Vegan Meat Patties

Vegan meat patties

Quite by chance and by accident I have made vegan patties that look and taste like meat. I think I shall have to name them Serendipity Patties. (Btw, hands up who first learned the word serendipity from Dr Who circa 1970?)

Here's how it happened. I went shopping this morning while DD was at school. Included in my weekly shop full of healthy fruit, vegetables and whole grains of course (well mostly - some of the grains aren't wholely whole tbh), were DD's crisps. I came home, unpacked the shopping and sat down at the computer with a cup of tea, to work.

I tried eating a bowl of porridge with banana. Then I finished the cold pasta in the fridge with salad vegetables and a tahina dressing. Then I had another cup of tea. And finally I succumbed to the crisps. (I should have just eaten the crisps first and bypassed all the other calories.) This was over a four hour period but still, I ate her crisps.

DD goes to club straight from school on Friday and one of the leaders comes to the school to walk a group of them over to the club house at 11.45. Yes Stupid Friday school finishes at 11.45. It was my turn to pick her up with her friend, at 1.15. We walked the friend home and then just had time to pop back into the local supermarket for a replacement bag of crisps.

The shops here close at 2pm on Fridays in the winter and don't open at all on Saturday. There was a pile of reduced perishable items by the check out. I was drawn by a designer loaf of bread and a pack of two whole-wheat challah rolls in the 2 for 12 shekels basket. I bought them and the sliced loaf went straight into the freezer for toast. I fancied a challah sandwich for supper.

However, when I took the challot (pl) out of the bag they were dry and sort of crumbled in my hands. I was angry initially but there was nothing I could do about it except resolve never to buy food on offer from that shop again. I've said this before but I keep forgetting.

Ever industrious in the kitchen, I crumbled the challot into a bowl, added a finely chopped onion, a jar of pasta tomato sauce, two tablespoons of nutritional yeast, and a shlug of olive oil. I would have added some soy or Worcester sauce but I didn't have any. I mixed it all up and spooned patty sized mounds of the mixture onto a baking tray. Into the oven for - umm - until they started to smell done, flipped them over and back into the oven for another 10 minutes. Oh yes, the oven was hot  - about 200 degrees.

They were still a bit moist and floppy when I put them onto a plate to cool but became much firmer as they rested. I had about 25 (now only 21) and they really do taste meaty. I think next time I'll make them bigger like burgers.

I packed them into a plastic box and into the fridge for the week. In a prime example of bloggerfail, I'd forgotten to take a photo. So the photo after the fact is not very Martha Stewart but at least I remembered before they were all eaten. Don't they look good for vegan?

One Simple Pizza/Bread Dough

My new favourite You Tube channel is Cooking With Plants. It has amazing vegan recipes and it's not complicated or boring. Anja Cass gets straight to the point and cooks the food without minutes of introspective blabbering about other things on her mind. And her kitchen is clean - I like that.

DD's favourite food is pizza. Seeing as she eats very little of anything, I try to give her what she likes. Obviously I don't want to give her the sugar/salt loaded commercial pizzas and (also obviously) she won't be fobbed off with my pita bread pizzas or plain cheese on toast.

I wanted to be that mum who made homemade pizza from scratch but the dough bit seemed like such a bother. Until I saw this no knead pizza dough recipe from Cooking with Plants. And then I noticed that she used exactly the same dough for her country style bread. It looked so easy it would have been rude not to try it. So I came over all earthy and had a go.

First I made the dough. I dug out a solitary packet of instant yeast from the back of the cupboard. I mixed it with the flour, salt, and some other herbs, and then added water. Nothing had happened after nearly two hours so I concluded that either the yeast was so old it had died, or it was not in a warm enough environment.

As I'd made the dough in a plastic bowl I couldn't put it in the oven (on low) so I put the whole bowl into a bigger bowl and poured boiling water into the inter-bowl space. That seemed to do the trick.

Then DD helped me make a traditional pizza with corn and olives. Guey dough everywhere. Ugh! Next time we agreed that I'd roll the dough and she can put on the toppings. I admit the tomato sauce came out of a plastic cube that looked like tomato puree when I bought it but turned out to be spaghetti sauce - I absolutely do not buy spaghetti sauce.

