Mashed pumpkin & kale harissa polenta patties

December 29-30, 2012

Cindy decided that the Christmas-New Year break this year was a good time for a casual potluck, so she booked in a veg*n bloggers picnic for December 30 in the park near our house. The weather worked out beautifully for us and a solid crowd of peeps turned up with ludicrous amounts of excellent vegan food (I can particularly recommend Danni's pies, of which I ate many).

We had a veggie box pumpkin to use up, and Cindy had bookmarked this recipe that ticked all our dietary requirements (vegan & GF) while using at least some of our pumpkin stockpile. I was a bit apprehensive about taking it on - it looked fiddly and complicated, and I was doubling the recipe and then giving it a few tricky tweaks (onions subbed in for spring onions, a cobbled together 'harissa').  I had visions of a massive failure followed by a trip to the supermarket to buy corn chips or something. 

And I have to confess that about halfway through the process, that outcome still seemed pretty likely - my polenta dough wasn't really very pliable, the idea of 'folding' the polenta up over the filling was frankly ludicrous and I was having a rare attack of the crankies in the kitchen. Luckily, as it often does, shallow-frying saved the day. No matter what kind of mess I'd made of these patties in the pre-frying stage, 15 minutes sizzling in some hot oil turned them into delectable discs of goodness. They had a nice crispy shell, coating a softer polenta interior and little bundles of pumpkin and onion goodness. 

They're a fair bit of work, and I definitely wouldn't recommend them unless you're cooking to impress. But if you are, then these are worth a shot - the spicy polenta is a particularly inspired touch, but the whole package is pretty classy. It would be immodest of me to repeat some of the compliments they received at the picnic, but suffice to say that our container came home empty.

Mashed pumpkin & kale harissa polenta patties

(based on this recipe from The Messy Vegetarian Cook)

polenta crust

600ml water (plus as much extra water as you need to make your dough pliable - I reckon I used about another 200ml)

400ml soy milk

4 tablespoons of harissa paste (or, if you've none in the house you can make my inauthentic version: 3 tablespoons of sambal olek, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon of olive oil, stirred together)

3 tablespoons 'chicken' stock

2 cups polenta

filling

2 teaspoons canola oil

2 packed cups shredded kale

3 garlic cloves, minced

Juice of a small lemon

230g mashed pumpkin (we had pre-roasted ours, for Cindy's scones)

1 brown onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

extra polenta for dusting, and heaps of oil for shallow-frying

Create your own weird version of harissa paste if you need to.

Combine the 'harissa', soy milk, first batch of water and stock powder in a saucepan and bring it up to a gentle boil. Whisk in the polenta, adding it gradually and ensuring it doesn't get lumpy. Turn the heat down and cook, stirring regularly, for about 7 minutes.

Take the polenta off the heat and leave it to cool until it's at a temperature that you can handle.

In the meantime, work on the filling. Heat the canola oil in a frying pan and then throw the kale in, stir-frying for a few minutes until it wilts. Throw in the onion, garlic and pumpkin, dropping the heat to low. Keep cooking, stirring constantly for a few minutes, until the onion softens a bit and then mash everything together so that the pumpkin is binding the rest. 

Stir in the lemon juice and thyme and then take it off the heat.

Once your polenta has cooled, knead it a bit and see how doughy it seems - mine was way too dry at this point, so I stirred through almost another whole cup of water, which made it a bit more malleable. I still wouldn't really call it dough - it stayed a bit crumbly for that - but it was a much more manageable texture.

Grab roughly tennis-ball sized chunks of the polenta and roll into spheres. Pop them on a liberally polenta-dusted surface and smoosh them flat, until they're about 2cm thick discs. Drop about a tablespoon of the filling into the middle and then roughly fold the edges up around it - don't worry too much if the edges don't really 'fold', just make sure that you've covered the filling with polenta on all sides.

Heat a couple of centimetres of oil in a large frying pan and, when it's hot, start shallow-frying. We'd left our patties in the fridge overnight, which probably made them a bit less prone to falling apart, but I don't think it's necessary. Give them a bit of a squish to flatten them as much as you can and then fry for about 8 minutes on each side. You want a nice crispy exterior.

Set them on some paper towel to soak up the excess oil and then serve, halved if you're taking them to a potluck.

