Wafflemania

Another gorgeous foodie purchase for me this week! A 3 in 1 waffle machine! Not only does it make waffles, it also has a grill attachment and one to make tosties. It's the waffles I'm after though! Yesterday I inaugurated my machine with Lorraine's waffle recipe, which made for a very light, gorgeous waffle. It must've been because beaten egg whites were folded in the batter at the end. Lovely stuff. We had them with butter and powdered sugar for lunch. Kirstie had a ball as you can see!

Today I decided to keep it a little healthier. I made us some vegan whole wheat oatmeal and banana waffles and served them with agave syrup. Kirstie was very happy to be served fresh waffles for lunch again instead of the usual Dutch cheese on whole wheat! I wasn't too disappointed myself! These babies were AWESOME!

Here's the recipe:

-1 cup plus 2 tbsps whole wheat flour -2 tsps baking powder -1 tsp baking soda -1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon -1/4 tsp ground nutmeg -1/2 tsp salt -1 cup quick cooking oats

-1 very ripe banana -1 1/2 cups soy milk -3 tbsps golden syrup -3 tbsps sunflower oil -1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a bowl. Add oats and walnuts and stir through. In a separate jug mash the banana, add the soy milk, golden syrup and oil. Beat well, either by hand or with a hand-held mixer, until there are no lumps of banana left. Add wet ingrediants to dry and mix until combined. Let batter sit for at least 5 minutes. Prepare according to your waffle iron instructions. Mine take about 3-5 minutes. Serve with sliced bananas and some more golden syrup.

Vegan Temptations

Today I tried my first recipe from my new book, "Vegan with a Vengeance": Raspberry Chocolate Chip Blondies. Pretty darn good. I did find that I needed to use a smaller pan than the specified 9 x 13 inch pan, which made my blondies a little thick, but the taste was still lovely. The center was fruity and chocolatey at the same time and the crust was nice and crunchy. The sprinkling of chocolate chips really finished it off. Yum!

I'm having a great time reading this book. Isa Chandra Moskowitz is one cool chick and it feels like cooking with your best friend. In a way, Nigella's books make me feel the same, but the difference is that Nigella is less likely to call something "kick- ass". Anyhow, the book starts of with yummy brunch recipes such as Lemon Corn Waffles with Blueberry Sauce, Banana-Pecan Pancakes and Sweet Potato Hash with Five-Spice and Watercress. I'm sure these will go down well with everyone out there, but I'm iffy about offering the Tempeh Bacon or Scrambled Tofu to pickier omnivores. That being said, the rest of the chapters offer lovely muffins and scones, soups, sandwiches, pizzas and pastas, main meals, and desserts which are sure to please all.




Here's the recipe for those blondies!

Makes 16 bars

6 oz container plain or vanilla soy yogurt
¼ cup rice milk
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 ¾ cups flour
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

For raspberry layer
2 cups frozen raspberry
3 tablespoons tapioca flour (you can substitute arrowroot or cornstarch)
¼ cup cold water
1/3 cup sugar

*or*
about 8 oz raspberry preserves

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350, lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan.

Prepare the raspberry layer
In a sauce pan combine all ingredients and stir until the tapioca flour is dissolved. Bring to a boil and then lower to a low boil, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat.

Prepare the blondie layer

In a mixing bowl sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, rice milk, oil, vanilla and sugar. In batches, mix the flour into the wet mixture to form a dough. Set aside 1 cup of the dough and spread the rest into the baking pan. Spread the raspberry layer over it. Sprinkle ½ of the chocolate chips over the raspberry layer. With the remaining dough, drop by spoonfuls over the Crumble the remaining dough, in about ½ teaspoon dropfuls, over the chocolate chips. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over that. Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

Sushi

Yesterday I celebrated my 29th birthday, which means this is the last year of my 20's. Next year I'll celebrate the big 3-0. Wasn't I clubbing at The Tunnel in NYC just yesterday??? I could hardly imagine being up past 11pm these days, and that's pushing it. Yup, I'm no spring chicken anymore. But not that that's a bad thing. I think I'm looking forward to ageing gracefully. (Ok, everyone, you can stop laughing now.) Seriously, I don't mind getting older, as long as I can have fun along the way.

And since we're talking fun, let me tell you about my birthday meal. I wanted to make something creative. Not just a dish, but something that was interesting to make. Sushi came to mind. I got all my ingredients together, read up on sushi making, asked for advice and got to work. This was my first attempt at serious sushi. I even made an inside-out roll! The fillings were spicy tempeh (tempeh, vegan mayo, spicy sesame seed oil and spring onion) and vegan cream cheese, avocado and cucumber. The inside-out roll was dipped in sesame seeds.

The results were not that bad! Ok, maybe not as beautiful as what you might get at a sushi bar, but they tasted great.

I had a fun birthday!


PS: The one in the middle is the creative one with the bit of spring onion sticking out.