Vegan MoFo 2014 - New (to me) foods from Tesco

I spent most of today running around.  This included a pointless trip to Real Foods - pointless because I forgot they closed at 6.30pm on Saturdays, and I got there at 6.45pm.  Derp.  So today I'm just gonna talk about some new things that have popped up at Tesco, and one new-to-me thing that I got today.

First up, Tesco's new dairy-free ice cream.  It's £2 for 500ml of coconut-based vanilla ice cream.  It tastes alright, but it falls on texture, which I felt was a bit grainy.  It's a great option for a soy-free vegan considering how much other coconut-based vegan ice creams cost (I saw one at Real Foods a few weeks ago that was around £7 for the same size).  But compare that to £2.20 for 700ml of soy-based Swedish Glace.  I loves me some soy, so I'll stick to deliciously creamery Swedish Glace.

A new-to-me thing I got is their garlic sauce.  It's in that wee section of house-brand specialty spices and sauces, which actually seems to have quite a few vegan items.  Garlic is one of my favourite things, so obviously I had to get this.  I'd been eyeing it for a while, but yesterday's weird dinner, and the leftovers produced, pushed me to buy it.  I tried it on my casserole, and it was alright.  By itself, it's a little sweet, but it works on things.

Next up - Amy's breakfast sandwich!  I searched what felt like every health food shop in NYC looking for these things, but couldn't find them, so I was pretty excited when someone else posted they'd found them.  I had to go out to the big Tesco to find it (as well as the next thing), but as soon as I got home, I popped it right in the microwave.  Well, I hate to say it, but it wasn't great.  The microwaving made the bread really weird and tough in parts.  For £2.49 and having to spend an hour on the bus, I wouldn't make the trip just for these.

Finally - A few years ago, I went to Brighton VegFest and met up with some European PPKers, one of whom brought me some Speculoos pudding made by Alpro in ... Belgium, I think.  Earlier this year, during Tesco's Healthy Living Fair (or whatever it was called), they sold some gingerbread man-flavoured Alpro desserts.  They're hard to find, but they're still around.  If you look at the package, it actually lists Speculoos biscuits as an ingredient, so these are pretty much the same thing.  The TL;DR of this is - Speculoos pudding at Tesco.  Do I even need to tell you that these are good?  These are good.  If you like any of the other Alpro puddings (well, I think they're just called desserts), and you like Speculoos, then you'll like these.

Despite the pretty crap free from stuff (most of it has milk or eggs in it) and the fact that they label next to nothing, I'm pretty impressed by the expanding selection of vegan items.  I hope they keep going this way (and maybe improve their own-brand stuff by taking out the milk and eggs).

Vegan MoFo 2014 - Toona casserole

Sorry about the lack of pictures again. I'm blogging on my iPad (which is awful, FYI) and just don't feel like dealing with it.

Well, this has been my most failtastic MoFo ever! I missed most of this week, and really (mostly) just purely because of laziness. OK, in fairness, we were out late Monday and yesterday. I just had a few days where I just did not want to make anything worth blogging about. But what I made tonight requires discussion.

A few months ago, a vegan fake tuna called VeganToona came out. I bought a can when I was in NYC, but it's been sitting in the cupboard since then. I decided to make pumpkin mac n cheese for dinner tonight, and then I remembered the Toona. So I made Toona casserole!

I used the pumpkin cheese sauce recipe from Oh, She Glows and boiled some star-shaped pasta. I mixed these together in a square glass casserole dish with about a cup of petit pois, 1/2 cup of shredded Tesco smoke-style cheese, the can of Toona, and a few tablespoons of panko. I topped it with more cheese and panko, then baked for about 20 minutes.

The dish itself was actually pretty good, but lemme tell you about that Toona. First of all, I don't know where they get off thinking it's a tuna sub because it is nothing like tuna. It's dark brown and isn't remotely fishy in smell, taste or texture. And while it's flaky, it's less like fish-flaky and more like skin disease flaky. So gross.

If you want something reminiscent of tuna, just mash some chickpeas with dulse or something. You won't get what you're looking for with the Toona.

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).

Vegan MoFo 2014 - Review: Pizza Express

I may or may not have reviewed Pizza Express before, but I’m not bothering to check.  I mean, since Mike introduced his dad to the Pizza Express near our flat, it’s the only place we ever go when he’s in town.  Ever.  So I’ve eaten there a fair few times, which means I might have written about it before.

The reason I’m (re-)reviewing now is twofold:  a) They now have a pizza that’s specifically vegan, and 2) On our last visit, they told me which wines are vegan, and since they all have the same wine list, this information is pertinent to everyone.

So, the wine list:  We took my bff Eva to PE for one of my birthday dinners in August.  They’d sent me a voucher for a free bottle of Prosecco, so I asked the server if she knew whether or not it was vegan.  About 5 minutes later, we got tired of waiting and looked it up*.  While we were in the middle of that, the manager actually came out and gave us the full list of wines that are suitable for vegans.  Well, actually, he gave us the list that *aren’t* sfv.  So here are the vegan wines:

Pizza Express vegan-safe wine list
Red:
Nero d'Avola Syrah, Sicily, Italy
Merlot, Sicily, Italy
Barbera d'Alba D.O.C., Piemonte, Italy
Chianti Riserva D.O.C.G., Tuscany, Italy

White:
Grillo Chardonnay, Sicily, Italy
Trebbiano, Marche, Italy
Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand
Gavi, Piemonte, Italy

Rosé:
Merlot Rosé, Veneto, Italy

Or for ease, the ones that aren’t sfv are the Montepulciano and Valpolicella (red), Moscato (white) and Pinot Grigio (all varieties).

