Curry week and another late Caturday

We have been eating curry a lot lately, because I visited an Indian grocery store and impulsively bought an astonishing number of curry mixes. This week I plan to show some of the curries eaten at Chez BrisVegan. Last night, I made two curries from these mixes:


As you can see, there was a butter chicken mix and a jalfrezi mix. They were both fairly dry spice pastes. Both were vegan. The butter chicken contained neither butter nor chicken. Both asked for 50ml cream, but I replaced that with 125ml creamy-flavoured Vitasoy So Milky Lite.

With the butter chicken seasoning, I made butter pumpkin and canellini beans. The creaminess of the sauce works beautifully with the sweetness of the pumpkin and beans. I also added an onion, and a couple of chopped green beans and spring onions, for contrasting green colour.

For the jalfrezi, I made a curry with the mix, onion, carrot, broccoli, mushrooms, peas, tomatoes and green capsicum, as well as the soy milk.

For both, I sauted the onion then added the vegetables and curry mix with water as suggested on the packet. I simmered them until the vegies were almost cooked and added the soy milk. After heating it through, it was ready for serving.

Both were very good, served on brown rice, with chutney and lime pickle. Everyone but M ate them and enjoyed them. The curries were relatively mild and child friendly for Z. M is not a curry fan and ate the veges, beans and rice without the sauce. As a bonus, they made enough to give me some leftovers for another meal and some work lunches.


(Late Again) Caturday


This cat is not yet out of the bag!

(Germophobe note: Don't worry, the bag will never be used for food ever again.)

Braised tofu, fried rice and greens

As it says in the title, this is braised tofu with fried rice and greens. We had this a while ago and I forgot to blog it.

The tofu is based on a Kylie Kwong recipe that I saw on TV. It is tofu fried and then slow cooked with stock, sugar, soy sauce, sherry, onion and a dash of vinegar. The original recipe had cherry tomatoes. This one had carrots, because from memory, I didn't have any tomatoes.

The greens were just quickly stir-fried in a dash of sesame oil and then sprinkled with sesame seeds.

The fried rice is Z's favourite way to eat rice. It is very quick and easy to make. It's a fairly rough recipe, because I usually just throw stuff in a wok.

Vegan Fried Rice

Serves 6

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons oil (I use rice bran oil)
1 onion, diced
few slices diced Redwood vegan ham or 1 diced Sanitarium hot dog
3 cups cooked rice (best if cooked the day before, but just cooked is OK), fluffed so grains are separate
3/4 cup frozen vegetables (or 1 carrot, cut into a small dice, 1/3 cup peas and 1/4 cup corn kernels), cooked with the rice
1-2 tablespoon soy sauce
Pepper to taste (optional)
1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Method

1. Heat wok or large skillet to medium heat.
2. Add 1/2 tablespoon of oil and onion. Cook until almost translucent.
3. Add vegan ham or Sanitarium hot dog. Cook until onion is translucent and the protein is lightly browned.
4. Add remaining oil and turn up the heat so the wok is fairly hot (about 2/3 on my hot plate).
5. Once the oil is heated, throw in the rice and cooked vegetables.
6. Stir well, so the rice is well coated with oil.
7. Add the soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil (if using).
   
8. Keep stirring until rice is golden and hot.
   

This recipe always goes well in our house. It is also good for pot lucks, and reheats well in a microwave, with a few good stirs. In fact, I took this to a party were another person had taken a traditional omni egg and meat fried rice. This one was finished and the other was half left. Quite a few people had seconds of my vegan fried rice. I was pretty pleased with that outcome.

Curry and Lentils

Last night we had curry, tamarind lentils and sambals. My camera is still dead, but fortunately we had the same thing a couple of weeks ago and I took a photo. I know it was the same, because I froze half of the lentils and curry. We microwaved the left overs last night. Obviously, they freeze well.

The lentils are the tamarind lentils from Veganomnicon. I love them, but then I am a big lentil fan. The rest of the family are not so keen.

The curry was some store bought curry paste (can't remember which one) with coconut milk and a mix of veges. I fried some onion, added the curry paste and fried it for a few minutes and then added the rest of the vegetables and coconut milk. It was served with rice, lime pickles, chutney, Sri Lankan coconut sambal (from a jar) and microwaved papadums.

Everyone over 10 loved it. The smaller two had rice, spring rolls, papadums and steamed vegetables, because they are chilli averse.

Now I am going to have the last bit of the lentils and rice for lunch. Mmmmhh, lentils...

