Walnut and Macadamia Brownies

In the past week I've used 1kg sugar, 600g chocolate and 450g margarine in pursuit of the perfect vegan brownie.

In the past few years I've eaten various attempts at brownies by restaurants / cafes and only been impressed by one - Herbies in Exeter. They were kind enough to give me their recipe, however when I eventually tried it I found it to not work at all :(

They suggested they be cooked at 300^oC, which when I tried at my oven's max (260^oC) they burnt within minutes.

More interesting than the recipe itself is the technique - to take them out of the oven half way and knock the air out by banging a counter. I've not found reference to any other recipes using this technique through Google. If makes sense though - allow the mixture to rise creating texture but then knock the air out.

There seem to be many recipes online for what is essentially badly cooked cake mixture - not my idea of brownie! I've lost count of the number of forum posts I've read where people have claimed to have discovered brownie when their chocolate cake attempt went badly wrong.

To me a brownie should be crisp on the outside, cakey towards the egde then fudge (boarding upon gooey) in the centre. Not 'fudgy' - why make it fudge like when you can make real fudge?

The recipe I've created is essentially fudge (sugar + fat + chocolate) with enough flour and raising agent to separate out and form cake at the edges. I used Herbie's slamming technique, but increased the cooking time, lowered the temperature and added 2 slams.

I'm really pleased with the result - it excludes ingredients not generally found in British kitchens (egg replacer, specialist flours etc) and is simple to make. I used macadamias and walnuts, but any nuts can be used. I would recommend that you do use some form of nut though - my final test omitted them (for cost) and it didn't cook as well.

One important thing to note: these brownies improve with age. When you take them out of the oven the very centre will appear to be too gooey. Only when they've fully cooled (several hours later) will they have reached the right consistency. The first time I made them I thought the recipe was a failure - it wasn't until I tried them again a day later that I realised they were near perfect.

If you use a different size pan to me (e.g. they're thicker or thinner) then you'll need to play with the cooking time.

Wet Ingredients: 300g Soft Brown Sugar 50g Caster Sugar 150g Soya Margarine 1 tsp Vanilla Extract 120ml Soya Milk

Dry Ingredients: 125g Wholemeal Flour 40g Cocoa Powder 1/4 tsp Salt 2 tsp Baking Powder

Other Ingredients: 140g Chocolate 75g Walnuts 75g Macadamia Nuts

Start by melting the wet ingredients together in a pan over a low heat. Use a whisk to ensure they're fully combined and the sugar dissolved. Be careful not to overheat or take the mixture to the boil - it'll change the consistency if you do (e.g. you'll make toffee):

Leave to cool - if it's too warm when you add it to the dry ingredients then it'll melt the chocolate and again change the end consistency.

Mix the dry ingredients, then thoroughly combine in the wet:

Chop the chocolate into chunks if not using chips. Chop or break the walnuts. Chop the macadamias if whole. Add to the mixture and stir briefly:

Line an 11x7 inch pan with silicone sheet or baking paper, fill and even out with a spatula:

Place in a 200^oC (180^o fan) oven for 10 minutes, then remove and bang down on the top of the cooker. If it's risen at all you should see it deflate. Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes. Remove and bang again, then place back in the oven for its final 10 - it should have 30 minutes in total.

Finally remove from the oven, bang for a third time and place the tin in an ice water bath to stop the cooking (a larger pan with ice cubes and water will do the trick - just make sure the water doesn't go over the sides!).

Leave in the pan for a few minutes, then lift out:

Leave to cool for a few hours, then slice into 12, remove from the silicone/paper and leave to cool completely - overnight is best. If you don't you'll find it quite gooey in the centre (a good thing?).

I'll experiment with using the brownie in other recipes (ice cream, sundaes, cheesecake etc), but it's incredibly moreish on its own (I've eaten a lot of this stuff this week!). Today we enjoyed some with mint tea:

Something I don't make nearly often enough - handful of mint steeped in water with sugar. It's so much better than tea from bags!

Fry Ups

I'd like to call this a Saturday morning staple, but in reality we're usually still in bed by 12! I've eaten many mediocre/bad fry ups in cafes and hotels - how hard is it to get wrong? On reflection I think I'd rather stay at a good B&B without breakfast than one that specifically makes crap cooked vegan breakfasts and costs the same.

