Yum

I followed a recipe from The Vegan Cookbook (and here is the updated version of the book), my copy is rather battered from overuse, well I have had it since 1986!
I love to cook, bake etc see this, though I don’t have a lot of time and I get tired as I’m quite busy so when I do have the energy and inclination I really enjoy it.
I’ve met a lot of people who were astounded that for instance I would consider making my own white sauce for a lasagna. I like making things from scratch , I’m not averse to using cooking sauces, frozen fruit or tinned beans to save some time (no point slaving over a cooker for 3 hours for beans)
I enjoy the preparation and the process, since I’ve got a squeezebox boom in my kitchen now, I love to listen to music and cook, especially last night I cooked a carrot and tofu flan from scratch, I love making pastry, it’s so easy and you can put different flours in for different flavours.
With the carrot and tofu flan I have tweaked the original recipe as it doesn’t have any tofu in it! I’ve also added some vegan pesto as well
I’m always doing that, adding stuff/taking bits out, I also use a little less soya sauce (I prefer tamari to regular shoyu soya sauce) in the recipe as 3 tbs is too much for my palate!
The pictures aren’t brilliant as my HTC phone is a bit unwell so I’m back using my Samsung g600, took me a bit to reconfigure it, got there in the end (involved having to email the pictures to myself) What I do for the love of blogging! 😀
Recipe – Carrot & Tofu Flan (my version)
Serves 4 (big helpings)
1 prebaked flan shell
2lbs of carrots
( I use 1 ½lbs as I’m putting in tofu)
2 clo
ves of garlic
8fl oz (225ml) soya milk
1 tbs wine vinegar ( I use red wine vinegar, you could use cider vinegar) (I also leave this out sometimes)
2tbs soya sauce (tamari) ( original recipe says 3tbs)
block of silken tofu (it blends better, but normal tofu is fine too)

4 or 5 tsp of vegan pesto (I like pesto so add to taste)
Flan shell
I bake this first and make the filling while it’s cooking in the oven
½lb (¼kg) of flour (wholewheat/spelt/(mixture depends what you like)
¼lb(125g) of vegan marg
4-5tbs of water
Rub the marg and flour together, so it resembles breadcrumbs
Add water bit at a time so it holds together
Roll out to the thickness you like
Put into a greased (with marg) flan case
Prick the pastry case with a fork (also add dried beans so it doesn’t puff up during baking)
Bake for 10-12 mins centre of oven 425°F /218°C/gas mark 7
Let it cool and take out the beans
Filling
Steam the carrots for about 12-15 mins (depends how thick or thin you chopped them)
Put the cooked carrots, crushed garlic (use a garlic crusher), soya milk, red wine vinegar (optional), soya sauce, pesto, tofu and soya sauce and blend until smooth
Pile it into the flan case and swirl it around or smooth out (your preference)
Bake it in oven 350°F/177°C/ gas mark 4 for 30 minutes
I serve it with a simple salad like (beetroot, rocket, lettuce)  as it adds a little contrast to the dish
Jam Tarts
I had some pastry left over from the flan  so I made some jam tarts… (I made about 8 tarts, (I took this pic before they were all eaten…)
I put them in at the same time as the pre -baking of the pastry shell
The jam I use is either St. Dalfour or Meridan fruit spreads (not jam) I don’t like sugar in my jam, a fruit spread is the same but 100% fruit
They didn’t last long and were scoffed ( with the helpful assistance of my son Ross) while watching Return of the King
This morning I also had some blackberry & blueberry porridge ( I love it, it’s a Scottish genetic thing, I’m sure)
Scottishsiren’s Purple Porridge
Enough for 2 people
2 cups of porridge
4 cups of soya milk
½ packet of frozen fruit (like raspberries, blueberries etc) or you can use fresh fruit e.g bananas
Cook porridge in a saucepan (bring to boil and simmer for 5 mins)
Just before you simmer add frozen/fresh fruit, mix well
Serve with agave syrup (if you have a sweet tooth, see here for one I like to use) and lashings of soya milk

I now have cravings for Lemon cheesecake… vegan of course (that’s another post)
Music listened to while researching/writing this blog post:
Gustavo Cerati – lots of his albums on shuffle
Amor Amarillo
+ Bien
Reversiones / Siempre es Hoy
Canciones Elegidas 93-04
Fuerza Natural
Siempre Es Hoy
Bocanada
Ahí Vamos
11 Episodios Sinfónicos
and lots of punk on shuffle (I have 1900 songs on my punk playlist)