Veganuary the Exeter way

If you're taking part in Veganuary this year, you'll be pleased to know there are plenty of ways in which you can try out the vegan lifestyle from the comfort and safety of your own home. We've put together a selection of takeaways, deliveries, recipes, products and more from our fantastic Exeter businesses to get you started...

Wagamamas at Princesshay

If you'e craving the fresh, authentic taste of Japanese food you're in luck - Wagamamas are offering click & collect and delivery services! This month, the popular restaurant launched their brand new vegan menu including vegan sticky 'ribs', crispy 'squid', curries, juices and even desserts! Click here for more information on their tasty, plant-based options.

Exeter Golf and Country Club 

New for 2021 is Exeter Golf and Country Club's restaurant takeaways every Wednesdays & Fridays! Within their menu you'll find a selection of vegan options for you to enjoy at home. As an example, w/c 11th January you'll find vegan dishes including French onion soup, wild mushroom, spinach & truffle bake, Jerusalem artichoke soup plus a falafel & coriander burger! Don't forget to order before 5pm the day before, check out their website and Facebook page for menu updates each week.

Franco Manca

Don't worry - you're still able to enjoy pizza even though you're taking part in Veganuary! Order Franco Manca's (Queen St Dining) Vegan Special Pizza for £6 through their order & collect service throughout January - expect kalamata black olives, mixed wild mushrooms, fresh baby kale, 3 chilli mix, a butternut squash base and a drizzle of Franco's chilli oil! 

Pieminister

Pie lovers will be thrilled that they can order a selection of vegan pies from Pieminster, including their Kevin pie (mushroom, tomato and red wine with baby onions and thyme), Mock-A-Doodle (tofu 'chicken' pie with leek, smoked garlic and white wine) and their Holy Chipotle and Chana-Rama patties - you can order these winter-warming dishes on UberEats or Deliveroo. Pieminister have launched their 'Planet Pay Back' scheme - this January customers will have the option to add 10p to raise awareness of the negative impacts that some ingredients have on the environment, all money will go towards planting a forest with Forestry England!  

Emma's Bread at the Boatyard Bakery and Café

Bread is still being baked at the Boatyard Bakery and Café! If you're trying out the vegan lifestyle there isn't any need to cut out sourdough bread, as the batches made at this bakery is and always will be 100% vegan! In fact, the only 3 ingredients used are flour, salt and water! These delicious goods are available to take away but don't forget, if you live within a 2-mile radius you can have fantastic baked treats delivered to your door with Co-Delivery - click here to find out more.

The Daisy Café 

Located in Heavitree, local favourite The Daisy Café is serving fresh, scrumptious vegan meals to take away including:

• Vegan sausage sandwich
• Soya and oat mlk for coffee
• Mushroom miso and garlic vegan burger with chips, salad and vegan coleslaw 
• Hot jacket potatoes with baked beans, vegan cheese or both accompanied by vegan coleslaw, and a fresh salad

Haldon Forest Park

If you're visiting Haldon Forest Park this month for a walk or cycle, don't forget to stop by the Ridge Café for a well-deserved vegan treat! This month, the specials on the menu are:

• Singapore noodles
• Halloumi, roasted red pepper and hummus burger and chips
• BBQ jackfruit wedges/nachos/wraps with accompanying vegan dips
• Homemade soup of the day 
• Apricot and dark chocolate flapjack
• Plain flapjack
• Range of plant based hot drinks

The forest is open to you for local outdoor exercise once per day. Please follow the government’s rules on exercising and meeting other people when planning your visit!

