PANCAKES. Of course.

Of course vegan pancakes are possible, silly.

This is my preferred recipe. I can't take credit for it - it's based on legendary vegan-punk-chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz' recipe, with a couple of tiny tweaks developed through repeated makings.

it claims it makes 6 pancakes, but that depends how big you like them - I tend to double the recipe for Full Greed Mode.

They use only the kind of stuff that's knocking around in most reasonably practised vegan kitchens.

Here we go.

Tips to start:

~ Don’t use an electric mixer for the batter. Overmixed pancakes tend to result in a dense pancake. I just use a fork to get everything mixed.

~ You have to let the batter rest for ten minutes or so. The vinegar and the baking powder need to react with each other and the gluten needs to settle in and rest.

~ Don’t crowd the pan. Don’t make more than two pancakes at once. Seriously. Have a warm oven and a hot plate waiting for your freshly-cooked ones, if you're not shovelling them straight into mouths hungry-chick style.

~ Don’t use too much oil in the pan. It will result in a tough exterior. A very thin layer of oil is what you want and a spray can of oil works perfectly for this.

~ Preheat the pan for a good ten minutes. I use our wok, and put it on moderate low heat, but you will probably need to adjust a little to get the temp just right. Remember, the temerature is not set in stone. Lower and raise in tiny increments as needed. Even tiny increases can result in big changes.

~ Use a measuring cup (with a rounded bottom if possible) to scoop out the batter. And remember to always spray the cup between pancakes, to prevent sticking.

~ Once you drop the pancake in, refrain from fiddling with the batter too much. But don’t be afraid to delicately nudge the batter a tiny bit with your fingers to get a more circular shape and more even cooking. But the batter should spread a tiny bit and puff up all on its own. LEAVE THEM ALONE.

~ And DO stick to the cooking times - the system works!

You will need:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour~

(to make gluten-free versions, use the same quantity made up of equal parts of rice flour, coconut flour and teff flour)

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup almond milk or soy milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon cornmeal (or Teff flour for a browner, slightly more wholemeal taste)
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons oil - rapeseed oil is good
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, salt and sugar. 

Make a well in the center.

Measure the milk into a measuring cup. Add vinegar and and use a fork to vigorously mix the ingredients until foamy. This will take a minute or so.

Pour the milk mixture into the center of the dry ingredients. Add the water, oil and vanilla and use a fork to mix until a thick, lumpy batter forms. That should take about a minute. It doesn’t need to be smooth, just make sure you get all the ingredients incorporated.

(Note: we like to add a vegan protein powder - like this one - instead of the cornmeal sometimes, for EXTRA GAINZ.)

Preheat the pan over medium-low heat and let the batter rest for 10 minutes.

Lightly coat the pan in oil. Add 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake, and cook for about 4 minutes, until puffy. Flip the pancakes, adding a new coat of oil to the pan, and cook for another 3 minutes or so. The pancake should be about an inch thick, and golden brown. Don't mess about with them too much; when you're hungry, 4 minutes can FEEL LIKE AN ETERNITY. We understand.

Rest pancakes on a warmed plate in a gently-heated oven until ready to serve. 

To reheat, place pancakes in on a baking sheet covered with tin foil in a  300 F degree oven for 5 minutes or so. Ha, like THAT'S going to be a scenario.

Matt's Flapjacks

The recipe for these was given to us by Matt Thornhill, aka Monkichi, who'd come to play on our radio station (Real FM) in a Birmingham tower block in the late 90s. He'd brought with him his mate Manish and these delicious flapjacks made to his Grandpa's recipe, and the week after he'd been, from his long-winded early globalnet email address at Timebomb in Bristol, he sent us the receipe.

This is the only flapjack recipe we've used since. In the years since he committed this recipe to email and I printed it out on the back of a Beggars Banquet record reaction sheet (which I have to this day, it's the only record of the recipe I have) Matt's become Head of A&R at XL Records, nowadays heading up the Young Turks record label, and is a busy lad. Recently a Dad, I like to think he still makes these!

This is Leigh's slight riff on the original. He adds a layer of salted chocolate on top and cooks them as individual flaps in cake tins, turning them upside down and putting the chocolate on the bottoms.
The robust, dark salty chocolate works really well with the sticky sweetness underneath - these flaps, after all, use both black treacle and golden syrup as well as sugar!

It is typed, apart from Leigh's additions, exactly as Matt wrote it.

Once again, many many thanks for having me and the keener up for the night., Both had a damn fine time, only wish I could have stayed a bit longer...

Here's that flapjack recipe. it's from my Grandfather so it's imperial...

5oz margarine (we used Suma dairy free)
3oz black treacle
3oz golden syrup
2oz demerera sugar
8oz porridge oats, rolled oats, whatever
really healthy pinch of cinnamon
salted dark chocolate

He also likes it real gingery and adds 2tsp. of ginger powder.
Then chopped apricots if you want.

Melt sugar, marg, syrup etc. in pan. Stir in oats & additionals.

Spread into greased baking thing and give it:

- 20-30 minutes if cooking on one large batch (for example baking tray) - check after 20
- 12 minutes if cooking as individual flaps (for example like we did in fairy cake/muffin tins)

at Gas Mark 4 / 160C.

(They might still be soft to the touch when you remove them, but they'll harden as they cool.)

Once cooled, gently melt salted chocolate in a metal basin over a simmering saucepan (don't let any of the water get in) and pour over the upturned flapjacks. Allow to cool thoroughly.