Onto the food.

As I said, Pizza Express now has a specifically vegan pizza (which most of you probably knew).  For those of us who were asking for vegan cheese, unfortunately, that’s not how they played it.  Yes, it’s a bit nonsensical that they would create an entirely vegan pizza by just making a new veggie one without cheese, since nearly any veggie pizza ordered without cheese is vegan.  So I don’t know if they were trolling us or throwing us a bone (not vegan) by creating the Pianta.  At least they kinda paid attention to the vegan request, just not exactly what we asked for.

That said, I actually like the Pianta, though I do have to modify it a bit.  I’m allergic to pine nuts, so those have to go, but I replace them with olives.  I like a bit of extra garlic oil on mine too, because if I have to forgo cheese, I have to make my pizza deliciously greasy somehow.  They go a little heavy on the rocket, but otherwise it’s really quite good.  It’s now my usual every time we go (because I’m also a creature of habit and stick with things I know are good).

I’ve heard that you can bring in a sealed bag of shredded vegan cheese and they’ll use it on your pizza, but I’ve never tried it.  Maybe I’ll do that next time.

*We never really figured out if the Prosecco was sfv.  We couldn’t find the specific one they were offering online, but all the ones we could find that matched generally (Prosecco from that particular region) were coming up vegan.  We took a chance on it, but I’m not necessarily advocating that everyone else do the same.  Please let me know in the comments if you happen to know one way or the other if it’s sfv.

Vegan MoFo 2014 - Review: Saramago

I'm doing double duty because of my lack of posts over the last couple of days.  This is the post that was meant to happen today anyway.

As I mentioned in my last post, I met up with a friend (interrobang?! from the PPK) for dinner, and we went to Saramago at the CCA.  I've been there a few times now, and I'm glad that I gave it another shot after my first, rather dismal, visit (wherein I got a sausage sandwich that contained a single, pre-packaged sausage).

They do a pre-theatre offer of 2 courses for £10.95 and 3 for £12.95, so I went for the three courses.  I should've done 2 and skipped the starter, but I'm a glutton.

I got the red pepper hummus for a starter.  It was a bit thick, but at least it came with actual flatbread.  It was really tasty - I'm pretty sure they use smoked paprika in it because it had a lovely smokey flavour.

My main was the haggis fritters (made with lentils and seeds, not nuts, woot!):

For some reason, they serve these like fried fish, with lemon and tartar sauce.  I'm not complaining, though, because they're freaking delicious.  They have a really similar feel to haggis (from what I remember), which I guess can be off-putting to some.  But they're just kinda soft, and the seeds add some nice texture.  I got some aioli to go with the chips, which were quite good, but I couldn't eat very many because I'd eaten too much and had to save room for dessert.

This is, according to their menu, chocolate cake.  The cake is a lie.  I'm not saying it's not good, because it is, but don't go in expecting cake.  This is a brownie - crusty on the outside, dense and fudgy on the inside, no layers, no frosting.  I know from cake, and I know from brownies, and this is a brownie.  Delicious, but a brownie.

Anyway, yeah, you should totally go to Saramago.  The food is excellent (I can also recommend the paella and the gelato affogatto), and they have a good booze selection.  It's a nice space too, though a bit out of the way if you're otherwise in the centre of town.  But it's worth the walk - I'm starting to think this might be the best vegan food in Glasgow.

Vegan MoFo 2014 - MoFail and a review of Mono

As you may have noticed, I haven't posted for a couple of days.  Here's what happened:

Wednesday, I expected to go out to dinner, but I came home to find out that wasn't happening.  I was exhausted (I did a lot of traveling for work and slept badly the night before), so once I bothered to cook, I couldn't be bothered to get my laptop out and write a blog post (if I could've even figured out what to write).  And yesterday, I was out all day, got home later than I expected, and again couldn't be bothered getting out my laptop and writing.  I should mention that my laptop is on its last legs, so I've been using an iPad for general internetting, and I don't like using it for blogging.

So, there you go.  On to the review.

Yesterday was supposed to be a day out in Glasgow.  We were supposed to have lunch around 12, do some stuff, and then I was meeting up with a friend for dinner at 5.30 (after Mike got the last pre-rush hour train home).  We ended up not even getting to Glasgow until 2.30, which meant just the eating (and checking out one cute new shop called GeekABoo).

We had lunch at Mono.  I have a sort of love/hate relationship with Mono - well, maybe not hate, more like frustration.  Sometimes the food is just outstanding, and sometimes it's a bit poo.  We go there a couple of times a year, and it seems to go in waves where every other year is poo, and every other year is great.  Well, unfortunately, it was great last year.

I had the same stuff I always order - hummus to start, and the seitan burger for my main.  Normally I would get the sundae for dessert, but knowing how little time I had between meals, I skipped dessert this time.

The hummus itself was alright - it's pretty hard to mess up hummus.  But I realised after a few minutes that the "flatbread" was a flour tortilla.  Yes, technically a tortilla is a flat bread (of a sort), but it's not flatbread the way most sensible people understand flatbread.

Then the burgers came out, and I had a sad.  They didn't even look as good as usual.  They were at least 1/3 smaller than last time (last time they filled the bun, this time, nowhere near).  They were also overcooked, dark and crunchy on the outside.  It was really disappointing.  But at least the chips were good (though where they got their concept of skinny fries I don't know, because they were proper chips).

