Fathers Day Brunch: Vegan Hollandaise & Sunflower Pâté

It is completely meaningless to put effort into activities that have no essence - Atisha

Sunday breakfast meals bring out the "made-from-scratch" in me and I think with Mother's Day just around the corner we should all make an effort to cook a nice meal for our mums, good friends or just for ourselves!  Vegans and Non Vegans alike will enjoy these great recipes I always use! Below I share two recipes: My vegan Hollandaise and a super tasty Polenta-like pâté made from ground sunflower seeds, cornmeal & potatoes.  And, of course, how can you make Eggs Benedict for your friends without HOMEMADE English Muffins. I made these foods from scratch from tried and true recipes that I love! BUT, of course, I alway give any recipe a bit of my own twist.  You should, too!  Have fun! and celebrate mothers past, present and future on May 11th - they make our wold a better place!

Vegan and Non-Vegan: On the left my Vegan Sunflower pâté topped with vegan Hollandaise along side Eggs Benedict.

Mmmmmmmm - Nooks and Crannies!  Home made English Muffins. I use Mark Bittman's recipe for sandwich bread in his book How to Cook Everything. This is a wonderful recipe. It is not vegan as it contains milk- but vegans can substitute with almond milk or other milk alternative.  The recipe is so easy and the ingredients so basic but the end result is so impressive  So, have at it and make these!

Another terrific appetizer, snack or protein main dish on Brunch Day is this wonderfully delicious Sunflower pâté. So flavorful and satisfying!  You will not believe it's vegan. Nutritional Yeast is what gives this pâté a rich, cheesy, nutty flavor. I LOVE this dish for picnics, lunches or parties.  See this and my Mock Arugula Hollandaise recipe below. 

Sunflower pâté  

This recipe is from one of my favorite vegan cookbooks that I picked up at the bottom of a pile in a thrift sale.  It's called Vegan Delights by Jeanne Marie Martin and was published in 1993.  Wonderful recipes in this book.  

Serves 6-8 people 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Cup Sunflowers seeds, finely ground
  
• 1/2 cup corn meal
  
• 1//2 cup yellow nutritional yeast  - click here for more information on nutritional yeast
  
• 3 tsp. dried parsley flakes (I didn't have any but if you do, great!) 
  
• 1.5 tsp dried basil
  
• 1 tsp dried thyme, crushed
  
• 3/4-1 tsp sea salt 
  
• 1/2 tsp dried sage leaves (I didn't have sage on hand and it still tasted great!)
  
• 1/4 tsp sea kelp powder
  

• 1 Cup finely grated potato (I just used grater on food processor)
  
• 1 and 1/3 cup water
  
• 1/4 cup sunflower oil or other natural oil (you can reduce this amount if you wish)
  
• 2 TBS soy sauce or Tamari
  

Optional: 3-4 tsp prepared horseradish.  I didn't have this on hand either so did not include this. Other things you could add include some finely chopped onions or minced garlic.  Keep the wet veggies to a minimum. 

DIRECTIONS: 

• Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Grate the potato and rinse it thoroughly to remove excess starch.  Squeeze and drain it after rinsing.  Add the remaining ingredients in the order given above, stirring in the potato last. Mix well. 

• Preheat over to 375 degrees.  Generously oil a 9" glass pie plate and scoop in the pâté mixture. Put it in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 350 degrees.  Bake 35-45 minutes until well browned. 

• Let the pâté cool 1-2 hours and then chill it thoroughly before serving to set it completely.  It may be reheated later if desired.  It is tastiest when served at room temperature.  Keeps up to 7 days refrigerated or may be frozen in pie wedges (with reduced oil and no onions or garlic)
  

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Vegan Arugula Hollandaise Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

INGREDIENTS

• 3 TBS Earth Balance or Butter Alternative.  Or - use Ghee or Butter - whatever suits you!
  
• 2 TBS Flour (I use gluten free flour)
  
• 1/4  to 1/2 tsp Turmeric (this creates the hollandaise color)
  
• 1 Cup Milk Alternative (Soy, Almond, etc) - I use homemade almond (none of the flavored stuff from the store:(
  
• 2 TBS Nutritional Yeast 
  
• Pinch cayenne
  
• 1/2 or 1 TBS Veganaise (Vegan Mayo - I use Wildwood Vegan Aioli) 
  
• Salt and Pepper to taste
  
• Small handful of baby arugula. 

DIRECTIONS

• Sizzle "butter" in heavy skillet on stove over med high heat
  
• Add flour & turmeric to butter and mix thoroughly to create a paste - (do not burn paste)
  
• Whisk in almond milk and keep whisking until smooth
• Remove from heat and add the nutritional yeast and pinch of cayenne
• At this point your "hollandaise" should be smooth, colorful and flavorful.  Next step is to the food processor 
• In a small bowl of your food processor add your hollandaise, handful of arugula and 1/2 TBS or 1 TBS of Veganaise. Blend thoroughly and add water by the TableSpoons to reach the correct consistency you desire.  I thinned mine a bit with water.  It will thicken each time your reheat it - you can add water likewise each time you reheat. 
• Add salt and pepper to taste.  Reheat when ready to serve.  Taste to your liking and add things you prefer!