Change of Plans...

For xmas eve that is. I was going to do salmon, but there seems to have been a world shortage of salmon round here. Either that or it's all got stuck in the snow. Plus I've re-discovered my inner veggie again and the thought of handling, smelling, cooking, eating fish is leaving me cold. So we're having souffles instead. Yummy, oozingly melting cheese souffles served with new potatoes, tomato salad and salad leaves with a walnut dressing. And before you all gasp in shock and amazement that I am planning to serve souffle to my in-laws it's not that hard. Honest. But it tastes divine :) The recipe is a Rose Elliot one.

To serve 4 people as a light main or 2 hungry people as a substantial main you need:
50g butter
50g plain flour
225ml milk
150g cheese, preferably gruyere
4 eggs, seperated
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp english mustard powder
1/2 tsp french mustard

Pre-heat the oven to 190c and grease a 1 pint souffle dish.
Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour to make a roux. Cook gently for a few mins to cook out the raw taste from the flour. Then add the milk a drop at a time and beat till smooth. Leave to one side to cool a little.
Whisk the egg whites till stiff. Mix the cheese and egg yolks and seasoning into the roux. Slacken off the mix with a spoonful of the whites and then fold in the rest of the whites. Pour into the prepared dish and then place in a bain marie in the oven. Cook for 20-40 mins. If you like it runny in the middle then err on the shorter side of cooking time. Serve with a tomato and onion salad, new potatoes and salad leaves with a walnut and sherry vinegar dressing.

Mince Pies

OK OK so you don't really need a recipe for these given that it's mincemeat in pastry but OMG I didn't think I liked mince pies really. I used to force them down out of a sense of misplaced xmas duty, but having finally made my own mincemeat for the first time I am a convert. These truly are delicious.

You need
1 quantity of homemade mincemeat
1 quantity of home made pastry

Roll out the pastry and then line cupcake tins with it. Fill the pastry cases with a scant amount of mincemeat and top with a decorative top (I like my snowflake, xmas tree and star cutters for this!).
Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle on some sugar. Bake in a hot oven for 10-20 mins till done and then leave to cool. Scoff.

The pastry recipe is very easy but is one of those I only know in imperial. You need half the amount of flour in fat and then mix together with cold water. To make 24 mini cocktail mince pies, and about 18 bigger ones along with 8 jam tarts I used 10oz plain flour and 5oz butter.

Mousse au Chocolat

My mum's friend gave her this recipe yonks ago and I still make it often. It's an authentic French mousse au chocolate - rich with chocolate, light with airy bubbles and delectably decadent. Just ignore the calories ;-)

You need:
6 eggs, separated
300g chocolate. I use a mix of plain and milk if making it for all of us. If it's just adults then I only use plain
3 tbsp sugar
a good slug of alcohol - usually grand marnier or cointreau

Begin by melting the chocolate slowly over a saucepan of simmering water. Meanwhile whisk the egg whites till floppily stiff. Don't over beat or it's hard to mix them into the chocolate mix. Mix the yolks with the sugar and booze. Once the chocolate has melted let it cool for a few mins then combine with the yolk mixture. Slacken it off with a spoonful of the whites and then carefully fold in the remainder of the whites. Pour into serving glasses and leave to chill for a couple of hours.

Nut Koftas

Another miracle meal tonight - something we all ate and enjoyed! I am so relieved that Lex's fussier days are behind him and we can all sit down to one meal! These nut koftas are a piece of cake to make and good for you too. Plus they're very very speedy :)

You need:

1 onion, diced
4 coves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tin cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
125g ground almonds
75g salted peanuts
1 egg

Fry off the onion in some oil for a few mins till soft then add the garlic, curry powder and chilli. Fry for a few mins longer. Then lob everything into a food processor and blitz till smooth. Form into sausages wrapped round a skewer and then grill for a few mins on each side till golden brown.

Serve with cous cous, flat breads, olives and a yogurt dressing made from a couple of tbsps greek yogurt, seasoning, 1 tbsp mint sauce, some chopped cucumber and chopped corriander. Scrummy.

Menu Planning

After much angst I think the following menus will be served. Recipes for items to follow over the weekend...

Christmas Eve

To Start
Carrot and Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Foccacia

To Follow
Salmon cooked in Champagne or Gammon served with Swede Gratin,
Hassleback Potatoes and Broccoli
or
Baked Camembert with Bread

To Finish
Chocolate Truffle Torte

Christmas Day Lunch

To Start
Watercress, Stilton and Apple Salad
or
Smoked Salmon with Lemon and Brown Bread

To Follow
Roast Turkey, Pigs in Blankets
Quorn Roast
Chestnut Roast
Veggie Pigs in Blankets
Roast Potatoes & Parsnips
Brussel Sprouts, Carrots & Peas
Cranberry Sauce
Bread Sauce
Gravy

To Follow
Christmas Pudding
served with Brandy Sauce, Brandy Cream and Brandy Butter
or
Chocolate Truffle Torte

To Finish
Petit Fours, Liqueurs and Coffee

Christmas Day Tea

Cold cuts (turkey, ham, quorn roast and chestnut roast) with Salad
Selection of chutneys and pickles
Bread and cheese
Christmas Cake, Mince Pies
Trifle

Boxing Day Dinner

Cold cuts (turkey, ham, quorn roast and chestnut roast)
Cheese and Vegetable Bake
Potato Wedges

Leftover Puddings

Let the feasting commence!!

Mini Xmas Cakes

My poor team! I am too tight to buy them each a present, so I make things. This year I've made mini xmas cakes, a la bubble and bake recipe from Good Food. They worked really well and look pretty too (well I think they do!).

You need
# 200g dark muscovado sugar
# 175g butter , chopped
# 700g luxury mixed dried fruits (I used a mix of currants, raisins and sultanas and added some chopped mixed peel too)
# 50g glacé cherries
# 2 tsp grated fresh root ginger
# zest and juice 1 orange
# 100ml brandy
# 85g roughly chopped almonds
# 3 large eggs , beaten
# 85g ground almonds
# 200g plain flour
# ½ tsp baking powder
# 1 tsp mixed spice
# 1 tsp cinnamon
# 250g pack marzipan
# icing sugar
# 2 tbsp warmed apricot jam
# 1 tub pre-made royal icing
# jelly diamond to decorate

Place the sugar, butter, dried fruit, cherries, ginger, brandy, orange zest and juice into a large pan. Heat and slowly bring to the boil. Reduce heat and bubble gently, uncovered for 10 mins, stirring every now and again to make sure the mixture doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan. Leave to cool.

Add all the other cake ingredients to the pan and stir well. Spoon into 24 muffin cases and then bake at about 150 for 35 mins or so. Leave to cool.

Paint apricot jam on to the tops then add circles of marzipan. Leave to dry. Top with royal icing and a jelly diamond. Give to people and stand back for the oooooh and ahhhhhhhs.

Coconut Ice Snowballs

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without either coconut ice or snowballs. Here the two are combined!

You need
250g sifted icing sugar
200g sweetened condensed milk
175g dessicated coconut

Mix everything together then roll into balls and place into cases. How easy?!

Chocolate and Brandy Truffles

These are grown up truffles, so eat in moderation if you can!!

Recipe is taken from the January Delicious magazine.

You need:
300ml double cream
400g dark choc broken in to teeny tiny pieces
2 tbsp brandy or cointreau or other booze
Cocoa powder

Place the broken chocolate into a bowl. Bring the cream to the boil, then pour over the chocolate. Mix well till combined and the choc is melted then add the booze. Stir again then tip into a lined tin to set. Leave for at least 4 hours in a cool place (but not the fridge). Then cut into squares, dust with cocoa and place into petit fours cases. Scoff. Simples.

Peppermint and Orange Cremes

Christmas is coming... and so it's time to make lots of yummy sweet things.

