Easter beans

Easter is normally associated with indulging in chocolate and hot cross buns, this year I went against the norm and switched my focus to beans! Over the long weekend I turned into a bean prepping machine in an attempt to diminish my reliance on tinned beans. Last year I was in a wonderful habit of planning out my meals for the week which meant that I would be organised enough to prepare beans from scratch more often than not. I still plan meals to a certain extent although I don't have a hard and fast rule about what we are going to eat on a given night. This provides more flexibility to cook what I feel like on the day but tinned beans have been the only viable option when I decide halfway through the day that beans will be on the menu that night.

Preparing beans from scratch has always given me a lot more satisfaction than simply opening a tin and rising off the brine. The process never fails to fascinate me, particularly observing the vast amount of water the little dried beans manage to absorb after the initial soaking period. Dried beans have several benefits over tinned ones as they are a lot more economical, use less packaging and there is no concern about controversial toxins like BPA in tin linings leeching into your food.

I've read about freezing batches of cooked beans before and with some spare room in my freezer it was the perfect time to make it happen. My plan was to cook up five batches of beans; kidney, pinto, black, cannellini and chickpeas. I ended up cooking an extra batch of kidney beans because we ate most of them straight away and I also prepped a batch of black-eyed beans when I found some hiding in the pantry.

Preparing a batch of beans takes a bit of time from start to end although very little of it requires any interaction. After rinsing the beans, leave them to soak in a bowl filled with plenty of water overnight or at least 8 hours. Rinse the beans in a colander with fresh cold water, place them in a pot and cover them up with about 5cm of cold water. Bring them to the boil and after a couple of minutes scoop off as much of the white foamy stuff as possible with a spoon. Turn the heat back to low, pop the lid on and let them simmer away. The time they take to become tender varies between the type of beans as well as their age. I usually start testing after they have been simmering for about an hour by removing one that looks firmer than the others, allowing it to cool slightly and then biting it in half. If the bean isn't totally soft and tender, I continue the cooking process and retest in another 10-15 minutes.

Many beans were consumed over the course of the long weekend too. We enjoyed kidney beans in chilli non carne, curried tofu scramble and a Thai red lentil chilli stew from PPK (this was the recipe that taught me a lesson about US chilli powder last year but this time around I didn't find the stew spicy enough). I also cooked up a saucier version of cheater baked beans from Veganomicon, a black-eyed bean hummus adapted from Appetite for Reduction and still wound up with the equivalent of more than 20 tins of a variety of beans in the freezer.

Easter wasn't totally about healthy eating as I did enjoy revisiting Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe's hot cross buns recipe which only needs a couple of simple ingredient substitutions to make them vegan. Even though the crosses didn't work out as well as the batch I made last year, I was thrilled with how delicious they tasted.

Black-eyed bean hummus (Adapted from Appetite for Reduction)

1 x 400g tin black eyed beans
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of half a lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped roughly
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch cayenne pepper
chopped fresh parsley leaves, for garnish

Place all ingredients (except the parsley) in a food processor bowl and pulse until combined, scraping the ingredients down the sides a few times. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Serve garnished with parsley.

Weekday smoothies

Life has been extremely busy recently as I've been planning and cooking for an upcoming party this weekend, participating in another round of recipe testing for Terry Hope Romero and enjoying the company of interstate friends last weekend. I only have time for a quick post this week, but you can be assured there will be several posts to follow about the party food next week.

Smoothies became a part of my Monday to Friday ritual around the same time this blog was created but I haven't posted about them yet. Throughout my life I never enjoyed various cereals or muesli for breakfast and was generally happy to nibble on a couple of slices of toast. That all changed when the man began to purchase smoothies on a semi-regular basis. I questioned why he should pay for something at inflated prices when I could easily be whizzing them up at home for a fraction of the cost.

So I began making smoothies for the man and decided that I quite liked them too! I fluctuated with various combinations before we mutually agreed that pineapple and blueberries are our favourite base fruits. A third and sometimes fourth type of fruit is added which provides subtle differences in the overall flavour of the smoothie. The most common supplementary fruits I use are banana, mango or other type of berries. Ground flaxseed is always included to provide us with some Omega 3.

I call them our weekday smoothies as we consume them throughout the working week. The man takes 500ml off to work in a jug which leaves me with 250ml and enough room in my belly for a slice of toast.        

