Mushroom & Guinness Pie

I'm currently making and sharing lots of recipes inspired by the United Kingdom. As spring here has had plenty of chilly days and nights, the stodgy comfort food has been quite nice. I felt it was important to include an Irish inspired dish loaded with Guinness - so here it is. Unfortunately, Guinness itself is not actually vegan, so if you're making this dish and you're a vegan or a vegetarian you can just swap out the Guinness for a vegan/vegetarian friendly stout (such as Coopers).

I never do things by halves, so I've used almost a whole can of Guinness in my pie. This makes for a lovely strong Guinness flavour, which may not be for everyone. If you like it a bit milder, just substitute one of the cups of Guinness for some more beef stock (I've used Massel beef stock, which has no animal content).

Mushroom & Guinness Pie

Ingredients
2 onions, finely chopped
4 gloves garlic, minced or crushed
2 tbsp butter or margarine (vegan friendly)
500g large field (portobello) mushrooms, washed and cut into medium chunks
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
2 cups Guinness (or stout beer)
1/2 cup strong hot 'beef' stock (no animal content brand)
1 tbsp soy sauce
cracked pepper to taste
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
Sesame seeds, to sprinkle

To Make
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. 
2. Melt the butter in a frypan and cook the onions and garlic until translucent. Add the chopped  mushrooms and 1/2 cup Guinness and simmer until the mushrooms are cooked.
3. Add the flour and stir vigorously. Next, gradually add in the remaining Guinness and the beef stock, stirring continuously to make a gravy. Adding gradually and stirring lots should prevent it forming lumps and keep it nice and smooth. If it's looking a bit too dry, you can add a touch more stock or beer to slacken in a bit (this can vary, depending on how juicy your mushrooms were in the beginning). 
4. Season with soy sauce and plenty of cracked pepper.
5. Grease a pie dish and line the bottom with one of the sheets of puff pastry. Pour the filling in and top with the remaining sheet of pastry and crimp the edges firmly together using your fingers, or a fork. If you want to use cutouts, like I did, cut them out of the pastry before you put it on the pie. If not, just use a knife to make a few slits in the top to let the steam out while it cooks. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
6. Set your oven to the 'bottom only' setting and bake for 20 minutes (ensuring that the bottom is properly cooked) and then switch to the normal baking setting (top and bottom) and bake for another 10 minutes. It should be golden brown on top. 

Makes 1 pie, serves 4-6.

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

Check out my other recipe posts here:

Vegan Cauliflower Cheese

Summer Pudding

Treacle Tart

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

Spinach, Mushroom & Sesame Udon Noodle Soup

We just came back from travelling in Singapore, which we absolutely loved. We had such a good time and I think it's probably the coolest Asian city I've ever visited, with a great vibe to the whole place. We will definitely be going back there. While we were there we did a bit of street market shopping. Singapore is by no means a cheap place to visit and travel, but I picked up a few knick-knacks to remind me of our time there. One of them were these cute pairs of chopsticks. My partner and I are both year of the Rabbit, so we picked up two pairs of rabbits and I got a pair of dragons for my best friend. In hindsight I should have got a pair for everyone - but maybe next time I'm in Singapore!

This beautiful soup is quick, easy and so very tasty and is a favourite go to quick lunch or dinner for me. Spinach is not a common addition to an Asian noodle soup, but the flavour and colour are so well suited. Don't scrimp on the sesame seeds, they are more than just a garnish!

Spinach, Mushroom & Sesame Udon Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

6 dried shitake mushrooms

2L vegetable stock

5 tbsp soy sauce

250g button mushrooms

150g oyster mushrooms

1 small tin of bamboo shoots

4-5 leaves of spinach (silverbeet)

2 small bunches of bok choy

2 tbsp mirin

4 x 200g packets of fresh udon noodles (or a large 800g pack)

4 tbsp white sesame seeds

Sesame Oil

To Make
 1. Put the dried mushrooms, soy sauce and the vegetable stock in your wok and set it to simmer while you do all the rest of your prep.

