Korean Vegetable Pancakes, or: I cause an oil-slick in my stomach

I can't pretend this was a success, in either execution or taste. Excited by the new cookbook that Father Christmas brought me - Asian Vegan Kitchen by Hema Parekh, which is filled with a huge variety of recipes from across Asia and beautiful photographs - we chose the Korean Vegetable Pancakes as our first foray.

Oh sigh. We got all prepped for this one, with ingredients for the batter, the veggies and the kochujang sauce. The batter recipe called, amongst other things, for rice flour and potato starch. Although the rice flour was easily found, after three supermarkets yielded mountains of potato flour but no starch (which the interwebs informs me are quite, quite different), I subbed arrowroot as a replacement starch.

I couldn't find any kochujang sauce or paste, which I suspect is much more common in the US than Australia. A quick Google revealed that the key ingredients were soy sauce and chilli, and in the interests of breaking 'same same cookering', we subbed Sambal Oelek for crushed chillis. Oh, throw caution to the winds!

My first gripe was making the kochujang sauce. It took Buzz as long to prepare the sauce as it took me to saute the veggies, whisk the batter and cook four pancakes, and not because he's slowpokish. The sheer number of ingredients and steps in the process were just too many to make this sauce worthwhile (although it was yummy ... just aggravatingly labour intensive).

The recipe called for you to pour the batter (which required much more water than stated), frizzle it for a minute, and then press some of the previously sauteed veggies into the top before leaving it another minute, flipping it over, and frizzling it again. Here is the pancake with the veggies patted into the top ... but there is no picture of when I flipped it over because the veg fell off! This technique was not particularly effective and very, very annoying.

I made two pancakes following the recipe, which turned out slippery and pale despite a lot of frizzling.

Frustrated, Buzz called for a radical rethink and suggested that we mix the veggies and batter together to make fritters. We gave it a go, and the new mixture did stick together pretty well. However, it did require masses and masses of oil to keep frittering, so let's not pretend that this is in any way a healthy kind of veggie dish. Look at the sludge around the edge of my poor Magic Pan!

The huge quantity of oil we used in the sauces and the pan was enough to make a whale feel sludgy. To add a bit of blandness to fatness, the batter itself was as blah as beige can be, despite the addition of my lovingly toasted sesame seeds. I ate these pancakey-fritters with a growing sense that I was heavily moisturised and had slapped on a full tube of lip gloss as the oil started seeping out of my pores. I am completely uninterested in your feedback that it was I who poured the oil into the pan. Don't care, won't care, will complain.

In all, the idea of fritters came out a winner, with Buzz declaring an intention to make some again soon. However, out will go the sesame oil, sesame seeds, sauteed vegetables, floury batter, and the death of a whole field of canola to contribute the amount of oil needed to mix and fry. In will come more vegetables, a soy-flavoured batter, and spray oil. And out with the rocket-science level sauce-making.

A potluck in the south: TexMexxing, y'all

I eat more than I write, and that's why I am finally blogging about the TexMex potluck at Emily's house long after other, more diligent bloggers have done so. You can check out Kristy, Pip , Cindy and Michael (note there's two different links there to two different posts), and Lisa's posts too for more time-appropriate writing! Also, have a look at Lisa's chihuahua companion Kimba in her tequila-chihuahua outfit at Pip's blog. I will preface this post by saying that awesome as the food was, it takes second place to the adorableness of Kim's outfit (Sam wasn't having a bar of it).

The emergence of themed potlucks is, in my splendid opinion, a top hole idea. It gives structure and purpose, and allows us to really concentrate on finding something new and appropriate to cook. For pretendy-chefs like me who are always tempted to crawl back into the hole of easiness and comfort and prepare a boring variation on boring theme - and for me it's pasta five thousand ways - it's a real challenge and one that has the added benefit of expanding my personal repertoire as well letting everyone share in a special event.

Also, Emily bought a new tortilla skillet that she wanted to try out.

Pregan, my sister had made me some quesadillas which I devoured in cheesy gooeyness. I was eager to recreate them as non-quesadillas, and was happy to find that there are more than a few vegan versions floating around the interwebs. Some use soy cheese and some smashed red kidney beans to stick it all together, so I decided to take a bit of an experimental approach (and use up the one lonely can of kiddly beans I had a-mouldering in the cupboard ... no! it wasn't actually mouldy! I did not attempt to poison my friends!) and combine a bit of everything. I didn't take pictures of the preparation though as I was also cooking some food for my friend who recently had a gorgeous little girl (hello Minnie!) so my cookering that day was timed to the nanosecond.

I bought two rolls of Cheezly, the highly flavoured and highly orange nacho and the more neutral mozzarella, and grated the lot. Yep, the lot. I chopped some spring onions finely, diced some orange capsicum, used some sliced black olives form the fridge, sliced some spicy jalapenos, defrosted some corn (it's cheap and it lasts!), and smashed me up some o' them red kiddlies. I mixed it all together, and heated up Magic Pan.

