Vegan Bakewell Tart

It's been quiet on the blog front lately, as I'm somewhat otherwise occupied these days with my beautiful two month old daughter (!). In fact, not only do I barely blog anymore - I barely ever cook anymore! My partner comes home every night and cooks dinners as I have my hands full and have usually had a pretty full on day. As for lunches, even if my lovely baby decided to sleep for longer than 40 minutes at a time (gah!), I certainly wouldn't feel like cooking (and photographing) delicious gourmet meals. In fact I always have to hope there are leftovers, otherwise I might not get lunches at all!

I don't want to let the blog completely wither and die though. Luckily, I have some photos and recipes filed away that I haven't gotten around to posting yet from way back when I was featuring United Kingdom recipes. It might take me more than one 40 minute nap to get each post up, but I'm keen to get back to it - especially since I've been contacted by readers who miss my posts :)

The posting will be less frequent than previously, at least for now - but I'm still here :)

I'm actually really excited to share this one with you, partly because I just love the photos of it and also because it was delicious and easy to make. It's called a Bakewell Tart, and it's a classic English afternoon tea delight. It's shortcrust pastry filled with jam and topped with almond-y frangipane. 

A couple of notes on mine, before I go on to the recipe. 

- I've used only 1/4 tsp almond extract, because I've never really been a fan of the taste of almond extract. It would be more traditional to use more, so if you like the taste feel free to up it to a tsp.

- Mine (you might see in the pics) came out slightly undercooked, so I've added an extra 5 minutes to the cooking time. This will vary anyway, depending on your oven, so use your own discretion. 

- I've used raspberry jam here, you can also use cherry or strawberry. 

- The jam is meant to make a nice distinct layer that you can see when sliced. I looked at some other blog pictures of Bakewell Tarts before and thought their layers of jam looked a little thin, so I added mine very generously. Alas, it still seemed to get absorbed by the frangipane during baking and didn't make much of a distinct layer when sliced. I'm sure if I was on the Great British Bake-Off, such a sin would be the end of me. If you don't care about that kind of thing, then don't worry because it still tastes crazy good. If you want to try and get the jam layer nice and distinct then I would suggest adding a super generous amount of jam - and then adding a whole heap more. 

Vegan Bakewell Tart

Ingredients

For the pastry:
250g plain wholemeal flour
125g margarine
Ice cold water

Everything else:
170g caster sugar
170g self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
170g almond meal
1/4 tsp almond extract
150ml canola oil
200ml water
Raspberry jam
Icing sugar, to decorate

To Make:
1. Preheat your oven to 190 degrees C. 
2. Put the pastry ingredients in a food processor and blitz until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs (alternatively, use your fingertips to rub the margarine into the flour until the same consistency), then add just enough ice cold water for it to come together as a dough ball. It shouldn't stick to your fingers when you touch it, if you slip up and add a bit too much and end up with sticky dough then just add a little more flour until you get it right. 
3. Roll out the dough to about 3mm or so and line a tart tin with it (one with a removable bottom is best). Prick the base with a fork and bake for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile you can mix together all the other ingredients except the jam and the icing sugar.
5. Spread a generous layer of jam over the pastry base and pour the frangipane batter over the top. Bake for 10 minutes and then lower the temperature to 180 degrees C and bake for a further 30 minutes. 
6. Leave it to cool and then decorate with icing sugar. You could also decorate with flaked almonds, if you like. 

I'm featuring lots of recipes from the United Kingdom,

Check out my other recipe posts here:

Vegan Cauliflower Cheese

Summer Pudding

Mushroom & Guinness Pie

Treacle Tart

Roasted Love Apple and Wine Soup

Cranachan (Whiskey Cream with Raspberries and Oats)

Orange and Lemon Vegetables

Scottish Vegan Oat Scones

Swede & Parsnip Mini Cottage Pies

Vegan Treacle Tart

The most fun thing about featuring recipes from the UK was certainly getting to try all the classic desserts. I've never had a treacle tart before, so was glad to get the opportunity to make one. Actually, it was very easy because the traditional treacle tart recipe is generally already vegan. I wasn't sure if it was going to be sickly sweet, but it actually wasn't that sweet at all. I was really pleasantly surprised. Even though it's full of sticky sweet golden syrup, it's offset by the fact that the pastry isn't sweetened at all and there is lots of lovely fresh lemon juice to cut through the sickliness. The amount of lemon juice you use is really 'to taste' - some people like less lemon juice so the tart is sweeter, some like more juice so it's more sour. This recipe uses quite a lot of lemon juice, but you can add less if you like less tang and more sweetness.