Commercial Club Hotel

December 29, 2012

We've had Cindy's brother staying with us over the Christmas break and he's been pretty keen to see how Melbourne's pub meals compare with those back in the country town he calls home. We took him to the most old-school pub we could think of in our neighbourhood - the Commercial Club Hotel on Nicholson Street. I'd had a pleasant (and unblogged) meal there a few months back and thought it would fit the bill.

It's a pretty charming pub: a big front bar, a dining room with a few odd nooks and crannies and a lovely-looking courtyard out the back. Melbourne's summer was not at its most ferocious, so we settled indoors and sized up our options. The menu is pretty simple: a handful of pizzas, a veggie burger, a dhal and a pot pie (along with traditional meatier options).

I've become pretty predictable at pubs, always willing to give a veg burger a try (if only to make sure I get a side of chips). At $13, this was a pretty good value version. The mixed veggie patty (bound with egg maybe?) was surprisingly fresh and tasty - a far cry from the defrosted veggie burgers that sometimes places use for the meat-free burger option. It was drenched in mayo, and served with a fairly standard salad (greens, beetroot, tomato, cheese) - cheap, satisfying and incredibly messy to eat.

Cindy ordered the lentil and mushroom pot pie, with cheesy mash ($15), only to find out that they were out of its ingredients. Instead, they whipped up a similar dish, but with chickpeas and pumpkin as the main filling ingredients.

Cindy was a bit disappointed that the pot pie was entirely pastry free, and the mash topping wasn't quite as cheesy as I expected, but the filling was nicely spiced and hearty - a good filling meal for a cool summer's night. 

In terms of food alone, The Commercial Club Hotel is probably outmatched by a bunch of other inner-north pubs but it does a nice line in affordable, unpretentious pub-food, served in an uncrowded, friendly venue. It's nice to have it as a lazy local option.

 

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The Commercial Club is surprisingly under-reviewed, with just one positive review from juganaut's foodie thoughts.

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Commercial Club Hotel
344 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy
9419 1522
Pizzas $10, other veggie mains $13-$15
http://www.commercialclubhotel.com.au/

Accessibility: The Commercial Club has a small step on entry and is flat and pretty spacious inside. Ordering and payment happens at a high bar. We didn't visit the toilets.

Mister Nice Guy's Bakeshop

December 27, 2012

While Reverence had some attractive little cakes on display, we really had to walk a couple shops down and visit Mister Nice Guy's newest outlet. Here they've expanded on their well-known cupcakes with brownies, buns, pies and cakes. It's still all vegan with an impressive proportion of gluten-free items, all well-labelled.

Also impressive is the Day-of-the-Dead styled 3D artwork - fish around the magazines for a pair of glasses to really appreciate it!

Michael tried out one of Mister Nice Guy's almost famous cinnamon buns ($4.50), while I spared room only for a mini cherry b-bomb ($2). The cheesecake slices are large and fluffy and the gluten-free goods are impressive - I particularly liked the toasty roasted walnut brownie ($4) that Michael and I took home and split later in the day.

With Crumbs located across the street (albeit shut on this day) there's no doubt about it - Union Road, Ascot Vale is Melbourne's new vegan dessert hotspot.

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We previously visited and blogged Mister Nice Guy's cupcakes when they were in Brunswick. The Ascot Vale bakeshop's getting very positive blog coverage from new international students, Live Blissful, and the veganopoulous family, who've been one, two, three times and are set for plenty more!

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Mister Nice Guy's Bakeshop
151 Union Road, Ascot Vale
0424 422 878
desserts $2-9
http://www.misterniceguy.com.au/

Accessibility: From memory, Mr Nice Guy has a flat entry. There's plenty of space inside and the display cases are clearly visible and well labelled. Ordering and payment happens at the counter. We didn't visit any toilets.

Reverence Specialty Coffee & Tea

December 27, 2012

After checking out the Reverence Hotel on Wednesday night, we returned to the west the following morning for breakfast at Reverence Specialty Coffee & Tea (no relation). As you might guess, they take their brewed beverages quite seriously with espressos and pour-overs, single origins, guest roasters and three tiers of tea prepared in temperature-controlled conditions.

