Seitan Part Two

I was expressing my love for this wheat gluten called Seitan in a previous post, and since then, I found out that it is now sold at Superstore (St. James location) in a can for $2.19 for 284g. I mentioned before how you can pick this diverse product at Organza for $5.69 for 225g but the Superstore deal is by far, better. And to be honest, Organza does not always have this product in stock and that is not the case for Superstore.  I prefer to support a smaller local business but, when it comes to me working with a tight budget, unfortunately, i'll have to say that Superstore will win this battle. 

The brand is called Companion and it's called Cha'i -Pow-Yu/ Braised Gluten Tidbits which can be found in the ethnic foods aisle. 

Since it's getting a little cold around here (fall has officially shown up- hopefully it hangs around longer than spring did) last weekend, I was in the mood for soup. I discovered a wonton soup from my vegan yum yum cookbook a couple years ago and it quickly became one of my favourites. Too bad it's so labour intensive which is why when I make the wontons specifically, it occupies my entire afternoon so that I can make a little supply. Unfortunately, it only lasts M. and I two meals instead of the intended four.  

This is a vegan friendly recipe and, conveniently, you can also find vegan wonton wrappers from Superstore. 

Here are all the ingredients I needed:

Broccoli, Tamari, Dijon, Seitan (2 cans), fresh ginger, wonton wraps and hot sauce.

First, I needed to drain the 'wheat meat' and grind it up in a food processor. 

In a large sauce pan I sauteed the grounded up Seitan, cut up broccoli and fresh minced ginger.

Once the broccoli turned bright green I transferred it to a large mixing bowl and I added some tamari and mustard. With Seitan you don't need to cook it since there is nothing that technically needs to be cooked. It's a pretty quick process. 

As I mentioned before, it's quite the labour intensive process making the wontons, and it literally takes close to three hours. I always set up a little station for me when I make these so that's it's a quicker and more efficient process. The Seitan mix is shown on the top right, with some water to its left to seal the wontons and the wonton wraps to my left. There is also my laptop set up showing Gilmore Girls to keep me entertained. :)

To make the wontons, you first take a wonton wrap and put the mixture in the centre of it. By using your finger, you dip your finger in water and smear it on all sides of the wonton... 

You then make a triangle to seal the mixture inside while trying to get rid of all of the air pockets because air pockets mean that the wonton is more prone to rip open when it's in the broth.  

You then fold both corners over and press hard to seal it with more water.

Final product!

And all of its brothers and sisters... 

On to the broth...

This is a mixture of water, tamari, rice vinegar, mirin and slices of ginger simmering for 30 minutes to get the flavour of the ginger out. 

I added chopped spinach and some of the completed wontons. You know that the wontons are ready when they become transparent which takes no more than 2 minutes. The spinach will have wilted by then.

The broth is flavourful and light and perfect for when you bite into these wontons, and it hits you with intense flavours of mustard and ginger. It's delightful.  If only those little buggers didn't take almost 3 hours for 60 of them to be made (believe me your back gets soar and you need to take breaks!) M. and I would probably have this soup at least twice a week during the winter.

If you are interested in trying out this soup, go to your local library and pick up Vegan Yum Yum. I'd post it, but, you know, those pesky copyright laws!

The Big Feast

This past weekend, my neighbours hosted a potluck dinner tonight with 20 or so of their closest friends. They have hosted them before and it's always a good time. I made my sausage, green bean and rice casserole! To get the recipe, click here.

Before:

After:

Notice my casserole at the bottom left corner? To fit all the guests, my neighbours set up the table in the 2nd floor apartment building hallway and we had a family style dinner with table wine of course. 

There was quite a variety! We dined on some spanikopita, spinach salad, blue cheese with squash and pasta salad, my casserole, onion tarte and some challah!  

Look at that! Casserole almost gone!

Unfortunately, we had two events this evening, so we dined and dashed, promising a different set of friends we'd be by for dessert.

