Cookbook Challenge week 4: Yellow Rose Recipes

Oh my gosh, where did this week go? I did next to nothing with YRR. I picked out recipes and went shopping, but other than one quick dip recipe, that was it.

I was on the planning committee for my 20th high school reunion and it was this past weekend. The week was full of last minute unexpected projects! Because of the tension in my body, I was at least able to fit in an extra cycling class. It was my first week of doing 3. My only regret about that is that I couldn't fit in that 4th on Saturday morning. They aren't getting much easier during class - it's a tough workout - but I don't feel like I have to go lay down when they are over any more. In fact it's energizing.

I can tell I'm still sleepy from all the lost sleep this weekend because I'm beginning to babble. What I am basically saying is that since I don't have a copy of Eat Drink and Be Vegan, I will do a couple simple recipes from it. Thanks to the research of Mandee, I have a few recipes that are on the internet. But mostly, I'm going to try to go back and pickup some of the YRR recipes.

Since I never like to make a post without a picture, here's a pic of me (left) with my high school friends Candy and Kelli. It was surely good to see them! It was a great night with lots of friends, music, and dancing, but I am ready for some sleep :) And I hope the cleaners can get those spots out of my dress.

Recapping the first three weeks of Cookbook Challenge

I've done a lot more cooking than usual for the last few weeks, but I sure have enjoyed the fruits of my labor. I was getting in a terrible rut and this has helped me remember that I have a lot more options. We're past the 1/4 way point and in case you haven't seen all the posts for the last three weeks here's a recap of what I've made (and posted about). I'm looking forward to moving on to other cookbooks, but I'm also starting to make a mental list of what I want to try from these books when cookbook challenge is over.


Week 1: Veganomicon
Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Seed Rice Paper Rolls
Fresh Dill Basmati Rice with Chard
Broccoli Millet Croquettes with White Bean Aioli
Jelly Donut Cupcakes




Week 2: Vegan with a Vengeance

Green Goddess Garlic Pizza
Chickpea Broccoli Casserole
Apple Pie Crumb Cake Muffins
Mango Summer Rolls with Thai Dipping Sauce
Parsnip-Scallion Pancakes




Week 3: Vegan Brunch - The week of my 2 year veggieversary

Gluten Free Buckwheat Pancakes
Coffee Chip Muffins
English Muffins
Curried Cauliflower Frittata, Samosa Mashed Potato Pancakes, Spiced Apple Cider Chutney
Tofu Omelets

Cookbook Challenge Week 3: Vegan Brunch - Recipe #7 : Tofu Omelets

Yet again, I have gone way over the 3 recipes that I took on the challenge to do. But everything in Vegan Brunch looks so good.

Cookbook Challenge Week 3: Vegan Brunch - Recipe #7 The Recipe: Tofu Omelets (p 13)

The Reasoning: I used to make omelets almost every weekend. I haven't had one in over two years.

The Substitutions: I used burmese tofu in place of the silken or soft the recipe says to use.
Because it's a firmer tofu, I added 1 cup of water

I used the Denver filling except I used blackeyed peas in place of seitan and increased the liquid smoke to 1 tsp.

The Process: Mix everything in the food processor then cook. The cooking was a lot like making crepes. A little tedious since you can only do one at a time, but not difficult and really didn't take that long. Because of the extra water I added to the tofu, I actually got 5 omelets worth of "egg"

The Review: It's unbelievable how much black salt really does taste like egg yolks. Definitely take the advice to sprinkle a little extra on when getting ready to serve. The filling was perfectly smoky.

My omelets weren't as pretty as some. The first side to be cooked was always completely browned like a pancake instead of the nice brown speckles. I don't know the reason. Heat too high? Too much oil? All the water I had to use to make up for the burmese tofu? No matter, put the brown side inside and cover with filling.

I could not have convinced someone that this was an egg omelet, but it was surely very reminiscent of an egg omelet and quite tasty. Served with fresh cantaloupe, an English muffin and an apple spritzer it was the perfect end to a week of Vegan Brunch.

Now on to Yellow Rose Recipes next week!

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Points information - 1 omelet (burmese tofu version, makes 5, no filling)=4 points. 1/4 blackeye pea version filling=3 points

This is not figured or endorsed by Weight Watchers. I figured the points value myself using an online point calculator.

Cookbook Challenge Week 3: Vegan Brunch - Recipes #3, 4, 5 The Recipes: Curried Cauliflower Frittata & Friends

Cookbook Challenge Week 3: Vegan Brunch - Recipes #3, 4, 5 The Recipes: Curried Cauliflower Frittata (p 38), Samosa Mashed Potato Pancakes (p 125), Spiced Apple Cider Chutney (p 72)



The Reasoning: It's time for yet another confession. According to reaction on the ppk boards, it's shocking. I have never used curry powder. I have had a container of it in my pantry for over a year and was terrified of it. It was high time to break it out.

The Substitutions:
Frittata - I used a pound of homemade burmese tofu (chickpea flour based) in place of the regular tofu. Left out the soy sauce.

Samosa Potato Pancakes - I used the chickpea flour option

Spiced Apple Cider Chutney - I didn't have sweet white onion, so I use red onion

The Process:
Frittata - You cant really squeeze water out of burmese tofu like you can regular tofu without it losing it's texture. It starts looking a lot like really dry bread. Because of this, it doesn't really resemble ricotta. I broke it in small little chunks and mixed it. Looked more like mashed potatoes. I made quick work of the cauliflower by chopping it with the food processor. I used less than 2 tbsp of curry, but over 1.5 tbsp. And I ended up adding a little extra lemon. Overall, this was pretty easy. Because it didn't seem to be setting well, I cooked an extra 20 minutes.