Then we made a pizza blanca with olives and cheese because we'd run out of tomato sauce. And actually we like that better.

After that we had no more tomato sauce or cheese so I thought I'd try the olive bread. I made rolls and they were delicious.

It was so easy I will be doing this again often. I've already bought more whole-wheat flour and new yeast. Watch this space for Earthy Midlife Singlemum. :~)

One inevitable drawback to being so healthy.

Pre-Pesach Leftovers Recipe

At Pesach time we run down all the food we have in the house. You can keep sealed packets and frozen stuff but I like to use up all the open packets. We start using things up a few weeks before and it's a nice feeling to know that all the storage jars get washed out at least once a year. :~)

What do you think these are?

They are everything I had opened in jars in my food cupboard, fridge and freezer, made into rissoles and a kugel.

2 cups of polenta
1 1/2 cups of red lentils (soaked)
1 cup or orzo (cooked)
1/2 cup of  porridge oats
1 onion chopped
Half a bag of frozen broccoli
1/4 bag frozen spinach
About 100g of butter
Some cooking oil
Salt
pepper
curry powder
2 eggs
2 cups of milk

Saute the onion in the butter, cook the orzo, cook the broccoli, thaw the spinach and drain, mix it all together.

Pour into a well oiled dish and bake for about an hour until done for the kugel. Here is the kugel. Cut it into squares and serve with salad.

Make the leftover mixture into small patties and fry. Also serve with a salad, with or without ketchup.

Homemade Falafel

Homemade Falafel Burgers

Falafel is a national dish in Israel. It was always a traditional Arab food and still is in Egypt and other Arab countries but there it is more likely to be made from fava beans. In Israel they use chickpeas. Yemenite Jewish immigrants started the tradition of stuffing the falafel into a pitta pocket (or wrapping it in a bigger laffa) with salad humus, pickles and chips. 

This portable snack can be picked up on the streets in Israel the way you pick up a hot dog in NYC or a slice of pizza. It is the Israeli equivalent to the UK's fish and chips and you'll find several falafel shops along every high street here.

I have a big jar of dried chickpeas

The traditional Israeli falafel is dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and ground (processed today) and mixed with onion, garlic, parsley, coriander, cumin, salt & pepper, and a bit of flour to assist the binding. The resulting paste is then rolled into balls and fried. No eggs, this is totally vegan. With the pitta and salad it's a whole vegan meal.

The first time I tried making it I made the mistake of cooking the chickpeas before I made the falafel paste. This is totally unnecessary unless you prefer a more mashed-potato type consistancy to your falafel.

In recent years 'designer' falafel has emerged - curry flavour, green (more green herbs), lemon-garlic, sweet and sour, hot and spicey... You can add anything you like. I like to put some tehina paste in mine because my food processor isn't strong enough to really grind the chickpeas so the tehina gives it a bit more moisture.

In the pan

People don't tend to make their own falafel as it's so easy and cheap to buy. However I was tempted by a big bag of powdered falafel mix in the supermarket (just add water) before I opted for the dried chick peas.

I also opted to make bigger, burger sized, falafel rather than the more commonly sized balls. That way I'm more likely to eat them on a plate with my salad than with the unnecessary pitta. And I find I eat less when they are bigger. I could easily eat 7 - 8 small falafel balls whereas I'll only have two falafel burgers that are the size of about three balls. And you can't just pop one extra into your mouth every time you pass the plate.

You can google falafel recipes if you need exact amounts but I prefer to be creative and add whatever I have to hand.

Matza Brei

Obviously I had my matza brei on Pesach (Passover) but I was so out of the blogging loop that I forgot to take photos of it. Can you believe that!?

Before leaving Jerusalem for London, I had had to buy a packet of matzas for DD's mock seder at kindergarten. Also, I rented out the apartment here during Pesach. So when we returned there was a fair amount of leftover matza in the cupboard. I managed to get through most of it with butter and/or cheese. Maybe one or two with butter and jam. And then I was down to the last three slices. I took the opportunity to return to matza brei so that I could share it with you because it's one of life's pure pleasures and, for many of us, the ultimate comfort food.

