Weekend eats: hotcakes, plums, eggs and beetroot

It was been a quiet weekend here.  Too cold and wet to feel like venturing outside.  The washing we hung out was so damp that we brought it inside to dry in front of the heater.  Just the weather to bake and fry and eat in a warm home.  We have had lots of pancakes and purple and porridge.  Sylvia has discovered boiled eggs.  Lots to taste.  Lots to learn. 

I tried the Rose Bakery's ricotta hotcakes during the week and they were great.  (Quite similar to Bill Granger's famous ricotta hotcakes.)  Sylvia loved them so much that she told me we must make them again.  I enjoyed them but prefer using only one bowl for pancakes and no electric beaters.  I halved the recipe and had half a tub of ricotta leftover to make another batch on the weekend.

 

These pancakes are great with stewed plums.  I stewed some plums with pomegranate and strawberry juice during the week and more with barley malt syrup and golden syrup on the weekend.  The first batch were best.  Sylvia loved them.  She ate less of the latter which were more molassesy but still loves making them.  Sitting down in the morning to chop and stew plums with a toddler is fun.  Quite a few get eaten before they are stewed but I don't mind.

The mess is incredible.  Sylvia eats stewed plums with her hands.  I offer a spoon.  She ignores it.  Perhaps she likes to get mucky because one of her other favourite things right now is spending hours at the sink washing her hands.  She also loves asking where we are (eg "is this a shop?" in the middle of the supermarket) and stomping in puddles with her ladybird gumboots.  Everything takes forever.  I never have enough time for lunch.  I had meant to make her something savoury but we ended up just eating pancakes and plums for lunch, with a few chunks of cheese.  It wasn't that sweet.  Yet it didn't seem like a proper meal.

I tried a different approach on the weekend.  I didn't want to make all the pancakes savoury so I added tomatoes, peas and cheese when I fried them.  Since then I have found a similar idea for vegan savoury pancakes that uses even more vegetables.  It means we still had half the pancake batter to make a sweet version to follow.

The savoury pancakes needed to cool slightly before eating or the sizzling tomatoes would take the skin off your tongue.  But they were so good.  The peas and cheese were ok but the tomatoes were the best.  They were like tomato jam with a hint of charcoal.  Plus, if you put two on a plate with a grape (top photo) they looked like like an owl.  Sylvia wasn't so impressed with the tomatoes.  She just wanted pancakes.

On Saturday night I roasted potatoes and beetroots that I bought at Kinglake Farmers Market and boiled some brussels sprouts.  (Leftovers went into curry.)  I serve them with chickpeas and chilli non carne.  It was a wonderful meal but brings up two issues with feeding children.  One is how many of us remembering our mothers boiling vegetables until they were soft and soggy.  I have tried boiling vegetables until just cooked but sylvia wants hers really soft so I have started to boil some vegetables more than I might usually.

The other issue is about colour and food.  I see so many people giving tips about avoiding beetroot stains on their hands.  However I don't mind beetroot stains on my hands.  They amuse me.  They amuse Sylvia too.  She was intent on only eating the roast potatoes (and they were fantastic).  Then she wanted pink hands like mine.  She learnt that if she bit the beetroot and rubbed it on her hand it would turn pink.  I showed her if she rubbed a chickpea on her beetroot she would have purple chickpeas.  This way she ate the beetroot and lots of chickpeas.  Hurrah for purple food!

Lastly, I confess that I also lack the basic skill of boiling an egg.  I've never liked eggs.  E has started making Sylvia boiled eggs.  She asked me to boil her an egg while he slept in.  I failed dismally.  The egg was gooey inside.  I put it in the microwave and it sort of burst out of the shell in an eggy cloud.  Sylvia ate the white but wasn't keen on the yolk.  (Incidentally, I always thought an egg would blow the door off a microwave until I saw Jack Dee microwaving his celebrity eggs and they just made disappointingly small explosions.)