For our second party of the evening, I made some blondies from one of my favourite cookbooks:

It has an awesome selection of old school desserts/ baking such as three different types of brownies, variety of cookies, red velvet cake (my favourite), peach cobbler and chocolate cake with tons of butter, sugar and booze (optional). This book offers recipes that feature all simple ingredients which, in this case, means calories galore, just like Grandma intended. It's not a vegan friendly cookbook (bake book?) at all, but, I love how charming this book is because it's based on the philosophy of all recipes being traditional treats with a southern flare (Mr. and Mrs. Day are from Georgia) and each recipe has a witty story on how they either came up with this recipe or why it's one of their regular customers favourite. Whenever I have a craving for something sweet I turn to this book because it always delivers (unlike this book so far) with its simple-to-follow recipes and so far, I haven't found one recipe that hasn't pleased in the taste/ cravings department.

Nothing but some toasted coconut, mountains of brown sugar, chocolate chips, pecans and bourbon. They were a hit!

Overall, tons of fantastic food this past weekend and I will have more to share in the next post. 

What my neighbourhood has to offer...

It was our 4 year anniversary last week (time sure flies when you are having fun! he he), and I decided to take him out for dinner at The Grove.  The Grove is located on the corner of Grosvenor and Stafford and offers a restaurant/ pub style experience and has apparently done well enough to expand to a second location in the old Papa George's spot. (Opening soon, I think) 

Anyway...we started off with drinks (naturally).

I ordered a cucumber mint mojito and M. tried a Half Pints non-carbonated beer (can't remember the name...) and both drinks were delicious! I was really surprised on how much I enjoyed a non-carbonated beer. It's worth going back to The Grove just for that since you can only get it there apparently.  Heck, I can't even find the info on the official Half Pints Brew Co website! It's that exclusive.

For dinner I ordered the Chevre & Pequillo Pepper Croquettes which is soft goat’s cheese, roasted peppers with béchamel in a crispy panko coating. I found the texture to be the same as polenta. The croquettes on their own were good but the red sauce that came with it elevated this dish on another level. It complemented the dish perfectly. 

I also ordered the Grove salad which has blue cheese, sliced apple, candied walnuts sherry shallot vinaigrette with artisan lettuce. It was tangy and the blue cheese was nice and creamy. 

M. opted for the vegetarian burger and hand cut fries. The burger had a nice kick to it because of the spicy mayo and the black bean patty was also very delicious. M. liked it more than Market Burger's black bean patty. 

Overall, a lovely and filling dinner. 

To see what else they offer visit http://www.the-grove.ca/

It also happened to be my mothers birthday last weekend and so M. and I had brunch with her at Mise last Saturday which is located on the corner of Corydon and Lilac. I didn't even know Mise offered brunch but my mother has suggested it and since it was her birthday... I guess I can't argue. Either way, I love how these restaurants are walking distance from me. 

My mother ordered... 

The Mise special breakfast! 

It had sauteed mushrooms, bacon, cheddar cheese, shirred egg yolks and savoury meringue baked in flaky pastry, served with wild rice has and fresh fruit.  This picture really doesn't do the breakfast justice of how beautiful it was.  I was really impressed and unfortunately there was not a veggie option but I want to learn how to make a meringue like that!

Look how tall it is!

M. ordered...

Poached eggs with baguette, fruit and hash browns. 

I ordered...

Veggie eggs benedict topped with a spinach puree and there were even grilled red peppers, zucchini and eggplant on top of a home made english muffin. It was incredible. I was not expecting to receive grilled vegetable like that. It was all very tasty, especially the hash browns. The potatoes seem to have been dipped in a waffle badder and then fried so not only were you eating fried potatoes but also chunks of waffle batter. What more could you ask for?

All of us thoroughly enjoyed our savoury breakfasts and despite the higher than normal prices such as $12.95 for my eggs benedict (the meat option was $15.95) or $15.95 for the special breakfast, I would go back in a heartbeat. The only odd thing about our breakfast was that we were the only customers at 11am on a Saturday. I really hope that this is not a sign that brunch will be off the table in the future at Mise. Highly recommend this if you're near the Corydon area. 

Here are some interior shots:

This place really does have a cool industrial like vibe. Check them out at http://www.miserestaurant.com/.

A way to use up some broccoli

A friend forwarded me this recipe on Facebook:

CHEESY QUINOA AND BROCCOLI PATTIES
*Makes 6*

YOU WILL NEED:
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
5 large broccoli florets
1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup shredded cheese
1 large egg
Salt and Pepper for seasoning
Olive oil for cooking


DIRECTIONS:

1. First, cook your quinoa according to the directions on the packaging. I cooked mine by combining 1/2 cup of quinoa with 1 cup of boiling water, then letting it come to a boil, and simmering, covered for about 15 minutes. Once the quinoa has absorbed all the water (this shouldn't take longer than 15 minutes), put it on a plate and let it cool completely.