I had a packet of El Paso Light Flour Tortillas - why get the full fat when I was just gonna sizzle it anyhows? - and I spooned the mixture into half the tortilla until it was about 1.5 centimetres high, folded it over into a moon shape, and then whacked it on to a pre-oiled Magic Pan.

Each non-quesadilla required a couple of minutes on each side, and there was a bit of trial and error in working out the boundary between nicely toasted and a bit too sizzled. However, none of them came out in such bad shape that I wasn't happy to present them to the potluck, so they're not really that hard to mess up. After they cooled I garnished them with some coriander.

Pip was kind enough to say she really liked them, and I think they came out ok. The kidney beans were very effective and coalescing all the ingredients, but who can seriously resist a great big handful of melted Cheezly?


I also made gazpacho, something I experimented with over the heatwave in February, and I can never get over how easy it is (and also I think of Red Dwarf so it makes me giggle).


Here's the recipe I tend to use to make a truckload, although there are some faaa-aaaancy variations out there that use black beans or watermelon too:

• 8 - 10 ripe tomatoes. It's better, although messier, to peel them.
  
• 1 orange or yellow capsicum
• 1 cucumber, sliced any way that your food processor will get at it
  
• a couple of stalks of spring onion
• a few cloves of garlic - I always like more
• a big slosh of lemon juice
• a slightly smaller slosh of olive oil if you want it a little less fattofied, but if you like it then feel free to splash it about some more (and use the good stuff; you'll taste it)
• parsely, coriander or other fresh herbs to taste
• red wine vingear to taste

Method: in the food processor until you think it looks good. You might like it more chunky and salsa-like than others, or you might prefer it baby-style pureed. Whatevs - you just can't mess this one up folks!

Back on the ranch, there were some truly stupendous TexMex offerings. I loved Lidia's Cowboy Beans which were beans with lots of mock meat including sausages and bacon, and which were accompanied by authentic (I think) cornbread, and Craig's chilli was hot hot hot!


Tim's chilli with corn, mushroom and chickpea was a good contrast in restraint, and the black beans, made by someone who's name I rudely forgot, were fascinating.



Vanessa made a fantastic paella with lemon wedges and artichokes, which I went back for long after I was full to have a little pick at, and a sangria that was, unlike festy sangrias I've had in Barcelona, not at all over spirited and very, very drinkable.


Tara made some unbelievably delicious salsa which I also got stuck into for thirds, and Lisa also made a fabulous dip - the creamiest, smoothest guacamole I've ever had. I didn't get a chance to try Cindy and Michael's green pumpkin seed mole from Veganomicon and I sorely regretted it.


And what would a potluck be without dessert? Kristy and Toby outdid themselves with two types of cupcake - tequila and chilli chocolate. I downed a tequila one and the icing was incredible - not enough to get you pished but definitely adults only!


There were two kinds of Mexican Wedding Biscuits, chocolate ones made by Cindy and some plain from Jo. They were both perfectly crumbly, and were complemented by some raw oatmeal cacao nib cookies which were fantastically sweet and sweetly accessorised with an ingredients list.


Finally, Pip and Tim made some churros. Yep, real, live, fried churros with melted chocolate. And cinnamon sugar. And lots of fatty sugariness - mmm-mmm-mmmm. They were fried and sweet and delish, and, like the sangria, better than what I've actually had in Spain. So there, Iberian Peninsula!


I didn't hang around much long after the obligatory tequila; Sam had had a bit of a testing night after not wanting to play with the other puppies and was clearly rejecting this attempt to introduce he and Kimba to their culture-of-origin.


In any case, I was in a world of stuffed-belly and the introduction of hard spirits might have seen me burst like Bec's awesome pinata after she and Toby had demonstrated their proficiency at various martial arts on it:



But seeing as there was an absolute mountain of lollies from Rishon's inside the pinata, I was glad I did. Ain't they purdy?

PastaPigs, or: Lolo's cashew cream pasta

I recently read ZuckerBaby’s fabulous blog in which she said that her fallback meal position was pasta-and-(ingredient). I am also of the pasta-is-my-friend/mother/secret-lover cooking variety, but unlike ZB I am rarely bold enough to venture outside the Holy Pasta Trinity of tomato-onion-garlic with bits of other things, usually eggplant or zucchini, thrown in. With that in mind, I have every intention of making her lemon sauce penne very very soon … I must be brave! (Although lately I have become totally enamoured of tinned cherry tomatoes … I feel like I’m having an affair with something new, young and saucy.)

But recently I did get very excited by a new recipe by Lolo at www.veganyumyum.com – cashew cream tomato sauce. Buzz and I gave it a whirl with mixed results but many plans to try, try again. The recipe itself was fantastic, I should add – it was mostly our own inexperience that led us astray.

Our first problem sprang up when I decide to use El Crappo the Food Processor (see previous posts on the deranged activities of my food processor and its massive, uncleanable bowl) to make up the cashew cream sauce. Naturally, the bowl was far too big and so it took much much too long for me to properly mash up the cashews, which meant that the timing of pasta-to-sauce-preparation was all shot.