I am sending the Ricotta Hotcakes with Stewed Plums to Ren of Fabulicious Food who is hosting a new event called Simple and Seasonal.  I thought she might like to see what the other half of the world is eating in May.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: WHB Plums: a history, trivia and a cake
This time two years ago: Blueberry Soup with Heavenly Yoghurt
This time three years ago: Promoting Promite
This time four years ago: Posh Bread & Cheese Supper

Ricotta Hotcakes
From Rose Bakery's Breakfast, Lunch, Tea
serves 2-4

2 eggs, separated
100g (about half a tub) of ricotta
3/8 cup milk
1/2 cup plain white flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
a little butter for the frypan

Separate eggs so the whites are in a small mixing bowl and the yolks are in a medium mixing bowl.  Use electric beaters to beat the egg whites until they are at stiff peak stage.  Now beat together the yolks, milk and ricotta.  Stir the dry ingredients into the ricotta mixture and then gently fold in the egg whites.  Heat a large frypan over medium heat and lightly grease with butter (I often use a piece of kitchen paper to rub a little butter over it so there isn't too much.)  Spoon dessertspoonfuls of batter into the pan and cook until the mixture bubbles.  Flip over and cook another minute or two until golden brown on both sides.  I think I did four batches of 5-6.

Savoury tomato pancakes: Slice up some cherry tomatoes.  Drop slices (flat side down) onto the pan at regular intervals and cook for about 1 minute on a medium high heat.  Drop a spoonful of pancake batter over the tomatoes and cook for about 4-5 minutes until mixture is bubbling.  Drop some frozen peas and grated cheese on the uncooked side and flip.  Cook another minute or two.  The cheese side wont brown so much where the cheese is and the tomatoes will look burnt but taste great.

Sweet plum pancakes: top with stewed plums below and a drizzle of maple syrup if desired.

Stewed plums

5-6 plums
juice of 1 pomegranate and 3 strawberries
shake of cinnamon
1 dessertspoon rice malt syrup
1 tsp apple concentrate

Place juice, cinnamon, syrup and apple concentrate in a medium saucepan.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes until syrupy.  While the liquids are cooking, stone and chop the plums.  Add plums to syrup and gently cook for about 6-10 minutes until fruit softens.  Serve warm or room temperature.

On the Stereo:
Heavy Horses: Jethro Tull

Breakfast Club #11 Vegetarian Savoury - the round up

It has been a fascinating experience hosting the Breakfast Club blog event in May.  The theme was Vegetarian Savoury and I have been delighted at your responses.  The event is here to remind us that breakfast should be about more than toast and tea or cereal and coffee.  Indeed, it has given me great inspiration.  I chose the theme because I love a savoury breakfast but so many are aimed at people who eat meat.  I am pleased that there are some lovely vegan and gluten free dishes here too.  Without further ado (though you may still be goggling at my new template if you are familiar with this blog), let us delve into some meat free alternatives:

Savoury breakfast wraps

Cindy from Where's the Beef

Melbourne, Australia

Cindy has been running a Breakfast Serial series to generate some new morning meal ideas.  In this post, she experimented with breakfast wraps, trialling some variations of tofu, cabbage and egg.  The pictured wrap here has fried egg, barbecue sauce, sprouts, caramelised onions, and coriander.

Cheese and chive pancakes

Johanna (me) of Green Gourmet Giraffe

Melbourne, Australia

My first entry (of three) were these pancakes which were fluffy and tasty enough to eat straight off the frypan as they were. The recipe was intended for sweet pancakes but was easy enough to make savoury by taking out the sugar and adding some cheese and chives.

Cheesy Courgette Breakfast Scones

Bea from For the Love of Food

Cheshire, UK

Bea created these beautiful scones, taking the opportunity to get in some vegies in the morning in the most delicious way.  She suggests that, in keeping with the event theme, serving them with a swipe of cream cheese and a sprinkling of black pepper.

