Macaroni cheese pies, sick cat and olympics

It has been an interesting week.  After a flat tyre last week, this week has brought the drama of a sick cat, the fun of the Olympic games and the comfort of macaroni and cheese pies.

Let me start with Zinc our cat not being well.  She is 15 years old which is quite elderly for a cat and recently was diagnosed with kidney disease.  Last week she was sneezing and this week she has been off her food and bleeding from the nose.  Yesterday I took her to the vet, fearing the worst, and found she had a cold.  Which seems minor but she is still struggling to eat.  We could barely syringe a few drops of yoghurt into her tonight.  It is a worry!  (Update: Zinc died just a few days after this post.)

[To be clear: Zinc does not wear winter woollens when she has a cold.  It is an old photo I found which seemed fitting.  Sylvia  had draped something green over her and it looked like a scarf!]

But back to the macaroni cheese pies.  I have had Shaheen's macaroni cheese pies recipe bookmarked for ages.  Then when we were in Scotland in March, E bought some from the supermarket.  They were such great comfort food.  I returned determined to make them myself.  (While they are popular in Scotland, they are harder to find in Australia.)

So when I made them a few months ago, they were not quite right.  I was out of butter or margarine and could only use oil in the roux.  The crusty hot water pastry was too thick and using muffin tins meant there was not enough filling.  The oven turned itself off.  Don't get me wrong!  We loved them but I knew I could improve them.

A few months later I tried again.  This time I tried veganising the pastry I made for homity pies by using aquafaba instead of egg.  It worked wonderfully.  Then I added a bit of aquafaba into the cheese sauce and it was such a good cheese sauce.  Coincidence?  I loved these so much that I spent the next day wondering how long was reasonable to wait until I had one.  It is worth noting that while the cheese sauce was incredible creamy and glossy when first made, it thickened and lost its gloss after a while but that was fine in the pies.  I really loved the melted cheese and slightly cooked edges of pasta on top of the pies.

Dinner was late.  I gave Sylvia some macaroni cheese to eat without waiting for it to cook in pastry.  We ate our pies in front of the telly so we could watch some Olympics.  We don't watch much sport in our house but we have watched a bit of the Rio Olympics.  I have particularly enjoyed seeing some men's gymnastics.  E really loved seeing some soccer.  It was quite amusing that he was yelling at the tv in a way we don't usually hear!  I have seen a few events where the commentators suggest anything but a gold is a disappointment but it is interesting to see that the competitors are just delighted to get any Olympic medal.  Sylvia has asked me why we only see Australian competitors being interviews! 

Strangely enough when I made the first pies, Sylvia loved the filling but not keen on base, but for this batch she couldn't get enough of the pastry but not so interested in the filling.  I loved one at room temperature for lunch but am not sure I am ready to waste them in Sylvia's lunchbox.

On the first day we had these pies, I served them with some spinach and cherry tomatoes.  On the second day we went a bit more fancy.  I made some miso harissa roasted pumpkin.  While it baked I worked on an eggplant side dish that was a bit of experimenting.  I roasted some olive oil drizzled eggplant cubes until soft, added red capsicum, cherry tomatoes and chickpeas.  I used some lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and white pepper and roasted until everything softened.  It was really nice and if I can make it again with some more accurate notes I will write it up.

I was especially pleased with my shortcrust pastry as it was my first time using my new blender blow attachment for pastry.  It worked really well.

We really loved these pies.  They disappeared quickly and we would have welcomed more.  I suspect there will be requests for me to make these again soon.

I am sending this to Pasta Please and Meat Free Mondays.

More pasta bakes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Green lasagne with broccoli and rocket pesto
Neofolk buckwheat pasta bake (gf)
Pumpkin and tofu ricotta cannelloni (v)
Tempeh and pumpkin lasagne (v)  
Spaghetti pie (v)
Vegetarian enchilada pasta bake (v)

Macaroni cheese pies
Makes 8 pies

1 batch shortcrust pastry - see below
200g macaroni
3 tbsp butter or margarine
3 tbsp wholemeal flour
1 1/2 cup milk (I used soy)
1/4 cup aqua faba
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp seeded mustard
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
150g extra tasty cheese
grated and added to sauce
50g extra cheese on top

Put on macaronni to cook in salted water according to the packet instructions.  (About 8 minutes for my pasta.)

