BACK FROM THE DEAD TO BRING YOU GRIM NEWS

AUSTRALIAN/NZ VEGANS: BonSoy has been RECALLED
from australian food news: http://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2009/12/24/food-recall-bonsoy-soy-milk-with-very-high-levels-of-iodine.html

Food Standards Australia New Zealand has advised people not to consume Bonsoy soy milk. Coffee shops, retail and other outlets should also not use this product.

This follows a cluster of nine adults aged from 29 to 47, and one child, who have recently presented in NSW with thyroid problems. These individuals all reported consuming Bonsoy soy milk. Subsequent testing of samples of Bonsoy soy milk revealed unusually high levels of iodine. This brand of soy milk is enriched with “Kombu”, which is a seaweed product.

A consumer-level recall for the Bonsoy soy milk is being voluntarily instigated by the importer today.

The levels of iodine in the Bonsoy soy milk were at a level that is likely to exceed tolerable daily intakes for iodine when as little as 30ml (one eighth of a cup) is consumed per day by an adult.

Iodine is needed for the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones. A healthy daily iodine intake is about 80-150 micrograms with a recommended safe upper limit of 1,100 micrograms per day for adults, and from 200 micrograms for 1-3 year olds to 900micrograms for 14 year-olds.

Daily consumption of a cup of Bonsoy soy milk could lead to a daily iodine intake of more than 7,500 micrograms at the levels tested. Chronic consumption of high levels of iodine may affect the thyroid and cause people to feel generally unwell. Anybody consuming Bonsoy soy milk product over a prolonged time who feels generally unwell should consult their doctor.

The body excretes iodine, so when a source of high iodine ceases, levels in the body will decrease over time.

The only soy milk product identified through testing to have high levels of iodine to date is Bonsoy soy milk.

I am still working on a new food/life/thing blog and have otherwise taken up residence at faketrain.tumblr.com for pictures and snippets, if you need to follow me somehow. New blog will start up next year sometime, probably after we move (again!).

end.

of this blog. i'm going to start something different in the blogosphere. not as food focussed, but still with food. i won't delete this blog, to keep recipes and blah blah blah up for reference points. i hadn't written in here for a while and i just figured i'd say something before jumping ship. as a gypsy, moving spaces isn't uncommon for me. i'm still creating in the kitchen, but i'm also doing and thinking about other things. i'll make another post when i've sorted out a new blog and i know what's going into it.


x L

AWW Polenta Bake.

I've been meaning to start veganising recipes from the Australian Women's Weekly for a while. Some of their recipes are incidentally vegan or easily veganised by the replacement of dairy milks/butters for other less abusive products and some of their recipes depend on meat or eggs as integral players. So be it a little lazy on my part for choosing this recipe, its just so good looking and I hadn't used polenta for quite some time. The major adjustment made was with cheeses and milk as well as completely halving the recipe as I didn't have a whole litre of milk to spare, and my "lamington" tray is small.

The Australian Women's Weekly presents: Baked polenta with tomato and bocconcini (a la vegan).

INGREDIENTS (with my adjustments and substitutions)
2 cups vegetable stock (I use Massel, and had run out of their really good Chicken stock but would use that if I had it)
2 cups soy milk
pinch of sea salt
1 cup polenta
⅓ cup grated cheezly mozzarella
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
⅓ cup Napoli pasta sauce (we have this around the house sometimes, its a generic mix of tomatoes, tomato paste, and miscellaneous herbs and spices. you could use whatever you see fit, a white sauce or pesto would be nice, or a fresh passata with herbs. as you like!)
6 thin slices of cheezly mozzarella
6 seeded black olives, halved
pinch chopped fresh oregano, optional
flat-leaf parsley leaves, for serving, optional

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan forced). Grease a 20cm x 30cm
lamington pan.

Combine stock, milk and salt in a large saucepan; bring to the boil. Gradually sprinkle the polenta over the stock mixture, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure the polenta has no lumps.
Reduce the heat to low and partially cover the saucepan. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes or until polenta is very thick and a spoon can stand upright in the centre. Remove from heat, stir in the grated cheeze and nutritional yeast.

Spread polenta into prepared pan. Stand for about 5 minutes. Spread tomato sauce over polenta, top with mozzarella slices and place an olive half in the centre of each mozzarella slice. Sprinkle with oregano.
Bake, uncovered, for about 45 minutes or until cheeze is melted.

Let sit for about 5 minutes or until the polenta is firm to touch and easily cut. Cut polenta into squares; sprinkle with parsley, if desired.

Delicious, warming and I have no idea why some people hate polenta. Its such wholesome niceness.

Stupid Cake.

I don't even know why I'm blogging about this cake. Its two layers of Chocolate cake, with sweetened rice crispies (I used agave for some sort of adhiesive in case your wondering) smothered with a peanutbutter icing i whipped up and a dark chocolate ganache. I think it was about 1am when I put this cake together. There was no occasion for it except for that Alex likes chocolate and works late hours. I have been able to finish maybe half a slice of this thing. the icing is delicious, the cake is delicious. apparently this is the most "cakey" cake I've ever made (opposed to the eurotrash cakes I normally pump out) so that's a good thing I guess. But it's really just stupid and I wish I had some visitors to offload it to. I think the theory behind this cake is "I'll make a cake thats like those peanut butter balls I made. yeah. chocolate, peanut butter, rice crispies, where's the glitch?".

Sigh.

The Sun's Out?

Today it got to 14 degrees celcius in the mountains. That's warm (for the mountains, at this time of year)*. Tshirt warm. And provided good lighting for a picture of our kitchen. Also, had me in the centrelink office to reap the rewards of unemployment and to hide from possible sunburn. Alex played in the garden, which is coming along nicely.

I made this kim chi pancake for dinner using tofu, buckwheat, black salt, and some dumpstered chinese cabbage. topped with steamed pak choy, baked beancurd skin chicken and some kingland soy mayonaise.




*Unfortunately, Al reminds me that this probably means that we won't see snow during our time up here and that's very sad, because we thought and hoped that we might. I have my eyes set on Europe for the end of this year so there might be a chance for my first glimpse of snow then.

Unhulled Marzipan

lurking behing the marzipan ball is a peanut butter cannonball made using Lindyloo's Copyright Violation.

Unhulled sounds kinda dirty. And if you're used to the white fluffy stuff, you'd probably think my marzipan was maybe, kinda dirty. But. I made it. With my fists. and Straight-up unbleached unhulled Almondmeal. And you can too.

Using 'Chef Jeenas' guildlines I give you dirty roo-poo looking marzipan to use as cake filling, cake topping, or to straight up cover in chocolate and enjoy.

2cups almondmeal
1/3 cup castor sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon cold water
1 teaspoon almond essence (which you can omit if you like)

Mix almondmeal and sugar, and add the liquid ingredients into the dry using the much-sought-after well method.
Mix thoroughly, if you've not used almond essence maybe put in a bit of extra lemon juice to keep the ratio right. Be careful not to get it too wet. Kneed until its all combined to your taste and it should feel kidn of like a shortcrust pastry dough. Wrap in plastic and set in the fridge for at least an hour until you feel sufficiently pleased with yourself and almost put your smug face on.

Not quite as fluffy as marzipan made with eggwhites, or as white as the overprocessed kind, but delicious and cheaper than running up to the store every time you want a hit of this almond crack.




EDIT: focussed shot of the peanutbutter cannonball, which has now been renamed a Miracle Pill, a la Miracle Max from the Princess Bride. The chocolate helps it go down easier, y'know.

have fun storming the castle, boys!