Creamy Cashew Fettucini with Mushrooms and Peas

Creamy and reminiscent of home, Creamy Cashew Fettucini with Mushrooms and Peas {page 221} makes for a comforting dinner.

This recipe drenches tender noodles and sauteed peas and mushrooms in a creamy and satisfying cashew-based sauce. Although there are several steps to the recipe, they are laid out well in the recipe to promote the best time management strategy. As the vegetables were sauteeing, I had plenty of time to cook the noodles and make the sauce.

I enjoyed the crunch of the roasted cashews and breadcrumbs on top, but my only complaint with the recipe is that it seems to be ill-suited to a baked pasta. Before I put it in the oven, the pasta was creamy and perfect. After being in the oven for just a few minutes, all the creamy sauce soaked right up into the noodles, leaving the whole casserole dry and lacking. To tell you the truth, I didn't enjoy this dish very much because of that.

I would definitely suggest this recipe as a good comfort food dish, but I would recommend NOT baking it, and just using the cashews/breadcrumbs as garnish. I think it would taste much better in its original creamy form.

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

[Spinach]-Mushroom Phyllo Packets

As a light, impressive snack, I decided to wrap up some [Spinach]-Mushroom Phyllo Packets (page 43) for my four guests. The original recipe called for artichoke hearts (“Artichoke-Mushroom Phyllo Packets”), but a spinach variation was suggested, and we all know how I feel about spinach. They were wildly popular. The crispy crunch of the paper-thin phyllo, followed by the soft, flavorful warmth of the spinach and mushroom filling ensured that no one could stop at one single packet; or two.


I was trying to describe them to some friends later that day, after very little sleep, and the first thing that came out of my mouth was “little packets of joy.” Which describes them perfectly and caused said friends to insist I make some for them, too. The only downside: assembly takes some serious patience. Phyllo's involvement generally assures this. But the wow-factor is through the roof; so if you've got someone you want to impress, buy yourself some phyllo and get comfortable with it.


- - Ulpia, phyllo phyend - -

Green Bean Casserole Redux

I positively detest green beans. In fact, the very mention in a recipe is usually enough to make my stomach turn. I have NEVER liked them, even when I was a baby I would spit out any food with green beans in it. Finally, around age 16, my mom gave up and stopped making me eat them. Hallelujah, sweet respite from the evil green devils!

However, there is one BIG exception -- I LOVE green bean casserole. I don't care if it's made with dented bottom-shelf cans of store-brand slimy green travesties, I will inhale the stuff. When I went vegan, I was worried that green bean casserole was a thing of the past. Thankfully through the last couple of years, I've found {and created} several awesome green bean casseroles, even better than the "dump a bunch of cans together" kind that I had in my pregan days.

With my love of the stuff, it was only a matter of time until Green Bean Casserole Redux {page 370} graced my glass baking dish.

Overall this was a very good rendition of the casserole. It uses fresh green beans and fresh mushrooms, which I appreciated. The gravy was a little thin, so the cornstarch thickener needed to be doubled, but that could just be a matter of personal preference. Once in the 9x13" pan, the layer of casserole was pretty thin too, leading me to think that perhaps it would be just fine baked in a 9x9" instead.

The casserole was delicious, although definitely needed a little more flavor. I think next time I'd add some seasonings to the gravy to perk it up a bit. The Supertoddler looooved it, but picked all of the french fried onions off and ate only the green beans underneath -- weirdo!

Overall, it is a good, solid green bean casserole. Definitely worthy of your celebratory dinner table.

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

Mushroom Pâté and Crackers

I'm really not a snack-in-between-meals type of person, but I do love having a meal of appetizers because there are so many different tastes and textures. Also, I love dips and spreads with crackers or bread because I'm a total carboholic.

I really don't make my own spreads or pâtés that often (why, I don't know), but flipping through the book, several stood out to me as "must make" recipes. This one, the Smooth and Savory Mushroom Pâté (page 19) recipe, being the first one on my list. What better way to eat this but with homemade crackers, so I also whipped up a batch of Whole Wheat Sesame Crackers (page 420) to go along with it.

The pâté recipe is super easy and quick (aside from cooling). If you like mushrooms like I do, then this is a great recipe since it showcases their earthy taste paired with creamy cashews and a tiny bit of sweetness from the savoury and the booze (optional). I made this recipe as is with only one exception. Instead of the optional brandy or cognac, I added in a splash of cooking sherry that I had in the cupboard. I tasted it before and after the sherry and it definitely added interest to the flavour profile but it is just as tasty without the booze. The preparation was really easy with the most work being to slice the onions and mushrooms. After that, it's just sautéing and then blending everything in a food processor. Mine was still a bit grainy since my processor isn't great but I like that it still has texture. I'm sure that if you had a Vitamix it would turn out completely smooth. Then into the fridge to chill.

