Fake Meat: Real Food for Vegan Appetites

Okay let's get the small print/bad news out of the way. I'm a big Isa fan and have all of her cookbooks. With the exception of one, which I won't name here, I've loved all of them, so this book had brownie points before it even arrived. Take my review with a grain of salt if you must.Second --- There are definitely some fancy ingredients in here that you're unlikely to have on your shelves, because I don't, and I pride myself on keeping a pretty well-stocked kitchen. Things like a home smoker, Carrageenan (seriously?) two varieties of truffle oil and beet powder aren't in it though. (What can I say, I live in an apartment, and WAY outside the US, we can't have it all)Phew --- that out of the way, I wanted to wait until I tried a few recipes to write an honest review, so here:The Beefy Seitan -- Easy to make and does the job, although I don't find it especially beefy or unlike prior boiled seitans I've made...Pull Apart Seitan Chick'n --- Cheesecloth is a pain in the a*** and I can't say I particularly enjoyed the process of wrapping these up to steam, but the end result was damn good and different in texture to any seitan I've made before, so I'll probably put myself through the torture again. I'm just a glutten that way.Big Hugs CHick'n and Rice Soup --- The reason I made the above, and I'll do it again. This is hands down probably now my favorite comfort food EVER. I had a friend over and we may have gone through about 3 servings each in one evening.Rogan Josh --- Literally pulled this off the stove right now. I had all the ingredients on hands (I'd already made beefy seitan for something) and my kitchen smells like an Indian restaurant. The good kind --- where the cook is ACTUALLY Indian and making everything to order. I'm not a big red lentils fan but this may be changing my mind.Bangers and Mash -- I ate this every night for a full week. Buttered peas don't really require a recipe, let's be honest, but the cashew in the potatoes is killer, I'll be doing that from now on. I had to let the bangers steam about 15 minutes more then written so they weren't mushy, but that may be user error -- I probably wasn't supposed to make them so fat. They ARE in FACT, Bangin'. Miso in onions is also a huge winner.Fresh Mozz --- I've attempted a lot of vegan cheeses, and as a rule, they don't behave how the recipes say they will. No solidifying when they'll supposedly turn rock hard, and no melting when the author PROMISES it will. This though. This is DAMN good. I appreciated that it came together in one day --- no preparing things overnight or a couple days before. The balls ACTUALLY remained balls. The brine is KEY. I tasted one before brining and it had zero flavor, after brining---PERFECT. My pizza will never be the same. I will be making this again and again.In summary---- If you've got some vegan cooking experience under your belt, love creating new things, and have a reasonably stocked kitchen, you will LOVE this book. There are so many cool looking things I'm looking forward to trying.If you hate Vegan meats like another ---ahem ----reviewer, don't buy the book. It literally tells you what it is in the title, and you get what you pay for (something I've always thought was a positive)

I already made the Everyday Pull-Apart Chick’n Seitan from the pre-released recipe and it's fantastic! I usually hate homemade seitan because it tastes like vital wheat gluten - nothing seems to overpower that taste without taking away from the texture. But of course, Queen Isa cracked the code!I moved from Chicago to a tiny town that doesn't even have tofu so I *needed* this book. I pre-ordered this months in advance and stocked up on the ingredients needed. I've been eating the Everyday Pull-Apart Chick’n Seitan for weeks waiting for this to come out. I just pulled the Roast Turki from the oven and barely managed to let it cool before sampling it. It's turkey! I can't wait to have a turkey sandwich for the first time in a looooong time!Thank you Isa for making vegan eating accessible and so good! I'm planning on prepping a new kind of 'meat' at the start of each week and using it throughout the week.If you're on the fence, I highly recommend buying this. The ingredients aren't weird for a novice vegan cook and even if you've never heard of some of them, they're all available on Amazon. Isa goes into great detail to explain each step so you feel confident even on your first attempt. The recipes I've tried have been straight forward and produced delicious 'meat'. Thank you, Isa!ETA: Have now also made Pepperoni Mac & Cheeze: Was doubtful about the coconut milk but I just finished my first bowl and it's SO GOOD. Real ingredients, high protein comfort food. Love!Also made Hot Dogs With Hot Dog Onions. OMG - worth the cost of the book alone! Those onions are to die for and I know what I'll be having any time we have a cookout. Made a huge batch and froze them to ensure I am ready to grill at a moment's notice.

This is the cookbook I've been searching for! Food that I grew up with, made vegan and delicious. Real, regular recipes that you want to eat every day

I own a lot of cookbooks. This is in my top 5, easily. Peanut Lime Tempeh Wings, Rogan Josh curry, Roast Turki sandwiches, Sheet Pan Tandoori Chick'n, and more can be found in this book. The directions are easy to follow, as they always are in Isa's books. I make the Rogan Josh at least once a month for work lunches because the flavors stay so good in the fridge over time. The Chick'n Cacciatore is fancy and full of vegetables and easier than you might think. The Sausage Oatmeal Pancakes are a staple for me. There's an entire chapter on nondairy cheeses. There's even a Beef Wellington-esque recipe for Madame Beefington, which is time and ingredient intensive but delicious and worth the effort if you want to impress yourself.While many of the recipes use some form of seitan that's meant to taste like a particular protein like beef or turkey, there are also plenty of recipes in here that use tofu, tempeh, and other foods like mushrooms to get the right texture and taste without the time and effort that seitan takes. There are a few ingredients that are a bit out there, like beet powder, but I don't mind. Beet powder is mostly for color anyway.I have most of Isa's cookbooks and this one might be my favorite. This is so good!

Creative ideas and great instructions! Having pictures helps a lot for those of us who are uncertain about fake meats. Also interesting that there’s no beyond meat or impossible burger products which we know some folks are very wary of.