Vegan MoFo 2014 - Review: Brass Monkey Leith

I'm pretty sure everyone's aware of the results of the referendum, so you're probably not surprised that I didn't blog yesterday.  I actually hadn't intended on doing so today, but I had to get my laptop out to order pizza (for Mike's birthday, yay!), so I thought I might as well.

Yesterday evening I met a lovely Aussie PPKer for dinner at Brass Monkey in Leith.  I keep hearing that they have great vegan options, and they do have a really good booze selection, so we decided to give it a try.  I hadn't been there in years, and last time I only managed to get bread and olives to eat, so I figured anything had to be better than that.

First, the booze:  Both their food and drink menus are online, so you can have a look at them.  Like I said, they have a lot of good options for vegans.  My concern, of course, was the cider selection, and it doesn't disappoint.  They have Thistly Cross, which is made somewhere in the Lothians and is fantastic, as well as Jeremiah Weed (which I don't really consider cider but I guess it's not really classifiable).  I went with the Jeremiah Weed Sour Mash, which almost tastes like alcoholic root beer.  So good.  Beer-wise, they have Brew Dog and Innis & Gunn, amongst others that may or may not be sfv.

For dinner, I had the falafel burger, and Michelle had the veggie chili.

So, the falafel burger.  As you can see, the bun to burger ratio is about 3:1 (if I'm being generous), and the bun was really floury.  The burger itself wasn't great - mushy, bland, and unseasoned.  It was really only edible with the chips (which were pretty decent).  I'll note that I specifically asked for the bun to come out dry (it usually comes with some kind of onion jam and a chutney or something), so maybe they're hoping the condiments will serve for flavouring.  But you shouldn't have to rely on condiments to make something edible.

Michelle's chili, on the other hand, was actually pretty good (sorry, no pic).  I had a bite with one of the accompanying tortilla chips.  I probably wouldn't have enjoyed a whole bowl of it (British chili is just not really chili to me), but it was infinitely better than the burger.

So, a mixed bag, but only 2 entrees.  We didn't have any starters, and I didn't even bother to see if they had any vegan desserts (I doubt it - very few places do unless they're actually veg*n).  I wouldn't suggest avoiding the place because maybe that burger was off.  They also have a falafel sandwich that might be good (like, possibly actual falafel, not a slab of mashed chickpeas with veg and coriander mixed in).  And, you know, they try - they actually have quite a few vegan or veganisable options.  Ultimately, it's a pub, so if you go in expecting pub food, even if you have a bland burger, you're still gonna have a better experience than in most other pubs.  And even if you have a bad food experience, they'll getcha drunk (and much more cheaply than a lot of other pubs - I'm pretty sure I spent £2 more for the same drink at a different place).

Southern Saturday - Mike's birthday party

It's Southern Saturday - yaaaay!  Mike's birthday was yesterday, but no one could come round then, so we had people over today.  I made Tofu Scramble Enchiladas, Caramelized Cabbage and Onions, Un-fried Corn, and Buttermilk Ranch (as a dip) from Cookin' Crunk, and French vanilla ice cream from "A La Mode" to serve with the yella cake I made yesterday.

I served the ranch with carrot batons and crisps, but no one ate the crisps.  I don't even know if anyone other than Mike ate the ranch because I was busy in the kitchen making the rest of the food.  I did get to try it, and it was really tasty.  There's loads left, so I'll get to try it with the crisps tomorrow.

I made the enchiladas with Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food enchilada sauce, Viva Vegan! tortillas, and Tesco smoked cheese.  They fell apart a bit, but they were super tasty.  If I make these again, I would probably use store-bought tortillas just to avoid the hassle.  Because some of my tortillas fell apart before we could fill them, I still have filling left!  I might have to make a mini batch of tortillas and have breakfast tacos at some point.

I really, really liked the corn.  It was nice and creamy with a good balance of sweet and salty.  I usually don't get to eat corn as a side because Mike isn't a huge fan, so I try to make it when I'm feeding multiple people.  Having made this, I now really want to try the corn casserole.

