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So here in South Africa We call Crepes Pancakes! We have a culture of baking them on rainy days and then dust them with Cinnamon Sugar, roll them up into a log and eat them.. Yum Another thing we love is a Savory Filled Pancake. We actually have a few Restaurants that ONLY serve Filled Pancakes. Obviously NON are Vegan.. Well, I am here to Remedy that... Here's my Recipe for Pancakes With a Savory Creamy Mushroom Filling. I Serve mine with Leafy Greens, Cherry Tomatoes and Spring Onions from our Garden... Recipe 1 THE PANCAKE (OR CREPE) 1 Cup All Purpose Flour 1/4 Tsp Salt 1 Tsp Baking Powder 1 TBSP Vinegar 1 TBSP Oil and some more for pan frying 1.5 to 2 Cups Water-as needed to make a Thin Batter - Not too thin though.. it must coat the back of a spoon nicely Mix all the above ingredients together, whisk to make a lump free thin batter. Heat a pan with a bit of oil, once warm pour one soup ladle of batter into the bottom middle of the pan and swirl it in a circular motion to coat the bottom of the pan completely. Once little holes form on top of the pancake and to top is dry you can go ahead and flip your pancake. Don't worry - the first one is usually a flop :) Bake all your Pancakes, stack them and put them aside. Recipe 2 Creamy Vegan Mushroom Filling Oil for frying 1 Medium Onion 1 cup Button Mushrooms 1 Clove Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste 2 TBSP All Purpose Flour 3/4 to 1 Cup Almond or Other Plant Based Milk Fry the onions, Garlic, Mushrooms - until it looks good to you in a separate bowl make a slurry with the Flour and Milk and add to the fried Mushroom mix. Stir until it thickens into a creamy white sauce. if to thick- add fluid if to thin - add Flour Season with Salt and Pepper to taste On your plate lay a Pancake and add Mushroom filling to one side of the pancake, add some fresh leaves, herbs tomatoes to your liking and Finally add some KICK-ASS WOOD SMOKED CHILLI SAUCE and fold the other half of the pancake over Enjoy this as a Brunch or Lunch with a Side Salad, Lemon and some more Kick-Ass Wood Smoked Chilli Sauce :) YUM! 
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Veganism is my Passion! I always have seen eating a Plant Based Diet as an Adventure, I've never seen it as a Challenge.. I feel like I was Born to be a Herbivore..
Over the past (almost 24) years of not including animal products In my Diet and Lifestyle I've heard the Question ..."What do you eat if you don't eat Meat?" more times than I can count... To me it was not really a question of what I'm Excluding from my diet, but more a question of -WHAT NEW EXCITING PLANT CAN I TRY TODAY... Luckily as a Couple, Bronson and I have Very adventurous Pallets.. and we love to try new and exciting ways to prepare food. We were lucky enough to get a young Moringa Tree or Moringa Oleifera from dear friends of ours, I planted it out and within a few months it had grown to about 2 meters high. As many of you may know already, the Moringa has Many Health benifits- so I wanted to incorporate the fresh leaves into our food... What a Joy to eat! It's Slightly Peppery and has a lovely chewy texture. So our Chickpea Omelettes with stir-fried Tomato and Moringa leaves was invented! Chickpea Omelettes with Stir-Fried Tomato and Moringa leaves. (Serves 2) Chickpea Omelette: 4 level TBS Chickpea Flour (if you cant buy, just blitz dried Chickpeas in a spice grinder) Salt,Pepper, Vegan Stock powder -to taste About 1cup water Method: Put Chickpea flour and spices in a Mixing bowl add enough water to it and whisk until it forms a Pancake like Batter Stir-fry 1 small Onion 2 cloves Garlic 2 cups Fresh Moringa Leaves (washed) 1 large Fresh Tomato chopped Salt,Pepper, spices to taste Method: Stir-fry the onions a bit, add Garlic and Moringa and Stir-fry till Moringa Leaves are wilted and the onions and garlic is nicely browned. add the chopped tomato and salt and spices to taste and fry until the tomato is soft and the juices de-glaze the pan. Set the Stir-Fried Veggies aside and warm a clean pan, add some oil to the pan when hot and pour enough Chickpea batter into the pan to form an Omelette. fry until golden brown on one side, then carefully turn over to fry the other side. Turn out your omelette and the fill with your stir-fried veggies and fold over. Garnish with some thinly sliced spring onion greens and our Kick-Ass Wood Smoked Chilli sauce! Play around with ingredients and create a method that works for you! Have fun and Enjoy an adventurous and exciting Plant Based Diet! Lots of Plant Love Esme  So it's 2021.. New Year, New time we live in.. Next Month in March will mark the 1 Year Anniversary of Living with the Covid 19 Pandemic in our Country. Last year was so strange.. Terms like Lockdown, Social Distancing and Self-Isolation popped up everywhere.. Did we ever think we would need to use those words in