I'm not gonna stop going to Mono (which might be part of the problem - complacency), but I'll probably give them some time to sort themselves out.  There are other places to eat that have equally good or better food, and some places I've not been to before, so I'll give them a shot before going back to Mono.

Newsday Tuesday – Waitrose soffritto passata

It’s Newsday Tuesday, where I make/have food that’s new to me!  For a minute I thought I’d failed at it – I forgot that I actually have made the recipe I was gonna talk about.  But then I realised that one of the components is new to me, so it worked out!

I was at Waitrose the other day stocking up on frozen stuff (I got garlic and ice cream, but they didn’t have shallots) and happened upon a new item – jarred soffritto.  I quickly scanned the ingredients for anything non-vegan, not bothering to note the bizarre stuff some British person decided was supposed to go into sofrito, and, seeing that it was safe, bought a jar.

It wasn’t until I got home and had a good look at it in comparison to a recipe in Viva Vegan! that I realised that this is some kind of Euro-sofrito.  Sorry, soffritto.  It contains carrots and celery instead of peppers*.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.  Regardless, I used it in a couple of recipes, and it was actually pretty good.

I made the Viva Vegan! Latin Baked Tofu with it, but due to the lack of Latinness, I added a bit of cumin to it before I poured it over the tofu.  I also made the Cuban black bean soup, which saved me a ton of time standing at the stove (but not much in the actual cooking process, which took FOREVAH).

Mike and I really liked it over the tofu, and we really liked the soup, so I can’t really say it’s a terrible product.  It just wasn’t what I expected.  But I guess I should’ve known, since I got it at Waitrose and not Lupe Pinto’s.  Still, I would give it the seal of approval – even though it was different, it was still tasty!

And since I don't have a picture of any food, here's a kitty tongue:

*A quick search tells me that this is Tuscan-style soffritto.  So I guess my Latin baked tofu was actually Italian baked tofu.

Review - Considerit Chocolates

Apparently there's a Saturday market on Grassmarket!  I had no idea.  On one hand, I love that there are so many markets springing up all over Edinburgh - there also seems to be one just off Princes Street nearly every Saturday (I can't remember the name of the street, but it's next to the HSBC branch), and every once in a while one pops up at New Kirk Gate Centre (down at the bottom of Leith Walk).  On the other hand, they almost never have anything vegan, apart from things like marinated olives.

I'm in a local vegan Facebook group, and, Claire, the proprietor of Considerit Chocolates, posted that she'd be selling there this weekend, so I went along after buying nearly all of the tofu from The Engine Shed at the farmers market.  Pro tip - If you go right to the back of the farmers market, there's a stair that leads onto the bottom of the Grassmarket.

Claire had two tables loaded with a huge variety of truffles, truffle bars, and Halloween chocolates, all of which was vegan and gluten free.  I went with the deal she was doing for 5 truffles and a truffle bar for £7 - quite a bargain as it would cost about £8.50 for a similar purchase from The Chocolate Tree, and they don't have nearly the same selection of vegan options.

The truffles, from left to right, are salted caramel (x2), amaretto, cinnamon, and vanilla.  The skull is a plain chocolate truffle, and the bar is a mint truffle bar.  Plus bonus Zebby nose - he was more curious about what I had on that plate than when I brought out my lunch of VBites fish-style steaks.

The truffles were amazing - I really wish I'd bought more, because I ate them all (except the skull) in about 5 minutes.  The salted caramel was a liquid centre, but the rest were ganache.  The flavours worked really well and weren't too subtle as to be overwhelmed by the bitterness of the chocolate.  Claire does a great job of balancing the flavours (they're obvious without being a punch in the face or feeling like the flavour comes just from extracts), and she clearly knows from chocolate.  I honestly couldn't even tell you which was my favourite as they were all delicious in their own way.

I think I'm gonna have to make at least a monthly if not bi-weekly trip to the Grassmarket to get a box of truffles.  If you can't make it to the Grassmarket, or want truffles sooner than next Saturday, you can order from the website (linked above).  I'm so pleased that this wee business exists and wish Claire all the best of luck so that she keeps making these delicious chocolates.

Review - Zen Zen vanilla ice cream

Image from the Zen Zen website

I'm always willing to try new ice creams (as long as they aren't made from ingredients that will hospitalise me), so when I saw that Real Foods had Zen Zen ice cream, I grabbed a wee 125ml container of vanilla.  I never get to buy the wee containers because the only ones they usually sell are dairy ice creams or Booja Booja (made with cashews = hospitalisation).  They're so cute, with their little flat spoon/scraper things right in the lid.  Fun times.

Anyway, I love the concept of a non-dairy but also non-nut based ice cream that was slightly healthier than my beloved Swedish Glace.  I'm hard to please with vanilla because I almost never eat it straight up (without any toppings), and the only one I've ever been happy to do that with was Swedish Glace.

The Zen Zen ice cream just isn't the one for me.  The coconut flavour was really pronounced and overwhelmed the vanilla.  I think a coconut milk base is just too much for a vanilla dessert.  I'd love to try the chocolate (the only other flavour Real Foods had was the nut one) because I think chocolate is a strong enough flavour to power through the coconut.  But vanilla is just too subtle for it.  And considering that the 125ml tub was the same price as a 700ml tub of Swedish Glace - still undefeated as my favourite vanilla ice cream - I think I'll stick with the stuff I like, even if it is full of chemicals and gums and precious sugar.

Southern Saturday on Sunday - Grits, Hush Puppies, and ... Hummus?

