Macy-I'm-sporting-a-fabulous-comb-Grey, Wordless Wednesday 31st July 2013

We've not had one like that in the coop before, it's quite spectacular.

Butternut Squash, Leek and Spinach Lasagne with Vegan Cheese Sauce

The vegan sour cream experiment continues... sour cream sussed, the next "I need to get it sorted" was a good "cheese" sauce for lasagne.  This is based on a recipe from Jamie Oliver and a "cheezy" sauce recipe.  I would post a picture showing you just how good it looked but we were far too busy demolishing it to stop and pose for photos.  It went down well.

The recipe goes something like this:

Chop 1kg butternust squash into 3" cubes, put on a baking tray with a good sprinkle of EVOO, salt and pepper and over bake at 190C for an hour.  Set aside.

Slice 4 leeks, add to a pan with a tbsp of EVOO and saute (with the lid on) for 10 minutes till soft.  Add 200gms spinach and stir in till wilted.  Add tofu cheese sauce (see below) and set aside.

Cheat and buy a large jar of Dolmio Lasagne Sauce!  And fresh lasagne sheets; they cook better than dry in this recipe.

Tofu Cheese Sauce:
1/2 small Red Onion
1 medium clove Garlic
1/2 tbsp EVOO
1 pkt Silken Tofu (firm)
Soya Milk
1 tbsp Arrowroot
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Turmeric
Black Pepper

I blitzed the onion and garlic in the blender till fine and the added all the other ingredients except the milk. This was then blitzed till smooth and enough milk added at the end to thin it to a single cream consistency.  All but 4-6 tbsps of the sauce was then stirred into the leek and spinach mixture.

Building the lasagne:
Spread 1/4 of the Dolmio sauce on the base of the pasta dish.  Lay the first layer of pasta sheets down.  Cover these with 1/3 of the leek and spinach mix and then press 1/3 of the squash pieces into it.  Pour 1/4 of the Dolmio sauce over this and then add a second layer of pasta.  Repeat this process and when you reach the third layer of pasta pour the last of the Dolmio sauce on top and the remaining cheese sauce.  Mix these two gently together and grate a little black pepper on top.

Oven bake, with tin foil on top for 15 minutes (20 if the pasta is dried) at 190C and a further 15 (20) minutes with the foil removed.

Enjoy.  We did!

Vegan Sour Cream, part 2

Yes, were sour cream in concerned, there can be a part 2... in my world there could easily be a parts 3, 4 and 5 if you let me!  The reason for part two is simple, I have perfected the recipe and it is this:

1 package of Mori Nu Silken Tofu (firm)
2 tbsp EVOO
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Salt

Blend all till smooth and enjoy!

It looks like this:

and works great in twice-baked potato with spring onions.

See.

Sour Cream, especially the utterly guilt free kind, rocks!

The Corset... done!

It's been a funny old week, lots of stuff going on and nothing worth talking about... mainly just a blur of a poorly Finn, sleepless nights, general chaos and very confusing (just this unit please) homework.  In and amongst it all I found a little peace in finishing the corset - a task made all the more interesting by the fact that the foot pedal of my sewing machine has broken and stopping and starting it now needs to be done by unplugging the pedal and putting it back in again.  Very disconcerting, it made sewing a straight line almost impossible; a new pedal may be nearly £50 but it will be money well spent!

But enough, none of it is the point.  The point is the corset is complete, finally.  Complete. I'm going to savour the moment, it's been far too long a time in coming.

Yes, I need different coloured laces and further decoration is still to be sorted out, but I have a corset.  Phew.

Vegan Sour Cream/Lemon Cheesecake Recipe.. and a good Chilli to try too

The lovely boyf commented the other day that he misses cooking now that its mainly a meat-free affair.   I know what he means, cooking no-meat, no-dairy (especially the no-dairy part) is a whole new frontier, especially when it comes to "veganising" some of the former regulars like, as in this example, sour cream.  He is a great cook too, and I had forgotten, until I was snuggled on the sofa under a pile of pooches catching up on the episode of Hannibal that I fell asleep during, how nice it is to savour the smells of someone cooking for you.

Earlier in the day I'd popped into our local garden centre, which is having a Chilli Festival, and picked up some Habaneros, thinking of a chilli, based on this recipe that I had found.  It was easy to veganise (tofu beef and HP/soy sauce for the Worcester) and looked good and tasty, so I left him to it and crawled onto the sofa :o)

Just before the snuggling though (not to be completely left out of the kitchen!) I made some tofu sour cream based on this recipe by the Vegan Epicurean.  It caught my eye because of the lemon and we certainly loved the taste, light and fresh (I initially used 2tsps lemon juice and ¼ large lemon zest) with the chilli which was in itself amazing; full of flavour and with a lovely kick, it is a new firm favourite.  

The next day, however, the leftover sour cream was a revelation.  It had thickened in the fridge overnight into a wonderfully smooth mousse with a delicate lemony taste.  I added another tsp each of lemon and agave and just over another ¼ of the lemon zest, let it sit a second night in the fridge and I have a no-bake lemon cheesecake filling.  It is glorious... rich, creamy, lemony and just how I remember lemon cheesecakes to be!  I have tried many a vegan cheesecake recipe and none have come close to this.   

There wasn't much left, and it didn't last long, but I know the perfect people to try it out on properly... the lovely Mr and Mrs B will be getting an invite to dinner soon.  Chilli and Cheesecake.  Yum, yum, yum.