our lifetime? If you are like me.. Definitely not! Caring for so many animals can be difficult.. We have Constant Food bills, Medical bills and General upkeep. Bills do not stop for any pandemic, But Luckily we tend to look on the Bright side of things, and luckily for us Bronson make a stunning heavily smoked Chilli Sauce. Bronson came to me one morning and said "I have been making this sauce for years, why not turn it into a business, and while we are at it, why not use this business to help pay for out Sanctuary's running cost." That is Exactly what he did, and his Kick-Ass Wood Smoked Chilli Sauce company was born! This Delicious Sauce is now loved by Many, and we are so proud of it. All the profits of this chilli sauce and the other chilli products in our Kick-Ass Range goes to The Blue Donkey Sanctuary. We are confident this will be a great success. Its Available for purchase Online at The Sauce Shop Also at our Stockists: Magoebaskloof Farmstall Allesbeste Padstal Tzaneen Harmony Butchery Letsitele or directly from us at The Blue Donkey Sanctuary Up until a few years ago our sanctuary had no name, hell we didn’t even realise that we were a sanctuary. Our local SPCA asked me to help out with animals that have been injured next to the road as it takes them hours to come out and put the animal out of its misery. This is no easy task for me, I can picture every animal that I have had to shoot. It is especially traumatising when you can see in their eyes that you are there to help, when there is no help except mercy to give. It was to one of these calls that I met Blue. This time our friend Jethro called us. He said: "Brons this donkey needs you!" I knew this meant that this donkey was in a bad way. I loaded my Shotgun and rode to the place Jethro directed me to.. Blue was a donkey that had been attacked with a machete, I was horrified to see the wounds on him, he was covered in slash wounds almost from his snout to his tail. Things like this happen quit often as the local villagers take out there frustrations with their neighbours out on defenceless animals. I sighted down the barrel of my shotgun and could not get myself to pull the trigger, and Blue was unceremoniously dragged on to the back of my bakkie (Pick-up truck) and taken home . It took Esme and the Letaba SPCA probably more than two hours to clean and dress all of his wounds. At the end of if it all she asked me what the old man’s name should be, I looked at him and he was blue from his head to his tail with wound spray, - the name Blue was appropriate-. Blue lived with us for a full two weeks, he ate and drank his fill every day and slept on a bed of hay. Unfortunately Blue's organs had started failing before we got to him the time he was given was just a bonus. Our vet came to the farm, put him down and sat crying with me. Our sanctuary is in honour of this very brave little donkey. You are missed daily beloved Blue… I was driving home one day on a blistering hot day in the middle of summer when I noticed a young man turning into our farm on the back of a donkey cart. Said gentleman was having a great time, beating the exhausted donkeys to get them to run. I drove past him and waited at the mill- we run a small maize meal mill from our farm that services the local farmers. When the cart came to a standstill I asked the youngster to see his whip, he gave it to me and beamed with pride as he explained to me that he had created the torture devise himself. It is with shame that I admit that I struck him with his own whip, but I do not regret cutting up his whip and tossing the pieces to him as he cowered under the cart to get away from my rage. When he finally calmed down I got him to remove the makeshift tack from the donkeys and promptly let him walk the 15 odd kilometres home without his donkeys. The police came around the next day, strangely they agreed with me that the donkeys should stay on the farm until they were completely healed. The tack that is used by the locals is often pieces of wire and scrap metal that deeply cuts into the animals mouths and chests, it must be excruciating… It was with sadness that I watched the donkeys leave 6 weeks later. About a month after this incident a small miracle happened. On the dirt road leading to our farm, on my way to fetch our work staff, I found that Nelly, a female donkey that was part of the group that I looked after, came back home. In the month that she had been with her owner he had managed to blind her in her one eye and beat her so severely that he crippled her one ear. Nelly was not alone though, she brought her daughter with her and she was also pregnant. When her owners came to look for her, I bought her, vowing that she would never feel the brunt of human cruelty again, that was the beginning of our sanctuary and we have never looked back. My first adult crush was a girl that I met at university, (Tracy) I was a late bloomer and as such didn’t have the faintest idea what to do with the opposite sex. I never did tell her how I felt and later in our friendship she confided in me that she was gay. Talking about barking up the wrong tree!! I did take away two things from our friendship though. The first is a drink made from equal parts neat vodka and lime cordial with loads of ice. On a hot day it is divine. The second is a love for Sweetcorn and Chicken soup, obviously this is something that I replicated and 'veganized' and it is a dish that my wife and I love.  Vegan Sweetcorn and 'Chicken' Soup