These cremes are very easy and are destined for the present hampers we're doing this year. Assuming Lex and I don't eat them all first that is!

You need:

250g sifted icing sugar. It's really REALLY important to sift it so don't be lazy like I was one year or you'll end up with lumpy, bumpy nice tasting gloop.
2 1/2 tsp egg white made with dried egg powder
2 tsp lemon juice (or orange juice for the orange cremes)
1 tsp orange or peppermint flavouring
some food colouring if you wish

Begin by sifting the icing sugar in to a bowl. Then make a well in the middle and add the wet stuff. Mix thoroughly. Don't be tempted to add more liquid as it is enough. Knead a little until soft (you're basically making a flavoured, coloured fondant icing). Then roll to about the thickness of a £1 coin. Stamp out shapes and leave them somewhere cool (but not the fridge or they will sweat) to harden a bit. Best tip is to leave them on a cling film lined board.

Cheese and Onion Sausage Rolls

I've never made sausage rolls before, I'd always thought they would be tricky and fiddly. These ones aren't however, but they are divine. St Delia comes up trumps as per usual!

The original recipe can be found on St Delia's site.

But in case it gets moved you need:
1 block ready made puff pastry
275g fresh breadcrumbs
225g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
1 large onion, grated
3 tablespoons double cream
1 level tablespoon fresh chopped herbs (chives, parsley, thyme, etc)
1½ level teaspoons mustard powder
pinch cayenne pepper
salt and freshly milled black pepper

Make up the filling by mixing everything aside from the pastry together. Add some more cream if it doesn't bind well enough. Roll out the pastry then decide if you want dainty or chunder rolls. Place the filling in the middle of the pastry strips, brush beaten egg round the sides, roll over and then cut into slices. Brush with egg glaze and the snip the tops a couple of times. Bake in a hot oven for about 25 mins.

Florentines

I absolutely adore the Florentines that Betty's sells. OMG they are seriously divine, but seriously expensive! So when I found a recipe for florentines in Good Food this month I thought I'd give them a go. I couldn't believe how easy they were, or how good they taste.

The original recipe can be found on the BBC Good Food website but in case they remove it it's below too...

You need
* 140g light muscovado sugar
* 100g clear honey
* 200g salted butter
* 100g desiccated coconut
* 140g flaked almonds
* 300g glacé cherries , sliced
* 4 tbsp plain flour
* 250g dark, milk or white chocolate , or a mix

Melt the sugar, honey and butter in a pan. Meanwhile slice the cherries. Once the butter mix has melted, add everything other than the chocolate to it and then pour into a lined tin (30x40cms) and bake at 180 for 12 mins (it needs to be golden and bubbly all over). Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Whilst it's cooling melt the chocolate. Turn the cooked and cooled florentines on to a board lined with more baking paper and then spread the melted chocolate on the back. Leave to set. Then cut into shapes and scoff. Then go to the gym. Lots.

Next time I make them I will omit the coconut I think and add some peel to make them more like Bettys ones. But these are pretty good!

Thai Tofu 'fish'cakes

Ever since I saw the F Word a few weeks ago where two Thai restaurants took each other on I have been craving thai fish cakes. This is somewhat of a problem given that I don't really eat fish anymore... So I invented these. They're nothing like real Thai fishcakes of course but they hit the spot and even better everyone ate them. They're nice hot and cold.

For about 12 patties you need:
1 packet firm tofu
2 stalks lemongrass
4 fat cloves garlic
1 egg
about a cup of fresh breadcrumbs (depends on how sloppy the mix is)
1 fat chilli
2 inch piece of ginger
2 large handfuls fresh corriander
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp mirin

Lob everything into a food processor and blitz till mushy. Don't over process or it'll go too sloppy. Once it's done, place in the fridge for a bit to firm up. After at least 15 mins, heat some oil in a frying pan and then form patties about the size of an egg. Put these in the oil and lightly fry until crispy and golden brown. Turn over half way through cooking. Serve with a corriander salad and sweet chilli sauce/soya sauce to dip.

Vegan Club

Created this today so I could use up some avocados and also enjoy some more yummy chilli jam.

Take 3 thin slices of bread, and lightly toast them.

On the bottom one spread a generous dollop of chilli jam and then top with half an avocado cut into thin slices. Top this with a large handful of alfafa sprouts.

Place a 2nd piece of bread on the top of this and spread with vegan mayo. Add sliced tomatoes, and then hot vegan bacon. Top with the third slice of bread, cut in half and scoff. Want another one now...

Minestrone Soup

Or Mr. Strone as we know it (gro-o-o-an). My better half doesn't really like this so I didn't make it yesterday when I was trying to use up the last of the veg box. However the new veg box came today full of perfect ingredients for this recipe and he's out so L and I tucked in.

I used:
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
6 large leaves of calvero nero, cores removed and roughly shredded
1/2 large red pepper, roughly chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 mushrooms, sliced
1 can toms
1 can butter beans
about 1 litre of stock
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
handful fresh basil, roughly shredded
2 large handfuls soup pasta

Start by sweating the onions in some olive oil. Then add the carrots and garlic and continue to sweat with the lid on over a gentle heat for about 10 mins. Then add everything apart from the basil and mushrooms. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 mins or so until the pasta is done. About 3 mins before the pasta is cooked add the mushrooms. When it's ready, stir through the basil and serve in large bowls with lots of crusty bread. It's nice to add a generous shaving of fresh Parmesan over the top too. Perfect winter central heating!

Chestnut Roast

I adore nut roast and think it should be obligatory for veggies to have one at Xmas. None of that soggy filo pastry and goats cheese nonsense for me! A roast is all about a roast. And a good nutty one at that. This recipe is from my mum and it's delicious :) Amounts are loose as it depends on what you like in terms of balance.

You need:
6oz dried chestnuts, soaked overnight and cooked for 30 mins (am not sure on equiv amounts for vacuum packed ones, but I'd guess about 3-4 tins/packs)
8oz breadcrumbs
250g mushrooms, chopped small and sauteed in butter
1 onion, chopped small and sauteed with the mushrooms

Lob everything into a food processor and blitz roughly along with dried herbs, 1tbsp tom puree, a couple of cloves of garlic some stock powder and an egg.

Pop into a lined loaf tin and bake for about an hour at 180 degrees. Can be made up to 3 days before hand and kept in the fridge. Also works as a nice stuffing for meat eaters. If you're vegan then ditch the egg and maybe add some stock/wine/water to get it to the right consistency.

Yum yum.

Pancakes I didn't make today

But I have done in the past! Blogging this to avoid a repeat of this morning: flicking through umpteen magazines trying to find a recipe and then giving up!!

Oaty Hotcakes (Bill Granger)
You need:
* 185g plain flour
* 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
* 1 tsp ground Cinnamon
* pinches freshly grated Nutmeg, (optional)
* pinch sea salt
* 1 tbsp caster sugar
* 25g oats
* 375ml Buttermilk
* 1 medium Egg
* 35g Butter, plus extra for greasing

Mix all together and then pour, a ladle at a time on to a hot griddle pan or frying pan. Cook till bubbles appear on one side (about 30-60 secs) then flip over for another 30 secs or so. Serve with maple syrup. Yummy.

Spiced Beetroot and Orange Chutney

I saw this recipe in the Xmas Good Food magazine and thought it looked nice. We also had some beetroot left from the veg box and seeing as we never ever eat it thought it would be a good thing to make. Wrong! You need 1.5kg for it and the beetroot we had only weighed a measley 500g!!! So I ordered some more (for the first time ever) and it arrived today. The finished product looks pretty nice but I haven't tasted it yet seeing as I loathe the red stuff..!

