(no subject)

[juliet]

My liver hates me. This is only fair, as I appear to be trying to kill it. Once again, however, the DRINK WATER plan appears to have worked & I am broadly speaking functional.

You know the filter that goes between your brain & your mouth & prevents you from just saying anything that comes into your head? I appear not to have one. Can you get them on Ebay?

In other news, Manna continues ace, & nou is equally ace for doing the requisite kitten-herding to get us there. They have *vegan desserts*. In particular, they have *vegan cheesecake* which is just the best concept ever ever. Sadly, despite deliberately not having a starter (although I did steal half of kitty_goth's) I still had insufficient room for a whole piece of cheesecake & had to share with marnameow. It was very very good.

*And* I now have an osteopath appointment for this afternoon, thank fuck.

I'm feeling all bouncy. Walking into work in the rain this morning was fun - nicely refreshing.

Comments

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

Cycling was equally, well, hmm. Not that it ever rains here, as you can see from my photos, just the odd refreshing drop of water suspended in mid-air.

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

Manna intrigues me, having had a squiz at their menu. What's worth eating, if you're a veganfood sceptic that think that vegan cheesecake is quite possibly the most wrongest idea ever? (What *does* it get made with?)

The house salad looks really very good indeed, but the thought of making pastry or icecream or pasta without butter/eggs is really rather disturbing. (And don't get me started on the salade Niçoise thing...)

[juliet]

It was *all* lovely. And Marna liked the cheesecake as well, so it wasn't just me being vegan, as it were. (I have no idea what was in it, but it tasted damn fine) I had the vegan version of the pea, coriander, & basmati rice cakes, & tasted a couple of other meals, & was very impressed indeed.

The omnivores present last night liked their meals as well. My parents took me there last summer after I finished my MPhil, & my confirmed-carnivore father, who is very into his food, said that he didn't miss the meat.

Can't comment on the pastry: don't like the stuff. I tried some of kittygoth's sorbet & that was good - had a lovely strong flavour. Surely pasta (well, long-type pastas) *shouldn't* have eggs in? Or do you just mean the sauce? (in which case, well, I've never liked overly rich/fatty pasta sauces anyway, myself, they make me sick)

Really, clearly what we should do is *go back again* & you can come along & investigate. And I can eat more cheesecake.

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

I think all of the pasta recipes I've seen involve eggs: The one I use has a dozen yolks and an albumen for about a kilo of pasta... Come to think of it: that's all that goes in, apart from the flour and a pinch of salt!

I can't think of what else you could use that would give you sufficiently dry, long proteins to hold the stuff together otherwise...

I am keen to try this place, though. But I may pass on the cheesecake. ;-)

(NB: What's the wine list like? There's no reference to it on the website...)

[juliet]

I think it's a dry pasta thing. Aren't some sorts of pasta *supposed* to be dried, & it's not just that they're sold that way for convenience (e.g. spaghetti)?

I should look this up somewhere; but cannot right now because need to go shopping.

Wine: dunno, didn't choose it, just drank it. Good stuff, though.

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

No idea. But pasta's the same, dried or fresh, IIRC. I usually dry any that I make fresh for a little while, so it's easier to handle. (Alternative uses for a clothes horse #234798) But I shall look at packets when I get home!

[juliet]

Ah, dried packet pasta from supermarkets etc has only durum wheat flour in, in general. No *way* could I have gone vegan without being able to eat pasta! What I can't remember is whether this is Authentic in the case of spaghetti & other similar, which is what I was wondering about.

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

:Reads packet:

Blimey. So it is! Wonder if it's the pressure of the extrusion mechanism that binds it together strongly enough then...

Ardunno about authentic: most pasta machines have a spaghetti cutter, so it's fair to assume that that actually gets used. Mind, I dare say that a Big Mac probably most authentically portrays the diet of modern urban Italy...

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what the cheesecake was made with - but I reckon I can make one with silken tofu.

The crust should be easy - crushed biscuits with fat of some kind. Ooh! Melted chocolate to bind it is an idea!

The cheese-bit itself? I think silken tofu beaten with tasty things will work pretty well. I have an idea for a spiced chocolate one, with brandy&sugar infused with cardamon and ginger and nutmeg blended and whipped into one batch of tofu, and melted green&blacks (maybe in some soymilk) blended into the other batch, and then the two marbled or layered into the chocolate crust, and then topped with cyrstalised ginger sauce.

Can I try it out on you?

[juliet]

Hmm, well, now let me see, that's a difficult one...

YES PLEASE

*dribbles*

(I have just made lentil/carrot/mushroom burgers, with fava beans & broccoli. Was v nice)

[sbp.livejournal.com]

vegan cheesecake ... What *does* it get made with?

Milk from nursing women, obviously - that's Vegan, right? ;-)