Meanwhile, fry butter and flour a few minutes until it smells cooked and usually will change colour slightly (ie make a roux).  Slowly add milk and aquafaba, stirring constantly until liquid is incorporated into roux.  Add salt, mustard and paprika and 150g grated cheese.  Stir in macaroni once cooked.

Cut pastry into eight pieces, gently knead each into a ball and roll out each to fit 8 greased small pie tins. (Mine were about 10cm in diameter.)  Fill pie with macaroni cheese.  Sprinkle with extra 50g grated cheese.  Bake at 220 C for 20 minutes.

Vegan shortcrust pastry*
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe

125g/4oz plain flour, plus extra for rolling
125g/4oz wholemeal flour
150g/5oz butter
2-3 tbsp aquafaba (chickpea brine)

Rub butter into flours and then mix in aquafaba.  This can be done in the food processor.  Knead briefly to form a round, wrap in clingfilm and refridgerate for about 30 minutes.

*NOTES - I also made these with a half batch of crusty hot water pastry in muffin tins - which was ok but I tried to press it into muffin tins and it was too thick and too low a ratio of macaroni cheese to pastry.  I think it might work in the bigger tins if rolled out thinner but it may need longer than the shortcrust pastry in the oven.

On the Stereo:
As Time Goes By: Brian Ferry

Truffled cashew cheese for Sage tempeh sausage wraps using Spelt flatbreads

I don't often have my brother over to lunch so I was delighted that, when we were organising a recent lunch, he was keen to cook with me.  The initial idea was to make spelt wraps because Paul was after spelt recipes.  Once I know he was on board to help out, I went all out on a fancypants wrap of cashew cream cheese, lavender fried shallots, sage tempeh patties and baby spinach.  Inspired by Street Vegan.  If only every lunch time was so much fun and so delicious!

I had already tried two of the components of our meal before.  The first was the truffle cashew cheese.  I bought truffle oil from an airport when visiting Paris earlier this year.   I will never eat anything with truffle oil again without thinking of that trip. 

At Orly Airport we had bought a few last purchases including the truffle oil.  Then began the queuing to get through customs.  We were told that it was ok to take liquids through customs as we stood in queue.  Someone else told us to leave the lengthy queue use the automatic passport scanner but when we got there we were told that we should have registered and Sylvia was not able to use it as she was not yet 8 years old.  Finally, when I walked through the body scanner, I saw an officer was speaking disapprovingly in French and holding up my truffle oil at the same time that Sylvia was nervous at going through the scanner after me.  Then we waited for ages in a cramped waiting area for a late plane.  Sylvia fondly remembers that she was first on that plane!

It took me ages to work out what to do with the truffle oil.  Then I found truffle cashew cheese in Adam Sobel's Street Vegan which I borrowed from Faye of Veganopoulous.  And because it wasn't quite right for me I found a similar recipe online which suited.  I loved it.  The truffle oil makes it rich but in a good way.   It was great in dips and sandwiches.  Above is a ciabatta with truffle cashew cheese, avocado and grated carrot.

Later I made some of the Sage Tempeh Sausage Patties from Street Vegan.  I was intrigued at the idea of blending up tempeh with seasonings and baking them to make sausage patties.  It worked pretty well though I felt that the flavour of the fennel seeds were a bit intense.  We all enjoyed them.  Sylvia even ate one or two.

I also decided to stick with my regular sourdough flatbread recipe and substitute spelt for wheat flour rather than trying another online spelt flatbread recipe.  This was a good decision as I tried the latter recipe on another day and found those flatbreads to be dry and disappointing.

By the time that Paul arrived, though I had quite a bit of cooking to do, most of it was something I had done before.  Street Vegan is a great cookbook with lots of really interesting reflections on food truck culture and the history of the Cinnamon Snail Food Truck where a lot of the food in the book is sold.  The recipes are not for beginners but are great to make for a special occasion or when there is team cooking.

Paul is quite a fearless cook and happy to divvy up the tasks.  I started on the cashew cheese and he got the lavender shallots underway.  Then he started on the sage tempeh sausage patties while I started to fry up the flatbreads.

