Veganomicon

[kuro]

Hey, thanks for the replies RedVeg993 and pavotrouge! They were very helpful!

I probably did do a few things wrong in the Chickpea Cutlets recipe..
I think I did add a little too much of the wheat gluten, because it got slightly compacted when I shook down the measuring jug, to level the stuff out.. Which would have made it more, I guess?
And also the kneading could have been too long, yeah.

I think I've put myself off trying that recipe again, but I made these steamed seitan sausage things yesterday and they came out pretty good!

- Kuro (yep, the Japanese for "black"!)

[pavotrouge]

Kitteh, I think a bunch of people have already de-glutenified the recipe already, just google a while and you'll see.

[missbettie]

I love the chewy texture of the cutlets...am i strange?

[kuro]

I love the chewy texture of the cutlets...am i strange?

Naah, most people seem too..
I must be the strange one! x]

[missbettie]

most people on here don't though!!! lol I think all of our taste buds are strange really. lol

[dreamqueen]

I love the chewy texture of the cutlets...am i strange?

If you're strange then so am I!

[Kitteh]

Kitteh, I think a bunch of people have already de-glutenified the recipe already, just google a while and you'll see.

Oh that's great, thanks Pavotrouge!

The first thing I made from V'con is the Caramel Penuche Frosting. It was good, I think it grew on me, esp. when eaten on a cupcake (as opposed to licked off the spoon!) The molasses taste is v.strong, I'd like to try making it with maple syrup.

[Aurore]

you should try the apple cupcakes, yum !! (although you can skip the frosting part, they're delicious without).

seeing the lonely coconut cream in the fridge, i also tried the icecream recipe and coconut-ified it, yum again !!

i usually judge a coobook by the number of recipes i've tried. i must say the veganomicon is by far my favorite.

[pavotrouge]

there are apple cupcakes in it?

man, I'm loosing control of my cookbook collection!

[Poison Ivy]

yup, if irc they're spiced, caramelised apple with the penuche frosting - and very nice they were too!

[Aurore]

yup, the caramel apple spice cupcakes, i'd kill for apple cupcakes (kidding, i'd only knock you off and run away with them ).

[Nikheil]

Pretty much everthing I've made from this book has been delicious! I also get so many ideas just from paging through it.

curried carrot dip = total awesomeness.

Other recipes I've tried with rating out of 5:

Autumn Latkes 5!
Creole Stuffed Peppers 3.5 ( but improved when I changed the recipe a bit)
Cashew Cucumber Dip 5! (Tastes like tzatziki!!!)
Rutabaga Puree 5
Curried Tofu 3.5 (a bit bland)
Smoky Grilled Tempeh 4 (only coz I don't really like tempeh!)
French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme 4
Smoky Red Peppers and Beans Gumbo 4
Chile-chocolate Mole 5!!!! (It's absolute heaven in a bowl!!!)
Lentils and Rice with Caremalized Onions - 5!! Make this as often as possible!!
Tomato and Roasted Eggplant Stew with Chickpeas 4
Pumpkin Saag 5!
Spaghetti and Beanballs 3.5 (yummy, but the beanballs totally fell apart )
Lost coconut custard pie 5!! (sun bursting through the clouds, angels singing)

[veganliv135]

ya it is quite labor intensive....
it has some great recipes though! I bought it at the local bookstore while I was visiting my huge family and made some of the recipes and it fed them all!!! so I understand what youre saying about the portion thing...
I guess left overs cant hurt anything!
I made the lemony potatoes and the chick pea cutlets last night and they were so-so. there was wayyy too much lemon juice in the potatoes and so they were quite tart and the cutlets were very chewy but good!
the one thing I like about the book is the side notes and also it tells you how long it takes to make it
cya!

[ALexiconofLove]

Mmmm, love the lemony roasted potatoes.... Maybe just cut back on the lemon next time?

[Poison Ivy]

Can someone with Veganomicon please pm me the recipe for the lemon bars....pretty, pretty please.

I have a hankering after the lemony goodness but my copy of the book is still packed away from all the building work and I can't find it

[Poison Ivy]

No need now....searched and found it online! Yay!!

[Kitteh]

Found a recipe for de-glutenised Chickpea Cutets: http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum...p?id=39458&p=2

I might try them this weekend

[pigpad]

my copy of this book arrived yesterday from amazon. I am not sure what to cook first but think it will be something savoury as I cook far too much sweet stuff.

[Kitteh]

I'm going to try making the aioli or hummus for a picnic on the weekend

[fondducoeur]

I just made the seitanic jambalaya. I was impressed with how good it came out; I'm a fan of spicy foods.

