The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples: The Art of Making Your Own Staples [A Cookbook]

This book is a revelation - I haven't attempted all the recipes yet, but can give feedback on the ones I have. First to say the author is American, so there may need to be a slight adjustment for British tastes and also some terminology. For example - the 'Classic pancake and biscuit mix' - this is a genius mixture, dry ingredients which can be made up and stored in a container for weeks, and can then be mixed up as required into pancakes and 'biscuits'. Two things with this recipe - I have never put sugar into pancake mix, but there is sugar in the dry mix in the book. So I left the sugar out - but then had to remember to put some back in when mixing up scones - because that's what we call them on this side of the pond - biscuits are something quite different! Also, I used less liquid, and rolled the mix out and cut it into scones rather than dropping it on to the baking tray with a consistency more like rock cakes. The genius of this recipe is also that a small amount can be mixed up at any one time - so once the dry mix is in the tub, I found that a 1/4 cup of dry mix added to just over 1/4 cup of oat milk made one big American style fluffy pancake - perfect for just me. Most recipes assume that I'm cooking for the 5,000 and I end up with lots of mixture which I feel obliged to get through, even if I don't want pancakes. But with this mix I can have a pancake one day and a batch of scones a few days later and then another pancake a week or so further on. Brilliant! Can't recommend it highly enough. Next the bread recipe. My goodness but this is amazing - I tried to put a photo, above, but it's sideways, for which I apologise! I call this 'Bread By Neglect' - mix up the dough, leave for 24 - 48 hours, then bake. No elaborate kneading, proving, knocking back, proving etc. Just mix and leave and bake! It comes out a bit like a sour-dough, a bit like a ciabatta - very nice indeed and only 4 ingredients. I've got a batch of home-made tomato ketchup in the fridge, which is very close in taste indeed to the brand leaders. I've just finished my first batch of home-made mayonnaise - I am just so pleased with myself for achieving mayonnaise! I had always thought it would be too fiddly and complicated - but Schinner's recipe is easy, and very tasty indeed. I've got a jar of condensed 'milk' in the fridge - it's heaven on a spoon, and I am planning a banoffee pie! The only thing which hasn't worked for me has been the 'White Cake' - it's a similar concept to the pancake/biscuit mix, in that the dry ingredients are combined in a tub, and can then be made up into cake or American Muffins etc. I found that the end result was doughy, and rather unpleasant, so I probably won't attempt this again. Other than that, as I said, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

This is beautiful, enticing book full of things that I couldn't wait to cook when I got it, and have since tried with great enjoyment. As I live in the UK we don't have access to the range of prepared vegan foods enjoyed in the USA, so being able to make some of the staples that perhaps are taken for granted there and can make a vegan diet a little richer and more exciting is amazing. I particularly enjoyed the range of proteins and the dairy substitutes (the vegan butter is excellent), as well as some of the marvelous sweet recipes. All that said, I do think of this as an intermediate vegan cookbook, one that you can dig into once you've mastered some basics, got some equipment and the hang of sourcing and using a couple of the particular vegan staple ingredients (particularly for UK cooks, you will need to be comfortable with using cup measures, and with finding ingredients such as decent tofu, nutritional yeast, vital wheat gluten, nori, onion and garlic powder, and so on) Not to say you can't just dive straight into this excellent book; I can't think of many books that I wanted to cook so much from *absolutely immediately*. The recipes are written so well that they won't leave you high and dry if you've never made seitan, or pasta, or jam, but there are some where you do need to source slightly more unusual ingredients (the recipes for homemade tempeh and tofu for example); or require a food processor or high speed blender in your kitchen (such as some of the vegan dairy recipes, which rely on blended cashews as a base; some of the seitan recipes and condiments); and some do require a more involved preparation process (some of the proteins for example.) But even taking all the above into account, I absolutely love this book and wouldn't be with out it on my cookery bookshelf. Excellent, and well worth giving a try.