Baby Egg Pies

Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes

Dundee, Scotland

Jacqueline made these for her little boy but you don't need to be a baby to appreciate these neat little pies.  Full of egg and vegetables, they would be a nutritious start to the day.  She suggests they would be good picnic fare, which translates as an excellent breakfast on the go.

Bread Rolls

Deepika of My Life and Spice

Philadelphia, USA

Deepika wrote a delightful post about her childhood weekend breakfast traditions and how she is now creating such traditions for her own children.  I was fascinated by her recipe, the like of which I have never seen before.  She soaks and wrings out the bread, wraps it around vegetables and deep fries it - I would love to be at her breakfast table.

Savoury Oatmeal with Soy Sauce and Nutritional Yeast

Janet of the Taste Space

Toronto, Canada

Janet has recently found herself smitten with savoury oats for breakfast.  Tamari adds great depth of flavour and she addresses her mother's concerns about vegans and B12 by sprinkling nutritional yeast flakes over it.  I was inspired enough by it to try my own version (below).

Moong Dhal Dosa

Nirmala's Kitchen

Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

Nirmala makes this tasty dosa for breakfast.  I have only made dosa once but I read this recipe and it seemed like something I can and should whip up quite easily.

Tofu Scramble

Adam and Theresa

Tarifa, Andalucia, Spain

Adam and Theresa make a lovely scramble to add to their vegan breakfast fry up.  Not only do the flavours sounds great but they also have a clever idea of using both silken and firm tofu to make the scramble both moist and full of texture.

Pea and Sun-Dried Tomato Porridge

Johanna (me) of Green Gourmet Giraffe

Melbourne, Australia

Inspired by Janet's savoury oats above, I rose above my aversion to porridge and tried my hand at a vegetable version that I could make with very little chopping and cooking.  It has already become an occasional breakfast dish for me that is very quick and handy when there is no bread in the house.

Breakfast with Oats

Dinner Recipes, Sonia's Kitchen

Chennai, India

I was delighted to receive yet another version of savoury oats from Sonia.  Hers is quite different again from mine and Janet's.  It has quite a few vegies and is flavoured with mustard, chilli and lemon juice.  Yet another to try.

Goats Cheese and Rosemary Muffins

Mel of Sharky Oven Gloves

St Andrews, Scotland

It is usually sweet breakfasts all the way for Mel, but in honour of this event, she put her mind to savoury ideas and came up with these lovely muffins.  I agree with her that it is hard to wait for muffins to cook at breakfast time but I would be quite happy eating them if made the night before.

Savory Muffins with Herbs, Oven-Dried Tomatoes and Green Onions

Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Toronto, Canada

Ricki tells a heartening story of how diet can help lower blood pressure.  When you look at these gorgeous muffins and think you could take these instead of medication, the world really seems like a better place.  Even their sunny yellow hue would cheer you up at breakfast if the great flavours didn't do the trick!  Like Ricki's other recipes, these are suitable for vegan, gluten free and anti candida diets.

Black Buckwheat Waffles with Mushroom Gravy

MangoCheeks of Allotment to Kitchen

Scotland

MangoCheeks presents me with yet another reason to buy a waffle maker.  I love the sweet kind but am excited by the idea of making waffles with black buckwheat flour - I had never heard of it before but I want some now.  Paired with mushroom gravy, it sounds great, and are suitable for vegans.

Breakfast "Sausage" Patties

Johanna (me) of Green Gourmet Giraffe

Melbourne, Australia

My third entry was a batch of Ricki's breakfast sausage patties made with walnuts, rice, flaxseeds (linseeds), onion and sage.  They were crispy on the outside and soft inside with lots of flavour.  My little girl, Sylvia, was quite keen on them fresh off the grill.  I can just picture them in a breakfast sandwich and hope to return to this recipe soon.