The sauce did taste great raw though – the recipe calls for one large, cored and roughly chopped tomato, and the fresh taste really came through the cashews in a way that tinned tomatoes never can (excuse poor tinning/canning punning).

We put the sauce in Magic Pan to sauté up, and added a little extra olive oil to soften it. We added the cooked pasta to Magic Pan to mix through and coat, something that makes everything look very professional and taste very delicious but that I rarely do in a desperate attempt to get myself to reduce the pasta-to-sauce ratio and thus, hopefully, also my calories consumed-to-calories burnt ratio.


At this point we both peered at the contents of Magic Pan, decided it was just not enough food for us, and began discussing what else we could make afterwards. Hence this post’s title: Pasta Pigs. We really do eat a lot.


Upon serving, I substituted coriander for Lolo’s suggestion of fresh basil, mainly because I had none. It was a good call to swap, though, as the smooth and creamy sauce really needs a pungent herby punch to amp up the taste-sizzle factor. Buzz was keen to blend the coriander into the cashew cream sauce next time, but I’m not so convinced that this would deliver the necessary kick. It might be good to do as Lolo suggests with the basil and tear it up and mix through, rather than just dump it on top as we did! I also added a little more black pepper than called for, having been seduced by the addition of this new condiment to my pasta-garnishing repertoire.


Although this dish might be prepared very quickly by some, for those of us who abhor washing up of any kind, the addition of food processing to any cookery adds an extra element of complexity all on its own. I would prefer to make this dish very slowly on a Saturday night (God what a slow life I lead!) with a nice cold beer, sit down to a long dinner and chat, and round it off by leaving the washing up until morning.

Eggplanty Fritters on Toast, or: I Spit On The Art of Subtle Seasoning

I'm sorry to report that I overdid the Maldon sea salt (which is otherwise perfect in every way) and this dish ended up totally over-seasoned. I am generally quite the over-seasoner anyway, partly because my palate is nowhere near developed enough to appreciate delicate flavours, and partly cos I'm just the kind of girl who likes to season the beejesus out of everything she cooks. This time, however, it was definitely too much.

That said, this dish (whatever it is) definitely has potential and I'll have another crack at it.

I cut four chunky slices of eggplant and seasoned them with Maldon sea salt and cayenne pepper. I laid them down on some Kyneton Olive Oil (the garlic-infused kind; also a mistake I think - too many pungent flavours. Next time I'll use plain olive oil) which was heating in Magic Pan*, and drizzled a sizeable amount of oil over the top. I let the eggplant slices fry on each side, turning them every couple of minutes.



I think there's a delicate balance to be achieved there. Remembering some eggplant I'd prepared a few weeks earlier I laid off the olive oil, as on the first occasion I'd really let it flow and although the eggplant tasted great, it fell apart easily and was definitely too oily to feel good about. However, this time I ended up charring one side of the eggplant slices, which is not what I'd intended. I wanted golden roasted toasty flesh, not blackened and barbequed.

I diced some zucchini, red onion and fresh chilli very finely and put it in the pan. I let it brown and soften a little (maybe a little too much as the smokiness of the chillies is very dry and eye-burning, and it lingered in the kitchen for quite some time even after the pan was off the heat).

Meanwhile, I toasted two pieces of Pott's Sourdough. A note on Pott's - apart from their Fruit Bread which contains hugely massive chunks of apricots and is bloody fantastic, I like to support Pott's because they specifically label their breads as vegan. 'Nuff said.



I placed two slices of eggplant on each piece of toast, letting the olive oil soften the bread. I put a bit of the zucchini mix on the eggplant, and the rest on the side of the plate.


I topped each piece of bread with some crumbled pieces of the Greek fasting 'feta', which melted a little in a very satisfactory way, and some fresh coriander.


I spooned out the last of the King Valley Coriander Pesto (vegan and divine and totally recommended but don't try the Pistachio Pesto please) and proceeded to gobble it all up, over-seasoned or no.



So next time: plain olive oil, less sea salt, chillis added to zucchini mix at the end of the cooking process, and a little more attention to the cooking of the eggplant - I wouldn't like to add any more oil, but I also want to prevent any more burning.


Post Script: I did make this again, using far less salt and a little less oil. However I cut the eggplant slices much thinner, so they fell apart easily and were less substantial. Also as I made them as a quick lunch for me and Buzz, they didn't look all that fantastic (although they tasted really good). I'll keep trying...

*Magic Pan is my Circulon saute pan. It's big, it's non-stick, and it's the best kitchen implement I've ever bought. I love it so dearly! It's the right shape to simmer, stew, stir fry, boil, fry, or just plain cook. I've had it about three years and although the outside shows some wear, the inside is as pristine as the day I got it. The only problem with it is that it's so big that it encourages me to wildly overcook, and then I wildly overeat. If I could find one exactly the same but about a half to a third smaller, I would pay rubies for it (it's not a frying pan by the way; it's a saute pan with a lid. That's why I have trouble replicating it although there are some excellent non-stick frying pans around. What I really want is a MiniMe Magic Pan).