Treacle Tart

Ingredients
250g plain flour (I prefer wholemeal, but you can use either)
125g vegan margarine 
3 tbsp iced water
400g golden syrup
150g fresh breadcrumbs
Zest and juice of 2 lemons

To Make
1. Put the flour in a food processor and cut in the margarine. Pulse it until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. You can also do this without a food processor - just put the flour in a bowl and rub the margarine through with your fingertips. Gradually add in the iced water until the mixture clumps together. Test the consistency, it should be a firm dough, but not sticky when you touch it. If it's too crumbly to form a ball, add a little more water, if it's too sticky add a little more flour. 
2. Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes (you can also make the pastry the night before). In the meantime, grease your flan tin (one with a removable bottom is really easiest) well. 
3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and put a baking tray in the oven to heat up.
4. Set aside about 150g of the pastry to make the lattice. Roll out the rest of the pastry into a large thin disc and line the greased flan tin. Prick the base with a fork to prevent bubbles while cooking. 
5. To make the filling, heat the golden syrup in a saucepan until runny. Add the breadcrumbs, lemon juice and lemon zest and remove from the heat. The filling should be fairly thick, if it's too runny - add more breadcrumbs. Pour into the pastry base.
6. Roll out the reserved pastry and cut into thin strips to make the lattice top. Once the lattice is complete, trim off any overhanging edges by pressing them down on the side of the metal tin. 
7. Place in the oven on the preheated baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to 180 degrees C and cook for a further 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving, to firm up and to allow the filling to cool a bit. 

Serve warm or cold, with a dollop of whipped coconut cream if you like. 

I'm featuring lots of recipes from the United Kingdom,

Check out my other recipe posts here:

Vegan Cauliflower Cheese

Summer Pudding

Mushroom & Guinness Pie

Vegan Bakewell Tart

Roasted Love Apple and Wine Soup

Cranachan (Whiskey Cream with Raspberries and Oats)

Orange and Lemon Vegetables

Scottish Vegan Oat Scones

Swede & Parsnip Mini Cottage Pies

Vegan Jamaican Patties

If, like me, you spend all winter dreaming of being in the Caribbean instead, you can do what I do and enhance your dreaming with delicious Caribbean delicacies.

Jamaican patties are quite different to what we call patties in Australia (and many other parts of the world). We use the word patty to refer to the meat or veggie fillings in burgers, but in Jamaica a patty is more like what we might call a pasty - a savoury pastry with filling. The pastry of a Jamaican patty is golden yellow from turmeric and curry powder, and the fillings can vary. They're most commonly filled with meats of various types, but can also be filled with vegetables or cheese. Tofu isn't a traditional filling, but the curried crumbled tofu and potato in these ones are so delicious, they were a huge hit (even with traditional tofu-phobes).

In Jamaica, it's common to eat a patty sandwiched in a bread roll as a full meal. I find that the pastry and bread together might be a bit of overkill, so just ate mine as they were. But if you'd like a traditional Jamaican lunch, grab yourself a bread roll (in Jamaica it would be coco bread).

Jamaican Curry Tofu Patties

Ingredients
Pastry:
3 cups plain flour
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
100g vegan margarine/butter
3/4 cup ice water (give or take a bit)

Filling:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
375g hard tofu, as much liquid pressed out as you can
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 scotch bonnet chilli (optional)
1 potato, peeled and diced into small cubes
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
2 tsp dried or fresh thyme
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 cup chopped shallots

To Make:
1. To make the crust: combine the flour, curry powder, turmeric, salt and baking powder in a food processor. Chop the vegan margarine up and add it to the food processor, pulse it until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Gradually add in the ice water while you're processing until the dough starts to clump together into a ball. Turn it out onto a bench and dust with flour. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. To make the filling - heat the oil in a large frypan (or wok) and add the onion. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onion is cooked. While it's cooking you can crumble up the tofu with your hands into a 'mince-like' consistency. Once the onion is cooked, add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Add the crumbled tofu, curry powder, chilli, potato, and the herbs and spices along with  1 1/2 cups water. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until all the liquid is gone and the potatoes are cooked through. Turn off the heat and allow the filling to cool and then stir though the chopped shallots. 
3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. 
4. Get the dough out and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece to a circle about 1/8 inch thick. Each circle should be about 6 inches diameter. Place a generous amount of filling in the centre of each circle. Moisten the edges with a bit of water and fold them in half, crimping the edges together to seal them well. Continue with the remaining pastry and filling. Poke a couple of holes in the top of each one to allow the steam to escape while cooking. 
5. Line a baking tray with non stick paper and bake the patties for about 20-25 minutes, until golden. 