My fry ups vary each time dependent on what's available, but the absolute must is fried bread. It's got to be cooked properly too, so that it's full of flavour, crisp on the outside and soft in the middle without being overly fatty. Tofu scramble makes a regular appearance too, the recipe of which also varies each time.

As I had my camera set up in the kitchen this lunchtime; here's today's:

Fry minced garlic and sliced chestnut mushrooms in sunflower oil, then crumble smoked tofu over the top, stir and add tamari, concentrated mushroom stock, dried herbs, salt and pepper. Finally; garnish with fresh parsley before serving:

Plain tofu works too, along with other ingredients such as red/white onion, peppers, other types of mushroom and whatever dark looking sauces are in the cupboard - soya sauce, vegetarian worcester sauce etc.

Meanwhile, fry some kind of potato product (in this case hash browns, which taste nasty cooked in the oven but great fried), redwoods bacon and tomatoes in the same pan:

Add slices of decent quality fresh bread and plenty of ground sea salt. Once its soaked up the existing oil add more and turn them over - add more salt.

I'm not really a great fan of salt (I bought my current bottle of table salt in 2004), but in this case it works really well (the same applies to baked potatoes).

Always cook the fried bread last (add the others to the top of the scrambled tofu pan to keep them warm) and serve straight away with red/brown sauce and anything else you fancy. I'm not really a fan of beans but often add a sausage or two :)

Hot Praline Chocolate

Quick post so I don't forget the magic formula. I do that - I go through phases of making something regularly then several months later can't for the life of me remember the recipe.

This is *the* best hot chocolate I've ever tasted.

3 pumps Sweetbird Hazelnut Syrup

380ml Alpro Fresh Soya Milk

6 squares Kinnerton Dark Chocolate

3-4 Vegan Marshmallows

Soyatoo Squirty Cream

Chocolate Shavings

Any brand of syrup (most are vegan) will work, though I'm not sure if the pump amounts are the same. Praline is my favourite - I'm not a fan of 'toasted marshmallow' syrup or ones designed more for coffee (butterscotch, gingerbread etc). I've blogged previously about using Kahlua or Creme de Menthe instead which is also good, but alcoholic too.

Whilst you can make hot chocolate simply by heating milk; microfoaming it with an espresso machine's steam wand will give you a much better mouth feel. Always add the syrup to the milk before steaming - that way the foam contains the flavour and doesn't go all beany.

This recipe doesn't strictly need marshmallows, but they're a good addition if available. I've found its better to melt them in advance - otherwise you don't really pick up their taste and end up having to eat them separately at the end with a spoon. I use a blow torch because it's quickest and more fun than using a lighter. The best brand I've tried are Alternative Stores (sold online and in Vx). The only brand I wouldn't recommend is Anandas - all that we've tried (from One Earth shop in Birmingham) have tasted stale.

Kinnerton Dark is in most supermarkets, is cheap and has a fairly low cocoa content, making it less bitter than say 70%. You can use the chocolate of your choice, but the trick I learnt through trial and error it to not add too much. Otherwise it won't dissolve properly and you loose some of the hazelnut flavour.

If you've a food processor then I highly recommend using it to grate an entire bar of chocolate, then store it in a small tupperware and use it for icecream and topping hot chocolate. We recently acquired a bag of Montezumas hot chocolate shavings which give the same effect, though costs quite a bit more.

Method: Pump the syrup into a large mug, break up the chocolate and add, then cover with soya milk. Microfoam to about 70 degrees:

Stick a spoon in and give it a good stir under the surface so that the chocolate incorporates into the milk without destroying the foam:

Toast the marshmallows, then float on the surface:

Top with squirty cream and shavings:

Enjoy immediately! :-)

1847 (Manchester)

I don't really do 'up norf' on a week day very often, but somehow found myself there today and looking for lunch. 1847 looked promising - though the concept of pizza from Dough sounded good in theory; I've a natural gravitation to all vegetarian places.

Decor's pleasant and the menu fairly average looking; I didn't have long so ordered a starter and main to come together:

Deep fried salt and pepper tofu, satay, wasabi and soy sauce (v) £5.50
Sage & leek sausages, vegetable mash, spring vegetables with red wine gravy (v) £10.95

Main+drink is £10 on a weekday lunchtime, which is really not bad at all. Unfortunately the soft drink choice is limited, so if you're not drinking wine then it's not so great.