I have a totally legit excuse for missing out yesterday's entry.  We were at our friends' place playing a game called Civilisation, which seems to never end.  I mean, there is an end point, but after about 12 hours worth of play (with a break for dinner), we still weren't anywhere near the end when we decided to give up because everyone was exhausted.  By the time we got back, all I could do was make a cup of tea and go to bed.

I made the Garlicky Black-Eyed Pea Hummus to take to the game.  It took about 10 minutes to make, and it was delicious.  It obviously looked a bit different from regular hummus, but it didn't taste very different.  I think that was because the only difference was the type of bean used.  I would highly recommend this, and I definitely see myself making this again.  No pic because grey hummus.

I did two recipes today.  The first was the Cheesy Tempeh Bacon Grits.  I didn't have any tempeh to make bacon, so I used store-bought bacon bits.  This recipe was also fairly quick and easy.  I've only had proper grits once, and these were a bit different, probably because I don't have access to grits grits, just coarse ground cornmeal (for polenta).  I ended up having to add a lot more liquid to the recipe to keep them from sticking before they were done.  Regardless, they were awesome - creamy, cheesy (without adding the optional shredded cheese), salty, and wonderful.  I would totally make these again.  In fact, I might make them again next weekend.

I also made the Hush Puppy Corn Muffins.  For some reason, I thought I was gonna have a hard time finding creamed corn here, and if I did find it, it would be in the American section.  But not only did I find it easily, I got it in the regular tinned veg section.  These would've come together really quickly if I hadn't cut my onion wrong.  But I did, so they took a while (because of the mincing).  But they were worth the effort.  I thought they would be good, but I never expected they would actually taste like hush puppies.  They're so close to one of those deep-fried balls of goodness, and probably contain a lot less fat.  Yet again, I would absolutely make these again.  They're amazing.

So, that's three wins in two days with this cookbook.  Next weekend we're having friends over for dinner on Saturday, so I'll make quite a bit (I hope) from Cookin' Crunk.  I bought some stuff to make at the weekend and didn't get a chance, so I might have a Southern Monday (and/or Tuesday) post this week as well.  I hope y'all don't mind, because I freaking love this book and want to try everything.

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 29 - Sunday Baking (on Monday)

Obviously today is Monday, but Mike hurt his hand and didn't feel like cooking tonight, so we just had leftover tofu scramble for dinner.  And I did bake yesterday, but I didn't write about it.  So I'll do that now!

Last night I made the Snickerdoodle cake from Have Your Cake and Vegan Too!  It was pretty easy to make and put together.  The only not-easy (but still not particularly difficult) part was putting the topping on.  My frosting had already set a bit and wasn't as sticky as it maybe should've been, so the sugar crystals kept bouncing off (all over the worktop and floor that I'd just cleaned).

We didn't have any last night, but I took it into work.  One person said it was lush; another said she was glad she didn't live with me because she'd be really fat.  And I believe 2 people had cake for lunch.  So, I'd say it was pretty successful.  I did get a piece in the end, and it was pretty good, though (I can't believe I'm saying this) it maybe had a bit too much cinnamon.  But it really did taste like a snickerdoodle, which is one of my favourite cookies, so overall I'm happy with the outcome.

The whole point of my Sunday baking theme was to make a few different cakes from Have Your Cake and Vegan Too! to determine if I want to buy the book.  Of the things I've made, I'd say the majority have been good to outstanding.  I could definitely see myself baking my way through the rest of this book (or at least the rest of the recipes that I liked the look of).  So, if anyone in my family is reading this - I want this book for Xmas!

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 27 - Still sneezing

I've been sneezing since about 3pm yesterday, and I slept really badly.  I kept waking up with my tongue feeling like sandpaper because I couldn't breathe through my nose.  At least Zebby let me sleep in a bit.  Anyway, all this is to say that today I'm just gonna review some products that I've had recently.

First up are Redwood's beef-style and turkey-style roasts, which I really like, but they're usually a bit more costly than I like to spend on what is essentially a big seitan sausage that I could make myself.  But when they're on sale (like during one of Holland & Barrett's sales or marked down at Real Foods), I kinda can't help myself.  They're not meant to be cooked in anything other than an oven, so I bought some months before I could actually cook them because they were on sale.

It turns out you can cook these in a slow cooker (there are ways of doing so that I found at the time, but I'm too lazy to google them now), which is what I did with these when I didn't have an oven.  In the oven or the slow cooker, they come out moist and tender and taste remarkably similar to what they're mocking (though the texture isn't the same, but that's probably a good thing, especially for the beef).  The only issue I have is that the turkey-style roast really stinks when it's cooking.  I made one a couple nights ago and I thought I was smelling the cat's room (which is at the other end of the flat).

Both varieties work well as an actual roast, i.e. with potatoes, carrots and onions, or with mash and veg on the side, or with vegetable rice (which is how I ate the turkey-style the other night).  However, my favourite way to eat either of them is to slice into strips and put in a wrap with boiled potatoes and carrots and a bit of gravy.  So good!

Next up is Prewett's chocolate creams - gluten free chocolate biscuits with a chocolate cream filling.

From Amazon - which doesn't actually sell them.

I bought these at Real Foods today when shopping for nice things to take to people in the States who are letting me stay with them (and trying to figure out what happened to my tea, which they seem to have discontinued).  The photo is a little misleading (they don't have nearly that much cream filling), but they were really good - a bit crumbly, but good flavour and nicely crisp without being hard.  I also like that they don't have a gluten-free feel to them - they just have a regular old biscuit texture (and taste).