Makes 12 patties. 

Check out my other Jamaican recipe posts:

Jamaican Rum Punch

Jerk Tofu & Pineapple Skewers

Jamaican Peanut Punch

Gizzada (Coconut & Brown Sugar Tarts)

Old-time Jamaican Lemonade

Jamaican Ginger Cake

Pineapple Salsa

Callaloo

Jerk Sweet Potato Chips

Russian Blueberry Tartlets (Chernika Tartaletki)

Bite sized treats are always my favourite - they're no mess and easy to eat but most of all they just look super cute. I guess the only problem is they're too easy to eat - you just keep going back for another and another and....

These little cute blueberry tartlets were delicious. They could be made with other berries too, or a mixture. Whatever you like really. They're a Russian recipe, which means they're served with a very Russian little dollop of sweetened sour cream.

Chernika Tartaleki

Ingredients
Pastry:
2 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
2 tbsp. castor sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 cup nuttelex (or other vegan margarine)
2/3 cup icy water

Blueberry Filling:
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (unthawed)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tbsp. maple syrup

For serving;
1 cup vegan sour cream
2 tbsp. castor sugar

To Make:
1. To make the pastry, combine all the ingredients except the water in a food processor and blitz until you have a mixture which looks like fine breadcrumbs. Gradually add in the ice water until the mixture comes together to form a dough, it should be wet enough to hold together but not sticky enough to stick o your fingers as you form it into a ball (add more water or flour as needed t get it to the right consistency). Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
3. Combine the blueberries and corn-starch in a bowl and md until all the blueberries are coated. Add the maple syrup and stir through.
4. Take half the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a floured benchtop to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out as many 3 inch circles as you can and then re roll the scraps and cut again. Lightly grease a muffin pan and place a circle of dough in each one. Fill with as much blueberry filling as it will hold and bake for about 10 minutes, turning the tray around halfway through to ensure even cooking.
5. Repeat with all the remaining dough and filling. Cool the cooked tarts.
6. Combine the vegan sour cream with the sugar and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
7. Just before serving, add a dollop of the sweetened sour cream to the top of each little tart.


Makes about 2 dozen.

Gizzada - Jamaican Coconut & Brown Sugar Tarts

Even after so many years cooking it is so lovely to keep learning new tricks and techniques. I was really impressed with the traditional Jamaican method of making these lovely stand alone tart shells, they save you needing to have lots of mini tart pans around the house - plus you don't have to wash up all the pans! They make such a lovely little star shaped tart and are so beautiful filled with this traditional Jamaican filling of coconut and brown sugar.

Gizzada - Jamaican Coconut and Brown Sugar Tarts

Ingredients

Pastry:

2 cups flour (I prefer wholemeal), + extra for rolling

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp margarine (or vegan butter)

2 cups iced water

Filling:

1 coconut, flesh grated (makes between 3 and 4 cups fresh grated coconut)

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup water

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tbsp margarine (or vegan butter)

To Make
1. Combine flour and salt in a bowl or food processor. Cut margarine into small pieces into the flour. Rub with fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (or, if using a food processor, simply pulse a few times until mixture resembles the same). 

2. Add ice water a little at a time while you mix (or process) until there is enough liquid for the dough to start to form into a ball. Once the dough is wet enough to stick together in a ball but not so sticky that it sticks to your fingers when you touch it, it is enough liquid. Once you've reached this stage form your dough into a nice smooth ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

3. While the pastry is in the fridge, make the filling. First, grate the coconut either using a special coconut grater or by cracking open the coconut into as many pieces as you can and then gently prising the pieces away from the skin (the flesh will have one brown edge, don't worry - that's fine). Once you have it in pieces you can grate it on a standard box or plane grater. 

4. Combine the sugar and water in a pan and place over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and let simmer until it starts to thicken slightly (between 5 and 10 minutes). Once it has thickened a bit add the grated coconut, nutmeg and allspice. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes and then add the margarine. Continue to cook until the mixture has no more liquid and the margarine is dissolved and then remove from the heat and allow to cool.

6. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Remove the pasty from the fridge and cut in half. Roll out half of the pastry until it is about 1/4 inch thick (don't make it too thin or the tarts wont be able to stand up by themselves). Cut circles using a 5-6 inch diameter cutter or bowl. Pinch each circle as in the pictures below to form the star shaped tart shells. Make sure you pinch firmly so the dough sticks together well and doesn't simply come apart.

