Flicking the Vs: October 2014

First up, happy Hallowe'en!

Second up, can you guess what these spooky things are?

Yep, that's right, blue pancakes! BLUE! I got a new crepe pan not so long ago, and this was my first time doing a bit of pancake magic.

In honour of Hallowe'en, I made them with purple carrots grated inside. What's Hallowe'eny about those? Purple carrots are sold under the name witches' noses in the local supermarket - sweet huh? For extra bonus Hallowe'en points, I stuffed it with pumpkin (and tomato, chard and sunflower seeds, but that's not Hallowe'en themed). For extra bonus super Hallowe'en points, I made a pumpkin sauce to go on top and baked the whole lot in the oven.

The sauce was made with pureed roasted pumpkin, miso, lemon juice, stock, soy milk, mustard, sage, and nooch, all mixed together. It was really good! Only it looked like something that had come out of the wrong end of a dog, so there's no picture. Seriously, I couldn't bring myself to post it. You'd have been really sad with me.

Still, I've been making the odd concession to deliciousness that doesn't involve making dog sick food.

Inspired by Maud on Food Feud, I decided I needed pumpkin beer (complete with Hallowe'en cup)

Also, I discovered these little guys at Marks and Spencer. They're not labelled as vegan, but there's nothing non-vegan in them that I can see. They're rather cute.

But what's cooler than all these things is - jack o' lantern pizza! In honour of Hallowe'en, I decided to make some festival-appropriate pizza. Alright, I don't think I'm going to be getting a job as a pumpkin artist any time soon, but you can see the idea I was going for.

There's no pumpkin in it either - Mr Flicking the Vs had a craving for Hawaiian, so there's some Vbites vegan ham slices and pineapple there, all buried under a mound of cashew queso. It's a his and hers pizza - the other half is mushroom and tomato for me.

And what's best about this pizza is that there's still a slice of it left for breakfast. It's just another reason to love Hallowe'en!

hallowe'en

Happy Hallowe'en pizza

First up, happy Hallowe'en! Second up, can you guess what these spooky things are? Yep, that's right, blue pancakes! BLUE! I ...

Lunch for me is normally leftovers - cheap, cheerful, and usually better than the vegan options I can lay my hands on near the office. (What's not to enjoy about eating last night's tea out of a tupperware box while hammering away on your keyboard? Yes, everything.)

Anyway, an out of the ordinary week had me going to Itsu, the chain of Japanese places you can find in more and more postcodes across central London. They used to be all cagey about what was and wasn't vegan on their menu, and they wouldn't respond to questions on the subject, the goons.

Still, now they've smartened up their act, and they're starting to actually tell the world what's planty and what's omni on the menu (all in a PDF here). Armed with that info, I went for a mix of veggie dumpling soup and maki rolls.

The soup could have done with a few veggies - all a bit beige, no? - but I love dumplings and crystal noodles and all their work, so I was happy. The sushi wasn't half bad either, though if anyone could tell me how to eat maki rolls with dignity I'd be eternally in their debt. I mean, if you take a bite into the rice, the whole thing landslides onto your plate and then you have to pick up each speck individually. The other alternative is you try and stuff the sushi into your gob in one go, and you look like a snake doing that thing where they dislocate their jaw to swallow an egg. Tips gratefully received.

There's also a Leon in the general London Bridge area, which does some decent vegan options. They recently added some milk free shakes to their menu (vegan!) which I was, I admit it, quite excited to try. I love milk(less) shakes.

I went for banana (there's also chocolate and coffee options too), here's what I got:

(They're not skimping on portions, I just drunk a bit before I took a picture!) To my milkshake loving self, there are two things every shake should be: thick, and fairly sweet. And they shouldn't be grainy. This kind of fell down on all counts. (I'm guessing the grains were unpowdered cinnamon.)

It was OK, I might get it again if I was having a Leon lunch, but I wouldn't rush back for one.

But chain food only goes so far round London Bridge. Happily for veg*ns around and about that area, there's Gujurati Rasoi, whose presence in Borough market doubles the number of veggie food stalls (surely a missed opportunity for some veggie stalls there?!)

They're veggie rather than vegan, but the only non-vegan thing there when I visited was a bit of yoghurt - everything else was plant-based. Oh yes.

Of course, that meant I had to try everything. Three curries, rice, and a bhaji the size of a wrestler's fist. I was highly impressed.

There was a cauliflower curry, a lentil dhal, and a potato based curry too, along with the option of topping including a sharp tamarind dressing, onion, and coriander. The potato curry was particularly fine. Alas, this picture doesn't do it any justice - but trust me, it tastes so much better than it looks here (I know that's not hard!)

It's a bit on the expensive side (north of £7 with the bhaji), so not an everyday meal, but it's the best thing you'll find in Borough by a country mile.

