Tuesday, 20 December 2011

Christmas bangers and mash

My neighbours and her two kids come over after work today to see our Christmas tree.  It was such a lovely visit.  Watching the kids giggling by the tree was pure delight.  Sitting chatting to Paula while the kids played together and E played ukelele was a pleasure.  Meanwhile the Mexicale Pie cooked in the oven.  It is a meal I make regularly and don't stress over.  Unlike Saturday night's dinner of fancy festive bangers and mash.

We had decorated the tree and I had planned on making a special Christmas meal for E and Sylvia and myself to share.  When planning the meal, I hadn't counted on my time being put out of whack by the sudden demise of my old camera requiring a trip to the city to buy a new one.  Taking photos with a new camera was frustrating.  My timing was out.

Sylvia was narky with waiting for dinner.  I didn't have any onions for the gravy.  My sausages were threatening to burn under the grill.  It was too hot to turn on the oven to bake the side dish.  Then Paula dropped over with a Christmas card and the news that the cool change was upon us.  I was just a bit stressed.  Probably just as well she didn't stay too long.

I had hoped I might have time to set a festive table.  As it was, I was lucky to find a skerrick of energy to fling a tartan runner on the table and a few decorations.  It isn't easy to organise dinner when your plans are over-ambitious and a toddler is at large!  At least dinner was delicious.

I had found a recipe for cheese sausages in Sam Stern's Eat Vegetarian.  A bit of gruyere cheese and a handful of cranberries gave these snags a festive feel.  My plans to bake pecan crusted sweet potato with sour cream morphed into a mashed sweet potato.  Much nicer in that heat!  I ended up using the leftover leeks and unused sour cream in a sauce.  I microwaved some broccolini for a bit of green.  It all worked rather well.  Especially those sausages.  They were fantastic.

We enjoyed the meal and packed Sylvia off to bed.  Then we could enjoy strawberry ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert.  A few days later E said something about how the mashed pumpkin was much nicer than usual.  When I told him it was sweet potato, he exclaimed that this was why he liked it so much. 

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Edible Gift Ideas for Christmas
This time two years ago: Royal Botantic Garden Edinburgh
This time three years ago: Apricot, Berry and Bran Muffins
This time four years ago: Nutroast for dinosaurs

Gruyere and cranberry veggie sausages
Adapted from Sam Stern's Eat Vegetarian
serves 4

175g gruyere cheese, grated
170g fresh white breadcrumbs
1 leek, finely chopped white part
1 shallot or small onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
handful of dried cranberries, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp parsley, chopped (I forgot)
grated rind and juice of half a lemon (I forgot)
3 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp mustard
seasoning, as required

To crumb:
1 egg
1/2 tsp seeded mustard
70g fresh breadcrumbs
melted butter or oil spray for grilling

Mix all ingredients, except those needed to crumb the sausages.  Shape into 8 fat little sausages.  To crumb, lightly whisk egg and seeded mustard in a shallow bowl and place breadcrumbs in another.  Dip each sausage in egg mixture and then roll in breadcrumbs.  (They seemed a bit fragile while raw but held together wonderfully once cooked.)  Spray with oil and place under the grill (broiler).  Cook for about 10 minutes, turning regularly until evenly cooked and golden brown.

Smoky maple sweet potato mash
Inspired by Helen

500g sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/2 cup leek greens, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
freshly ground black pepper

Steam sweet potato and leeks for about 20 minutes.  Mash with remaining ingredients.  Give a vigourous stir with a spoon and check seasoning.

Red pepper and leek sauce

olive oil plus butter
greens from a leek, finely chopped
1 shallow, finely chopped
1/2 x 400g jar of roasted red peppers, drained and finely chopped
pinch salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 generous spoonful of light sour cream
water, to thin sauce

Cook leek greens and red peppers gently in olive oil and butter for about 20-30 minutes, until wilted and smelling good.  Add seasoning and sour cream.  Heat sour cream, stirring frequently.  Check seasoning and add water if you need to thin the sauce.

On the stereo:
A dark noel: the very best of excelsis projekt: various artists
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Sunday, 18 December 2011

WSC Fruitcake with Chocolate II and our tree

We have had a lot of sweet food lately.  Not all for myself, mind you.  We've given lebkuchen and chocolate biscuits as presents, taken rocky road to my parents' place and had Christmas cake maturing in the cupboards.  I had promised myself to open the cake this weekend when we decorated our Christmas tree and then one at my mum and dad's.  I loved it though others were less enthusiastic.