Chive Scrambled Eggs with Goats Cheese

Ren of Fabulicious Food

Hertsfordshire, UK

Ren remembered her dad's scrambled eggs with this dish.  He always added chives.  Ren serves hers on sourdough rye, in the manner of her Polish ancestors, and adds some Goat's Cheese from Childwickbury Farm that she found in a local deli. Sounds lovely.

Dippy Eggs and Asparagus Soldiers

Sarah of Maison Cupcake

London, UK

Sarah celebrates Spring in the Northern Hemisphere with some dippy eggs and asparagus soldiers.  I loved her photos of all their egg cups and hearing how her son, Ted, gets to choose an egg cup each weekend for his boiled egg.  Sylvia has just started eating boiled eggs so I hope to start an egg cup collection just like Sarah's.

Thalipeeth - Multigrain Indian flatbread/ Crepe

Vatsala of Show and Tell

USA

Vatsala's latest favourite in her kitchen is the Thalipeeth, an Indian flatbread or pancake made with multigrains.  It is a nutritious start to the day and very popular in Maharashtra.  I loved the step by step pictures of her making it with a piece of paper.

Spinach and Brie Sourdough

Helen of Fuss Free Flavours

London, UK

Lastly Helen, who is the founder of the Breakfast Club event, sent in this wonderful bread.  If like her, you have brie that has seen better days, you could a lot worse than roll it up with some spinach in a loaf of sourdough bread.  I am sure this smelt fantastic coming out of the oven.  Unless like me you still haven't managed to conquer sourdough like me.  I can only dream of making such loaves - and I will!

Well that wraps up our round up of the Vegetarian Savoury breakfast dishes.  Thanks to everyone who participated and to Helen for inviting me to host.  I have lots of recipes to make and I hope you feel inspired to try some too.  Though I am not in the Australia, I am envious of the prominence of the Vegetarian Society in the UK and am happy to post this on the last day of their Vegetarian Week.

To find links to round ups of other Breakfast Club events, head over to Helen's Breakfast Club page.  Nanya at Simply Food is hosting the June Breakfast Club with the theme of berries and would welcome your participation.

SOS Chilli non carne with carob and kasha

It has been a week of lateral thinking about food and cooking.  I watched a great documentary series on the telly called Recipe for Murder about Sydney housewives poisoning people with rat poison in the 1950s.  We watched an old episode of 30 Rock last night when Liz Lemon said that she used her oven to warm her jeans.  Then this morning Sylvia took a bite of a cake of caramel soap.  As for me, I have made chilli non carne with carob!

I have never been a fan of carob.  So when Ricki and Kim announced that carob was the theme for this month's Sweet or Savoury (SOS) event, I wasn't sure I would participate.  I wanted to.  It is the year anniversary of the event.  Then I discovered that Sylvia likes it.  So I bought a bag and now I must use it.

Sylvia loves the carob cookies that my neighbour makes.  I begged a copy of the recipe but it has eggs in it so it wasn't right for the event but stay tuned.  For the SOS challenge, I just couldn't face a sweet carob dish and decided there must be a savoury recipe where I could try it.  My internet searches yielded nothing so I got creative.  I decided to try a chilli non carne with carob rather than cocoa.  It struck me that buckwheat would be a great pairing for carob so this went in too, as did some vegies from the Kinglake Farmers Market.

