6 Food trends I am completely over and 6 I am eagerly awaiting

Every so often food trends come and go from sun-dried tomatoes to focaccias to cupcakes and cronuts. Heck I've even been guilty of falling prey to the donut trend, making my own rather tasty vegan baked donuts. As I write recipes and read food blogs, sometimes I see the same recipes again and again. They are usually exclaimed over as though no one else has over made them quite so good, but only the next day you'll see another recipe pop up for raspberry and chia jam or mango and chia seed pudding. 

I know that food trends, especially in vegan cooking, come from a desire to abstain from particular ingredients or an inability to eat certain food due to severe allergies. It's great that people take the time to be inventive and create new food combinations. I don't have to like all of them. Heck, I love quinoa and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I even made a cauliflower pizza base! But it's when I see them so many times that I start thinking that I wish they'd disappear....

Massaged kale

                         

                                    Image from here via Creative Commons

Rubbing a bit of brassica (part of the cabbage family) in coconut oil until it until it resembles salad that's been sitting in the bottom of the salad bowl marinading in italian salad dressing at a family barbecue in the sun for the better part of a day? Yuck. Where I live you can't actually buy kale except for one week a year.

Kale chips
                               
                                             Image from here via Creative Commons


Sorry, they're just not the same as potato chips. Or even as good as beetroot chips. There's something about them that catches in the back of my throat, combined with the smell of nutritional yeast that, as much as I love the stuff, reminds me of vitamin B tablets.

Chia pudding

                            
                                       Image from here via Creative Commons

Yes, it's healthy and an alternative to creamy, high fat desserts. But after they've been soaking a while, chia seeds resemble frogs eggs turning into tadpoles, all slimy. Did you ever study those at school? I did. It was a little bit creepy.

 And don't get me started on chia jam, whilst it has it's place, in my humble opinion it's not as good as my pear and vanilla or strawberry and rosewater jam. Just saying.

Brussel sprouts

                       
                                  Image from here via Creative Commons

Brussel sprouts are very popular in Germany and as cheap as carrots and cabbages. But if I see another recipe for brussel sprouts fried or baked with oil, garlic and salt and pepper (with or without nuts and bacon). Surely everyone has worked these out by now that these go best fried rather than boiled within an inch of their lives like in years gone by?

Green juice smoothies

                          
                                     Image from here via Creative Commons

Yes, I know, you have an amazing blender (the maker of which sponsors your blog posts according to your disclaimer). And I have no longer got a blender since I moved house so I am poorer than you and cannot make smoothies or juices anymore. But do you have to make another post every time you replace spinach with kale or blueberries with raspberries? Here in Germany you can buy cabbage juice at the supermarket by the carton. That's hardcore.

Two ingredient ice cream

                                      
                                                   Image from here via Creative Commons

You've discovered this amazing way to make ice cream, so much so that you went and bought an ice cream maker. And you're going to share it with all of us. If I read a little further I will invariably discover that your magic ingredient is either bananas or coconut milk. Sometimes you even go crazy and use both! I have made ice cream both ways and it invariably taste like either bananas soft serve or coconut soft serve. Not surprising really.

6 Food trends I am eagerly awaiting

Poutine

                                                   Image from here via Creative Commons

Hot chips with cheese curds and gravy. How could it be wrong? I tried it first in Montreal at the Jazz Festival, then was a regular at Melbourne's Lord of the Fries. So good.

Linner
Like brunch but later and far boozier.

Sunday roasts in restaurants for lunch
Roast meat/nuts/tofu, roast veg, greens and gravy. A staple at British pubs and occasionally in Australia. Not so much in Germany unless you want the ubiquitous pork and potatoes that you can also get any other day, any time.

More smaller serve recipes
Single unit dwellings are a thing. Many of us are couple or not but happily child free. We can end up eating that same dish three days in a row. Not everyone has much freezer space. That said, I've seen recipes for a single chocolate chip cookie, these make me sad.

More local fruits and vegetables
Since moved to Germany I've fallen in love with kohlrabi and Schwarzwurzel (salsify). Back in Australia I loved bok choy, choy sum and chinese broccoli, (not so accessible except in asian grocers here) not to mention Lychees and Dragonfruit from Queensland. It's fun to try things you haven't had the opportunity to eat much of, or in turn cook your favourites in a new ways using local ingredients.

More supperclubs and potlucks. 
I've loved running a supper club for the last 6 months. I love the way that food can bring people together, especially those who might otherwise be socially isolated or lacking the opportunity to meet new people. People have been creating websites and apps to bring people together all around the world, but what is needed most is for people to open their homes and give it a go. It's fun and a great way to move out of our comfort zone and challenge yourself.