You will need:
The sesame oil and soy is then added to taste and you garnish with the spring onions. Add some ginger and chilli Peppers if you are feeling adventurous. We add lots and it's Great! It pair’s well with a sherry. Tracy and I are still friends and we just attended her and Wendy's wedding last month.. I sometimes feel like I am sure the gay community must have felt like in the 80's and 90's. People must have looked at them as this strange tribe that dares walk amongst normal folks. They must have poked and prodded at them to see if the gay could rub of and if it was safe to let your children near them. The more- progressive of the population would invite them to various social gatherings where they would loudly announce their arrival so that the other guests would just notice how forward thinking they were.
Vegans are now the flavor of the week for a progressive dinner party. I also love when you go to church and people from your congregation who have known you for years ask if being vegan is a religion. You then have to try and keep a straight face and tell them that- yes, but that you only sacrifice virgin cabbages on Friday’s. It is so strange to me that the love of animals and our planet can illicit such confusion, resentment and often anger. Not that I am saying that vegans are peace loving tree huggers, I had to go and lookup the meaning of some of the things peaceful vegans were saying to strangers on the web in blog and Facebook comments, and let me tell you one thing, there are some angry people out there. Even though we are the odd ones that stand out at a party I still love going to them, we always take our own snacks and food with, which invariably leads to at least one person trying our goodies and realising that they will not burst into flames and die a horrible death with a piece if Tofu or Hummus clinging to their lips. It also gives us the opportunity to speak to people and invite them to our home where we always try to make them a vegan dinner that they fall in love with. My wife and I say that every meal that a meat eater has at your home, not only saves the animal that they would have eaten at home, but also plants a potential seed. My family loves a Sunday roast with all the trimmings but for me the best part of the meal was the gravy, deglazing the roast pan for the drippings is not an option anymore but out of desperation I think I have come up with a brilliant and simple gravy. You will need 1 Onion Oil Two teaspoons of Bisto- (it’s a vegan friendly old school gravy powder) Half a liter of water Salt and pepper A table spoon of vegan butter or margarine (here in the sticks our options are very limited) And the Pièce De Résistance: a teaspoons of Marmite Heat it pan and fry the chopped onion, add the Bisto and Marmite to the water then add to the pan store until it thickens add the butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Like I said- it is simple and gives hat rich yummy goodness that make a meal a Sunday roast meal. N-joy Bronson My name is Bronson Turner and this is my story. My mother was my best friend, she was the one that I could be myself with and she was the rock that protected me from a cold and harsh world. She taught me to cook and to love cooking from a very young age. I am proud to say that at the age of five I could make a kick-ass Spaghetti Bolognese. My mom was very strong willed and not very good with change, when I first brought my wife home I think she found it very difficult to comprehend that I no longer was the little boy that ran home to her so that we could make something for supper and forget how cruel the world was. To make matters worse Esme- my wife to be- was the anti-Christ: she was a vegetarian. Something that every parent in South Africa dread is that their child will bring home a Vegetarian. The thing that bound me and my mom was the very thing that separates her from Esme. I come from a family that is passionate about animals, we got into countless fights with strangers over cruelty to animals and hated the hunting industry with a passion, but we also love Sunday roasts and Kippers on toast. My mom was at a loss on what to do with someone who didn’t eat meat. My wife’s saving grace is that she loved two thing that the rest of the family refused to eat with my mother, olives and avocado.