My bought-in lunch bonanza was caused by the fact I was out of the office on a course for three days, so no cooking facilities or tables to eat at. But I wasn't just eating out last week - I did manage to bring in some of my usual stuff and find a quiet corner to trough it in. In today's autumnal sarnie section, I bring you fig, avocado, and chard wrap with toasted pumpkin seeds and chick peas, normally served with a banana and a big flask of lapsang souchong.

Maybe that tupperware lunch isn't so bad after all...

borough market

Lunches in and out - Itsu, Leon, Gujarati Rasoi

Lunch for me is normally leftovers - cheap, cheerful, and usually better than the vegan options I can lay my hands on near the office. (What...

I guess autumn has properly arrived over here. The long days where the sun would slant lazily over the horizon are gone, replaced by sheets of drizzle and falling temperatures.

It won't be long til I'm moaning about the never ending kale and squash combo that seems to rock up with the fall, but for now I'm loving the changing seasons

I went down Borough market to stock up on some veggies and caught an eyeful of this early Hallowe'en visitor - how cool is he?

As a bit of marketing, it totally worked - I had to bring home a big chunk of pumpkin. It's still in the fridge though - any ideas what I should do with it?

The Borough visit also saw me come back home with a load of girolles - I love how cheap they are at this time of year. They're so bouncy and toothsome, they don't need much doing to them to turn them into something tastyI put them in the oven with a load of peppers and that other amazing winter vegetable, the jerusalem artichoke. I love those so much - just baked in the oven for a while until the insides are fluffy and almost melting, they're delicious. Add a sprinkle of parsley on top, a little salt and pepper, and you're done.

Another thing that says autumn to me is apples! I went to see my brother and his family at the weekend, which was amazing. My niece is vegan too, and my bro made the whole family apple pancakes. Sweet, huh? And very autumnal.

As the only vegan in the family, my brother is keen for my niece to learn to cook some new, fun vegan recipes, so I've been trying to dig out some of my favourites to help her along the way. I've sent over the tuna-less tuna and egg-less egg sandwich recipes from Crazy Sexy Kitchen for lunchbox filling, and a couple of Veggiestan favourites, including tofu scramble and Afghan carrot hotpot. If you've got any suggestions for recipes for a (relatively novice) vegan to start on, send them over. She's just learning to cook, so as simple as possible is definitely the order of the day!

Talking of as simple as possible, the change in the weather reminded me how long it had been since I last made soda bread.

Soda bread is bread for those days when you want something hot and floury out of the oven, but you just can't be harassed with all the kneading and proving. Making soda bread is just a matter of mixing a few things together in a bowl and then baking. I always use this recipe from the Telegraph and it always turns out great. There's not much to it - you can add a bit of treacle or some oats if you want, but you don't have to.

It's deliciously simple and it deserves to be served up in a very simple fashion - just toast it, add a bit of your vegan spread of choice, and enjoy with a big cup of tea in a cosy corner somewhere. Bring on the autumn, I'm ready for you.

jerusalem artichokes

Squaring up to autumn with soda bread and a scary pumpkin

I guess autumn has properly arrived over here. The long days where the sun would slant lazily over the horizon are gone, replaced by sheets ...

I have a confession to make, and I have a terrible fear you're going to think less of me because of it. But I know you're a forgiving type, so I'm just going to get it out there - I've started preparing for Christmas already. No, really.

I always try and give some homemade presents and bought ones, and normally that involves food. I reckon food is one of the best presents you can give. If people love it, that's great - they get a tasty treat made by you; if they hate it, they can give it away to someone else and tell you they loved it and ate it all, and noone's the any wiser. No having to hide that scary old lamp your mum bought you a million years ago every time they come around, just a jar of something interesting in the Christmas stocking.

First up, sweet chilli jam - I make this every year for my parents. It takes a while to make, but most of that's standing around stirring by the stove. If you fancy making it at home, get yourself a good book and a comfy chair. All you need is some ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar, chills and red peppers - here's the recipe.

Then there's the pickled watermelon. My parents are Cockneys, and Cockneys love pickles. Pickled gherkins, pickled walnuts, pickled eggs (seriously) - if it stands still long enough, Cockneys will pickle it. I'm banking on my parents never having tried pickled watermelon rinds though (I'm fairly sure melons don't grow in the East End. Cholera maybe, but not watermelons.)

After my earlier experiments with watermelon pickling, I used a fairly similar recipe: brining the watermelon, boiling it with sugar, vinegar, water along and spices like coriander seed, pink and black peppercorns, and mustard seeds.

And finally, I said goodbye to the autumn with a big jam making session. I ended up with a big stash of apricots when they were cheap at the end of the summer (£1 a box? Don't mind if I do) so I decided to make my first ever jar of apricot jam. It came out a beautiful jewel-like orange and it's now in the cupboard to give someone a taste of summer at Christmas time.

I also came across an insane amount of blackberries in my local park, and ended up coming home with several big tubs of fruit. Half went into crumble, the other half got jammed. I think I ended up using this recipe.

