tofu, leek and mushroom bake

Last night I had dinner at Yulli's a new(ish) vegetarian place on Crown St. The food was ok, not amazing, but filling and varied and tasy and most importantly, we were able to have an entire vegan meal for my brother's phd celebrations.

Anyway we had some mushroom, leek and ginger dumplings and they were good, but over-gingered. So tonight I decided to make something similar (as bake not dumplings as am tired after work).

and so here it is. it is neither exact nor measured as it is a thrown together dinner. and it is one of those chuck-in-what's-in-the-cupboard-and-see-wholefood type deals.

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
a nob of ginger (about the size of two thumbs)
good splash of soy
dessert spoon of kecap manis
spices (i used about half a teaspoon of mild curry powder, cumin, paprika)
1 leek
about 12 mushrooms (button or swiss brown or field...)
cauliflower and/or broccoli (optional - I used cos I had some in the fridge, any veges would be fine)
250g soft tofu
a cup of breadcrumbs (i make my own with leftover bread)
sesame seeds
1 egg (optional. dish is vegan without the egg)

1. Fry the onion, ginger, garlic and leek in sesame or peanut oil (vegetable oil if you must)
2. Add mushrooms and other vegetables if using as well as sauces and spices
3. Stir fry for a while and crumble in tofu, stirring to combine flavours and cook a bit. You could eat it at this point as scramble tofu, but I wanted something different.
4. Oil a casserole dish and add vegetables
5. Mix bread crumbs with salt and a pinch of each of the spices and top the casserole with crumbs.
6. (optional) Whisk the egg and drizzle over.
7. Sprinkle over sesame seeds.
8. Bake until browned and crispy. Eat!


GF: to make gluten-free use gluten-free bread or skip the bread and use lots of sesame seeds. If you want carbs in there, mix through cooked brown rice or quinoa. Yum!

...

Middle Eastern Orange Cake

Gluten Free! But not vegan...sorry

This is an absolute steal, not mine at all. But it is SUCH a good cake and someone (Hi Audrey!) emailed me, asking if I knew anything wheat free, so it seemed an opportune time to post. I have a similar recipe at home using pistachios but haven't had the time to try it out. Will do though!

NB: don't do as my mum did the other day and leave the oranges on the stove while you go out for a glass of wine. Charred oranges - no fun!

This is AWESOME served with chocolate gelato...mmm...


Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern Orange Cake

From Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion

2 large oranges, washed
6 eggs, beaten
250g ground almonds
250g sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder

Boil oranges, barely covered with water, in a covered saucepan for 2 hours. Allow to cool, then cut open, remove pips and chop roughly, including the rind.

Preheat oven to 190°C and butter and flour a 24cm springform tin. Blend oranges and eggs thoroughly in a food processor. Mix ground almonds, sugar and baking powder in a bowl, then add orange mixture and whisk to combine. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour. If cake is still very wet, cook a little longer. Cool in tin before gently turning out.