While the pâté was chilling, I started on the crackers. What I love about this recipe is that it is so simple with ingredients that most of us have on hand. Okay maybe not the sesame seeds but I keep some on hand all the time for other dishes. The majority of the flour used in this is whole wheat flour so while you can mix this by hand, you'll want to use a food processor because whole wheat flour can be really stiff. While I was throwing the ingredients into the food processor I also threw in a dash of garlic powder for good measure. The dough came together in less than a minute. Now on to the hard part. Rolling the dough out really thin wasn't that easy for me. I may have needed to use a tiny bit more water or next time to increase the white flour as my whole wheat flour is pretty heavy. Regardless, I did manage to roll it out fairly thin (a little more than 1/4") and I scored the dough instead of cutting it out. After they were baked to a golden brown, I let them cool. The crackers were super tasty with the sesame seeds but because there is no leavener in it, they are a bit dense which I like. They've got bite to them. If you wanted it less dense, then decrease the whole wheat and add in more white flour.

But how were they together? Great! The earthiness of the pâté paired really well with the whole wheat texture and taste of sesame. I can see both of these items on my regular cooking rotation.

If you've never made your own crackers, give it a try. It doesn't take much time at all and best of all, they are inexpensive and no weird ingredients.

— Ms. Veganorama

Tempeh Sweet Potato Sheperd's Pie

Tonight I made Tempeh and Sweet Potato Sheperd's Pie (page 304). This recipe also uses the Mushroom Sauce from page 546.

I was in the mood for some comfort food today. And I love both tempeh and sweet potatoes so I thought this would be a good recipe to try. This was a relatively easy recipe to make but it was time consuming. it took about two hours start to finish. I made the mushroom sauce while the tempeh was steaming and combined several steps.

This recipe is a variation of Sheperd's Pie with mashed sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. I like the way the tempeh mixes with the flavor of the mushroom sauce and is then balanced by the sweetness of the sweet potatoes.The author suggests using veggie burgers or veggie crumbles as a substitute for the tempeh. If I was going to make this for my boyfriend I would do this; it would be more omni friendly.It would also cut down on the time by about half an hour.

I had this again for lunch, heated in the microwave with leftover mushroom sauce on top and it is so delicious the next day. All the flavors have blended together and the sauce on top adds nice flavor and moisture. If I make this again I would keep it overnight and serve reheated with extra sauce.



--vegankitty

Rustic Cottage Pie

Tonight's entree was Rustic Cottage Pie (p316). This hearty casserole utilizes both the Basic Simmered Seitan (p305), which I used in the Chile-Lime Tortilla Soup and the Mushroom Sauce (p546) Ms. Veganaroma noted in a previous post.

I wouldn't necessarily say this is a quick weeknight meal, unless you have the seitan ready to go (as in, thawed homemade or store bought). It's not complicated by any means, but it does include a few components. Manage your time well, better than I, and it could come together in a reasonable weeknight amount of time. While the potatoes are cooking, you can prepare the Mushroom Sauce and chop and saute the necessary veggies.

My modifications were as follows: five medium size white potatoes instead of Yukon Golds; left the skins on; baby bellas instead of white mushrooms (they are the ONLY mushroom I will put near my mouth); canned corn instead of frozen, as I am currently out of my freezer staple of Trader Joe's Roasted Corn, and my grandmother had a can ready for the borrow; used about 1/4c more Mushroom Sauce than called for.

My grandmother was very satisfied with this dish. It's hearty and homey, and something most grandmothers would love. Mr. V scarfed up a full plate almost before I could bat an eyelash. He said it very much reminded him of the Shepherd's Pies the British chefs would make for the British crew back in his working-on-cruise-ships days. Apparently this is a good thing. Having never tried Shepherd's Pie, I'll take his word for it. What I have tried is the Rustic Cottage Pie and can add my positive vote to its hearty deliciousness. Great cool weather comfort food.

--The Divine Miss V

Soy-Tan Dream Cutlets, Mushroom Gravy & Barley Pilaf

Whew! That title was a mouthful and it wasn't even the full titles. Be prepared for the WoT (wall of text) that follows below. If it's tl;dr (too long; didn't read), just skip to the last paragraph. :p

I love love love comfort food. I often make some sort of seitan with gravy and vegetables for a big dinner at least once a month, but sometimes two or three times a month. I'm a total sucker for this type of meal. Heavy and comforting! It was inevitable that I would then make the Soy-Tan Dream Cutlets (page 294) with Mushroom Sauce (page 546) and decided that I may as well make a side so I also made the Barley Pilaf with Carrots, Walnuts, and Golden Raisins (page 276) and a side of oven roasted broccoli and cauliflower (my own, not from the book).

