Thursday night I finally made the (in)famous Chickpea Cutlets from the ‘nomicon. I get what all the fuss is about now, they were so easy and so tasty. I pan-fried mine, but next time I will bake them. I went ahead and made a double batch – eight total – and put six in the freezer (of course).
I had them Thursday, then again on Friday, and I still wanted more. The cutlets were just chewy enough to have a ‘meaty’ texture, and the seasoning was perfect. I used panko crumbs for the first time and I love them – so much lighter and crisper than regular bread crumbs. Also, I used Bragg Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce, and I didn’t have any broth so I used water and added a dash of Italian bouillon granules. I also didn’t have any dried thyme, so in keeping with the theme I used a mix of Italian herbs instead. Yum.
To go along with the cutlets I roasted some potatoes, carrots and asparagus. For The Brit I cooked up some chicken – he wouldn’t touch the cutlets.
The gigantic pool of white stuff you see in the middle of my plate is bread sauce – not sure if anyone else on this side of the Atlantic eats this stuff? It’s basically a sauce made from bread crumbs and seasonings and milk and stuff… I don’t really know, I just make it from a packet which I stock up on when we’re in England. I’m sure I could make it from scratch if I tried… but why? Anyway, I just use soy milk instead of dairy and it’s great. Even The Brit eats it, and he’s not a soy milk kinda guy.
Also, I don’t know why I piled so much food onto my plate (especially the bread sauce), as I didn’t even come close to finishing it. I think I was just trying to make it look full and pretty for the picture, but I just ended up making myself look like quite the glutton.
The wine we had with dinner is Ménage à Trois – one of my favorites. It’s a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet. It goes well with just about everything, and is a bargain for around $12. If you like red wine, I suggest picking up a bottle. It’s good stuff.
I don’t have any pictures from the weekend because I mostly ate leftovers. I had a cake tasting day Sunday and spent most of the day meeting with brides. I was up pretty late on Saturday getting ready, and got up pretty early on Sunday to bake and ice eight dozen cupcakes, in six varieties. I didn’t even get any pictures of the cupcakes I was so busy.
I’m kind of ashamed to admit that after all the tastings I was so tired, I ended up just picking up a cheeseless pizza on the way home. Don’t judge – I hadn’t eaten all day and I was totally knackered – I’m not sure I could have even managed a PB&J at that point. Oy.
There is nothing wrong with picking up a cheeseless pizza!
And aren’t the cutlets freakin’ awesome?! That’s one my fave recipes of all time, I think.
I didn’t realize The Brit was an omni. I guess I just assumed he was veg too. Paul, my boyfriend, is an omni too. It makes for an interesting relationship, but sometimes, I just wish he’d be a little more open-minded about trying vegan foods. He’ll eat the desserts and he likes TVP okay. He definitely eaten veggie burgers when there was nothing else in the house, but he won’t usually touch tofu…
I still have to try the chickpea cutlets and I’m afraid to be the only vegan messing them up and creating a disaster in the kitchen…
My boyfriend is an omni too, but we tolerate each other very well (and on sunday he ate all his tofu and complimented!)
Your name totally cracks me up!
Hey, if your grandparents don’t want to go to Sprial Diner with you, take me!!!
I’d never heard of bread sauce before, but it actually sounds really yummy.
I’m impressed with the lemon wedge on the edge of your cup. So high brow at home!
I tried to find the cupcake pics before reading and almost swore! Now I feel bad that you were too tired for a photo op. Poor Poopie.