2. Prep the ingredients: slice the button mushrooms, slice the oyster mushrooms into strips, drain the bamboo shoots, chop the spinach into thin strips and chop the bok choy finely horizontally.

3. Once you’ve done all that (will take about 10 mins depending on how fast you chop) remove the whole shitake mushrooms from the stock and slice them.

4. With the stock simmering add the ingredients in the following order: shitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, bamboo shoots, oyster mushrooms, spinach.

5. Simmer for about 2 minutes once all the ingredients are in and then turn off the heat and add the bok choy and mirin.

6. Rinse the udon noodles gently under some hot water and put about 200g in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the hot soup on top of the noodles in each bowl.

7. Heat a non stick frypan over a medium heat and dry toast the sesame seeds until just golden brown.

8. Drizzle some sesame oil over each bowl and top generously with toasted sesame seeds.

Serves 4 .

Filipino Pancit Canton

The Philippines is a fun country to explore, it's such a melting pot of different influences. A lot of Chinese influence has made it into their traditional dishes, and this is one of them. Pancit means noodles, so these noodles are called Cantonese Noodles in the Philippines. It's a dish of stir fried noodles with vegetables (and usually pork) similar to a chow mein. It has lots of variations, you can use any variety of mixed veggies, and a few different cooking methods. I love how easy this dish is because you cook the noodles in the broth, rather than separately, which makes it a great one-pot dish.

Filipino Pancit Canton

Ingredients
1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
2 tbsp. oil
1 onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 medium-large carrots, cut into sticks
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup light soy sauce
750g dried wheat noodles
3 cups shredded green cabbage
A few handfuls of snow peas, trimmed
Generous grinding of black pepper

To Make
1. Soak shiitake mushrooms in one cup of hot water while you chop all your veggies.
2. Heat the oil in a wok and sauté the onion until just softened and then add the crushed garlic and cook for another few minutes.
3. Add the carrots, vegetable stock, soaked mushrooms, soy sauce and any liquid remaining from the mushrooms. Bring to a simmer and simmer until the carrots are just slightly softened.
4. Add the dried wheat noodles and simmer until he noodles are just cooked and have soaked up the liquid. Add the shredded green cabbage, snow peas and a generous amount of cracked pepper. The residual heat will cook them just enough. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Note: Depending on the thickness and variety of your wheat noodles, liquid quantities may be variable. If your noodles have absorbed all the stock but are not quite yet cooked through, you may need to add in a little bit more liquid - make sure it is boiling hot rather than cold. Alternately, you may find that the noodles are perfectly cooked but you still have quite a bit of liquid. In this case, mix 1 tbsp. cornstarch with 2 tbsp. cold water and stir just before you take it off the heat and add the remaining veggies.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food the Philippines.

Check out my other Filipino recipe posts:

Tofu Adobo with Pineapple & Bamboo

Lumpiang Sariwa

Coconut Mango Floats

Lumpiang Prito with Vinegar Dipping Sauce

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)

Polish Golabki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)

I've made cabbage rolls once before, remember my Croatian Posna Sarma? You probably don't, because it was quite a long time ago (and look at how awful my photos were back then!). These Polish Golabki are similar but different - like the posna sarma they're stuffed with a tasty mixture of rice and vegetables, but they're smothered this time in creamy dill and mushroom sauce. They're actually pretty different in taste!

While you indulge your senses with this great recipe, guess what I'll be doing? I'll be exploring Legoland and then driving to see the Tollund Man! I've been looking forward to visiting the Tollund Man ever since I studied Seamus Heaney's poetry in high school. Have you read the Seamus Heaney poem about the Tollund Man? I love it, so I'll share it here with you:

I

Some day I will go to Aarhus

To see his peat-brown head,

The mild pods of his eye-lids,

His pointed skin cap.

In the flat country near by

Where they dug him out,

His last gruel of winter seeds

Caked in his stomach,

Naked except for

The cap, noose and girdle,

I will stand a long time.

Bridegroom to the goddess,

She tightened her torc on him

And opened her fen,

Those dark juices working

Him to a saint's kept body,

Trove of the turfcutters'

Honeycombed workings.

