coconut yoghurt

This was one of those experiments that rejuvenates my passion for cooking. This recipe took a lot of research, reading and pondering as to how I was going to try it. Essentially you heat up the coconut milk (to what temp is debatable, if it's fresh out of the can there shouldn't be any bacteria to kill off like dairy milk) but it needs to be 40ish degrees when you add the starter, then kept warm at the same temperature for anywhere between 12 and 24 hours. It has the same variables as making bread, in the winter it will take longer in the summer shorter. The starter grows the "good bacteria", it cools down then thickens and you refrigerate and it thickens some more.

I chose to follow this website as it seemed to be the most knowledgeable. I was out all night but constantly fretting about it and texting my flatmate (bless her) to take temperature measurements of the water bath. In the end I let it go but DID wake up at 4am out of anxiety to check on it (yeah yeah I'm special) anyway here is what I did (I strongly suggest you do a lot of reading on the subject, personally I think I fluked it, I wont know until I try again). The results by the way? Well look at the picture, you stuck a spoon in and it was thick like pot set Greek yoghurt. Unbelievable.

ingredients
3 cans coconut cream
1/8 tsp dairy free probiotic* (I used Inner Health Plus dairy free)
1 tbs maple syrup
2 tsp agar powder

method
1. Steralise your yoghurt jars, bowls and anything that will touch the yoghurt with boiling water (I leave them submerged in the boiling water till it cools).

2. Heat coconut milk in a saucepan to 80 degrees (you will need a sugar thermometer) then add maple syrup and agar.

3. Let your coconut cream cool to 40-45 degrees, remove 1/4 cup of the coconut cream and mix in your probiotic, then combine back into the coconut cream in the pot.

4. Pour the coconut cream into your jars and cover with a lid (they say to not use metal lids) and let the coconut cream ferment at 40-45 degrees between 8 and 24 hours. How I kept mine warm was in a water bath in my crock pot. I used the initial heat from the coconut cream and some warm water to keep it warm/desired temperature. However I turned the crock pot on low at 4am as it had become almost cold and woke back up at 8am and turned it off but was convinced it had kept the milk too hot (the water was almost 60 degrees) so I thought I had destroyed the batch. The milk had separated into milk and water and was as thin when I started, I mixed it all back together but was pretty devastated. I went back and hour later to throw it away and it had set fully (like jelly) while it was cooling. I was blown away.

So maybe this was a fluke? Maybe using agar is the big difference from others experiments? *It wasn't as sour as I would have liked it to be so next time I'm going to bump up the probiotic - Ive seen as much as 1tsp per can of coconut milk. If you attempt this do let me know, I'd be keen to hear your variables and results. Actually now I would recommend adding a tbsp of soy yoghurt instead of inner health plus, cheaper and better results.

dr tempehcon - or I how I stopped wretching and learned to love the tempeh

Ahhh "tempeh-con". I have to admit I've abhorred tempeh until now. The only time I'd eaten tempeh and liked it was at Real Food Daily in their burger. It's a texture thing, it's a taste thing, it's an all over tempeh you are seriously gross thing. But something came over me. I just became obsessed with recreating the tempeh bacon from Real Food Daily and although I couldn't be bothered making my own stove stop smoker or finding maple crystals I thought DAMN IT I can find a recipe that works. From there an addiction was born. Rummaging around the web the general consensus was maple syrup, soy sauce, liquid smoke. The cooking methods varied but the main method was slice thinly and pan fry. I then found this wonderful amazing woman Colleen Patrick Goudreau and tried the recipe in this video:



What I took away from this stuck, STEAM THE TEMPEH, it makes it completely amazing and like a sponge even eager to soak up the marinade. I can (and have) eaten a whole packet at once. It's seriously good, a little lengthy to get it crispy but OH so worth it.

ingredients
1 packet of tempeh, pat dry and slice thinly (bearing in mind it plumps up when steamed)
1/4 cup of soy sauce/tamari
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tbsp of liquid smoke

method
1. Steam the tempeh slices for 8-10 minutes in vegie steamer. The tempeh will go a whiteish colour.