The original recipe in Street Vegan for the shallots was Lavender Roasted Shallots.  But my oven is so slow when it comes to roasting that I thought frying them might work better.  We fried them gently in the roasting marinade while we prepared other components of the meal.  I reduced the lavender and felt it was enough for me.

I really liked the Sage Tempeh Sausage Patties.  The ones I made with Paul had a better flavour.  The raw mixture was quite sweet but it was less noticeable once cooked.  (Hence my 2-3 tbsp maple syrup in the below recipe to remind me to start with 2 tbsp and see if it was enough next time.)  Blending seasoned tempeh is brilliant in imitating sausage meat.  However we forgot the wheatgerm when doing them with Paul and they were a bit soft as a result.

I really loved the truffle cashew cheese.  It is soft and smooth like a creamy dip.  It is a cheese for spreading rather than grating or slicing.  I was happy that there seemed to lots of this for another day.  Just the soft of vegan cheese spread I love to have in the fridge.

And everything tasted brilliant when wrapped in a soft spelt flatbread.  I was really pleased how the spelt flour worked in my usual recipe.  It wasn't completely spelt as there is white flour in my sourdough starter.  But it was the sort of spelt recipe that Paul had been seeking.

Finally everything was ready and the table set.  We sat down and stuffed our flatbreads and were well and truly satisfied with an excellent lunch.  The patties were served in sliders in the book but it was the flatbreads that I had originally planned to make.  I would love to try more dishes from Street Vegan but many dishes seem quite complex like this and most days I just don't have time.  However I am very pleased to have made an approximation of one of the amazing recipes in the book.

I am sending this to Jacqueline for Meat Free Mondays, Kimmy and Mary Ellen for Healthy Vegan Fridays and Kirsty, Mandy and Eb for Cook Blog Share.

More tempeh recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Chesapeake tempeh cakes (v) 
Pumpkin and kale soup with tempeh crumbles (gf, v)
Tamarind Tempeh with Noodles (v)
Tempeh and corn soup (gf, v)
Tempeh and pumpkin lasagne (v)
Watercourse Foods tempeh burger (gf,v)

Sage Tempeh Sausage Wraps
see below for component recipes

Truffle cashew cheese
Spelt flatbreads
Tempeh sausage patties
Lavender roasted shallots
Baby spinach

Spread truffle cashew cheese over the middle of a flatbread, pile with sausage patties, shallots and spinach.  Roll up and devour!

Truffle cashew cheese
Adapted from Nutrition Stripped

1 cup raw cashews (soaked for 1hr or more)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp truffle oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cloves garlic
2-3 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp sea salt

Blend until smooth.  Keeps for quite a few days in fridge in sealed container.

Spelt Flatbreads
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe
Makes 4

*250g sourdough starter (100% hydration - straight from fridge without feeding)
*200g spelt flour
50g filtered water
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients and knead briefly until you have a smooth firm ball of dough.  Cut into four.  Roll out each portion as thin as possible (about a 0.5cm thick) on a lightly floured board .

Heat a heavy based non-stick frypan over a high heat.  Place a round of dough onto the pan.  Heat for a few minutes or until it balloons up and brown spots appear on the other side.  Flip over, flatten with an eggflip or spatula and fry another minute or two until you have some brown spots on the other side.  I tend to brush out the flour from the pan (with a kitchen towel) before frying the next one so it isn't covered in burnt flour.  Best eaten on day of frying.

Tempeh sausages patties
Adapted from Street Vegan

300g packet of tempeh
3 tbsp white miso
1/4 cup chopped sage leaves
2-3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp chilli paste
1/3 cup wheatgerm

Blend everything together to form a sticky but fairly thick mixture.  (We did this using a stick blender in a jug.)  Using damp hands shape small handfuls into patties..  Place on lined oven tray.  Bake for 20-30 min at 200 C until slightly browned but still quite soft.  (My own is quite slow so I did not worry but Street Vegan warned not to dry them out.)

