The Twelve Posts of Christmas: Cranberry and Onion Relish

Ok, so granted, you can buy any old jar of cranberry sauce...but there is something about making your own relish which is a lot more hearty, tasty, and of course made with love. I've made this so many times now I can almost do it in my sleep! there is almost always a pot of it in the fridge to be had with hot buttered toast for a more savoury jam substitute, or to spoon onto savoury tarts. For the omnivores out there you may be wondering why someone who doesn't tuck into a turkey's corpse would be interested in cranberry relish. It tastes divine on crackers with almond or cashew cheese, its scrumptious tossed in fried mushrooms, or spooned over a vegetable terrine with gravy. Make a big batch, bottle it and give it away as Christmas pressies. The longer it sits the better the flavour becomes just like a good sweet fruit mince.

Ingredients
500 gr frozen cranberries
2 cups raw sugar
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup water
2 large chopped red onions
1 garlic clove crushed
bunch of fresh sage or thyme, chopped
juice and zest of an orange
pinch salt
oil for frying

Method
1.In a large heavy bottomed saucepan gently saute chopped onion and crushed garlic  in a little oil until translucent. Add chopped thyme and fry for another minute or two to release the oils and aroma.
2.Increase to a medium heat and add all other ingredients, and stir until sugar is dissolved.
3.Turn heat down and simmer until cranberries collapse and mixture has reduced to a very thick consistency.
4.Spoon into sterilised jars and leave to cool. Best kept in fridge if you do not seal the jars, and keep in fridge once opened.

Twelve Posts of Christmas: Fresh Mixed Pea Salad in Apple and Mint Dressing

Once again I'm doing the Twelve Posts of Christmas! I hope to have twelve Christmas food related posts up before Christmas Day so you can try them out and maybe make them for the day itself. Of course, you can still see my previous posts from the last two years, and it may not be too late to soak some fruit for a delcious vegan and gluten free fruit mince or  age a plum pudding. 

If it doesn't rain again this Christmas and it is sunny and hot for those of us Down Under, a cooked heavy meal isn't very appetising. Why not try a lovely crisp fresh mixed pea and rocket salad with an apple and mint dressing ? Even if you are having baked potatoes or a vegan potato dauphinoise this should lighten it up for you :)

Ingredients

2 cups snow peas

2 cups sugar snap peas

2 cups rocket

2 granny smith apples

juice and zest of 1 lemon

big bunch of fresh mint

1 tablespoon flaxseed oil

1/2 cup water

freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt flakes to taste

Method

1. Wash rocket and peas, and dry.

2. Tail peas

3. Core apple and chop into chunks, set aside.

4. Zest and juice lemon

5. Using a blender or bamix, whizz up apple, lemon juice and zest, mint, and water,.

6. In a large bowl toss dressing through rocket and peas, drizzle with flax seed oil and add salt and pepper to taste.

Pantry Staple: Vegan Worcestershire Sauce

I like making my own pantry staples. It's often much cheaper to make your own (especially if its in bulk) than to buy. I also then know exactly what goes into it. The smell filled the entire house while I made this, it felt like a nice homey housewifey sort of thing to do. All I needed was a vintage apron, a flowery frock, and some heels. Yeah right. If the Beloved came home to find me dressed like that he probably would have thought he'd walked into the wrong house. So I just wore the vintage apron over some regular clothes :) 

If you keep the vinegar bottle you can wash it out and reuse it to keep your Worcestershire sauce in, which is not only thrifty but a good way to reuse something rather than chucking it out or recycling it. I won't lie to you, this is in no way an authentic sauce, but its a pretty good approximation and I just know the Beloved will like slathering it over vegie snags and mash. The capers stand in for the salty anchovies, and I decided to put in pomegranate molasses as a sweet sour stand in for tamarind paste ( I don't have anything against tamarind, I just thought I'd give it a miss). Don't use the cheap nasty artificially coloured brown vinegar - it's just not the same! The flavour will get better as it stores, but its perfectly ok to use straight away. You could even make a huge batch of it and bottle it for Christmas presents. Keep your beer bottles and wash them out, buy some new caps and you're away. 