2. Mix up the marinade and soack the tempeh strips (I usually just line them up like before they were sliced and wedge them into a lunchbox) over night if possible.

3. Line up the tempeh strips on a wire rack and drain the marinade off then line the little soldiers up on a baking sheet and grill the shit out of them at 200 degrees (or high). I do 10 minutes each side, twice. That gets them real crispy, so good you feel like you're going to die.

4. Slather some toast with mustard and avocado and you have yourself a breakfast of champions.

notes: my grill is crap, keep an eye on the tempeh, most people need half the time

quinoa porridge

Quinoa, super food. Packed with protein, calcium and iron it should be a part of any vegans regular diet (and anyone really!). As you keeners would be well aware, I loves me some detoxes and different kinds of diets. I've done quite a bit of Ayuerveda in the past and since buying "Eat right for your body type" I'm 100% sold on what to do now, follow Ayuerveda. It's all the food I dont eat naturally (and eat TOO MUCH OF). I've got some time off coming up which I'm going to concentrate on making meal plans and getting all the ingredients in place. One small change but has been significant from my stomachs point of view is changing oats to Quinoa. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. Quinoa is not as creamy but has a wonderful chewyniess to it (trust me on this one). Add whatever you like putting in your porridge or follow mine.

Ingredients
40-50gms of Quinoa
100 mls of rice milk
100 mls of water
1 handful of trail mix (make sure all the nuts and seeds are raw), roughly chopped (picking out the prunes and yelling YUCK and throwing them in the bin)
1 tsp of maple syrup
1 tsp of LSA
1 tsp of linseed oil

method
1. Cook the Quinoa in the water and rice milk for about half an hour (or until tender).

2. Stir through the trail mix, maple syrup and linseed oil. Sprinkle the LSA on top.

Pro tip: I cook a big batch of Quinoa in my rice cooker which last for me 3 days then reheat in a saucepan in the morning, adding all the bits and bobs then.

slow cooked chai porridge

This was my first use of my crock pot and it was UHMAZING!! I used brown rice instead of oats and I woke up to the fattest, plumpest rice pudding I've ever eaten. I had mine on for 9 hours (whoops overslept) so there was almost no liquid left. I am upping the liquid and reducing the cooking time. Nom. Inspired from this recipe.

ingredients
1 cup brown rice
5 cups milk of your choice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used rose water)
sweetener to taste
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

method
1. Cook in your slow cooker for 7-8 hours on low. Voila.

brazillian french toast

Cooking is proving difficult for me right now. Well, planned cooking anyway. I'm back to the days of making pizzas of whatevers in my fridge and corn tortillas for bases. Coles garlic bread, bigilla or a toasted sandwich. There really just isn't the time. Thankfully I am seeing someone just as obsessed with food as I am (I know, prepare to crane me out of my house in about 3 months time) but with more drive to actually get things done. So my love affair with Vegan Brunch has been rekindled. More specifically after the french toast at Monk Bodhi Dharma we are now *obsessed* with sweet breakfast. Its still bad for you, it still burns off within about an hour and you're hungry again, but damn, DAMN.

Recipe slightly modified from Vegan Brunch.

ingredients
2 very ripe bananas*
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 tablespoons of cornflour
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tbsp of kahlua or some booze! (optional)
1 stale baguette, sliced diagonally in 1 inch slices
berries of your choice and syrup

method
1. Blend bananas, milk, cornflour, vanilla and booze in a blender or food processor until smooth.

2. Spread out baguette slices in a single layer on a baking pan. Pour banana mixture onto the bread and flip slices to coat. Let sit for 10 minutes, then flip over and let soak for 10 minutes more.