For about 4 1lb jars you need
1.5kg raw beetroot, peeled and diced into a .5cm dice
3 eating apples, peeled and grated
zest and juice of 3 oranges
3 onions, diced
700g sugar
700ml red wine vinager
2tbsp mustard seeds
1tbsp ground cloves
1tbsp ground cinnamon
1tbsp corriander seeds

Gently roast the mustard and corriander seeds in a dry frying pan until they begin to pop. Lob everything into a preserving pan and bring to a boil. Simmer over a moderate heat until the liquid has reduced and the beetroot is tender. This was supposed to take an hour but actually took more like 3. You don't want much juice left at the end, it mostly needs to have reduced down. Once the chutney is cooked put it into sterile jars and leave somewhere dark and cool to mature for about a month.

Quick lunch cous cous

Bored of sarnies and determined not to buy something at work again I threw this together this morning and the result was mighty fine.

For one portion of scrummy lunch you need:
1/3 cup cous cous
2/3 cup boiling water
handful raisins
3-4 dried apricots, chopped into little pieces
handful toasted pine nuts
1/4 tsp veggie stock
1 tsp toasted pumpkin seed oil
1/2 tsp moroccan spices
couple of large handfuls of spinach, watercress and rocket salad.

Place the cous cous in a tub with all the other ingredients minus the salad. Pour over the boiling water, mix a little and leave to soak for 10 mins. Serve warm or cold with the salad on the top. Also nice with some fried haloumi or crumbled feta on the top or with some chunks of roasted squash/carrots/parsnips in it. In the summer it's also nice with roasted veggies and peppers in it too. The combinations are endless!

Vanilla Poundcake

I suddenly realised late this afternoon that we had no cakes again for lunches so decided to rustle up something quick and easy but which would last for the week. After flicking through the Hummingbird book I decided on a simple pound cake. This is a slightly adapted recipe as I had no buttermilk, but it doesn't seem to have suffered from being made with milk alone.

You need:
330g vanilla sugar (yes really! I know it's a lot)
120g butter, softened
200g plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarb
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
120ml milk
3 eggs

Cream the butter and sugar till combined, then add the eggs one at a time. Mix well between each egg. Once this is done, add the flour, bicarb and vanilla and milk. Pour into a lined loaf tin (I used a 2lb loaf tin and also made 6 cakes from left over mix). Bake for about 30-45 mins till done. Leave to cool and then enjoy. The outside is very crunchy from all the sugar. Next time I make it I think I will reduce the sugar as it's very sweet and I think would survive with a little less in the batter.

St Clements Posset

I always make this with both orange and lemon juice and I find just lemon to be too acidic. It's like the worlds *easiest* pudding but tastes like you have slaved for hours over it :)

You need:
1 large pot double cream (600ml or thereabouts)
150g caster sugar
juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon.

Place the sugar and cream into a large pan and bring to the boil. Once it boils, turn down to a simmer and simmer for 3 minutes. Make sure you stir the cream/sugar a couple of times to make sure it doesn't catch and to dissolve the sugar.

Once the cream has been heated for long enough, pour it into a large jug with the juices and stir. Pour into little serving dishes/glasses and chill for at least 3 hours. Delish. Am toying with the idea of making lavender scented creams in the summer...

Cheese and Onion Sausage Rolls

I adore sausage rolls, and cheese and onion rolls, so the thought of combining the two is pure genius imho. This is another St Delia recipe, taken from her Christmas book.

Defrost one 500g pack of puff pastry (or make your own but frankly life is too short...)
Meanwhile make the filling:

grate 225g cheddar
grate 1 large onion
mix together with 275g fresh white breadcrumbs, 3 tbsp double cream, 2 tbsp mustard powder, 1 tsp cayenne, 2 tsp oregano, salt and pepper. Squish into sausage shapes and leave to chill for a bit.

When you're ready to make the sausage rolls, roll out the pastry to about 35x40cms. Trim into 3 lengths and lay the filling on the pastry. Egg wash the sides and roll over to seal. Cut into bite size chunks, egg wash again and snip twice in each to let the steam out.

Place on a greased baking sheet and cook for about 20 mins in a moderate (180 degrees) oven till risen, puffy and golden. Leave to cool on a rack and try not to scoff in one go. Mine are currently residing in the freezer waiting patiently for Christmas Day...

Chilli Jam

I can't believe how easy this recipe is, and how tasty it is too. I think there will be another batch cooking before the end of this year!

This is from Nigella's Christmas, but a similar recipe can also be found in the River Cottage Preserves book.

You need
150g big fat red chillies (prepared weight so 4 supermarket packets), deseeded
150g red pepper (about 1 fat pepper)
1kg jam sugar
600ml cider vinegar

Put the sugar and vinegar into a preserving pan and slowly heat to dissolve the sugar. Meanwhile, prepare the pepper and chillies by chopping roughly and removing the seeds and membranes. Then process *very* finely in a food processor. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the pepper and chilli mixture, bring to the boil and then boil FAST for 10 mins. Pour in to sterilised jars and seal. Try not to eat all in one go!

Christmas Chutney

One of my staple gifts to people is to make a mini home made hamper full of goodies. The process for this starts in the summer when we go blackberrying and I make a batch of blackberry jam. This year they'll also contain (look away now if you're related to me or teach my son ;-)):

Christmas chutney
Chilli jam
Orange and peppermint cremes
Blackberry jam
Chocolate truffles
Fudge or peanut brittle (haven't decided yet and it depends on storage/ease to make!)
Christmas biscuits
Mincemeat

The chutney recipe I made was maybe in hindsight not the best as it looks very much like mincemest. But it tastes lovely so it can't be all that bad...

Yet again it's a tweaked Delia recipe. It should have contained prunes but stupid me got stone in prunes that were a royal pain in the backside to prepare for the pudding so I ditched the rest of the packed. After a rummage through the cupboard for some other dried fruits I found a packed of dried nectarines. Excited by this discovery I thought they would make a good substitute for the prunes. Until I opened them and found them a bit past their best. Not suprising really given that they were sell by August 2008. Oops. A packet of dried pears went similar and I finally settled on the following combination...

You need
300g ready-to-eat dried apricots
350g dried cranberries
250 pitted dates
450g onions, peeled
570 ml cider vinegar
50g salt
2 tablespoons grated fresh root ginger
1/4 grated nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground mace
1/2 tsp ground cloves
450g demerara sugar

Lob the fruit and onions into a food processor and blitz till mushy (you don't have to do this with the cranberries if you prefer lumps in your chutney). Meanwhile heat the vinegar, ginger and salt in a preserving pan till boiling. Add the mushed fruit and onion mix and the spices and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for about an hour. You can tell when it's ready as there will be a clean line left in the pan when you scrape a wooden spoon through it. Bottle into sterilised jars and leave to mature for at least a month. Excellent served with cheese and cold (fake) meats.

Christmas Cake

I like a traditional, light Christmas cake. Full of fruit, yes, but not too dark and sticky. A lot of my friends rave about Nigella's black cake, and I admit I like the way she soaks her fruit for ages before hand. But I am not a fan of prunes or treacle or dark muscavado sugar all mixed together. I find the combination too heavy. My staple recipe recipe for Christmas cake is usually a last minute Sainsbury's one as I can't be faffed with feeding a cake either. But this year I have decided to try a variation of Delia's classic cake. I'm soaking the fruit for a week or so as per Nigella and using light brown sugar and golden syrup rather than the suggested treacle. The soaking fruit smells divine at the moment ;-)

250g sultanas
250g raisins
300g currants
100g glacé cherries cut in half
50g mixed candied peel
1/8 cup each of brandy, whisky and rum
225g plain flour
½ level teaspoon salt
¼ level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ level teaspoon ground mixed spice
225g butter
225g soft light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 level dessertspoon golden syrup
grated zest 1 lemon grated zest 1 orange

Put the fruit and booze into a clean plastic tub, mix thoroughly and leave to soak for at least 24 hours, ideally a week or so. Stir every so often to ensure all the fruit soaks up the booze.

