Gluten Free Frozen Margarita Pie with Tequila- Vegan Mofo Day 30

I really wanted to finish vegan mofo with something original and awesome and I think this easily fits the bill.

Toby gets the credit for finding this recipe after I stomped around the house saying that we need to make something amazing for the last day of vegan mofo last night. I found plenty of recipes but they all required a visit to Radical Grocery or the Asian supermarket and both were closed by this stage. This recipe actually comes from the examiner and rocks. Am I getting to old to say 'rocks'? It's salty, sweet, sour, alcoholic, creamy, crunchy all in one!

We used Eskal brand gluten free pretzels which I am addicted to. I hated them when I first went gluten free but now prefer them to gluteny pretzels. We also halved the recipe which made enough for four small ramekins and used less tequila but next time will use the full amount. Part of me thought I might hate this but it was fantastic and I think I am hooked on the idea of salty pretzels in desserts!

Gluten Free Vegan Frozen Margarita Pie with Tequila

 For the crust:

- 2 ½ cups of small salted pretzels, finely crushed (use a rolling pin or put them in the food processor)

- ½ cup vegan margarine, melted

- 1 tbsp sugar

For the pie filling:

- 6 cups So Good vanilla nondairy frozen dessert

- ¼ cup tequila

- 3 tbsp frozen margarita mix (or limeade mix) ( I just used more lime juice mixed with a teaspoon of icing sugar)

- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice

Directions for Frozen Vegan Margarita Pie

To make the crust, stir together the crushed pretzels, sugar, and melted margarine. Press into the bottom and against the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Freeze the crust for at least an hour. We only put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes but it didn't seem to matter.

For the filling, let the vegan ice cream soften so that it is easy to work with. Stir in the tequila, margarita mix, and lime juice and blend everything very well. (You can do this in a food processor if you like.) Spoon into the frozen pretzel crust, cover with waxed paper, and freeze until firm.

Let the pie stand for a few minutes before serving so it’s easy to slice.

 

Vegan Mofo has been a blast, we have managed to blog every day for a month, that's 27 posts by me and 3 from Toby, but who's counting? It has forced us to be way more creative and try more recipes than we regularly do and has been a nice distraction when other things have been stressful. But I now look forward to having a few days off blogging, having slightly more time on my hands, checking out some of the other mofo blogs that I haven't already and making tired old favourites that we have previously blogged about.

Pepper and Chive Crusted Cashew Cheese-Vegan Mofo Day 29

I like the look of the pepper crusted cashew cheese from vegetarian times but the whole idea of waiting 2 days to make something is crazy to me. So instead I opted for the Affairs of living version which in comparison only takes 4 hours waiting time.

Pepper-Crusted Cashew Cheese with Herbs 
yield: 2-3 cheese wheels, or roughly 1 1/2 cups cheese
If you don't tolerate pepper, feel free to garnish with minced herbs instead. It will still be delicious and beautiful!  See note at end of recipe.

1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp vitamin C crystals (or 2-3 tsp lemon juice)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black peppercorns
optional: 1 tsp chickpea miso 

water, as needed
2 Tbsp minced fresh herbs (I used chives) 

2 tsp coarsely ground fresh black peppercorns
fresh chive flowers 

Place cashews in 4 cups of water and let soak for 4 hours.  Drain and rinse well.  Place in a food processor fitted with the "S" blade or a high powered blender (like a Vitamix). Process until coarsely ground, then scrape sides and garlic powder, vitamin C crystals, salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and miso, and continue to process until smooth, adding water by the 1/2 teaspoon as necessary for it to come together.  Once smooth, add fresh herbs and additional salt/pepper to taste, and pulse a few times to incorporate.  
Use the cheese as is as a tasty spread, or to make lovely little wheels continue to the next step!
Line a 1/2 or 1/3 cup measuring cup with plastic wrap, smoothing the bottom as much as possible, and leaving at least 2 inches of plastic wrap around the edges.  If you use a 1/2 cup measure, you will end up with 2 wheels and some leftover cheese. If you use a 1/3 cup measure, you can get 4 slightly smaller wheels.  You could also form one big ball (or a bunch of smaller ones) and just roll it in peppercorns.  Whatever, the choice is up to you.  :)
Once lined, sprinkle in black pepper to fully coat bottom of cup, then pack cashew "cheese" firmly into the cup.  Lift gently on edges of plastic wrap and pull out wheel, wrap well, and refrigerate until ready to serve, or at least 1 hour. It will become firmer as it cools.  When ready to serve, gently peel off plastic wrap and place on a plate. If desired, garnish with chive flowers.
HERB GARNISH VARIATION: to make pepper-free, omit pepper from the recipe, and use 2-3 tsp of finely minced fresh herbs in the plastic lined measuring cups.  Your cheese wheel will have a lovely green top!
ROASTED GARLIC VARIATION: omit garlic powder and add 3-4 roasted garlic cloves while processing.  So tasty!

