Mofo Post #3 Rhubarb Crumble

Being vegan I get asked a lot if I do desserts. People tend to assume that desserts don't exist with out butter and cream. Can you imagine if that were true? No desserts for the rest of your life? That would be dedication!

Today I cooked my first crumble of the year.  With the BF away on business I didn't trust myself to make a big one so instead I made two small ones and froze one of them, which also gave me a chance to use my lovely Falcon enamel pie dishes.

I took 500g of fresh rhubarb and chopped it into small pieces.

Then along with 100g sugar and 75ml water I let it simmer on the lowest temperature with the lid on for 15 minutes.

To make the crumble topping I mixed white sugar and flour with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. I rubbed this with some Vitalite dairy-free margarine until it looked like bread crumbs.

Tip the rhubarb into the pie dishes and cover with the topping, then bake in the oven on 150 C for about 20 minutes.

I served mine with oat cream, but only because I'm out of custard powder. Bird's custard is egg free so tomorrow I'll try making up some of that with some soy milk.

Does anyone have any recipes for vegan custard from scratch? I haven't seen one yet so would love to know.

Bangers and Mash Mofo!

Today is the first day of Vegan Mofo aka Vegan Month of Food. Along with hundreds of other bloggers I have signed up to write 20 blog posts this October all about vegan food.

My posts are going to be all about vegan meals. I'm relatively new to veganism having been vegetarian for almost 19 years before going the whole hog. As I cook for a living I'm always trying out new meals to add to my Housebites menu as well as to try to keep my own diet varied.

I'm kicking off with one of my favourite Autumn/Winter meals. Bangers and Mash is one of my favourite week day meals to eat when it's getting cold and dark.
 
My first few attempts at seitan sausages were a total disaster because my local health food/organic shop only had a gluten free, gluten substitute instead of just gluten flour. If someone tries to sell you this don't take it! It turns out all sticky and horrible and is impossible to mould into shape. Having tried a couple of sausage recipes from The PPK (without that website I would never have become vegan!) I have finally come up with my own variation of seitan sausages. Mine have less gluten in so they are a bit softer and juicier. I finally got my gluten from Earth Natural Foods in Kentish Town eventually. Let me know if you find it anywhere else in London...I need a back up just in case.

All you need to do is blitz everything in the ingredients list in a blender.

• Roll into sausage shapes.

• Roll the sausages in foil and twist up the ends.

• And then steam for about 45 minutes. If you don't have your own steamer then check out this tip!

After that they are really good fried in a pan or brushed with oil and grilled or baked in the oven as you would prepare shop bought veggie sausages. I like to cook too many so I can have some cold in a sandwich the next day.

1/2 cup cooked black eyed beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegan worcester sauce
A few dashes of chipotle tabasco
2 cloves garlic, grated (with a microplane, or very finely minced)
1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons chickpea flour
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of chilli flakes
Several dashes fresh black pepper
Salt to taste

I serve my sausages with mash and onion gravy and an obligatory green vegetable. Yes, there is mash in the picture, somewhere underneath all that gravy!