My mom’s passing was a turning point in my life, it was both a death and a rebirth for me. A part of me died that day, I am left with a hollowness that can never be filled. It was also my rebirth. I was always worried about disappointing my mom and never went vegetarian or heaven forbid vegan. Esme (She is a lot more enlightened than I am) was at this stage a vegan. Shortly after my mom’s passing I sat up in bed and said to my wife that I bet I could be a vegan. That is more than ten years ago and I have not looked back since. I can just see my mother looking down on me making a lentil spaghetti Bolognese and telling the other moms that she taught me that. The recipe of the week: Lentil spaghetti Bolognese 2 cups red lentils 1 large onion 2 cloves of garlic 1 liter of Inna Paarman vegan ‘chicken’ stock A pinch of dried Italian herb mix Olive oil Packet of pasta Tomato paste Salt and pepper to taste Boil water and add the pasta to said water, salt the water and also add a bit of oil to prevent the water from boiling over. Cook until al dente. Heat oil in a pan and add the cut onion and garlic to the pan, brown the onions. Add the lentils to the pan with the stock. Simmer until the lentils are soft. Add the tomato paste. You can now season the Bolognese with the herbs salt and pepper to taste. Mix every thing and add a bit of olive oil. Serve with a salad and bread. The dish is a simple one and always reminds me of Rouché Turner- my mom. Being vegan in rural South Africa My wife and I have come to realise the most important thing to being a vegan is to have a great sense of humour and a well stocked wine rack. Our black South African Friends tend to view a vegan a creature to pity, as you can’t afford to eat meat, while their white counterparts tend to show you pictures around the dinner table of their adorable offspring massacring various small animals for sport. We have had many meals where we are told to not dig too deeply into the soup pot as all the veg tends to be on top and the meat hiding in shame has congregated to the bottom of the pot. If you dish up only the vegetables it’s vegan, isn’t it? – Yes! South African’s are THAT clueless about Veganism… We have a couple of staples in our kitchen that makes our lives a lot easier. First and foremost: Red wine. Lots of it! I am firmly of the belief that wine was invented to make the dull masses more bearable. Secondly: the Fry’s range of soy “meat”. We are a nation that loves to braai or barbecue as it is known to the rest of the world. This meat range has allowed use to go to parties and place our offerings on the coal and not have to look at the sad expressions on fellow guests faces as we roast the proverbial carrot. It is also a great conversation piece and has led to many discussions on the cruelty of the animal product industry. Thirdly is a range of stock powders from Ina Paarman. She makes veg, chicken and beef stock and all of these are vegan. I know you are reeling in horror at the thought of eating something that tastes like our bovine friends but trust me when you have made a pepper steak pie with her beef stock and soy chunks you will thank me. Pepper steak pie recipe. The idea for this pie came to me as a friend of mine was bitching and moaning about how much soya is actually in pies these days. Now I loved meat pies growing up and it was always a sore point for me that this was now out of bounds. So I came up with this very simple recipe. You will need
How to make it: Let your puff pastry defrost. Boil the soy chunks in Water until they are soft. Add chicken and beef stock to the water. Do not boil the chunks in the stock they become like bullets. Fry the onions and add to the stock mix, add salt to taste and then add the pepper. I love a lot of pepper but go with your personal taste. Roll out puff pastry make pies to the size that you prefer and place in a pre heated oven. The oven should be 200 degrees Celsius. Check the pastry regularly, when they are golden brown then they are ready. Serve with a salad and an ice cold beer. N-Joy Bronson |
Authors: Bronson James Turner and Esme van Eck-TurnerWe are Happy, we are Jolly, we are Creative, we are Vegan, we Live, we Laugh, we Cry, we Try... We make a difference... a small one... but we Try... Archives
June 2021
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