I used a combination of black pepper and plenty of chives to coat the wheels.  I would have loved to use chickpea miso, has anyone seen it in Australia? I increased the lemon juice and salt. I also pulled them out of the fridge before they had completely set because I am impatient!

And then mixed the rest of the cashew cheese with even more chives into a spread.

While it is not going to convince anyone that it is cheese, it is delicious in it's own creamy tangy way. I was impressed with how smooth it became too. It would make a great picnic snack.

What's your favourite nut cheese?

Fudge Babies and Sandwiches- Vegan Mofo Day 28

I stumbled Chocolate Covered Katie's Fudge Babies and was intrigued, exactly how good could cocoa powder, dates and cashews combined taste?

Katie has various flavours on her blog, so I made a double batch of the hot chocolate fudge babies so I could experiment with a couple.

Hot Chocolate fudge babies

• 30 grams cashews
• 80 grams dates
• 5 grams (1T) dark cocoa powder ( i used regular cocoa powder)

1. Chop/blend all the ingredients, using a food processor, Magic Bullet, etc. 
2. Roll into cutey-pie little balls or make sandwiches.  (Use plastic wrap if you need to.)

First I just followed the standard recipe above and used bunny cookie cutters to cut out bunnies.

Then I added some peanut butter and made sandwiches. They did look cute but I felt like the date flavour kind of overpowered the other flavours.

So then I made two types of balls or 'babies' as she calls them.  First I added choc chips and simply rolled into balls. For the last batch I put the mixture with the choc chips back into the food processor and added as sprinkling of cinnamon and golden syrup. The last batch was by far my favourite. The cinnamon and golden syrup watered down the date flavour a little and the choc chips were cut down a little which meant that there was more chocolate bits. It just resulted in a such a nice combination. I think maple syrup would have been good too but we didn't have any. They are definitely a lot healthier than other desserts I normally make and they do remind me of lara bars. I think these would make a great traveling snack too.

Vegan Vanilla Slice- Vegan Mofo Day 27

Vanilla Slice is a bit of an Australian classic, although according to Wikipedia it's a version of french dessert called Mille-feuille. It's one of those desserts that you would think would be difficult to veganise but as Cindy has shown it's possible. Toby insisted that he make it again for his colleagues and of course he set aside a small amount for us too. Yes you read correctly, Toby made dessert, not me!  It was just as delicious as Cindy's and his omni colleagues loved it too. He didn't have the same issue with the custard initially, because he sifted the cornflour and custard powder prior to heating it. I'm so glad that I have gotten to eat this 3 times while eating gluten. I wonder if a gluten free version is possible with g/f puff pastry and g/f custard powder.


Vegan Vanilla Slice -original recipe from IVU, a Melbourne woman actually posted it.

• 2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry
• 1 cup castor sugar
• 3/4 cup fine cornflour
• 1/2 cup custard powder
• 1 litre fortified soymilk
• 60g milk-free margarine
• 2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Bake pastry sheets at 200C for about six minutes or till lightly browned.
When cool, flatten sheets with hands and set aside. 2. Combine sugar, cornflour, custard powder in saucepan and gradually stir in milk, stir until smooth. 
3. Add margarine, stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens.(It will be very very thick, almost like paste)

4. Remove from heat and stir in essence.
5. Place one sheet of pastry in 23cm slab tin (we used a 20cm square tin which was the perfect size).

6. Pour custard over pastry sheet in slab tin.

Even out and place other pastry sheet on top.
Press down firmly.
Refrigerate until cool.



Icing

• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp milk-free margarine
• pulp from one passion fruit (We copied Cindy and used 3)
• 1 tsp water

Mix ingredients to a workable paste.

Spread onto slices with a knife dipped in hot water.
 

 

Return to fridge to set before cutting. Done!

Mankoushe - Vegan Mofo Day 26

Falafel is an amazing fast food.  It is delicious, cheap and relatively healthy. I like it simple: three or four falafel balls wrapped in pita bread with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and tahini.  I also prefer the the Egyptian fava beans falafel from Half Moon cafe to the Lebanese style ones.

Couple of months ago, I read about a new Lebanese bakery called Mankoushe on Mess+Noise . Before I had a chance to blog about it, Cindy and Michael had already given them raving reviews, not once but twice.