The Flat

The Flat is popular for their fresh, hand-stretched pizzas! All of their delicious pizzas can be made vegan, the restaurant has also created dishes especially for Veganuary:

• A vegan 'meat' feast calzone pizza with vegan sausage, giant pepperoni, pulled seitan bathed sundried tomato and harissa sauce with spicy vegan cheese, vegan mozzarella, capers, basil, parmesan and a lot of orgegano.
• Homeade vegan trio cannoli - lemon & pistacchio, espresso & caramelised almonds & chocolate and hazelnut 

The Flat is open for collection Tuesday - Saturday from 5pm - 9pm and are taking orders via the phone from 4pm, you can even order in advance for the next day! Keep your eyes peeled as the restaurant is hoping to be doing deliveries from the w/c 18th January.

Delicious vegan recipes to try at home

Fruity smoothie bowls from Ladram Bay

Ingredients:

• Banana – 1 sliced 
• Strawberries – 15 sliced
• Blueberries – two handfuls
• Coconut flakes
• Chia seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Granola – 2 tablespoons (add raisins for sweetness)
• Mango – 1/2 sliced 
• Dragonfruit – 1 innards scraped out
• Apple – 1 peeled and chopped
• Coconut milk – 1 tin
• Maple Syrup/ Bee Free Honee (Apple based Vegan alternative to Honey) – 2 tablespoons
• Mint – 1 sprig 

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Method: 

For the smoothie base, take the apple, coconut milk, dragonfruit, half of the strawberries, half of the banana and 1 tablespoon of honey and blend to a smooth liquid. Put in the freezer for one hour. Once moderately frozen, pour into a small bowl. Assemble your berries, banana and mango in an aesthetic like manner on top of this, then add granola followed by seeds and coconut flakes. Finish with the final table spoon of Maple Syrup/Bee Free Honee and a sprig of mint – DELICIOUS!

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Sri Lankan Curry from Ladram Bay

Paste Ingredients:

• Ginger – thumb sized piece
• Garlic – 3 cloves
• White onion – 1 medium peeled
• Red chilli – 1 no seeds
• Fennel – half bulb 
• Coriander stalks – 1 bunch (save leaf for garnish)
• Curry powder – 2 tablespoons
• Garam Masala powder – 1 tablespoon
• Turmeric – 1 teaspoon
• Lime – 1 juice and grated zest
• White sugar – 1 tablespoon 
• Few splashes of water 
• Salt and pepper

Other Ingredients: 

• 2 tins of coconut milk
• 3/4 pint of veg stock
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Black mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon (optional)
• Selection of Stir fry vegetables. Matt suggests mange tout, spring onion, baby corn, peppers, courgette & cooked sweet potato

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Method: 

Blend all paste components and put to one side. Heat either coconut oil or sesame oil in pan with cumin and mustard seeds. When seeds begin to pop add paste and fry on a medium heat for 3 mins, making sure not to brown anything. After, add the coconut milk and veg stock. Reduce by a third or until desired thickness is reached. Add stir fry veg and cook for 2 minutes making sure it’s still crunchy. Serve and finish with coriander leaves. ENJOY!

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Fresh bagels from Townhouse Exeter

Ever fancied making your own bagels at home? Now you can with Townhouse Exeter's very own vegan recipe! Ken Skinner studied cooking at the Ashburton Chefs Academy on the edge of Dartmoor National Park and is the chef and co-owner of Townhouse Exeter.

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Ingredients (makes 7 bagels):

• 500g Strong white bread flour
• 325g Cold water
• 1tsp Dried active yeast
• 1tbsp Soft brown sugar
• 1tsp Sea salt

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Step 1 - Make the Dough 

Measure all the ingredients directly into the bowl of your stand mixer. Fit the dough hook, set the machine on low then walk away. Go have a coffee. It’s not really possible to over-knead bagel dough, so as long as you leave it alone for more than 10 minutes, you’re good to go. At 65% hydration (hydration equals the mass of water divided by the mass of flour), bagel dough is fairly stiff. If you choose to knead it by hand you’re in for a decent workout.

The two main things that are happening in the dough-preparation step are the even dispersion of ingredients and the hydration of the gluten molecules, which makes them elastic and extensible. Try playing with a pinch of dough both before and after kneading. Before the gluten is hydrated, the dough will tear easily. At the end of kneading, you should be able to stretch out a thin film of dough without it breaking (known as the window-pane test).  

