Another VWAV Reciper Review
I just picked up my copy of VWAV from the post office yesterday and immediately ran home and read it from front to back! I based my entire grocery list off of afforable-sounding dishes:
Seitan
Seitan-Portobello Stroganoff
Cold Udon with Peanut Sauce and Seitan
Spinach Potato Knishes
Tempeh Bacon "TLTs"
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
I had to buy a buttload of spices, run all over town trying to find vital wheat gluten, and find the lowest price on portobello mushrooms ($6.99/pound!!!!)--but it was SO worth it!
So far I have made the lemon poppyseed muffins and the seitan. I will use the seitan (recipe makes 6 cups) for the stroganoff and the udon this week. The lemon poppyseed muffins did not use any egg replacer, but rather soy yogurt and soy milk. They taste great (not too sweet), nice and soft, and are are perfect with jam on them. If you like to eat muffins plain, I would add a few tablespoons more sugar. They have a really nice texture, but are softer than a traditional muffin. I was a bit worried since the soy yogurt I used (Olympic Soyogurt) tasted really beany. Thankfully they turned out with a nice lemony taste.
As for the seitan, I am making my own seitan from now on! It was super easy, cheap, and fast. It's just mix, knead, chop into pieces, and simmer for an hour. The taste and texture is great. They have a nice flavour (garlic, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, lemon), but smell pretty strong during cooking. My boyfriend wouldn't go near the kitchen while the seitan was simmering! The texture is chewy and meaty. Anyway, it keeps in the fridge for a week and is much cheaper than the pre-made stuff. Isa also suggests some variations for Asian and Italian flavours.
I'll post once I try the rest of the recipes! I am so glad I bought this book! Thanks guys!
Thanks for the lemon muffin review! I can't wait to hear more reviews!!
8)
in minneapolis mn I loved the mud pie and the aveda salon's cafe. :) here in florida there is the garden cafe which is novel and unique but not as homey and pleasing as the ones in minnesota :P
I made the Seitan Portobello Stroganoff today and had mixed results. The sauce was DELICIOUS, but somehow turned out very bitter at the end. The book said to make sure not to boil once the soymilk was added, since it would make the sauce bitter. I was VERY CAREFUL not to let it boil!! It still ended up tasting very bitter. The bitter taste seemed to be coming from the mushrooms...hmmm.
Any thoughts?
The homemade seitan was excellent, great taste and texture. I'm trying out the Cold Udon with Peanut Sauce and Seitan this week--let you know how it turns out.
Thanks for the review! Yes, the seitan recipe is great.
Last night I made the BBQ Pomegranate Tofu. Most delicious. We ate it with rice...quite good as the sauce yummified the rice quite nicely. I believe it's mentioned in the PPK forums that the recipe makes quite a bit more sauce than is needed...very true. Next time I'll use 2 pounds of tofu.
Nancy, where did you find pomegranate molasses? I'm having trouble finding that and tamarind concentrate for the crepes. Thanks.
Dear Vegan1
Do you have any Asian markets in your area? You will definately find tamarind there (get the concentrated/paste form, not the pods), and most likely the pomegranate molasses.
HR
Vegan1, I found pomegranate molasses in a little grocery store nearby. It's weird...none of the major supermarkets carry it, and neither do the fancy schmancy ones in the city. If you can't find it, I'll buy some for you and send it to you.
I buy my tamarind concentrate at an Indian market. (I get yummy naan bread there too.) :D
Adding some of my own reviews of recipes I've made so far from VWaV. I recently bought it so I'm just working my way through. Anyway, so far I've made the Tofu Scramble, pancakes, Pizza dough, seitan, and Chili Sin Carne a la Mole (or something like that).
Tofu scramble - Yum, yum, yum. Made it in a cast iron skillet and it browns the mushrooms sooo nicely. This was very different, in terms of seasoning, than my usual scrambles so I enjoyed the change. It did end up rather dry though and I prefer my scrambles to be a bit more wet so I'll cut down the cooking time next time.
Pancakes - I didn't like this recipe. I think the liquid amt is way too much since my batter was runny and I had to add more flour. Easy to adjust though.
Pizza dough - this turned out great. I'll use this recipe again.
Seitan - again, I think the liquid content was too much since my dough was very wet. But overall, it's tasty and simple.
Chili - I used the seitan I made in this recipe. The chili is really good. I like the mole style. It's a little more soupy than I like my chili but that's not a big deal. I think I'll try different chili's next time instead of jalapeno, like chipotle or something. Great recipe as is though.
I need to check my WF store for pomegranate molasses so I can make the tofu. It sounds so good.
I had to come here and rave about the Carrot and raisin muffins. I made these for breakfast this morning and OMG are they good!!!! I added about 1/2 c of chopped walnuts and followed the recipe exactly otherwise. Perfect, perfect, perfect. I had to hold myself back from eating too many at one shot. I'll be making these frequently. ;)b
I finally got VWAV yesterday. I've already folded down a bunch of pages for recipes that I want to try.
I made the Corn Fritters this morning for my breakfast and they were really good. And quick to whip up too. My only complaint is that my jalapenos weren't hot at all. I sprinkled some fresh ground black pepper on the fritters and that helped give them a little kick. I might use green bell pepper next time instead of red for a slightly different flavor. Great recipe that I'll be using frequently!
I made my first recipes from VWAV last night. I made the white bean and roasted garlic soup and the mushroom and sundried tomato risotto.
The soup was excellent but just, just a tad too garlicky for me (if there is such a thing). I still loved it but will maybe try it with 1 1/2 heads of garlic next time instead of two.
The risotto was also very good. I don't make risotto very often but I always enjoy it. I will certainly make these two recipes again.