Now his stained face

Reposes at Aarhus.

II

I could risk blasphemy,

Consecrate the cauldron bog

Our holy ground and pray

Him to make germinate

The scattered, ambushed

Flesh of labourers,

Stockinged corpses

Laid out in the farmyards,

Tell-tale skin and teeth

Flecking the sleepers

Of four young brothers, trailed

For miles along the lines.

III

Something of his sad freedom

As he rode the tumbril

Should come to me, driving,

Saying the names

Tollund, Grauballe, Nebelgard,

Watching the pointing hands

Of country people,

Not knowing their tongue.

Out here in Jutland

In the old man-killing parishes

I will feel lost,

Unhappy and at home.

Ingredients

1 whole green cabbage

Filling

2 tbsp oil

1 onion, finely diced

400g mushrooms, chopped

1 tomato, diced

1 cup cooked rice

1 cup sauerkraut

1 tbsp fresh dill

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

300g mushrooms, chopped and washed

1 cup vegetable stock

1/2 cup vegan sour cream

1 tbsp chopped dill

salt and pepper to taste

To Make:
1. Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees celcius.

2. Heat oil in a large saucepan or frypan and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the mushrooms and chopped tomato and cook for s further 3-4 minutes, until the mushrooms are cooked.

3. Add the rice, sauerkraut, dill and season with salt and pepper. Stir well to combine and heat through. Then set aside for later. 

4. Meanwhile, pull the tough outer leaves off the cabbage and discard. Wash thoroughly and steam the whole cabbage for 10 minutes or so until the outer leaves are softened and easier to pull away.

5. Remove as many of the outer leaves as you can (until you reach the inner parts which are not as well cooked) and then put the rest of the cabbage back in the steamer for another 5 mins so that you can remove more of the leaves.

6.  Cut the thick stems out of the cabbage leaves and begin rolling. Add about 2 tablespoons of rice mix to the edge of the cabbage leaf and roll over once. Fold in both of the edges and then continue rolling to the end. Put aside. Keep going until you use up the rice filling (or you have to stop because your dish isn't going to be big enough for all of them.

7. Place your rolls in a big baking dish, tucking them in close to hold them together.
8. To make the sauce, place the mushrooms with a couple of tablespoons of water in a small saucepan over a medium heat until cooked. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Then remove from the heat and stir through the sour cream and dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then pour the sauce all over your cabbage rolls.
9. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Garnish with fresh dill and then serve.

Serves 6  - Makes about 12 cabbage rolls. You'll also have some leftover cabbage to chop up and use in another meal.

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

Check out my other Polish recipe posts:

Home Made Vegan Sour Cream

Pyzy (Polish Potato Dumplings)

Mizeria (Polish Cucumber Salad)

Surówka Z Marchewki

Kluski Z Makiem (Poppyseed Pasta Dessert)

Makowiec (Poppyseed Strudel)

Vegan Pyzy (Polish Potato Dumplings) with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Dumplings are a universally comforting food - from the fried or steamed Chinese dumplings dipped in tantalising chilli and soy sauce, to the hearty and satisfying potato and vegetable based dumplings of Eastern and Central Europe, there is something about dumplings which satisfies the soul as well as the stomach! Generally, I've had a lot more experience making the Chinese variety than the European ones, but that changed when Poland was requested by a reader to be featured on the blog.

This June and July you'll see a lot of Polish recipes, and that is going to include some dumplings! Dumplings in creamy I-can't-believe-it's-vegan mushroom sauce. When I made these and served them up it looked like a bit too much sauce and I made a mental note to alter the recipe - but when I served them up we mopped up every little last big of that sauce and could have had more! So I didn't alter the recipe, you're going to want that much of this sauce!

I used my home made vegan sour cream in this recipe, and the result was luscious and super creamy! I can't predict how it will turn out with store bought vegan sour cream, but making it was really, really easy. So you can jump over to my recipe here and make some yourself.