2. Next, saute your diced onion until it's soft and translucent. Set aside and let cool completely. Cook your broccoli until it has softened a little bit, then let it cool as well. Once the broccoli has cooled completely, dice it into small pieces.

3. Now that you have everything ready, in a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together, leaving the egg until the end. Mix well so you have a smooth, wet mixture that will allow you to make patties that will stick together.

4. Heat some olive oil in a pan, and make your patties. I made each using 1/4 cup of the mixture. Just make a ball out of the mixture, and squash it down a little bit. Cook each patty for about 7 - 8 minutes on each side on medium heat. You want the patty to develop a crust, but not to burn, so watch them carefully. Let cool for a couple of minutes before eating.

This recipe is very simple and if you have some broccoli on the verge of expiration (like I did) you should try it.

I didn't use water as the recipe suggested since the mixture was quite wet already. Also, I think flour would have held the patties together better than the egg. Not sure why the cheesy comment is in the title of the recipe... didn't really taste the cheese. Either way, the patties fried and fried food is always good! The patties were a creative way to eat broccoli for one meal and I would make this recipe again.

Chez Cora Experience

Do you ever go to a restaurant and your meal (or neighbours meal) is so fantastic that you try and figure out how to replicate it as soon as you get home?

I went to Cora's for lunch with my family a couple weeks ago and I forgot how delicious (and presentable) their food can be! I have not had a bad experience in the past but the odd time that I have made out to the french corner of our city to indulge in the treats they serve, I can always depend on the 30-45 minute wait to be seated and then another 30-45 minute wait to get the food.

While everyone else around the table chose french toast, crepes and eggs benedict I opted to try for some fruit... a star fruit breakfast perhaps...

Strawberry and blueberries mixed in a cream cheese and yogurt madness creation topped with granola has everyone around me salivating. I wasn't prepared to share. The presentation alone was gorgeous and I was too afraid to dig because I didn't want to disrupt this creation. The photos really don't do it any justice.  It was delightful and the berries tasted fresh and it was extremely filling. I probably met the Canadian Food Guide criteria for daily fruit intake by 4 or 5 servings too much!

My mother ordered a vegetable skillet. There were hash browns topped with an assortment of veggies and topped with a sunny side up egg. It looked incredible and that is what inspired my dinner for that evening. 

I had to create my own recipe. I decided to use sweet potatoes since I picked some up from Superstore earlier in the week. It's also a complex carb - bonus!

 

Yup, I had to buy the largest one I can find.

I cut up the entire oversized sweet potato in chunks and placed them in a pot of boiling water.

I started on my veggies which included carrots, cauliflower, carrots and corn that were cut up bite size. For seasoning, I used some all-seasoning that enhanced the flavour of the vegetables. I didn't cook them all the way through since I wanted the veggies to remain crunchy.

Once the potatoes were cooked, I drained the excess water and put about half of the quantity that it was cooked into a frying pan with butter and salt and pepper. 

Once the potatoes were browning, I put them into two separate casserole dishes with the intent to freeze the smaller casserole dish. 

I topped the sweet potato with the cooked veggies. 

Remember that generous amount of cheese I was sold from La Grotta Market that I blogged about during my Mac n' Cheese post? There was some left over smoked gouda, parmesan and jack cheddar over top of the veggies.

At 350 degrees in the oven for 20 minutes, voila!

The veggies were still crunchy and with the cheese, especially eating this mix right out of the oven was really great. It was a flavour explosion with great texture! M. ended up eating the little casserole dish too. No left overs... which is a good sign!

Open Farm Day

Wondering how to spend your day tomorrow?

For more information, click here. 

Happy Anniversary!

Look what M. bought me for our anniversary...

Finally! After drooling over this cookbook for the past two months it's mine! ALL MINE!

I can't wait to try out the boudin sausage and chicken and dumplings recipes!

I am treating M. to some eats at a pub in the neighbourhood tonight. 

Perfect day.