7. Continue making the tart shells until you have used up all of the pastry. Place them on a tray lined with baking paper and prick the bottoms of each one with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes, turning the tray halfway to ensure even cooking. Remove and allow to cool slightly so you can fill them.
8. Fill each casing with plenty of the cooled coconut filling. The shells can hold quite a lot, so you shouldn't have any trouble using up all your filling. Return to the tray and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the pastry is just golden and the filling is slightly crispy on top. Remove and cool before eating. 

Makes about a baker's dozen gizzada (this can vary depending on how big your cutter is).

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Jamaica.

Check out my other Jamaican recipe posts:

Jamaican Rum Punch

Jerk Tofu & Pineapple Skewers

Jamaican Peanut Punch

Old-time Jamaican Lemonade

Jamaican Ginger Cake

Pineapple Salsa

Callaloo

Jamaican Patties

Jerk Sweet Potato Chips

Panamanian Empanadas (Vegan Style)

This month is Panama month on Gormandize! Panamanian cuisine is fun - lots of corn and lots of empanadas. I can't pass up an opportunity to make empanadas, they're so cute and so very yummy. When we had Argentina month I also made a couple of batches of empanadas - Sweetcorn Empanadas and Pumpkin and Jalapeño Empanadas. When we had Brazil month I also made Olive & Hearts of Palm Empadinhas, which are similar but in little cute pie form - they were spectacular!

Panamanian empanadas can be filled with many things, but they're most often filled with beef. I've made these with a substitute, nutmeat which is what I use to make my bolognaise. The filling is really rich and delicious.

Making empanadas in the past, I've struggled with the fact that none of the recipes in my cookbooks or on the internet for empanadas tell me to poke holes in the top of the empanadas to let the steam out while they cooked. So I didn't when I first tried making them. The result was that they puffed up a lot and many of them burst open while they were cooking. So I poked holes in my later attempts and they worked much better - none of them burst open and they didn't puff up so much. If anybody knows the secret to not poking holes in them and still getting them to work then please let me know!

Panamanian Empanadas

Ingredients
1 batch empanada dough (I just used this recipe from Global Table Adventure, but I used 1 1/2 cups white flour and 1/2 cup wholemeal flour)
Soy milk, for brushing

Filling
1 x 400g can of nutmeat
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

To Make
1. Make the empanada dough and put it in the fridge while you make the filling. You'll also want to preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Finely chop the can of nutmeat (you could also pulse a couple of times in the food processor until it has the consistency of mince meat). 
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the diced onion. Sauté until the onion is softened and translucent and then add the garlic and chilli flakes. Cook for a further 30 seconds.
4. Add the minced nutmeat, tomato paste and water. Simmer until the liquid has reduced down. Season to taste and set aside to cool.
5. Roll the dough out on a floured bench top quite thin. Use a cutter or a bowl with a diameter of 12-13cm to cut out circles in the dough.
6. Place about a dessert spoon of the filling in the centre of the circle. Dampen the edges with water and press them together. You can just use a fork to press the edges together or you can try the traditional repulgue edging - there is a video on Global Table Adventure.
7. Continue with remaining dough and filling - you will have some filling left over (you can use these in some store bought puff pastry to made little triangles or money bags).
8. Arrange on a tray and use a fork to poke some holes in the top. Brush with milk and bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Makes about 12 medium sized empanadas (and a little leftover filling).

This month I'm featuring recipes from Panama.

Check out my other Panamanian recipe posts:

Sweet Corn Cake with Lemon Glaze
Bollos de Mazorca
Panamanian Black Eyed Beans

Georgian Oyster Mushroom & Rice Pastries

Oyster mushrooms are common in Georgian woodlands and are popular in Georgian cuisine. These delicious mushroom pastries are supposed to be just made with oyster mushrooms, but they can be quite pricey so I've used a mixture. If you're feeling flush then use just oyster mushrooms, if you're not then you can make these with any mushrooms or any mixture of mushrooms. The recipe is adapted from this Georgian Recipe website.