Finally, Tesco has a range of juices called Juice Bar.  They look to be mostly vegan - they're juices, but I've found fish oil in juice before, so I'm not gonna issue a blanket all-clear on them.  Mike used to get them often from the Tesco near his office, but he thinks they may have stopped carrying them (or that they moved to another part of the store and he can't be bothered looking for them).  I had my first try of them tonight with the Virgin Sangria - grape, apple, and orange juices.  I really liked it - it obviously didn't taste like real sangria, but the flavours worked surprisingly well together (I was wary of the combo initially).  Mike had the Rootin' Fruitin', which was a combo of pineapple, mango and carrot.  I wasn't impressed with this one, and he didn't love it either.

They usually have them on offer - 3 for £3 or 5 for £4 (I think) for 250ml bottles.  They're not massively great value for drinking from home (I usually have oj and get it on offer for 2/£3 for 750ml of Copella, the best oj I've ever had), but they'd do in a pinch if you didn't want to buy an entire 750ml bottle of juice for drinking on the go.

Here's a bonus picture of my cat being super adorable:

FYI - That is not an invitation.  He will cut you.

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 26 - British Food Friday - Sausage and Mash

I'll be honest - I'm a little burned out, but I've also been really tired this week, hence a lack of posts for the past couple of days.  And today's post is a bit of a cop-out (again) because I only came up with it around 5pm today.  Also, I'm having another allergy attack, so I'm doubly tired and can't stop sneezing.

That said, at least I can talk about something new.  As I said, it occurred to me that I didn't plan anything for BFF (I kept thinking I'd do a roast in the slow cooker, but I never remembered in the morning and was always too tired to prep in the evening) when I was standing around the office trying to decide what to do about the fact that it suddenly started hailing out of nowhere (the forecast for the entire day was sunny).*  I decided to go to Tesco to figure out what to buy for dinner while I waited for the bus, and I suddenly had a brainwave that I could do sausage and mash.

It just so happened that Tesco had a new variety of Linda McCartney sausage (red onion and rosemary) on offer for £1 for a packet of 6.  Combined with the fact that the regular LM sausages were both more calorific and more expensive, I decided that it might be good if I talked about a product I've never actually talked about before.

I wasn't really sure about them, but they turned out to be really good.  They had a nice flavour and texture that were completely different from the regular LM sausages.  And they were really tasty even though I burned them!  I could see myself buying these again.  I served them with some noochy Smash and microwave-steamed veg.  It was quick, easy, delicious, and filling, which is exactly what I needed.

I might try to get some extra entries in over the weekend if I can get over this allergy attack and find the energy to do anything.  And I'll definitely post next week, since it's nearly the end of MoFo (*single tear*).  I'm hoping to at least be able to do Sunday baking (especially since one of my co-workers asked me why the baking had stopped) and some more cookbook challenge stuff.  And there might be another restaurant review since Mike totally owes me dinner.  We'll see how it goes.

*That was some crappy sentence structure, but I can't be bothered fixing it.

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 23 - Soup!

Today's post is gonna be another cop-out because I realised that I don't have anything for my lunch for tomorrow unless I buy another can or carton of soup.  I'm a little tired of store-bought soup, so I'm gonna make some scramble, which I've blogged about extensively.  So instead, I'm gonna talk about ... store-bought soup!

It's proper soup weather in Edinburgh, and that was especially true today.  It was a pretty crappy day to start with, and then the haar rolled in.  It's been misty and dreary all day.  Today was the kind of day where you can't imagine eating anything other than soup.

Since I'm trying to lose weight, I've also been relying on soup for my lunches when I don't have anything to bring from home.  I don't know of any store-bought vegan soup that's particularly calorific, if only because they aren't loaded with meat and cream and stuff.  It's also pretty easy to find vegan soup at the store, whereas you're less likely to find sandwiches or other ready-made lunch-type foods that are suitable.

The only problem I have with store-bought soup is chunkiness - I'm a big fan of pureed soups (generally, though I also love a soup full of barley).  It's pretty difficult to get a smooth vegan soup from a can, so I've gone through a bit of trial and error trying to figure out which soups have the right chunks (e.g., potatoes, beans, carrots) or are smooth enough to not put me off.

My go-to brand is usually Baxters - they make quality soup and (usually*) label them if they're vegan.  They're also sold in pretty much every big-box store in the UK.  I think I used to like one that had butternut squash, but I kinda went off it last year, so I'm not even sure if they make it anymore.  My current favourite of theirs is the Carrot and Butterbean.

I also like Tesco's tinned lentil and veg soup.  I'm not sure if that's exactly what it's called, but it's in their low-cal range, and an entire can is, I think, 180 calories - not bad.  Tesco have also just released a couple of vegan soups in their fresh cartons.  I'm 99% certain that the Lentil, Bean and Barley and the Mexican Chili Bean soups are both vegan.  I tried the first yesterday and really liked it, though I would've preferred more barley and fewer chunks of tomato.  I tried the other one today, and it was just awful.  The potatoes were so undercooked that they crunched.  Tesco is getting a strongly worded email from me.

This is obviously not an exhaustive list of store-bought soups.  I mainly buy soups for lunch, and I only have a Tesco nearby, so I can't really speak to the options at Sainsbury's, Morrisons, M&S, etc.  Maybe I'll do another soup review if I get another job that happens to be near a different shop.

