Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Yeah, I agree about not arguing over the semantics anymore. Besides, I think my problem lies more in the fact that a lot of the foods are processed, not that they are analogues. I prefer cooking from books that have you cooking from scratch, not taking advantage of canned, or processed, or semi-homemade grocery items. But that's just me, and people are different.

No, I agree with you. There are some store bought meat analogues that I love, that I would marry. I just wouldn't buy a cookbook that uses them unless it had plenty of other recipes to balance it out.

This book has a killer selection of DONUT RECIPES. Fried/yeasted and baked.

Sadly, I don't like donuts but I think someone on facebook mentioned zucchini bread? I love zucchini bread which is why I came back to this thread.

I never much cared for donuts pregan, but since they are like the last great unattainable Thing, I always crave them.

I haven't cooked from this book yet, but it's entertaining to read and has a good variety of recipes. And I'd rather tweak a recipe from a vegan book to use handmade seitan (vs Gardein) than tweak an omni recipe to replace the meat. I like my dollars going to a better place than they'd be going if I picked up a copy of Betty Crocker and veganized it.

Let's say I want a vegan tuna casserole. I've never made tuna casserole in my life and have absolutely no idea what goes in it... I'm either going to have to look it up in an old-school omni cookbook and veganize it, or I can look it up in this book and tweak it to suit my tastes, including my personal preferences re: meat anaologues. Personally, I'm happy with door #2. I think the comment above is right that new vegans may need guidance on what meat subs work well, but although Annie doesn't state it explicitly in the book, I'm pretty sure she figures the seasoned vegans are going to tweak the recipes to suit their own tastes and cooking styles anyway... including subbing sea salt for Himalayan salt and homemade seitan for processed vegan meats. The fact that she isn't explicit about it isn't a negative for me.

I also think I like door #3, make a vegan version that is close but may not be exactly the same. It really depends, like the enchiladas in Veganomicon are one of my most favorite things in the world, there is no cheese sub in it, it is just flavorful and creamy but 'different'. If you want as close as possible using vegan subs, it sounds like this cookbook would be a good one to use. If you want one that uses seaweed for fishiness and may be close to a tuna casserole then there might be other recipes out there.

I wasn't in the mood to cook/bake this past weekend, so I still haven't tried anything. Every time I see a recipe that might be one to make there is something in the ingredients that I don't have on hand. I'm horrible about subbing some stuff, and I'm weird in that the first time I make something it has to follow the recipe EXACTLY. Otherwise I think that if I don't like it maybe it was my fault not following it.

I did almost buy a Himalayan salt set today. It was a cube of salt and a small grater.

Did anyone notice that she mentions Bisquick, then does not bother to say what ones are vegan, just basically google it? The original mix is vegan and I like using it with 'buttermilk' to make drop biscuits!

I thought most/all bisquicks were vegan?

About the analogues, there are a good bunch of recipes that don't use any, and I can see most of the ones that do being extremely easy to sub another protein or just leave it out. And often cheese is just a topping, so that's easy to leave out.

Yeah, I agree. I totally appreciate what they're doing in this cookbook. I'm not trashing them for using analogues. But living in an area where the selection of store-bought analogues is very limited, and most of those that are readily available aren't even vegan means that most of the recipes would be unpractical. Sure, I can make my own, but when a recipe calls for chicken style seitan, vegan sour cream, and vegan Parmesan*, all of which I'd have to make myself, I get tired before even reading the recipe.

That doesn't mean I think it's a bad cookbook! Just voicing why it's probably not the cookbook for me.

*Not referring to a specific recipe. I don't have the book in front of me. I just know that when I was flipping through it at work, I saw a bunch of recipes that included 2-3 ingredient that aren't available here.

Has anyone tried the omelette recipe(s) from the book?

I've tried now 3 times, and still can't get it right!

It seems to me like the recipe should be waaaay more specific when it comes to what texture the batter should be, how it will look as it's coming together properly, etc. The first time I tried it, the tofu blend never solidified-- the bottom layer burned and stuck to the bottom of the pan, while the top stayed the consistency of a cream sauce.
The second time, I used more Earth Balance and a non-stick skillet and kept the heat lower. It looked more promising for a while, but then the same thing happened.