This isn't gluten free, but if you wanted a gluten free version you could just use all apple cider vinegar.

Ingredients

750ml malt vinegar

250ml apple cider vinegar

280gr jar plum jam

1 tablespoon capers

1/4 cup pomegranate molasses

1/4 cup black strap molasses

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 brown onion, chopped roughly

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

2 tsp mixed spice

4 crushed cardamon pods

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp ground black pepper

pinch sea salt flakes

1 tablespoon sunflower oil for frying

Method

1.In a large heavy based saucepan, saute onions and garlic and salt in oil for a few minutes until soft.

2. Add all spices and stir for a minute to release their flavour and aroma. 

3.Add vinegars, molasses, and jam, and simmer for 45 minutes with a lid on (this limits evaporation). 

4. Turn off heat and allow to cool for about half an hour. Strain through a sieve and then funnel into your reserved bottle - you should end up with approximately 750ml. 

Vegan MoFo: Pea & Mint Pesto

This is  chunky pesto, but it is much lighter than its pine nut cousins, and perfect for Spring. Stir it in risotto, or use it as a dip. Measurements are approximate largely because sometimes lemons are a bit more lemony than others, just like mint is a bit more minty...you know what I mean? The mint I use is a runaway that lurks along our back fence popping up wherever it pleases, and since it's such an old variety it's very strong. I use less oil, and smooth it all out with water to make it lighter. for the same reason I use pumpkin and sunflower seeds because pine nuts can be quite heavy and grainy, and better suited to heartier dishes.

Ingredients
1 cup fresh peas
1 cup baby spinach
1 handful mint leaves
1/3 cup sunflower and pumpkin seed mix, toasted
2 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil
Juice 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/3 cup water

Method
Blitz all ingredients in a food processor until smooth

Vegan MoFo: Ajvar

I won't lie to you. I've been making quite a bit ahead of schedule, and keeping it to post simply because of nights like tonight. Because life gets in the way of cooking - like a late night at work, such as tonight, with the I-can't-be-assed-it's been-a-long-day feeling. When you can't be bothered eating a proper meal, so it ends up being dip and crackers. So tonight's post is quite a good one, because it's something to be made and bottled, and poured over some vegies and rice, or pasta when all you can do is open a jar,  Chicken Tonight ain't an option because you're a vego, and tinned tomatoes won't do.

A few months back the Beloved and I were in our local greengrocer when we stumbled upon a jar of ajvar. It wasn’t local (Croatian import) but we had never tried it and it looked delicious. We decided we would try it on pizza instead of tomato paste – oh boy, I think it was the best pizza we ever had! It was pretty pricey though, over $10.00 for a 350ml jar. So, I decided I needed to make it ourselves in summer, when we could roast our own capsicums. However, dreaming of possibly swimming in vats of the stuff, and finding the remains of a big-ass jar of roasted capsicums lurking in the outside fridge (can’t even remember what it was bought for) I decided I would make a cheats ajvar and see how it went before using our own precious produce.

Well…it was pretty darn good! Not having a recipe, and going by the ingredients list on the back of the last jar, I winged it. Sweet and savoury, a little smoky, tangy from the vinegar, I think I got it right. Had some on some crackers with some vegan cream cheese, and was planning n keeping some for a pizza night...but it may just be with pasta tonight :)

Ingredients

400gr roasted capsicums

1 clove roasted garlic

1 large tablespoon mixed herbs

¼ cup vinegar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

Pinch salt

Method

Blend ingredients in a blender, and pour into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, and allow to reduce to a thick sauce/paste. Cool, and put into a jar. It should keep for a couple of weeks with a little oil on the top to stop the air getting to it, but I doubt you’ll worry, it won’t last that long!

Vegan MoFo: Balsamic Strawberry, Asparagus & Chickpea Salad

Strawberries and asparagus are two of my favourite things – and both are ridiculously cheap and in season at the moment. The glut of strawberries has seen some farmers feeding them to cattle! But although the chookies have been getting the scraps, mine are going in this seriously easy and seriously yummy salad. Definitely a Spring winner!

