Night Fever" with tempeh satay with peanut sauce, grilled baby bok choi and teriyaki almonds....just to give you an idea. Each menu also comes with a cocktail recommendation with all the drink recipes in the back. And of course the whole book oozes with Brian's fantastic sense of humour :-)

It's quite simply a great cookbook, I loved the sound of all the menus but when choosing which one I was going to test there was no contest - I went with the "State Fair Fare" menu: Corn Dawggies with the Most Wonderful Ketchup and Okra fries with White Barbecue Sauce. The reason is simple - I've actually never in my life had corn dogs (!) and have been wanting to try them for AGES now. Corn dogs being of course hot dogs dipped in a cornbread batter, deep fried and eaten on a stick, a common fair food in America. On top of that, brace yourselves, I've never had okra before (!!) So, how awesome was this menu for me??? 

Well, I'm glad to report that everything turned out beautifully, perfect first try and everything was so easy to do as it's clearly written and well explained. 

The Sexy Vegan's Corn Dawggies with the Most Wonderful Ketchup

Now, as I mentioned above I have never actually had corn dogs before so I had nothing to compare these too, but they looked just like them, cooked up a charm, had perfect texture and most importantly, tasted incredible!! I will definitely be making these again...and I will give him this - that really is "The Most Wonderful Ketchup"! Soon to be a staple in this house :-)

Corn Dawggies:
Canola, vegetable, or any other high-heat oil, for deep-frying

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unrefined granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup unsweetened nondairy milk
1/2 cup arrowroot
4 veggie dogs, cut into thirds
Toothpicks
Yellow or whole-grain mustard, for serving
The Most Wonderful Ketchup (recipe follows), for serving

Pour oil to a depth of 3 inches into a pot, high-sided pan, or deep fryer. Line a plate with paper towels and set it next to the stove. Heat the oil over medium heat until it registers 375°F on a deep-frying thermometer. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, chile powder, paprika, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Stir in the nondairy milk and keep stirring until you have a batter that is slightly thicker than pancake batter. Let rest for at least 5 minutes.

Spread out the arrowroot on a large plate. Working in batches, roll the veggie dogs in the arrowroot until completely coated, tapping the dogs to remove the excess, and immerse the dogs in the batter. Using a fork or chopsticks, take the dogs out of the batter and gently lower them into the oil. Fry for 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden on all sides, making sure to turn them a few times for even cooking. Transfer the dogs to the paper towel–lined plate. When they’re cool enough to handle, cut them in half crosswise, and serve with toothpicks, mustard, and the Most Wonderful Ketchup.

The Most Wonderful Ketchup:

1 cup ketchup

2 teaspoons pomegranate concentrate

½ teaspoon agave nectar

Whisk all this stuff together in a bowl.

Excerpted with permission from The Sexy Vegan’s Happy Hour at Home ©2013 by Brian Patton.  Published with permission of New World Library http://www.newworldlibrary.com.

♥

My Notes for the Corn Dawggies

• I used Fry's brand veggie dogs which come frozen so I defrosted them at room temperature first.
• I cut the dogs in half only as I wanted the more traditional looking corn dog on a stick here.
• I couldn't find ancho chile powder here so I just used a "hot chile powder".
• I used smoked sea salt in place of the salt.
• I fried them in vegetable oil.

My Notes for the Ketchup

• I used pomegranate molasses as it's called here. (Same diff).
• I used Sweet Freedom in place of the agave as it's my vegan syrup sweetener of choice :-)

The Sexy Vegan's "Pomarita" Cocktail

This.Was.Gorgeous!!! Now, the drink recommendation for this menu was actually the lush sounding "Starburst" with citrus juices and strawberry vodka that Brian describes as tasting just like starburst candy (which I would LOVE!) but, I didn't have any strawberry vodka and that stuff is expensive, haha, SO I went with the Pomarita (think pomegranate margarita) as it called for some pomegranate concentrate which I already bought to make the ketchup and well, I liked having another recipe to use the stuff in! 
An amazing cocktail, another regular for sure, and while I would usually shake my margarita style cocktails with ice and pour into a martini glass, I quite like the rustic look of it in my mini beer stein... (which yes, IS a former mustard pot!)

♥

The Sexy Vegan's Okra "Fries" with White Barbecue Sauce

Like corn dogs I also have never had okra before, I heard that they can be slimy and I think this has been putting me off trying them; but thankfully there was no slime whatsoever here, they had a nice crunchy cornmeal coating, were slightly chewy inside and went perfectly with the white barbecue sauce.

Altogether this was a great menu, fun to make and easy to do and I look forward to having some people over and trying the other menus in the book!

♥

Disclaimer: While I was given this cookbook to review I was not paid to review it and all views expressed here are my own, as are all the photos.

Beer Battered Deep Fried Bananas with Salted Caramel or Toffee Sauce

I have actually been trying to blog this for almost a year now as I first made it AGES ago but something kept getting in the way! We've had this a few times now and it is simply one of my favourite desserts. Despite the deep frying they really are very easy to make and taste just incredible!