Vegan Polish Pyzy (Potato Dumplings) with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

1 kg potatoes, peeled

5 tbsp flour (or more, as needed)

1/2 tsp salt

Creamy Mushroom Sauce

400g mushrooms

3 tbsp vegan margarine

2 tbsp plain flour

2 cups hot vegetable stock

1/2 cup vegan sour cream

2 tbsp chopped fresh dill (or substitute 1 tsp dried dill)

Salt and pepper to taste

To Make

1. Grate half of the potatoes raw and place in a strainer placed over a bowl. Leave to drip dry for at least half an hour then use the back of a spoon to push any remaining liquid out. Keep the liquid though!

2. Roughly chop the other 500g of potatoes and boil until tender. Mash and place in a bowl with the grated potato and the flour. Mix well.

3. The leftover liquid should now have settled and separated out, gently pour off the clear liquid from the top and add the starchy sediment to the bowl of potatoes and flour. Mix well.

4. Your dumpling mix should now be a thick and sticky consistency that you can roll into balls - if it is too dry add a little water, if it is too wet you can add a little more flour.

5. Dust your hands with flour and roll into walnut sized balls. Set them aside while you make the sauce (you'll boil them just before you need to serve them).

6. To make the creamy mushroom sauce: wash and slice the mushrooms. Melt the margarine in a saucepan and add the flour. Stir vigorously to form a smooth paste. Gradually add the hot vegetable stock, just a little bit at a time, and stir well to keep the sauce as a smooth paste. Continue until all the stock is added.

7. Add the mushrooms to the sauce and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are cooked. Add the sour cream, dill and season to taste and then remove from the heat.

8. To cook the dumplings - bring a big pot of water to the boil and gently add the dumplings. Stir gently to make sure none stick to the bottom. Boil for about 10 minutes, you'll know they are done when they float to the surface (you may have to do 2 batches to get them all done). Serve hot with the mushroom sauce and garnish with extra dill as desired. 

Serves 4.

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

Check out my other Polish recipe posts:

Home Made Vegan Sour Cream

Mizeria (Polish Cucumber Salad)

Golabki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)

Surówka Z Marchewki

Kluski Z Makiem (Poppyseed Pasta Dessert)

Makowiec (Poppyseed Strudel)

Mushroom Ceviche

Do you know what I love about doing the world food challenge? It puts me way out of my comfort zone and forces me to keep trying new things. Once you become an experienced home cook, it's very easy just to settle down and cook the same favourite dishes (or style of dishes) again and again and again. There is nothing wrong with that of course, but it means that sometimes you don't get motivated to try anything new.

I did a lot of research leading up to this month's Costa Rican world food challenge, lots of googling, reading and asking people who know a lot more about Costa Rican food than I do. One thing kept coming up time after time - people kept telling me to make ceviche. Ceviche is very popular in Central and Southern America, it's a dish consisting of fish which has been marinated in citrus juice. Technically the fish is raw, but the acidic nature of the citrus juice 'cooks' the fish. It seems that in Costa Rica ceviche is popularly made using sea bass. 

I'm sure you can understand why I initially dismissed the idea of making ceviche - as I cook vegan food, fish is not a part of my repertoire! But it kept coming up! So many people talking about all the ceviche in Costa Rica.... and eventually the idea crept into my head that maybe I should take on this challenge. Obviously I can't use fish... so I decided to substitute gorgeous firm fleshed field (portobello) mushrooms. Similar to pickling mushrooms - soaking the raw sliced mushrooms in something acidic cooks the mushroom flesh and fills it with juicy flavour.

Did it work, I hear you ask? Beautifully! I'm not going to tell you it tastes like fish! It doesn't, it tastes like mushroom. Juicy tangy limey mushroom! They're very strong tasting and pack a bit of a sour punch so I don't recommend you just eating them on their own out of the bowl - but they're a sensational accompaniment to a meal or as an addition to a salad. I served them up to dinner guests and they were incredibly popular!

