Food Network Friday Goes British with Kedgeree

We jumped the pond with this week’s Food Network Friday, as EFCLiz chose a recipe from the Good Food Channel in England. She clearly chose well, as she seems to have knocked this one out of the park.

The original recipe is here. Now for Liz.

Check it out. Liz brilliantly chose artichoke hearts to replace the smoked haddock. She also used curry powder and mayo, all ideas I wish I had come up with.

Kedgeree, by Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina’s dish, also well-conceived, used wild mushrooms, seaweed, and black salt/tofu to recreate the hard boiled eggs. At this point, I’m wondering why I used curry paste….looks like curry powder was the better choice.

Both these recipe are wildly creative, and fantastic examples of how differently a recipe can be recreated. You two did an amazing job with this recipe! Here I was thinking it might be a home field advantage, but not with Anna Karenenina’s take on it.

This week’s Good Food Friday was a real reach for me. I haven’t had much exposure to either Indian or British food, never had smoked haddock in my life, and couldn’t get my hands on any fresh peas!

But that didn’t stop me. Kedgeree is apparently a blend of British and Indian cultures that was historically served at breakfast. Instead, I made it for dinner. I love breakfast for dinner, so why not this one? To say I was out of my element with this dish is an understatement. Did I happen to mention I’ve probably only used curry paste a handful of times? Way out of my element.

Kedgeree, A Very Loose Interpretation
Serves 2 to 3

6 ounces tempeh bacon, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (replaces smoked haddock)
nonstick spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup basmati rice
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tablespoon curry paste (no idea if mine is mild or not!)
1 cup green beans, cut in 1/2-inch pieces (couldn’t find fresh peas for “ready money”, as they say in the Importance of Being Earnest.. keeping with the Brit influence here)
Eggy tofu, recipe below (replaces eggs)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Pinch black pepper
Mango chutney

Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray and brown the tempeh bacon, stirring occasionally.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and the onion, cook, stirring until just soft. Add the rice and curry paste, cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. (This is way longer than the recipe says, but reading their recipe the rice should cook in 12 minutes. I knew mine wouldn’t.)

Stir in the green beans, parsley and black pepper. Cover and cook another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the eggy tofu. Serve topped with mango chutney.

Eggy Tofu
1/4# extra-firm tofu, drained, pressed and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
nonstick spray
1 teaspoon tamari
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

Spray a small skillet with nonstick spray. Place over medium high heat. Cook the tofu, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes, until golden. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir together. If liquid isn’t absorbed, return to heat and cook, stirring , until it is.

The Results:
This wasn’t my kind of dish. However, I’m really glad I made it. It was a fun challenge to make something way, way, way out of my comfort zone. My version is not a statement on the real dish at all. Chances are that neither Brits, Indians, or Liz who chose the recipe would even recognize it as kedgeree.

But let me highlight the really good parts:

1. That eggy tofu. Watch for it. I liked it so much that I already adapted it and it will be getting it’s own post on this blog.

2. Mango Chutney. Why don’t I buy this more often? We used to love it on tempeh burgers gazillion years ago, and somehow I forgot all about it. Now I’m going to keep some on hand and will be looking for new ways to use it.

3. I have a new-found appreciation for anyone outside the U.S. who has to convert measurements in recipes.

4. I got to show off my really cool bowl.

Upcoming Food Network Fridays:

October 16th – Yucatan Chicken Skewers with Peanut-Red Chile Sauce and Red Cabbage Slaw, chosen by Kelvia

October 30th - Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash, and Wild Rice Soup, chosen by Anna Karenina

We all know that being vegan isn’t hard, but showing the Food Network how easy it is to veganize their recipes is a little harder. We’d love to have you join us in these challenges! It’s fun to do and you just might find a new ingredient, dish or technique that you love. The options are wide-open. Shift up the recipes however you’d like and post a comment to the Food Network Friday post here to let us all see your creation. And of course, you’d get a chance to pick a recipe for us to try.

See you tomorrow which will be Day 3 of VeganMoFo!

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