My friend's band YIS eat there every week before band practice.  Bassist Bronwyn (a fellow Egyptian falafel fan and ex-chef) gave their food two thumbs up and said "the zaatar bread was almost as good as my grandmother's".  You can also read frontman Simon's review on their blog.

We went on Saturday night with Lisa, she got the Za'atar extra - Za'atar with salad and mint on top. It's not as oily as the usual one, it's wholesome and the mint makes it refreshing.

We also ordered the stretched Za'atar.  It was similar to normal Za'atar but much crispier.

K and I shared the spinach triangle which is the best spinach triangle I have ever had. The dough is superior to places like A1 and Tabet's.

The falafel roll was fantastic and filling. Their falafel balls are chunkier than normal Lebanese falafel and almost as good as Half Moon's. The pita bread is made to order just like all their baked goods.  Their falafel rolls are massive and "normal" people, unlike me, can only eat half of them. 

 

Mankoushe is like the cool little cousin of Tabet's and A1.  We were served by the young Lebanese hipster in a stylish op-shop outfit and they played great music on the stereo. They were playing The Rolling Stone's Sympathy for the Devil and Bob Dylan's Ballad Of A Thin Man really loud when we were there. 

Mankoushe

Address: 325 Lygon Street, East Brunswick

Tel: 9078 9223

Chocolate Candy Cane Ice Cream- Vegan Mofo Day 25

I got really excited the other day when I saw vegan candy canes at Coles. I love candy canes because they are edible decorations which I think is incredibly cool. I made candy cane cookies for a xmas potluck a few years ago and so was thinking I need to find something else to do with them.

I stood in the supermarket with my phone and searched for vegan candy cane ice cream recipes, vegan ice cream paradise blog popped up straight away.  If you haven't already checked out her incredible blog I strongly recommend it. She hasn't posted as regularly for a few years due to health reasons but has so many great looking vegan ice cream recipes which everyone can access for free. I've also made and enjoyed the blueberry 'cheesecake' ice cream from her blog before.

2 c. soy creamer (or any non-dairy milk- I used soy milk)
1 c. soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
¾ c. sugar
1½ c. chocolate chips (i used good quality bitter dark chocolate chips)
2 T. arrowroot
1 t. vanilla extract (i forgot this)
2 t. peppermint extract (i only used 1 teaspoon)
1 c. chopped candy canes (I used about 12 candy canes which was a little under a cup)

Mix ¼ cup of soy milk with the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and set aside.

Mix the soy creamer, soy milk, sugar, and chocolate chips together in a saucepan. Heat gently until the chocolate melts, then bring to a boil. When the mixture has just started to boil, take off the heat and immediately stir in the arrowroot slurry. This should immediately cause the liquid to thicken (not a lot, but a noticeable amount; it will be thicker when it cools).

Add the vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Add the chopped candy canes in the last 5 minutes of freezing.

I wasn't sure what would happen to the texture of the candy canes when frozen, but they appeared to maintain their nice crunchy texture which is great because I prefer some crunchy bits in ice cream. I halved the amount of peppermint extract because last time I made peppermint choc chip ice cream, I thought 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract was enough but the chocolate flavour is incredibly rich and slightly bitter which overpowers the peppermint flavour in the ice cream base. I think it really works though because the candy canes have a strong peppermint flavour which provides a nice contrast of flavours and textures. This was super delicious so I will have to make it again closer to xmas time.

Chinese Style 'Steak' Sauce with Tofu and Noodles- Vegan Mofo Day 24

Toby made another dish using his Chinese style 'steak' sauce that he veganised and posted about last time, this time though he used tofu instead of tempeh and didn't coat it with flour.

I think it tasted even better with tofu but then I am not really a great fan of tempeh.  Toby disagrees and preferred it with tempeh as it has a more meaty texture and flavour. So go ahead and make both and help us decide which one is better :-)

I'm not sure if it worth posting the recipe but since the last recipe was a bit messy I thought I would try to tidy it up.This dish is gluten free as long as the worcestershire and soy sauce is gluten free.

• 2 packet of firm tofu 
• 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce (ketchup for you Americans)
• 2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce (make sure it's vegan)
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of corn flour (mixed with 3 tablespoons of water)
• a few drops of sesame oil
• a few dashes of soy sauce
• salt and pepper
• oil

1. Cut tofu into thin slices.
2. Marinade tofu in soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil.
3. In the mean time fry onions and remove from the pan/wok just before they turn brown. Put aside.
4. Mix tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tablespoon sugar and rice wine vinegar together in a bowl.
5. Add cooked onions and sauce to the tofu and gently stir fry it on low/medium heat. 
6. Add in corn flour mixture and cook til the sauce thickens.
7. Serve with noodles and stirfried greens.