Veganomicon

[Redveg993]

Writing in May 2008 I am now waiting for the damn thing to be published. My bookseller (Blackwell On-line) originally told me that I could expect it on 104.08. At the end of the month I contacted them and was told that publication had been delayed (why I don't know) but that if the book was published in May, as expected, I should receive my copy by mid-June. There really has been so much hype about Vegonomicon that I was really looking forward to getting my copy and the disappointment was a bit of an anticlimax. There are some recipes from it online in "Post Punk Kitchen". The chickpea cutlets with sauce were really yummy! Oh, and I'm really pleased to hear that there are lots of potato recipes. I love them, but they have had quite a bad nutritional press lately, and cannot even count towards 5-a-day. Has anyone anything good to say about spuds?

[fondducoeur]

I am making the chickpea cutlets tomorrow and was wondering what has worked better for you all: baking or frying them. They sound delicious so I'm excited. I'm making the lemony roasted potatoes as well, which I have made a few times and love:)

[missbettie]

i've only tried frying them, i'd like to try baking just because it would omit the oil for the most part...but i didn't have an oven for a long time...but you know fried food is ALWAYS nummy!

[fondducoeur]

Thanks, that's what I probably will end up doing, at least the first time I make them.

[Stine]

ive done both, and I wouls say both is very good... but frying them makes the outside a bit more crispy

[pavotrouge]

I always bake them but that's because I don't like fried seitan in general.

[Aurore]

i tried the pita crips (my cat loves Garam Masala :amazed_ani: )and the quinoa sti-fry. i must thank Susan (from fatfreevegan) for her carrot hummus, i used to hate chickpeas.
judging by the way the pita crips disappeared in 5 stomachs i suppose they were appreciated ^^. my father made an approving nod at my quinoa stir-fry and even my brother ate some, which is a little miracle in itself. i got compliments :)

my chocolate cake was good but flat.

[fondducoeur]

I fried the chickpea cutlets. They were good, but my bf found them a little rubbery; I agree, but didn't really mind. I will make them again.

[Stine]

i thought that to first time I made them, but the second time they turned out fantastic

[Aurore]

i don't exactly know where to post this, but i've received the last newsletter of vegnews, and they have a picture of Terry's fridge, along with her. OMG !! she has the cutest apron !

(here's (http://vegnews.com/pdf/wiyf.pdf) a link, i hope it will work, it opens in a pdf file).

[bryzee86]

She keeps cocoa in the freezer?!

[fondducoeur]

Awww...she is adorable! And so is her kitchen:)

[Sarah_]

My refrigerator is a sad sad mess compared to hers. Though I daresay they've plumped up the area a bit as the vegetables are all artfully sticking out of the drawer and I see no jar even 1/4 of the way empty in there.
Now I wanna see her cabinets.

[bryzee86]

Am I mental?! Does anyone else keep cocoa in the freezer?

[missbettie]

i do...







just kidding. :D

[Aurore]

hmm, my mom keeps chocolate bars in the fridge during summer, but cocoa powder ?? it's sitting comfortably in the cupboard next to the flours&sugars.

[bryzee86]

Just an FYI: The broccoli polenta rocks.

[chickpea_chica]

In that picture, I swear there's a tub on the second shelf down that says FART.

EDIT: It's the beginning of the word 'earth'. Of COURSE.

[pavotrouge]

I'm thinking I'm on my way to become the cookbook outcast...

[bryzee86]

Have you not approached nomicon in a while then?

[pavotrouge]

I think I posted about it before... I don't like the book too much. Especially broccoli polenta was boring. It's just not challenging my ways of cooking (the whole book, not only the polenta).

[kuro]

I tried making the chickpea cutlets, but I thought they were awful! I can't even eat them!
They came out really rubbery and weird, it was like you might imagine fried rubber bands to be. :confused:
It was a real disappointment because it was my first time cooking with vital wheat gluten and the first recipe I tried from the book!

Maybe I made some mistake, most people on here seem to love them..

Is it possible to be using the wrong kind of vital wheat gluten? I got it from a place online called "The Flour Bin" (one of only two places in the UK I've found it).. Or maybe something else? Any ideas?

Also, is there much of a difference in texture between frying and baking the cutlets?

Got loooads of the flour left as well.. Going to have to try some other recipes, although I have been rather put off now.. Haha. But maybe I'd like just a basic setian or something. :)

Thanks to anybody who actually read all that rambling! :P

[Redveg993]

Sorry to hear about that, Kuro. I use "Harvest Direct Seitan Quick Mix" which I order from the Veganstore website. I've used this a lot in many recipes and it seems to work like a dream.

It sounds to me from your description that the chickpea cutlets were suffering from too much gluten. Are you sure that you added no more than the recipe stated? I suppose it could be possible that some gluten flours are stronger than others.

The Veganomicon chefs have a website called "Post Punk Kitchen" and I have tried several recipes, most of which have been good. However, the other day I tried a kale enchilada recipe and although I halved the amount of chili recommended the resulting dish was so hot as to be uneatable. I later made the same dish with very little chili at all and the result was quite good. I like their meal ideas, but somehow the quantities of ingredients recommended make it a bit 'hit and miss' as to the edibility of the final product.

Mine were baked. I have not tried frying them as it is possibly not the healthiest way of cooking, albeit a very delicious one.

[pavotrouge]

Hi Kuro,

(as in the Japanese "black"?)
sorry they didn't turn out for you. I've used the vital wheat gluten from The Flour Bin before and it was ok, did you make sure you used the above mentioned and not highly glutinious flour or something?

Also, you could've done something wrong with the kneading- either too long or too short.

[Kitteh]

Oh hmm... I won't be making the chickpea cutlets unless I can de-gluten them somehow.

I have had a few new cook books, incl. this one and am yet to make anything from them! Must try this weekend.