Cheesy pull apart bread

                    

I've been meaning to make one of these loaves for a while. It's a really simple recipe which goes great with soup or salad or as part of a party night hors d'oeuvre. It's great for sharing with friends who don'd mind eating with their fingers and is totally moreish!
                                   
Take some time cutting your loaf, I find it best to take it slow and it's pretty easy. The trick is to cut the loaf deep (close to the bottom without cutting the bottom of your loaf of bread) as the deeper the cuts, the more fillings you can put in and the better it will taste. I put vegan chorizo in my loaf as I couldn't find any vegan bacon which I prefer. It was still delicious and eaten over two meals rather quickly!

I'll be adding this as a free recipe for my next ebook. (The first is still available for only $3 with 50c going to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne Australia). 

                                   

Ingredients

• 1 rounded loaf of bread
• Vegan butter or olive oil
• Choice of fillings e.g: dairy free cheese, spring onions or onion jam, finely diced garlic, diced animal free chorizo or bacon, diced olives
• Dried herbs
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius (350 degrees fahrenheit).
2. Slice the bread into cubes: Slice the bread horizontally and vertically into 1-inch cubes. Do not slice all the way through the loaf — leave bottom of the loaf intact with the bread pieces still attached.
3. Fry garlic and onions/spring onions and faux bacon/chorizo in a pan for about 5 minutes until mostly cooked. 
4. Combine with any desired toppings in a bowl and mix well
5. Stuff the cheese and toppings into the bread between the slices. It is easiest to stuff one way and then another as less falls out that way! You can also put little slivers of butter in the slices for extra oozy goodness.
6. Pour melted butter  (or brush a little olive oil over top)
7. Wrap loaf in foil and bake for 20 minutes then unwrap the loaf and bake for another 10 minutes until the cheese is totally melted and the top of the loaf is crispy. 
8.  Serve the loaf while still hot from the oven.

Veganised Portuguese custard tarts

Portuguese custard tarts are something I used to quite enjoy even though I've never liked eggs per se. Vegan cooking has not been shy of providing alternatives to eggs in recipes, from tofu scrambles and chickpea flour omelettes to commercial egg replacers. Thus, a vegan variety of Portuguese tarts is not difficult however there is one caveat. Kala Namak is used a lot in vegan 'egg' dishes to impart an egg like flavour.

Kala Namak is a black salt from the Himalayas. It reality it's appearance is more of a reddish purple than a pure black. It certainly adds an eggy flavour to any dish you make, however in my experience for dishes like custard, it also adds a rather gray colour which is less than appetising. I guess it's deciding between colour and flavour?

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup castor sugar
• 3/4 cup cornflour
• 1/2 cup custard powder
• 1 litre dairy free milk ( I tend to use oat milk or soy milk)
• 60g dairy free butter
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Optional: 1/4 teaspoon Kala Namak (or more to taste)
• 4 sheets puff pastry 

Instructions:

1. In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, cornflour, custard powder and nutmeg with 1/4 cup of the milk until all lumps are removed.
2. Place on the stove and whisk in the remaining milk, butter , cinnamon stick and vanilla bean
3.  Set the custard over medium heat and bring the mixture to boil until it is thick and slides away from the sides of the saucepan.
4. Remove the custard from the heat and remove the vanilla bean casing and cinnamon stick
5. Put custard in a glass/ceramic bowl to cool and cover with cling film to prevent skin forming.
6. Preheat oven to 220°C.
7.  Lightly grease muffins tins with a touch of olive oil.
8. Cut 24 circles from the puff pastry, at least 1 cm larger in circumference than the tops of each muffin tin hole. Place pastry in each hole.
9. Fill with custard until 3/4 full. Do not overfill of they will explode in the oven! The filling will puff up quite a lot, but it will soon sink back as it cools. 
10. Place pie tins in oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden.
11. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tins then 5 minutes on a cake rack. 

In Deutsch
Ich übersetze meine Rezepte in Deutsch. Meine Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut. Ich gehe an fünf Vormittagen in der Wocke in eine Sprachschule. Es wird  bestimmt einige Fehler geben. Bitte zögert  nicht  mich/den Text zu korrigieren!

