Not-Bacon Breakfast Muffins

I love Sunday mornings. There's a distinct feel about Sunday mornings, don't you think, that just isn't present any other morning of the week. It's ok to be lazy on Sunday mornings. You can sleep in, not brush your teeth till noon, stay in your pajamas, read a book in bed or bake something special that's loaded with flavour and calories, hips and waist be dammed.

As much as I like to roll around in bed, my internal alarm clock wakes me up at 5am everyday, completely oblivious to how special Sundays are. I stopped fighting it years ago. 

And, when I get up, Mojo (my adorable but spoilt dog) gets up too. So this Sunday morning, after playing with Mojo for a bit (yeah, the neighbours must hate me for throwing a bone for Mojo to fetch at 6am) I decided to bake.

Hot out of the oven. 

On the menu this Sunday morning was a savoury breakfast muffin I adapted from a recipe from Dine & Dish. The original is a bacon (yes, real bacon of the pork variety) and cheese muffin. It looked appetizing. Naturally, I had to adapt it to make it vegetarian. 

Now as it turns out I bought a packet of vegetarian bacon when I was in New York City last week. Yup. It was in Chinatown (where I swear you can find anything). I usually am not a big fan of fake-meats but vegetarian bacon — this one I could not resist. I had to try it. 

When I became a vegetarian 23 years ago, the hardest thing for me to  give up was bacon. I loved my bacon. But, I'd made a choice that I was sure of and I gave it up. 

Don't get me wrong, I have no misgivings. I don't have any desire to eat bacon although when I watch chefs/cooks using it in the recipes and extolling the taste it brings to a dish, I understand. So to have a vegetarian version of bacon in front of me... well, I was skeptical. The person who could replicate the taste of bacon using purely vegetarian ingredients must surely be a genius.

Seriously? Vegetarian bacon?

Visually, the vegetarian bacon looks somewhat like real bacon. A little paler, perhaps. There is even that layer of fat as you can see in the pictures above. But taste-wise? Well, it really tastes nothing like the bacon I remember eating years ago.

Not bacon and eggs. Nah...

What did I make with the vegetarian bacon? Well (fake) bacon and eggs, of course. The eggs were good. The bacon ... well, it was ok. It was tasty but not tasty enough to be eaten on it's own like this. I wouldn't make this again but what I thought I would do was use the fake bacon to add flavour to other recipe or to add texture to a sandwich, maybe (for it crisps up well).

I decided to use it also to add a little something to these breakfast muffins.

The bacon was the star ingredient in the original recipe on Dine & Dish but not in mine. I added mushrooms, chopped and sauteed in garlic oil. I added herbs (basil and chives) and I added something else I bought in NYC: Sriracha hot sauce (see pic below).

I know, I know. Who goes to NYC and comes back with chilli sauce? Seriously it's amazing. Have you ever tried it? It's bloody good. Spicy and tangy, it's the real deal. Not half-assed at all. I brought a bottle home but how I wish I'd brought three or four.

So, yeah. Forget about the fake bacon. Go for Sriracha. Originally a Thai Chilli dipping sauce, this bottled Sriracha sauce is actually produced in the US by Huy Foong Foods (founded by Davin Tran, a Chinese Vietnamese who came to the US in 1980) since 1990.  

Of course, you can substitute this with any hot sauce you have (the Tabasco jalapeno hot sauce is a close second) or you can add chilli flakes. But if you can, try Sriracha. 

Mushroom and Cheese Breakfast Muffins (with fake bacon and Sriracha)

2 cups all purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 egg

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup milk

2 tsp Sriracha chilli sauce (or any hot sauce) or 1 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms, lightly sauteed in garlic oil/olive oil

8 strips fake bacon, crisped and crumbled (optional)

1 cup cheddar cheese (I used mozzarella as that was all I had)

1 tsp chopped chives

3 basil leaves, chopped

Preheat oven to 200C.

Whisk the egg, milk, oil and chilli sauce. Add the cheese, mushrooms, fake bacon and herbs and stir to combine. 

Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt and mix in the black pepper. Add to the egg mixture and stir to combine.

Spoon the batter into greased muffin cups and bake for 15-20 mins or till tops and slightly golden and a knife inserted comes out clean.