Soften the butter and then cream with the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, then the golden syrup, then the flour, spices, zest and finally the soaked fruit. Mix well and pour into a prepared 7" square tin (or 8" round one) and bake at 140 degrees for 4-5 hours. Make sure you place a double layer of baking paper on the top of the cake, with a small hole cut in the top to allow the steam to escape.

Once the cake is cooled, wrap in baking parchment, then foil and store in a cool dark place till you want to ice it. You can feed it if you want but I won't be bothering.

Countdown to Christmas

Well, it's begun. The cooking for the festivities kicked off with a vengeance with the start of the annual Christmas cake making preparations.

For a change this year I am also making the pudding and mincemeat. I have never made a pudding before, and have always been put off by the steaming process. But I thought what the heck seeing as we're hosting Christmas this year...

The mincemeat recipe I am using is a tweaked St Delia's one. I've never really made mincemeat before either and don't particularly like mince pies it has to be said, but Christmas isn't Christmas without them, and I do sort of like them warmed up and slathered in brandy butter and cointreau cream...

Mincemeat
450g Bramley apples, cored and chopped very small
225g vegetarian suet
800g mixed dried fruit - I used a mixture of Waitrose luxury mixed vine fruits, raisins, sultanas and currants
225g candied peel
350g soft dark brown sugar
grated zest and juice 2 oranges
grated zest and juice 2 lemons
50g glace cherries, cut into quarters
4 level teaspoons mixed ground spice
½ level teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 whole grated nutmeg
1/8 cup each of brandy, whisky and rum (add another 1/8 cup each once the mincemeat has been cooked)

Lob everything into a large, clean plastic tub and mix well. Leave to steep for at least 24 hours, up to a week in a cool place. Stir a couple of times a day to mix and plump up the fruit.

When it's finished steeping, transfer to an oven proof dish and heat through at 120 degrees for 3 hours. This melts the suet to ensure the mincemeat doesn't fermet in the jars. Transfer to sterilised jars and leave somewhere cool and dark for at least a month.

Swede Gratin

Had some swede in the veg box, and no masher to mash it with! So created a gratin to use it up and served it with bangers, potato mash and steamed veggies. Even Lex liked it.

You need:

1 large swede, peeled and finely sliced
2 onions, finely sliced
salt and pepper
1/2 milk
butter for greasing
grated cheese

Begin by greasing an oven proof dish with the butter. Put one layer of swede into the bottom, then add a layer of onions, some salt and pepper and a sprinkling of cheese. Continue until everything s used up, finishing with a neat layer of swede and a sprinkling of cheese. Gently pour over the milk, cover with foil and bake in a moderate oven for 45-60 mins. Remove the foil, turn the temp up a a bit and finish off for another 15-40 mins until bubbling and crispy. Lovely and warming.

Muddas (Rice with Lentils)

A middle eastern staple that originates from Saudi Arabia. Cheap, filling and good for you.

You need
2 cups basmati rice
1/2 cup brown or green lentils
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup oil/ghee/butter
4 cups boiling water
salt

(FYI a cup = 250ml)

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onions. Add the lentils and rice and fry for 5 mins or so. Add the water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 45 mins (cook over a very low heat).

Serve as is, or with roti.

Akara with Pili Pili

or Bean Cakes with Chilli Sauce

A traditional Nigerian recipe from Celia Brooks Brown's World Vegetarian Classics

For the akara:
2 x 400g black eyed beans, drained
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 egg
4 rbsp plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Oil for frying

For the Pili Pili
2 red peppers, de-seeded and chopped
1=2 hot fresh chillies
1/2 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, crushed
Juice 1/2 lemon

Place the beans and onion into a foodprocessor. Blitz to a smooth paste. Add everything else and pulse till mixed.

Heat a shallow pan with the oil. When it's hot enough drop spoonfuls of the batter into the oil. Cook till brown and flip over halfway. Drain on kitchen paper.

Mix the ingredients for the sauce and serve with the bean cakes.

Delish.

Things to Make This Week

I have long been a subscriber to BBC Good Food magazine but I have to say I am usually more than disappointed with the recipes in the magazine. They taste bland and there's not a lot of veggie choice. November's edition is providing me with lots of inspiration, so well done to the team.

I am planning on making the following from the issue:
p122 toffee apples (done and they taste fab!)
p33 Chicken Chow Mein (using marinated tofu not chicken)
p35 One pan chicken couscous (using quorn)
p36 Spicy tofu kedgeree
p43 wintry rice salad
p45 Chargrilled turkey with quinoa tabbouleh and tahini dressing (using quorn again)
p52 tangy carrot, red cabbage and onion salad
p52 creamy baked leeks with citrus crumbs (I will bulk this out with some gnocchi)
p54 sweet potato and lentil soup
p55 Indian style chickpea soup
p73 custard tart with nutmeg pastry
p110 creamy gratin of butternut squash
p120 mulled apple juice
p120 rarebit toasts
p120 crisp baked potatoes with sour cream
p159 coffee semi-freddo

Next step, finish reading Delicious and Cook Vegetarian and add the recipes to try from there too!

Tangy Orange Bread and Butter Pudding

Cycling to work this week had worked up an appetite for stodge. I haven't made bread and butter pudding for years but was flicking through Delia's Winter Collection and came across the recipe for marmalade bread and butter pudding and decided to give it a whirl. It was lovely, and smelt so good that even Lex tried it and liked it. Result.

You need:

6 slices white bread
75g softened butter
2-3 tbsp marmalade
3 eggs
325ml milk
grated zest of an orange
3 tbsp demerara sugar

Butter the bread on one side, then spread the marmalade on 3 of the slices. Make 3 sandwiches and butter the top side of each sarnie. Slice into 4 triangles and lay in a shallow baking dish.

Mix together the milk, eggs and orange zest and pour over the sandwiches. Sprinkle over the sugar and leave to soak for 30 mins if you have time. Bake for 30 mins at 160 degrees, make sure you don't over cook it so it gets burnt. Scoff and hide the leftovers from your family so you can eat them all by yourself later on mwahh!

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

I made this on Friday and thought it was worth blogging it to remember for next time I have a surfeit of cauli in the veg box.

Sweat 1 large onion in some butter till soft. Add a head of cauli cut into florets and 900ml light veggie stock. Simmer for 30 mins till very tender and then blitz to a puree. Add some milk/more stock if it's too thick. Re-heat with 100g grated cheddar and season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with nutritional yeast and some chopped chives. And lashings of bread of course.

Blackberry and Apple Crumble

I am not a big crumble fan - I usually like the idea of it more than the reality. But I have to say tonight's offering was lovely. My FIL enjoyed it enough to give me a compliment!

You need:
4 large cooking apples, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp water
3 tbsp vanilla sugar

150g plain flour
75g cold butter
25g oats
75g cinnamon sugar

2 cups blackberries
2 tbsp vanilla sugar

Start by putting the apples, sugar and water into a pan and cooking for 10 mins till soft and fluffy. Pour into a shallow baking dish and top with the scattered blackberries. Add the extra vanilla sugar on to this.

Blitz the butter and plain flour in a food processor until it's like find breadcrumbs. Tip into a bowl and add the sugar and oats. Mix and then scatter over the fruit in the dish.

Bake at 180 degrees for 15 mins then turn up the heat to 200 and bake for another 10-15 mins till bubbling and browned and crispy on top.

Serve with custard for a proper english treat, or mascapone/creme fraiche if you fancy something more continental. Delicious either way. The leftovers will be my breakfast tomorrow.

There's a Chill in the Air...

...and the nights are beginning to draw in and after not wanting winter to come, I am now enjoying cooking with the lovely root vegetables in my veg box and eating carb laden puds!