*I picked up a revamped can of Carrot and Butterbean today that didn't specify, so I'm wondering if they've changed that practice.  That would suck since it's the quickest way to determine if I need to bother reading the ingredients.

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 17 - Restaurant Review - Yeni

Sorry for doing 2 restaurant reviews in a row, but it's either that or I talk about my breakfast cereal.  I think this is more interesting.

Mike owed me dinner (well, closer to 5, since I've been doing a lot of dishes), so we decided to go out tonight since we're having a guest tomorrow.  I looked for a few places online, even consulting The List, which is a pain in the ass since they don't list vegan options (so you have to look at the menu for each place that says they have vegetarian options).  I used the Round the World tag since "world" cuisine tends to have better options than almost any other category.  After trawling through nearly every entry, I found a Turkish (I think) restaurant called Nargile.

Well, it turns out that Nargile is now Yeni (so when you click on the Nargile link, you go to the Yeni website).  Apparently they've just reopened as Yeni (and when I say "just", they've only been open for a couple of weeks) and are focusing more on mezze than ... whatever it is they used to make.  I don't know because I'd never been there.  But the best thing - they clearly label all of their vegan options!  And there are more than 2!

I made a reservation, but it wasn't really necessary - we got there a bit early and there was only one other couple there.  But if word gets around about this place, that situation won't last long.

The full menu is online, so I had a pretty good idea what I wanted when we got there.  But I had to let Mike make some decisions.  We got the bruschetta, hummus, red lentil rolls (lentil and herb croquettes), spinach börek (spinach in pastry flutes), falafel, patates (thinly sliced fried potatoes in tomato sauce), and Arabian flatbread (which came in a basket with several small pieces rather than one large piece).

Mike ate all the bruschetta - he said it was tasty (and +10 points for being able to find vegan bruschetta).  We were both kinda meh on the red lentil rolls - Mike said they were kinda like Scotch eggs, but I've never had a Scotch egg so couldn't confirm or deny this assessment.  I think they would've been better warm.  The falafel was maybe a bit heavy on the coriander and/or onion - strangely, I wasn't quite sure which it was - but was still good.  The hummus was tasty - you can't really cock up hummus - and the flatbread was warm, fluffy and delicious dipped in the hummus.  But my favourites were the spinach börek and the patates.  I told Mike that we can skip the red lentil rolls next time and just get two orders of the spinach börek.

We had a decent meal for less than £30, and we got a card for 25% off our next visit!  Also, the staff were really friendly and helpful - when we told them we were vegan, they asked if we'd like to sub the sauce for the falafels unprompted.  This would be a great place to take a large party because of the nature of the meal - you get a bunch of stuff to share.   We'll definitely be going back - there are some things I didn't get to try but wanted to - and would highly recommend it.

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 16 - Restaurant Review - Forest Cafe

I had this one in the bag in case I had another day of being unable to bear the thought of cooking, and that day came a lot sooner than I expected.  I sneezed for 2 days straight, and I've felt a bit crap all day today, so I think I'm just gonna be making Fry's chicken nuggets, Smash, and microwave-steamed veg for dinner tonight.

Last year (or was it 2 years ago?), the Forest Cafe was under threat of closure because their landlords had gone bankrupt and had to sell the building from which they operated.  Threat turned to reality and they closed their doors, but they've recently re-opened in what was once a quick-e-mart at the corner of Lauriston Place and Brougham Road (near Real Foods) in Tollcross.

My best good friend Eva was in town on Saturday, and we wanted a place to eat that wasn't too unhealthy.  We were near the end of Princes Street, and the only local place was Henderson's, which is always pretty hit-and-miss for me, so we decided to check out the new Forest Cafe location.

When they were at the old location, I always found the Forest to be a bit hippie-ish, and they really didn't change much (apart from the space being a lot tidier as it's not had time to be broken in, I guess).  It was another place that I found hit-and-miss, as they seem to have more vegan options on their online menu than they actually offer (this is especially true of the cakes - I can't remember ever being there when they actually had vegan cake).

When we got there Saturday around 11.30, we found that the kitchen was still closed - apparently they hadn't finished making everything and were still waiting for some stuff to be delivered.  But they had enough to make us some falafel plates (3 falafels, a toasted pita, hummus, and salad), which is what I wanted anyway, so we both got that.  They didn't have one of the salads made, so they gave us a double portion of the one that was made.

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much, but this turned out to be an amazing meal.  The big surprise for both of us was the salad.  I'm not quite sure what was in it besides chickpeas and cabbage, though they said it was some kind of mushroom dressing, but it was one of the best salads I've ever eaten.  I think Eva almost asked for the recipe - it was that good.  It was, apparently, a "special" salad, so I don't know if they'd have it regularly, but I certainly hope so.  We definitely got our money's worth (it was a fiver!), and we both left feeling full and satisfied.  I just hope next time I go they have some damn cake (no, flapjacks won't cut it).

Vegan MoFo VI - Day 4 - Restaurant Review - Ann Purna

I don't know if I ever mentioned in MoFos past that, up until recently, in the 4+ years that I've known Mike, we went to one Indian restaurant.  He didn't like it and declared Indian restaurants off limits thereafter.  I spent the next 3ish years almost never eating at Indian restaurants because he didn't want to go to them.

A few months ago, my boss took me and the other admin on our team to dinner at Kushi's (omni place with vegan options).  I decided then that Mike was gonna have to suck it up and learn to like Indian restaurant food (he'd eat curries I made, but they were hardly authentic) because I was tired of limiting our restaurant choices so much.  Since then, he's finally realised that Indian food is awesome, so we've been going to a lot more Indian restaurants.