Ingredients

1 punnet strawberries, hulled, and cut into quarters

2 bunches of asparagus spears, trimmed and blanched

1 400gr tin of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Bunch of rocket, washed, dried

Bunch of baby spinach washed, dried

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil

Fresh mint and chives, finely chopped

Freshly cracked black pepper

Pinch sea salt

Method

Mix vinegar, oils, and salt and pour over strawberries. Leave to macerate for a couple of hours, at room temperature, covered. The salt draws out the juice into what will be the salad dressing.

When you are ready to serve, add herbs and pepper to strawberries.

Toss remaining ingredients into a large salad bowl, remove strawberries from vinegar mixture and toss through. Drizzle dressing over the top and serve immediately.

The Rawmazing Race: Waldorf Salad in New York

Tonight I'm in New York, sitting in a posh restaurant with Donald Draper, wearing a fab frock and looking glamorous having ordered a stylish and ever popular Waldorf Salad...Who am I kidding? I'm sitting with my husband on the sofa watching an episode of 'Ello 'Ello and not in any state of glamour at all. But I am eating a Waldorf salad.Yes, I know it's just a salad. But this is one of the most famous salads in the world and was created at the Waldorf in New York some time in the 1890s. A typical Waldorf salad contains copious amounts of egg layden mayo with celery, apple, and walnuts (with or without lettuce). Tonight, I made some cute Waldorf stacks and drizzled raw vegan mayo made with cashews over the top. It was pretty yummy if I do say so myself, and the cashews add some protein, good fats, iron, zinc, and copper to my nutritional intake for the day. The walnuts add some folate, B6, and thiamine. So have a go at this little salad and make your own raw vegan mayo.

To make the mayo, I blended raw cashews, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar, water, and a little nutritional yeast. I just added  a little at at time until I found the balance I liked, but used probably 2/3 cup cashews. Leftover mayo will make a great dip for some veggie sticks tomorrow!

So where to next on this raw vegan plate hopping adventure? Not sure, but stay tuned!

Ribbon Zucchini Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

I know this is just a salad. But it was really nice, and a good way to use some of the zucchini straight from the garden. It has a bit of a zing to it, and would be really nice as a side with pasta or a quinoa dish. Or you can just have a big plateful! I used my mandolin to make nice thin zucchini ribbons, but you can just use a vegetable peeler. I added some baby spinach, and some toasted pinenuts or sunflower seeds would have been nice too.

To make the vinaigrette, I put 1/2 cup white wine vinegar in a saucepan and crushed a small handful or raspberries into it, heating it gently on low - don't let it boil, just bring to a simmer and turn the heat off.  Pour into a container and leave in the fridge to cool. Strain the vinegar and add some extra virgin olive oil ( I use 1/3 oil to vinegar). Give it a good shake and toss through zucchini and spinach. Add a little cracked black pepper and voila! There you have it. 

Perfect Vegan Onion Gravy

Just because you're a vegetarian doesn't mean you can't have the best gravy. I've played around a lot with this to get a nice deep flavour. This gravy can easily be made the day before and kept in a sealed container. Just reheat and give it a whisk to remove any lumps formed by the "skin." 

Ingredients

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup vegan margarine

1/2 brown onion, chopped finely

1/2 cup red wine

approx 500ml water

1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce (Spring Gully makes one, easily available at Franklins or Coles)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tsp tamari

two or three porcini mushrooms, or a few dried shittake mushrooms

few sprigs of fresh thyme, finely chopped.

ground black pepper to taste

Method

In a small saucepan melt margarine, and add flour. Stirring constantly, form a roux, and add onion. Fry gently until deep golden. Slowly add the water a splash at a time, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Add all other ingredients, and add more water if necessary to reach the consistency desired. Leave for five minutes. At this point I use my bar mix to remove any lumps and blend in the mushrooms and onion to a puree. Leave on simmer, stirring and adding a bit more water if necessary, for about half an hour. This allows the flour to cook out thoroughly. Nothing tastes worse than gravy that reminds you of dough! Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Serve piping hot over anything you like!