|
|
|
VEGAN FEAST SUBSCRIBERS' COOKING AND RECIPE FORUM>
Yummy sandwich and more
Søren
268 posts
May 25, 2008
5:36 AM
|
Hi Bryanna, Debbie, Julie, Brenda and everyone else,
Bryanna, thanks for posting all the photos of the delish food from New York!
It made me want to post a few pics of a fabulous meal we had the other day, an Eggplant Mozzarella sandwich with asparagus wrapped in veg bacon - credited to the very inspiring blog What the hell does a vegan eat anyway
Mine may not look exactly as glossy but I think the pics came out good.
I finally gave in to Bjarne's cravings and let him buy us a deep frier even though I've been reminding him we once had one and never used it plus it got sticky and disgusting - but the new one we got is really cool, and everything can go into the dishwasher so it's easy to keep clean. And after I used it first time to make falafels in it (deepfrier, not dishwasher!), I had to give in and admit I'd forgotten how sinfully delicious deepfried food can be ...
So back to the sandwich. First the eggplant which I sliced in thick slices but since we were starving after a long bike ride in the forest, I cheated with the usual salt-and-let-draw thing and cooked it briefly in salted water, only until it got soft but not mushy. I quickly padded the slices dry, breaded half of them them in flour, curdled soymilk and breadcrumbs and then right into the deepfrier while I coated the remaining slices and repeated.
While the second batch was frying, I quickly sliced some bread while I commanded Bjarne to grate some Sheese Mozzarella. The sandwiches were then assembled with homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella and fresh basil leaves, and then quickly fried in a grill skillet.
Meanwhile I quickly threw a bunch of green asparagus (my favourite vegetable of all) into the microwave and fried a few slices of veg bacon which our supermarket has just started having! Then assembled everything as you can see:
Doesn't look too bad, eh? We sat outdoor with a glass of red wine and really enjoyed this one.
Bryanna asked for some photos of our new house so here are some:
I should quickly add that this picture is from March - here's the front of the house
taken just a few days ago. We are currently having a company turning all the earth piles into a garden ...
Et voilà, that's me and the view from our terrace.
Oh, and Julie, I tried your much-raved-about sausage recipe! Made myself a batch of your spicy Italian sausages and some milder mozzarella sausages (to use the remaining chunk of Sheese). I may have skimped a bit on the foil 'cause you'd probably want them to be sealed fairly tightly. Some of my links had popped open during the steaming and they seemed to get wet. For my next batch I'm thinking of trying to add some agar powder to see if they will firm up even better. But a great invention, I can see why it's become so popular. Thank you for sharing this!
Søren
Last Edited on 25-May-2008 6:05 AM
|
JulieH
428 posts
May 25, 2008
10:18 AM
|
Hi Soren!
What a beautiful home you two built! Just gorgeous. You must be so happy there.
I agree with you about the deep fryer. We have a little one, and it's so much fun to pull out on occasion. Sometimes there's nothing like a little fried food. Your eggplant sandwiches look devine!
I'm glad you like the sausages. The texture on them is actually pretty firm, so I don't know about adding agar to it. I would definitely try them again wrapping them pretty tightly in the foil. You can even let them steam a little longer to make sure they're very firm, 45 minutes if desired. They will also get firmer after refrigerating overnight.
Congratulations on the new home!
Julie
|
Bryanna
Owner/Moderator
2355 posts
May 25, 2008
10:50 AM
|
Oh, Søren, you are making me so hungry! And I'm trying to be disciplined! But I do agree about frying-- I am very careful to avoid it most of the time, but there are just times when a little frying makes all the difference! if you do it right, and drain the food well, it should not really be terribly greasy.
You house is beautiful! I love the color! Congratulations on all your hard work (both of you!), and I wish you happiness in your lovely new home!
|
Søren
269 posts
May 25, 2008
2:22 PM
|
Hi Julie and Bryanna, thank you for the compliments. It's a big difference to move from a capital city (Copenhagen, Denmark) into the Swedish forests - but we both love it up here, especially now when everything's so vibrant green everywhere, and so do our two cats! Plus we have good neighbours (there are two more houses on the tiny road), no prejudice against two gays moving in, and everyone is willing to help and look after the house and cats when we're away, and obviously we do the same in return.
Julie, I let the sausages cool before I did anything with them. They held up nicely on the grill but I'll add a little extra gluten next time then. From what I could tell from your video, yours did look pretty firm. I've found, also with Bryanna's seitan recipes, that they often need a little more gluten to firm up, but trying your recipe for the first time, I didn't want to experiment too much. I guess the brands can vary a bit. Vital Wheat Gluten isn't available anywhere, neither in Sweden nor Denmark, so I get mine from the UK.
I just ordered 15 bags and discovered the experiration date was already September '08 ... do you think that really matters? I don't really believe it turns bad. What's your opinions? Could I freeze it? Or should I just cook up batches of all Bryanna's seitan recipes and fill up the freezer :-D
Speaking of which, I am wanting to make that Seitan Arista Roast soon from one of the recent newsletter. I hope you are a little less stressed now Bryanna and can ease down a bit - and I believe you've left us with enough recipes to get by for quite a while ...
Last Edited on 25-May-2008 2:26 PM
|
JulieH
429 posts
May 25, 2008
3:15 PM
|
Hi Soren,
I think the gluten will be fine. Maybe refrigerate it if you're worried, but I've never had it go bad. I even had some for several years that was fine.
I bet you're right about the different brands of gluten. You could always add a little less water to the recipe too, which might help, or just add a little more gluten. I think the wrapping of them is important too, because when I make sausage patties I don't wrap them (but still steam them), and they are much softer than the rolled sausages. Anyways, worth a try.
Glad to hear that you have such nice neighbors.
Julie
|
ChristineS
29 posts
May 26, 2008
12:51 AM
|
Hi Soren, Your home is beautiful and the photos of the eggplant look so good.
I also just recently made Julie's sausage and I love it. Mine came out just like Julie's did in her instructional video. I did wrap them good and tight though. They are really quick and easy.
Christine
|
Brenda W.
215 posts
May 27, 2008
3:22 AM
|
Søren,
Thanks for the pictures!! Your house is beautiful. Both in design, as well as the color!! We too moved from the city to the woods about 9 years ago and still feel like we're "on vacation" every day! And ... it is great to now have a face to put with your posts!!
|
Debbie
1500 posts
May 27, 2008
9:31 AM
|
Soren,
What a lovely home in a lovely area! I like the color of your house. I would love to come and visit you! Your eggplant sandwich looks so yummy! My hubby likes deep fried food too. Drive me crazy too since I tend to avoid it. But it does taste yummy, anything deep fried. Sigh!
I made Julie's spicy sausage, too, and it works great if you wrap it tightly with the foil. So there is no need to add the agar, in my opinion.
Boy, you are handsome, if I may say so...he he....took you so long to post a picture of yourself. :-)
----------
Debbie
Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~ Harriet Van Horne
|
Søren
270 posts
May 28, 2008
12:50 AM
|
Hi Christine, Brenda and Debbie, and thank you for your lovely comments about the house. Red is a very traditional color for wooden houses here.
Brenda, it's funny that you also moved into the country and your description of it being as if you're on holiday is also the feeling we have.
Debbie, oh you! making me blush ;-) Unfortunately a vegan diet is no cure against a hair limit that constantly seems to crawl backwards ...
Thanks for passing on your own experiences with Julie's sausages, it seems that it's vital for the texture to fully seal them so they won't be directly exposed to the steam. I definitely want to try the recipe again.
|
|
|