Lavender fried shallots
Adapted from Street Vegan

1 tsp dried edible lavender flowers
2 tbsp seeded mustard
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp agave nectar
2 tsp liquid smoke
1 tbsp tamari
3 tbsp olive oil
7 shallots

Cover shallots with boiling water to loosen the skin then peel and slice lengthways.  (Discard soaking water.)  In a medium bowl mix lavender, mustard, vinegar, agave, liquid smoke, tamari and olive oil.  Fry in large heavy based nonstick frypan for 20-30 minutes over medium heat or until shallots soft and caramelised.

On the stereo:
Marvin the Album: Frente

TaxiBoat: Northcote restaurant

Back in December my book group read The Dressmaker and organised a group trip to see the movie at the Westgarth Cinema (formerly the Valhalla) followed by a banquet at TaxiBoat.  I had been wary of a banquet with a group of omnivores but I was impressed at how the restaurant dealt with my order for a vegetarian option.

First up was the Tofu San Choi Bao (everyone else had chicken).  We were all given an individual serving.  This was a fresh and light start to the meal but very tasty.  The filling included tofu, mushrooms, carrots and spring onions.

The second part of the entree was the Dim Sum which came in bamboo steamers to hand around, with the staff noting which had the vegetarian options.  These dumplings were delicious with I think two different vegetarian fillings.  I am sure one was Mushroom but cannot remember the other.  According to the menu they are homemade at TaxiBoat and indeed they tasted superior to the run-of-the-mill dumplings.

Next came a series of main course dishes that were served in large sharing bowls alongside big bowls of jasmine rice.  Above is the Green Curry.  It was packed with grilled tofu, potato, grilled eggplant, mushroom, bok choy.  The curried coconut sauce was tasty but not too spicy with some basil and mint garnish.  I enjoyed the generous amount of sauce over the rice.

The Fried Tofu with Mixed Greens in Oyster Sauce was a nice simple dish.  I am not sure if there was a vegetarian oyster sauce in my option but it was rather light.  The fried tofu, wilted greens and lots of grated carrot and bean sprouts were very welcome with the other dishes of rich creamy sauce and nutty noodles.

My favourite dish was the Pad Thai.  It is a dish that I love but don't eat often enough.  The noodles were great with tofu, bok choy, bean sprouts, egg and peanuts.  I would have loved more peanuts but I guess that uneven distribution is one of the downsides of sharing dishes.  On the upside, I really enjoying being able to share dishes with the group who were happy to eat a mixture of meat and vegetarian dishes.

At the end of the night I felt that I had been served a delicious meal that was in no way inferior to the meat dishes.  One of the group was gluten free and was also happy with her meal.  The banquet cost $38 per head and was very good value.  The service was prompt and pleasant and we all left in good spirits.

TaxiBoat
94 High Street, Northcote
03 94827882
Open Tues - Sun: 5.30pm - late
http://taxiboat.com.au/

In My Kitchen - August 2016

By August, I get a little tired of winter.  But it is not the weather getting me down this week.  It is the flat tyre and the medical appointments and all the weeds in the garden.  Hang on, yes the buckets of rain earlier in the week are to blame for the weeds!

I have had a few bursts of tidying up recently.  I decided to tidy up all the papers and spills under our fridge magnets.  (Check out how messy - and out of focus - the fridge was a few years ago.)  Above you can see a close up of some of my feminist magnets that make me smile.  My favourite is probably still the one that says "if it's a man's world, let him clean it".  I also like the one that reads "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" because it reminds me of being a child and trying to work out what this meant on my sister's badge.

Here is a view of the whole fridge magnet collection.  Well most of it, not including the freebie magnets we have picked up at businesses.  Those are around the other side of the fridge.

A favourite purchase recently is this Jamie Oliver baking dish.  I have had my eye on it for a while and once it came down in price I bought one.  I have used it a few times and it looks gorgeous and cleans up nicely.

I snapped a picture of my compost at the community run organisation where I drop off my fruit and veg scraps if I can get organised.  (Not always but I do it regularly.)  It struck me as pretty with all the different coloured scraps.

I was curious about Veganaise when I saw a jar at Smith & Deli because I have often seen it mentioned but never tasted it.  It is pretty good, and probably the best commercial vegan mayo I had tried.  Though I think I prefer my home made vegan mayonnaise.  I would make it more but I just don't use mayonnaise much.  It took me a while to break open this jar.