3. Preheat a large, non stick pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray and fry the soaked bread for 5 to 7 minutes on one side and about 3 minutes on the other. When ready, the toast should be golden to medium brown. Keep warm on a plate covered with tinfoil while you cook the second batch.

notes: I used defrosted frozen bananas and it made the dip really creamy and smooth. I had REAL trouble with these sticking monsterously to the pan. I need a non stick pan. Stat.

buckwheat pancakes with peanut butter, chocolate spread and maple syrup

Yep just what it said. My mother always taught me to make the best out of a bad situation. Well Sweet William 'nutella' is a bad situation. What is up with their products? They're all terrible. I dont know why I thought the 'nutella' would be different. Anyway! Bad situation made good. I made these pancakes with the Orgran buckwheat pancake mix, they can be a little dry (as with all gluten free) so drowning it in all these liquids made it AWESOME. Win all round!

rice porridge

I get crazy on porridge in winter. It can deliver me all of my nutrition (well a lot of it) in one meal. I've been making basmati rice porridge as basmati is the lowest GI grain. Cook your rice in milk instead of water than add anything you want to it. I add a handful of frozen berries, some chopped apple, amaranth, LSA, chopped almonds and a drizzle of sugar and linseed oil. Look its not the most DELICIOUS breakfast but its a great way for me to get so much of my nutrition out of the way (especially linseed oil and amaranth BLEURGH!). I generally wont eat fruit otherwise so I have to get it out of the way at breakfast. Just throwing some ideas atcha.

fried banana pancake sandwich

A perfect way to start a Sunday. We always have an over abundance of bananas each week and I'm finding more and more ways to 'hide them' from myself (I hate bananas! not so much the taste but the texture). I present the banana pancake sandwich.

Recipe from Veganomicon

ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons raw sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 to 1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup of water
1 banana sliced
1 tbsp of marg
Syrup for serving

method
1. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, milk and water until a smooth mixture is formed.

2. Slice the banana on an angle in medium slices and fry in the margarine until golden brown. Remove the bananas from the heat and fry up your pancakes.

3. Smoosh the bananas into the first layer of pancake and add a layer of syrup, then douse the top pancake with margarine and syrup. YUM!

notes: To make this extra decadent throw in a handful of dark chocolate chips into the pancake batter or spread a layer of peanut butter in the sandwich middle.

blueberry struesel muffins

I'm obvs into the baking lately. Especially weekend sweet brunchy treats. I really liked the creamy yogurty texture of these and they're really quite low fat in comparison to other muffins. A packet of frozen berries serves you so well on the weekends, put them straight into a smoothie, muffins or pancakes. Its always best to use them straight out of the freezer and into the oven/smoothie/pancakes.

Recipe from 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes

ingredients
2 1/4 cups plus 2 tbsp flour, divided
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tbsp of baking powder
1/8 tsp of salt
1 1/4 cups of milk
1/4 of cup plus 2 tbsp of oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp of yogurt
1/2 tsp of vanilla
1 1/4 of berries (fresh of frozen)

topping (I didn't have enough left over flour to do this step - so your muffins will look different to mine)
1/4 cup of flour
2 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of margarine

method
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 12 regular or 6 jumbo muffin cups with margarine or oil or line with paper liners.

2. For the batter: In a large bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups of flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, combine milk, oil, yogurt and vanilla.

3. In another bowl toss blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add berries and gently combine.

4. For topping: In a small bowl, mix flour and sugar and cut in margarine with a pastry cutter or with your fingers until mixture is crumbly.

5. Spoon batter into muffin tin, filling each cup until almost full. Evenly sprinkle topping on each muffin. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes for regular muffins or 20 to 25 minutes for jumbo, until muffins are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

low fat banana bread

Another winner from Veganomicon

ingredients
2 large or 3 small very ripe bananas
1/4 cup of applesauce
1/4 cup of oil
1/2 sugar
2 tbsp molasses
2 cups of flour
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas really, really well. Add the sugar, apple sauce, oil and molasses, and whisk briskly to incorporate.

