vegan chocolate mousse

Last night A and I went over to J & L's house for a post-holiday catch up. J & L are vegan, so dessert had to be something pretty well thought-out. It turned out really well! You must try it before knocking it!

I set myself up at work, searching various vegan dessert recipes before settling on a choc mousse recipe. It had to be quick to prepare because i knew I wouldnt get out of work quickly. So recipe decided, next sourcing vegan chocolate. It was alot harder than I'd thought, considering that dark chocolate is SUPPOSED to be vegan anyway. I searched forums and blogs (very tight nit and supportive community) trying to find brands that would be okay. One forum said old gold dark chocolate was vegan (it wasn't) while another said green and blacks (which is organic but not vegan) so i settled on a no brand dark chocolate cooking choc. So anyway here is the surprisingly good and very easy recipe I used for my mousse.

recipe reproduced from suit101.com

Shopping trolley.
350g silken tofu
300g chocolate chips, about one small package. Many dark chocolate chips are vegan; check the ingredients though if this is a concern
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract; optional.

Directions.

1. Blend tofu (preferably at room temperature) in food processor, blender, or with hand mixer until just smooth.
2. In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips with a tablespoon or two of water over low heat. Stir constantly.
3. Add maple syrup to melted chocolate and combine.
4. Put chocolate & syrup blend into processor and mix with tofu until creamy.
5. Pour into very small serving dishes - this stuff is rich. Serve warm or chill until set.

As I was doing my research I found a tip suggesting that the fresher the tofu is the better for desserts. The closer to the use-by-date the more tofuy it tastes. The tofu I used was about three weeks off its useby and it just tasted a bit nutty.

I served mine with fresh strawberries and grated chocolate on top. I think mixing some nuts into the mixture would be really nice - walnuts would be great!

roasted capsicum and ricotta fettucine

Totally bummed that I didn't take a pic of this dinner but alas my description will have to suffice.

Okay so I am not completely alone in preparing this dish. My little sister came to stay, were were considering what to make for dinner that night for us as well as a couple of friends (who made dessert). Thinking rice, we flicked the channel to Oprah and decided to change to fettucine. Our concluding recipe is as follows.

Shopping trolley.

200g ricotta
50g parmesan cheese (for garnish)
fresh garlic
2 (approx 500g) red capsicum
1/4 cup pinenuts
fresh fettucine
1 cup basil

Prepare.

Roast red capsicum (quarted and de-seeded) in hot oven (200celcius) until skin lifts off easily. This takes about 45 minutes. Once cooled, or if your fingers can take it, peel the skin off and slice. Set aside.

Cook pasta (enough for four) according to packet directions.

In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp and lightly roast pinenuts and minced garlic. Add capsicum.

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add the capsicum and warm through. Toss basil leaves and pasta through until nicely distributed.

Serve and top with big sprinkles of ricotta cheese and a light shaving of parmesan cheese.

Seriously - this is freakin' awesome, i am so obsessed with ricotta right now. Do you know any good ricotta recipes?

dinner tonight

Just made ant my tommie, chickpea and crab bisque. He loved it - forgot basil this time, so substituted flat leaf parsley, which worked really well. I also tried a fish stock rather than the vegie stock - wasn't as flavorsome as i'd hoped so i added some vegie-friendly chicken stock and it lifted the flavour alot. Also used fresh crab - SO MUCH YUMMIER!

Ant couldn't believe how filling it was. I think this would be a real party pleaser because its so easy to make but has quite complex flavours. What do you think?

Wabi Sabi Salon

Wabi Sabi Salon
94 Smith Street Collingwood VIC 3066 ph: 9417 6119

Oh my god!

My housemate Dan raved about Wabi Sabi and I'd walked past, slowing curiously as I walked by, a million times, but until last night - I had never actually been there! I am so glad I did though because it really was delicious.


I've gotten into the habit lately of checking reviews prior to going to a restaurant. This is what I did before going to Wabi Sabi. I was suprised, however, to find that the three or four reviews that I skimmed through centred on the 'ambience' and aesthetic quality of the restaurant rather than focusing on the food.

But Wabi Sabi's website has a menu so i knew before walking in that I'd be in for a modern interpretation of traditional japanese cuisine. The first thing I noticed when we walked in was how packed it was for such a small space. You can understand immediately why so many have remarked on the ambience - it certainly is quirky chic, but without the intended pretention so many restaurants pay a bundle to achieve.

You MUST make a reservation before rocking up. For a tuesday - this place was booked out.

The food.

Everything looks good! We settled on the following not really sure what to expect with such non-traditional cuisine.

Edamame
Spicy Squid
Sweet potato and chickpea croquettes
Grilled prawns with zucchini and shitake mushrooms
Tuna Steak in miso broth
Sashimi
Duck

For four people I think we ordered expertly. We started with miso soup (great home-made taste), edamame (fresh and salty) and bottles of kiran, before digging into some tapas.

We ordered a serve of the spicy squid and the duck dish (i think it was good?). The spicy squid was amazing (first photo)! The mayo that accompanied it was superb and it had just the right amount of tang. I love it when you eat out and find a dish which you know you could never recreate at home. Try as we might we couldn't pick the seasoning and spices used! Would go back for a second serve right now.

The croquettes were lovely and crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside, the dipping relish was delicious and sweet. Even the little salad was yummy and well dressed.

Again, we were suprised when the tuna came out - a big hotpot dish with about four steaks of tuna with some vegies and a sweet syrup broth. The tuna steak was fantastic, the broth being very thick and sweet made the steaks look like red meat - excellent value for sure.

The prawns were juicy and marinated to perfection (second photo), again I don't think I could pick all the ingredients.

Really, I don't think you could find a better modern japanese restaurant on Smith street, or even in tne city for better value. I like Coccoro Pottery and Cafe (also on Smith) for something very traditional but for a contemporary feast you can't deny Wabi Sabi is in the running.

To finish, the sashimi was delicious and presented so well (third photo) - I'd never seen sashimi served so creatively, although it certainly fresh I must say I didn't enjoy it as much as the other dishes. The second sashimi we had, was a pan seared white fish with a soy ginger dipping sauce.

Oh --- I almost forgot we ordered a dessert platter with a creme brulet, black sesame icecream and ... GREEN TEA BAKED CHEESE CAKE!!!

Tapas: Between $7-15
Mains $15-3o
Dessert $5-16