Kung pao monkey head mushrooms

One of our favourite things we ate in Singapore last year was monkey head mushrooms cooked kung pao style. Monkey head mushrooms have a really excellent texture -- quite meaty, a bit chewy, and a bit spongy so they are great at soaking up sauces.

Following these directions, I soaked the mushrooms several times, then squeezed them out, cut them up and deep fried them. (I didn't soak them in a marinade.) I then made the kung pao, adding ordinary mushrooms and capsicum. (I didn't have any leeks, unfortunately.) I added a bit of water to the sauce, because I wanted there to be enough for the monkey heads to absorb.

With all the soaking and frying, it was kind of a hassle to make this, but it was so good!

Mmm, bacon

Eggplant bacon from Appetite for Reduction:

Magic Shroom Dust from Hot Knives:

Smoked coconut flakes:

Shiitake bacon

I have a new favourite fake bacon: shiitake bacon.

I got the idea from the PPK, in its new home here. Following a suggestion in that thread, I used dried, pre-sliced shiitakes. I reconstituted them with the barest amount of hot water, plus oil, liquid smoke, smoked paprika and salt. I think they were in the oven for about 30 minutes -- after about 15 minutes they were smelling really good, and I kept checking on them every 5 minutes to make sure they didn't burn. In the end there was a nice mixture of crispy and chewy textures.

The shiitake bacon found its way into some amazing VBLATs (vegan bacon lettuce avocado tomato). You know the fake bacon is good when it can upstage avocado in a sandwich.

Rosemary and basil

So here we are in the middle of winter in Perth, and I find myself obsessed with basil and rosemary. Luckily winter in Perth is sort of a joke, compared to Massachusetts (a typical winter day time temperature here is 18C or 64F) so I actually still have basil growing in the garden.

And as for rosemary, many of our neighbours have rosemary hedges in their front yards. I don't feel bad about grabbing a few sprigs here and there while walking the dog.

So this is how we ended up eating some pretty summery looking meals this week. Here you see beans with pesto and cherry tomatoes, green beans and mushrooms, and baked polenta 'fries'. (The polenta was pretty great -- I made it quite cheesy-tasting with miso and nutritional yeast.)

And here is baked eggplant with a quick tomato sauce and pesto, stir fried cabbage with lemon and pepper, a quick focaccia topped with rosemary, and rosemary-roasted tofu cubes (from Vegan Soul Kitchen). The tofu was great -- the baking technique is really cool. The tofu cubes puff up and get crisp on the outside.

We do eat things other than pizza sometimes

Here you see two pizzas: the first is potato with rosemary and garlic infused oil, and the second is topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions cooked in oatly cream. These were terrific.

 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at the new house:

Clockwise from the top: maple glazed brussels sprouts, mashed potato, vegie roast, pumpkin,  stuffing with mushrooms and pecans. The vegie roast was pretty good, and made for nice sandwiches the next day. (R commented that it was probably the best fake turkey he'd ever had -- surprising, since I think the manufacturers were aiming for roast lamb.)

 

No surprise

Porcini stock cubes obviously lead to mushroom risotto. This one involved a tiny amount of chanterelles, a lot of cheap white mushrooms plus the stock cubes -- lots of mushroomy goodness.

(I promise that the next photo I post will involve a green vegetable -- enough with the orange and brown!)