I grew up in Adelaide. In a family that loved their meat and three veg, Sunday roasts and seafood smorgasbords.
However, the transition from meat eater to vegan was relatively easy for me. I started off stationed at the Mock-Meat-is-Good-Meat Camp. This meant that I could replicate all of my cherished childhood meals. It was safe, easy and comfortable.
A few years in, it was evident that I didn’t care for camping, both literally and in this loose metaphor, and felt it was time to move into the Fresh Veggie Hotel. I frequented markets and experimented cooking with every different vegetable I could find. I’m proud to say that there was not a faux duck pancake or mock meat satay stick in sight!
After a few months, and feeling more confident, I checked out of the Veggie Hotel and rented a house in Baking Lane. I found vegan baking to be more challenging than expected. I hated science at school and found that baking was all about the chemistry (and sometimes physics, but who knows - I hated science). That being said, I learned a lot from my failures. Most of them tasted like amazing, delicious, gooey failures!
At this point in time, I am drifting lovingly through the high seas of Vegan cooking. And just like every sailor who is married to the sea, I’m not ready to settle down quite yet. That being said, I think it’s important to remember your roots. While there are a million frou-frou vegan blogs with amazing photos of food porn and detailed directions, I felt there was an integral blog that was missing. Something that ties my blue-collar AFL-loving Adelaide upbringing to my current life living in latte loving inner city Melbourne. This is the Bogan Vegan.
Reblogged from vegansofig
Ummm can we just talk about how amazing the Vegan Ryan Gosling memes are? They’re just too good. Keep them coming! #vegansofig
Today I signed up for the Run Melbourne 10k. This is my first run ever and I am feeling both excited and nervous. If you have a dollar or two, I would love your sponsorship. All funds raised will go to Animal Liberation Victoria. Woot woot!
Pre-vegan, this sandwich was my all-time favourite. You are probably asking, what is Fritz? Well it is probably the most disgusting meat on the planet and I have no idea what it was/is, and I can’t believe I ate it. But it was cheap, and we were poor. In Canberra, they call it devon, and I think it is also referred to as luncheon meat. Whatever it is called, it is gross, but I loved it.
This is the ethical version. Vegan, (almost all) organic agave and walnut bread, fake ‘fritz’ from the Radical Grocery Store, and tomato sauce.
This was my first time baking bread, and it was a bit of a trip.
Agave walnut bread
1. Combine the agave and ½ a cup of the water in a smallish bowl. Sprinkle with the yeast. Set aside in a draught-free place for 8 minutes or until foaming. Stir in the butter and remaining water.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and walnuts. Add the yeast mixture. Use a wooden spoon to stir until combined, then use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. (If you need to, add a little extra water if the dough is too dry, or flour if it’s too sticky).
3. Turn the dough onto a floured bench and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic (this is a seriously good shoulder workout!)
4. Spray a large bowl with oil to grease. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to lightly coat in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm draught-free place to prove for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Punch down the centre of the dough with your fist (don’t hold back!). Turn onto a chopping board and cut in half. Shape 1 dough half into a long loaf. Repeat with the remaining dough.
6. Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a large baking tray with oil to lightly grease. Place the loaves, about 5cm apart, on the prepared tray. Cover loosely with a tea towel. Set aside to prove for 1 hour or until the loaves rise slightly.
7. Use a knife to cut slashes diagonally in the top of each loaf. Brush all over with the soy milk. Bake for 35 minutes or until the loaves are golden and sound hollow when tapped on the base. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.
8. Thinly slice the bread.
‘Fritz’
1. Purchase 100g of Redwood Deli Cheatin’ Beef Style Slices.
2. Take out of packet and fold in half.
3. Sweet.
Tomato Sauce
I thought about making a tomato sauce to finish up this recipe, but there is nothing like good old Rosella tomato sauce.
A friend of mine recently lent me a beautiful book called Fashion, Food, Friends. The book has scores of beautiful (non-vegan) recipes for every occasion teamed with incredible photos of the food and the events. It came as a surprise to me that none of these events were titled ‘my bogan tea party’. I mean surely Bogans have tea parties? Maybe the tea (beer) is teamed with cake (beer) and the dress code is smart casual (flannie and stubbies)? This cake is a vegan version of a recipe in that book reflects more of the vegan in me, but to add a little Bogan I decided to serve the cake on skewers. Almost all food looks better on skewers. Not to mention they are easy to eat with one hand while you have a beer in the other!