Zutaten:

• 3/4 Tasse Puderzucker
• 3/4 Tasse Maismehl
• 1/2 Tasse Puddingpulver
• 1 Liter Milch  (Ich neige dazu, Hafermilch oder Sojamilch verwenden)
• 60g vegane Butter 
• 1 Vanilleschote, halbieren und das Mark rauskratzen
• 1 Zimtstange
• 1/4 Teelöffel Muskatnuss
• Optional: 1/4 Teelöffel Kala Namak (oder mehr je nach Geschmack)
• 4 Platten/Stücke Blätterteig

Anleitung:

1. In einem Topf  Zucker, Maismehl, Puddingpulver und Muskatnuss mit 1/4 Tasse Milch, verrühren bis alley Klumpefrei ist.
2.  Auf dem Herd mit eiPlatzieren Sienem Schneebesen die restlichen Milch mit Butter, Zimtstange erwärmen,
3. Die Vanille Pudding Mischung einrühren und bei mittlerer Hitze zu kochen bringen, bis es dick wird und von den Seiten des Kochtopf gleitet.
4. Topf von der Herplatte nehmen und Vanilleschote und Zimstange entfernen.  
5. Den Vanille Pudding im Glas oder einer Keramik-Schüssel abkühlen lassen und mit Klarsichtfolie abdecken, damit sich keine Haut bildet. 
6. Backofen auf 220 ° C vorheizen.
7. Fetten Sie Muffins Formen mit einem Hauch von Olivenöl ein.
8. 24 Kreise aus dem Blätterteig ausschneiden, mindestens 1 cm  größer im Umfang als der obere Durchmesser des Muffenblech Lochs. Teig in der MUffins Form am Boden platzieren.
9.  Mit Vanillepudding, bis zu 3/4. vol füllen. Auf keinen Fall mehr Puddingmasse hineingeben, da diese ansonsten überläuft und im Ofen explodieren wird!  Werfen Sie sie nicht überfüllen wird im Ofen explodieren! Die Füllung wird sich sehr stark aufblähen, wird aber beim abkühlen bald zurück sinken.  
10. Die Muffins Förmchen in den Ofen geben. Für 20 bis 25 Minuten backen oder aber bis sie golden sind.
11. Rausnehmen und für 5 Minuten in den Förmchen auf einem Kuchengitter abkühlen lassen.

Gluten free Cauliflower pizza base

                       

I've been reading articles in the food media that suggest that cauliflower is going to be big this year as a vegetable and a health food. I'm not so much a no carb/low carb kind of person but i like trying recipes that are different to my usual repertoire. 

Before commencing I researching a few different recipes on various paleo and vegan sites. 

The initial stages of pizza base making are all the same really:

1.  Process the cauliflower into tiny pieces using a food processor
2.  Cook cauliflower either through boiling, baking, steaming or microwaving
3. Place the cauliflower in a cloth over a bowl and squeeze out as much liquid as humanly possible.
4. Mix the cauliflower with other ingredients then bake the base in a hot oven until cooked.
5. Top with pizza toppings and cook again.

The biggest challenge is making the pizza crust crisp rather than soggy and thus able to be held in one hand. To achieve this, various recipes have different suggestions from adding cheese to the base to nuts and flour. I looked at what ingredients I had at home and I tried a couple of different things, one pizza using egg replacer and corn flour and one using almond flour and corn flour. The latter worked the best.

Ingredients:

• 1 large cauliflower
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed/nut flour
• ¼ cup corn flour
• water or dairy free milk if needed
• Pizza toppings (e.g. tomato paste, mushrooms, onions, olives, capsicum, basil, dairy free cheese). 

Instructions:

1. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Preheat oven to 225 degrees celcius (437 degrees fahrenheit).
3. Place tray in oven to heat. You want it nice and hot before you put the pizza base on it to help it cook through. 
4. Cut cauliflower into small pieces and blitz in a food processor until it resembles a rice like consistency
5. Boil for 10 minutes until tender. 
6. Transfer to a bowl lined with a clean cloth (such as a new dish cloth). 
7. Bring the sides of the cloth together into a ball and squeeze the cloth to remove as much liquid as possible. 
8. Add herbs, salt and pepper, almond flour (or ground flaxseed) and cornflour to the bowl. 
9. Mix together (it should be fairly dry but if it is too crumbly add some water or dairy free milk to shape it to a dough like consistency
10. Shape the dough into one large or four small pizza bases. 
11. Transfer the dough onto the same baking tray and flatten with the back of a spoon until a thin pizza crust forms.
12. Bake for 20-30 minutes so until crispy and browned around the edges.
13. Top with toppings of choice and bake for another ten minutes or so until cheese is melted and topping is browned. 

