Better get this (vegan) party started…

Tags

Cookie Pie, Food photography, New Year's Eve, Party food, Tofu recipe, Vegan, Vegan Canapés, Vegan Food photography, vegan recipes, Vegetarian, Vodka Jelly

So, you love a good party, great company and delicious food…. and you happen to be vegan! I’d love to share some really easy, dairy-free recipes with you that will get your party started with a bang!

We’re quite a bunch of party animals in this house and the New Year’s Eve party is a highlight in our family calendar. Sam (6) and Alex (4) have never missed  the chance to start the new year with us and our friends. In fact, it’s the only time they are allowed to stay up that late. We always pay for it the next day (cranky kids!) but it is soooo worth it!

My work obviously involves a lot of cooking and food preparation for photography… so in theory I know what I’m doing 😉
I’d love to tell you that I’m one of those relaxed, effortless hosts that make entertaining look incredibly easy… but I’d be lying. I get a bit flustered and start fussing – for me, party recipes have to be simple and hassle-free.
I usually aim for impressive looking but actually very easy to make (shhh, don’t tell anyone).

Three Colour Canapés


Super quick and easy, but looks fabulous – ideal party food!
I love the wonderful flavour of marinated semi-dried tomatoes. You can buy them from good delis and most supermarkets. They usually come in a herb and garlic oil which is great for drizzling around the serving plate but works very well on Bruschetta too.
The basil tofu is delicious as it is – no need to marinade.

One pack of basil tofu or smoked almond tofu (taifun brand)
Fresh basil leaves
Semi-dried (sunblush) tomatoes in oil

Cut the tofu into small cubes. Use a cocktail stick or mini skewer and pierce through a tomato. Wrap a tofu cube in a basil leaf and push it onto the cocktail stick.
Arrange on a plate and drizzle with the oil from the tomatoes.

Ruby’s Cookie Pie (vegan recipe)

I photographed this recipe for National Vegetarian Week earlier this year. This may not add to your 5-a-day but it’s the perfect dessert if you have a sweet tooth!
Recipe created by Ruby Clemans from Torquay for the Vegetarian Society’s ‘Surprisingly simple’ member recipe competition.

For the Pie base –
110g dairy free margarine
250g plain flour
80g sugar
1 quantity egg replacer

For the cookie filling –
2 quantities egg replacer
65g plain flour
115g sugar
100g brown sugar
170g dairy free margarine, softened
150g dairy free chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 160C.
2. For the base: crumb together the margarine and flour then add the sugar and mix in the egg replacer. Roll out the mixture and put into Pie dish.
3. For the filling: Beat the margarine and sugar together. Add flour and the egg replacer.
4. Stir in chocolate chips and spoon the mixture into the pie base.
5. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool slightly on wire rack. Serve warm.

I found a large pie dish with deeper sides worked better than smaller individual ones (they bubbled over a bit in the small dishes).

Vegan Vodka Jelly Shots

Add a bit of sparkle with these cute Vodka Jellies this New Year’s Eve.
For these jellies, I used ‘just Wholefoods’ raspberry jelly

You will need:
1 packet of vegetarian jelly crystals (raspberry flavour),
100 ml vodka
fresh blueberries and raspberries
12 heat-proof shot glasses or mini jelly moulds

Prepare the jelly according to the instruction on the packet, but replace 100 ml of water with the vodka. Whisk continuously until the crystals are completely dissolved.

Before you fill the hot jelly into glasses, let it cool down a little to avoid your glasses breaking. Stir occasionally and you will notice when the jelly begins to thicken. Pour into the shot glasses, and then add the berries.
If you prefer you can adjust the water/vodka ratio to taste or add orange juice for an alcohol-free version.

Have a great start to 2014. I wonder what you’ll be cooking this New Year’s Eve. Have you got any fool-proof, easy recipes to share?

Come and say Hi over on www.facebook.com/flavourphotos

Happy Christmas – Double the Fun

Tags

Brezen, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Continental, Food photography, German, Pretzels, Scandinavian, vegan christmas, vegan recipes

IF you love Christmas why not spread the the festive cheer over a couple of days? Might be time to embrace the continental way too…

Being German (but living in the UK) gives us the perfect excuse to have a small continental celebration on Christmas Eve and a proper British Christmas on the 25th too. My boys have been beside themselves with excitement! A wonderful vegan Christmas feast (lovingly cooked by my partner’s mum- thank you!!) is of course part of the fun, as are Brezen (Prezels) and the wonderful parcel with German biscuits from my family 🙂

A little while back, I wrote an article on Continental and Scandinavian Christmas traditions for Cook Vegetarian Magazine, that I would like to share here. Don’t miss Auðna’s story about the Icelandic Yule lads and Mette’s memories of ‘Ris a la Mande’…

Cook Vegetarian Magazine

Thank you so much to each and every one of you who has stopped by over the last months to say Hi! It’s been such a pleasure writing these posts, sharing my vegan recipes and food photography… and most of all ‘meeting’ so many wonderful, kind and generous people through these pages.

Have a wonderful festive holiday time – wherever you are and whoever you are with!
Warmest wishes,
Chava

Vegan Christmas Stollen

Tags

Christmas recipe, Quarkstollen, Stollen, Stollen Cupcake, Vegan, vegan recipe, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Society

Whether you are vegan, vegetarian, struggle with a food intolerance or simply health-conscious, we all sometimes get cravings for foods we used to love. This festive recipe definitely ticks one of my boxes!