The Chocolate and Fig Fruitcake recipe came from Lucy of the Kitchen Maid blog.  I first tried a Chocolate Fruitcake on the blog a few years ago.  It tasted fantastic but I was disappointed at just how little I could taste the chocolate because it was melted into the batter.  Lucy's recipe was full of chunks of chocolate and fancy dried fruit throughout the cake.  Just my sort of thing!  I finally found time one evening and mixed the cake by hand in front of the telly and got it in the oven by 10pm.  Later than I had intended.

I found my notes from the previous fruitcake blog post useful in reminding me about lining the tin.  Lucy said not to worry but I am more paranoid than that.  I used a 20cm square tin but it is a really tall cake.  In future I would use a 22 or 23 cm square tin.  The paper helps the cake to cook evenly and I would do this again.  I just use good quality paper bags from shops (thanks Readings and Gewurzhaus).  And I remembered to take off the sticky tape before putting the cake in the oven.

The cake cooked for 3 hours!  At 1am, I turned off the oven, left the cake in while it cooled and went to bed.   In the morning, the cake was still slightly warm.  It wasn't until the next evening that I took it out of the tin and wrapped it up to mature.  Unlike some recipes I don't feed mine with booze.  I am not brave enough, nor does it seem necessary or even desirable to me.

On Saturday morning, we got a tree from a nearby church (where sales contributed to the restoration fund) and decorated it.  When E had his gardening gloves on to avoid getting resin on his hands when handling the tree, Sylvia used socks on her hands as gloves.  However she was most interested in the remote control for the lights settings.  She also contributed some sparkly cut-outs for the tree that she had made at nursery.  I've talked about our other Christmas decorations before so wont go into detail this year, suffice to day I love the memories attached to each ornament.

I am still adjusting to my new camera so I didn't quite get the photos of the cake I would have liked but this one shows the texture inside.  I love how fruitcakes are so dense that the fruit can't sink to the bottom.  The main risks are that it will be too dry or too soggy.  This fruitcake was perfect.  Moist and full of flavour.  E and Sylvia love the soft chunks of chocolate but not the fruitcake.  My mum and dad loved the fruitcake but not the chocolate.  For me, this is a fruitcake that has enough chocolate to satisfy.  Not for everyone but I recommend you try it anyway.  It is truly decadent.  Full of seasonal good cheer.

Lastly I am sending the fruitcake to Choclette and Chele for We Should Cocoa.  The theme this month is oranges.  I hope mine host, Choclette, wont mind that the orange is not the star of the show.  This cake depends on orange juice, orange zest and some orange chocolate for its depth of flavour.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Pumpkin ravioli and nutroast
This time two years ago: The Witchery - Scottish Fine Dining
This time three years ago: Scones - plain and simple
This time four years ago: Leek Tofu Quiche and Red Pepper Coulis

Chocolate and Fig Fruitcake
Adapted from Peta Mathias via Kitchenmaid

500g dried figs, cut in quarters
200g prunes, cut in quarters
100g dried cranberries
100g dried sour cherries, halved
50g slivered almonds
whisky and juice for soaking fruit
600g dark chocolate, (I used 500g of 70% and 100g of orange chocolate)
50g slivered almonds
300g butter
300g brown sugar
1tbsp treacle
5 eggs
grated zest of two oranges
2tbsp whisky or brandy or rum
350g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
1tsp mixed spice
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp salt

Soak the fruit in a large bowl, covered in a mixture of whisky and orange juice for at about 24 hours, stirring occasionally.  There should be enough liquid for quite a bit of sloshing about in the bowl.  I checked mine after 12 hours and it had soaked up the liquid (juice of an orange and slurp of whisky) so I added a slurp of pomegranate juice and more whisky (at least 1/4 cup of it).  If your fruit doesn't soak up all the liquid, you can drink it or use it for other cooking.

When you are ready to bake the cake, preheat the oven to 160 C and line a cake tin.  I lined a 20cm square cake tin with a few layers of old paper bags and some baking paper.  (Lucy at Kitchenmaid used a 24cm round cake tin.)

Drain the fruit if there is any soaking liquid that hasn't been absorbed by the fruit.  Chop the chocolate into small bits and stir into the fruit with the almonds.  Set aside.

