Stereo - Best Vegan Restaurant in Scotland

Not that it really has much competition.

Mike and I occasionally go to Glasgow because Edinburgh has no specifically vegan restaurants and few vegetarian restaurants, and the latter are either Indian (Mike doesn't really like it) or ridiculously expensive (and tend to have few vegan options, surprisingly). Glasgow has quite a few options for vegans and vegetarians, most of which I haven't been to. A few years ago, I quite liked Mono, but Mike and I went there for my birthday last year, and the experience was so bad that he refuses to go back. Same with the 13th Note (which is pretty much across the street). Anyway, when my sister was here for my wedding and graduation, we went on a day trip to Glasgow and had lunch at Stereo. We had really good service and excellent food. So when Mike got a gift voucher to Borders, which has a location in Glasgow but now Edinburgh, we decided to do lunch at Stereo.

Stereo is a bit out of the way, in that it's down an alley that doesn't look like you'd want to go down it. But it's a cute place, and it's got a pretty decent menu. We both actually had a hard time deciding what we wanted, which is unusual in that it was because we had so much rather than so little choice. It was a late lunch (we went to the cinema first), so the place was fairly busy, and there was only one person waiting on everyone. But we still got prompt service, and the food came out pretty quickly.

Mike had the roasted red pepper hummus with fresh-baked flat bread as his starter


and the Calzone with artichokes, tapenade, and [something I can't remember] for his main


I had the Patatas Bravas for a starter


and the Puttanesca Gnocchi for a main


The hummus was a bit thick, but the bread was good. Mike didn't like his calzone, but he'd never had artichokes before, and I kinda figured he wouldn't like the tapenade. I thought it was alright, but I didn't want to eat his food because I had my own, and mine was delicious. OK, the potatoes were a bit spicy, but the gnocchi was so good that I didn't want to stop eating even when I was full. But it worked out, because Mike ate all the potatoes (I had a couple) and most of his bread (with the sauce for the potatoes), and I ate most of my gnocchi.

My only complaint about Stereo is that they only have dessert specials (nothing set on the menu), and the only thing that appealed today was the brownie with ice cream, which I couldn't have because it contained nuts. Boo-urns! But at least now we have a place we know we can go back to, though I might actually try to remember some of the other places we've never been to for our next trip out there.

I suck.

I've been ill for the past couple of days, so I haven't really been keeping up with the MoFo'ing. I'm finally able to swallow without feeling like I'm trying to swallow a burr, but I'm still feeling a bit nauseous. I made Sloppy Joannas for dinner, along with roasted cauliflower. Now, Sloppy Joannas are delicious, and roasted cauliflower is one of my favourite things in the world, but I could only manage to eat half a sammich before I had to put it down. And I don't think it had anything to do with the yummy Swedish Glace vanilla with Crackin' chocolate topping I had a few hours before. (I don't know if I've mentioned this, but we have no freezer space to speak of, and nothing actually stays frozen anyway, so when we buy ice cream, we have to eat it straight away.)

We're going to Glasgow tomorrow for a movie, some book shopping, and lunch at Stereo!

Soupy day and English muffins

Today started out fine - we had a long lie-in, I made English muffins, we watched some Buffy. Then, right before Mike went to Gamers, I started to sneeze...and I haven't stopped. I hate allergies.

Today I tried to make English muffins from Vegan Brunch. The first go was unsuccessful - my yeast was dead, so my dough didn't rise. Boo-urns. Luckily, Real Foods had yeast on sale a few months back, and I had the foresight to buy a tin, so I had a backup. I tried again, and, with foamy yeast, managed to get a risen ball of dough. Unfortunately, I was over-zealous in my dough rolling -


As you can see, they're a bit flat. I only got about 2 that were nearly the right height. Also, no wonder I got 10 muffins and 2 rolls out of a recipe that should've made 8 muffins. Oh well. They taste great, which is really all that matters. I should point out that I used a mix of wholemeal and plain flour for these, since the store that sells wholemeal muffins is pretty far away whereas the one that sells plain muffins is around the corner.

As I said, I've been sneezing. Also, it's finally starting to get cold again. And feeling like crap when it's cold means only one thing - soup for dinner. I was tempted to make this soup week, but that would be logistically impossible because I have no space in my fridge to store multiple soups.

I have a go-to soup recipe that I love. It's super easy, though it takes a while to get to eatable stage. But I almost always have all the ingredients on hand, and prep-time is minimal. I don't really have a recipe - I usually just eyeball it - but this is as close to what I made tonight as I can get.