Tonight, we went to our favourite - Ann Purna.  Ann Purna has been around for a while - I'm not sure how long, but at least since well before I moved here.  The first time I went there, I wasn't too impressed, but I also still didn't like vegetables, so I wasn't the best judge of quality then.  They've since come under new management, but it's still within the same family that owned it originally.  I think they've changed up the menu since my first visit, because I want to eat everything on it.

The first time Mike and I went there, we got the vegan thali.  It was alright - the highlights were the poori (fried bread), the chana batata (chickpeas and potatoes), and the kofti (vegetable dumpling).  But I've always found that thalies are hit and miss since it's up to the discretion of the chef to decide what to put in it, and I'm far too picky to let someone else make my food choices.

We've now been there enough that we've settled into a bit of a routine, as you do (well, I do) - pretty much the only thing we change up are the starters.  I always get the saag aloo (greens and potatoes), Mike always gets the chana dhal (dhal made with split chickpeas), and we usually go for the chana batata as a side.

Tonight we started with the kachori - potatoes and lentils in a thin pastry shell, fried and served with tamarind sauce.  It was the best starter we've had there - a bit of crunch from the pastry, soft potatoes, and mildly spiced lentils, with just the right amount of sweetness from the sauce.

We then had what we always have, served with pulao rice and a poori to split between the two of us (though I totally could've eaten one by myself).  They make the absolute best saag aloo in Edinburgh.  OK, so only one other place has a vegan saag aloo, and it's good, but Ann Purna's is better.  Though we get two chickpea dishes, they're prepared in such a way that it doesn't feel like you're eating chickpeas twice.  The chana batata is a bit tomato-y, while the dhal is creamy.

The only vegan dessert they have is basically mango puree.  But that's OK, because we usually leave full and with leftovers.  That's the only thing my other favourite Indian restaurant, Kalpna, has over Ann Purna - Kalpna has a vegan dessert that isn't just pureed fruit.

I would absolutely recommend Ann Purna.  The food is wonderful, the prices are reasonable (and they're doing 20% off Mon-Thu this winter), and the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful.  If you find yourself hungry in Edinburgh, check them out.

Vegan MoFo VI - Product Review - Alpro/Provamel Puddin' Cups

I was gonna do the Blue Plate Special from Vegan Diner tonight, but I dicked around too long and finally decided that I didn't feel like making the waffles because it takes about 10 minutes per set of waffles.  So I ended up eating another burrito (mmm...burrito) and decided to do a product review.

I'll say right now that I don't get free stuff from companies.  I bought all of these at some point (apart from the one a friend gave me) and I'm reviewing them because I feel like it, not because I'm compelled to.  But hey, if Alpro (or any other vegan company) wants to hook me up, I won't say no.

So, I'm not entirely clear on this, but I think* Provamel and Alpro are essentially the same company, but Provamel only makes organic stuff, whereas Alpro mostly does non-organic but with a few organic things.  Basically, they have about the same products give or take a few, but the Alpro stuff tends to be fortified (and, at least for the vanilla soy milks, sweeter).  Alpro is sold in big box grocery stores, but Provamel is only sold in health food shops.

Both brands just call these things desserts, but if we were in the US, we'd be talking puddin' cups.  Different countries have different varieties on offer.  In the UK, Alpro offers vanilla, caramel, dark chocolate, and "smooth" chocolate (which I guess is meant to be like milk chocolate), while Provamel offers vanilla, chocolate, caramel and "moka" (according to their website - the package I have says cappuccino).  But other countries might have other things - I know for sure that Belgium gets Alpro speculoos puddin' cups, the lucky bastards.

The good stuff.

So how are they?  Well, I'll admit two things:  a) I've never tried the vanilla of either brand as far as I can recall, and 2) I can never remember which of the chocolate varieties I like.  That said, I quite like the Alpro caramel, though I prefer it mixed with chocolate.  The Provamel moka/cappuccino is good on its own (though I don't know where they get off calling it moka, which implies chocolate, when there's no chocolate in it).  And I think I like one of the Alpro chocolates, but I'm too cheap to buy both to figure it out because then I'll have a package of stuff I don't like (though I'm sure Mike would eat them).  Of course, the standout winner is the speculoos stuff, but I've only had that once (well, one package of 4) because, like I said, it's only available in Belgium.

They're also kinda diet friendly, if you're looking for that kind of thing.  My bff, who isn't even veg, loves the dark chocolate for a dessert, not only because it's tasty, but because it usually fits within her calorie budget.  (I can also confirm that the Alpro Light Chocolate Soya Milk works well if you need a hot chocolate fix but don't want to consume 500 calories in one cup.)

I'd definitely recommend giving these a try.  They're usually pretty tasty, not too bad for calories, and almost always on sale somewhere (at least the Alpro ones are - usually 2 for £2.50 at Sainsbury's and/or Tesco).

*Thanks for clearing that up, Professor Wikipedia!  Also, they're from Belgium, which is why the Belgians get all the good stuff first.

Catching up to finish the year

I took pictures of things that I made and then didn't bother to blog about them.  That's because I'm lazy.  But here they are.  First up, I finally made Mo's kolaches!

As you can probably tell from the picture, I did mine a bit differently from hers.  I actually remembered having kolaches when I was younger, and this is pretty much what I always got - sausage in bread.  These were good but, because I didn't have enough filling, they were way too bread-y.  I'll almost certainly make these again, but I'll probably use different sausage (and more of it) and make them smaller.