Cream the butter, sugar and treacle.  (I did this by hand)  Beat in eggs one by one and then add orange zest and 2 tbsp of whisky or booze of choice.  Gently stir in flour, baking powder, spices and salt.  Add the fruit mixture and stir to combine.  This is a large amount of mixture and you will need a large bowl and a wooden spoon.

Spoon cake mixture into the tin and smooth the top with the back of a spoon.  Bake at 160 C for 90 minutes.  The recipe said to turn it down to 150 C but I left it at 160 C for another 90 minutes.  I tried the skewer in the cake to test if it was ready.  The skewer came out clean after about 2 hours but the middle of the cake still felt a bit soft to touch so I covered it with a few layers of brown paper and left my cake in another hour - so my cake was in about 3 hours all up.  It still seemed a bit soft in the middle so I turned off the oven and left the cake in there as it cooled.

Once cool - it took some time because it wasn't even completely cool by the next morning - I removed it from the tin and unwrapped the paper.  Then I wrapped the cake in foil and placed it in an airtight container in the cupboard.  I left mine wrapped for 2 weeks before cutting it open and it was lovely.

On the stereo:
The Flying Club Cup - Beirut
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Saturday, 17 December 2011

CC Strawberry ice cream - an agar agar experiment

 
I have come to the conclusion that I don't choose change.  It chooses me.  It usually drags me along screaming and kicking!  For those who might seem surprised to see an ice cream recipe on my blog, I am not referring to that.  I mean that I had to buy a new camera today.  Yesterday I took a new water bottle to the workplace Christmas lunch.  Events conspired against me (but no alcohol was involved) and the new bottle emptied itself into my camera.  The view finder resembled a fishtank.

I made this ice cream last night but there are no photos of making it because I was without a camera!   But I was determined to make it for a Christmas meal at home tonight.  I had planned to make icy poles for the penultimate Cookbook Challenge because the theme was cool.  Then I saw that Vikki Leng had quite a few eggless ice cream recipes using agar agar in A Vegetarian Feast.  I was intrigued.

She claimed that the agar agar and honey (these are not vegan recipes) kept the mixture soft and that no ice cream machine was needed.  I've always shied away from making ice cream because I dislike eggs and don't have an ice cream machine.  Problem solved!  Or so I thought.

Making the ice cream was easier than I expected.  Setting it was harder than I expected.  After leaving it overnight it had started to harden around the edges.  I turned up the freezer.  Even tonight, 24 hours later, it was quite firm around the edges but in the middle it was sloppy.  Vikki said the honey would keep it soft and Nigella (which I did some research) said that cold kills flavour, I added an extra spoonful of honey.  I would only add 2 tablespoons in future.  Not only is the ice cream soft but it tastes more of honey than strawberries.

So the ice cream is not perfect but it is better than my first attempt last year.  Without eggs in the equation, I am quite happy to experiment, especially when it is so hot.  I am less happy to experiment with my camera but that is a necessary evil.  I am all thumbs with it right now.  You may notice this in some of the photos.  I am also very nervous about cameras and accidents.  But as I heard on the radio twice lately - you have to live life.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
This time last year: Hotel Lincoln: genial gastropub
This time two years ago: Christmas Nut Roast in Scotland
This time three years ago: Tree, Tarts and Punch
This time four years ago: SHF #38 Christmas Pudding

Strawberry ice cream with agar
From Vikki Leng's A Vegetarian Feast
makes about 1 litre

1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup castor sugar
2 tsp agar powder
2 cup milk
250g punnet of strawberries, hulled
2 tbsp honey
3/4 cup (225g) pouring cream

Heat apple juice, castor sugar and agar powder in a small saucepan until they boil (mine had a lot of froth when it boiled).  Reduce heat and simmer.  Let sit for about 2-5 minutes.  I found after 5 minutes that mine coated the spoon a bit like a jam that is starting to set.

Blend milk, strawberries and honey in the food processor.  While motor is still running, drizzle in apple juice mixture.  Leave to set and then blend in the cream.  After 30 minutes (before adding the cream), mine had set enough that when I added the cream it just sat on top of the mixture.

Tip mixture into plastic tub - allowing a bit of space for ice cream to expand when it freezes.  I had to turn up my freezer to full blast because it was still soft in the middle even after 24 hours.  Maybe it was because I used 3 tbsp of honey and if it is reduced to 2 tbsp it might freeze a little more.