3. Sift in the flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips if using.

4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the centre should come out clean. Remove from the oven and invert onto a cooling rack; flip the bread right side up and cool.

cocoa & mixed berry muffins

Another wonderful way to eat breakfast on the weekend. I would add chocolate chips to these next time and a shake of icing sugar. Recipe from Vegan Brunch.

ingredients
1 cup of non dairy milk
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/3 cup of cocoa
1/2 cup of sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup of canola oil
2 tbsp of applesauce
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 tsp of almond essence
1 1/2 cups of berries

method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease a muffin pan.

2. Combine the milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle.

3. Mix together the dry ingredients - flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt.

4. Pour in the milk, oil, applesauce and extracts and combine. Mix in the frozen berries.

5. Bake for approx. 25 minutes.

east coast coffee cake with apples and blueberry

This recipe was super simple and a delicious way to eat breakfast on the weekend. I threw in blueberries and an apple diced small which made it more moist (always looking for making gluten free goodies MORE MOIST!).

Recipe from Vegan Brunch.

for the topping:
1 cup of all purpose flour (I used 1/2 cup gluten free flour and 1/2 puffed brown rice)
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup of canola oil, plus up to 2 tbsps more if needed

for the cake:
3/4 cup of non dairy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of canola oil
1tsp of pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour (I used gluten free flour)
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees andy grease an 8 inch pan. Combine the milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle

make the topping
2. Mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Drizzle in the canola oil by the tablespoon, tossing the mixture in your fingers, it should resemble the crumb for a crumble.

make the cake
3. Mix the wet ingredients - milk mixture, sugar, canola oil and vanilla. Then mix in the flour, baking powder and salt until combined and smooth.

5. Pour the batter into your pan and sprinkle the topping on top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted through the centre comes out clean.

mediterranean breakfast beans

This is my usual red sauce recipe, with beans but here it is again.

ingredients
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp of tomato paste
1 small onion, diced
1 can of butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 glug of balsamic
1 small handful of basil leaves chopped
1 tsp of fresh oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 small chili, slice
3 cloves of garlic sliced

method
1. Saute the garlic and onion until onion becomes translucent.

2. Throw in the herbs and chili and saute for a minute, then combine the tomato paste.

3. Add the remainding ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes until combined and flavourful, season to taste. Voila!

notes: They get better over the next couple of days.

grilled asparagus

This was unsurprisingly really tasty. Asparagus is in season and bountiful right now, snap it up!

Recipe from Vegan Brunch.

ingredients
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste (a tsp each)
2-3 garlic cloves minced

method
1. I used 2 bunches of asparagus. Try and pick bunches that look really fresh and have soft stalks (the stalks go wooden and white if they are old). Trim the ends off the aspargus until the knife goes through easily (like cutting broccoli). I sealed in a water tight container and shook around. Refrigerate overnight or at least an hour. Grill, turning once.

home fries

I hosted my first brunch on Sunday and it was a feast. The timing was a little stressful (keeping 4 dishes warm, I had prepared 2 the night before but had to make two in the morning) but it all ended up spectacularly well. This was the all out super fattening dish, we all need greasy potatoes on a Sunday morning.

Recipe straight from "In the Garden of Vegan"

ingredients
2 potatoes, roughly cubed
1, onion, roughly chopped
1 tbsp of olive oil (I ended up using way more)
2 tsp of all purpose seasoning (recipe to follow)
1/4 tsp of pepper (I used more)
1/4 tsp of salt (I think I used about 3!)
some fresh parsley, chopped
1 hot chilli, sliced

all purpose seasoning
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp of onion powder
2 tsp of cumin
2 tsp of garlic powder
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne

method
1. In a large non-stick frying pan on medium heat, saute the potatoes and onion in oil for about 8-10 minutes (mine needed way longer) until potatoes can be pierced easily with a fork. Stir in the remaining ingredients and saute for an additional 2 minutes.

notes: I also added 3 cloves of sliced garlic with the onions, but I'm crazy like that. If I had them on hand I would have mashed roasted garlic cloves into it.

English Muffins

This was ridiculously easy (if you've 'grasped' yeast stuff - or even cooked yeasty things a couple of times). Fluffy, slightly chewy, golden brown English muffins. I was unsure as to how far they would spread or 'puff up' so I did cut them too small. Follow the recipe exactly and they will be perfect. Yum. Yum.