As I mentioned in my Pad Thai post, seitan is another recipe that I will try from a book despite the fact that I already have my own tried and true recipes for seitan (of all variations). Because of that, I had the Soy-Tan cutlets bookmarked from day one. These were also made by The Divine Miss V in her Vietnamese Po-Boys post. Before I go any further, I need to stress to you, especially to my fellow freaks with a Tofu Xpress, DO NOT PRESS THE TOFU. It's tempting, I know, but don't. Put the gadget away. :p This is actually attempt number two since I did actually press my tofu the first time since I was on Tofu Xpress autopilot and it totally screwed things up.

The Soy-Tan Cutlets came together really quickly and easily. I doubled the recipe and removed a little bit of the tofu from a 14 oz package (the recipe for one batch calls for 6 oz) I substituted Braggs for the soy sauce since I was out and used the suggested amount of seasonings. They were pretty easy to work with, soft enough to press down into thin cutlets — a little sticky but not so much that they could not be handled. I fried them up as per the directions in the book. Now, here's where texture results may vary. My stove/range is electric and it is awful. I believe that the controls are not accurate so that when something is set as low, it's really more like medium and when set to medium it 's more like high and of course it takes forever after you adjust for the temperature to come down. As the the cutlets were frying and covered, they puffed up a lot in the pan. I make seitan of all sorts a lot so I knew that the quick expansion usually happens when there is too much heat applied too quickly. Also, I knew ahead of time how the texture is supposed to be versus what I got just by looking at the recipe. Stupid stove. When I removed them and put them on a rack to drain and cool a little they did lose a bit of puff but the interior wasn't quite like how it was supposed to be. It had quite a bit of air pockets due to the high heat (my stove's fault). It looked spongey but luckily it didn't actually feel spongey when you were eating it. Taste-wise it is seasoned perfectly to be used for other applications — not too salty and no one seasoning was overwhelming. I should also mention that with seitan, the texture is better the next day after being in the refrigerator overnight and that is also true for this (just tasted a leftover piece). The next time I make them I'll make them the day before I need them and I will fry on low heat due to my sucky stove. Update: I had a full piece reheated for lunch today and after sitting in the fridge overnight, the texture is perfect, so if you run into the same thing I did, eat it the next day.

The Mushroom Sauce was also quick to put together. With any gravy that uses vegetable stock, the stock you use is what's going to make or break the taste so use your favourite vegetable stock or bouillon cube. If you use a stock that doesn't taste good to you, the end product is going to suck. Okay back to the gravy. It is very similar to how I make my own gravy except that it uses a cornstarch slurry instead of a roux for thickening which works great especially if you are concerned about fat content. It also uses thyme as the main herb whereas I usually add in a lot of other herbs. Really it's just personal preference. Make as is the first time and adjust to your liking. If you want more of a holiday taste, throw in some sage as well. I did have a couple of minor changes. I used Braggs instead of soy sauce and also threw in some gravy browning for colour. I think the Braggs gave it a little extra taste and a little more depth. The gravy was pretty tasty and worked perfectly with the cutlets. I should mention that I also used a salted bouillon cube. With two cups of liquid and only a few spoonfuls of soy sauce, I think you need to use a salted stock or you'll really need to up the amount of soy sauce and salt.

Next up, the Barley Pilaf. We had guests in from out of town so I needed to double the recipe. One problem though, I only had 1 cup of barley but I had a ton of brown rice. So I made the doubled recipe with 1 cup barley and 1 cup brown rice. I also used some baby heirloom carrots instead of regular carrots and used dark Thompson raisins instead of golden raisins. Like the gravy, a pilaf made with vegetable stock is only as good as the stock you are using, so use your favourite stock or bouillon cube! The pilaf came together easily but needed to simmer for a bit since I had brown rice in the mix (about 50 minutes). I also put the raisins in when it was simmering since my raisins were sort of dry and hard and not super soft and plump. The pilaf was indeed a really nice change from my usual pilaf and the carrots, raisins and walnuts gave it some nice differences in texture and taste. It's also really nice with a spoon of margarine mixed into your individual portion for a little extra richness.

All in all this was a delicious dinner and everyone enjoyed it. Our houseguests weren't vegan but they also enjoyed it and finished everything on their plates. So that's 8 thumbs up in total from us 4 and another score for Team Vegan for showing folks that vegans eat very well.

— Ms. Veganorama

P.S. Time-wise this all took about 2 hours from start to finish including prep time. I probably could have shaved some time off that if I had managed my tasks a little better.