My verdict:  It reminded me that I don't really like cauliflower all that much. I love broccoli, but cauliflower has a stronger taste that just doesn't interest me. Despite what some people would like to believe, cauliflower cream pasta sauce tastes like cauliflower pasta sauce, not cream. And thus, cauliflower pizza base taste like, you guessed it-cauliflower! I've tried cauliflower mash with truffle oil which wasn't all that great, although I like cauliflower rice. If you like cauliflower, you will love this pizza. 

Vegan ingredients resource list

I've written a little vegan ingredients resource list to coincide with my vegan ebook, Australian classics veganised. I'll be adding to it when I write my next book. 

For convenience I use the terms cheese, butter and egg. There are loads of different terminology but I find a lot of it rather clumsy and annoying to edit although I appreciate some people prefer words without animal product connotations.. 

Custard powder

Custard powder is not dried, powdered custard. It is made up of thickeners, colours and flavours and resembles traditional custard when combined with sugar and non-dairy milk. It should not be confused with 'just add water' instant custard which contains eggs and milk. 

Dairy free butter

Dairy free butter is readily available in most supermarkets. It should not be confused with margarine which has whey and casein. A true dairy free butter is made from plant oils such as canola, olive and coconut oil. Nuttlex is readily available in Australia and Alsan S in Europe. 

Dairy free cheese

Dairy free cheese have undergone amazing growth and innovation in the last ten years. You can choose from tofu, nut and coconut oil based cheeses. It's worth reading the labels though because at least one tofu cheese in Australia contains rennet (an enzyme produced in the stomach of mammals).  You can also of course, make your own. Violife is probably the most popular cheese of late that is widely available in Australia and Europe. 

Dairy free chocolate

 Dairy free chocolate can be bought in some supermarkets and all health food shops. Dark chocolate is generally dairy free but check the ingredients list. 

Dairy free milk

Dairy free milk is easily available in most supermarkets and includes rice, soy, oat and nut milks. I use oat milk mostly in cooking because I like it, but any of these are fine. 

Egg replacer

 Egg replacer is made from a variety of raising ingredient like potato flour and corn flour. It can be used as an alternative to eggs in pancakes, cake, biscuits, burgers etc. Powdered egg replacers cannot be used to create egg recipes such as scrambles or omelets. (Tofu and also Chickpea flour work well though, stay tuned for a future recipe!). 

I've bought Australian company Organ's egg replacer in Australia, England and Europe. 

Golden Syrup

Golden syrup is a thick, amber-coloured form of inverted sugar syrup, made in the process of refining sugar cane or sugar beet juice into sugar, or by treatment of a sugar solution with acid. It is used in a variety of baking recipes and desserts. It has an appearance similar to honey, and is often used as a substitute by people who do not eat corn syrup. Some people make their own but I've never tried it. It's easily found in Australia and the UK and in some international shops in Europe. Agave and maple syrups work well as substitutes but treacle should be avoided due to it's overpowering taste. 

                                   

Jackfruit

The jackfruit tree is a widely cultivated and popular food in tropical regions of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, SriLanka, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Phillipines. Jackfruit is also found across Africa and throughout Brazil. Jackfruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh.

You can buy jackfruit in large Asian supermarkets. It most commonly comes tinned and is available in the tinned fruit section.Make sure you buy the one that comes in brine water than syrup as the syrup is really sweet. The sweet one (not suitable for savoury dishes) looks like this:

This is the one you want:

 It has a stringy texture that when cooked and shredded resembled shredded meat. Thus the fruit is a great option as an alternative to meat in vegan dishes. You could use it in tacos, pies, pasta, casseroles...many options! I like to use it to make jackfruit bournignon. You can also of course use it in desserts once sweetened with other fruit or sugars.

                            

Macadamia nuts and oil

Macadamia nuts and oil come from a species of tree indigenous to Australia and native to North eastern New South Wales and central and South eastern Queensland. They are available in most supermarkets and delicatessens everywhere. 

Soy granules/TVP

Soy granules (also known as textured soy protein and textured vegetable protein) are a dried soy product which can be soaked in stock or water and when cooked resemble minced meat. They are pretty bland so lend themselves well to herbs, spice and sauces. 

Stock cubes/stock powder

there are lots of stock products which are animal and msg free but resemble the spicing of meat dishes. These can be used in soups, sauces and all kinds of dishes. Massel is probably the most well known brand and is available in all Australian supermarkets. 

Vegemite

Vegemite is a dark brown Australian food paste made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. It is wonderful on toast or when added to casseroles and curries to create a rich umami flavour. It should not be confused with Marmite and Promite that are vastly inferior products. It is readily available in all Australian supermarkets, Tescos in London and expat shops around the world. If you are an expat overseas it is worth noting that it cannot be carried onto planes, customs will confiscate it as a liquid!