Tonight we had beef in ale again but I made a few tweaks to make it go further as we were feeding 5 not 3, and also to get over the saltiness we had last time.

I added 500ml water to the stew, and substituted pickling onions for the celery and used leeks instead of onions. It was bloody gorgeous and my meat eating ILs were very happy with the savoury, meaty feel of the stew.

Pudding was crumble which I will blog separately to make it easier for me to find next time.

Roll on real winter!

Spiced Red Lentil Soup

OK so this could easily be 'very thin and runny dhal' but somehow it's not. It's a soup in it's own right and delicious.

You need
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 cup red lentils
1 tin toms
1 litre stock
1 tbsp curry powder/garam masala

Saute the onion in some oil for a few mins. Then add the curry powder/garam masala. Cook for a further few mins to take away the cupboard taste. Add the lentils and stock and simmer for 20 mins or so. Blitz and serve with naan or crusty french bread. Don't forget to add some nutritional yeast too to add further depth of flavour!

Green Lentil Soup

I love soup, and we do tend to eat a lot of it. It's cheap, quick and easy to make and I can also hide all manner of veggies in it that Lex might not otherwise eat! We often have soups made from pulses, and this is a very tasty one using green lentils.

You need
2 onions, sliced
175g green lentils
1 litre veggie stock (use a light one or it'll overpower the lentils and spices)
1 tsp tumeric
small handful of corriander, roughly chopped

Begin by sauteeing the onions in some oil for a few mins. Then add the lentils and stock/tumeric. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins or so until the lentils are tender.

Blitz with a stick blender (or leave chunky) and serve with the corriander scattered on the top.

If you want to serve a spiced butter with it, then blend 1 clove garlic into 50g butter and add 1 tsp paprika, cumin seeds and chilli to it. Chill to re-set and then slice into the soup and let it melt. Very good with soft naan. Yummy!

Autumnal Beef Stew

Mmmm beef stew. Beef stew? Yes beef! I love all the veggie substitute meats you can get, and fancied something like Bœuf borgognone for dinner tonight. Unfortunately DH had drunk all the mini bottles of red wine I had stashed away for cooking purposes so I had to raid the beer larder instead! This is what I created, and by gum it was good! I challenge a meat eater to know the difference!

You need:
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
3 sticks celery, cut into inch long chunks
4 carrots, cut into inch long barrels, and then sliced diagonally
1 packet beef style pieces (quorn or asda or tescos sell them)
large handful frozen bacon style pieces (NOT dried bacon bits!!)
couple of good glugs of quality olive oil
1 bottle dark beer (I used Manchester Brown Ale)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried oregano
ground pepper
good glug light soya sauce
good glug mushroom ketchup
good glug henderson's relish
good glug mirin
2 tsp vecon vegetable stock (or marmite!)

Start by sauteeing the onions in the olive oil. Add the bacon bits once the onions are lightly browned. Then add the celery, carrots and beef bits. Saute for a few mins before adding everything else. Bring to the boil and then simmmer for 30-45 mins until the veggies are tender and the sauce had developed.

If you want to thicken the sauce I'd recommend using a beurre manié to avoid lumps. But I like a thin sauce to soak into flattened roasted potatoes. I served the stew with roasties and steamed romanesco cauliflower. Yum yum yum!

What's Your Favourite Cake

I love baking and try to make time each weekend to get something baked and then frozen so I can pretend to be a good mummy by putting something homebaked into my son's lunch box.

But I am running out of inspiration... We usually rotate Nigella's flourless brownies (which is *bad* cos they contain almonds and the school has a no nuts policy); Nigella's 'proper' brownies (but they're a bit rich), cherry and almond slice (ditto nut issues), courgette cake, carrot cake, ginger cake, flapjacks and parkin.

So in an attempt to change our routine, please suggest your favourite cakes (preferably with a recipe!) and pep up our lunches (and expand our waistlines...!).

Apricot and Ginger Loaf

A cake, yummy. A healthy cake??! Not too sure about that! I didn't realise when I set out to make this that it was fat free, but it is and also contains loads of dried fruit so it's positively like eating healthy food, even though it's cake.

Adapted from Rose Elliott's Vegetarian Express cos I didn't have any prunes to make into a puree, only apricots.

You need:
About 10 dried apricots
Couple of tbsp of water
200g soft brown sugar
50g stem ginger in syrup
2 tsp ground ginger
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 eggs
150g flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
125g mixed dried fruit (I love Waitrose mixed vine fruit, very succulent and no manky currants, just big juicy sultanas, raisins and cherries)
3 tbsp boiling water

Begin by putting the apricots into a pan with a couple of tbsp water and heat gently. Leave simmering for about 15 mins, then blitz to a puree with a stick blender.

Mix everything else into the apricot puree, slob into a lined loaf tin and then bake at 160 degrees for 30-45 mins.

Scoff but feel healthy cos it's fat free and full of fruit innit :)

Red Lentil Dhal

Can't believe I haven't blogged this recipe yet - it's a staple in our house and a regular request from Lex. It's thicker than restaurant dhals but I like it like this and it can act as a sandwich filler the next day too...

8oz red lentils
1 pint veggie stock
1 small bay leaf
1 onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped (don't always use this)
1 garlic clove crushed (we always use 4 or 5 lol)
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp tumeric
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp ground corriander
Fresh chopped corriander to serve (optional)
Crispy fried onion rings to serve (optional)

1. Place lentils, stock and bay leaf in a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 mins or so till cooked. Remove the bayleaf and beat lentils till smooth.

2. Meanwhile saute the onion and garlic in a pan in a little oil/ghee/butter. When soft add the pepper and the spices. Gently fry for 10 mins or so.

3. Add onion mix to the lentils, mix thoroughly and serve :)

Yummy yummy!!

Vegetarian (or vegan!) Kedgeree

Fancied something different tonight to use up the dhal we had last night, and am in an I Love Lentils phase at the moment, so rustled up an inauthentic but very tasty veggie kedgeree. Leftovers will go down nicely for lunch tomorrow methinks.

You need:
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp curry powder (or you can use individual spices, but hey I said it was inauthentic!)
Leftover cooked rice - about 3-4 cups
Cooked green lentils - 2 tins worth, or again about 2-3 cups
Oil/butter for frying
Hard boiled eggs (1 per person) if you don't want to keep it vegan
Chopped corriander to serve

Saute the onion in the fat gently till it's caramelised. Then add the curry powder and cook for a further few minutes to take out the raw taste. Add the rice and stir thoroughly. Cook for 10 mins or so until the rice is heated through. Then add the lentils and cook for a further 5 mins or so. Serve with chopped corriander to garnish it and the hardboiled eggs (if using) cut in half on the top. If you leave the yolks a little soft/runny it's even nicer imho.

Quinoa and Lentil Burgers

I love veggie burgers (see earlier post from today!) and decided to try something different today and base a burger recipe on some delicious steamed red lentils and quinoa we had in Spain in Feb. The results were delicious and eaten by us all (unheard of) though Lex did say he preferred the raw mix to the cooked burger... The recipe has a few stages, but it makes about 12 burgers so you can freeze half for a quick weekeday supper.


Ingredients
1 cup red lentils
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
2 tsp vegan stock powder
1 onion
2 tsp dried herbs
2 slices bread
1/2 cup oats (maybe a few more, depends on how wet the mix is)
1 tbsp soya sauce
ground pepper
1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

Begin by steam cooking the lentils and quinoa. Place in a lidded pan with the water and stock. Gently bring to the boil and then simmer on a very low heat for about 15 mins. Stir frequently to make sure they don't stick to the pan. After about 15 mins the quinoa should be cooked and the lentils al dente. Turn off the heat and leave the lid on for a further 15 mins. This will finish off the cooking process.

