Plum cake.

Picked some plums from the neighbour's yard.  They were so good I made this cake TWICE.  I had to leave it in the oven for 50 minutes, but I think that's just one of those 'know your own oven' things.  Anyway, A plus would recommend a thousand times over.

INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

• 1 cup maida/all purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 plums chopped finely
• ¼ or ½ cup chopped cashews
• ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
• a pinch or two of grated nutmeg or nutmeg powder
• ½ cup soy milk or dairy milk
• 1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¾ or 1 cup organic cane sugar or golden sugar or powdered sugar. (see notes below)
• ⅔ cup oil or melted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

1. grease a cake round tin or cake loaf pan with oil or butter.
2. preheat your oven to 170 degrees C.
3. seive the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, cinnamon powder and grated nutmeg along with baking powder.
4. add the oil or melted butter and mix gently.
5. add the sugar and mix.
6. now add the chopped plums and cashews.
7. fold these gently in the cake batter.
8. add apple cider to soy milk and later add baking soda to this mixture.
9. stir gently and add this frothy bubbly mixture to the cake batter.
10. add the vanilla extract or vanilla powder.
11. fold quickly.
12. pour the cake batter in the greased cake pan.
13. bake at 170 degrees C for 35-40 minutes.
14. when the plum cake becomes warm or cools, remove from the cake pan.
15. serve eggless plum cake warm with tea or coffee.

NOTES

few suggestions for eggless plum cake recipe:
1. instead of soy milk you can use milk.
2. instead of oil you can use butter.
3. some more dry fruits like raisins, apricots, walnuts, almonds or dry fruits of your choice can be added to the cake.
4. the ¾th cup sugar makes the cake just sweet. but not sweet enough for a cake. add 1 cup sugar to get the right amount of sweetness.
5. if the top of the cake browns quickly, then cover the top with butter paper or aluminium foil.

Four grain salad with garlic and herbs.

Summer is coming and Dlfrod is heating up and my GOODNESS this was very nice.  Anything that uses a whole bulb of garlic wins my heart.  I added preserved lemon and smoked almonds because salt, and cooked the rice/barley mix in Massel chicken stock.  I think I am starting to love Jamie Oliver is that a 'problem'.

• 1 small bunch mint, leaves picked, stalks chopped
• 1 small bunch parsley, leaves picked, stalks chopped
• 200 g mixed wild rice
• 100 g red rice
• 100 g pearl barley or farro
• 1 bulb garlic
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• olive oil
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 75 g rolled porridge oats

Method

With a whole load of extra grains, textures and flavours in it, this is so much more than just another boring old rice salad. This dish can easily be prepared ahead of time and then just topped with the warm oats at the last minute.

Pick the leaves off the mint and parsley and put them to one side. Pour all the rice and barley into a deep saucepan with the bulb of garlic and the herb stalks and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes. If using farro cook for 30 minutes before adding the rice, as it needs around 50 minutes in total. Check the grains are soft to the bite then cook for 1 minute more. Drain through a sieve, saving the cooking water.

Keep the grains in the sieve and place it over the saucepan containing the cooking water. Cover with a lid and place back on the heat so the grains steam for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and tip the grains into a bowl to cool down.

Pick out and discard the herb stalks, then pick out the garlic bulb and squeeze all the cloves so the garlic inside goes into a bowl. Lightly mash the garlic with the back of a fork. Chop the herb leaves and stir these into the garlic. Season well with salt, pepper, plenty of extra virgin olive oil and the lemon juice. Stir this dressing through the cooled grains. Give it a taste and adjust the seasoning if you need to.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and add the fennel and cumin seeds and the oats. Stir and fry for a few minutes until the seeds start smelling fantastic and the oats are lightly toasted.

Spoon the grain mixture into a serving dish, stirring through half of the spiced, toasted oats and sprinkling the rest over the top. Drizzle with a little more olive oil, scatter some chopped parsley over the top and serve.

Baked maple miso tofu with kale coconut salad.

Enjoying a far-too-brief visit to home and needing salty deliciousness after a day of gardening.  I love it here so much.  Why do I leave all the time?