The sandwich beside the Veganaise is one that I loved recently: home made sourdough bread, veganaise, cranberry sauce, freshly grilled leftover besan fritatta (I added nutritional yeast, lemon juice and tahini), grated carrot, sliced cooked beetroot, rocket and avocado.  So so so good.

I also tried a kale aioli with the Veganaise.  It was a recipe in a magazine which blended kale, mayonnaise and garlic.  I served it with a Fry's falafel burger with some fried potatoes and rocket on the side.

We have had a few breaks lately.  Sylvia snapped her glasses in half.  That is what happens when you keep bending them!  Fortunately we have a second pair from when I thought she had lost her glasses and they were in her bag all along.

I have also had a run of bad luck with blenders.  My Froothie blender's blade fell out.  Luckily it was under warranty.  I have received a blade replacement kit but not found time to work out how to put it in my blender.  I know we live in a digital world but it would be nice to have instructions or a url for instructions in the box.

Sometime before this, the bowl attachment of my hand held blender ceased to work.  I have put my food processor away in a cupboard in hope I could get by without it.  However the bowl attachment to my hand held blender was too small.

So I finally bought a hand held blender (Braun Multiquick 7 Hand Blender 777) that has a larger bowl attachment.  I found it on special at a local department store last month.  I finally got around to using the bowl attachment and have used the stick blender a few times.  I just need to test some pastry in it and then I am hoping I can say goodbye to my food processor.

I am trying to incorporate more bowl meals into my diet.  This one was made some weeks ago but I think I had leftover fried purple cabble.  I roasted potatoes, pumpkin, and zucchini and boiled some sprouts.  It was served with overnight sourdough bread and a Japanese sesame dressing.  The dressing had looked really tasty but was quite mild so I added lemon juice, garlic and salt to give it the sort of bite I like in other tahini dressings I have made.

We had a family lunch for my brother's birthday a while back.  My mum made a roast dinner and we had a fine spread of desserts.  Mum made pavlova and Guinness chocolate cake, my sister in law made cute blue iced cupcakes and I made grubs.  I decided to make them because 1) I was time poor, 2) I had a packet of gluten free tea biscuits that needed using up, 3) we had a packet of Marie biscuits that Sylvia had "accidentally" opened, and 4) who doesn't love condensed milk, cocoa, biscuit crumbs and coconut!!!

Dropping off goods at an op shop (charity shop) always runs the risk of bringing more home.  I could not resist these gorgeous glasses which  were quite pricey for an op shop at $3 each but I love the colours and the etching.  Sylvia has decided that green is her favourite colour suddenly.  (Lots of fun finding clothes in a wardrobe of pink and blue.)  So she has taken possession of the green glass when she can.

Continuing with Sylvia's embrace of green, she had a yen to make a green pasta necklace.  I had thought I needed to cook the pasta in green dyed water and then dry it.  Fortunately I checked online first and found I just needed to put pasta and a little food dye in a ziplock bag and rub it all over.  So much easier!

More bowl food.  This was made on a day when I had little time or inspiration and put together what I could from the fridge.  It turned out rather well.  Fried onion, mushroom and tomato, leftover rice, carrot sticks, rocket, beetroot and a big dollop of hummus.

Finally, despite life being busy, I am delighted that The Age newspaper has reintroduced the Samurai Sudoku to The Good Weekend magazine on Saturdays.  I rarely get through a whole one but I have been enjoying doing them when I can.  On the above occasion it was a salad sandwich for lunch with some overnight sourdough bread.  It is a perfect way to relax and makes me say long live hard copy newspapers!

Maureen is taking a break from hosting the In My Kitchen event but you will find bloggers still posting peeks into their kitchen.  She is hoping she will be back next month.

Open House Melbourne 2016 - South Melbourne buildings

Yesterday was a lovely sunny winter day.  Perfect for strolling around buildings in South Melbourne as part of the Open House Melbourne.  The last few years we have seen quite a few building in the CBD so this year my dad, my brother, Sylvia and I went to the other side of the river to see some places far less familiar to me.