'Beef' Vegetable and Barley Soup

Ingredients
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 small onions or one large onion, quartered
2 litres (approx.) water and/or vegetable broth (I used the broth from the Simple Chicken-style Seitan in Yellow Rose Recipes with additional water)
250g country soup mix (I use Sainsbury's because it has pasta and, more importantly, doesn't have marrowfat peas)
100g (approx.) pearl barley
1 c TVP chunks
1 head of roasted garlic

Heat a massive stock pot over medium heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Bung in the carrots and coat with oil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-10 minutes, being sure not to burn them. Add liquid, onions, soup mix, and barley. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. Add TVP and simmer another 10-15 minutes. Ladle out a bit of broth and blend that with the roasted garlic, then pour the mixture into the soup and stir through. Let simmer for another few minutes. Serve with a sprinkle of nooch, and you get this:


I didn't add any extra seasonings because I figured the broth would add enough flavour, but if you find it lacking, parsley and thyme are usually nice in this. I also sometimes add some potatoes, but they're not necessary. I meant to add some red wine to this, but I forgot.

This soup soaks up a lot of liquid when stored, so you'll want to add some water to it before reheating.

Hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow and thus able to finally attempt the cupboard cleaning project.

Chilli Heatwave Doritos - vegan food that hates me

Ugh, I feel ill. Mike got a craving for chips and hummus (and bourbon creams), so I ran to Tesco just before they closed to get some. The only vegan tortilla chips they had were Chilli Heatwave Doritos. They taste pretty good, especially with the hummus, but now that I'm done, I kinda feel sick. Blah.

So, I had kinda decided to do my cupboard cleaning project tomorrow while Mike was away at Gamers, and today I was gonna blog about the Farmers' Market. I went to the market, and no one was there! As it turns out, they canceled it because it's windy as hell outside (and I'm guessing that was good enough reason, since it was pretty sunny most of the day). But now, I have nothing good to blog about. Apart from being made sick by those evil Doritos.

Did I mention the master index project? If not, I realised that I do indeed have spreadsheet software (I thought I didn't), so I'll be going through all my cookbooks and indexing by ingredient. This way, if I have some soft tofu that needs using, I can use my list and search 'soft tofu' and pull up every recipe I have that requires soft tofu, rather than looking at every one of my cookbooks until I find something (though soft tofu is almost exclusively used for omelets in my house).

Since Mike doesn't go to Gamers until the evening, I might put off the cupboards until Monday when he's at work. I think I'm gonna try my hand at English muffins tomorrow! We go through several bags a week (Mike has them for his breakfast and as the bread component in his lunch). Since he likes plain for breakfast and wholemeal for lunch, I think I'll try to do one of each. Or maybe I'll just do the wholemeal (and hope the substitution works) and buy the plain (since I only have to go around the corner for those, rather than half-way across town).

MoFo Fail

I was gonna do a post today about cleaning out my cupboards and seeing what exactly is in there. I even took the 'before' photos. But then I had to go out, and I decided, since I needed to go to the store, I'd take a long bus ride, get some reading done, and go to the Sainsbury's out by IKEA. It was after 4 by the time I got home, and by the time I made my snack and watched CSI, it was nearly 7, and there was no natural light left. So, I'm gonna put off that project until tomorrow. In the meantime, I give you the VeganMoFo survey!

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Alpro soya for the B-vitamins, Oatly Oat Milk for the taste (organic only - the fortified varieties have D3 (not vegan!), which makes me sad because their chocolate milk was the best)

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
English muffins (to see if I can start making them myself instead of buying 3 packs a week), cinnamon rolls, sourdough (I dunno, I didn't really think about this one and haven't really planned much)

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
nooch and Spike

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
The only thing I can remember is the pumpkin muffins and carob chai cake that failed because of my dodgy oven. Sad times. I still haven't tried that cake again. Maybe I should do that this month.

5. Favorite pickled item?
DO NOT WANT - I don't think I like anything pickled.

6. How do you organize your recipes?
My own? I used to have a Word document, but my hard drive died and I lost it. :(

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
I would love to compost, but we live in a flat and have nowhere to take it, and we don't have a disposal, so, unfortunately, trash.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?
tofu, pre-mixed scramble spice, nooch - I can always eat tofu scramble.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
Big Southern breakfasts at Gramma and Grandpa's house (not vegan!)