But it's not all been slaving over sugar and fruit for me this week, I've also been out to investigate a new restaurant in the West End, called Ethos.

It's a buffet place that's vegetarian but does a load of vegan stuff too. You either by the food by weight, or can go for an all you can eat brunch option at the weekend.

It all looks a bit brown doens't it? I managed to pick up a great big plate of brown.

It might look a bit like a homogenous plate, but there were all sorts of goodies - dengaku aubergine, sweetcorn fritters, panzanella, Eritrean mango salad, bread, salad leaves, and some Indonesian fried rice.

It's a world menu and most of it was highly flavoured - the sweetcorn fritters in particular felt like going 10 rounds with a stick of lemongrass - so a lot of the plate ended up clashing with something else on it. Most of it was pretty good though, including the aubergine in particular, but the cost for the rather modest meal you see above was £13. Yowzer. I can't see myself coming back to Ethos in a rush - Tibits is a much better bet for a veg*n buffet. (Another odd point - while all the dishes are all clearly marked as veggie or vegan, the drinks aren't. They sell Camden Hells beers, though, which are vegan.)

Mr Flicking the Vs opted for the all you can eat £17 deal, which was much better value (at least compared to the buy by weight option) - as much food as you need plus a coffee and a juice. That meant he got to top himself up with a big plate of lunch, and also got to check out dessert.

There were a few options for veggies and a couple of for vegans - carrot cake and fruit salad. The cake was really dense, but moist and spicy as you'd hope. Not sure about the pink icing, but I could have easily stood another piece.

Ethos
ethosfoods.com/
48 Eastcastle St,
Fitzrovia
London
W1W 8DX
020 3581 1538

jam

I hope you like jamming too

I have a confession to make, and I have a terrible fear you're going to think less of me because of it. But I know you're a forgiv...

So, I've been set free from exam hell. I'm free to run into my kitchen and go mad, get out the pots and pans, and go wild. What do I cook? From the looks of the photos on my camera, a lot of the same stuff I cooked when I had my nose in the books.

There was a lot of gnocchi. While I can take or leave most pasta, I'll happily rhapsodise about the humble gnocchi as long as you want. It's squidy, it cooks in a couple of minutes, and it somehow manages to make me think I'm cooking fancy food, even when the gnocchi comes out of a packet that's aged gently in my freezer. Let me enjoy my delusion for a bit, eh?

Here's one example of my gnocci fandom:

It was a stab at doing something late summery with yellow and green courgettes, mint and pink peppercorns, which I like so much I covertly sneak a couple out of the jar and crack them between my teeth when no one is looking. (I'm not sure who I think is going to come after me for my spice-sneakery - the peppercorn peppercops?)

Things I discovered while cooking this dish a) yellow courgettes are incredibly watery and reduce to slime if you don't pay attention. b) that slime is still tasty.

There was more to be found gnocchi to be found here:

I don't know why, but this dish looks kind of spooky, doesn't it? It was just meant to be a sort of autumnal gnocchi (well hello, gem squash and spring greens) but it looks more like a science experiment that's been caught under a spotlight while trying to escape from custody. Again, it tasted pretty nice. Probably needed a spot of tidying up though.

After my gnocchi Stockholm syndrome subsided, I was seized with a desire for one dish which I'd mentally bookmarked on another blog (mentally bookmarked = another way of saying I can't for the life of me remember on whose blog it appeared). I'd been craving it desperately, and finally got a bit of time to do the necessary veggie pampering: a spot of roasted greens (featuring windowsill chard!), yellow beetroot cut into chunks that look a bit like some Easter Island heads, avocado and rice. Holy moly, it was good.

Normally I tend to avoid the cravings that my body has as typically they're for cake, but sometimes, just sometimes, it comes up with the goods. This was so simple and delicious, I was very full, very happy, and very satisfied afterwards. I had it again the next day. I would probably have had it the day after that, but for the fact that I'd run out of 'root.

But (wo)man cannot live on gnocchi and beetroot alone. Me and Mr Flicking the Vs went out for lunch to a Cuban restaurant near us that we kept walking past and not going in.

Big mistake.

Casa Cuba in Crystal Palace has two vegan options for main meals on its menu, and a few vegan sides to boot. Mr Flicking the Vs and me got one each and shared (by sharing I mean we divided each in half, then I ate my half and kept taking crafty bites of his half for good measure). I got the vegan black bean burger and he got the beans and rice plate.

I've not been to Cuba, so I can't make any claims about the authenticity of the food, but I can definitely vouch for its tastiness. The cassava fries on my plate and the fried plantains on his were things that I don't eat often enough. The rice-plus-beans-plus-avocado combo reminded me of the food we got a lot of in Central America - I loved it there, I loved it in Crystal Palace. We're definitely not leaving it so long til we take another food holiday with Casa Cuba.

avocado