While not my favourite chilli non carne, it was a good one.  I enjoyed the texture of the soft buckwheat, lentils and kidney beans.  The carob gave it a pleasing dark richness.  However I couldn't work out if it was my prejudice against the stuff or that I was unused to it or that I just needed some more spices and seasoning but it seems to be a sweeter flavour than usual.  Despite that, I would try carob in a chilli non carne again.  After all, Ricki and Kim have pointed out that it is packed with nutrients.  And Sylvia loves carob.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Sophie's moreish tofu - adapted
This time two years ago: Heidi’s Chocolate Cake
This time three years ago: Condensed Milk: Heirloom Comfort Food
This time four years ago: MM #12: A marriage of vanilla and chocolate

Chilli non carne with carob and kasha
Loosely based on this recipe
serves 4-6

• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 tbsp carob powder
• 1, 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder (or more if you aren't squeamish about heat like me)
• stir one minute (or add after liquids)
• 3 cups vegetable stock (I only put in 1 cup stock and added some salt)
• 400g silverbeet, chopped (including stems)
• 600g pumpkin, peeled and chopped
• 2 x 400g diced tomatoes
• 400g tin kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2/3 cup dried green lentils
• 1/2 cup kasha (buckwheat groats or buckwheat kernels)

Heat the oil in a stock pot and fry the onion, garlic and carrots for about 10-15 minutes over a medium heat until softened.  Ideally at this point add carob, oregano, smoked paprika and chilli powder, and stir for one minute.  If, like me, you forget, just add spices with vegies.  Add stock, silverbeet, pumpkin, tomatoes, kidney beans and lentils.  Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add kasha/buckwheat and simmer for another 20 minutes or until lentils and kasha are soft.  I let mine sit for 30 minutes because we ate after we had put Sylvia to bed but this depends on your timing.

On the Stereo:
Picaresque: The Decemberists

Kinglake Farmers Market and Aus 57 Pizza and Pasta Bar

We had a drive out of town on the weekend to visit Kinglake Farmers Market, followed by lunch at Aus 57 Pizza and Pasta Bar.  The drive there was not too long - around an hour - but did involve some very curvy roads, albeit with wonderful scenic views, through the Kinglake National Park.

We chose the destination after hearing it mentioned on the radio.  Until then Kinglake was better known to us as one of the towns badly affected by the Black Saturday bushfires.  Even two years later, its impact on the trees was still clear to see with many of them sporting blackened trunks and a peach fuzz of new growth. 

The market was not huge but had many interesting stalls and friendly folk.  The first stall that caught my eye was the above one.  I was quite excited by all the cupcakes, even when I found out they were soap sculptures.  E thought they looked quite awkward to use and I had to explain that some people are quite happy to display pretty soaps in their bathrooms.

 

We enjoyed quite a bit of tasting.  I loved this olive oil stall which had one of the best tastings of olive oil that I have seen.  Usually olive oil is in little dipping bowls with chunks of bread.  This display had a colourful platter of ciabatta bread, olive oil, garlic, rocket and parmesan.  I felt like sitting down to a plateful of it.

Sylvia loves to ask "are we going to the park?"  Or some days when we are off to the shops, she tells me "park first".  So it was nice that there was a small kids playground in the midst of the stalls.  Unfortunately, it was not quite the weather for it.  Sylvia had barely got on the swing when the rain come on.  It was a day of sunshine one moment and rain the next.

I had thought we might also have lunch at the market but it didn't really cater to vegetarians in that way.  There was a bbq and a stall selling dim sims and dumplings to eat.  Neither had veg alternatives, though there were vegetarian dumplings to take home to cook.  Sweet food was another matter.  E queued up for poffertjes (little dutch pancakes) and I bought a hot jam doughnut.  The doughnut stall cooked them fresh and they were pretty good (though not quite up to Vic Market standard) and had lots of delicious tarts and cakes.  I also noticed a stall doing gluhwein which was tempting, given the cold wet weather that sent rain trickling down between the covers.

After a sweet snack, we got down to the business of spending our money.  I was disappointed that the rustic loaves of bread that looked so good on the way in had sold out by the time I returned.  There was plenty else to take my fancy.  I had meant to take a picture of our goods when we got home but life is too chaotic.  We left the market with caramel and dragonfruit soap, chilli rocky road, silverbeet, beetroot, parsnips, tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, chilli jam and a bag of fudge.