Matza Brei

Ingredients
Slices of matza (the big ones)
water
one egg per slice of matza
a splash of milk
salt and pepper
a generous knob butter for frying

Method
1. Run your matza under the tap for 3 seconds to wet them but don't make them soggy.
2. Beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl (like for making an omelet).
3. Melt the butter in a frying pan.
4. Break the matza up over the pan and drop the pieces into the hot butter. Stir and fry over for a minute. You may have to add lots more butter.
5. Pour over the egg mixture and cook like scrambled eggs.
6. Turn out onto a plate and add more salt and pepper to taste.

Variation
There are those who prefer their matza brei made like an omelet and they may even season it with sugar like a pancake. Others can't resist adding fried mushrooms or onions to the mixture but, imo, you can't improve on the basic pure matza brei. I would advise you not to play with the recipe.

Warning
Everyone has their own family matza brei made to Grandma's traditional recipe. Everyone thinks that theirs is the best and the original. Don't get drawn into arguments about this - keep your cool and be secure in the knowledge that mine is the best and the original.

Invitation
I invite those with different matza brei experiences to add them in the comments below.

Rainbow Soups

In order to get DD to try something new I have to insist and offer a small bribe - cake for dessert usually. I've been pushing the soup issue for a while now. Let's face it, a bowl of soup in the winter is the best way to go on every level. It's warming, filling, cheap, and easy to make a big batch for a few days and some for freezing.

DD, however, was not interested. Although she loves the mandlech (soup-nuts) on their own or with grated cheese (why not?) the soup always met with a defiant, "DON'T WANT!"

Then yesterday I had one portion of orange soup left over. (Squash, sweet potato, carrot, and a dash of orange juice added to sauteed onions and garlic, salt and pepper - all liquidized into anonymity of course.) I laid down the law - no mandels on their own, only in soup. Luckily I had cake to offer for dessert.

DD was doubtful. Then I was inspired. Remembering the enormous raw beetroot I'd popped into my shopping trolley earlier, with no idea what I was going to do with it, I told her, "if you eat orange soup today, I'll make purple soup tomorrow."

Her eyes lit up. I continued. "And then we can have red soup (tomato obviously), green soup (pea), and even white soup (cauliflower and potato)!  No darling, I can't make blue soup."

So tonight we have purple soup. It's delicious, even if I say so myself. I didn't expect it to be this good. here's what I did:

Sautee an onion and a few cloves of garlic in oil, add an enormous beetroot cut into cubes, more than cover it with water and bring to the boil.

Meanwhile add a cup of tomato ketchup (or puree and sugar), a dash of soy sauce, some onion soup mix, salt, pepper and.... because beetroot has a sharp taste.... two tablespoons of honey. Reader, I kid you not. It works.

Simmer for up to an hour (beetroot is tough) and zzhuzzh (I think that's Yiddish for wizz) with a hand blender. It comes out a velvety purple. Here is mine with some mandlech. (It looks more purple in real life).

I'm linking this to Mrs M's Meal Planning Monday (go take a look to see what people have planned for the week). Even though it's not a week of meals, it is a plan to see us through the winter and add a major element to each meal.

I don't know why naming soups by colour is so much more fun and less threatening to a 4yo than naming the vegetables in it but it is. Whatever it takes eh?

Vegan In My Freezer

New Year Resolutions 1, 2, and 3 are
1.) To halve my food bills.
2.) To eat less, small portions, and only at mealtimes.
3.) To cook and eat vegan food as much as possible.

I was inspired by Elaine Colliar who writes a fabulous blog called Mortgage Free in Three, in which she is striving to pay off her mortgage in three years. Her challenge for January is to eat largely from her store cupboard, so to speak.

My battle plan was as follows:
1. Do a comprehensive shop taking advantage of the slashed vegetable prices in my local supermarket. You can buy up to 3kg of some basics (tomatoes, cucs, potatoes, onions) for about 6p/kilo and other veg are also reduced if you buy over 13GBP of other foods.

