Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I FINALLY received a copy on loan from the library, it had a long wait list!

What are you going to make first? Definitely try the country gravy before you return it!

SO MANY OPTIONS. I'll put the country gravy on my list!

What have I made so far from this book...
I made the entire Caribbean dinner (the coconut rice, vegetables, beans, fried plantains). I liked how it was fast to put together...I like Chloe's really non-intimidating cookbook writing style. I usually feel intimidated to put multiple dishes together, but I didn't have much of a problem putting this all together. The only thing was that I ended up with different amounts of everything (for some reason, far less of the plaintains and beans than the rice).

I made the a la mode berry pie which was really, really good.

I also made the peanutty perfection noodles. I didn't eat any, but my family loved it. It was simple to put together.

Last but not least, I made the stuffed shells which were really good and which I will definitely make again.

All in all- great cookbook so far. I will probably buy Chloe's Vegan Dessert book as well. Soon.

I made the chow mien this evening. I was never a chow mien fan but I didn't mind this. I have leftovers for lunch for the next two days.

The peanut noodles are truly amazing. I've also made the avocado pesto, which I was sceptical about, because warm avocado is just ew. But you can't taste it, it's just creamy bliss :) The Jalapeńo corn poppers weren't really something I'd go crazy about, but the cinnamon espresso cookies are amazing! Working through this book at full speed ;)

Did anyone make the meatloaf? I made it today, halved it according to Chloe's instructions, but had a disaster. I followed everything exactly, I think, but it was way too wet. When I turned it out it was more like a stew! It tasted delicious, and I loved the gravy, but there was no way earth I could have sliced it. Did I drop a bollock? Has anyone made it?

Last week I made the banana cupcakes (gluentous and gf) and they were really good but too dense, more like muffins than cupcakes. I recently had some vegan banana cupcakes from a bakery down the street that were light and fluffy and amazing so I know it's possible! I wonder if I use cake flour instead, if I will get better results...

My SO made it a while ago, also halving the recipe. It turned out fine, was sliceable and tasted good!

Hmm, I must have made a mistake then.

I've made the meatloaf too. It was kind of crumbly when I sliced it because I don't think I packed it down enough in the loaf pan, but it definitely wasn't like stew.

It's on the left of this picture (under the coagulated gravy) to give you an idea.

Could you maybe have forgotten to halve one of the liquid ingredients?

I got this book yesterday, and there were a couple of recipes that caught my eye, but I'm definitely gonna have to cut back on the salt in most recipes. I think I'll try the Mongolian BBQ first!

Hmm, I've made these a couple times and didn't find them dense at all. There are tons of things that could cause that, though - leavening agent too old, oven too hot or too cold, overmixing, etc. Have you had this problems with other baking recipes recently?

I don't have this book, buti made the Alfredo from it for dinner tonight. Pretty good! And I appreciate that it's not crazy involved like some other vegan alfreo recipes out there. It was a little bland, but seemed like a good base recipe for tweaking.

does the book contain nutritional info?

No nutritional info, sadly. I've found that she does use a lot of oil in her recipes, so it makes them highly caloric and high fat. But in a lot of the recipes where there's excess oil, I think you can reduce it without affecting the recipe too much.

I brought the peanutty perfection noodles to a potluck today and everyone raved about them. They actually (unofficially) voted them the number one dish at the potluck!

Yeah, it's usually like 2 tbsp for sauteing, which you could easily cut in half.

That is one thing I don't like about the cookbook- the oil amounts are insane! Very easy to cut in half or replace with other ingredients, though (applesauce in baking, water for sauteeing). Other than that, we really love the cookbook and use it at least once a week.

Yep, I actually followed a couple of recipes from this book the last two days and this morning I woke up to the first zit on my nose in about 10 years....food was damn yummy though!

I think she was aiming for restaurant food with this book, which usually has loads of oil and salt and what have you. But like others said it is pretty easy to reduce the oil when it's just for sauteing or whatever.

I for one am so glad to see a cookbook that has regular amounts of sugar and oil that will appeal to "standard" taste buds, and as said above - are quite similar to what is used in restaurants. It's great transition stuff. Most of us have been around long enough to reduce the oil and sugar if necessary. And it's totally not billed as a health book, so at least it's not misleading.

I definetly agree. This book might be the only reason my husband went vegan and for that I'm eternally grateful. Her recipes are delicious, and I'm overly pleased we purchased it.

I agree, unless they're a low fat cookbook most cookbooks use more oil than I would. I just reduce it if I feel the need.

I made the Chana Masala the other night. It didn't blow me away. Today the leftovers where really good. I will probably make it again.