Fettuccine Fondue-Fredo

Forgive the lame name of this next meal. It's da mornin' and my coffee's not kicked in yet.

Anywho, just a quick post on what to do with all those fondue lefovers (see fondue recipe a few posts down).

So easy. Ready? Ok:
Boil pasta. Heat up leftover cheezy fondue. Combine. Nosh.

(I topped mine with some red chili flakes, cayenne, and oregano.)

Spinach & Split Pea Soup from The Breakfast Club, plus bonus exhibition

Ergh. It's dark, rainy, and gross gross gross outside. Perfect day to start classes up again, eh? Grumble.

It's been a good few days back, though...très relaxing. Tasha and I went to an exhibition yesterday, at the Parisol Unit, which I highly recommend. Visible Invisible: Against the Security of Real showcases the work of artists Cecily Brown, Hans Josephsohn, Shaun McDowell, Katy Moran and Maaike Schoorel.

The work was mostly painting with a few sculptures. My favorite piece was this painting by Cecily Brown; Aujourd'hui Rose (2005).


Brown had another collection of untitled paintings, all of which, while being far from realism, have an undeniable human quality to them.

One of the untitled

Anyways, after the exhibition, we decided to get coffee at our faaavorite breakfast/coffee/everything place. The Breakfast Club in Hoxton Square. If you're ever in the area, you have to go to The Breakfast Club. No excuses. I haven't been to the the other BCs (there's on in Angel and the original in Soho), but when the Hoxton one opened last May, it immediately became our local hangout, coffee joint, and breakfast haven (plenty of vegan options, although you might have to specify for no cheese, eggs, etc.) We moved flats this year and, even though we're now a half hour walk away, we still go to The Breakfast Club all the time. It's just that kind of place; totally worth a little hike.

I decided to get my usual soy cappuccino, along with the soup of the day which was spinach and pea soup. The soup was really nice, although the bread that came with it was outstanding! Yes, the bread. Best part of the meal.
Alright, now that you know about The Breakfast Club...GO!

Cheese Fondue

Sorry I haven't posted lately. I was enjoying a much needed vacation from the stresses of uni and visa applications. I went back home to Massachusetts and spent time with friends and family and it was lovely! I didn't get around to doing as much cooking as I'd originally hoped, but I did make this fondue several nights. I first discovered this recipe last year around the holidays and my family LOVED it! It's now a wintertime staple in the house (at least when I'm home to make it). Super fast and clean up isn't that bad (although I'm messy so I tend to get tahini, flour, and nooch everywhere). The recipe is easy to double too, so you can have more and use the leftovers in other dishes (I'll post some of my experiments in the next few days). I got the recipe from WikiHow, although it's originally from The Uncheese Cookbook (thanks evolution from the PPK!). I've tweaked it a little.


2 cups white wine
1 cup water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup tahini
4 T flour
2 T lemon juice
1 T onion granules
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 light soy sauce
a drop or two of sriracha sauce

• Put the wine in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Let simmer while moving on to...
• Put the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.
• Combine the mixture with the wine and heat on medium-low, stirring constantly, until it's the thickness you want it to be. Add salt and pepper to taste (I like to make it extra salty. The salt makes it taste exactly like non-vegan cheese fondue!)
  

Pick your favorite veggies or, really, any bite-sized veg food to dip in! We used whole wheat bread, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Also, sorry the picture's a bit fuzzy....and there's more where that came from. I can't find my camera's charger so I've been taking all my pictures on my iPhone.

RootMaster!

My flatmate and I went to go see the great Eddie Izzard at Wembley Arena last night. He was amazing, as usual. The show was part of his stripped tour (which I saw the very first performance in Boston two years ago) so it was really interesting to see how the show evolved over the years.

Anyways, I've been super busy with finishing up my final projects for class...I'm drowning in clay, plaster, and glaze and have zero time to cook. So now I get to make a post about my favorite vegan restaurant! RootMaster is in a converted double decker bus (kitchen on the bottom floor, seating on the top with additional tables outside). The menu is constantly changing and everything is fantastic and made even better by the prices (most entrees are under a £10 and appetizers are around £6). It's my favorite restaurant in London and I take everyone here...all of whom are proud meat eaters and were quick to admit that the food at RootMaster was awesome!

Garden burger with the most amazing fries you will ever taste!!

Burrito

Happy Slapsgiving!

Thanksgiving was a surprising success this year. It was my first year I wasn't home or with my family so I was worried about being homesick, but I was fine. I think inviting my American friend, Anna, made it a lot easier since we could be homesick together. I went back to the flat with Anna around 6:00 and had to start cooking straight away. Anna was in charge or mashed potatoes and boiling the dumplings that came with the tofurkey. My job was everything else (tofurkey, apple sage stuffing, and kmouse's spinach artichoke dip).

The torkurkey was a hit! Everyone was a bit skeptical but ended up wanting seconds. Point for team vegan! Kmouse's dip stole the show though. Soooo delicious!
Aimee made pumkin raisin and oatmeal cookies (from VWAV) for dessert. No pictures, but trust me, they were delicious!

Of course the best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers....note to everyone: Kmouse's spinach artichoke dip is even better the next morning on toast! Mmmmm

Pumpkin Muffins

Today I went to the Christmas lighting on Oxford Street with a few friends and it was craaaazy busy! Lots of fun though...Jim Carrey (who has a very non-Carrey-ish beard nowadays) did the lighting while promoting his new film A Christmas Carol. After the lights went on, we sprinted to Leicester Square to go to the premier. Since we didn't get to the premier at stupid o-clock, we weren't able to get good standing room so we went to go grab dinner. On the way out of the restaurant, we walked by the theatre just in time to see Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy!

Anyways, I obviously didn't have time to cook today, but my awesome flatmate made Isa's pumpkin muffins from VWAV a few days ago and they were fantastic!

Seitan Stroganoff

So it's a gloomy day after Halloween (and world vegan day! Woo!) which means it's prime comfort food time! I decided to make stroganoff for lunch and used this recipe from What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat Anyway? I didn't have any vegan sour cream so I used cream Sheese....and wow! It was awesome! I served it over shells with peas and roasted carrots.



Bonus Halloween pictures!