Quick and Easy Red Thai Curry

This is a very simple curry. I used a Maesri curry paste, coconut cream and vegan fish paste to create the sauce. In the curry is tofu, mushroom, zucchini, carrot, bamboo shoots, tomato and capsicum. I used a whole tin of the curry paste. It was a bit hot, even though I like hot food, and not creamy enough for me. Next time I would use half a tin and freeze half.

We served it with rice for an easy spicy dinner.

Nasi Goreng

To go with the gado gado, which I posted last night, I made a quick nasi goreng, which is Indonesian fried rice. It is easy to make.

Nasi Goreng

Serves 6

1 1/2 cups white rice (replace with brown if you wish)
1 small diced carrot
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 tablespoons oil, e.g. rice bran oil or peanut oil
1 small diced onion
1 tablespoon kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
hot sauce to taste (1-3 teaspoons)

Cucumber, tomato, crushed peanuts, deep fried shallots and bean sprouts to garnish

1. Cook rice, carrots and peas according to rice packet directions. I use the absorption method (Water equal to 1 and 1/2 times the rice, brought to a boil and then simmered until the rice is tender, around 12 minutes after reducing to a simmer.)
2. Ideally, you should make the rice the day before and refrigerate it overnight. however, you can skip that step if you don't have time.
3. Heat a wok or high sided skillet. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook the onion gently until translucent.
4. Add the remaining oil. Bring to medium high heat. Add rice, kecap manis and hot sauce. Stir fry until the rice is well coasted an lightly fried.
5. Turn rice into a service dish and garnish with garnishing items to taste.

My small children find this too spicy, so I make some for them without the chilli. Mr Brisvegan, J and I all like this one. The salad items in the garnish cut trough the rich chilli flavour for a burst of freshness, which is very appealing.

Random Food Roundup

I have taken heaps of food photos, but not had long to blog. So here are some meals we have enjoyed in the last few weeks.


Savoury pastry, with agave glazed carrots and mixed stirfry veges with peanut sauce. The pasty is a square of puff pastry topped by home-made rocket pesto, Redwood Cheatin' Ham (vegan - pretty good flavour, though the texture is a bit more luncheon meat than ham). Both Borg's and Aldi puff pastry are marked vegan.


Pizza with 3 toppings. There are spinach and toffuti mozzarella, Mediterranean vegetables and pumpkin with Cheezly herb and garlic vegan cheese, ham and pineapple, also with Cheezly.


Quick cannelloni with a medley of baked vegetables. The cannelloni is just 20 instant cannelloni tubes stuffed with a mixture of 500g frozen spinach, 1/2 container of Toffutti Better Than Cream Cheese and finely diced onion. I then put a little oil and a layer of home-brand pasta sauce in a lasagne dish. After putting in the stuffed cannelloni tubes, I covered them well with more of the sauce and scattered over some small chunks of Cheezly Herb and Garlic cheese. Baked for 40 minutes and it's ready.


La Dolce Vegan biryani (pretty good), plus some mushroom chunk curry (the one on front right - I love mushroom chunks to replace dead cow in recipes) and a quick salad of onion, tomato, cucumber, coriander leaves (cilantro) and a little lemon juice.


Sausage roll, chips and veges. I made the sausage rolls with Borg's vegan puff pastry and a filling of Vegemeal Herb Vegetable Sausage Mix. Everyone over 10 loved the sausage rolls. The younger 2 hated them. No idea why the difference of opinion. I thought they were great.

Sydney Trip: Mother Chu's

I'm still talking about Sydney over a week later!

My final Sydney post is about another favourite restaurant of mine, Mother Chu's Kitchen. This is a vegetarian, mostly vegan, Taiwanese and Chinese restaurant. It is a family business, presided over by Mother Chu herself every night.

Unlike many chinese vegan restaurants, Mother Chu's does not rely heavily on mock meat. The menu uses very few dead animal names. Instead, it lists gluten, tofu, tempeh, soya roll (with seaweed, a bit like mock fish). It also has a great range of traditional naturally vegan dishes. If you order steamed rice, there is a choice of brown or white rice. I love brown rice, so I think this is a great option.

The food is very good and moderately priced. I have tried a wide variety of food and have never been disappointed. This time I had:

Wonton soup first. Lovely broth with several wontons and gently cooked Chinese veges. I liked the addition of heaps of veges to this soup, especially the greens, which are a favourite of mine.