Weekday smoothie

1/4 - 1/3 pineapple, roughly chopped
1/4 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
1 small banana or 1/2 mango or an equivalent amount of other various fruit
1 cup (or more) soy milk
2 tablespoons whole flaxseeds

Place the pineapple, blueberries, banana/mango/other fruit in a blender with about a cup of soy milk and blend until no chunks of fruit remain. Grind the whole flaxseeds in a coffee or spice grinder until it becomes a powder. Add the ground flaxseed to the blender and pour in additional soy milk up to the 750ml level mark on the blender. Blend again briefly, then pour into glasses and enjoy!

Cinnamon fruit bread and frankie casserole

Last weekend was rather busy in the kitchen with a few new recipes on trial. Time has been short since so I will only write about a couple of them and leave the rest for another post.

After cooking dinner on Friday, I found myself flicking through my copy of Vegan Yum Yum. The cinnamon swirl raisin bread had been bookmarked a long time ago although I had never made the effort to try it. Weekend breakfasts haven't been very special of late and they are always savoury so it was time to branch out and try something new.

The step by step instructions in Vegan Yum Yum paired with accompanying instructions were extremely thorough and easy to follow. It's exactly what is required for a recipe of this length. You don't want to mess anything up as the whole process takes about 4 hours from start to end.    

I was fully aware that my pantry did not contain raisins before I started to make the bread although I had planned to use mixed fruit left over from hot cross bun baking instead. When the mixed fruit came up a little short, I made a quick decision to add a few dried cranberries as well.

The construction of this loaf was a lot of fun and although the whole process was lengthy there was plenty of idle time as well. The loaf turned out surprisingly well for a first attempt. My only criticism was that the cinnamon swirl wasn't as prominent at the ends as it was in the middle which was probably due to inconsistencies in rolling out the dough. My son was the biggest fan of us all and requested that I make this often. The man and I found it a tiny bit too sweet (which is probably why my son loved it so much) although this didn't stop me from toasting slices for breakfast for 4 days in a row.      

Frankie casserole was a specialty that my mum used to make frequently throughout my youth. It was a meal that my grandmother also made for mum in her childhood and I recall that one of my aunts also used to make it for my cousins. I'm not sure if it ever came from a written down recipe or whether it was just something that was passed on through experiences in the kitchen. I know it was passed onto me via the latter method.

Traditionally it was made with sausages and some type of casserole beef and the vegies added were always carrots and peas. The sausages were always the highlight of the meal for me and leftovers were particularly nice in a toasted sandwich with cheese. I attempted to make a veg version of this once before using vegie sausages bought from the supermarket and none of us enjoyed it but I had a feeling it was due to the store bought sausages which we have never been fans of.

When I started blogging, chorizo sausages from Viva Vegan were on high rotation and they were being used in a variety of different ways. It was the first gluten based sausage recipe I had trialled and we all loved them. Chorizo sausages aren't really suitable for a non-spicy casserole, so I found a recipe on VeganDad's blog that seemed more appropriate.      

My adaptation of this recipe is posted below although some further tweaking will occur in the future as the seasonings were quite subtle. The sausages were perfect for this casserole although after sneaking a bit before they went into the pot, I'm not sure they had enough flavour to enjoy in piece of bread of bread with tomato sauce. I was pleased to be able to successfully revamp this old meaty childhood dish into tasty vegan fare and will definitely make this again one day.  

Vegan sausages (Adapted from VeganDad's recipe)

1/2 cup cooked cannelini beans
1 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/4 cup gluten flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Massel "beef" stock
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Mash the cannelini beans in a small bowl until there are no whole beans remaining. Mix the water, olive oil and soy sauce together in a jug. 

In a large bowl, combine the gluten flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, "beef" stock, smoked paprika and dried oregano. Make well in the centre, then add the cannelini beans followed by the wet ingredients. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Divide the dough mixture into 6 even pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a sausage shape with your hands. Place the sausage in a piece of aluminium foil, roll up securely but not too tightly and close each end. 

Steam the sausages for 40 minutes in a steamer. Allow to cool completely and then store in the refrigerator. 


Frankie casserole

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 x quantity sausage recipe above
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 small carrots, chopped
8 button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup vegan worchestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
2 tablespoon BBQ sauce
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cups water
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/4 cup water
1 cup green peas

Heat half of the olive oil in a frying pan, add the sausages and fry over medium heat until golden on all sides. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Chop each sausage into 4 or 5 pieces.