Think that's it.

Hope it works out...and don't reply to this one cos I shouldn't be spending my day at work writing out recipes really.

All the best,
Matt Monkichi.


Here's Matt spending his day at work not writing out recipes.



Here's the flyer we made when Matt came to play.

VEGAN TOAD IN THE HOLE. Yes.

You thought the Yorkshire Pudding mix was the Holy Grail, and it was - but this is the discovery of King Richard III under the car park...sort of. Well he had strong connections with York...

Tonight we made Toad In The Hole by pre-heating the oven to 220 degrees C (VERY HOT), adding a significant lump of vegan marge (you can use an oil if you prefer, it'll be a little greasier) to a metal pan and placing it in the oven to pre-heat.

After 5 minutes, add 4 un-meat sausages (Fry's are good, we don't recommend Linda McCartneys' for this) to the heating pan. Put it back in the oven.

Meanwhile, mix up our vegan Yorkshire Pudding Mix. For four sausages, divide the mixture's quantity in half. The quantity of batter mix in the original recipe will be good for 6+ sausages.

Once well mixed, take out your pan with sausages (don't leave more than about 10 minutes).
The fat should be smokin' hot and the sausages starting to brown.
Pour in the batter mix, distributing evenly over the sausages, quickly, and put back in the oven.

Cook for 20 minutes, and check nay poking the a sharp knife into a fat bit after 20 mins - it's OK for it to be a bit sticky inside!

Serve with Cocoa Gravy, roast spuds and plenty of green veg.

Turmeric and Ginger Tea with Coconut Milk

When Leigh recently had a bit of inflammation about the shoulder (a lot of wood-cutting for our woodturner and some hard gym sessions), I turned to this recipe I'd seen a friend talking about online a few weeks before.

This is my own tweaked version of what turned out to be a very nice drink indeed. It doesn't taste anything like you'd expect - it's creamy, soothing and rich with just a tang of turmeric and the knowledge, that comes with this delicious golden herb, that you're easing those inflamed tissues every time you sip.

Despite it feeling like a very wintry drink, I shall most definitely be making it again. Whether I am inflamed or not! And don't let my photos put you off - it was really hard to photograph! (all that yellow).

Makes 2 mugs.

YOU WILL NEED:

1 x 1-inch knob of fresh turmeric

1 x 1/2-inch knob fresh ginger

2 x teaspoons almond oil or coconut oil

1 x cup full-fat coconut or soya milk

1 x cup coconut water OR powdered ground coconut

1 x generous tablespoon maple syrup

DO THIS:

Wash the turmeric and ginger, then grate them finely into a mortar (don't bother peeling, if you grate well enough the tiny skin bits will only add to the roughage!)

Put the coconut oil into the mortar, and grind the oil into the turmeric and ginger with your pestle until they form a fine paste.

Pour the coconut milk and coconut water into a saucepan, and put in the paste made with turmeric, ginger and oil. 

Turn the heat up to medium-high and warm the ingredients together until it's bubbling a bit. Turn off the heat and cover the saucepan, allowing the turmeric and ginger to steep for about 3 minutes.  Stir in the maple syrup until it dissolves.

Strain the tea through a fine-mesh strainer or strainer into a tea pot, or pour into mugs.  

Serve warm.

If you can't get fresh turmeric (which comes in nice yellow strange-shaped blobs), substitute 2 teaspoons of organic powdered turmeric.

SOLID EGG 2015

We’ve made our solid easter eggs twice before (you may even have eaten one) but our versions for 2015 are fabulously evolved beasts!

The eggs are a labour of love that, quite frankly, we make because we can, and because we should, and because the world has been crying out for a solid - like, actual SOLID Easter egg - since Easter Eggs were invented. Easter usually comes right in the middle of an annual busy period, so there is always a late night or two as packaging is designed and photographs are taken…samples eaten...eggs collected…but somehow we do it, for the love of sinking one’s teeth into a bed of praline or gnawing on three inches of chocolate into the night.

Hand-made for us this year by Leicester chocolatier Pete at  Cocoa Amore, whose shop sits right in the middle of the current Richard III activity in Leicester, Solid Egg 2015 has a girthy 70% cocoa shell filled with either solid chocolate or incredible soft praline. Now coming as one solid egg (rather than two halves), we’ve made these in Solid Chocolate, Praline, Salted Chocolate or Ginger (the latter in limited supply). Every egg comes wrapped in a chocolate-brown signed screen print of cocoa-loving artwork by me, printed in Factory Road, just a few doors down. Which is fully washable and can be used for any purpose after the egg is long gone!

This year we’ve made 20 available as a special edition snuggled in a hand-woven nest by international willow artist Tom Hare. If you’ve been to any of the RHS gardens, or Kew Gardens, or latterly to Bishopsgate, the Bellagio in Las Vegas or to Macau...you might have seen his work. He too was in the middle of a super-busy period when we commissioned these nests from him, so we’re grateful to have them - each one will be different from the last.

As usual the eggs are 100% vegan, gluten and dairy-free, with the emphasis on flavour and quality. Oh, and size. And…weight - over 500g per egg.

Watch one being cut, and listen for the chocolate crack!

http://host.inkymole.com/SolidEggBeingCut.MOV

And you can buy one here:

https://factoryroad.net/shop/products/solid-egg-2015/

Check the photographs for proof of the existence of this magnificent celebration of bunnies, greed and re-birth!