[Havoc]

I just bought this book, and I'm so excited to try out some new recipes! The moussaka with pine nut cream will be first on my list. I hope to make that this weekend. It looks to be a little labour-intensive, but it sounds like it'll be worth it.

[wildcatstrike]

i got this a few weeks ago and haven't made anything yet! in fact, i hear what other people have said about it being a bit overwhelming, hehe.. i think the more recipes you can cram in the better, but it's defo blown me away a bit! i'm so NOT into meals that take 2 hours either so those ones are out for me.

also, i don't recognise alot of the ingredients or don't know where to find them, but i'm sure i'll get round to trying some recipes soon and will no doubt fall in love with them. Isa and Terry are awesome.

[ALexiconofLove]

Mmmm, yes, the jambalaya is delish... though I don't remember thinking it was spicy.

[vava]

Oh dear disappointment reigns.

I have been looking forward for ages to cooking some more stuff from this book. I made the jelly doughnut cupcakes today and the chickpea cutlets.

The chickpea cutlets were not particularly nice in the taste department and the texture was all wrong. I think this is probably because I used Seitan mix from the vegan online shop instead of vital wheat gluten. The texture was like pulse patties like lentil burgers etc so not happy with those - threw them in the bin after trying to drown them in tomato ketchup. Didn't get any strings of gluten when kneading so probably need to try again with the vital wheat gluten.

For the jelly doughnut cupcakes it says get the cheapest jam you can so i did just that only to find that as the rest of the cake is not flavoured apart from with nutmeg the bland jam makes the cakes virtually tasteless.

American doughnuts must be nutmeg flavour i suppose. Pity cos they look fabby.

[sinarei]

I just got this book! I made the crepes for breakfast, drizzled them with lemon juice and filled them with blueberries and soy yogurt- OH MY, so good! Last week I bought some garbanzo flour that I was trying to find a use for, so it seemed like the perfect solution . I actually have never had official "crepes" before, but I thought these turned out really good and my non-vegan family loved them (in fact, they hinted repeatedly until I agreed to make them again for lunch!). I am excited to try the recipe for some savory dishes too.

[fondducoeur]

Mmmm, yes, the jambalaya is delish... though I don't remember thinking it was spicy.

I put quite a bit of cayanne in it (much more than the recipe called for I believe) and then put hot sauce on it when eating

[ALexiconofLove]

Mmm, will def have to try it that way next time....

[fondducoeur]

I made the spinach lasagna yesterday and was very impressed. Its much better than the recipe I used to use out of the student's go-vegan cookbook. I made it with cashew ricotta, added sauteed mushrooms, a double batch of the marinara sauce, and topped it with pinenut cream. My boyfriend really chowed down. I especially recommend using the cashew ricotta if any of you make this recipe, because it was delicious.

[RubyDuby]

ooh yeah, i've made that. took forever, but was delish.

[Wonderwoman]

Hi all! Has anyone made the pinenut cream, cashew ricotta or almasan a day in advance and refridgerated it? I want to make the lasagne, but seeing as it's got so many steps, I'm thinking about making the above bit a day before cooking it.

[fondducoeur]

No, but I'm sure it would be fine if its just overnight.

[Kitteh]

The lasagne sounds good, I will have to try that next

[bexi]

My mum bought me this book yesterday as a present! Aww bless her. Tis my first ever vegan cook book and I'm quite excited to try out some of the recipes. I think I'll start with the lentil and cauliflower curry because it sounds nice and not too daunting (I'm not the most experienced of cooks). Then I'm planning to try out the hot sauce glazed tempeh. I've never eaten tempeh before but I picked up a packet at the local health food shop this morning. I'd never seen them selling it before and I'm v interested to try it .

I hope my attempts at the recipes are edible...

[fondducoeur]

I have made the red lentil and cauliflower curry a couple of times and I like it a lot. Happy cooking!

[Jasmine_tea]

Guess what??? I searched this book at my library: 8 copies and no holds! Can't wait to get it in my hands---i foresee many awesome dinners with impressed omni guests!

[dreamqueen]

Guess what??? I searched this book at my library: 8 copies and no holds! Can't wait to get it in my hands---i foresee many awesome dinners with impressed omni guests!

8 copies?!!? The Calgary Veg Society must have donated those or something. In any case, "WOOT!" for you.

[Huddy]

I'm getting this book for my birthday-I'M SO EXCITED-I cant wait to start cooking!

[vava]

pineapple/ cashew/ quinoa stir fry = tasty - easy to make

[Qaxt]

I tried using the cheesy sauce out of there... it really wasn't that great. I mean, it was still edible, but I didn't like it. I far prefer the one on VeganYumYum ( http://veganyumyum.com/2007/10/mac-a...-cheeze-yeast/ ).