Heat the remaining oil in a large pot, add the the onion and cook for about 5 minutes until soft and golden. Stir through the garlic for a minute then add the carrots, mushrooms, sausages, worchestershire, soy, tomato and BBQ sauces and the water. Bring to the boil and cook rapidly for 10-15 minutes.

Place the cornflour into a small bowl, add 1/4 cup water and stir until it becomes a smooth paste. Reduce the heat of the casserole to low, add the cornflour paste whilst stirring continuously. Mix through the peas and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Easter Baking

Easter has flown by! Plenty of baking was done although I took some much needed time out from the computer and have to catch up with posting now.

It began with another batch of Johanna's lovely hot cross buns...

And I even managed to put some crosses on top (without making a mess of it). 

Last week, I trialled making bread loaves using this recipe with the wholemeal variation and as it has been getting gobbled up so quickly, 3 loaves have been made since. Bread is always at it's best when it is still a bit warm from the oven. Due to the lack of preservatives it wouldn't have a very long shelf life, although that's no problem in this house. It does makes very nice toast when it's a day or two old.

The day before Easter holidays started, my postman dropped in a present I had been waiting on for a while - Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. The timing could not have been better, a new cookbook to keep me entertained over the Easter break! 

I had already promised to make Cindy's famous sausage rolls for the troops so the first recipes trialled were a couple of side dishes - sauteed mushrooms and kasha (with a bit of dried tarragon instead of dill) plus steamed broccoli with easy breezy cheezy sauce. The kasha and mushrooms was nice but the cheezy sauce on the broccoli was sooo good. The remnants of the cheezy sauce also tasted great smothered on top of marmite on toast. My mind has been going crazy ever since, thinking of all the ways this wonderful sauce can be utilised.

I also made roasted cauliflower ricotta lasagna with home-made pasta from Appetite for Reduction which was nice but not spectacular. The roasted cauliflower ricotta sounded like it would be a good combination, however the lasagna just didn't turn out with as much flavour as I was hoping for. It had been a long time since the pasta machine was last used so this was a perfect time to dust it off. 

The format of Appetite for Reduction is fantastic. I love having the nutritional information of each meal available, plus there are good mix 'n' match options and loads of handy tips along the way. Some chapters initially grabbed me more than others which is probably due to the oncoming cold season. There are lots of salads that sound interesting but I don't think I'll feel like making them until next spring/summer, however there are plenty of soups, stews, curries, pastas, noodles, sauces and side dishes to keep me going until then.  

Hot cross(less) buns

Reflecting on Easter brings back childhood memories of unwillingly being dragged along to countless drawn out church services. The one thing that always made it cheerier were the hot cross buns that used to be a standard offering from Easter Saturday onwards. Like most children I always looked forward to chocolate eggs on the Sunday, however it is hot cross buns that have remained my favourite part of Easter fare to this day. 

The last couple of years Easter has snuck up so quickly that I have missed the boat in attempting to make some hot cross buns, so I was determined that this wasn't going to be the case this year. With no plans on a Sunday afternoon and the housework more or less up to date, this was my perfect opportunity.

I saved a hot cross bun recipe a year ago when Ashley @ Eat me delicious posted it, however this recipe is credited back to Johanna @ Green Gourmet Giraffe. Only a couple of vegan substitutes were required, soy milk for the milk and dairy-free margarine for the butter. During the process of making the buns I decided to go against the norm and leave the crosses off. My thought process went something like this...     

OK, so it's time to make the cross mixture. Hmm, it's only flour and water... Why not leave them off, it's not going to affect the taste. Actually, yeah I will leave them off! I would probably make a mess of them and them will end up looking terrible anyway...

So that's how they came to be the buns that are pictured above. They tasted fantastic which was the most important part for me although they didn't seem complete without the crosses. Next time I make a batch, I'll have to push my rebellious anti-religious tendencies aside and make them the way they are supposed to be made.   

Johanna's recipe is very thorough and explanatory of the many processes involved in making the buns so I won't bother rewriting the recipe but I encourage anyone wanting to try a Hot Cross Buns recipe to give this one a go. I would also like to thank Johanna again for handing out a Stylish Blogger award to me. It was such a lovely surprise and very rewarding to receive this from a person whose blog I have admired and been inspired by for so long.  :D