The first building, the South Melbourne Town Hall (above), was quite familiar to my dad.  Sort of.  He worked there over 40 years ago but it has been a long time since he was last there.  He remembered Hector Crawford's love of the auditorium, that the World Wat II honour roll used to be by the front door and that he once climbed the tower to see where the man put up the flag.  It is perhaps not surprising that where his office once was is now almost unrecognisable.

Since local government amalgamations, the use of the 1880 heritage-listed building has changed considerably.  It is now home to the Australian National Academy of Music and this was quite present in posters and grand pianos as we walked through the open rooms.  Our first port of call was the auditorium where a medical students orchestra was rehearsing.  It was lovely to sit and listen to the lull and swell of the music.  No doubt this grand room has seen many balls and performers in its time.

The building retains the grandeur of wooden panelled corridors and a Council Chamber with an impressive Mayor's chair.  It is no longer used but is fun to sit there and give some orders. Around the room were photos of former Mayor's.

This room housed a grand piano and a harpsichord.  I think it might have been called the Mayor's room.  The self guided tour didn't have much information once we passed the information officer at the front telling us which rooms we were visiting.  I would have liked more information but resources must be thin on the ground with all the buildings offered at Open House weekend..

When we arrived at our next building, The Australian Tapestry Workshop, I meant to take a photo of the wonderful bright and beautiful main room with the light coming in from the windows on the heritage saw tooth ceiling.  (The building was formerly a drapers and then a knitting mill.)  However I got distracted by all the brightly coloured wools, the kids activities and some familiar faces. 

I do have a photo of the intricate metal lacework on this supporting post.

And here are the lovely assortment of colourful threads available for kids to have a go at weaving on a simple cardboard loom.  Sylvia really enjoyed this activity.

More wool, more colour.

It was fascinating to see the many spools that were used to making intricate patterns in the weaving.  The weaver was working on this huge work-in-progress.

I love the tangle of colours in this tapestry.  You can see that it is huge if you look at the wool below for perspecctive.

We also thought about doing a tour but wanted to move onwards.  I met an acquaintance who was surprised we were headed to lunch at 2.30pm.  That's how we roll sometimes when visiting buildings.  So we headed to the Clarendon Street Grill'd for a burger and chips.  Then we walked past South Melbourne Markets and I wished we had time to stop.

Our final buildings were the Portable Iron Houses in Coventry Street.  These 19th Century corrugated iron houses were budget flat pack houses brought from catalogues in colonial times and shipped to Australia from the UK.  These days they are managed by the National Trust.

We arrived just in time to see the rooms before the houses were closed for the day.  The buildings were rescued and restored by the National Trust, so there is not much furniture but it is quite interesting to see what could be made from flatpack.

The upstairs was closed, according to the sign, due to the volume of traffic as the houses are fragile.  They are open by the National Trust on the first Sunday of each month and I meant to ask if the upstairs are open to the public then.

The original house on the site is entered from the street as though it is just a regular house but out the back beyond a well kept garden are two other iron houses which have been rescued from other sites.  I was quite shocked at the disrepair of the Abercrombie House (below).  The National Trust are seeking funds to restore it.  I'd love to see it repaired but I also think it shows quite a lot about the restoration process to see a house in the condition that it was in when the Trust acquired it.

Then it was time to head home.  I was tired by the time I got home and defrosted what I thought was tomato pasta sauce.  It was gravy.  I had some ravioli with a quick sauce of a spoonful each of gravy, tomato paste and hummus.  It wasn't bad for home made fast food.  Then we mixed the passionfruit from the South Melbourne Market with apple and strawberry to make a simple fruit salad.

So that is Open House Melbourne over for another year.  I love looking in the buildings but it is so overwhelming to choose buildings.  It was sad that this year the pre-booked tours cost $5 per person which is against the open nature of the weekend.  Apparently this is because lots of tours had no-shows.  I guess quite a few people over-estimate what they can do.  Then there are those like me who don't have final numbers until on the day and don't get organised to book tours ahead.  Maybe next year I will get myself organised.  Fortunately there is a lot to see without pre-booking!

To see more of the buildings I have visited in previous years, look up Open House Melbourne in my Reviews and Reflections page.