It was John and Carol Walker's fudge that was one of my favourites.  Sylvia and I tasted it while waiting for E to take bags back to the car.  I was immediately smitten and asked what was in it.  As I suspected it had condensed milk.  I had a lovely chat to them about how good it was without the grittiness that sugar usually leave in fudge.

After all that driving and strolling through the market, we were ready for lunch.  We walked across the road to Aus 57 Pizza and Pasta Bar, with low expectations.  From the outside it looked like just the sort of country cafe that has not even heard of vegetarians.  But appearances can be deceptive.  Inside it was warm and welcoming with an open fire and honey coloured pine furniture.

I swithered over a vegetarian lasagna but ordered margherita pizza with sides of chips and vegetables.  Simple food that I hoped Sylvia might share with me.  E had an egg and bacon sandwich with an English Breakfast tea.  We were delighted with the food.  The pizza was made with fresh tomato, onion ring and whole basil leaves.  A bit too chunky for Sylvia but I loved it.  The base could have been a little crispier but the toppings were so good that it didn't matter.

The chips were lovely but the vegetable side dish was stunning (see top photo).  Potatoes in a mustard sauce, zucchini, capsicum and tomato cooked almost as a ratatouille, green beans cooked perfectly and corn on the cob.  What proved how good the vegies were, was that E preferred them over the chips.  Sylvia turned up her nose and concentrated on the chips.

We really enjoyed our visit to Kinglake, though I was disappointed on the way out to see we missed the House of Bottles which has a tearoom.  Next time that will be added to the itinerary.  Meanwhile, all Sylvia needed were a few puddles.  She had on her ladybird gumboots and was hard to get into the car once she discovered how much fun she could have stomping in all the puddles.  I, on the other hand, have a fridge full of vegetables so expect to see a few appear on the blog soon.

Kinglake Farmers Market
District Services Centre, Main Rd, Kinglake.
4th Sunday of the Month
Open 9am - 2pm

Aus 57 Pizza and Pasta Bar
57 Kinglake-Glenburn Rd
Kinglake Central VIC 3757
Tel: 03 5786 1957

Ricki's breakfast patties and Delia's bread

Ricki has recently released an e-book of gluten free, sugar free, egg free and dairy free breakfasts.  As soon as I got my copy, I looked to check the savoury recipes.  She didn't disappoint.  Though I was tempted by the Frittata with Zucchini and Chard, it was the Easy "Sausage" Patties that I had to try. 

I have had it in mind for some time but with the theme of the Breakfast Club event being Vegetarian Savoury, walnuts in the pantry and a bunch of fresh sage on the kitchen table, the planets aligned.  I chopped and fried and blended and grilled.  It uses a few dishes (see rice, onions and walnuts above) but the results were very pleasing.

Though it is almost 20 years since I became vegetarian, I still remember the thrill of eating squidgy raw sausages as a child.  It wasn't that my mum would serve them up for dinner.  It is more the sort of things kids do as a dare.  We were told it would give us worms so we knew it was wrong.  The mixture of these burgers must be the closest I have come to this experience since I last ate meat.  But this time, it was fine because there were no forbidden raw ingredients involved.  These were vegan.

On the downside, there was no sausage skins to hold them together and they were rather soft to handle.  Possibly my use of white basmati rice rather than brown basmati made a difference.   However they were not unworkable.  I handled them with kid gloves (metaphorically speaking) and they were fantastic when cooked on the griller (broiler).  So good that I wonder if it would be possible to shape them and cook them as long thin sausages - maybe it would work if I baked them.
 

I would have preferred to bake them but I thought grilling would be quicker.  I often make dishes in hope that Sylvia will try them.  These "sausage" patties were one of the hugest hits on the first night.  She has been going through a phase of experimentation lately.  She will nibble on a baby spinach leaf or a sliver of raw pumpkin and tell me it is "very tasty".  Doesn't mean she will eat any more of it but I like her trying foods.  While I made these, despite my warnings, she tasted raw onion, rejected it but then would not try it when fried.  She tried the raw garlic and told me to put it in the bin.  She even tried to eat the wrapper on a new pair of tights when we were out shopping.

