Egg Foo Young

This is a traditional Chinese-American dish, so I grew up eating. It comes with a thick, brown sauce, almost like gravy. I got a taste for it suddenly when my mother mentioned having shrimp egg foo young for lunch, so I made a vegetarian version.

 

This recipe made 8 patties, and eating even 2 is very filling.

 

Ingredients:

2- 2½  cups vegetables (I used 1 cup cabbage, 1 celery stalk, 2 spring onions, ½ cup bean sprouts, and mushrooms)

oil

7 eggs

1¼ cup water

1 tbsp corn starch (or flour)

½ bouillon cube

1 tbsp soy sauce (I left this out as M can’t eat soy, but if you add it, it will be more “traditional” and murkier)

1 tsp ginger, optional (I used this to brighten up the flavour)

1 pinch lime leaves, optional (I used this to brighten up the flavour)

 

Instructions:

1. Wash and chop the vegetables. If using vegetables such as cabbage and onion, fry them lightly in oil for a few moments.

2. Whisk the eggs and add all the vegetables. Distribute the vegetables evenly.

3. Fry patties a couple at a time in a little oil.

4. Start the sauce by first making a smooth paste with ¼ cup water and the corn starch or flour.

5. When it’s completely smooth, add the rest of the water, the bouillon, and the soy sauce. If using the ginger and lime leaves, add them too. Cook over low heat, whisking frequently, for a few minutes, until it thickens.

6. Serve the patties with the sauce over them.

Chocolate Meringue Cookies

A Facebook friend posted that she made these for Passover at her synagogue. She added chocolate chips, but I imagine you could flavour these in a number of different ways. I included vanilla and no chocolate chips, and I brought them to M’s brother’s birthday party.

 

The recipe is easily doubled or tripled.

 

Ingredients:

1 egg white

¼ cup sugar

1 tbsp cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

 

Instructions:

1. Whisk the egg white until starting to stiffen and turn glossy.

2. Slowly add in the other ingredients, while still whisking.

3. When firm and glossy, drop the meringue by tablespoonfuls onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.

4. Bake at 120 C for 50 minutes.

Brioche

I found a recipe for brioche, but I replaced the dairy, and still managed to keep the sweet taste.

 

You can add dried fruit, chocolate chips, or other items to the dough.

 

Ingredients:

190 g strong white bread flour (I actually only had 140 g white flour, so I used that plus 50 g brown bread flour)

25 g sugar

1 tsp salt

4 g yeast

50 ml milk (I used rice milk)

2 eggs

90 g butter (I used Pure sunflower spread)

 

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together well (about 5-10 minutes in a mixer).

2. Leave to rise overnight in a greased bowl. I left ours in the fridge.

3. Put the dough in a bread tin. If you want that typical brioche-look, you can roll it into 8-10 balls and push them together. Leave to rise for a few hours.

4. Bake at 180 C for 20-25 minutes.

Hot Pot

I saw a recipe for a vegetarian hot pot. I’ve never had a hot pot, not being English, but I liked the idea, so I made my own variation on the recipe. I don’t know if it’s like a hot pot, but it was good and warming.

Ingredients:

4-6 small potatoes or 2-3 medium ones

water

1 onion

1 clove garlic

oil

1 tsp honey

1 vegetable stock cube

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 carrots

2 stalks celery

½ cup liquid (I used a combination of coconut milk and water, but wine or ale or just water would work too)

2 tbsp herbs (I used dill and sage, but any would probably work well)

black pepper

Instructions:

1. Parboil the potatoes in the water for about 10 minutes.

2. Peel and dice the onion and garlic and lightly soften them in the oil and honey. Mash in the stock cube and stir in the tomato puree, then continue to caramelise for a few minutes.

3. Peel and chop the carrots and wash and chop the celery. Add them and the liquid to the pan. Cook for 5-10 minutes.

4. Add the herbs and season with black pepper.

5. Pour the vegetables and liquid into an oven-safe dish. Slice the potatoes and layer them on top. Drizzle with a little oil.