NOTES: Vikki Leng suggests substituting greek yoghurt for cream.  I will try this next time because I found the cream quite heavy.  I served my ice cream with a bitter chocolate sauce (50g of 70% dark chocolate and a few spoonfuls - ie the rest of a 300ml tub - of cream melted together in the microwave - probably enough for 4).

On the Stereo:
Christmas is a Coming: Bing Crosby
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Friday, 16 December 2011

Vegetarian Christmas Recipes - menu planning ideas

 
When I decided to put together a list of Christmas food ideas, I was surprised at how many I have posted on my blog.  I have tried to narrow down this list to represent the essence of Christmas to me.  Christmas dinner in my family has always been a hunk of protein in the centre with vegetables and gravy, followed by a rich pudding and then mince pies and chocolate.  My experience of Christmas comes from an Anglo-Celtic tradition.

Christmas food for me means winter food (chestnuts, cranberries, potatoes), decadence (nuts, fancy cheeses, chocolate).  It is not the sort of light food you might fancy in the heat of an Australian summer.  However we usually eat more summery food around Christmas here so I have been able to include some lighter recipes too.  This page will be updated as I post more Christmas recipes.  More recipes can be found in my index.

Starters

    Soup

    Salads

      Main Course

      On the Side

      Dessert

      Drinks

      Baking
      New Year

        Leftover ideas for nut roast or haggis

          You might also like to check out my Christmas gifts posts.
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          Thursday, 15 December 2011

          Buttermilk bread

          Do you like my new Christmas tea towel?  It made me feel better that I didn't quite get the shaping and slashing right.  They have never been my strengths when it comes to baking bread.  Yet for all that, the bread was delicious.  It is a Buttermilk Bread that looked gorgeous and professional on Wendy's Wee bit of Cooking blog.  Well at least my tea towel looks gorgeous!

          Despite this bread not being perfect and despite my intentions of trying it again, I am posting it as too many of these sort of recipes fall by the wayside and never get posted.  I am planning to make rocky road soon and wished I had posted my disaster batch earlier this year to remember what I did wrong (I probably just used homemade marshmallow - that wont be repeated).

          I am also posting this bread because it tasted so amazing when warm out of the oven.  I had to exercise great self control to stop at two pieces of bread.  It was so soft and crusty with a lovely mild flavour.  Wendy compared it to sourdough but I think it had a far softer and delicate crumb than the sturdy texture of sourdough loaves that I love, yet incredibly moreish.  The knead-a-few-minutes-and-rest-five-minutes was a bit of a hassle - especially when Sylvia woke from her nap crying.  In fact I kept forgetting the time and finally set the timer for each rise.

           
          I enjoyed having it for breakfast with peanut butter.  So it is only fitting that I send it to Krithi who has chosen Bread as the theme for the Breakfast Club in December.  I am also sending this bread to Susan of Wild Yeast for YeastSpotting.

          I have lots more to say but I am feeling terribly behind at the moment with Christmas looming large.  I have presents to wrap, cards to write and a blog index to update and I would really just like to go to bed.  I have some more Christmas posts to share and hope to squeeze them in between a work Christmas party, a birthday party, tree decorating, plus more baking, over the next few days.

          Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
          This time last year: Carols, Camels and Pate
          This time two years ago: The Last Drop - cosy pub grub
          This time three years ago: Lentil Loaf with Chutney
          This time four years ago: Unctuous and Silky Silverbeet Gratin