Photographing food for a living has got to be the best job in the world…. but there is one slight drawback! I always photograph food out of season, in time for publishing dates. When I came back from my summer holidays in August it was straight into shooting Christmas menus while the sun was blazing and the kids were splashing outside in the paddling pool.
The dishes below were part of a commission for the Vegetarian Society – you can view the recipes here:
Juniper Croquettes (vegetarian)
Rose Elliott’s Pine Nut Roast (vegetarian)
Apple and Rosemary Crowns with Wild Mushrooms and Puy Lentils (vegan)

 

One of the reasons why blogging is so much fun for me is that I actually get to cook and photograph food that is in season 🙂 Ladies and gentlemen, it doesn’t get more seasonal than Stollen and this vegan recipe is a real joy to share! Three festive cheers and a drumroll… and without further ado…

The perfect vegan Stollen

This is enough for 2 Stollen or 20 individual mini cakes – use your biggest mixing bowl!

Ingredients:
125g dairy-free margarine
400g silken tofu
150g sugar
2 quantities of egg replacer
500g spelt or plain wheat flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
generous pinch of salt
100g sultanas
50g dried cranberries
50g chopped dried apricots (optional)
100g candied lemon and orange peel
125g chopped blanched almonds
zest of one lemon
200g marzipan (I used brandy marzipan for an extra festive flavour)
icing sugar

This is where it gets easy:
Use a handblender to mix the silken tofu and margarine until smooth.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and add the tofu mix and egg replacer.
Knead until the dough comes together.

For each Stollen, roll the marzipan into a thick rope and place it lengthways in the centre of the dough. Fold the dough over to cover it. Then fold the seams together to seal the marzipan in (make sure it’s not peeking out on the ends). For the mini cakes, I put some of the Stollen mixture in each case added a little ball of marzipan and covered it with more of the dough.

Bake at 180˚C in a pre-heated oven. Mini Stollen take about 20-25 minutes, large Stollen about 40 minutes. Cover with foil once they have turned golden brown to make sure the Stollen gets baked properly without burning.
Dust with plenty of icing sugar for a festive delight. Time to put on the kettle and some festive music. Enjoy!

Have you started planning your festive menu yet? I’d love to know what’s happening in your kitchen this Christmas.

Festive Feast (for your eyes)

Tags

Christmas, festive, Lapstone, Soya latte, Vegan, Vegan Food photography, Vegetarian

Is Life too busy and hectic for you to get into the festive spirit? Let me share some photos from a recent Photo shoot. I hope they will get you all excited and inspired for celebration food and pretty decorations!

Last week I did a photo shoot with Andrea from Shabby Chick and these pictures are just a little selection from the day. There’ll be recipes to read on her blog very soon.

Beetroot, carrot and red cabbage salad with parsley and lime dressing. Fresh, zesty flavours and very healthy too!

Home-made humous

Quincemeat Oaty Slices
Blackberry Whiskey – such a great colour!

Boozy Blackberries on dairy-free Swedish Glace ice cream
Home-made lip balm
Feeling a bit more festive already? There’s more to come 🙂

This morning I met my lovely friend Lis for coffee at the Meg Rivers cafe at Lapstone. It’s a gorgeous place for sitting, relaxing and chatting… with lots of beautiful cakes and bakes on display too.

‘Do you happen to have some soya milk?’ (Keeping my fingers crossed)
‘Of course we can do you a Soya Latte. Coming up.’
I LOVE being vegan in 2013!

As I had my camera with me I captured some impressions from the shop. Great suggestion, Lis. I’m sure we’ll do it again soon.

Where’s your favourite place that really gets you feeling festive? A special restaurant, a walk in a wintery forest, maybe even a Christmas market? I’d love to hear all about your recommendations.

Advent Calendar for Grown-ups

Tags

Advent calendar, baking, Biscuits, Christmas, Food photography, Spitzbuben, Tea, Vegan, vegan recipes, Vegetarian

Do you try your hardest to create the perfect festive atmosphere for your family and then totally forget to look after yourself? It’s time for a moment of calm and indulgence.

I bought myself a present, a special advent calendar treat, when I was in Germany last month. There’s a wonderful company called Sonnentor (sun gate) which make the most beautiful teas, herbs and spices. I love (LOVE!) what they do with their packaging and if I could carry it all back in my suitcase, I would fill my kitchen from top to bottom with their delightful little tins, packets and tea boxes.
  

This gorgeous selection box comes filled with 24 different organic teas and a little booklet with festive ideas and wishes. Here’s December 1st : ‘I wish that you will finally find the time again to bake your favourite biscuits.’ Ahhhhh, how sweet is that?

So, with the kids in school, this is my time for peaceful baking and a mug of delicately spiced tea (which includes lemongrass, peppermint, daisies, cornflowers and calendula).
I can’t blame the spilt flour and messy kitchen on anybody else but I might just manage to clear it all away before school pick-up time!

Spitzbuben (Cheeky Chaps)

135g (1 cup) flour
100g (1/2 cup) margarine
50g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
1 egg replacer (e.g. Orgran)
zest of 1/2 lemon
strawberry jam
icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 170˚C /340˚F.
Cut the margarine into small cubes and combine with the flour, sugar, lemon zest and egg replacer. I added the egg replacer as powder and just enough water to make a smooth dough.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface. Cut out circles and stamp out a pretty shape for half of your circles. Bake until they are a light golden colour.

To assemble, spread a little strawberry jam on the ‘bottom halves’ and gently sandwich the biscuits together. Dust with icing sugar and sit back to enjoy a little festive time out, just for you!

They make very cute little gifts too if you feel kind and generous 🙂 What do you do during the festive season to look after yourself? Have you got any traditions that make you peaceful and happy?

If you need some more beautiful food photography in your life visit my website www.flavourphotos.com and say Hi 🙂