Tempeh and Tofu Sambal

I’ve got a sore throat. Blast! Blast! Blast. Can’t go to the gym, can’t down an iced drink, can’t eat my Tempeh and Tofu Sambal, a dish I’ve been craving for the past week.

Can you tell I’m not happy?

I love tempeh, particularly when it’s cooked sambal-style (with plenty of onions and a few tablespoons of hot, hot pure red chilli paste). Oh Lordy. It's one of my favorite dishes.

I hardly ever make the dish myself because there’s a lady who makes the best tempeh sambal I’ve ever tasted at a restaurant near my workplace. I simply buy two-ringgit’s worth (that's a lot for she is a generous woman) for my dinner three times a week.

Pure heaven. Honestly, it’s out-of-this-world tasty. I don’t eat it with rice. I eat it on it’s own, from a bowl, in front of the TV.

 

Yes, I have terrible habits. But to my defence, my husband works the night shift leaving me all alone with my dog five nights a week. I don’t go out much and Mojo (he’s the mutt) appreciates me eating my dinner by him in the living room. So you see, it’s circumstances that have made me develop these habits.

Back to the food.

I’ve tried in vain to get the recipe from the lady (I have been remiss in getting her name; I just refer to her as Adik) who sells the delicious tempeh but to no avail. She’s more than willing to share but she says she doesn’t have a recipe. Instead, she’s invited into her kitchen to watch her cook. One day I will but until then, and since I'm on leave and unwilling to drive all the way to the office just for the tempeh, I’ve to be content with my own version which is tasty but not heavenly like the one the nice lady at work makes.

Still, beggars can't be choosers. I must find time to take her up on her offer. I must learn the recipe from her. I must. Till then, here's my version.

Plain tempe/tofu + Fire = Awesome sambal

Tempeh and Taufu Sambal
4 blocks tempeh, halved lengthwise and sliced.
1 block firm tofu, halved lengthwise and crosswise
4 shallots, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2cm piece galangal, roughly chopped
2 dried chillies, blanched and roughly chopped
2 tbsp (heaped) red chilli paste
1/4 cup vegetable stock/water
salt and white pepper

Deep fry the tempeh and the taufu (separately) until firm and golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Pound/blend the shallots, garlic and galangal.
Heat about 2-3 tbsp oil in a wok. Add the blended onions/garlic/galangal and the chilli paste and fry till fragrant. Add the tempeh/taufu and mix to coat with the chilli. Add the stock and the dried chillies and cook over high heat till the water evaporates. Season to taste.

Let's Samba-l

Sambal. I swear  sambal is among the best food creation ever thought up. Being a vegetarian though, I can't eat a lot of the sambal from the roadside stalls or restaurants because they usually contain shrimp or ikan bilis. So, the only thing to do, is make my own. It has taken me a long time to get it right. I still haven't got the perfect concoction but the wonderful thing about experimenting is the things you come up with along the way.

En route to the perfect vegetarian sambal, I've come up with a vegetarian fish sambal that's good as a side dish or condiment.

There's some prep involved, mostly in making the chilli paste so, make extra which you can freeze and use again in the future.

♣ Chilli paste (Extra portion)

25 dried chilli, cut and blanched in hot water for 5 mins

2 medium onions, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves

dash of oil

generous pinch of salt

Blend or pound. What I did: blend the mix roughly and then pound it in mymortar and pestle so it got super fine.

Super spicy Vege Fish sambal

[caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Hot Hot Hot"][/caption]

1/2 a slab of veg fish ham (The "Fish" ham  is a 2.5 in  by 1 ft slab of sea-weed covered soy) See collage atop page.

2 large onions, chopped small

2 - 3 tbsp oil or butter

1/2 to 3/4 cup chilli paste

handful of roughly ground roasted peanuts

1 tbsp kicap

2 tbsp tomato kechup

salt and pepper

Pan fry veg fish (sliced) till golden. Remove and drain. Cool and mash roughly.

Heat oil, fry onions till soft. Add chilli paste fry till fragrant and oil floats above paste. Add veg fish mash and mix well. Add nuts and the rest of the ingredients and cook till it thickens, but don't let it dry up.

Remove from heat and let cool. It's sooo good you can eat it on it own (like Gardenia). Or, you could put it in between two slices of  bread and have a sambal sandwich. Yesterday, I used it to cook my Sambal Scambled Egg.

[caption id="attachment_311" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Scramble egg sambal style"][/caption]