Next up is Xmas dinner!

I made porkless pie with Granose sausage mix and the buttery double crust (vodka variation, no sugar) from Vegan Pie in the Sky by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.  It wasn't exactly traditional, but it was probably the best porkless pie I've ever eaten.  I served it with leftover rice (I think I was ill and couldn't be bothered) and roasted broccoli.  Nom!

Dessert was yule log!  It was better than the last one I made, but that's not saying much.  Well, both were tasty, but this one was better looking, if only because it didn't fall apart as completely as the last one.  I used the chocolate cupcake and chocolate buttercream recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for this.  I'll probably try my hand at the log again, but I'll make a few changes - a) different filling (shocking as this is, I thought it was too much chocolate) and 2) use a bit of black cocoa powder for the buttercream to give it a darker, more log-like appearance.

And finally, our last meal of 2011!

This is the new Redwood's haggis with noochy Smash and steamed broccoli.  REDWOOD'S HAGGIS?!  It's really, really good - meatier texture than any other veg haggis I've ever had (it uses vwg), spicy, moist.  I haven't had f'real haggis for ... 8 years, and I think this might be the best fake I've ever had.  It's not just a bunch of kidney beans!  It could maybe be a little oatier, but otherwise it's excellent (as far as I can remember to compare).

I just had a look on the Redwood's site, and they don't even have it on there.  I think this might be a super secret Scotland-only product!  First time ever!  It kinda makes me feel special.  I hope no one is able to burst my bubble and tell me they have it in London or Brighton or something.

Anyway, last post of 2011!  I don't have much to say about 2011 - it was a mixed bag of mediocrity for me (including buying the flat, considering the work we have ahead of us), and I've heard a lot of people didn't have a great year.  So, here's to hoping that 2012 far exceeds 2011 in awesomeness!

Cookbook Challenge - Cheating with testers

Thinking about testing always makes me think of one of Tom Hanks's many SNL appearances, the one in which he played Wayne's cousin Barry, who was a roadie for Aerosmith, and gave a demonstration of his job by doing a mic check ("check, check, sibilance, sibilance").  I digress.

This week's cookbook challenge is another Isa and Terry week.  I spent all of my new-recipe-making energy on Terry testing, so I'm cheating and saying I did them for the challenge.  Let's be honest, the only Isa/Terry book I haven't already made loads from is the cookie book (well, and the pie book, but that just came out), and I really don't need to make a bunch of different cookies (especially after my week-long cookie-fest in which I made 3 types of chocolate chip cookies).

I ended up making five testers this week:

The first was Toasted Lentils, Onions, and Rice.  Yeah, it's not all that pretty, but it's tasty.  It's loaded with caramelized onions, which are one of my cooking nemeses.  It took me about an hour (probably longer) to caramelize those bloody onions.  Next time, they're going in the slow cooker.  This would actually be a pretty quick-ish recipe if one were to use frozen caramelized onions.  It's got a bit of a sausage-y flavour with the addition of whole fennel seeds.  I tasted this shortly after it finished cooking and didn't really care for it, but the flavour improves immensely after sitting or a few days, so I'm glad I reserved judgment.  The recipe also makes a ton, so I had lunches all week and a few dinners.

After a most of a week of frozen food and leftovers, I knocked out three more testers on Thursday (well, four, but I made another tester with tester seitan).  Pictured are Gyro Roasted Seitan (made with Lemon & Olive Seitan), Lemon Garlic Roasted Potatoes, and Roasted Broccoli with Lemon and Sage.  The reviews were mixed on this meal.  We both loved the broccoli - roasted broccoli is really a thing of beauty.  I really liked the potatoes, but Mike thought they were just OK.  I only kinda liked the seitan (the flavours were good but the texture was off due to my seitan being underdone, as you can probably see from the pic), but Mike didn't like it because he thought it was too "different".  Honestly, I'd make it again because I knew it was just a user error, but Mike probably wouldn't eat it (or would eat it but complain about it, more accurately).  Together, it was actually an excellent meal.

We went to Glasgow today to get Mike's passport sorted and had lunch at Heavenly.  Be warned - you don't wanna rock up at 1 on the Saturday they do the craft fair, because you might not get seated.  We actually had to get a snack at Holland & Barrett and do some shopping, then go back after we'd picked up his passport.  Anyway, I finally got the breakfast, and I was not disappointed.  On the plate are tofu scramble (made with smoked tofu), mushrooms, tempeh rashers, toast, beans, tomatoes, sausage, and a potato scone.  This was the best vegan breakfast I've ever had at a restaurant, and the two things that made it were the scramble and the scone (which was actually more like a mushy hashbrown or giant latke).  It was so, so good.

Bonus picture of Mike eating his brunch.

For dessert, we both got caramel hot chocolate, which was delicious, and I got the gingerbread.  I was really excited to eat it based on my previous experience, but they've already changed it.  This one came out floating in a puddle of really thin custard with no chocolate sauce.  It was still good, but not mouthgasmic like the last time (and the presentation, which I usually don't care about, was sub-par).  The custard wasn't as flavourful, the cake was flatter and seemed less fresh (which isn't surprising since the last time I know they'd just baked it), and it didn't come together as well without the chocolate.  I'll maybe skip this if we're not having it as a post-dinner dessert - I'm hoping that they just didn't try as hard because it was a lunchtime thing.

I'll be doing more testing next week, and I'll also be attempting Irn Bru cookies.  Let's hope they work better than the cupcakes.