The restaurant was about a third full - service was polite and the food come relatively quickly:

Cubes of plain tofu with salt and pepper seasoning; kind of dull on its own, not greatly improved by soya sauce and sadly the tsp of satay sauce didn't really go far enough.

The main course unfortunately wasn't much better:

Generous portion of greens and mashed potato, but virtually unseasoned and after a few mouthfuls more of an endurance than pleasure. The sausages were bland and the gravy not plentiful enough to compensate.

Given away by my less than surreptitious attempt at taking photographs; the experience was in part rectified by being spotted by a friend of internet days past. It was good to catch up and having waited 10 minutes for our plates to be cleared (and still 30 minutes until closing) we got to share the mutual disappointment of finding that dessert was no longer being served.

What's with that? I've heard good things about their puddings - it could have made up for an otherwise sub par meal. Supposedly the chef was working 'as a favour', which is why they'd stopped serving.

I want to like 1847. Its 33 of 613 restaurants on TripAdvisor and in amongst the horror stories there are many positive reviews too. Perhaps they were having a bad day?

Next time I'm in Manchester I'll get a main course at Dough and dessert from 1847 (if they're still serving it that is!).

Quiche Lorraine

I've been through a phase recently of not doing much cooking. It's mostly because I can't be arsed, partly because I've lots of other things vying for my time. Whilst hungry and driving 100 miles home on Friday however; my mind started to wonder onto the subject of recipe creation.

There are several things that I've been waiting too long now for other people to veganise. One of which is quiche - I've tried several attempts over the years and none have really hit the mark.

All that I've tried haven't had quite the right texture, level of creaminess or depth of flavour. Adding insult to injury, some contain yellow colourings (such as cumin and pakrika), which weird the flavour. The tofutti ones sold in H&B are probably the best commercial attempt, but like all frozen food they're not that great.

For my first attempt I wanted to go for the 'traditional' lorraine variety, which in the UK contains cheese and lardons. Most vegan versions I've tried have contained silken tofu, which bulks it out but adds no flavour. Therefore I decided to go with smoked tofu as well as fake bacon.

Yesterday I made four test recipes, using various ratios of smoked tofu, soya cream, cheddar spread, soya milk and salt:

My original hunch was right, so I made a larger version today, along with actual pastry:

225g Smoked Tofu

150ml Alpro Fresh Cream

100g Tesco Freefrom (Scheese) Cheddar Spread

Pinch of Salt

Pack of Redwoods Rashers

The result was very good. I'd rather have used a deeper tin with smaller diameter, but I forgot to buy one earlier in the day. Therefore it ended up pretty thin - still good though.

It's insanely creamy. I think it could take more smoked tofu, but the flavour is spot on. The top surface cracked slightly whilst cooking - I'll try a lower temperature for longer next time, as well as possibly floating slices of tomato on the top to help retain the moisture.

You can use ready made / rolled shortcrust pastry if you're feeling lazy - Jusrol is now actually labeling its products vegan. If you've a food processor though then the following is very easy (not to mention far cheaper):

150g Plain Flour

85g Pure Soya Margerine

Pinch of Salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor and wizz till you've 'breadcrumbs':

With the motor running add a small amount of water, so that it starts to come together. Remove and mold into a ball, wrap in plastic and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll it out, line a greased 25cm flan dish (leave the edges overlapping) and cover with a layer of foil and baking beads (fuck you Delia). Bake for 15 minutes at 180 celcius (160 fan), then remove the foil/beads and cook for a further 5.

Allow to cool, then trim the edges with a sharp knife:

Meanwhile, slice the rashers into smallish pieces and lightly fry. Don't cook them as long as you would if you were making a sandwich - they shouldn't brown or crispen.

Place all remaining ingredients in a food processor (break the tofu by hand into smaller chunks) and whizz until completely smooth:

Add the bacon, then pour into the pastry case.

Cook for about 20 minutes at the same temperature as before (180/160 fan). Allow to cool, then remove from the tin and slice:

Next time I'll go for a smaller dish and make it deeper, but I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. It's a simple enough recipe - will experiment with adding extra flavours to it with time.