          Buttermilk Bread
          From A Wee Bit of Cooking

          200ml warm water
          1 tsp dry active yeast
          150 ml buttermilk
          500g strong bread flour
          1 tsp sugar
          1 tsp salt
          Olive oil
          A little extra flour
          • Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large bowl and set aside until slightly frothy (around 10 minutes).
          • Add buttermilk and then stir in flour, salt, and sugar until it comes together into a wet dough.  Let rest for 5 mins.
          • Use your hands to smear a little olive oil onto your work surface.  I found I needed a little oil on my hands as well as on the bench.  Knead dough on oiled work surface for a couple of minutes.  Rest dough on work surface for 5 minutes.  Knead again.  Rest 5 minutes.  Knead again.  The kneading and the oiled surface should make it a lovely smooth texture.
          • Scrape out mixing bowl and place dough in it.  Cover with a (dry?) teatowel and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes until doubled in sized.  Knead the dough for a couple of minutes again and place back in the bowl and leave covered for another 30 minutes.
          • Dust a baking tray with with cornmeal (or flour if you don’t have cornmeal).  Place dough onto work surface and pull into a flattish rectangular shape.  Roll dough up lengthways and tuck the ends underneath.   (I didn't quite get the hang of this.)  Place seam side down and cover with dry tea towel.  Leave to double in size for about 30 minutes.
          • Meanwhile, heat your oven to 200 C (I did 220 C) with a cake tin of water in the bottom.  The water will steam your oven to help to steam the oven..   When oven reaches the right temperature place a cake tin of hot water in the bottom of the oven.  Leave for 10 mins to let the oven get steamy.
          • Dust the risen dough with flour (I tried cornmeal and it just rolled off).  Use a serrated knife to make 3 slits across the top of the loaf.  (I didn't get the hang of this either. - I think I made mine too deep and I sprinkled more cornmeal after sprinkling even though I knew it was a bad idea.)  Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown.
          • Cool on a rack for an hour or so before eating. 
          On the stereo:
          The Best of Christmas: James Last
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          Tuesday, 13 December 2011

          Gifts in a Jar, Christmas quicklinks and Melbourne Christmas

          Bing said it best: "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."  Christmas baking is underway.  We have three advent calendars on the go (see below).  Presents sitting in a corner of a the loungeroom.  That may sound organised.  Yet half the presents we have wrapped so far were accidentally wrapped in birthday wrapping paper.  We also missed the carols service on Saturday due to the thunderstorms.  We were disappointed but I felt badly for the organisers.

          Last year I did a post on gift ideas and decided I would do so again this year.  I've posted some recipes that are either tooth achingly sweet or fun on a stick or even slightly healthy.  There are so many gift ideas in the blogosphere that I decided on a theme for some ideas from other blogs.  Gifts in a jar.  They appeal because the packaging is sorted, even if it is breakable.

          I've also taken the opportunity to share some Christmas photos. You may wonder about Christmas in Australia where our nights are too long for light displays and the blazing sun is no place for snowmen, winter woollies and hot ovens.  On the weekend, we had a lovely dinner of festive fingers and Christmas pudding at Miss Marples Tearoom.  It is decorated traditionally (see top photo) as is the above Christmas tree in the Royal Arcade.  We even have lots of traditional Christmas brick-a-brack in shops such as Tealeaves.  But at the end of the post I have some photos of a less traditional and more Aussie Christmas on the streets of Melbourne.

          I am sending the top photo to Jacqueline and Lisa's No Croutons Required event.  The theme this month is festive photo.

          Ten gift ideas from Green Gourmet Giraffe:

          Ten blogger ideas for gifts in a jar:

          Christmas quicklinks

          Christmas in the streets of Melbourne:

          Here are some photos I have taken over the last week or so in Melbourne:

          Popular in recent years have been flags for Christmas decorations.  Actually flags are popular for any event.  They aren't very Christmassy, are they?

          I am more of a fan of these new hanging decorations that look great against the green trees that line Swanston Street in the city.  As for the Christmas window displays, there are very few of the cosy snow and santa hats type.  Here is a selection of non-traditional shop window displays.

          Kooky!

          Colourful!

          And my favourite!  Santa in a t-shirt serving up a pudding from a pizza oven to Rudoph.  This is the quirky type of Aussie Christmas scene that amuses and pleases me.  (Mankoushe in East Brunswick)

          Lastly to prove that it is possible to create great Christmas traditions in Australia, here are the Myer Christmas Windows that have been displayed with a different theme each year since 1956.  I loved them as a child and now take Sylvia along.  Even if it is our own pop idol, Guy Sebastian, singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town.  Bring back Bing!
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          Sunday, 11 December 2011

          CC Chesapeake tempeh cakes for carols

          Last weekend we went to an outdoor Christmas Carols service.  I started making Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes for the picnic while Sylvia slept.  It is so lovely cooking with life is peaceful.  Then she woke and my parents appeared and it was a mad rush to get our things together.  It felt like a miracle we got there but we did.

          When Sylvia woke I had been rolling the burgers into balls and had dirty hands.  She took one look and advised, "if you wash your hands under water they will be clean," having experimented with just such washing at the sink quite a lot.  She watched in horror as I started to grill the tempeh cakes and a huge flame erupted on one of them.  I like to spray grill burgers with oil and grill them (ie broil them if you live in America).  The sprays seem to emit a gas that is very flammable when it comes to the grill.  Usually I am more careful.