Georgian Oyster Mushroom & Rice Pastries
Adapted from georgianrecipes.net

Ingredients
Pastry:
700g flour
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp dried active yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Filling:
800g oyster mushrooms (or a mixture of any mushrooms)
5 tbsp oil
1 cup cooked white rice (this will require 1/2 cup uncooked rice)
1 large white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bunch fresh continental parsley, finely chopped

To Make:
1. Whisk the warm water, yeast and sugar together in a small bowl and set aside for 10 minutes until it becomes frothy. Place the flour and salt in a bowl and make a depression in the middle. Pour the frothy yeast mixture in and combine well until you have a thick ball of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot for 2 hours, to rise.
2. Finely chop your mushrooms and onion. Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the mushrooms and onion until soft and cooked. In a large mixing bowl combine the cooked mushrooms, cooked rice, crushed garlic and chopped parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. After 2 hours the dough should have about doubled in size. Turn out onto a floured bench top and knead into a smooth ball. If the dough is took sticky, add a touch more flour, if it's too crumbly add a touch more water. Divide your ball of dough into 6 balls. Roll out each ball into a long rectangle shape and divide the filling equally amongst each one.
4. Fold the dough over the filling and pinch together with your fingertips, if the dough is too floury to stick properly, wet the edge with a little water to make it stick. Gently flatten each pastry so that the seam where it is joined is along the top of each one. 
5. Heat a little oil in a non stick fry pan and fry each pastry for 6-8 minutes, turning half way. Serve immediately or you can make in advance an keep warm in a warm oven. 

Makes 6.

This month I'm featuring recipes from Georgia.

Check out my other Georgian recipe posts:

Lobio (Kidney Bean Salad)

Lobiani (Kidney Bean Bread)

Nigvzis Torti (Walnut Raisin Torte)

Sweet Potato & Olive Filo Pastry Tunisian Briks

Here is a remnant from Tunisia month, back in January. I've been pretty busy, and generally trying to spend less time sitting and staring at my computer screen. So, as a consequence, I've succeeded in doing a lot less blogging so far this year. That meant that a few of my January Tunisian recipes didn't end up getting posted so I'll bring you a couple of late ones, starting with these briks.

Briks are a popular and common dish in Tunisian cuisine, but these ones are a far cry from the traditional ones! Traditionally they're made with a thicker pastry made with eggs and then deep fried. But I was on a bit of a health kick after Xmas indulgence so I thought I might bake them in flaky filo pastry. Traditional fillings include fish (especially tuna or anchovies), egg, capers, potatoes or cheese. I've made mine using sweet potato (because I love it so much), olives and capers.

Ingredients
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed (500g or so)
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp harissa
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp capers
8-10 black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Filo pastry sheets
Melted vegan butter/margarine 

To Make:
1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C. Boil the sweet potato until just tender. Drain and place in a large bowl. Mash until smooth.
2. Stir through the shallots, olive oil, harissa, cumin, capers, olives and parsley.
3. Take a sheet of filo pastry (keep all the other sheets covered with a damp teatowel while you work to prevent it drying out) and cut it into 3 rectangles. Brush each with melted butter and fold in half so that your rectangle becomes a square. Add a tablespoon of filling to each and fold over to form a triangle. Place on a baking tray and brush the tops with melted butter too. 
4. Continue until you have used up all the mixture. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until just golden brown (keep an eye on them as they will go from "cooked" to "overcooked" very easily).
5. Serve immediately.

Check out my other Tunisian recipe posts:

Cooked Carrot & Olive Salad

{Baked} Tunisian Yoyo (Orange Flavoured Doughnuts)

Mzoura (Harissa Parsnips)

Hlalem (Tunisian Pasta and Beans)

Easy Vegan Fig Rolls

I think these are very cute, they remind me of a sweet version of a sausage roll. They're so easy to make, just a handful of ingredients, and they make a pretty healthy snack to satisfy your sweet tooth.

I hope you all had a great Xmas and new year period, I know I indulged a little too much and am now just getting back on track with my normal (slightly healthier) habits! I'm really excited about what 2014 has to offer though, there are some wonderful things in store for us and I've decided to make it one of my best years ever.

Vegan Fig Rolls

Ingredients
250g dried figs
3/4 cup water
1 tbsp agave nectar
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 sheets filo pastry
1 tbsp melted nuttelex (or other vegan margarine)
Sesame seeds, for garnish

To Make
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Chop up the figs and place in a small saucepan. Add the water, agave and spices. Place over a low heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Then remove the lid and simmer until almost all of the liquid is gone and you have a thick paste.
3. Transfer to a food processor and process until you have a fairly smooth consistency.
4. Lay out one sheet of the filo and brush a little bit of melted margarine around the edges. Place the second sheet on top of the first.
5. Spread the fig paste in an even log along the pastry lengthwise and then roll it up into one big long roll. Brush melted margarine on the last inch of the pastry to help it stick better.
6. Cut the log in half and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush the tops with the remaining melted margarine and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, until the pastry is just crisp and slightly golden. Once cooked, cool and then slice into bit sized pieces.