Meanwhile blitz the onion in a food processor till pureed. Do the same to the bread. Place the breadcrumbs, onion, herbs, soya sauce, sunflower seeds and pepper into a mixing bowl along with the lentils and quinoa. Mix thoroughly. Add the oats and mix till it comes together into a dough like consistency. Add some more oats if you think it needs it. If you didn't want the burgers to be vegan you could also add an egg here but I don't really think it needs it tbh...

Once the burgers have been mixed, place the sesame seeds on to a shallow plate/bowl. Wet your hands and take a small handful of the mixture and shape into a burger shape. Place in the sesame seeds to cover both sides and then put on a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the mixture. If you want to freeze them, place in the freezer at this stage to open freeze. Otherwise place the baking sheet into a hot oven for 15 mins or so, turning over half way until toasted and warmed through.

Serve in the traditional manner - in a burger bun with ketchup, mustard and salad. We had cucumber, onions and alfafa seed mix (alfafa, radish and fenugreek). Very yummy and disgustingly healthy!

Veggie Tofu Burgers

I wanted a nice veggie burger for lunch. None of that pre-brought frozen stuff today, but rather the 1970's in a bun - all lentils and tofu and earnest-ness so I can pretend that burgers are good for you.

The recipe I came up with was based on something posted on an internet forum:
Ingredients:
100g oats
75g flour
250g tofu
3 carrots grated
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbsp mushroom ketchup
1 tbsp hendersons relish
1 egg, beaten


Directions:

Lob everything apart from the egg into a food processor. Blitz until it's the consistency you want (I like mine smooth to hide the scary bits from Lex!). Add the egg and mix till the mixture comes together. Sometimes you can omit the egg if it's moist enough (or you want a vegan version)

To cook place on a lightly oiled baking tray and bake in the oven at 180C till cooked (approx 10 mins).

Serve in a bun with salad (I feel that alfafa and cucumber and raw onion are obligatory here!) and relish and sweet potato wedges on the side. Sit back in a smug haze of healthy eating induced glow...

Swede, carrot and chard curry

This is one NOT to make... I am not that keen on chard, but figure that pretty much everything tastes better when curried. Not in this case! Actually I'm diselling my curry a little. It was edible, just not that great, and certainly not something I'd want to make again. However, if you like chard maybe you'll like this...

For the curry paste you need:
1 tsp each of:
black onion seeds
corriander seeds
mustard seeds
cumin seeds
2tsp each of:
ground corriander
tumeric
ground cumin
3 cloves garlic
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, roughly chopped

Lightly toast the whole spices in 1 tbsp of oil until they begin to pop. Put all of the above into a mini food processor and blend till smooth. Add some water/oil if it's not wet enough.

For the curry:
Peel and chop 1 small-ish swede into bite sized pieces
Peel and chop 3 medium carrots
Wash and destalk a packet of chard.

Heat the curry paste in a pan, and then add the swede and carrot. Sweat for a bit then add 1 tin chopped toms and about 200ml water along with 2-3 whole dried chillis (tear in half if you want the curry hotter). Bring to the boil and simmer till the veggies are al dente. Add the chard and cook for another 5 mins or so. Serve with roti and rice.

Tiramisu

I love tiramisu and have tried lots of different recipes. This one, adapted from Jamie Oliver, is my current fave and is also very quick to make.

You need:
500g mascapone (last time I made it I used 250g mascaopne and 250g quark)
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp khalua or other liqueur
1/2 packet sponge fingers
1/2 pint strong coffee
1/4 cup kalhua or other liqueur
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
cocoa powder/grated plain chocolate

Begin by making the coffee. Add 2 tbsp sugar to it and the 1/4 cup kaluha. Pour this over the sponge fingers which you have placed into a serving dish. Leave to soak into the fingers.
Mix the mascaopne with the remaining sugar, kalhua and vanilla. Beat till smooth. Spread over the sponge fingers and then top with some cocoa/grated choc. Chill till needed.

Beware making this with low fat mascaopne. It turns into tirama-soup rather than tiramisu. Tastes OK but looks pretty grim!!

Vegetable and Cheese Gratin

A winter staple, also know as "what the heck do I do with all the root veggies that were in the veg box rather than use them to make compost again?!"...

This reminds me of Sunday lunches at home when I was a child - mum would often use up the left over veg in a delicious gratin like this.

What we had:
1 cabbage
6 large carrots, roughly chopped into bite sized pieces
1 head broccoli

Steam the veggies to make them tender. Meanwhile make a mornay sauce from:
1 pint milk (I use soya milk)
2oz plain flour
2oz butter

Either make the sauce using the all in one method (lob it all into a pan and wait for the butter to melt) or use the traditional roux method. Once the sauce has thickened, add:
2 tsp english mustard powder
2 tsp french mustard
100g grated cheddar.

Add a drained can of butter beans to the mornay sauce then layer the veggies into a gratin dish. Pour over the sauce and beans and top with a little more grated cheddar and some Parmesan. You can add some breadcrumbs to it too to make it more crunchy.

Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees) for about 20-30 mins till browned and bubbling. Serve on it's own or with veggie sausages or just some crusty bread.

Vegetable curry, tandoori paneer and sweet lassi

OK that might sound like a veritable feast for a weeknight, but I guarantee you can make it all in 30 mins and then sit down and eat like a king!

Curry
1 tbsp oil
2 large carrots, sliced
2 onions, chopped
3 tbsp curry paste (home made or from a jar)
1 tin toms
175 ml water
2 tbsp veggie stock powder
good handful new potatoes, chopped roughly into bite sized chunks
1 head cauliflower

Start by sauteeing the onions in the oil till tender. Then lob in the curry paste, carrots and potatoes and fry for a few mins. Add the tin of toms, water and stock powder. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 25 mins till the carrots and potatoes are cooked. Add the cauliflower after 10 mins.

Tandoori Paneer
Half a tub of natural yogurt (the runny kind!)
3 tbsp tandoori spice powder
1 packet paneer, diced.

Mix the tandoori powder with the yogurt and then add the paneer. Leave to marinate for a few mins (you can do this the night before if you want). The spread out onto a nin stick baking tray. Roast in a hot oven (200 degrees) for 20 mins.

Serve the curry and paneer with roti or rice. Wash down with sweet lassi

Sweet lassi
Half tub runny yogurt
Equivilent amount of water
Good couple of handfuls of ice
2 cardomon pods, seeds removed
4 tbsp sugar

Put everything into a blender and blend till smooth. Check for sweetness and serve :)

Leek and Potato Soup

Yes, it's that time of year again when a warming bowl of nourishing soup is just what the doctor ordered. One of N's favourite soups is leek and potato, and given that the veg box delivers these on a frequent basis, I thought I'd share my recipe.

For 4-5 generous servings you need:
700g potatoes, diced
3 large leeks, sliced (or a couple of leeks and some onions. Hey it even works with just onions but you'd need to change the name of the soup...)
1 litre veg stock. I like it with a dark one, e.g. one made with marmite or vecon veg stock.
1 tbsp butter/oil
Milk/soya milk if required to finish the soup.

Begin by sweating the leeks/onions and potatoes in the oil/butter. Add the stock and cook till the potatoes are tender. At this stage, thoughts are divided. N likes his soup blended till smooth and let down with a little milk. L and I like it chunky so we can eat the different bits separately. Whatever you prefer, serve with lashings of crusty bread and maybe some cheese on the side too.

Chocolate Fridge Cake / Tiffin

L wanted to do some baking with daddy today so they knocked up some tiffin which mummy then sat and ate far too much of!

Ingredients
200g chocolate digestive biscuits
110g dried apricots, roughly chopped
110g mixed vine fruit
10 glace cherries, rinsed of the sugar syrup and halved
150g butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
200g dark chocolate

Method
Break the biscuits into small pieces directly into a large bowl. Add the fruit and mix together.

