Cookbook challenge - Yellow Rose Recipes

As promised, I'm gonna catch up with the Yellow Rose Recipes cookbook challenge that happened a couple of weeks ago.

First off, a bonus Vegan Brunch recipe - Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes


These were so amazingly good. Just a bit spicy, not too dry, and the remoulade really brought the flavours together. Mike wasn't as pleased, so I ate the rest the next day!

Another bonus - Feesh Fingers from the blog The Great Vegan Conspiracy


Really tasty! I baked instead of fried, and I probably baked them a little too long because they were a bit too crunchy. I also didn't have any dill, I think, and I didn't bother with the nori, which was a mistake. Next time, I'll add the nori, maybe marinate the tofu for a bit longer, and try to remember the herbs. We ate them with make-shift tartar sauce, which was basically Isa's remoulade minus the chipotle sauce.

My first YRR recipe for the cookbook challenge was Tofu Scramble


Mike and I could both eat tofu scramble every day, but I have my preferences. I have to say, I wasn't terribly impressed with this. It was slightly healthier than my usual scramble (because of the additional veg), but it wasn't all that flavourful. I did, however, like the method. My normal scramble is the Vegan with a Vengeance recipe, usually with about half the tofu but not reducing anything else (and no shrooms because Mike is a hater). But that one takes forever, it seems, so I've since been combining the method and some of the ingredients for the YRR recipe with the flavourings from the VwaV recipe. It's worked so far.

Next up was the Sloppy Joannas


OMG these were amazingly delicious. Mike and I both had seconds. The recipe makes a lot, but we didn't have any leftovers. I really want to make these again soon. The only downside is that, every time I see the name of the recipe, it makes me think of the Michael Jackson song 'Dirty Diana'.

My next YRR recipe was the Chicken-Style Seitan/Mustard Crusted Seitan


Another winner. The seitan itself takes ages to make, mostly because you have to form it into individual cutlets, so it's not nearly as easy as the V'con recipe. However, the results are totally worth it. Mike has since requested these for his lunch sammiches. They're awesome to fry up with some breading, as with the Mustard Crusted Seitan pictured. I loved it, but Mike thought they were too mustardy. I made them again the other night, omitting the mustard for his and using slightly different breading, and we both thought they were wonderful. I would love to do the Beer-Battered Seitan, but I don't usually have beer around, and I'm not too keen on the amount of fat in them. Maybe for a get-together.

I also made the Spiced Applesauce, which by itself isn't great. I think I prefer my applesauce without the 5-spice. It just kinda has a wang to it. However, I later made the Spice Cake


and it was soooo good! The 5-spice isn't noticeable at all. The cream cheese frosting made this cake almost literally irresistible. I made a double recipe in a 9x13" pan (well, it might have been 11x14") on Tuesday, took it to an Ethnology Society meeting on Wednesday afternoon, had some friends over before going out Wednesday evening, and ate the rest of it when I got home that night. We just couldn't stop eating it. I wish I had some right now.

Like I said, I had friends over, so I made the Tamale Pie for dinner that night.


I used the taco salad 'meat' and nacho sauce (minus jalapenos because they're kinda expensive here) topped with the sour cream recipe in the book. Also, I forgot to buy tomato sauce, so I just bunged in two things of chopped tomatoes in their juices. Everyone loved it. LOVED. Except Mike, who doesn't like cooked 'cheese' or sweetcorn in things. But everyone else had seconds. I thought it was delicious and actually didn't mind that Mike didn't like it that much because that meant all the leftovers were for me! Anyway, I want to make this again, but if there are only 2 of us eating it and one person doesn't like it, it seems like a waste of time and effort. Maybe for another dinner party or something.
Breaking it down - Taco salad TVP was a little weird and grainy. If I make it again, I'll either use larger granules or just buy a bag of frozen mince. The sour cream was really good, but a little limey. I might do slightly less lime and slightly more acv next time. Nacho sauce was amazingly delicious. I want some nachos. I kinda wish I'd made the whole recipe (though Mike would've liked it even less, but I suspect it was the polenta part rather than the nacho sauce that he didn't like).

Oh yeah, Mike's birthday happened in there, so here are pictures of his cake, made from the Mint Chocolate Cupcakes recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World


Yeah, I busted out the heart-shaped cake pan again.



What I did here was halve the cake and do a layer of mint frosting, then a layer of ganache, then put the other half of the cake on top, another layer of mint frosting, and another layer of ganache. I've done this before, and it never disappoints. It didn't last long. This is actually one of the easier and less time-consuming 'fancy' cupcakes in the book, which is even easier made as a cake. I love this cake.

There were actually a couple other things in there, but this post is already really long, so I might save those for another time. I'll probably do my cupboard clean-out tomorrow, with before and after shots, and then figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do with all the stuff I have in there. It would be nice to know what's there.