So What The Heck Do We Eat? - Day 98
I haven't been such a good neighbor. I rarely have time to read blogs or leave comments, which I enjoy doing very much. I've got more than 630 new feeds in my Google reader. I feel like I'm getting busy again. Sometimes I really wonder so hard where all the time has gone. Especially when I continue to read In Search of Lost Time by Proust, I strongly believe I should at least start a quest called "Chasing the Lost Time". But I don't think I have the answer to my own question and I don't have the guts to really chase time.
Well, besides chasing time, I did some cooking. Or rather, I found some photos and had to post them here before forgetting what they were. The first one is Vegan Haggis (recipe by River of Bean Vegan). I didn't have scotch so subbed dark rum. It was quite interesting and satisfying. But we were not really in the mood for it, unfortunately.
Here's how it looked being plated. Well, I know I usually don't spend much time making the plate look nice. All in good time, I guess.
The second is my own 50% Whole Wheat Strawberry Pancakes. The batter is half all-purpose flour (2 cups), half whole wheat flour (2 cups), baking powder (1/2 teaspoon), unsweetened vanilla soy milk (1 1/2 cups) with apple cider vinegar (2 teaspoons), orange juice (3/4 cup), pure maple syrup (3 tablespoons), sugar free strawberry preserves (1 1/2 cups), vanilla extract (1 teaspoon), salt (1/4 teaspoon), olive oil (1/2 teaspoon). You basically sift flours, baking powder, and salt; add vinegar to soy milk to curdle it for 5 minutes; then mix the curdled soy milk with all the other wet ingredients. The last step is to combine the dry and wet ingredients together. The verdict? Great! Very much like spring. It satisfied my strawberry craving.
The last thing is my first attempt at veganizing Buttermilk Spoon Bread. It's a hybrid of polenta, cornbread and a souffle. The original recipe is by courtesy of Nicole of Baking Bites again. The result was rather good but it's definitely a working process. The photo doesn't show the texture well. It was moist, cakey, and pudding-y all at the same time. I'll post the vegan recipe once I think it's perfected to my satisfaction.
Comments
I've always been intrigued by haggis..how does it taste?
Buttermilk spoon bread..love the idea of something that combines cornbread, polenta and souffle. I will wait for your perfected recipe. :)
*staggers out, all drunk-like.*
I've never had the traditional habbis, since it's all chopped up livers, and innards. The vegan one I made was very interesting. It had oats, barley, lentils, kidney beans, and tempeh in it so the texture was very interesting. A bite full of everything you know. The taste was very good too. You should try it.
Vegan Haggis
Ingredients:
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· 1 medium onion, finely chopped
· 1 small carrot, finely chopped
· 1 can mushrooms (or 5 fresh sliced)
· 2 cups vegetable broth
· 1/3 cup dry red lentils
· 1 can can kidney beans - drained, rinsed, and mashed
· 3 tablespoons ground peanuts
· 2 tablespoons ground hazelnuts (or any nut) I used pecans
· 1 tablespoon soy sauce
· 1 tablespoon lemon juice
· 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
· 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
· 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
· 1 cup steel cut oats
Directions
Heat pot over medium heat and add vegetable oil. Sauté the onion 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in carrot and mushrooms, and spices and continue cooking 5 minutes. Stir in broth, lentils, kidney beans, peanuts, hazelnuts, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Season salt and pepper and more spices if desired. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in oats, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 5x9 inch baking pan. (I used a 9inch pie pan).
Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan. Bake 30 minutes, until firm.
TIPS: If you want it more moist, cover with foil during baking.
If it looks to dry while cooking on stovetop, add a little more soy sauce mixed with water - you don't want this too wet but it shouldn't dry out.
Add more spices! I added sage, chili powder, and garlic powder. Everything in here soaks up flavor, it can take more than you think.