          Then my mum and dad arrived.  My dad helped to dismantle Sylvia's rejected cot to take away.  My mum was feeling under the weather but hates to stand idle so she did the dishes.  (I tried to dissuade her, honestly.)

          Mum and dad then came to the carols with us.  We got there just as Santa Claus arrived.  Sylvia enjoyed seeing him.  Luckily for us, she was not so interested in joining the long queue to sit on his lap.  Dad queued for sausages instead but found there were none to be had.  He made do with a Chesapeake tempeh cake.  I can't claim he was overly excited.  Yet they were very acceptable for vegan fishcakes with tempeh and nori. 

          We also had the smoky red pepper hummus, vegies, rice crackers, popcorn, tim tams, cherries and marzipan tart.  Unfortunately, when it was time for a cuppa tea, my mum discovered that the thermos was no longer working.  It was a disappointment because it was such a cool evening.  The carols were great, however, with a few different community choirs.

          The Chesapeake tempeh cakes were great picnic food.  In fact I preferred them at room temperature rather than straight off the grill.  I enjoyed the crispy breadcrumb interior when hot but they were a bit soft inside.  Cooled, they were firmer and the flavours were more prominent. 

          After carols (as the rain poured down and we were thankful the washing was in) E and I discussed how best to eat the tempeh cakes.  E suggested tomato sauce and chips.  I had thought they would be good with a yoghurt sauce and salad.  Isa suggests a tartare-style sauce.  On the PPK comments, there are helpful suggestions of adding cauliflower to the mix or serving with avocado.  I liked them topped with smoky red pepper hummus both at the carols and at Chesterfield farm the next day.

          I made these burgers for the Cookbook Challenge theme of Seafood.  A challenge for a vegetarian blog.  But Isa noted that they were inspired by Chesapeake crabcakes, so they seemed to fit the theme.  As I have never eaten crabcakes, I couldn't say how the compare but I enjoyed them.  I am also sending them to Couscous and Consciousness for the Cookbook Sunday event, which, like the Cookbook Challenge, encourages bloggers to use their cookbooks.

          Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
          This time last year: Buns, soup and crunchie in yaz's kitchen
          This time two years ago: Edinburgh Castle: Queen Anne Cafe
          This time three years ago: Festive Shortbread
          This time four years ago: How green was my mole?

          Chesapeake tempeh cakes
          Adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan Brunch - posted on PPK
          makes about 12

          300g packet of tempeh
          1 cup water
          1 tbsp olive oil
          1 tbsp soy sauce
          1 bay leaf
          1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
          1 sheet nori, finely chopped
          1 spring onion, finely chopped
          3 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
          1 tbsp seeded mustard
          1 tbsp red wine vinegar
          2 heaped tsp chilli paste
          3/4 tsp ground ginger
          1/2 tsp dried oregano
          good pinch salt
          lots of freshly ground black pepper
          stir in
          1 1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs (I processed week old wholemeal bread)
          1/2 cup white rice crumbs (optional)
          extra breadcrumbs for coating tempeh cakes
          oil spray for grilling

          Crumble tempeh and mix with water, olive oil, soy sauce and bay leave in a medium saucepan.  Bring to the boil and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until most of the water had evaporated - I let mine simmer another 10 or so minutes because it was still a bit watery after 15.  Let cool slightly in a large mixing bowl.  (The recipe says to make sure it is room temperature or the tempeh cakes might fall apart but I found that the tempeh cooled a lot as I got the other ingredients together.

          Add red pepper, nori, spring onion, mayonnaise, mustard, red vinegar, chilli paste, ginger, oregano, salt and pepper.  Stir into tempeh mixture.  Check seasoning.  Mine were very soft - possibly because I had used the crumbs of old bread rather than completely dried breadcrumbs that I usually use - so I added the half cup of rice crumbs in lieu of extra breadcrumbs but I recommend only adding them (or additional breadcrumbs) if the mixture needs firming up.

          Roll into 10-12 balls and flatten each into patties.  You may need to dampen your hands to stop the mixture sticking to them.  Toss patties in extra breadcrumbs (or rice crumbs - I used a mixture of wheat and rice).    Spray one side with oil and cook under the grill for 5-10 minutes or until crisp and brown.   Turn over and spray the other side.  Cook for a few minutes, or until crisp and brown.


          On the Stereo:
          The Original Christmas Album: 20 Party Christmas Crackers: Various Artists
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