I've based the batter recipe on my beer batter as it's so nice and light and tasty. I figured a regular lager wouldn't work for a dessert so have used Well's Banana Bread Beer instead and added a bit of sugar to the batter. I've further dredged the banana in cinnamon flour before battering which really adds to it. The beer gives a hint of banana flavour to the batter which smells heavenly!

The first sauce I made for this was a toffee sauce as I wanted a banoffee feel to this dessert. It's really easy and tastes fantastic but then I tried a salted caramel sauce and have to say I slightly prefer that one, the bit of salt just gives the whole dish a little lift. However, the salted caramel is a bit of a bitch to make, my first batch turned out perfect but subsequent ones failed despite making them all the exact same way. 

So, I will give you both sauce recipes - the less stable salted caramel and the foolproof toffee :-) Furthermore, if you live in the UK or Ireland and don't want to make a sauce at all I can confirm that Lyle's Butterscotch Sauce is both labelled vegan and works very well with this.

And I know it may seem odd but this is one of those desserts that pairs very well with beer. It really does go perfectly with a chilled glass of the banana bread beer....and you've got to love a dessert you can eat with beer, right??

Recipe Notes:

• Well's Banana Bread Beer is vegan and readily available in both the UK and Ireland. Alternatively any banana flavour beer will most likely work and Mongozo banana beer is also vegan.

• I like to use golden caster sugar but any sugar will do.

• Make sure the bananas you use are not overly ripe, the firmer the better with no dark spots - they need to take some intense heat while frying!

• Use whatever store bought vanilla ice cream you like - my only option is Swedish Glace which thankfully I love but if you are lucky enough to have coconut milk/cream based vegan ice creams for sale where you are I can see them going beautifully with this.

Beer Battered Deep Fried Bananas

Batter:
1 cup / 140g plain flour

1 cup / 250ml Well's Banana Bread Beer

2 Tbsp golden caster sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Dredging Mixture:

• 4 Tbsp plain flour

• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

♥

• vegetable oil to fry

• bananas

Whisk the flour, beer, sugar and salt together in a large bowl until smooth. Place in the fridge for 1 hour.

Whisk the flour and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl. Remove the batter from the fridge and give it another good whisk.

Slice the bananas as you like. I sliced mine into thirds then each third in half. Dredge them in the flour and cinnamon mixture, the easiest way to do this is in a large ziploc bag.

Pour the vegetable oil into a large high sided pot. I used about 1.5 litres but still had a good 3 inches spare from the oil to the top of the pot - safety first! Don't fill a pot full of oil.

Heat the vegetable oil until very hot, at least 350F if you have a thermometer. NOTE: if the oil isn't hot enough the fritters will sink to the bottom and immediately stick to the bottom of the pan. Then, they will take too long to cook resulting in the banana turning to mush. You don't want that and yes, I speak from experience! When the oil is hot enough the fritters will drop in and then almost immediately rise to the surface. I recommend using one fritter as an oil test first before cooking the rest.

Take the flour and cinnamon dredged bananas and dip into the beer batter until well coated and then carefully place in the hot oil. Add more bananas but don't crowd the pot. As they cook turn them over so that they brown evenly.

Let them cook until golden brown then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a wire rack with paper towel underneath to catch drips.

Place a good size scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream onto a plate, place some of the fritters around it and drizzle over some of the sauce. Eat immediately!

Toffee Sauce:

• 25g maple syrup
• 50g light muscovado sugar (light brown)
• 40g vegan butter
• 30ml soy cream
• ¼ tsp vanilla

Mix all but the soy cream in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring all the while. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the soy cream. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool and thicken. If it gets too thick simply heat in the microwave for about 10 seconds and it'll be good as new :-)

Source: based on Demuth's Vegetarian Cookery School toffee sauce recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Salted Caramel Sauce: 

• 125g white caster sugar
• 4 Tbsp water
• 80ml soy cream
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Heat the caster sugar and water in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring all the while until the sugar dissolves and it comes to a boil. Stop stirring and let it simmer until it changes to a light golden colour. While it is simmering, make sure you do not stir it but instead brush around the pot just above the liquid with water to stop sugar crystals forming.

When it is nice and golden in colour remove from the heat and immediately stir in the soy cream - warning: it will splatter and foam up a lot here so take care! Once that is fully incorporated then you can stir in the vanilla and salt.

Source: based on BBC Good Food's Salted Caramel Buttercream Recipe. 

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Banana Doughnuts with Peanut Butter Glaze

So, those of you who read the daily blog will know I've gone a bit doughnut mad lately! This started off wanting to re-make my original doughnuts without the egg replacer - something I no longer use. The first attempt was only ok but a bit chewy - this was mostly my fault in overcooking them. This led to me thinking about banana as an egg replacer and simply making banana doughnuts. The obvious glaze that came to mind here was a peanut butter glaze - and that stuff is amazing!! If you are not into doughnuts (!) I would still highly recommend pouring this glaze over a loaf of banana bread. That would be stunning!

