I’m still desperately looking for the recipe I used to make Saffron Liqueur. I know I also used vodka, and my detective skills tell me that in the old pictures it looks as if there’s rock sugar and also a stick of cinnamon in there. After the holidays I’ll do a test run using 1L vodka, 50g brown rock sugar, a cinnamon stick and 2T saffron, and you can watch my experiment step by step. I’ll post pics and everything. Here’s the old ones, BTW, in case you’ll want to try your own detective skills:
So I dug out some old pics for you to accompany the recipes.
Today we’re making Ginger Liqueur. This is the easiest recipe I know, and it tastes amazing. I try to adapt most liqueur recipes to vodka, since I believe it results in a milder taste compared to liqueur made with Korn (German rye liquor).
You’ll need:
a generous piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly cubed
1L vodka (I always use the cheapest brand I can get, and it still comes out really awesome)
1 cinnamon stick
a couple of whole cardamom pods
a twig of rosemary
1 vanilla bean, slit lengthwise
50g brown rock sugar
Put everything in a bottle or jar that seals well (a big mason jar will do) and leave this in a warm spot. I recommend windowsills without too much direct sunlight. After 3 to 4 weeks, your liqueur is ready. Strain into bottles and enjoy. You can keep this in a cupboard at room temperature, but I’m not sure for how long, since all my liqueurs – no matter whether they were given away or kept in my own cupboard – have always been, um, gone in a matter of a couple of weeks max.
In the pictures below you can watch the liquid change colour as time passes (which is really beautiful to watch). The ginger liqueur is on the right.
Hey, I dug out a picture for you! This is my favourite Beans and Rice recipe, and it goes like this:
I usually start off by cooking some brown rice (which I love for its nutty flavour). It takes about 40 minutes to cook, so if you take your time chopping vegetables, it will be ready along with everything else.
In the meantime I chop a medium-sized to large yellow onion and a clove of garlic, which I then sauté in some olive oil (add the garlic after a couple minutes; it doesn’t take as long). Then I add a cubed orange bell pepper (orange ones are my favourites; anyway, I love orange food) and sauté everything a bit more. Then I cover everything with veggie broth and add some herbs and spices: salt (of course), a teaspoon of thyme and oregano each, some black pepper, some cayenne pepper to taste, and a dash of tabasco sauce and one of liquid smoke. When I’m in the mood, I’ll also add one pickled chili pepper, chopped to tiny bits (I don’t like them when they’re not chopped really small).
I bring this to a boil and let it simmer for at least 15 minutes, then add a drained can of kidney beans (because I’m too lazy to soak and cook dried beans – also when I decide to make beans and rice, I don’t want to wait until the next day) and turn up the heat again until it’s back to a simmer. As soon as the beans are starting to get mushy and disintegrate, it’s time to check the spices one last time, then serve the beans with the brown rice. Yum!
Today I woke up and thought, hey, what I’d really like to have for breakfast is one of those things they have at Starbucks, only a lot better, and vegan. So I made myself some porridge with soymilk, using a spoonful of my grandma’s homemade berry preserves as a sweetener, added a cubed apple, and stirred in an almost equal amount of this very creamy soy vanilla yogurt once it had cooled down. The result is far from pretty but absolutely delicious. Next time I’ll take the time and shred the apple first, though. I bet that will make it even better. (Pic of my own version to follow!)
[Edit in November: It might not be pretty, but it's yummy!]
Greetings from the depths of a sea of paperwork (and cold remedies)! Although I still can’t take any new pictures and post them, I thought I’d make up for their absence and mine by sharing a recipe I came up with on the first of January (quite unsurprisingly). It’s my 2011 Anti-Hangover Stew, and it does quite a good job at that. (You may thank me the day after Halloween or the next upcoming birthday party.)
1 can (400g / 14 oz) diced tomatoes
1/2 small red onion, diced
2x 1 empty tomato can, filled with water
2 heaped teaspoons broth powder
soya chunks (or soy curls, or TVP), rehydrated
OPTIONAL (BUT VERY YUMMY): SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS!
1 wooden spoon-ful red curry paste (I had an astonishingly mild variety that was rather more sweet than hot – so please feel free to reduce the curry paste and substitute the rest with sweet red pepper flakes)
sichuan pepper, a pinch or two, ground (best spice in the world!)
Sauté the onion in a big pot, using a tiny amount of olive oil, then add everything else, cover and let simmer for about half an hour.
Add a cup of frozen edamame, cover again.