6. Bake at 180 C for 10-15 minutes.

Sabayon

Okay, this is not a traditional sabayon/zabaglione recipe, which usually calls for sweet wine. But we don’t drink much in the Veggie Dyke household and I wanted the same flavour, so this is what I came up with.

You can either cook the mixture over a water bath, so that it stays liquid but also is safe to eat, or you can pour it over fruit into a lightly greased dish and bake it in the oven at 180 C for 6-8 minutes. If you do this, some of it becomes a lovely mushy solid, while the rest stays liquid. Either way, it’s lovely.

I recently served this over strawberries and I baked it in the oven for 8 minutes; it was delicious.

Ingredients:

3 eggs (I used the whole eggs, but some say you should just use yolks)

2-3 tbsp sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice, optional

Instructions:

1. Mix or whisk the eggs until light and frothy.

2. Add the other ingredients and continue to mix.

3. Cook briefly over a water bath or bake over fruit, or serve raw, if you know the provenance of your eggs.

Cinnamon Buns

This is a Scandinavian classic. When I was taking a French class, a Norwegian woman in the course brought these buns to our final session. She gave me the recipe and I fiddled with it and though my final product was not as fluffy as hers, it was still good.

If you want a Cinnabon-style bun, you can also make an icing for the top, but I think that’s overkill.

Ingredients:

4¼ cups flour

½ cup sugar

2 tsp cardamom

2 tsp cinnamon

14 g yeast

100 g margarine (or butter)

1½ cups milk (I used rice milk)

cinnamon filling:

75 g margarine or butter

¼ - ½ cup sugar

1/8 cup cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour, sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, and yeast together.

2. Warm the margarine and milk together, then mix with the dry ingredients. Blend well.

3. Leave to rest for 45-60 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, make the cinnamon filling. You can vary the proportions here according to your own taste.

5. Roll the dough out. Spread it with the filling, then roll it up. Slice it into buns.

6. Let rise another 30-40 minutes.

7. Bake at 180 C for 10-15 minutes.

Potato Tart

This is somewhat like a gratin, except without the cheese. You can use regular milk/cream and add cheese, if you want, and you can vary the vegetables.

Ingredients:

6-8 potatoes

water

oil

1 onion

1-2 garlic cloves

1 fennel

1-2 stalks dill

cream or milk (I used rice milk and oat cream)

salt

pepper

Instructions:

1. Wash the potatoes and boil them for about 10 minutes in the water.

2. Peel the onion and garlic and dice. Slice the fennel too.

3. Slice the potatoes and layer them with the onion and garlic.

4. Intersperse the vegetables with dill, cream or milk, salt, and pepper.

5. Bake at 180 C for 20-25 minutes. Serve with a salad, if desired.

Savoury Carrot Pie

This can also be easily varied with different vegetables or different spices or herbs. I thought this worked quite well and was something different.

Ingredients:

1 onion

1-2 garlic cloves

oil

2 tsp honey

2-4 small potatoes

3-5 carrots

1 courgette, optional

milk or water

1 lemon

2 tsp cinnamon

2-4 stalks dill

filo dough

70 g hazelnuts or almonds, chopped

Instructions:

1. Peel and dice the onion and garlic. Soften them in oil in a large saucepan over low heat, then add the honey, so they caramelise.

2. Thinly slice the potatoes and add them to the pan. Chop the carrots and add them. Slice the courgette, if using, and add it too.

3. Add a little water or milk, cover, and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring now and then. Add more liquid if the vegetables start sticking to the bottom of the pan.

4. Add the lemon zest and juice from half the lemon and the cinnamon. Wash the dill and snip it into the mixture as well.

5. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and blitz a bit at a time until it’s the desired consistency (some people like it smooth; I left it slightly chunky); you can also use a hand mixer.

6. Lightly oil an oven-safe dish. Spread 3 pieces of filo dough across the bottom, then top it with some of the carrot mixture. Squeeze a little lemon juice on top, then sprinkle with nuts.

7. Top with 2 more pieces of filo dough, then more carrot mixture, lemon juice, and nuts. You can do one more layer if you like or just do two. Top with 2 more pieces of filo.

8. Bake at 180 C for about 30 minutes.