November 18, 2010: Pizza pull-apart loaf

Pizza pull-apart loaf is our calendar recipe for the month of November.  I imagined it being just the thing to bake in the morning and pack for a picnic but I actually ended up preparing it for a weeknight dinner, roasting some broccoli and garlic on the neighbouring oven tray.

This pull-apart loaf is not quite like the light bready ones I've encountered at bakeries; it reminds me more of damper.  On the couple of mornings that I lightly toasted a leftover wedge for breakfast I remained full for hours longer than usual, uninterested in lunch until mid-afternoon.  So it's lucky that it didn't go stale for days - I needed a good 24 hours to work up an appetite for another slab!

Pizza pull-apart loaf

4 cups plain flour
2 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
90g butter, cold and chopped into cubes
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1 green capsicum, chopped
3/4 cup tasty cheese, grated
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup tomato-based pasta sauce

Preheat the oven to 190°C.   Line a baking tray with paper.

In a food processor, briefly pulse the flour and baking powder.  Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Transfer the butter/flour mixture to a large bowl and stir through the sun-dried tomatoes, capsicum and 1/2 cup of the cheese.  Add the milk and egg, combining it all to form a dough.  Knead the dough lightly, form it into a 20cm round and place it on the baking tray.

Use a knife to cut not-quite-through the to the bottom of the dough, so that you've marked out eight wedges.  Fill the wedge cuts with pasta sauce, then sprinkle the remaining cheese over the loaf.

Bake the loaf for 35-40 minutes, or until it's golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped at the base.  Allow it to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

where's the best now?

Our 1100th post has quietly come and gone, and that means it's time to update our where's the best? list of favourites:

• We've developed a new habit of making weekend brunches at home so we're breaking out a new category, Home Fried Brunch, featuring baked beans, OMG omelettes, hash browns, home fries, tofu pesto scramble, pancakes and rum-banana waffles. (The subtext here is: go forth and purchase Vegan Brunch!)
• Spring rolls have converted us to cabbage, and we've added cheesy tofu fritters and seitan ribz to our potluck repertoire.
• There's also been quite some sweet success - chocolate berry custard, vanilla slice, peanut butter chocolate squares and salted caramel icecream have proved irresistible to all who encounter them.

We've made lots of veg-friendly discoveries out on the town, too:

• The Bell Jar is upholding the inner north's fine breakfast tradition.
• We've eaten cheaply but spectacularly at the Half Moon Cafe, Mankoushe, Nasi Lemak House, Sonido, Thanh Nga Nine, Tiba's and Yong Green Food.
• The Fox Hotel and the Gasometer are setting a new standard for vegetarian pub food.
• Andrew McConnell knows how to make veges fancy at Cutler & Co.

There's been one sad loss too - Juanita's is no longer in business. Nevertheless, we're discovering great eating spots at a far greater rate than the good 'uns are disappearing; I don't think vegetarian dining in Melbourne has ever been better!

November 17, 2010: Andrews Hamburgers II

Melbourne's now seeing some gorgeous days.  And with the sun setting after 8pm, it's the perfect time for us northsiders to cycle across the river for Andrews Hamburgers.  Since our previous post three years ago, the gloriously massive and messy vegie burgers have increased in price from $7 to $7.50 - that's a hike I can handle.

Vegie souvlaki are now also available for $8.50 apiece.  They boast extra yoghurt and spices, but feature the same vegie patties and risk-of-spilling-everything-down-your-shirtfront as the vegie burgers.

Andrews' old-fashioned charm is no Melbourne secret, so be prepared for a bit of a wait and zero space to eat in.  I found myself happily occupied for the requisite 20 minutes just observing the staff's speedy and systematic use of their small open kitchen, and on a bright and breezy day the oversized traffic island/tiny park across the street offers all the al fresco dining facilities (grass, bench chairs, bins) you need.

November 14. 2010: Rum-banana waffles

After years of claiming my icecream maker as my one single-use totally inessential but much-loved appliance, I've caved and acquired another. This month I traded in six years' credit card points for a waffle iron. I blame Isa Chandra Moskowitz and her irresistible Vegan Brunch. The omelettes, scrambles, hash browns and home fries are unbeatable, but they only had me wanting more. Every time we pulled the book from the shelf I couldn't help flicking through and lingering longingly over the seven waffle recipes, several of them photographed in drool-inducing poses with plump fruit and lurid syrups.

When my highly anticipated waffle iron arrived I happily hefted it home from the post office, devoured the manual, carefully followed the seasoning instructions and started simple, with Isa's recipe for old-fashioned Chelsea waffles. It was painful to toss my first pan-full in the bin but the manual insisted on it (I presume they soaked up the worst of the chemicals the iron is treated with). The next lot were well worth the time it took to do them properly - we ate them for breakfast with lightly stewed cinnamon apples and a splash of maple syrup. We gradually finished the rest, jam-smeared, as snacks.

I reckon the only way you'd possibly pick these as vegan is through their distinct lack of egginess. They're gently sweet (I added maple syrup instead of Isa's barley malt syrup) and a little cornmeal supplements the flour; these ingredients served to totally overpower the soy milk and lend the waffles a satisfying chewiness. And I learned the hard way that waffle batter doesn't work like muffin mixture - any flour that's not mixed in thoroughly ultimately pops up as an unpleasant chalky clump.

One day later I made more, rationalising this as a way to use up a not-so-fresh banana and stock myself with workday afternoon snacks. I added some vanilla-infused rum and a pinch of nutmeg to perk up that sad banana and flipped round the mixing (whisking wet gradually into dry) to avoid the flour pockets. Perfect! I've enjoyed these waffles best straight out of the toaster and slathered with peanut butter.

Rum-banana waffles
(inspired by the Old-fashioned Chelsea waffles in Vegan Brunch)

1 large banana
1 tablespoon vanilla-infused white rum
2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cornflour
pinch of nutmeg
2 cups soy milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup

In a small bowl, mash the banana and stir in the rum. Set it aside.

In a medium-large bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, cornflour and nutmeg.

In a small-medium bowl, whisk together the milk, vinegar, oil and maple syrup.

Gradually whisk half of the wet ingredients into the bowl of flour until smooth and thick. Stir in the banana, then whisk in the remaining liquid to attain a smooth batter.

Cook the batter in a waffle iron, following to the manufacturer's instructions.

November 12, 2010: Spring pasta salad

'Tis the season to eat outdoors! On the few days that the sky is clear, anyway.  Actually the skies were notably oppressive and dispensing much water on Friday evening, but our friends persisted with a barbecue anyway.  They charged us with bringing a salad so I took inspiration from one that we ate at the last barbecue we attended, an asparagus and risoni salad prepared by meveg of Eat More Vegies.

My one intended tweak to the recipe was to use the moghrabieh that has long been languishing in our pantry instead of meveg's risoni.  But after I finished tossing together the ingredients and gave it a taste I found my batch a little dull, so I ended up tossing other bits and pieces in too - some extra lemon juice, lots of salt and pepper, and even a little maple syrup.  This was better, but still not quite as good as meveg's rendition.  Clearly the moghrabieh was an inferior choice to the risoni - it developed a moist starchy coating and was a bit chewier than I would have liked.

Asparagus, fresh peas, parsley and lemon are perfect flavours for this time of year.  I'd certainly recommend you give meveg's risoni salad a shot before this late spring gives way to a scorching summer.