Faux Ham

This is another attempt at homemade seitan. The recipe (from La Dolce Vegan) is for faux ham. The gluten is pretty easy to make if you have access to high gluten flour (I use Lotus brand). Making it with ordinary flour is no fun at all.

The gluten is then cooked in a broth flavoured with nutritional yeast, soya sauce, dried sage, black pepper and boy was it salty! A little too salty for my liking but there you go.

La Dolce Vegan's BLT Brunch Casserole

I have been wanting to try this recipe for a while now but never had all the ingredients. But recently I paid a visit to USAFoods in Moorabin and was able to pick up such gems as "Bac-os"(partially visible in photo), Jack Daniel's honey Dijon mustard and life's non essentials in the form of Bisquick, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and dill pickle flavoured Pringles.

The casserole was like a giant vegan serve of scrambled eggs on toast meets a BLT. I thought it was fabulous. (And who knew Bac-o's were so darn tasty?!)

Lemon-lime self saucing pudding

I LOVE self saucing puddings!

Sometime in August we celebrated "lambstravaganza" (A meal with three types of lamb.)

I deliberated over making dessert but decided to go for it and try out a recipe from sfi "lemon self saucing pudding". As usual some amendments were made. Usually when I try out recipes I leave the quantities as is but because it was for a larger gathering I doubled the ingredients. Also, with the availability of fresh limes, I made it a lemon-lime self saucing pudding. The result was a lovely light citrus scented sponge floating atop a luscious lemon lime sauce. Superb!

"Simple" Chocolate Cake

This is Nigella's version of a simple chocolate cake. While I agree it was incredibly easy to make (I love my food processor) the result was quite spectacular. In particular, the icing which became quite fudgey on cooling.

Speedy Cheesy Quesadillas

These cheesy quesadillas came taste.com.au in a supplement for the Herald Sun. Smother the tortilla with pasta sauce, sprinkle with cheese and repeat, forming three layers. Place in an oiled griddle-pan and fry until you have nice grill lines and the cheese has melted. Cut into wedges and serve with salad. Yum!

Apple Pancakes

These apple pancakes were a real hit. I got the recipe off a "wheel&barrow" card for a "Special Mother's Day Breakfast". Needless to say it wasn't Mother's day when I made them but that's irrelevant.

The recipe card suggested frying a slice of apple and then pouring the batter over it and frying as normal, then use this pancake as a garnish. But why have only one? I fried an apple into each and result was fabulous: slightly crunchy and nicely sweetened apple pancakes.

Nigella's Love Buns

I made these cute cupcakes for a party and was quite pleased with the result. The icing got a bit goopy and was far too sweet for my liking but they looked adorable!