Lemon cake
1 1/2 cups of SR flour
2/3 of a cup of plain flour
3/4 of a cup of white sugar
240g of Nuttelex
No Egg – equivalent of 3 eggs
The zest and juice of 2 lemons
1/3 cup of soymilk
Earl Grey Icing
4 earl gray tea bags
6 tablespoons of boiling water
1 cup of icing sugar sifted
100g Nuttelex
50g of copha (or nonhydrogenated shortening) melted
Bamboo skewers
Method
Put the tea bags in a small bowl and add the boiling water. Steep for 30 minutes. Let cool and squeeze the liquid out of the teabags.
Cut up the cake into 4x4cm squares and thread each square onto the skewers. You can make them as big as small as you like. I cut the skewers down and threaded three pieces on.
Long before the footlong sub, Adeladien’s were stuffing as much as they could into the humble bread roll. The double cut roll resembles a doubledecker sandwich, but has a smaller bread to filling ratio (less carbs, more protein). This is, in my opinion, the perfect type of lunchtime fare!
I made these for my grandparents return from a three-month stint in Malta and Italy. I thought this might bring them back down from their holiday high and remind them what good ole Bogan food tastes. They (my mum), turned it into a competition of who could create the most attractive roll. The results were delicious
Ingredients
- You will need six good-sized bread rolls – I used just plain wholemeal ones from the supermarket that looked like they had a bit of height to them
- One 500g pack of hard tofu
- 1 cup of plain flour
- 3 teaspoons of mixed herbs (Thyme, Rosemary, Marjoram, Basil, Oregano, Sage)
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1/2 cup of soy milk
- 2 tablespoons of American mustard
- Olive oil (or rice bran oil, which i am loving at the moment) for frying
- 1 large cucumber sliced with a vegetable peeler
- 2 tomatoes sliced finely
- 1/2 a tub of Tofutti cream cheese and 3 tablespoons of green onion relish (or any type of relish) mixed together
- 1 Avocado, mashed with salt and pepper to taste
- Lots of baby spinach
The Tofu
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together the soy milk and the mustard
- In another shallow bowl, mix together the flour, herbs, paprika and the salt
- Cut the tofu into 12 x 2cm thick sliced
- Dip the tofu into the milk mix, and drain off the excess, then coat in the flour mix. Repeat for all 12 slices of tofu.
- Heat oil in the pan and fry tofu for about two minutes each side. Once brown on each side, place on a paper towel lined plate.
Assembly
My mum suggested I use an electric knife to slice the rolls and this worked out a treat. You will need to cut them three times lengthways.
The rest is up to you. I made the top layer spread with the cream cheese mix, tofu, cucumber and baby spinach and the bottom layer, avocado, tofu, tomato and baby spinach.
Mum’s roll
Nanny’s roll
My friend Helen is running away to join the UN! That is pretty much the coolest sentence I have ever written. Couldn’t be prouder! So in celebration of her new journey and in commiseration of her leaving Australia, I thought I would make the very fancy jam filled lamington.
These little Bogan treats were apparently made first by a dude called Lord Lamington…on short notice. He must have been one hulluva chef because these things are time consuming and require a lot of patience. I don’t have much of either of these things, but there are a few little tricks I have learnt that make them a little bit less of a pain in the ass.
Ingredients (for 16)
Sponge:
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup soy milk
- ⅓ cup of soda water
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (non hydrogenated)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbs of arrowroot (or cornstarch)
- 1 tbs of vanilla essence
Icing:
- 2 cups icing sugar
- ⅓ cup raw cacao powder (or coco powder)
- ¼ cup soy milk
- ¼ cup boiling water
- lots of desiccated coconut (about 4 cups)
- ¼ cup of jam for the filling (strawberry, raspberry, whateverberry)
Directions
Sponge:
Trick one: make the night before and freeze!
- Whisk the apple cider vinegar and the soy milk together and set aside
- Mix together most of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, arrowroot)
- Add the oil, sugar and vanilla essence to the soy milk mixture
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry
- Once there are no lumps, add the soda water and mix
- Put the mixture into one large rectangular cake tin (or two square ones)
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
- Cool on a rack
- Put in the freezer
Icing:
Trick two: two forks!
- Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a medium bowl.
- Add the soymilk and water and stir until smooth.
