Rose Elliot's Bloody Mary Jelly (vegan)

Apparently it is British Tomato Week.

I am a little surprised as my greenhouse seedling specimens are not even the length of my hands and those that I picked up from a garden nursery have only just begun to flower.  I guess other parts of the country, tomatoes are thriving under poly tunnels.  Not in this part of Wales, where on days I am still wearing layers.

I had originally bookmarked to make Bloody Mary Jelly around the Christmas or New Year festivities, but  then thought, what is wrong with now?!  Oh and before you read any further, I must highlight that this Bloody Mary Jelly is made with a carton of tomato juice picked up for a different recipe, but never did and noted over the weekend that it was reaching its best before date.

PPKs Vegan Lemon Bars

Don't these Lemon Bars look ever so delightful? 

I actually made these for D, who loves all things tangy and citrus.  I wasn't quite convinced that the turmeric yellow jelly topping would quite set to a firm consistency, but the following day when I took it out of the fridge - it was wonderfully firm, yet with a slight wobbliness.  These vegan Lemon Bars were zingy, flavourful and sublime.  The base was almost shortbread like.  I loved it and will certainly be making them again.  For the personal touch, I finished them off by topping them with some homegrown raspberries. 

I am not going to post the recipe here, but for those of you who do not have Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar or Veganomicon then you can find the recipe here on No Meat Athletes blog,  I am sharing these vegan Lemon Bars with Tinned Tomatoes for Bookmarked Recipes. 

Vegan Beetroot and Raspberry Jelly

I made a Carrot Jelly infused with Pomegranate Seeds a little while ago, and then thought why not give it a go with some Beetroot Juice and some homegrown raspberries.  

I've had some Beet It Beetroot Juice in the fridge for the past couple of weeks. It is quite velvety and smooth and really strong in flavour, that you sip it slowly like good wine.  I have been drinking it on and off, in small 'shot' portions.  

As well as drinking it, I have also used for a couple of recipes such as the vegan BBQ Beetroot Seitan 'Steaks'.  But wanted to go one step further and enjoy it for what it was, rather than just use it as an additional ingredient so a grown up version of jelly came to mind, but at the same time bearing in mind the potency of the beetroot hit, I knew it would be madness unless you are a true lover of beetroot to make pure beetroot jelly, so to cut down on the intense deep beetroot richness, I decided to throw in a lot, and I mean a lot of fresh raspberries from the garden and it worked fantastically, as well as beautiful to look at.  

Whilst making it and stirring in the agar agar, I got a tad nervous wondering if it would actually set as the juice was quite velvet thick.  But there was no need to, it worked well, there was that wibbly wobblyness that you expect from a jelly. Taste wise the beetroot juice jelly was now mellower in flavour and very enjoyable, even I liked it and those of you who have been reading my blog will know that I have come to like and appreciate beetroot over the years and shown how versatile a vegetable it can be in both savoury and sweet dishes: from currys to cakes and desserts.  

I will be making this Beetroot Jelly again come October for Halloween, and I may call it Vampire 'Beet Blood and Guts Jelly' or something like that to get the nephews and nieces attention.  Anyway, feel free to top off the Beetroot Raspberry Jelly with a little cream or vegan alternative, but D said he did not think it was necessary and I have to agree. 

I will post the recipe later today. Makes 4 - 6 portions depending on trifle dish sizes. Recipe can easily be halved. 

Beetroot Mousse

I made some Beetroot Mousse a few weeks back.  To amuse myself I poured some of the beetroot mousse into heart shaped ramekins.  

Strawberry Jelly Hearts

I've not had jelly for a long while, I gave it up many many years ago when I learned it was made from bovine or pork gelatin.

Its only in the last year, I have begun to dive into a trifle or a bowl of jelly when I found out it was made from agar agar or carrageenan - a seaweed extract - suitable for both vegetarians and vegans.   This is not to say, I will be indulging in wobbly brightly coloured edible delights loads, no they will only be made for celebratory occasions.

Of course, I had to make some heart shaped jellies (using my silicone heart shaped moulds) for my Valentines evening.  Its the first time I had used them for making jelly and they were fantastic and plopped out of the moulds so easily.   

These little edible strawberry flavoured hearts were adored with fresh berries and cream.

Irn Bru Jelly Suitable for Vegetarians

If you are Scottish, forgive me for preaching to the already knowing - but this part of the post is written for my non-Scots readers or those who may not have come across Irn Bru before.  Irn Bru pronounced Iron Brew is Scotland's unofficial national drink, a fizzy bright orange non-alcoholic  beverage.

Such is its popularity in Scotland that not a day went by when I saw a young Scot guzzling it down his throat at the bus stop, as if it were milk.  When I lived in Glasgow, I would often witness a young man in a tracksuit on his way to work strutting a large bottle of Irn Bru under his armpits.  Or in the evening on my way back home, ned and nedettes eating curry'n'chips and swigging from a can of Irn Bru.   Oh such sights I do not miss.  I had enjoyed watching the humorous Irn Bru ads though, many of which can be found on youtube.  

I was also always amused when our American friends come over, they always take back a can of Irn Bru - I am surprised its gets past customs and then surprised it didn't burst on the journey.

Before I go on to share more about the Irn Bru Jelly, I must make a point about soft non-alcoholic drinks.  You know the way some alcoholic beverages are not suitable for vegetarians and vegans, well this can also be the case for soft drinks.  A number of soft drinks for example may use food dyes such as cochineal, which gives drinks a orange glow in the dark colouring. I know it sounds a bit silly, but I would never had thought that sweets contained animal products such as gelatine in wine gums animal rennet in  crisps - remember Walkers cheese and onion; and don't get me started with Mars Bars, so nowadays I do my utmost to always check the labels. There is still some uncertainty as to whether Irn Bru is suitable for vegans, but I have been assured that it is suitable indeed.

Okay, having acquired my rather large bottle of Irn Bru for Burns Night - my Scottish theme night, I had great plans of creating lots of Irn Bru recipes, such as the Irn Bru ice-cream I had in Inveraray, Irn Bru Sorbet that I had in a Glasgow chip shop, Irn Bru Tablet somewhere in Ayrshire which I thoroughly enjoyed and Irn Bru Cake. However, the only one I managed to create was Irn Bru jelly.  Well I was real chuffed with myself, it truly did taste like Irn Bru, the only bit missing was the bubbles, fizz and burps! 

Maybe for my next Scottish evening I will try Buckfast!

I had two Irn Bru glass dishes left from my evening, on hearing this, one of my nephews took one for himself, the other he took home for the family to taste.  When I went over I asked them how they found it, my youngest brother was surprised at the idea of Irn Bru Jelly and excited to try it, then he learned that he missed out, so he was a bit mift with my nephew for not sharing a taste with him, so I may just have to make some more again - for a big kids party, his Birthday is in February!
Recipe will be posted later this week