Now my son is never overly keen on peanut butter flavoured things so I also made these with a chocolate glaze. It's the same chocolate glaze I used on the original doughnut post and works equally well with the banana doughnut.

I further started to think about filled doughnuts, as I had jam filled ones in the original post and only one filling came to mind for a banana flavoured doughnut - nutella. These were stunning! Now, I have cheated here and used store bought vegan nutella. Yes, we are very lucky here in Ireland as Spar's own label hazelnut spread is "accidentally vegan" AND cheaper than Nutella :-) But, there are loads of recipes out there for vegan nutella for you to use.

Banana Doughnuts with Peanut Butter Glaze

Yields 12 ring doughnuts

1 x 7g sachet quick rise yeast

400g flour

180ml / 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk

50g / 1/4 cup vegan butter

56g / 1/4 cup golden caster sugar

130g / 1/2 cup mashed very ripe bananas

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp nutmeg - optional

1/4 tsp salt

vegetable oil to fry

Heat the soy milk, vegan butter and sugar in a saucepan until the butter melts and sugar dissolves, stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer to another bowl and let cool to between 130F. Best to use a cooking thermomenter here, if not, you want it hand hot. The liquid when using quick rise yeast should be between 120 - 130F which is hotter than when using active dry yeast.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, yeast, salt and nutmeg. Pour the milk mixture over and stir well, add the banana and fold in well. The mixture will be somewhat wet here and you should have a shaggy dough. Sprinkle a bit of flour on a surface and add the dough, gently knead, adding a bit more flour until you just have a manageable dough and can shape it into a smooth ball. Resist the temptation to add too much extra flour here, you don't want a dry dough.

Grease a large bowl and add the dough, cover with cling film and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Punch the dough down, knead a couple times then roll out 1/2" thick. Cut out doughnut shapes with a doughnut cutter, or fashion your own! For the filled doughnuts simply shape into flattish balls. Re-roll scraps and cut our more shapes until it is all used. Place the doughnuts on a floured baking sheet lined with baking paper, cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1/2 hour.

Now, get your glazes ready and get the oil on to fry.

Peanut Butter Glaze

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter (80g)

1 cup icing sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla

about 3 Tbsp hot water

Mix the peanut butter together with the vanilla then add some of the hot water and mix, it will turn thick and grainy here but don't worry. Add the icing sugar and the rest of the water and mix well.

Chocolate Glaze

1 Tbsp vegan butter

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla

20ml hot water (1 Tbsp + 1 tsp)

50g plain or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Add everything to a bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until it all comes together in a syrupy glaze. Transfer to another bowl to cool slightly and thicken up before glazing.

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Use a large high sided pot and fill half way up with oil, heat to 350F. Carefully transfer the doughnut to a heat safe spatula (do not use plastic!) and lower into the oil. As these doughnuts are quite soft, I found it easiest to cut around the baking paper the doughnut is lying on then flip it upside down onto the spatula and remove the paper then lower into the oil. Fry each doughnut for about 1 or 2 minutes a side, until they are golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack covered in paper towels and repeat with the remaining doughnuts.

2013 Edit - Yes, I've just made these again and wanted to try them baked as some of you have asked if they can be. The answer is YES! After they are shaped and have had their second rise remove the cling film, give them a spray with cooking spray and pop into a preheated 200C oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown and well risen, mine took 12 minutes.They turned out really well, great flavour and texture, not sure I'll even bother deep frying again! Once out of the oven dip them while warm into the glazes.

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Give the glazes another good whisk then take a warm doughnut and dip the top into the glaze. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with baking paper and repeat with the remaining doughnuts. I found the peanut butter ones needed another dip once the first glaze set.

For the filled doughnuts, fill a pastry bag with a long nozzle with the nutella. Insert into the doughnut and move it around a bit to make room then squeeze the nutella in until it is coming out. Best to do these once the doughnuts cool so that the nutella doesn't turn to liquid. As you can guess, this happened to me :-)

Let the doughnuts fully cool and the glaze set then enjoy. These will keep only for a day or two before getting too dry. The next day we microwaved them for 20 seconds to get them warm and soft again :-) 

Also - the second time I made these it was summer and my kitchen was very hot. As a result, when I woke up the next morning the peanut butter glaze had melted off the doughnuts! The chocolate glaze was fine but just a note that if you have made these in a hot kitchen you should store the peanut butter ones in the fridge :-)

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Nutritional Information:

(based on 1 peanut butter glazed ring doughnut)

Calories: 303 (235 if you bake them)

Fat: 11.8g (5.3g if you bake them, rest of the figures are more or less the same.)

Sat Fat: 1.7g

Protein: 5.5g

Fibre: 2.1g

Carbs: 43.7g

Sugar: 16.5g

Sodium: 100mg

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