2. Cook up a storm and freeze portion (or 2-portion) amounts for the rest of the month. This also stops me eating the whole pot of something as the portions are already set.

3. Make a menu plan for the week and stick to it.

4. Only buy more salad vegetables and fruit , cheese (for DD), and olives when necessary. Nothing else.

So I spent Friday afternoon cooking. Bear in mind that I'm experimenting with vegan cooking whilst still using cheese for DD. I have pictures but won't be posting recipes until I've perfected them.

First I made a thick, golden vegetable soup and put two single portions and once double portion in the freezer in jars.

Then I used one portion of the soup to make polenta which I baked in the oven. To be eaten topped with tomato salad or ratatouille.

Next I defrosted some shop-bought pastry (I bought two 1kg rolls as I found a make -Et Ran - that cost 12nis/2GBP instead of the 25nis it usually costs). I made one batch of burekas using left over vegetarian bolognese sauce and another with grated cheese and olives (for DD). Two boxes of each in the freezer.

Moving on, we have oriental tofu mushroom cabbage (also with onion, garlic, spinach, soy sauce, salt and pepper). I had some of this with bolognese burekas for lunch and froze three boxes of it. Each frozen box can be one portion on it's own or, more sensibly, two portions served on noodles. [Btw, I do a Mediterranean version of this cooked with olive oil, fresh spinach or other herbs instead of the frozen spinach, and lemon juice instead of the soy sauce. served on pasta of course)

Finally, I used up a loaf of white bread that was left over at the end of the week at the kindergarten and they were looking for takers. I fried small cubes of carrot and potato with onions and garlic, added the bread cut into small cubes, seasoned with salt, pepper and onion soup powder, added a few cups of water, and cooked through. Then I baked it in small oven-proof dishes until golden brown and crispy on the top. I think you just eat this with salad as it certainly doesn't need any more carbs or vegetables. Nine portions in the freezer.

I have one more thing to make - tomato soup for the coming week as winter suddenly returned with a vengeance today. And on Monday I'll link up to Meal Planning Monday with the week's menu.

Smug? You betcha :)

Lemony Roast Vegetables With Ptitim

Keith the Reluctant Housedad (aka Big Chief Recipe Shed) took up my challenge to make a lemony vegetarian dish that isn't dessert. He came up with Lemony Middle Eastern Roast Vegetables with Zatar served on (so tempted to write: a bed of...) Fluffy Couscous and Feta Cheese. It looks amazing. I was especially intrigued by the cubes of lemon with the peel that get roasted with the vegetables. Of course I promised to cook it myself and blog about it...

Now what would be the point of reproducing exactly Keith's recipe and writing an almost identical post? Exactly. So I've made a few modifications....

1. Instead of butternut squash, I substituted aubergine. I love roast aubergine and it's still very Middle Eastern.

2. I'm not a fan of cooked chickpeas and anyway I use chickpeas a lot in my homemade humus and falafel. So I left out the chickpeas and put in garlic.

3. I forgot to buy a green pepper so I just have the red pepper and courgettes (mine are the light green ones rather than the dark ones that Keith used) to go with my aubergine and garlic.

4. I can't put feta cheese in my couscous because I'm doing a DIY-Detox with Jane from Diary Of a Desperate Exmoor Woman. I've cut out dairy completely so no cheese sorry.

5. We're not big on couscous although the couscous with feta sounds amazing. Seeing as I'm not doing the feta and I'm also trying to feed a 3yo I used coucous ptitim intsead.

About Ptitim

In the early days of the State of Israel in the 1950s, there were many refugees from Arab countries. They weren't used to the pasta and potatoes familiar to the Europeans. They cooked with couscous, lentils and rice. A cheap oven-baked pasta was created in the shapes of rice (like orzo), lentils, couscous, and the giant pearl couscous (maftoul or mograbeih). You cook it like rice or pasta. They are now a favourite Israeli food and come in rings, stars and hearts as well. Follow the links for a fuller account on Wikipedia.

So here it is:

For the marinade: Olive oil, lemon juice, zatar (if you can't find zatar cumin is also good and still Middle Eastern). I added salt and pepper though Keith didn't.