Ingredients

2 field (portobello) mushrooms

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely minced

Juice of 7-8 limes (it needs to be enough to completely cover the sliced mushrooms)

2-3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Salt and pepper to taste

To Make

1. Wash the mushrooms and remove the stems. Slice thinly and lay flat in a shallow flat dish. Sprinkle with the chopped onion.

2. Combine the lime juice, 1 tbsp coriander, garlic, salt and pepper pour over the top of the mushrooms, covering them completely (it's ok if they float up a bit).

3. Place in the fridge and leave for at least 6 hours, I left mine in for 8 hours. You could also leave them over night. 

4. Just before serving, sprinkle the remaining fresh chopped coriander over the top.

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

Check out my other recipe posts:

Resbaladera (Rice & Barley Milk Drink)

Orange & Passion Fruit Pudding (Atol de Naranja)

Paprika de Papa (Paprika Fried Potatoes)

Chayote con Maiz (Chokoes and Corn)

Home Made Salsa Lizano 

Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding)

Gallo Pinto (Beans and Rice)

Hearts of Palm Salad with Lime Coriander Dressing

Mushroom and Bean Vegan Jambalaya

A month of American food wouldn't be complete without my favourite American dish - jambalaya, a Louisiana speciality. Discovering this delicious dish essentially made me want to go to Louisiana! This jambalaya uses field mushrooms and vegetarian sausages instead of the traditional meat. Traditional jambalaya is also laden with green capsicum, however, I've left this out because it makes me sick - but if you are partial to a bit of green capsicum feel free to add it in, although I don't think it needs it!!

I've also made this recipe using brown rice instead of white, it was also fantastic. You just need to increase the amount of water by about 2 cups and increase the cooking time by at least 20 minutes. 

Ingredients

5 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, roughly chopped

2 field mushrooms, washed and chopped in large chunks

3 vegetarian sausages, chopped

1 celery stick, chopped

1/2 cup dry sherry

4 tbsp tomato paste

2 cups basmati rice

6 cups vegetable broth

1 tin diced tomatoes

2 bay leaves

4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

2 tsp dried marjoram

1 tsp sweet paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tin cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

1 tin Kidney beans, drained and rinsed

(More hot water, as required)

To Make

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or soup pot. Sauté the onions and celery for 2-3 mins. Add the mushrooms and veggie sausages and sauté until the veggies are cooked.

2. At this stage you'll notice the bottom of the pan is getting all brownish from frying the veggies. So - deglaze the pan by adding the sherry (you'll notice all the browny bits come right off the bottom and make your dish a lovely rich colour). Add the tomato paste as well and heat through.

3. Add the uncooked rice and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3-4 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, tinned tomatoes, bay leaves and all herbs and spices. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring very frequently for about 30 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through, you may need to add more water as you are going to stop the rice sticking onto the bottom depending on how thirsty your rice is.

4. When the rice is almost cooked stir the tinned beans through. When the rice is fully cooked serve.

Serves 4.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Southern USA!

Check out my other recipe posts:

Mint Julep

Peach and Bourbon Cobbler

Vegan Chili Pone (Chili Cornbread Casserole)

Succotash

Pecan & Molasses Pie with Spiced Pumpkin Whipped Cream

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Vegan "Fried Chicken" and Waffles

Home Made Smoky BBQ Sauce

I've submitted this recipe to the Vegan Virtual Linky Potluck - click here to see the other entries.

Simple Side Mushrooms

I'm very much a 'cook-it-all-together' kind of cook. I favour one pot meals like soups, stir fried, curries, pastas, lasagne and casseroles. I think that this is probably common for people who don't cook meat, though, as side veggies tend to be more an accompaniment to meat than anything else. What do you think? How often do you cook separate side veggies?

The other day I bought a gorgeous looking packet of oyster mushrooms without any real idea of what I was going to do with them. They sat in my fridge for a few days while I thought about what I should do with them until one evening I looked in the fridge and thought "I have to cook these tonight otherwise they're going to go off". The only problem was I couldn't really incorporate them into what I had already decided to cook. So my only option was to cook them up separately and have them on the side! I was glad that I did, because I discovered this simple and delicious way of cooking mushrooms.