CHEF'S NOTE: I added spring onions, smoked almonds and cranberries to the kale salad (along with an asian ginger/garlic dressing).  It was delicious.  Had it for lunch again today with fresh avocado on top.  NEW FAVOURITE.

Ingredients

• 1 block firm tofu, pressed for at least 30 minutes to drain any water
• 1/4 cup white miso
• 1/4 cup maple syrup + 2 tablespoons (divided)
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chili sauce (or less to taste)
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 
  

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a baking pan with nonstick spray.

Slice the tofu into 1/2-inch thick slabs and lay in a single layer on the baking sheet.

Mix together miso, 1/4 cup maple syrup, soy sauce, vinegar, chili sauce and sesame oil and brush half of the mixture over both sides of each tofu slice.

Bake tofu for about 20 minutes, or until browned and maple-miso sauce starts to caramelize, flipping halfway through, and brushing with a little more sauce if necessary.

Kale and coconut salad
(very slightly adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day)

80mL olive oil
1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
100g of kale
85g flaked coconut
250g cooked brown rice (the original recipe uses farro, any grain will do)

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Cut the stems off the kale, remove the biggest stalky ribs and then roughly chop the leaves.

Combine the olive oil, soy sauce and sesame oil in a small jar and shake well to combine.

Combine the kale and the coconut flakes in a large bowl with 3/4 of the dressing and stir well to coat.

Spread the kale and coconut mix in a large baking tray (or two if you need 'em) and bake for about 15 minutes, until the coconut is golden brown - keep an eye on it every 5 minutes or so and stir things around a bit.

Put the kale and coconut mix, the rice and the last drizzle of the dressing into a bowl and toss well.

Mushroom and quinoa meatballs.

These were so damned good.  I added nootch (but of course), and made a super salty and garlicky slow cooked tomato sauce.  Perfect.  Make sure you have a lot of people to feed because I'm pretty sure we're going to be eating meatballs for the next seven months.

Mushroom Quinoa Meatballs – Vegan, Gluten-Free & Soy-Free

There aren’t many things better than a big pot of meatballs and sauce to feed a crowd. Vegan, gluten-free and soy-free these versatile meatballs are not only suited to any occasion but any guest too. You can even prepare them in advance and reheat as needed, how perfect.

Makes 20 – 24 | Serves 4 – 6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large brown onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1 Tbsp olive or avocado oil

• 300 g swiss brown mushrooms (about 20), finely diced
• 1 tsp each dried thyme leaves and dried oregano leaves
• 1 – 2 tsp sea salt, divided (see note below)
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste

• 2 c shredded kale, lightly packed
• 2 c cooked quinoa – white, red, black or a mixture of all three (see below for cooking notes)
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 1/4 c chopped parsley
• 1/4 c finely chopped walnuts, optional
• 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• oil, extra for baking

METHOD

In a large skillet over medium-low heat, saute onion and garlic in the oil for 5 mins until translucent.

Add diced mushrooms, herbs and 1 tsp salt and saute 5 mins until liquid has started to release and evaporate. Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.

Add kale and saute 5 mins. Add flax meal and quinoa and cook until mixture is well combined and quinoa is hot. Remove from heat and season to taste with pepper and extra salt — or any of the flavour boost options below.

Stir mixture regularly as it cools, this will help to make the mixture a bit sticky so it is easier to form.

Preheat oven to 200C (400F). Use damp hands to form cooled mixture into golf ball sized portions and place on a baking paper lined sheet pan.

Spray or lightly brush top of meatballs with a bit of extra oil and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until just crisp and firm. Cool on tray and serve with Rustic Pasta Sauce (recipe below).

COOK’S NOTES

How to cook quinoa:

•  Rinse 1 cup quinoa (white, red, black or a combo of all three) under cool water, drain well. Add quinoa to a medium saucepan with 1 1/2 c cold water. Bring to boil, cover and reduce heat to very low. Simmer, covered, for 14 mins then remove from heat and set aside, still covered, for a further 10 mins. Fluff with a fork. Makes approx 3 cups quinoa.