Lancrigg (Cumbria)

Considering that it really is the middle of no-where; The Lake District is actually surprisingly vegan friendly.

Windermere is generally best avoided - it's where all the people who came to the lake district with no intention of doing any walking go. It's got a co-op, but that's where the vegan friendliness ends. Ambleside is mostly populated by people who intended to go walking, but instead went shopping for outdoor clothing they'll never use! It has a couple of vegetarian restaurants though (same owner) which both cater for vegans. Zeffirellis is the cheaper and in my opinion better option - Fellinis more expensive and less good. Keswick has the Lakeland Pedlar, which is my favourite cafe in the North of England - it also has some stunningly beautiful walks close by. Further afield is the Quince and Medlar, which is one of my favourite vegetarian restaurants in the UK. The Lake District has many great walks for even unfit people like me - the effort : impressive view ratio is the best in the country. I can highly recommend Buttermere, Catbells and Latrigg.

There's several vegetarian (friendly) B&Bs in the area, including Nab Cottage (stunning views of Rydal Water and cooked vegan breakfast, but terribly uncomfortable bed!) and Yewfield (not yet been, but website looks promising). Lancrigg's the only vegetarian hotel that I know of - I've stayed there a couple of times and visited their restaurant as a non-resident.

Lancrigg's location is excellent, though can be slightly confusing to find by car! It's walking distance from Grasmere in one direction (the gingerbread shop will claim it's vegan if you ask, but we've reason to believe they lie), Helm Crag and Easedale Tarn a leisurely walk in the other. The house itself dates from the 1600s, with former owners including William Wordsworth.

Decor is 1870s meets 1970s. There are several snotty reviews on TripAdvisor from people who disliked the interior design. Personally it doesn't really bother us, but it'd be good to update (rip out) the offending bathrooms and replace them with something more tasteful. One of the rooms (Kitty Crag) is offsite - a short walk through the grounds to the main house. I stayed there the first time and quite enjoyed the seclusion, views and cheaper rate. Again people who've unwittingly booked it have had a whinge (why visit The Lake District if you hate walking so much?!).

The room rate's not cheap, so it's worth signing up to their mailing list for news of last minute offers. We recently stayed 2 nights in Silver Howe - normally £396 for £195 on a last minute deal. The room is one of their best and has stunning views across the valley.

Food at Lancrigg is well above average and vegans well catered for. We were so underwhelmed by a meal at Fellinis one night that we opted for dessert at Lancrigg instead :)

Breakfast is 3 course: fruit or cereal followed by cooked or continental breakfast, then by toast & preserves. There's even a choice of 4 vegan suitable cooked breakfasts!

Full English - Burger, grilled tomatoes, sauted mushrooms and baked beans, served with wholemeal toast:

TLT - Seeded roll filled with marinated grilled tofu, lettuce, tomato and sunflower mayo:

Potato cake topped with sauteed muhrooms, served with grilled tomato and a green pesto:

All delicious! (though for ultimate gluttony I'd include tofu scramble, sausages and fried bread :)

Lancrigg's evening meals are excellent too, with 3 courses an extremely reasonable £20pp when booked with the room. Quality of ingredients, preparation and presentation is above average, though level of adventurousness is fairly old school vegetarian cooking - don't expect to see anything on the menu you've not had many times before elsewhere.

A few of the things we ate......

Chickpea & coriander falafels - with tzatziki, harrisa sauce & olive focaccia bread:

Mushroom & Brazilnut puff pastry roulade - with red onion gravy, seasonal vegetables & potato celeriac mash:

Chocolate espresso mousse with coconut sorbet:

The highlight of our stay however wasn't food related - it was waking up in a comfortable bed with sun streaming through the gap in the shutters and cool breeze:

As someone who usually hates net curtains with a passion, I'm now considering a set for our bedroom at home :)

I expect that we'll return to Lancrigg many times over the coming years (especially now we know that they're baby friendly).

If nothing changes and I get the same experience / level of service each time then I'll be quite happy. If at some point they give the place a slight update and get a bit more adventurous with the menu then it'll be a great bonus. In the meantime though I'm happy to recommend it to other vegans.