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
In the US - cookies & cream or mint chocolate chip, here - Swedish Glace vanilla

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
I love kitchen appliances. My top four are my hand mixer (29th b-day present from Mike), my waffle maker/grill/sammich maker, my hand blender/food processor, and my cast iron skillet combo (if that counts as an appliance).

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
cumin

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
In my actual possession, probably Vegetarian Celebrations by Nava Atlas (my mom brought it over), though I probably still have some (not vegan) cookbooks in TX.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Seedless raspberry

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
cupcakes

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
That would be like choosing between my children. But, if I must...seitan.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
I love to cook, but I guess breakfast, because it's somehow more acceptable to have breakfast for dinner than dinner for breakfast.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Hopefully nothing, since the counter top is only about an inch above it.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Only one item currently fits in my freezer, and that is a bag of chopped celery. The only time I ever had the foresight to prep and freeze a vegetable that I knew I wouldn't use before it went off.

20. What’s on your grocery list?
Whatever we like at the Farmers' Market, since I just went to the Big Box today.

21. Favorite grocery store?
If we're talking Big Box, it has to be Sainsbury's, since they're so good at labeling their vegan stuff and seem to have a really good selection. After reading Not on the Label, I'm trying to buy less from the Big Boxes.

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.
Gramma's Mexican fudge

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
I just started getting in to food blogs, but The Great Vegan Conspiracy is a really good one.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Right now, probably Ritter Sport Peppermint, since it's the one I have to really control myself to not buy every time I see it.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
We don't really do extravagant food purchases, though we'll be going to lunch in Glasgow next week, and that'll probably be more than we usually pay for lunch.

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Fruit other than apples, just because I don't usually like fruit other than apples (unless it's in the form of seedless raspberry jam).

I'm gonna go make dinner!

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.

Vegan MoFo starts today!

I know I haven't updated in forever, and this will just be a quick one to remind everyone that VEGAN MOFO STARTS TODAY!! As you can see, I'm very excited.

Tomorrow (well, technically today, but after I sleep) will be a catch-up post for the Yellow Rose Recipes cookbook challenge. I didn't blog about any of those recipes at all, and I ended up making quite a few (over 2 weeks, since I didn't have the book for last week's challenge). The cookbook challenge will continue through October, and I have (or have access to) 3 more books (though not next week's), so that'll continue to be a feature.

I'm hoping to do a couple of projects this month. On top of trying to find uses for the 7 varieties of beans and 8 varieties of flour in my cupboard (that may or may not be an exaggeration), I also hope to try my hand at sushi, English muffins, cinnamon rolls, and bagels. I might also take another stab at sourdough bread! Also, I have a ton of cooking/baking equipment that, let's face it, rarely sees the light of day, so I'm gonna go through that stuff and find a use for it (at least once).

Plus, my favourite holiday is in October, which means...cooking for the Samhain ceilidh! It's a lot of work, but I really loved doing it last year. Hopefully I'll be more on the ball this year and be able to do more ahead of time.

Anyway, I'm ready for bed, so I'll conclude this post with my five favourite shops and why they are so.
1) Real Foods - Probably the only store that's meat-free, it's really easy to find loads of vegan treats. It's the only place in the city where you can buy tempeh, and they often have vegan chocolate cake!
2) Jordan Valley Whole Foods - A great little shop on Nicholson Street, they have quite a lot of the same staples as Real Foods (like nutritional yeast, aka nooch). They also have great pasties, most of which are vegan, and chocolate quinoa bars (kinda like a cross between a dry rice crispy treat and a chocolate flapjack).
3) Edinburgh Farmers' Market - The best place to get reasonably priced organic veg, Cairn O' Mohr wines, and Belhaven Fruit Farm sorbet.
4) The Engine Shed - To be honest, I don't shop here often, and I usually try to catch them at the Farmers' Market. But they sell Gypsy Creams, an awesome sammich cookie, as well as some delicious dips, varieties of tofu, and tofu cottage cheese. Nom.
5) Scotmid/Co-op - Vegan donuts. That is all. Actually, though they tend to be more expensive and have a pretty small selection of vegan foods compared to, say, Sainsbury's, they at least have the courtesy to label the own-brand items that are vegan, unlike, say, Tesco. But yeah, the donuts - not quite as good as an American donut, but good when you get the urge and don't feel like making them yourself. Because, seriously, have you ever made donuts? It takes forever, you end up with a shit ton of used (and pretty much useless) oil left over, and then you have to eat them before they go stale. And you want to, but it's probably a bad idea.