There's also a breakfast and lunch menu. The condensed summer version starts with design-your-own eggs and sides, then there's a couple of fancied-up avocado on toast dishes and on the sweeter side, muesli, banana bread and French toast. The menu promises that the kitchen "will endeavour to accommodate your dietary requirements" but they reserve their right to "politely refuse menu changes". There's surcharged gluten-free bread and one guaranteed vegan option on inquiry - on this day it was the corn cakes (which contained gluten).

Michael's poached eggs ($9) came with an inch-thick unwieldy piece of toast, mushrooms (+$3) and beans (+$4). While these were OK, the presentation and vibrancy of flavour didn't match what he's come to expect from Melbourne brunch scene.

I fared better with the brioche French toast ($15). It was thick and eggy - almost custardy - teamed with slightly-too-firm nectarine slices, a scoop of ricotta and a glug of caramel sauce.

Our meals were pleasant if not memorable but we score the cafe higher on atmosphere. It's simple and spacious and to our eye, accessible. The staff were cheery and helpful and patient; we didn't feel hurried along at any stage. That's surely the best way to meditate over one of their specialty brews.

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The first blog account of Reverence, on A Spotted Blog, is mixed but they seem to have shaken any early issues and have earned praise since from Let's Get Fat Together, I'm So Hungree, foodsmiths.com.au, MRWP, Footscray Food Blog, off the spork, Melbourne Cafes Photo Blog, Enlightened Bacon, new international students, All About Food and Brunch Addict.

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Reverence Specialty Coffee & Tea
155 Union Road, Ascot Vale
9375 2170
veg breakfasts $6-16
facebook page

Accessibility: This cafe has a flat entry and spacious interior. We ordered at our table and paid at a low-ish counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

The Reverence Hotel

Edit 07/03/2020: The Reverenece Hotel is now closed.

December 26, 2012

We'd been hearing a few rumours about the vegan-friendly Mexican-inspired menu that had popped up at The Reverence Hotel in Footscray, so when The Moody Noodles invited us over to the west to check it out we trekked on over. The Reverence is the new(ish) home of the peeps who used to run The Arthouse in North Melbourne, and along with live music and decent beer, they've got a veg-friendly menu going. And they've clearly struck a chord - they were doing a roaring trade on Boxing Day, with a mix of hipsters, veg*ns and a handful of more old-school Footscray peeps filling every available space.

Thursday through Sunday they offer pizzas, empanadas and a few other nibblies, with plenty of vegan and gluten-free action (including an intriguing-sounding 'ham' and 'cheese' option). They also have a cheap taco night to coincide with their Tuesday trivia. For obvious reasons, they postponed the scheduled Tuesday trivia to Wednesday, meaning we could dive into some cheap Boxing Day tacos We didn't stick around for trivia, at least partly because it was crammed with people, leaving us out the back in the courtyard.

The tacos come in two veg and two meaty varieties. We gave the veggie options (both vegan and gluten free) a good going over, with seven tacos ($3 each) proving enough to satisfy the two of us. I was most enthused by the tofu tacos - pan fried tofu, with smoky paprika, crunchy coleslaw and coriander, served with chipotle lime mayo. They were generous with the paprika, which gave the mashed up tofu a lovely smoky flavour, which went brilliantly with the acidic coleslaw and creamy mayo. As with all tacos, they were improved even further with a generous shake of hot sauce.

Cindy was more enamoured by the bean tacos: black and pinto bean mush, with spinach, corn, avo and pumpkin salad, served with the same chipotle lime mayo. While I preferred the tofu, these were still pretty good - a nice hefty bean filling and some fresh salad - I just had the feeling that we could probably churn these out at home. 

The staff were efficient and friendly, even while slammed with the taco desires of seemingly every hipster in Footscray. Throw in $3 Tecates for the evening, and The Reverence cheap taco night seems like a pretty great reason to cross the Maribyrnong.

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The Moody Noodles have already got their review of our visit up, while The Good Hearted beat us both to the punch.

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The Reverence Hotel

28 Napier Street, Footscray 

9687 2111

veggie pizzas $9 - $11, tacos $3 

http://www.reverencehotel.com 

Accessibility: There's a small step at the (narrowish) front door, but the side door is flat and wide. Inside things are fairly spread out, with at most small steps between the bar, side-room and courtyard. We ordered and paid at the bar, and didn't visit the toilets.