Cube the vegetables: aubergine, courgettes, red pepper, garlic (throw in whole cloves with the peel still on). I left out the whole cubed lemon as this was my second attempt. The one I made yesterday I found too lemony. Keith, however says he likes the sharpness so it's a matter of taste. I prefer a subtle hint of lemon.

Mix the marinade into the vegetables and leave to marinate for at least an hour.

Roast the vegetables in the oven for about an hour turning them over occasionally. (Yesterday I added black olives after about 45 minutes and it was a nice touch. Today I didn't have any.)

Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their peels and squash each one lightly with a fork to release the flavour.

Serve the roast vegetables on a bed of  (just kidding) with ptitim.

When I packed the leftovers away I mixed everything together and it actually looks like a very nice side dish to serve with fish or chicken.

Thanks Keith!

Teenage Cooking: Voodoo Sausages

I saw these on facebook and I just had to try it. So after I'd bullied Big Chief Recipeshed to make this week's theme cooking for kids I set out to design a recipe especially for teenagers.  

Voodoo Sausages

1. Give each teenager a sausage and ask them to imagine that the sausage is their worst enemy. You may employ some group discussion in order to share and empathise, etc...

2. Hand out sticks of dried spaghetti. Explain the concept of voodoo and voodoo dolls in particular.

3. Stick the enemies through with spaghetti pins.

4. Put the voodoo sausages into a cauldron pot of boiling water and watch them boil to death until the pasta is cooked.

5. Serve and eat. Good topics for conversation over dinner would be; the satisfaction of revenge or cannibalism by proxy.

6. Sit back and wait for bad news. This could take several days or even weeks.

Disclaimer 1. My kitchen really is meat free. I used Tivall vegetarian sausages.

Disclaimer 2. For a real children's treat read about my vegetable nugget pancakes.

Disclaimer 3. For a really funny recipe read The Whisky Lovers' Christmas Fruit Cake.

Pancake Crazy For Vegetarian 'Meat' Meals

Sweetcorn pancakes and broccoli pancakes

How can a vegetarian kitchen serve meat and two veg? (Disclaimer: I say vegetarian kitchen as my kitchen is vegetarian [with tins of tuna] but I am not. I have good reasons which will be in another post... one day.) Of course it can't. However there are reasons why you might want to serve something of similar weight and texture. Here are my reasons:

1. Cook meat, add potatoes or rice, a couple of cooked vegetables and a salad et voila - a dinner party! With meatless food it's somehow never as simple as that. Whatever I serve (vegetable strudel, lasagne, quiche, stuffed vegetables) and whatever I add (kugel, latkes, curried rice with everything) I'm thinking: why am I adding more starch when the main item already has pasta/rice/pastry in it? Ditto for the vegetable sides - more vegetables?

2. I'm always looking for that elusive meaty taste and texture. It's a mindset I have to get past but I'm not there yet.

3. Sometimes I want a burger with all the trimmings.

4. I like the old familiar foods even if they are meat-centric. Hence spaghetti tofunaise and vegetarian cholent.

I know the answer is to get over the traditional meat and two veg as the ideal meal but until I do I've gone a bit mad with pancakes. Make them thick and dense and full of flavour and you have something that can look like a burger, a chicken nugget, a sausage or a shnitzel. We're into nugget size at the moment as DD is 3yo and it suits her for dipping into ketchup.

Make nuggets with teaspoon size portions

Use fried onions, onion soup powder, soy sauce, tomato puree, curry powder, ground cumin or coriander, salt and pepper to experiment for a more meaty taste. Or use these ingredients to make a piquant sauce to serve with your pancakes.

Tuna pancakes (Yes I know!)

For the main pancake ingredient you can use any vegetables. Put them in the processor with eggs, flour and any of the above seasonings. Then spoon the mixture (teaspoons for nuggets, tablespoons for burgers) into hot oil and fry on both sides.

I'm linking this to Recipeshed at Chronicles of a Reluctant Housedad where the theme this week is soups and vegetarian. And I wish you all a flipping good Shrove Tuesday.