Makes about 10 pieces.

Vegan Makowiec (Polish Poppy Seed Strudel)

I made this delicious poppyseed strudel during Polish food month (July 2013) but didn't get time to post it, so I'm bringing it out for Vegan Mofo and my Spice Rack theme. Poppy seeds are possibly not actually a spice (although I guess that depends on your definition) but they're kept with my spices so I'm including them in the list.

Poppy Seeds
Two varieties of poppy seeds are commonly consumed - white and blue poppy seeds. Blue poppy seeds are most commonly seen in European/Western cuisines - they're the ones you'll find sprinkled on bread rolls, pastries and in your orange and poppyseed cake. White poppy seeds have a slightly milder flavour but otherwise are fairly interchangeable - they're more commonly found in Indian, Asian and Middle Eastern dishes. Both types of poppy seeds are gathered from the same poppy that produces opium, however the ones used in cooking have virtually no narcotic content (just 50 ppm). Poppy seeds contain a relatively high amount of oils, so can easily become rancid if they are old or stored improperly. Try to buy small quantities of poppy seeds (only as much as you need) from shops which have a high turnover and store any remaining ones in an airtight container.

Reference: Hemphill, 2006

For my month of spices I'm using Spice Notes and Recipes by Ian Hemphill as my reference tool to learn about spices and for all the information above. Thanks Ian for writing such a great and informative book! 

Makowiec (Polish Poppy Seed Strudel)

Ingredients
Pastry:
1/4 cup soy milk, warmed
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup apple sauce
2 cups plain flour

Filling:
3/4 cup poppy seeds
1/4 cup soy milk
2 tbsp vegan margarine
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 orange
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnut halves, broken up

Soy milk, for brushing the top
Whole poppy seeds, to garnish

To Make
1. Cover the poppy seeds in hot water and soak over night. Then drain and grind in a food processor.
2. Whisk together the warm soy milk and the dry yeast and set aside for 10 minutes, until foamy (if this does not foam up, your yeast may no longer be active and you may need to buy some fresh stuff).
3. Add the 1/4 cup sugar, oil, salt and apple sauce to the yeast mixture and mix well to combine.
4. Add the flour and mix until a dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 6 minutes by which time you should have a smooth ball of dough. Return to the bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let sit in a warm spot for 1 1/2 hours to rise.
5. To make the filling: combine the soy milk, margarine, sugar, ground poppy seeds, orange zest and raisins in a saucepan and place over a medium heat.  Cook until thickened, stirring frequently. After about 4-5 minutes it should be quite thick, remove from the hear and stir the vanilla extract through.
6. Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a big rectangle. Spread the filling over the rectangle of dough, leaving about 1 1/2 cm around the edge. Sprinkle the walnuts on top.

8. Roll up into one big log (starting from the longer side of the rectangle) and place seam side down on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Allow to cool, then slice and serve.

Check out my other Polish recipe posts from Poland Month:

Home Made Vegan Sour Cream

Pyzy (Polish Potato Dumplings)

Mizeria (Polish Cucumber Salad)

Golabki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)

Surówka Z Marchewki

Kluski Z Makiem (Poppyseed Pasta Dessert)

Pumpkin & Jalapeño Empanadas

After having such good success with my super tasty sweet corn empanadas, I wanted to have a crack at some more empanadas as part of Argentinian food month. So sink your teeth into these super tasty pumpkin and jalapeño empanadas. You can also use sweet potato in the place of pumpkin, it's equally delicious.

Ingredients
1 batch empanada dough (I just used this recipe from Global Table Adventure, but I used 1 1/2 cups white flour and 1/2 cup wholemeal flour)
Soy milk, for brushing

Filling
300g pumpkin
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
Pepita seeds, to decorate

To Make
1. Make the empanada dough and put it in the fridge while you make the filling. You'll also want to preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Peel and chop the pumpkin and place in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to the boil, simmer until the pumpkin is soft and then strain.
3. Place the pumpkin in a bowl and mash roughly with a fork or masher. Add the garlic, jalapeño and season with salt and pepper. Stir well.
4. Roll the dough out on a floured bench top quite thin. Use a cutter or a bowl with a diameter of 12-13cm to cut out circles in the dough.
5. Place about a dessert spoon of the filling in the centre of the circle. Dampen the edges with water and press them together. You can just use a fork to press the edges together or you can try the traditional repulgue edging - there is a video on Global Table Adventure.

6. Continue with remaining dough and filling - you may have some filling left over (you can use these in some store bought puff pastry to made little triangles or money bags).
7. Arrange on a tray and use a fork to poke some holes in the top. Brush with milk, decorate with pepitas and bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Makes 16 medium sized empanadas.