[bexi]

Well, I made the hot sauce glazed tempeh and didn't really know what to make of it. I think that was just because I'd never eaten tempeh before though... the texture threw me a little bit! Then last night I cooked my first ever vegan meal for (omni) guests (eek!). I did the cauliflower and lentil curry and it was amazing! Everyone wanted seconds. I also did a spinach and chickpea curry which also went down well, and I made koftas with cucumber yoghurt sauce from the fat free vegan blog - http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/06...-cucumber.html. They were delicious.

I'm definitely going to do the cauliflower curry again. It tasted creamy despite having nothing of the sort in it. Yum. This has given me some new found confidence about cooking... I always assumed that I wouldn't be able to do it.

[Flying fairy]

My copy of this book arrived yesterday. It looks really good, can't wait to try some recipes!

[cherob]

I was given this book for my birthday, but I am still new to veganism (vegan since June) and much of the book seems very daunting! Alot of American southwest-type recipes and ingredients. Adobo sauce?? I live in the backwoods of Wales so not much hope finding obscure ingredients. Tho I did read thru most of this thread and feel encouraged enough to go thru the book again and try a few things.

[pavotrouge]

that's also a problem to me, cherob, and the reason why I liked VWAV better. people in the US have a much wider range of products to choose from than we have in Europe :/

[Hobbes]

I got this book about month ago. Some of the recipes take quite long (for me) to prepare as I have tried few recipes from this book. So far I have liked the results.

I liked the first 40 or so pages about cooking and preparing diffrent veggies etc. since I'm very new to cooking with a lot of vegetables, tofu etc.

[wildcatstrike]

Ooo Hobbes! You're in Finland! A vegan mate of mine is moving to Finland and doesn't know what to expect. How is it for Vegans? (i know obviously you can get veg and fruit and grains etc everywhere but you know what i mean....)

PS - a lot of the recipes are way too long for me too. No way i'm using 2 hours of gas to cook one meal.

[Hobbes]

Ooo Hobbes! You're in Finland! A vegan mate of mine is moving to Finland and doesn't know what to expect. How is it for Vegans?

This is what I wrote to another thread about similar question:

Well, I'm not the best to answer about finnish vegan scene, since I'm very new in this.

The use of milk and and egs in foods is very popular here, and many times occasional vegetarian dishes in most restaurants include animal products.

What I have learned though, is that in Helsinki where I live, basic vegan supplies (like soy etc. milks, yoghurts and creams, tofu, etc. are quite easily available in most (at least larger) supermarkets.

There are also several shops that sell organic foods and have good selection of vegan products.

There are also few restaurants and even (atleast) one "fastfood place" that are specialized in vegan foods.

So I think that it's not very hard to be as a vegan tourist here..

"We" (I'm not a member, yet) have also Vegan Society (http://www.vegaaniliitto.fi/english.html) where you can get info about vegan stuff here if needed.

[Gray Arab]

I made the chickpea cutlets last night - with the miso gravy from VWAV - awesome!

I did have some problems cooking the cutlets. How are you cutlet lovers cooking them?

After 20 minutes in a pan on top of the stove, with just a little oil, they were hard on the outside and seemed raw on the inside, so I stuck them in the oven for 20 minutes, and they came out like little hockey pucks. They soften up when I soak them in the gravy and taste wonderful, but I really need some help in with the texture.

[dreamqueen]

I made the chickpea cutlets last night - with the miso gravy from VWAV - awesome!

I did have some problems cooking the cutlets. How are you cutlet lovers cooking them?

After 20 minutes in a pan on top of the stove, with just a little oil, they were hard on the outside and seemed raw on the inside, so I stuck them in the oven for 20 minutes, and they came out like little hockey pucks. They soften up when I soak them in the gravy and taste wonderful, but I really need some help in with the texture.

I found that for frying them, I had to work really hard to make them as thin as possible so they would cook in the middle. That meant I ended up making more patties than the recipe calls for but I liked the consistency better that way.

[threeheadedpuppy]

I got this book a while back - I haven't made too many things from it, its got to be said. The quinoa muffins were great though - not many non-vegans liked them, but I thought they were really good.
I think the thing that doesn't inspire me is the lack of pictures - I love looking through cookbooks with pretty pictures, that make me want to make that particular thing. Yeah I know I could look at the photos on the PPK, but a big glossy picture is way better.

[wildcatstrike]

I agree, threeheadedpuppy. There some some nice shots in the photos section but it'd be cool to have more. Especially since i've never heard of a lot of the types of meals/ingredients before. Mind you, VWAV has no pictures and i've found that book great.

I must make it my mission to make something from VCON soon though. STILL haven't tried anything out yet and i've had it months now!!!!!