I followed the soup with this unusual dish. It is eggplant stuffed with a mix of minced tofu and veges, then battered and deep-fried. It was then topped with a mild miso chilli sauce and julienned vegetables, including enoki mushrooms. Instead of being slightly sweet, which I had expected, the sauce was tangy with some sort of vinegar. It was surprisingly good, as the tangy sauce balanced the richness of the deep-fried eggplant. Again, there was more vegetables, which is a feature of many of Mother Chu's dishes. I enjoy a lot of vegetables, so this was welcome. (For the less vege-obsessed, there are some dishes with little vegetables.)


Finally, I made room for Mother Chu's homemade vegan ice cream. I chose mango and passionfruit for my two scoops. This slightly creamy, fresh ice cream is a delicious end to a Taiwanese experience.

If you are trying Mother Chu's, you may wish to book the night before for Peking duck, which must be ordered a day ahead. They also make excellent home-made gluten and fantastic tempeh and tofu dishes. This is another restaurant without alcohol, but there is once again alcohol-free wines and beers, plus several soft drinks and teas. They are worth a try for consistently good food that can be standard Chinese (e.g. sweet and sour) or something a bit out of the ordinary.

For the bibliophiles, after you go to Mother Chu's, there is a great little used book store just a few doors torwards the city. It has all sorts of new and used books, including a range of graphic novels. Even better, it stays open late most weeknights. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name, but I can tell you it's worth a look.

Buddha's Happiness

Last night for dinner I made a big wok full of the delicious stir fry called Buddha's Happiness. You will sometimes see this on the menu of even omni chinese restaurants. If you like mushrooms and other fungus, this is the stir fry for you.

I originally downloaded several recipes for this from the internet. However, now I just make it myself from my memory of the ingredients. Here is my recipe:

Buddha's Happiness

Makes 8 serves

40g dried black fungus (about 1/2 pack)*
40g dried white fungus (about 1/3 pack)*
40 g sliced dried shiitake mushrooms (about 1/3 pack)*
1 onion, cut in slices lengthwise (probably not traditional, but I like it)
1 cm piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
6 fresh button mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and slices
1/4 small wombok cut into 1-2 cm slices
Small head of broccoli, cut into florets and sliced stem
500g hard or extra firm tofu cut into 2 sm squares (If you can get deep fried tofu puffs,* they are even better)
2 tablespoons of neutral vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil)
2 tablespoons cooking sherry
2 tablespoons soy sauce (+ extra if you wish a saltier taste)
1 Massel Chicken style vegan stock cube
1 rounded tablespoon cornflour
500 ml boiling water + 3 tablespoons cold water

1. Break up the black and white fungus into chop stick size pieces. Rinse all the dried mushrooms. Soak dried mushrooms in half of the boiling water for approx 15 minutes. Do not drain.
   
2. While the mushrooms are soaking, chop the vegetables as above.
   
3. Heat the oil in a hot wok or very large skillet.
4. Add the tofu and stir fry until golden. (You can omit this step if you are using pre-fried tofu). Remove from the wok once done.
   
5. Add the onion and ginger to the wok. Stir fry for a minute or two until the onion starts to become translucent.
6. Add the sherry and boil for around 30 seconds to boil off the alcohol.
   
7. Add the soaked mushrooms and their soaking liquid. Add the stock cube. Heat to boiling. Turn the heat down slightly and simmer for a few minutes.
8. Mix the cornflour and the cold water. Add to the simmering liquid in the wok. Simmer until the liquid thickens slightly.
   
9. Add the tofu and remaining vegetables.
   
10. Add the remaining boiling water. (You may add less or more to taste, to make as much liquid as you like). This is a fairly saucy stir fry.
11. Once the wombok wilts slightly and the carrot is slightly tender, serve. This is good with steamed or fried rice.

* The black and white fungus, shiitake mushrooms and pre-fried tofu are usually available from asian supermarkets. Some supermarkets may also carry some of these items, especially the shiitake mushrooms.

My husband always likes this, though that could be because he really likes vegetables. Our 13 yo, J, had thirds. However, the younger two were not overly impressed, as they don't like stir fries with lots of liquids. They had caramelised tofu and quick fried carrot and broccoli instead.

Risotto: Easier Than You Think

I don't know why risotto has a reputation as a difficult dish to prepare. Once you get the hang of it, it is surprisingly easy.