Ten minutes later, add about a pound of your favourite frozen veggies, preferably Asian style mixed vegetables (or whatever else you can find in your freezer).
Let simmer for about 15 minutes more while you’re waiting for that aspirin to kick in (or whatever).
And that’s it. (Pic to follow ASAP!)
I had some leeks in my freezer compartment, so I sautéed them in some olive oil and added about 2 cups of veggie broth and another cup of pureed pumpkin and assorted spices (mainly pepper and ginger, if I remember correctly), and that was it. I really hope I can upload some more pictures soon, since there is still a lack of sweets this MoFo.
Oh, and about that book. I assigned an equal batch of numbers to each interested commenter and then rolled a D20, and here’s the result: It will go to bittofraw! Hope you’ll like it.
This is SusanV’s basic recipe. I usually make them in the oven, though. When I’m feeling decadent, I add custard and maple syrup.
Also, there are two things this blog needs right now:
After seeing Luciana’s yummy restaurant pics, I knew I had to return to what has quickly become a favourite: Isa’s recipe for Broccoli Curry Udon. Yes, it’s totally easy to make, and yes, it tastes absolutely wonderful. You should give it a try!
Goulash is originally a hungarian dish. It’s very popular in Austria, and the variety I best remember from my childhood is the cheap and easy to prepare but at the same time hearty and delicious Kartoffelgulasch (potato goulash). Here’s my veganized version, just about perfect for a quick meal in autumn and winter:
Ingredients for two generous servings:
Sauté the onions in the margarine or oil (margarine will give you a “more authentic” taste, still I prefer to use olive oil in almost everything), then add the potatoes, just about cover with broth and bring to a boil. Add the spices and let simmer for about 20 minutes. The smaller chunks of potatoes should begin to fall apart (which will provide a creamy consistency), while the bigger chunks should just be cooked. Add the sausages and let everything heat through, adjust the spices, and voilá. Nothing could be easier. And it’s one of the tastiest things on a cold day. Even better reheated, if you ask me.
(I tried adding the sausages earlier, and noticed that they start to fall to bits if you cook them for too long. Since they’re already baked, I figured it would be okay to add them at the very end and just wait long enough for them to warm up before serving.)
I’ve recovered enough to stop whining and start posting again, and besides, I promised choirqueer a cupcake recipe, so here it is. I came up with the best possible combination of batter and frosting, which turned out to be… Fluffy Coconut Pumpkin Cupcakes with Mrs. Weasley’s Chocolate Fudge Topping and Speculoos Hagelslag. Which is much to long for a post heading, and half the praise should go to Kris from nom!nom!nom! blog anyway. They are totally decadent but really easy to make, and the best thing – yes, you read that right – is that they are self-glazing. But we’ll get to that.
So here’s the story. First I made this amazing fudge recipe (that I linked to above, so please scroll back and click on nom!nom!nom! right now) that I found via Dumbledore’s Vegan Army, a great blog project that deserves an honorable mention. But I don’t know what went… not wrong, exactly, just rather different from what I’d expected. Maybe the margarine I used was too soft. Anyway, the fudge didn’t quite set. Even kept in the fridge, it was still slightly runny and couldn’t be cut. But it tasted like heaven. So I put it in the freezer compartment and waited for the right moment and opportunity to use it. And the moment arrived soon enough.
Suddenly there were pumpkins in all the shops again! I immediately carried a few home to start my secret stash of roasted and pureed pumpkin (and squash) for soups and cakes. My all time favourite is the versatile butternut squash, but I got a couple of really nice hokkaidos as well. Yum, orange food! Of course I had to make cupcakes. So here’s what I did.
I combined all of these ingredients in a big bowl and stirred them together with a fork:
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Baked at 180°C (about 350°F) for 22 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack (or just turn your oven grill upside down and put the cupcakes on it).
I love baking with coconut milk. Everything turns out so fluffy, and I bet I can taste it too.
While the cupcakes were cooling, I had the best idea ever: I took the fudge from the freezer, shaped it into little patties and placed them on top of the still warm cupcakes. No spreading, no getting chocolate all over the place! It just melted a bit to look like regular cupcake frosting. Amazed, I sprinkled them with the last of my Speculoos hagel (more thanks to another Kris!).
The result: The most awesome combination of cupcake batter and frosting you have ever tasted. Pumpkin and coconut milk are a match made in kitchen heaven, and the fudgy frosting is as close to a real Sachertorte glaze as possible without actually being one. At least in this combination.
Seriously, you must try this. I’d send you a cupcake, but my stargate is not perfected yet.
