Nachos from Hot Damn and Hell Yeah

We've all tried making nachos of some description before, but tonight I wanted to try the recipe from Hot Damn and Hell Yeah by Ryan Splint and Vanessa Johnson. This cool cookbook arrived on the day I was leaving to go to Bali in January so I didn't have time to have a good look at it.

The nachos recipe (p. 34) consists of a few different recipes and I used the Taco and Burrito Fill (p. 33) - except I used a tin of Sanitarium Casserole Mince (I have a heap of them lying around!) instead of TVP. I also wanted to try the Cheese Sauce (I'm always up for a new variation of recipes I usually use), p. 5 and Almost Sour Cream (p.10). I had a jar of salsa, so I used that and topped it with spring onions.

The nachos were delicious! All the kids scoffed them up even though they had a little bite to them (not nearly as much as the recipe calls for, though!) - they must be getting used to it! Time to turn the heat up a bit!

For dessert I whipped up the rest of the silken tofu (that I used for the sour cream) into a whipping cream and a peach crumble, both recipes from 1000 Vegan recipes. mmmmmmm

Oh How I Love Thee, Summer Fruit:Peaches 3 Ways

Last week I bought a heap of peaches cheap at the markets and once I got them home my thoughts turned to how I was going to use them up.

I flicked through my cookbooks and found a chutney and a relish in 1000 Vegan recipes. I would never have thought about making them pre-vegan. Hot, cooked fruit? No way! (especially sultanas!). But I put my prejudices aside, gave these a go, and was very pleasantly surprised.

Firstly I made Spiced Tomato and Peach Relish. (pg. 570). It recommends Chickpea and Vegetable Loaf (on pg. 265) as a fantastic dish to have with the relish as an accompaniment. So I had to make that, too!

Then I made Ginger-Peach Chutney (pg. 564). This was the winner hands down! We had these with Kebabs (post to come later) but they just ROCKED as a spread on bread with Macadamia Cashew Patties (p. 119)!! It was like an orgasm in my mouth! Amazing!

Lastly, I stewed up the rest of the peaches and added them with some puff pastry to my pie maker with some Vegan Whipped Cream (p.501) on the side for an awesome, quick dessert.

My family are really enjoying my urge to cook!

Tahn

The Man is Back

He's ho-me! Finally. And I am sure you can understand my absence on this blog! It is nice to be able to wake up, roll over and be able to cuddle something other than my pillow!

I flew to Sydney to watch his graduation parade. All very exciting! It was a two-part affair. The first part was the actual giving of their badges and promotions for those who were being promoted to the new rank. The second part was the parade, complete with marching band, to present themselves to some high-up official (sorry, couldn't take my eyes off my man to actually listen to the ceremony!).
Here is a photo at part of the parade. Popeye is third from the right, front row.

Ahh, men in uniform!

This is one of us after the whole thing was over, back in his rooming area. There are better ones of us, of course, although you know how much I hate photos of myself so this is the best you get!

I haven't really done too much noteworthy cooking since we have returned home (we drove home the following day). Except this...

Both of these are from 1000 Vegan Recipes (of course!). There is Quick Apple Crisp and Vegan Whipped Cream. Both were delicious! The 'Whipped Cream' I think is more like a pouring cream as opposed to whipped, but delicious nonetheless. It is a lot faster to make than the cashew creme, mostly because I only have a little spice grinder to make the cashews into a powder. The Whipped Cream is silken tofu, agave (or maple), vanilla, 1T canola oil. Very easy. The only time required is to refrigerate for a while before serving.

Now I need to get a definite idea of what I am making for christmas day and at least write up a shopping list!

What's everyone else making for Christmas Day?

Tahn

So much to cook, so little time

The day started with Baby complaining of a sore stomach and asking if she could stay home. She complained that if she went to school and went to the sick bay they would just send her straight back to the class room. She's right. She also was complaining last night too, so I let her stay home. Turns out all she needed was one gigantic turd (!) and she was back to normal. Pity it was too late to send her to school!

I wanted to get a couple of pie tins today so Baby and I jumped on our bikes to head to the shops. I had a letter 'RTS' to post and so we went a different route near the school. Low and behold, who should we see walking towards us was the deputy and principal of her school and Baby yells (and I mean YELLS!) "Hello Mr. ___. Hello Mr. ____!" I could have died! She has NO idea, that child! Too innocent for her own good!

Anyway, the reason I wanted a couple of pie tins was to 'try' a dessert for taking to the vegan christmas dinner we are going to in Frankston on the weekend. More on that soon.

For dinner I really wanted to try polenta. We have only ever had it as a sort of crumb on tofu cutlets. I wanted to make it properly. From '1000 Vegan Recipes' (again, all of tonight's recipes are!) I made the basic polenta recipe, poured it into a loaf tin, threw it in the fridge for a couple of hours and then sliced and fried it up. On top of it I made the Spicy Tomato Ragu (which wasn't spicy because I left out the crushed red pepper), which also consisted of a homemade Marinara Sauce (also from 1000 Vegan Recipes). I had also marked Crunchy Sesame Slaw to make for the kids' lunch tomorrow, so I decided to have that with the polenta.

The Crunchy Sesame Slaw was a HUGE hit!! The kids want me to take this to the christmas dinner and it was so easy I think I will oblige them. The polenta was yum too! I'd like to try it straight into bowls next time and see which texture I prefer.

So the dessert. As I mentioned, I wanted to try whatever dessert I decided to take to the dinner early to make sure it is what I wanted to make. This morning I thought I would like to take a simple apple crumble and I found a recipe (in 1000 Vegan Recipes!!!) for an Apple Tart with Walnut Crust and I couldn't resist! It's a little bit more involved than a basic crumble, but SO worth it!
This all started by me thinking about riding my bike with Baby to The Radical Grocery Store in Brunswick for a can of whipped soya cream to take. It got me thinking about making my own and I'm glad I did. I made Cashew Creme (1000 Vegan Recipes) and it was to die for!! Beats the pants off any dairy whipped cream I have EVER tasted! It looked like this:

It even tasted way better than it looked! OH SO GOOD! I will be definitely taking this to the dinner (especially the creme!!).

So this is what I have decided to take to the Christmas Dinner:

Sushi
Crunchy Sesame Slaw
Broccoli Quiche
Apple Tart with Walnut Crust
Cashew Creme

I know it seems like a lot but there are 4 of us to feed so it wouldn't be right just turning up with one dish to share. Also, I can't help it - I want to show off my culinary skills! I love to see people enjoying the food I have made!

Got to start tomorrow!

Tahn