When I made these patties, I was delighted that she loved them so much (with tomato sauce) that she wolfed down one and her face lit up when I offered another one.  She only ate two thirds of the second but I thought it a good effort.  E and I ate ours with lashings of mushroom and pumpkin gravy (oil, mushroom, flour,  stock and mashed pumpkin).  We probably could have eaten the whole lot but I had plans for the leftovers.

I wanted to make the most of a bunch of fresh sage leaves.  Delia has a recipe for a parsnip, parmesan and sage bread that I have been wanting to try.  I had thought it would go well with the sausage patties.  The idea of these patties on chunky slices of home made bread with a good chutney appealed.  However the bread was not quite what I expected.

I haven't posted the recipe as my dough was so dry I had to add more liquid.  The bread was nice but it was small and incredibly dense.  It was too salty and too stodgy.  I grated parmesan on top rather than shaving it and was not sure this was a good decision.  It wasn't so good hot out of the oven.  Once the bread cooled the intense flavours came through more pleasingly.  Best of all were the crisp sage leaves on top.

The night of the parsnip bread was a more frustrating day altogether.  It had started with me missing Sylvia's swimming lessons due to poor timekeeping, then shopping at the supermarket with Sylvia running around corners yelling "see ya, bye bye", and ended with taking an hour to make this bread because Sylvia kept distracting me with toy towns and dolly and puzzles.  Not all was dismal.  We had fun making fruit balls during the afternoon.  She felt like a big girl when I let her turn on the food processor by herself for the first time. 

Then at dinner time, Sylvia reverted to picky eater and would not eat anything off her plate, including her patties that she loved the previous night.  All she wanted to do was tell Zinc "you're a beautiful girl" and eat fruit balls.  Sigh!  Some days I just can't win.  Despite this, I am quite eager to try the sausage patties again.  At least, if Sylvia doesn't like them, I am happy to eat her leftovers. 

The sausage patties would be excellent in a sandwich or as part of a breakfast fry-up.  If you have a vegetarian savoury breakfast idea, please share it.  You have up until 28 May 2011 to post about it and send it to me.  See here for the rules.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Dan Lepard’s multigrain and honey bread
This time two years ago: Polenta cups and Seasonal salad
This time three years ago: Rosy Russian Bread (and Grumpy Baker)
This time four years ago: Choc Chip Cookies go Bananas!

Vegan GF sausage patties
adapted from Diet Dessert and Dogs

• 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups lightly toasted walnuts
• 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice (I used white basmati)
• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1/4 cup vegetable stock or water
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I didn't have this)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage (about half a bunch), or use 1 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp finely ground salt

Heat the oil in a frypan over medium heat. Fry onions and garlic for about 10 minutes until golden brown.

Meanwhile, place the remaining ingredients in a food processor and process until well mixed and almost smooth. Add the cooked onion and garlic mixture and process until combined. The mixture should be sticky but firm enough to hold a shape.

Using a large ice cream scoop or damp hands scoop about 1/3 cup of the mixture at a time and place on a lined baking tray.  Flatten the patties to about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick. If desired, spray or brush with a little olive oil to help patties brown when cooked (I recommend this).  NB mine were quite fragile and had to be handled with care.

To cook under the griller (broiler), line the grill tray with baking paper, place patties on the tray and spray with oil.  Grill until patties are brown and crisp, turn over and spray with more oil.  Grill the second side until brown and crisp.  You could also bake in 190C (373F) oven for 35-45 minutes or fry in a frypan for 5-7 minutes.  Eat hot or cold or freeze for later.

On the Stereo:
An autumn almanac: 15 songs in the spirit of Roy Davies (free with Uncut magazine): various artists