There is a moment in Pirates of the Caribbean III where the sea Goddess is returned to her original size and shape, and two of the pirates shout out: "This is IT! THIS IS IT!!!" Well, that's how I feel about this book. I'm reading this book like a novel, and salivating like a Pavlov dog. So far I have made the nuggets, which were crunchy on the outside and chewy within and really not difficult or laborious to make; the ketchup, which is really just like ketchup that you buy in a shop but superior, dahling, plus I added some blackstrap molasses and ground allspice. Tomorrow I'm going to make the Kirsch genoise with the buttercream frosting, don't you know, and in my fridge I have a big block of feta waiting for next month to reach maturity. I love this book so much I want to make every recipe in it. That's how great it is. Strong points: She gives industrial size quantities for everything so you can make two meals (or more) at once. It's all delicious. You could actually make these things easily and quickly and stun your friends and family with your incredible culinary skillz. There are recipes that take a short time to whip up and some that take weeks, so you get to have all the speed and the satisfaction - kind of two books in one. Also the Kindle version is a real Kindle version, not some hopeless PDF scan of the book, which is what I've experienced in the past with another vegan cookbook I purchased recently. Grr. Bad points: They could have given the measurements and oven temperatures in metric and Celsius. I think it wouldn't have been much to ask for, especially considering Ms. Schinner's Japanese heritage (metric and Celsius are used in Japan). I've probably said it before in other reviews, but this time, this really is IT: If you only ever buy one vegan cookbook, make it this one.

I've only just received this but have already stocked my larder and used the chocolate cake mix. Brilliant. Also the cheese sauce mix, pancake mix and the condensed tomato soup is in the freezer ready to use. Yes, it can take a bit of time preparing staples, but to be honest it is so worth it if you want to have good food to hand without breaking the budget. Having the basics to hand means that cooking time is actually reduced. So easy to just reach for a bag in the cupboard and mix it with a couple of ingredients to produce a cake. There are a couple of weird ingredients that I haven't yet sourced so I haven't made the 'butter' yet and struggled to find tapioca flour but Yucca flour (I bought from a major UK supermarket) I've been told can work as a replacement. For me, this is how cookery books should be written. Loads of ideas for creating a base so that you are then able to try for yourself easily in your own way with what you have to hand. It's almost an anti recipe cookery book. I just wish this was around years ago, I would have saved a fortune on cookery books not to mention the time spent in the kitchen.

The book explains how to set up a vegan pantry, through breakfast, dinner and tea - plus how to use the pantry (with the recipes). The recipes are inviting and well explained. Final quantities are provided (for example how much sour cream you will get), why you need to do that additional step and tricky parts. It seems to me that this book aims to 1) to simplify vegan cooking 2) save time (for example polenta cooked on the oven to avoid stirring) 3) Use less oil/fat. I have tried few recipes and the results were good. I give 4 stars (and not 5) because quantities and temperatures are in oz and F (not gr and C) and because the feta cheese did not meet expectation (distintive cabbage taste). I honestly think the cheese session needs some work. The Italian recipes have a American flavour (for example focaccia) - I am Italian and have my way to save time in cooking a risotto!

I'm a vegan cook and vegan cookery teacher who works for a vegan charity so know a fair bit about vegan food scene. I think Ms Schinner deserves far more recognition - bit of a genius imho! Her 'Artisan Vegan Cheese ' was an absolute groundbreaking and I really hope that the larger vegan cheese manufacturers take note soon! But this book is equally legendary - the butter is excellent and very easy to make and I'm looking forward to whipping up the cream I made yesterday, also very quick and easy to make (making scones to go with it!) I've also bought dried yuba from my local Oriental shop so I can try the bacon and roast chicken. I intend to work my way through this book and am very excited about the process. A couple of things - 1. North American measurements are easy - measuring cups are available everywhere very cheaply (eg Asda, IKEA, pound shops) and are dead simple to use. 2. Not all recipes are suitable for everyone (eg nut allergies, coeliac). Few cookbooks are - but there will be something here for most of us. 3. Unless you're diagnosed as coeliac I'd suggest looking at some reputable critiques. While the entire free from food movement has helped to get greater access to vegan products, there is considerable and well founded scepticism about certain aspects of it. Here's one reputable example [...]