Recipe from Vegan Brunch.

Ingredients

1 tsp of dry yeast
1 tbsp of sugar
1 cup of lukewarm water

2 1/4 cups of flour
1 1/4 tsp of salt

3 tbps of margarine, room temp

A few tbsp of cornmeal
Margarine for skillet

In a small bowl combine the yeast, sugar and water; set aside until the yeast has dissolved (its goes a bit foamy on the top). In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour & salt, make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture and marg. Slowly add the flour to the centre well and make a dough, knead until smooth and elasticky (about 8 minutes by hand or 6 minutes in a dough hook mixer). Place dough back in a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and leave to double in size. (this is where I put the bowl on top of the heating up oven to give the yeast the kick start it needs, if your kitchen is warm it might not need this). Can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.

Preheat your over to 180 degrees. Punch down down and knead for a minute, then roll out on a floured surface until 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 3-inch rounds using a cookie cutter and pat both sides into cornmeal. Preheat a large skillet (I used a fry pan), melt about 1 tbsp of marg over a medium heat. Cook the muffins, working in small batches, until lightly golden on both sides. Put straight from the pan into a cookie sheet and cook in the oven for 6-10 minutes.

mushrooms on toast

Drunk. I caught the last 55 tram home to Union Square silently chanting for hot chips. Boo! No! Chastising myself I thought, I'm an industrious young lass, surely I can knock something greasy up, myself when I get home. Yes, bring on mushrooms on toast.

ingredients
olive oil
2x large mushys
2x cloves of garlijavascript:void(0)c thinly sliced
handful of sundried tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
tsp of dried thyme or fresh
fresh or dried chilli to taste
salt/pepper
handful of greens like spinach or rocket(arugula)

method
1. Fry up! I served on sourdough with a drizzle of olive oil and salt. I inhaled it so quickly I almost choked to death. Total. Win.

porridge with coconut cream, raspberries and almonds

I cycle to work, 12kms each way, so eating a low GI breakfast is important. Porridge makes me feel full until lunchtime. I try and eat fruit at breakfast as well, as usually I dont eat much fruit during the day (I'm a pussy like that).

ingredients
handful of raspberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 cup of porridge oats
1/2 cup of coconut milk or cream
1/2 cup of rice milk or soy
handful of shredded coconut
handful of almonds

method
1. Toast almonds and coconut under a grill whilst making the porridge.

2. Cook the oats in the coconut and rice milk until they are tender. Add raspberries and cook until they are heated. Serve with some brown sugar (especially if the raspberries are quite tart), the toasted coconut and almonds.

scrambled tofu with roti bread

This is one of my favourite easy meals to make. I work in batches like a stir fry to keep everything crisp and fresh. The best part is, is you can throw in whatever seasonal vegetables you like, mix up the seasoning, tofu takes on any flavour you wish to make.

ingredients
1 package of firm water packed tofu (honestly any kind of firm/soft chinese tofu would work)
3 stems of asparagus, thinly sliced
2 vegie sausages, sliced
2 mushrooms, diced
1 onion, diced
1 chili, thinly sliced
2 tbsp of pine nuts
2 tbsp fresh parsley
a handful of english spinach
2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes shredded
seasoning of your choice, I used a 1 tbsp of dukkah, some salt and some pepper

method
1. Working in batches I first dry roasted the pine nuts and set aside.

2. Fry up the chili and onion in some olive oil until the onion goes translucent. Add the sausages and saute for about 5 mins until the sausages go brown. Set aside with the pine nuts.

3. Fry up the mushrooms and mash the tofu into them. Let the tofu cook for about 5 minutes to release all of the water. Drain the water then throw all of the other cooked ingredients in and add the spinach, parsley, asparagus and sun dried tomatoes. Toss in the pan until spinach is wilted.

4. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and lemon juice (its pretty much how I finish everything these days) Voila!