Melt the rest of the ingredients then mix in the fruit.

Pour into a loaf tin lined with clingfilm and put in the fridge to set for a couple of hours. Eat and repeat!

Last of the Summer Strawberries

I got suckered into buying 2 packs of strawberries in Waitrose yesterday. They were on offer for 2 punnets @ £3 and smelt goooooooooood so in to the trolley they went.

I devoured one punnet with DH last night in front of the wire in an attempt to make my scoffing of a half packet of Choco Liebenz seem more healthy.

The other punnet got macerated this morning. I keep hearing about doing this to strawberries but have never actually got round to doing it. But I did this morning for the regular pancake fest that is my sunday morning brekkie and they were delicious.

You need:
1 punnet strawberries
couple of tbsp sugar
couple of shakes of balsamic vinager
a brave grinding of black pepper

Slice the strawbs and toss into a bowl with the sugar and vinegar, grind over the pepper. Mix thoroughly and then leave. A lovely syrup will form which soaks nicely into thick American style pancakes. Yummy.

BTW the strawbs I got from Waitrose were called Sweet Eve. Much nicer than bouncy Elsanta they were too :)

Meal Plans for Next Week

So far, so good on the meal planning front. 2 weeks in and the weekly shop was £65 for the first week and £71 for the second. This is miraculous as it's normally nearer to £150 (blush). Plus we've been throwing less food away which is also good.

So plans for next week are:

Curry and rice (am liking curry a lot at the moment!). This one will probably be potato and carrot as have those to use up and maybe some tandoori paneer with it too.
Leek and potato soup
Lentil stew with mashed potatoes, broccoli, carrots and braised red cabbage
Veggie fry up - bacon, sausages, beans, eggs and hash browns
Omelette, chips and salad
Stir fried veggies in teryaki sauce with quinoa and lentils

Random Ingredient Lasagne

The veg box delivered a load of courgettes which I have to say are not one of my favourite veggies. So I thought I'd make a lasagne with them where they'd be semi-hidden and there was some ricotta to use up in the fridge too. The ricotta however was sell by 26 June 2009 (yes today *is* September 11th 2009), so despite it tasting OK I didn't want to risk it and ditched it in favour of some quark (which was also past it's sell by date, but only by 12 days this time!!).

I never used to be able to make a decent lasagne and after years of trying decided that maybe it was my lasagne dish that was letting me down. It was! Lasagne now tastes edible in my house and tonight's concoction was pretty tasty.

Tomato and courgette lasagne
Ingredients
Tomato sauce
2 medium onions, chopped
1 tin toms
1 carton passata
spalsh balasmic vinager
1 tsp veg stock powder
pinch sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

Courgette layer
4 courgettes, roughly diced
3 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper
1 tub quark (ricotta would taste better imho)

Lasagne
6 or so sheets lasagne
2 good handfuls of grated cheddar
1 good handul grated parmesan
either 1 roughly torn mozzarella ball or 10 or so mini mozz balls

First make the tomato sauce. Saute the onions in the oil and then add everything else. Simmer for 10 mins till slightly thickened.

For the courgettes fry them in the oil for a few mins then add the garlic and salt and pepper. Saute for 10 mins or so until tender. Add the quark/ricotta and stir till mixed. Take off the heat.

Assemble the lasagne by putting 2 sheets pasta in the bottom of a dish and then adding a half the tom sauce. Add more pasta then the courgette layer. Add more pasta then the other half of the tom sauce. Top with the cheese and bake in a hot oven (180 degrees) for 30-45 mins till cooked and bubbling.

Serve with salad, crusty bread and lashings of wine. Rather superb for a friday night supper, and at least 4 of your 5 a day portions!

Noodles

I had a pack of marinated tofu in the fridge that needed to be used up today so something had to be based around that. After seeing some yummy looking noodles at a conference dinner on Tuesday night I decided to try and recreate something along those lines. This is what I came up with.

Vegetable and Tofu Noodles

What you need:
1 pack marinated tofu (or do your own!)
3 bundles noodles, cooked according to pack instructions
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 large leek, finely sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1/4 cup light soya sauce
1/3 cup sweet sherry
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 inches ginger, grated

What you do:
Start by stir frying the leeks in a large wok. Then add the veggies and the soya sauce/sherry/vinegar. Place a lid on the wok and steam fry the veggies till the carrots and broccoli are tender.
Meanwhile cook the noodles.
Add the noodles and tofu to the wok and heat through.
Serve in bowls topped with corriander, sweet chilli sauce, toasted sesame seeds and more soya sauce to taste. Delicious, quick and healthy!

Breakfast Smoothie

I am not a breakfast person. Well actually that's not true. I am, but only on the weekends or when I have proper time. For some reason I wake starving but my body doesn't actually want any food in it for a couple of hours. This is moreso on a week day when I cycle to work. The thought of food before a 5 mile commute makes me cold! Smoothies tho, do seem to be tolerated by my fickle body. My current fave combo is banana and raspberry. I recently brought a new stand alone blender to replace my aging food processor goblet which had seen better days (it was 16 years old!). I heartily recommend the Kenwood K-Mix as it makes a sublimely smooth smoothie. And a pretty good frozen Margaretha too ;-0

Whizz to a smooth puree the following:
1 ripe banana
2 large handfuls frozen rapsberries (frozen ones work the best as they thicken the smoothie)
150-250 ml soya milk depending on how thick you like it
1 tsp runny honey (or to taste). If you want to keep it vegan then add some agarve nectar or sugar or something...

Sweet Potato and Chick Pea Curry

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I couldn't really make a curry as DH wasn't that keen on them. He'd tolerate them politely, but it wasn't something I felt I could do that often. Thankfully after an extended trip to Pakistan, curry is back on the menu, which is pretty good seeing as where we live we have access to a huge variety of Asian ingredients.

I'd been playing about with the idea of making a nice chickpea and sweet potato curry for yonks, so threw some bits and bobs together and was very happy with the result. So here it is in order for me to make it again next time I fancy it.

Ingredients
Veggies etc:
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped
1 tin toms, whizzed to a puree
75g ground almonds
75g butter (or oil for vegan version)
1 tin drained chickpeas or equivalent frozen/freshly cooked peas

Curry paste
6 cloves garlic
3 small chillies
3 inch piece ginger
5 tbsp veg oil
2 tsp tumeric, garam masala, corriander, cumin

Whizz all the paste ingredients to a puree.

Fry the onion in a little oil for a few mins then add the curry paste (about 4 tbsp, freeze the rest or leave in the fridge and use within a week). Add all the other ingredients aside from the butter and almonds and simmer for 20 mins or so till the potatoes are tender. Add the butter and almonds and stir through. Add a little more liquid if you want more of a gravy.

Serve with cucumber salad and roti. Beware the stinky farts that will ensue ;-)

Meeeeeeso Miso

I have a strange child. He likes odd food. Other parents look at him with a bemused air when he visits for tea. He doesn't like what other children like: fishfingers, peas, spag bol etc. But he does like miso soup, so as a returning to school treat today we had it for dinner.

The veggies vary depending on what we fancy. Tonight was bottom of the fridge miso soup but it tasted good!

Ingredients:
2 bundles noodles (any kind, but soba or ramen are the nicest)
1.5 litres boiling water
1 onion, roughly sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 chilli, sliced
1 large lump ginger, grated
2 tbsp miso paste (any type, we like the pale one at the moment)
2 carrots, sliced
bok choi, roughly chopped
baby sweetcorn, roughly chopped into bite sized chunks
tofu, cubed
soya sauce to taste
toasted sesame seeds, to garnish
chopped corriander, to garnish

Start by sauteeing the onion in a little oil for a few mins. Add all the other veggies aside from the bok choi and then add the noodles and boiling water. Bring to the boil and cook the noodles for 2-3 mins. Add the miso paste and reduce the heat (don't boil after the miso is added or you'll kill the enzymes). Season to taste with soya sauce. Add the tofu for the last minute or so to heat through.