Assembly:
- Cut the cake into equal size rectangles or squares
- Warm jam in the microwave for about 45 seconds
- Place jam on one rectangle, and sandwich the other on top
- Using two forks, dip the cake into the warm icing and let some of the icing run off
- Using your fingers, roll the cake into the coconut until coated
- Once all lamingtons are made, refrigerate for at least an hour until icing has set
The challenge: Pie floater. Very bogan. Very Adelaide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_floater
The rules: Vegan, modern and delicious
Ingredients
- 4 sheets vegan puff pastry, thawed
- 1 package of tofu, drained and pressed well
- 10 medium sized mushrooms, quartered
- 1 brown onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tablespoon plain flour
- 2 tablespoons vegan gravy powder
- 2 cups vegetarian beef stock
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- Olive oil
- 1 packet frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon of Nuttelex
- 1 brown onion, chopped
- Salt and pepper to season
- Tomato sauce to serve
To make the pie filling:
- Heat a good amount of olive oil in a large frypan over medium heat and brown the onion.
- Add the tofu and cook until brown on all sides (about 3-4 minutes)
- Add the mushrooms. Cook until they start to let out their juices and then add the garlic and cook until aromatic
- Sprinkle the flour and cook for another minute.
- Add the stock and the diced tomato
- Stir in the gravy powder
- Reduce heat to very low and simmer, covered, stirring every now and then for about for 20 minutes.
- While it is simmering, you can start the pea soup
To make the soup:
- Cook the frozen peas according to the directions (I boiled in hot salty water for about 4 minutes)
- Drain the peas and you can use the same pot you used to boil the water to melt the butter over medium heat
- Add the onion and cook for around four minutes, until browned
- Add the peas back in, with about half a cup of water
- Turn off the heat and use a hand blender to make a puree
To make the pies:
I have a pie maker, which is just the most wonderful thing in the world. It makes four at a time. If you don’t have a pie maker, you could cut the puff pastry in four and place each square in a muffin cup, then add the filling, then fold up like origami. If you do own a pie maker, go forth and pie!
To serve, place about a ladle of soup in the bottom of a bowl. Place the pie on top and finish with tomato sauce.
The first time I made trifle was memorable, but I don’t think anyone who ate it remembers the dessert. It was a night where I really let my bogan flag fly in front of my darling friends. Lets just say it’s amazing how angry one can get when someone ‘escapes’ through a tiny bathroom window mid-argument! So now I associate trifle with that night and my friends cheerfully regale the story to this day. This recipe is not the one I made that evening, but hopefully more memorable…
The sponge
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1/3 cup of soda water
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (non hydrogenated)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot (or cornstarch)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
The filling
- One packet of strawberry vegan jelly made according to the instructions
- One carton of Soyatoo whipping cream (or any other veegs whipping cream)
- 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
- ½ teaspoons powdered ginger
- 3 teaspoons rosewater
- One large tin of pear halves (850ish grams) sliced up
- One tin of cherries
- Dark chocolate for grating
The making
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
- Grease two round cake tins
- Make the jelly according to the instructions and set in the fridge
- Whisk the apple cider vinegar and the soy milk together and set aside
- Mix together most of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, arrowroot, and salt)
- Add the oil, sugar and vanilla essence to the soy milk mixture
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry
- Once there are no lumps, add the soda water and mix
- Put half of the mixture in each cake tin
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
- Cool on a rack
- Then whip up the cream, icing sugar, ginger and rosewater.
The assembly
- Cut the cakes in half and then into fingers about 3cm wide
- Place the fingers at the bottom of the bowl and drizzle with a few table spoons of pear juice from the tin
- Stir up the jelly and layer on top
- Then add a layer of pears, a layer of cherries and then the cream on top
- Sprinkle with grated dark chocolate
In a previous life I would often house sit my parent’s house with a friend of mine. My mum would ask for a shopping list of food that we wanted to eat for the weekend. At the top of that list was always ‘puffy dogs’ - little frankfurts wrapped in pastry. Little franks, or ‘little’ boys are a party food standard of the bogan, and wrapping them in puff pastry is the piece de resistance.
For me, these were one of the easiest things to veganise and they are super easy to make. A staple in my party food repertoire.
You will need
Tools
What to do
Preheat your oven to 190 degrees (Celsius) and spray your baking tray with oil and set aside.
Thaw the puff pastry by laying the sheets side by side on a bench.
Fry the hot dogs in a pan on medium heat until they are slightly brown (they will cook more in the oven). Put on a plate to cool.
Your puff pastry should now be thawed (or close to). Cut each sheet in half and then into thirds lengthways. You want to end up with 9 rectangles per sheet.
Cut the hot dogs into thirds (you should end up with 18 little pieces).
Roll up the dogs in the puff pastry and place them on the tray, making sure there is enough space in between them- they will expand in the oven. Cook for around 15 minutes or until golden and puffy.
Serve with tomato sauce, bbq sauce or chutney (chutney shoutout to the Lothian ladies!)
