Corn Fritters

It's May Week here in Cambridge and for a whole week the town gets stuck in some sort of high society time warp. The entire student population pretty much stays in black tie attire for the week as they ball hop with the only exception to this rule being when they don their blazers and hat and gloves for the garden parties. It's an experience so out of touch with the rest of the world it's almost embarrassing. It's also a lot of fun.

May Week begins with Suicide Sunday. It's the Sunday after exams have finished for everyone and, apparently more importantly, the Sunday after Bumps have concluded (Bumps is a rowing thing that I'm not entirely sure I understand). There are many garden parties on from about 9am to 10pm and lots of people end up drinking all day and feeling very sorry for themselves the day after.

We decided to start our Suicide Sunday with a vegan champagne brunch at our house and I made lots of yummy vegan goodies. One of the biggest successes was some very easy to make corn fritters.

Corn Fritters

1 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp frozen corn/sweetcorn

4 tbsp self-raising flour (wholemeal, if you have it)

2 tsp dried vegan veggie stock or bouillon powder

4 tbsp soya milk

2 tsp cider vinegar

3 tbsp chopped chives (about half a bunch)

pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and fry corn for a few minutes until it is hot.

Combine flour, bouillon powder, milk, vinegar, chives and pepper in a bowl. Add sweetcorn and stir thoroughly.

Heat the remaining oil in the pan again and add tablespoons of the mixture to the pan. Fry on the first side for 30 seconds (do not flatten yet) then flip. Then with the back of the spatula press the fritter down until it is under 1cm thick. Cook on the second side until golden brown. Flip again and cook on the first side until also golden brown.

Transfer the fritters to a lined baking tin and bake for 5-10 minutes until they rise a little.

Scrambled Tofu 2.0

When we were living in Brisbane scrambled tofu used to be one of our favourite brunch meals on sunny Sunday mornings with tea and coffee. Normally just before or after walking the dog.

England is not so sunny and we miss our puppy but we are still enjoying our scrambled tofu vegie mash. Especially when it's wet and cold and rainy outside it's becoming a yummy lunch or dinner.

It's not really something I have a recipe for. I just fry up some onion and garlic in a small bit of oil and then add whatever vegies I have lying around (mushrooms and spinach always make it in but my new favourite edition is sliced leeks) and then add the tofu by crumbling the block with my hands over the pan to get the scrambled look. And I normally add turmeric, curry powder, chili powder, paprika and cumin and those herbs give it a beautiful aroma, gorgeous colour and delicious taste.

The texture and taste is not the same as the recipe I posted a while ago (that one feels and tastes more like scrambled eggs) but I prefer it.

I also saw that Susan V on FatFree Vegan Kitchen had a similar post recently and mentioned how lovely the meal is on an autumn night. I envy that her autumn is the south of the US would be a lot warmer than mine but I share the sentiment about scrambled tofu!

Sunday Brunch

We took the dog on a ridiculously long walk this morning down to the lake at Westlake and then on the bush walk along the river. When we returned Geoff demanded eggs on toast for breakfast. He received a stern lecture and then this:

A Not-So-Skinny Vegan's Scrambled Tofu
1 block of tofu (~300g) chopped
1/4 cup grated soy cheese
2 tbsp savoury yeast
1 shallot stalk chopped
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic crushed
1 chili chopped finely
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
+ any other spices you like!

Heat the oil in a pan and add garlic and chili over medium heat. When the garlic starts to turn golden add the tofu and dried spices. As the tofu starts to heat mash it gently until it looks like scrambled eggs (or to whatever shape you want). When the tofu is heated through add the savoury yeast and cheese. You may need to add a little more oil or some water if the savoury yeast makes the tofu too sticky. Stir through until you achieve a consistency similar to scrambled eggs. Add the shallots. Add S&P to taste.

Serve with toast buttered with Nuttelex. I also like to chop a tomato in half and cook in the same pan as the tofu until it is hot throughout and soft at the top and bottom. You may need to turn it a few times.

Happy Sunday morning!