Serve in shallow bowls topped with more soya sauce and the sesame seeds and corriander. Feel virtuous for an hour or so afterwards before you gorge on sugar to fill yourself up again!

Butter Masala Paneer

Ever since eating this at a local vegetarian place in the centre of Bradford (Tulsi for those of you local!) I have become addicted to the buttery yumminess of this dish. I wanted to create it at the weekend but after doing some serious googling decided I couldn't be bothered with the whole faff of blanching and pureeing onions or frying off paneer etc. So I cheated. DH called this a heart attack in a pan, you are warned!

Mumtaz (another curry palace local to Bradford) have a great range of cooking sauces, which unlike some of the others on the market, only contain normal ingredients and no fillers. So I experimented with a jar of tikka masala sauce and created something pretty yummy.

I used:
1 jar Mumtaz tikka masala sauce
2/3 jar water
a big fat lump of butter (probably about 100g, eek)
1 fresh tomato, skinned and finely chopped
75g ground almonds
200g cubed paneer.
Fresh chopped corriander to garnish/serve

Dump the sauce into a pan and add the butter and water. Let the butter melt gently into the sauce, stirring to make sure it doesn't catch. When the butter has melted add the ground almonds, tomato and paneer. Cook for about 15 mins or so until the sauce has reduced a little. I needed to add some sugar too as the sauce was a little bitter. Serve with roti and lots of fresh corriander.

Rice Pudding

Ahhh a childhood staple. I adore rice pudding. Sometimes only a can or carton will do when I am in a trashy junk food mood. But other times I crave rich, luscious, creamy home made rice pudding. My mum taught me the trick of using a can of evaporated milk in with the normal milk to give an instant richness and creaminess to it. Recently I've also started to add cardamon and other spices to liven it up a bit. The recipe below is my all time favourite.


What you need
2.5oz of pudding rice or risotto/paella rice
2 tbsp sugar (I use vanilla)
1 pint milk - use one large can of evaporated milk and top up with semi-skimmed to the pint
3 cracked cardamon pods
grating fresh nutmeg
few strands of saffron

Mix all of the ingredients together and then place in a lidded casserole dish into a pre-heated 150 degree oven. Stir after the first 30 mins and then leave to slowly cook for 90 mins or so until the rice is cooked. I think it's better fridge cold the next day after the rice has plumped up a bit and the flavours have mingled, but DH thinks it's best eaten hot straight from the oven. Either way it makes a luscious pudding or breakfast.

Meal Planning

I aspire to plan my meals weekly. Every week I gasp in horror at the total at the supermarket and vow, yet again, to remember to plan my meals in advance and only buy what I need. You see my cupboards are full to bursting. I pride myself on being able to make whatever I fancy at the drop of a hat. Need some groats? No problem. What about some avocado oil? It's in the 2nd cupboard from the left.

However the downside to this is that we throw away more food than I'd like. And there's never any bloody space to put anything away once I have been shopping. Again. I am secretly addicted to supermarket shopping. I feel it's allowed for me to spend money on food. Much moreso than coming home having blown £150 on clothes every week...

So, given that school goes back this week, and that there is a definite chill in the air I have once again vowed to meal plan. So here is the line up for next week in no particular order:

Mains:
Jacket spuds with beans and cheese
Butter masala paneer with dhal and rice
Kedgeree with eggs and lentils
Thai green curry
Miso soup with tofu and noodles
Lentil stew with mash and veggies
Cheese and onion pie with sausages
Chickpea and sweet potato curry

Puds:
Rice pudding
Lemon suprise pudding
Brownies with ice cream
Pear cake and custard

Hopefully we can use up all the leftovers, have something already in the fridge for lunch and not spend a fortune this week. So far the shopping bill total is £51 which is pretty good for me...

Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes

A while ago I decided I wanted something nice to do with my boy on Sundays, and given our shared enjoyment of cookery I decided making pancakes on a Sunday morning would be a nice thing to do. A year later and I am wondering why I started! Every Sunday, without fail, we have to have pancakes now. If I am lucky I can make crepes, but usually it's thick, fluffy, American style pancakes that are on the menu. I can't really complain as it's a nice tradition to have, but still, sometimes you fancy something a leetle different!

The recipe I use for the American pancakes is taken from Rachel Allen's 'Food for Living':

Ingredients
125ml milk (soya works well)
2 ripe bananas
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb
150g plain flour
50g vanilla sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp vegetable oil (I am too lazy to melt butter, but it tastes better if you do)

Lob all of the ingredients into a blender or whizz with a hand blander. I got suckered in to buying a Bamix a while back, and it's useless for everything other than making pancake batter. A very expensive whisk! But it makes sublime batter. It really does.

Method
Pour spoonfuls of the batter onto a hot griddle pan, no need to bother using oil if it's non-stick. Let them cook until bubbles appear and the underside is golden brown. Flip over and cook on the other side for about 30 seconds. Serve with our favourite toppings:

lashings of maple syrup
nutella
strawberry jam (home made if you have it)
lemon and sugar (Lex's favourite)

If you have some black or red currants stashed in the freezer, then drop them into the batter when you spoon it onto the pan, they will take a little longer to cook so lower the heat and enjoy the sharp tang of the fruit as you eat them.

Repeat every sunday ad infinitum...

Broad Beans Nil Points

Dinner was a bit of a let down tonight it has to be said. I wanted to use up the broad beans from the veg box, and decided to try a variation of this broad bean bruschetta on the Good Food website. The recipe worked pretty well. Instead of the suggestions on the website, I blanched the beans and added them to 1 crushed garlic clove, 1/2 a squeezed lemon and some finely chopped parsely as neither I or DH are that keen on mint. I then piled the mashed bean mixture onto some slices of bread and warmed them through in the oven. So far so good. After they'd cooked, I managed to lose half of DH's topping on the top of the oven, darn. They tasted OK, but were a bit fiddly to eat. I served the bruschetta with some pan fried haloumi and onions and salad. Have to say, I'm not that keen on broad beans and feel quite sick now, but that could be from the rapidly quaffed kir I had alongside my dinner and the 2 teaspoonfuls of marmite I ate afterwards!

Have celery, chinese leaf and corriander to use up tomorrow so I think DH will be back into eastern fusion food tomorrow, much to his delight ;-)

A(nother) new blog...

Well given that most of my tweets/FB updates consist of food related items, I thought I would take the plunge and start a food blog. It may work, it may not! But if nothing else it will help me to track what I have been cooking and how it turned out. Plus I enjoyed keeping the blog about Canada and I have been investigating blogging at work recently too.

So here goes...

Tortilla Soup

Here is the recipe for the yummy tortilla soup I created last night. It was based on a delicious bowl of soup we had at Toronto airport in August and I was pretty pleased with the end result I concocted last night!

Ingredients
For the soup
1 tin toms
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 can drained and rinsed black (turtle) beans
1 can drained and rinsed kidney beans
1 can drained and rinsed sweetcorn
1 litre vegetable stock
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cocoa
1 tsp chilli powder (or to taste)
salt and pepper

For the garnish and salsa
1 ripe avocado, diced
large handful corriander roughly chopped
1 red onion, diced small
small pot soured cream
Plain/salted tortilla chips

Method
To make the soup blend the onion, garlic and tomatoes in a blender. Add to a large pan with the vegetable oil and heat for a few mins. Add the oregano, chilli, cocoa, salt and pepper, stock and beans/sweetcorn. Cook for about 5 mins or so until heated through.

For the salsa, combine the avocado, onion and corriander.

To serve ladle soup into shallow bowls and finish with a dollop of soured cream in the middle. Top with a large spoonful of the salsa and serve with tortilla chips on the side.