Apart from the taste, the other benefit of this side dish is that it's very healthy - it's cooked without any butter or oil. I made this with oyster mushrooms, which were divine. You could, however, make this with any kind of mushrooms that you have. 

Ingredients

150g mushrooms, washed and trimmed

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

1 tsp soy sauce

Cracked pepper to taste (you don't need salt because you've added soy sauce)

2-3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

To Make

1. Slice the mushrooms and place in a bowl.

2. In a small bowl or jar combine the lemon juice, mustard, soy sauce and pepper. Mix/shake well.

3. Pour the dressing over the mushrooms and stir through.

4. Place a small frypan or saucepan over a medium heat and add the mushrooms and all the liquid.

5. Cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender. Once cooked, remove from the heat and place back in the bowl. Allow to rest a minute or two while you chop up your fresh parsley.

6. Stir the parsley through and serve. 

Makes side veggies for 2. 

Garlicky Field Mushrooms with Rödkål (Swedish Sweet and Sour Cabbage)

It's time to shed a tear and close another chapter on the wonderful world food challenge. This month I have been learning so much about cooking Swedish food - a cuisine I had never even thought about cooking before. I've discovered some amazing dishes which I never would have known about - so thank you to Zane (and the 2 other people) who requested Sweden to be featured. 

I'm ending the month with a real gem, it's easy to prepare and makes a fantastic lunch, or dinner (just add some steamed green to the side and you're done for dinner!). I'm posting it at the very last minute this month, because it was a late addition. Rödkål was requested of me by a reader who particularly loved my Smörgåstårta, so I obliged with a version of my own.  Rödkål is very simple -it's red cabbage with vinegar, red wine, brown sugar, apple and some spices. Very easy.

I've chosen to use ground caraway in this recipe, so that the caraway flavour is more evenly incorporated into the dish. You can also used caraway seeds in it's place, which will change the dynamic slightly as you will get little bursts of caraway flavour as you chew the seeds. Both options are nice. I have also included the caraway  in this dish because it has carminative effects, making it the perfect partner with cabbage. However, if you're still worried about the gassy nature of cabbage then you should accompany this dish with some of my Cabbage-is-my-friend Tea, which I devised back when I was doing Croatia Month and eating a LOT of cabbage!

I have to thank my amazing friend Oscar who lives in Sweden - not only for being a sounding board for my ideas on Swedish dishes, but also for sending me fantastic Sweden themed cooking aids for my birthday!

Finally, I decided that rather than sit down and eat a bowl of tangy sweet and sour cabbage (it is more suited to a side dish than main meal), I would need something to accompany it. Mushrooms are a perfect choice because all the things that go fantastically well with mushrooms are already in the cabbage (balsamic vinegar, red wine), so it was a logical pairing. It was delicious - you really must eat it with the mushroom because the compliment each other perfectly!

Ingredients

Don't worry too much about quantities, just add more or less of whatever you like until you get it the way you like it!

Rödkål

1/4 red cabbage, cored and shredded

1 large green apple, peeled, cored and sliced.

1 cup red wine

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground caraway

Mushies

4 large field mushrooms (also called Portobello)

2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp nuttelex (or other non dairy margarine)
Salt and pepper to taste

To Make
1. Preheat an oven/grill to 150 degrees.
2. Place all the ingredients for the rödkål in a saucepan and cover with a lid. Place over a medium heat and simmer for about 40 minutes.
3. While that is cooking, wash your mushrooms and trim any of the stem that is woody and tough.
4. Cut about 8-10 slits in the top of your mushrooms and insert the slices of raw garlic, you may have to cut out a little wedge of mushroom in order to fit the garlic slices in.

5. Melt the nuttelex in a frypan and lightly fry the mushrooms for a few minutes on either side. 

6. Prepare a baking tray with a spray of cooking oil or with a sheet of baking paper. Transfer the mushrooms to the tray and bake in the oven for about 15 mins.