Samosa Potato Pancakes - I made the potato mixture one night and cooked the cakes the next. My mixture was really watery. I ended up adding ALOT of chickpea flour. It was around a cup before the pancakes really held together. I had drained the potatos. I don't know what the problem was.

Spiced Apple Cider Chutney - lots of chopping but then you just let it cook. It took a lot longer to cook down than the recipe said. But, I did start off with a lid which I probably prohibited evaporation. I took the lid off and it seemed to go a little quicker. Still longer than the 20 minutes stated. It does make the kitchen smell wonderful.

The Review:

Frittata - I got a little of the mixture on my fingers when mixing it. The beauty of egg-free frittata is that I'm not afraid of getting salmonella. I tasted the mixture and I swear, it almost didn't make into the oven. As you can see (presumably because of the difference in texture of burmese tofu), the pieces of frittata didn't hold together. It was mushy and soft. And delicious. But a lovely thing happened the next day. I went to scoop some out and ended up getting a nice whole piece of frittata. I warmed it up at work and it stayed as one piece.

Lesson learned: when subbing burmese tofu, make the frittata the night before. Or this just struck me - maybe arrowroot added to the mixture would help firm it up.

I really cant say enough how much I loved the mixture of flavors in here. I'm thinking these flavors would make a great white bean dip too. I ate it each day until it was gone and am a little sad right now that I don't have another waiting. I honestly think I could have eaten it all in one sitting.

Samosa potato pancakes - meh. They aren't bad, but I found them a little bland. Part of it was that I ended up having to use so much flour that they didn't really even have a great potato flavor any more. They are a little too much work and a little too calorie dense for me to bother with them again. I'd just as soon just make some homefries or oven roasted potatoes.

Spiced Apple Cider Chutney - yum.yum.yum.yum.yum. The flavors here are a perfect combination. You can't really taste the vinegar and onion, they just keep it all from being cloyingly sweet. This sweet with the spicy of the frittata was amazing. I keep thinking that these need to be in some kind of pastry. I'm pretty sure that will happen sometime. But, there's not enough left now to do it. Even if you don't want the frittata, make this. It would be good filling for buckwheat crepes, be good on toast, or good on a spoon!

*******
Points information - Curried Cauliflower Frittata - 1/4 of the recipe = 3 points. Samosa Mashed Potato Pancakes - (w/additional flour and cooking oil, I got 13) =3 points. Spiced Apple Cider Chutney (I got 2.5 cups), 1/2 cup=3 points.

This is not figured or endorsed by Weight Watchers. I figured the points value myself using an online point calculator.

Cookbook Challenge Week 3: Vegan Brunch - Recipe #2 The Recipe: English muffins

Now, I will get back to the recipes between recipe 1 and recipe 6...

Cookbook Challenge Week 3: Vegan Brunch - Recipe #2 The Recipe: English muffins (p 190)

The Reasoning: The only gf English muffins I've been able to find at a store were either not vegan or had soy (I don't remember which). I'm a glutton for punishment and, despite considerable experience to the contrary, apparently think that I should be able to deglutenize any recipe successfully.

The Substitutions: I used soy free Earth Balance for the margarine.
For the 2-1/4 cups of flour, I substituted the following mixture:

• 3/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1 tsp xanthan gum

The Process: I don't have a 3 inch biscuit cutter. I didn't want to buy a biscuit cutter for something that might have been a complete and utter failure, so I used a smaller one and got 10 muffins instead of 8.

In case you don't already know this, the process of making gf bread dough is different from regular dough. My understanding is that you knead dough in order to make the gluten do its work. No gluten, no need to knead. All you really need to do is make sure it's mixed in really well. In fact, if you knead it too much it could get a little gummy. Because I didn't have to knead anything, it was really pretty easy. I just had to wait to let it rise.

Which brings me to the main problem I had with these. The dough didn't rise as well as I would have liked. I have a couple thoughts as to why this might be and will probably try to correct these at some point.

1. The flour mixture was a little heavy. Perhaps I should lessen the garbanzo flour and increase the tapioca.
2. The water wasn't warm enough. I think my definition of "lukewarm" is different from the actual definition.
3. The margarine was still too cold.

I think the main culprit was item 2 w/a hint of item
These rolled out great and were easy to cook.

The Review: Please bear in mind that the review is for my gf version of these English muffins. I have not tried the original recipe for comparison. They were a little more doughy than I would have liked at first, but after a day or two they were much better, especially toasted. They don't have big nooks and crannies, but as you can see they had enough for the Earth Balance to pool in a little bit. I still would like to tweak them a little bit so that they rise more and are a little more muffin-y, but if they never get any better, that would be ok too.

*******
Points information - 1 muffin (yield 8)=4 points; 1 muffin (yield 10)=3 points

This is not figured or endorsed by Weight Watchers. I figured the points value myself using an online point calculator.

Cookbook Giveaway

One frugal foodie is giving away Vegan Brunch and Vegan Soul kitchen. See this link for details.

Just in case you need one more reason crash diets are a bad idea...Ugh!

Thats Fit Tweets

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