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Argentina!

Check out my other Argentinian recipe posts:

Vegan Dulce de Leche

Fugazza (Caramelised Onion Focaccia)

Dulce de Leche Tiramisu

Sweetcorn Empanadas

Alfajores (Dulce de Leche Sandwich Biscuits)

Argentinian Sweetcorn Empanadas

A foray into Argentinian food wouldn't be complete without some empanadas, they're iconic. They're also really versatile - you can make them with any filling you like. Traditional fillings include beef, cheese, corn, pumpkin, sweet potato or fruits like apple. I've made these ones with a creamy and delicious sweetcorn filling.

In all honesty, I found these a little challenging and it took me a couple of tries to get it right. I generally prefer wholemeal so I made my first batch with all wholemeal flour but it made the dough less pliable and I couldn't do a very neat 'repulgue' on the edges. So the next batch I used a combination of white and wholemeal flour and they turned out much better. 

I also struggled with the fact that none of the recipes in my cookbooks or on the internet for empanadas told me to poke holes in the top of the empanadas to let the steam out while they cooked. So I didn't - for my first two batches. The result was that they puffed up a lot and many of them burst open while they were cooking. So I poked holes in my second batch and they worked much better - none of them burst open and they didn't puff up so much. If anybody knows the secret to not poking holes in them and still getting them to work then please let me know!

Ingredients
1 batch empanada dough (I just used this recipe from Global Table Adventure, but I used 1 1/2 cups white flour and 1/2 cup wholemeal flour)
Soy milk, for brushing

Filling
4 tbsp non dairy butter or margarine
4 tbsp plain flour
1 cup non dairy milk (I used oat milk - but use soy, almond or rice etc.)
1 x 300g creamed corn
1 x 300g corn kernels, drained
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

To Make
1. Make the empanada dough and put it in the fridge while you make the filling. You'll also want to preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Melt the margarine in a small saucepan and then add the flour. Stir continuously while it heats through and starts to cook a little, about 1-2 minutes.
3. Gradually add the milk while stirring vigorously until you have added it all. You should have a thick sauce now.
4. Remove from the stove and then add the creamed corn, corn kernels, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix well.
5. Roll the dough out on a floured bench top quite thin. Use a cutter or a bowl with a diameter of 12-13cm to cut out circles in the dough.

6. Place about a dessert spoon of the filling in the centre of the circle. Dampen the edges with water and press them together. You can just use a fork to press the edges together or you can try the traditional repulgue edging - there is a video on Global Table Adventure.

7. Continue with remaining dough and filling - you may have some filling left over (you can use these in some store bought puff pastry to made little triangles or money bags).
8. Arrange on a tray and use a fork to poke some holes in the top. Brush with milk and bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Makes 16 medium sized empanadas (and a little leftover filling).

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Argentina!

Check out my other Argentinian recipe posts:

Vegan Dulce de Leche

Fugazza (Caramelised Onion Focaccia)

Dulce de Leche Tiramisu

Alfajores (Dulce de Leche Sandwich Biscuits)

Pumpkin & Jalapeño Empanadas

Samoan Pineapple Turnovers (Paifala)

You may have noticed things being a bit quiet around here lately, I took an unplanned two weeks off the blog at the start of the month. I've had a lot on my mind the last couple of weeks, I've been doing some heavy duty thinking and planning so I didn't quite have room for planning blog posts and typing up recipes. I've been looking for some extra work so that I can earn a bit more money, planning a big holiday overseas, discussing lots of things with my partner - such as whether or not we want to move away from where we are to another area, we've also both been trying to decide whether or not to do further study. It's all just a big jumble of thinking going on in my head at the moment!

In amongst all of this you may have thought I have forgotten to have a feature country this month, well don't fear! I haven't, I have had this all planned for a while but it had a bit of a set back. Firstly, I had to move my traditional start-of-the-month dinner party back into the second week of the month (this is the dinner party in which I make lots of experimental dishes from the featured country and force them upon my trusting friends), so I was a week behind. Then I was a bit slack with the photos at that dinner party so I had to spend some time re-photographing some of the dishes. But they're coming along and I'm happy to finally bring you one of them!

Firstly - let's talk Samoa.