7. Place a mushroom on each plate, season to taste with salt and pepper and then pile it up with a big heap of rödkål.

Serve immediately, serves 4.

This month I'm featuring lots of amazing recipes from Sweden!

Check out my other Swedish recipe posts:

Ärtsoppa (Split Pea & Mustard Soup)

Vegan Smörgåstårta (Swedish Sandwich Cake)

Chokladdarraksbolls (Chocolate & Aniseed Balls)

Vegan Swedish Meatballs

Almond and Cranberry Semla

Jansson's Temptation (Creamy Potato Bake)

No-Knead Cardamom Braid 

Kladdkaka (Gooey Chocolate Cake!)

Cambodian Hot and Sour Mushroom Soup

Welcome to another month on Gormandize with A-dizzle & K-bobo! Today is a pretty exciting day for me - because today we finally leap off the continent and explore Asia! If you're not already aware, every month I feature a country requested by you and post lots of yummy recipes that that come from or are inspired by that country - in a vegan version. If you think this is pretty awesome and want to request a country then jump onto this page here to request a country. Cambodia was requested by a reader called MishLich and I am so thrilled that they suggested Cambodia! So far we have featured Croatia, Chad, Bosnia, Iran and Scotland - which is a nice mix of continents but lacking in Asia (and South America! But that doesn't seem to be very popular in people's suggestions for some reason!), so I'm very excited to get to be able to explore Cambodian food!

I'm pretty all up in Asia. For two reasons, firstly because I'm a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine and because I lived in China for a year studying and travelling. Secondly because Asia is close to Australia, it makes for excellent cheap travelling. I have been to China, Thailand, Laos, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam and Mongolia and in July I will be heading off for a trip to Sri Lanka (which I can't even tell you how excited I am about!). But sadly I haven't made it to Cambodia yet. However, after looking at all the delicious food that is going to change soon because researching this country's cuisine actually made me plan a trip to Cambodia - it just sounded that good!

I'm starting off the month with this delicious Hot and Sour Mushroom Soup. Cambodian food it all about perfectly combining flavours - hot, sweet, sour, spicy and salty all combine in the right amounts to make a fresh, fragrant and tangy dish. The hot and sour in this soup is quite mild, but you could boost it up by adding more chilli and more lime juice. It also literally takes 15 minutes to make, so is the perfect quick meal. I made this for our lunch yesterday. Initially I was worried that it wouldn't be filling enough, but the mushrooms and noodles were very substantial. It was the perfect quick and healthy lunch!

Ingredients

2 x 100g cakes dried bean thread vermicelli (also called glass noodles or cellophane noodles)

5 cups hot vegetable stock

150g oyster mushrooms

3 kaffir lime leaves, bruised and torn in half

2 long red chillis, chopped into about thirds (you don't have to eat them, just adds the hotness to the broth)

1 tsp sugar

Juice of 1 lime

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 tbsp soy sauce

Fresh coriander (cilantro), to serve

To Make

1. Soak the noodles in cold water for 15 minutes (they won't be cooked after 15 minutes, but they will be softened).

2. Wash the oyster mushrooms and slice them.

3. Combine all ingredients except the noodles  and coriander in a pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes (while your noodles are soaking). You can taste the broth and add more chilli, lime or soy sauce to taste.

4. Divide the noodles amongst two bowls and top with the mushrooms and broth. You can either remove the kaffir lime leaves before serving or serve with them and instruct whoever you are cooking for not to eat them. The big chunks of chilli the same, although you can eat them if you want! (My partner ate them). Garnish with chopped coriander.

Serves 2.

This month I'm featuring lots of amazing recipes from Cambodia!

Check out my other Cambodian recipe posts:

Kho Manor Nung To Hu (Pineapple and Tofu)

Cambodian Spiced Eggplant

Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Parfait (Borbo Skor La-Pov)

Num Chet Chien (Banana Nuggets!)

Khmer Lemongrass Vegetable Curry

Nem To-hu Sap (Vegetarian Summer Rolls)

Tirk Salouk Swai (Mango Chilli Salsa)

Cucumber & Vermicelli Salad