I am so excited about this cook book and I'm not even vegan! But my son is and I enjoy cooking so this book has been a revelation for me. Who knew how easy it is to make your own tofu? I certainly didn't but I made some today and it turned out really well. I also made the 'butter' recipe which I thought was far nicer than the vegan friendly spread we buy at our local supermarket. I haven't used it in baking yet but I don't see why it shouldn't work in cakes etc. But the best recipe of all so far has been the crispy skinned 'unchicken'. Yes it's a bit of a fiddle and it does take a while but you end up with 12 unchicken breasts that taste delicious, have a crispy skin and can be frozen for another time. And they taste really good too! A few more photos would be good and I would say that this is not the book for people who either don't like to cook or don't have time to cook. But if you enjoy playing around with ingredients and you like to make a batch of things to have in your freezer for the times when you really don't have time to cook then this book is for you. Since my son became vegan I have probably bought about 20 different cook books and I would say that this is in my top three.

This is a brilliant book I have learnt to make my own soya milk, tomato ketchup, mustard which all taste so much better than shop bought. Would recommend it to any one wanting to make there own pantry staples. The recipes are straight forward and easy to follow the soya milk recipe actually explains how to get rid of the strong bean taste which I found off putting when previously attempting to make my own soya milk. A must have for your vegan book shelf.

We are learning to eat vegan food - this book is of great help - we like spending time in the kitchen and we are interested in discovering new ways to eat healthy food - anything that is homemade is a privilege nowadays-

Das ist mit großem Abstand das beste vegane Kochbuch, das ich bisher gesehen habe. Und zwar weil in diesem Buch alle Fragen, die einen in der veganen Küche bewegen, beantwortet werden. (Sofern man gerne selbst kocht.) Hier gibt es keine Rezepte für "Rührei" oder "Wiener Schnitzel" aus gekauftem Seitan oder Spaghetti "Bolognese". Dieses Buch ist ein "Basic" Kochbuch im besten Sinne. Hier werden Grundrezepte vorgestellt, ohne irgend einen modischen Touch. Es erinnert mich an mein altes schwäbisches Kochbuch "Kochen nach Grundrezepten", nur eben für eine Welt, in der es keine tierischen Produkte gibt. Ich hätte jetzt nicht unbedingt Ambitionen meinen Senf oder meine Margarine selbst zu machen. Aber ich finde es gut, zu wissen, wie es geht. Und für Backmischungen hat mir schon immer der Sinn gefehlt. Das ist wohl das amerikanische an dem Buch. Aber allein die Käserezepte lohnen den Kauf. Ich hatte schon das Buch zu veganem Käse der Autorin (in der engl. Fassung) und man merkt an diesem neuen Buch, dass sie ihre Rezepte weiterentwickelt hat. Das ist überhaupt einer der besten Punkte an diesem Buch. Man merkt in jedem Rezept, dass Miyoko Schinner sich seit vielen Jahren intensiv mit der veganen Küche befasst und nicht vor zwei Jahren zum Veganertum bekehrt wurde und meint ihre neuen Erkenntnisse der Welt mitteilen zu müssen, wie es so viele überflüssige Kochbücher gibt. Allein das Rezept für Feta ist grandios. Feta war der Käse, der mir am meisten gefehlt hat, das ist jetzt endgültig vorbei. Ich habe mir extra noch einen "echten" Feta" zum Vergleich gekauft und der "mock" Feta schlägt ihn bei weitem. Auch der oil-free "cheddar" ist großartig. Ebenso das "unsteak". Die Rezepte sind "nachhaltig" im besten Sinne. Alles wird verwertet, es gibt praktisch keine Abfälle. Die Rezepte sind generell so aufgebaut, dass mit einem Minimum an Arbeit ein Maximum an Genuß entstehen kann. Fazit: uneingeschränkt empfehlenswert

This book is amazing! It is now one of the main books I get inspiration from. It's beautiful, well-written, the recipes are easy to follow, so far, I have done 3-5 in each category and they all turned up very good and yummy! It's more than just a vegan recipe book, she also talks about being zero waste (or as much as we can be) and giving healthy tips and recipe choices such as cutting oil where we can. I love the cheese and unmeat sections because I've not often end up on recipes for these items. I would recommend this book to all my vegan-to-become friends or vegan friends that wish to stop buying industrial vegan package food. You do need to buy some "special item" (that are not often in non-vegan pantries) such as agar agar, nigari (to make your own tofu), vital wheat gluten and xanthan gum. These items are easily available everywhere now (even in Canadian Northern small cities like mine!). they are affordable and they last because you just need a little bit. Happy cooking!

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A very helpful book of how to make vegan diet tasty