Some of you who don't live in Australia might not know where Samoa is, well you can probably be forgiven because it's pretty tiny. This map comes from worldatlas.com. As you can see, Samoa is one of our neighbours (I live in Australia just in case you didn't know). So there are quite a few Samoans living in Australia; they're generally stereotyped as big scary guys who are good at rugby (mostly because they're so big). But just because there are plenty of Samoans living in Australia, it doesn't mean I have ever encountered any of their food! A quick google search revealed absolutely no Samoan restaurants in Sydney.

I was wary about taking on Samoa, because I've been burned by micronesian/pacific island countries before. I once tried to have a dinner party of foods from Palau. You know what the only  recipe I found on the internet was? This delicious looking fruit bat soup. Mmmmm...

So I did a quick google search on Samoan dishes before I accepted the request from a reader to feature Samoa. Luckily I found a bit more than I did for Palau, and it looked a lot more palatable! I still didn't find a lot so there may be fewer recipes than for some of my other months. I was basically relying on what information I could find on the internet - so if you have a Samoan recipe to share please email it to me at kbobo.contact@gmail.com.

So, enough chat! Before we get into the food, lets take a brief swim on this spectacular Samoan beach.

Image from www.tourist-destinations.com

Now we have worked up an appetite let me introduce my first Samoa month recipe - Paifala. I'm posting this one up first because one of my dinner guests texted me soon after to ask me for the recipe because she loved them so much, so I figured I'd better get it online quickly for her. These are a simple looking pastry turnover filled with pineapple custard, but the key is in the lovingly handmade pastry (don't worry, not as hard as it sounds!)

This recipe, which I found on Samoafood.com was already almost vegan so I didn't really need to change it much. I decided to try and keep it authentic and traditional, so I simply followed the recipe with a couple of substitutions and some minor changes. If I wasn't trying to make it traditional I would have used wholemeal flour - as I think it would be even tastier, and maybe added some mild spices to the pastry. But as is they are a delicious sweet treat.

The recipe says that it makes five, so I made a double batch because I was expecting 8 people for dinner. In the end though they turned out to be really big turnovers, so we only had half of one each at the dinner party and had lots of them leftover! So I'm giving you the original quantities to make 5 big paifala. You can double the recipe at your own discretion :)

Paifala - Samoan Pineapple Turnovers

Adapted from Samoafood.com

Ingredients

1 x 440g can of crushed pineapple in juice (not syrup!)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup rice or almond milk

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup of the juice from the can of pineapple

3 cups plain white flour (I recommend trying wholemeal instead, but probably less authentic)

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup vegan margarine

1 cup coconut milk (or 3/4 cup coconut cream plus 1/4 cup water)

To Make

1. Make the filling! Drain out 1/2 cup of juice from the can and set aside. Combine the pineapple (with remaining juice), sugar and milk in a saucepan and place over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer, uncovered. Stir the cornstarch into the juice you have set aside until dissolved.

2. Add the cornstarch juice to the saucepan and stir continuously over a low heat for a couple of minutes, until you see the mixture thicken. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

3. Make the pastry! First - preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Then, place the flour, baking powder and margarine in a bowl. Rub with your fingers until the mixture looks a bit like coarse bread crumbs. Then add the coconut milk and mix together to form a dough.

4. Turn out the dough into a floured surface. You don't need to knead it, but just press it together a bit so that it forms a smooth connected ball. 

5. Cut the dough into 5 equal pieces (or you could probably make 6 if you wanted, they'll just be slightly smaller). Roll each piece out into a 20cm circle.

6. Put about one fifth of the cooled pineapple filling over half of the pastry circle, leaving about 2-3 cm around the border so you can seal it properly.

7. Lightly brush the edge with water and fold the pastry over. Press the edge together with your fingers or with a fork. You can make whatever pattern you like with the edge (fork marks, folded over, thumb print waves), just make sure it's sealed well so that the custard doesn't spill out while it's baking.

8. Poke some holes in the top with a fork or knife, this is a bit tricky because the dough it quite soft - but persevere otherwise your turnovers will puff up big time in the oven.

9. Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling and then bake the turnovers in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until just turning golden on top. Remove and cool before serving. If you like, you can dust them with icing sugar while they cool.

Makes 5 big paifala.

Keep your eye out this month for more tasty Samoan treats!

Also don't forget you can follow me on facebook if you want to get my posts all up in your newsfeed - just jump onto the page here and hit "Like".

Coming Soon:

How I lost 5kg in 9 days and gained so much more energy - my 9 day detox plan!

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Samoa.

Check out my other recipe posts:

Creamy Coconut Rice (Alaisa Fa'apopo)

Coconut Bread Rolls

Koko Rice

Sweet Potato in Creamy Coconut Sauce

Sapasui (Chop Suey)