Tonight we had roasted pumpkin risotto for dinner. Everyone enjoyed it. My carbo-holic kids are generally big fans of rice, though they are not fond of every type of risotto. The younger two also will not normally eat roast pumpkin. However, they liked this one. Z asked if there was any left for seconds.

I served it with grilled grape tomatoes, peas and carrots, for an extra vegie and protein boost.

The concept of risotto based on pumpkin broth with oregano is based in part on a recipe I saw years ago in an Echo Bistro cookbook. I haven't got a copy of the book, so I am not sure how close this is to theirs. I do know that this omits all the cheese and feta cheese from the original, as well as a lot of fat. They also used matchsticks of pumpkin rather than roast pumpkin.

Roast Pumpkin Risotto

Serves 6 with side dishes or 4 larger serves

500g pumpkin (more if you want a stronger pumpkin flavour)
3 Massel salt-reduced chicken style vegan stock cubes (2 if you don't like much salt)
1/4 cup cooking sherry
5 cups water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Nuttelex vegan margarine
1 diced onion
500g arborio rice
1 small bunch oregano (eg small supermarket bunch - I actually used fresh leaves from the garden), with the leaves stripped from the stems
dash finely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegan cream cheese (optional)

1. Cut 250 g pumpkin into approx 1 cm pieces. Roast until soft. (Mine was precooked on a previous night when I made roast vegetables for dinner)
   
2. Boil water with the stock cubes, the sherry and the other 250g pumpkin, also cut into smaller chunks.
3. When the boiled pumpkin is cooking in the water, put oil and margarine into a large saucepan and heat until margarine is melted.
4. Add diced onion to oil mixture. Cook gently until onion softens and becomes translucent.
5. Check if pumpkin is cooked. Once it is cooked, mash or blend the pumpkin into the liquid. I simply used a stab blender for this step. It will become a pumpkin broth. Return it to the heat.
   
6. Add rice to the oil and onion mixture. Mix thoroughly into oil.
7. Gently heat the rice, onion and oil mixture for a few minutes, while stirring it often. You want the rice to become translucent at its tip and to lightly seal it. There will be a faint fragrance of toasting rice. However, you do not want to colour the rice, so keep it moving and not too hot.
8. Add 2 soup ladles of pumpkin broth into the rice. Stir through. Turn down the heat to low, so the risotto does not catch on the bottom of the pot.
   
9. At this point, some people say you should continuously stir the risotto until it is cooked in about 20 minutes. I however, don't always have that much time or patience. I simply make sure that I stir it well, often enough so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. This is about every 30-60 seconds. Apparently continuous stirring will give you an even creamier texture, as it breaks up the starch even more. I actually prepared the other vegetables in between stirs.
10. As the liquid is absorbed, add an extra ladle or two of broth. The liquid does not have to be completely absorbed. Once the rice starts to clump together rather than be loose in the liquid, you should add more liquid.
11. Keep adding liquid and stirring regularly until most of the broth has been used.
12. When the rice is almost al dente and you are down to the final ladle fulls of broth, add the roast pumpkin, oregano leaves and vegan cream cheese, if you are using it. Also add pepper to taste. Add final amount broth.
13. Heat until the rice is just al dente. You want a little bit of bite in the texture of the rice, but no hardness. You don't want it completely mushy.
14. If you want a little more liquid in the mix, add a little boiling water.

Basically, for any risotto, you seal arborio rice in oil or margarine, add liquid in ladles, stir regularly and add most of the non-rice ingredients at the end. It must be arborio rice to get the right toothsome texture and creamy mouth feel. If using onion or garlic, gently cook it in the oil before adding the rice. Most of the other non-rice ingredients can be added at the end. You can use plain stock, stock and wine, stock and tomato puree etc as the liquid. Add liquid until the rice is cooked. You generally need liquid which is at least 2-3 times the amount of rice you use. If you don't have enough liquid, boil the kettle and add boiling water. You can add all sorts of vegetables or protein foods at the end. The non-rice ingredient might be asparagus, sundried tomatoes, peas (good with a touch of mint in the liquid), zucchini, mushroom or any other vegetable or protein that you fancy. If the add-in will not cook in a couple of minutes at the end of cooking, precook it. Basically the trick is to keep adding liquid and keep stirring regularly until it is ready.

Risotto is an easy dish to serve omnis, as it is something that many people will be familiar with. Many will have eaten vegetarian risotto. It doesn't rely on the unfamiliar proteins that bother many omnis, like tofu, seitan or tempeh. It also has a reputation of being tricky, so you will look clever if you make it.