I watched a couple of youtube videos of other folks making tofu omelettes, and their batters seemed to be much, much thinner, so the third time I added a lot of extra milk and also a touch more corn starch. This time, at least, the tofu mixture solidified enough for me to be able to fill and plate it, but it took 3 times longer than the recipe said it would and the texture seemed different from the successful omelettes in the videos.

I'm wondering if part of the problem was that my egg batter wasn't in a thin enough layer in the pan, so I guess I'll try using a bigger pan next time. And I'm not really even sure what type of tofu to use because the recipe doesn't say, which IMHO is weird and annoying since there is obviously a huge difference between the various styles and brands of tofu in terms of moisture level and overall consistency.

I just wish they had included more information about how and why a given recipe works so that readers would be able to tweak and adjust in an informed way.

Ok, I'm done with my rant. :- ) Anyone else having this problem? Any advice?

Did anyone ever get an answer about the pink Himalayan salt? Thinking about emailing them. I doubt it makes a difference taste-wise. Just curious.

The tempeh tacos were good! (Here if anyone without the book wants to try em.) Pizza casserole is on the list for this week.

I use it, it is equivalent to sea salt.

Is there a reason for using one instead of the other though?

I am tempted to buy any book that the raw/no oil/no sugar/food police/purity squad vegans hate. I want to stab people who use words like "processed" and "whole foods" as weapons to beat down other people. I predict there will be food purity balls soon where the health food elite will pledge to never eat a cookie again.

Also, I miss turkey tetrazzini. My mom used to make it after Thanksgiving every year. Some crazy librarian ordered it for my library so I will check it out first.

There are plenty of recipes for stuff like vegan sour cream and vegan Parmesan. I use Vegan on the Cheap for those things all of the time. I don't even buy mayo at the store any more.

pizza casserole in the oven! It smells like Pizza Hut up in this bisque.

I think I had misread this book's intentions - it looks like the authors have done a great job researching and coming up with things, and substitutions could probably be made to good effect. Just read this great interview with the authors and the fabulous Grant Butler. http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index ... cart_river - if anyone feels like commenting, that'd be great, too - someone complaining that they're writing in the paper about vegan stuff - ugh!

I saw this in the bookstore and it was hard putting it back. Its gorgeous! And its stuff my boyfriend would like! Will maybe ask for it for my birthday.

The theory is that sea salt comes from seas that are potentially polluted while himalayan salt comes from seas that once were millions of years ago, so it is purer. No real reason. I also buy mine at Trader Joe's.

I mentioned my reasoning and you know me, I am more than willing to eat 'processed' foods. I just don't like buying cookbooks that are use store bought analogues as a large basis for their recipes. I don't know why but whenever I see recipes that call for Daiya or boca crumbles or whatever, I get really disappointed. I think part of it is that I figure that if I'm cooking from a cookbook, rather than my normal lazy cooking, I want to feel like I'm cooking from scratch. I really like World Vegan Feast because she put in a couple alternatives, it could be store bought seitan or it could be chickpeas (or something).

And I can't remember what recipe it was but not long ago, I bought seitan from the store for the very first time. It wasn't bad but I wanted to make a recipe and was feeling lazy about making seitan so I bought it.

Anyway, my point is, I don't think there is a problem with people being disappointed with a book relying on a bunch of store bought analogues. That isn't a judgement on those analogues or people who eat them. I also don't think that means this book deserves a 1 star on Amazon either. I think there is a market out there for this book, I just don't think I'm that market. (Oh and as I said, there are some store bought analogues that I want to marry)

I have to say that I've gone back and marked all the reviews complaining that it is "unhealthy and loaded with fat and sugar" as unhelpful. They make no claims it's healthy! Vegan food doesn't have to be healthy! UGH!

my interest has been piqued, i haven't made it to the bookstore to inspect this book in person, but i was surprised to see my library has it so i put a hold on it.......

The "look inside" feature with this book is actually really good - and gives you a *lot* of recipes (but no desserts). It's made me want to buy it - this is totally not the "processed vegan junk food brand dogma" book it's being made out to be. I think things could be subbed successfully and easily - and it's really not over the top. It's in my cart now!