Flavour boost options:

• If not gluten-free replace extra salt with 1 tsp Vegemite thinned with a bit of water; if not soy-free replace extra salt with 1 – 2 tsp tamari; if extra ambitious soak a 2 Tbsp of dried porchini mushrooms in an equal amount of boiling water until cool, finely chop mushrooms and strain liquid, adding both to mixture with the kale.

Make ahead:

• Reheat by baking in a 180F (350C) oven, or simmering gently in pasta sauce, for about 10 mins.

Meat pie.

Dropped this in to Calfy at work and he LOVED it.  I used mixed dried mushrooms, but next time I think I will try porcini for a richer flavour, and maybe use some truffle oil too.  I'd soak the TVP and mushrooms separately as they take different times to absorb the liquid.  A tbsp of tomato paste helps thicken this out too.  DELICIOUS.

Ingredients
(Makes approx 2 large pies, 32 party pies, and 6 medium-sized pies)

1 1/2 cups TVP mince (textured vegetable protein, sometimes referred to as vegetarian mince, can be found at most supermarkets)
50g dried mushrooms
1/2 brown onion
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vegan powdered stock
3 tbsp plain flour
Pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp ground peppercorns
Olive oil
Salt to taste

Start by soaking the TVP and mushroom in the soy sauce and hot water. Pour hot water over the mix until just covered. The mixture will start soaking up the liquid quickly so add more water as necessary - soak for around 10min. Dice onion into small pieces.

Heat olive oil in a deep saucepan and sauté the onions and TVP and mushroom mix. Add the remaining ingredients with around 2 cups of water. Simmer for  20min. Allow to cool.

Meatballs.

I made a slow-cooked tomato sauce to go with these, and they were chewy (gluten flour, WHO KNEW) but also very good.  Recommended.

MEATLESS MEATBALLS

1 Cup Breadcrumbs, coarse
1 Cup  Mushrooms, finely minced, I used crimini
1 Clove Garlic, finely minced (or 1/2 t garlic powder will do in a pinch)
2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast Flakes
3/4 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten Flour
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, vegan
1 Tablespoon Tamari or soy sauce
3 Tablespoons finely chopped baby spinach leaves*
1 Vegetable bouillon cube
1/2 Cup Hot Water

Dissolve the bouillon cube in the hot water. Add the worcestershire and tamari and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, mushrooms, garlic, nutritional yeast flakes, and flour.
Pour over the liquid and spinach.
Knead the mixture together to form a firm dough.
Pinch off 1 inch sized pieces to roll into balls.

Either heat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC) or heat a layer of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat.
If baking, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and evenly distribute the meatballs so they aren’t touching.
Bake for 15 minutes then roll each of the meatballs over to brown the other sides, baking for an additional 15 minutes.

If frying, I liked this version better, add the meatballs to the heated oil to fill the pan, without overcrowding.
Fry the meatballs, moving occasionally to evenly brown them on all sides.
Remove from the pan and allow to drain on a paper towel while you finish up any remaining meatballs.

*Depending on the end dish, you could choose to add additional seasoning such as parsley, thyme, oregano or basil for tomato sauces and rosemary or thyme for brown (mushroom) gravies.

Delicious baked tofu.

I made tofu steaks with this and marinated it for an hour.  Served it with quinoa salad with a tahini dressing.  Look even though it gives me the pip that I can't figure out how to copy and paste a recipe and then break the 'heading' font I am still happy to post this awesomeness.

Ingredients Edit and Save

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Original recipe makes 4 servingsChange Servings

• 1 (16 ounce) package extra firm tofu
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

• 1 dash hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly spray a non-stick baking sheet with oil.
2. Slice tofu into 1/2-inch slices, and gently press excess water out of tofu. Cut sliced tofu into 1/2-inch cubes.
3. In a bowl, stir together the soy sauce, maple syrup, ketchup, vinegar, and hot sauce. Stir in sesame seeds, garlic powder, black pepper, and liquid smoke. Gently stir tofu cubes into sauce. Cover, and marinate at least 5 minutes.
4. Place the tofu on the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes. Turn tofu, and bake until the tofu turns golden brown, about 15 minutes more.