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Step 2 - Bulk Fermentation

Many recipes will tell you to bulk ferment the dough at room temperature until doubled in size. That involves a lot of waiting around and, frankly, yields a less tasty bread. Instead, I place the bowl with the dough in it into a clean bin bag, seal it and chuck it into the fridge for at least 24 hours. It’s important to keep air trapped during fermentation to preventing the dough from drying out.

The yeast in the dough gets very excited when it notices the sugar and starts to feed. It then settles in for a feast of the starch in the flour. During this fermentation process, large molecules are broken down, creating by-products which include carbon dioxide and organic acids. The carbon dioxide gets trapped as bubbles in the matrix of gluten strands and the acids are what give the bread flavour. The longer you leave the dough before baking, up to a point, the nicer the dough will taste. Don’t be in a rush - use your nose to decide when you want to bake or simply bake when it’s convenient. Any length of cold fermentation from 24 to 72 hours should yield a decent bread.

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Step 3 - Divide & Shape

Transfer the dough to a clean kitchen counter. It will have risen and appear stringy as you pull it away from the bowl. Using a scraper or a sharp edge, cut the dough into 120g portions. Lightly dust both of your hands with flour, pick up a piece of dough and stretch and fold it over onto itself. Repeat the folding process several times, turning the dough as you do. Eventually you’ll achieve a seamless, tight ball. Generously flour the ball, set it aside and repeat for the next piece.

Once all the balls are shaped, it’s time to turn the balls into rings. Working in the order you made them, poke a hole in each dough ball then rotate and squeeze the dough. Gradually ease one then two fingers of each hand into the hole, expanding the ball into a ring. At some point the dough will stop fighting you and suddenly relax, offering no resistance to stretching. As soon as this happens, place the shaped bagel on a lined baking sheet and move on to the next ball.

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Step 4 - Proof & Boil

The dough may have been cold when it came out of the fridge, but the process of working it into balls then shaping the rings will have warmed it up. The yeast will be generating bubbles in the dough at a pace and the bagel rings should proof quickly while you’re preparing to cook them. If you’re not ready to bake, simply put the tray of bagels back in the bin bag and back into the fridge. Cooling the dough slows down the yeast, buying you time.

With your oven preheating to 180 degrees C, bring a deep pan of water to the boil. Add a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda to the water and stir. This helps with the chemical reaction which produces a nice even brown colour. I also add a couple of tablespoons of malt extract to the pan, which has the same effect but also makes the bagels a bit sticky for any toppings you wish to add. If you don’t have malt extract in your pantry, substitute sugar or syrup.

With the water at a rolling boil, gently lift and slide the first bagel into the pan. If should rises to the surface and float. Leave it for 30s then flip and boil the reverse side for another 30s. Remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and place it back on the baking sheet. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, repeat for the remaining rings. While the bagels are still wet from their bath, sprinkle with toppings of your choice. For our guests, I usually stick to sesame seeds, but pumpkin and poppy seeds also work well, as does dehydrated onion.  If the first bagel sank without a trace, wait 10 minutes for the remaining bagels to proof a bit longer then try again.

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Step 5 - The Finishing Touches

The final step is to bake the bagels for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven. They’ll be done when they reach a golden brown. Whilst you can store fresh bagels in an airtight container for 3-4 days, a better option is to stick them in the freezer as soon as they’re cooled. Frozen bagels are quick to defrost and just as good as fresh.

PitTastic Deodorant sold at Powderham Castle

If you're looking to change to some vegan self-care products, check out the PitTastic deodorant! This natural, solid deodorant bar has zero parabens, zero aluminium, zero smells, zero waste and zero plastic - vegan and planet friendly! Order your own bar at Powderham Castle's Farm Shop!