The cabbage was OK, though I'm not a huge fan of cabbage at the best of times and usually only eat it in stir fry.  However, it was so stupid easy to make.  This would be a great side for a weekday meal.  I would maybe use a bit less sugar and just let it caramelise on its own if I made it again.

The ice cream was a bit of a mission.  I didn't read the recipe through and realised after I'd already put some of the ingredients together that I didn't have margarine.  I had the coconut oil mentioned as a suitable substitute, but it was solid!  So I boiled some water and melted the oil enough to pour it out, but I put it in the mix at the wrong stage.  In spite of all the setbacks, it was really good and was the perfect accompaniment to the cake.

Everyone seemed to like the food, and we had almost no leftovers.  And because of the dishwasher, I was able to clean as I went, so the rest of the cleanup won't be too bad.  Woo!

Vegan MoFo VI, Bonus! - Rekorderlig Winter Cider

A few days ago, I mentioned finally finding Rekorderlig Winter Cider (cinnamon and vanilla flavoured apple cider) after having seen the company tweet about it for ages.  It says on the bottle that you can drink it hot or cold, so we first tried it hot.  To be honest, I didn't love it.  And considering the hype, I felt like I should have.

Well, I bought two bottles, and I had the second bottle tonight.  It is so so SO good.  So good.  You definitely want to drink this cold.  And you definitely want to drink this.  The cinnamon gives it a subtle warmth while the vanilla gives it a different kind of sweetness than you get from the apple alone.  It would've been good as just apple/cinnamon, but the vanilla pulls it together.

I feel like this one isn't quite as sweet as, for instance, the berry cider (which is one of my favourites ever).  It might work for someone who likes a slightly drier cider (though it is still pretty sweet, so maybe not).

I really want to drink this all the time.  I'm gonna be super sad when this goes away after the winter.  I could drink it all year.

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 22 - Mike Makes Monday Meals - Tofu Noodles

First of all, sorry for slacking yesterday.  I didn't have as much alone time as I'd hoped, and the kitchen wasn't clean (and I couldn't bear to clean it again), so I had cereal for dinner and didn't bake anything.  But I posted something, so there's that.

I went to an event tonight - a book launch for Voicing Scotland:  Folk, Culture, Nation by Gary West, who was one of my lecturers at uni (and the piper at my wedding!) - so I didn't get home until nearly 9pm.  I picked the perfect dinner for Mike to cook tonight - soba noodles with smoked tofu and spinach.  I based the technique on a recipe from Get It Ripe - I think that one is noodles and kale, no tofu - but did my own thing with not measuring and using different stuff.

It's super easy - cube a block of smoked tofu and fry it while waiting for your water to boil, then add soba noodles to the water.  Add spinach to the tofu pan and wilt the spinach while the noodles cook for 5 minutes.  While the noodles and spinach cook, make a sauce with soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sriracha, and garlic (I used 2 cloves, but could've used more).  Once the noodles are done, drain and add to the pan with the tofu and spinach, then pour over the sauce.  It takes about 10 minutes to come together, which is brilliant when you want a filling and (relatively) healthy meal but can't be arsed/don't have time to wait for something more complicated.  It's even faster than cooking up chips and a Fry's chicken burger!

I also finally, finally found Rekorderlig Winter Cider - it's now being sold in Sainsbury's! 

From their Facebook page

Rekorderlig is my favourite cider, possibly because it's one of the few vegan-friendly brands that are available both in stores and in pubs.  Also, their flavours are amazing.  I imagine most people wouldn't be super keen if they were dry cider fans because they tend to be quite sweet, but they're exactly the way I like them.  I've never had a flavour I didn't like, but then again I've never tried the orange ginger (which I've been told tastes like duck's ass).

We tried the winter cider warm.  It's alright, but I think I prefer my alcoholic cider cold and my non-alcoholic cider warm.  But I have another bottle in the fridge to drink cold another night!

Bonus Zebby picture - it'll get me hits!

 D'aww.  BTW, the cat bed is from Luna's Apawthecary.