one onion, 1/3 swede, garlic, veg stock cube.
heat olive oil in pan, add onion & garlic, after a while add chopped swede, water, stock cube. Simmer over wood stove in front room for half an hour, then whizz up with electric gadget, then eat with slightly stale ciabatta, reduced in supermarket, whilst wearing hippyish fleece lined zip up jumper from car boot sale.
perfect for a snowy Monday evening ;-)
Monday, 2 February 2009
Thursday, 8 January 2009
Meze
'We're having meze - bring a contribution' they said.
Seemed a reasonable idea, so a bit of prodding around the internet (links in dish titles) found:
Ful medames - bean salad
A tin of borlotti beans (rinsed), lemon juice, crushed garlic, chopped cherry tomatoes, olive oil, cumin
worked quite well; the recipe said dill, I put some parsley in which worked OK
Piperies Xythates - marinated peppers
I don't even know what 'Bell Peppers' are, so used the long red sweetish ones; too sweet in the end, especially as the red wine vinegar I knew I had in the cupboard turned out to be raspberry flavoured. Anyway - peppers cut into strips, boiled for around 5 mins, marinated in the red wine vinegar for an hour, then covered in oilve oil.
Melitzanes Tiganites - aubergine in batter
Soda water batter? Not convinced, but had a bottle of fizzy water at work I could bring home and try (don't really hold with bottled water). Was also running out of flour, so batter ended up being very runny, too light. The aubergine was sliced, salted to get excess moisture out and dried, then fried for a few mins each side. A few got too burned to take to a social event, and went in the tiffin tin whilst stil hot so ended up soggy rather than crispy, but mostly worked.
An ideal use for the tiffin tin, brought back from (ahem) Jaipur years and years ago. Dramatic to arrive with, although the dishes need to be put on a plate (as the base of each is the lid of the one below) and needed to be carried wrapped in a carrier bag, as it doesn't entirely deal to hold the oil etc in... ;-)
So - non-local & seasonal food, often the nature of having food from other cultures, but interesting to make, and a rare example of me following recipes. ;-)
Seemed a reasonable idea, so a bit of prodding around the internet (links in dish titles) found:
Ful medames - bean salad
A tin of borlotti beans (rinsed), lemon juice, crushed garlic, chopped cherry tomatoes, olive oil, cumin
worked quite well; the recipe said dill, I put some parsley in which worked OK
Piperies Xythates - marinated peppers
I don't even know what 'Bell Peppers' are, so used the long red sweetish ones; too sweet in the end, especially as the red wine vinegar I knew I had in the cupboard turned out to be raspberry flavoured. Anyway - peppers cut into strips, boiled for around 5 mins, marinated in the red wine vinegar for an hour, then covered in oilve oil.
Melitzanes Tiganites - aubergine in batter
Soda water batter? Not convinced, but had a bottle of fizzy water at work I could bring home and try (don't really hold with bottled water). Was also running out of flour, so batter ended up being very runny, too light. The aubergine was sliced, salted to get excess moisture out and dried, then fried for a few mins each side. A few got too burned to take to a social event, and went in the tiffin tin whilst stil hot so ended up soggy rather than crispy, but mostly worked.
An ideal use for the tiffin tin, brought back from (ahem) Jaipur years and years ago. Dramatic to arrive with, although the dishes need to be put on a plate (as the base of each is the lid of the one below) and needed to be carried wrapped in a carrier bag, as it doesn't entirely deal to hold the oil etc in... ;-)
So - non-local & seasonal food, often the nature of having food from other cultures, but interesting to make, and a rare example of me following recipes. ;-)
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
using it up with bacon
boil up some water add pasta and chopped root veg and leave to cook.
in the mean time, fry onions garlic and bacon in a frying pan (or Wok), then add the soft veggies (beans and broccoli).
When the pasta/root veggie pot is all soft drain it, bung it in the frying pan, mix it all up, add herbs and grated cheese and hey presto - delicious!
in the mean time, fry onions garlic and bacon in a frying pan (or Wok), then add the soft veggies (beans and broccoli).
When the pasta/root veggie pot is all soft drain it, bung it in the frying pan, mix it all up, add herbs and grated cheese and hey presto - delicious!
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Fine burgers
A recipe of my mum's which makes really delicious burgers, though when I made them the other day, found I needed to add an extra courgette and a big dollop of peanut-butter to bind in all the breadcrumbs in this recipe...
100gms mushrooms
1 small onion
1 small courgette (I used two)
1 carrot
100gms fresh breadcrumbs
2tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp yeast extract
25 gms peanuts (I also used 1 large tbsp crunchy peanut-butter)
salt & pepper if wanted.
Finely chop the mushrooms and cook without oil, stirring to drive out moisture.
Finley grate/food process the onion, courgette, carrot, nuts and add in the mushrooms, parsley & yeast extract. Stir together (adding extra courgette & peanut-butter to help bind if necessary) Dust hands and board with flour to shape mixture into burgers, then chill them in't fridge for 30 mins (on my boat, just leave em out in the kitchen!). Fry in a little oil for 8-10 minutes. Scoff.
100gms mushrooms
1 small onion
1 small courgette (I used two)
1 carrot
100gms fresh breadcrumbs
2tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp yeast extract
25 gms peanuts (I also used 1 large tbsp crunchy peanut-butter)
salt & pepper if wanted.
Finely chop the mushrooms and cook without oil, stirring to drive out moisture.
Finley grate/food process the onion, courgette, carrot, nuts and add in the mushrooms, parsley & yeast extract. Stir together (adding extra courgette & peanut-butter to help bind if necessary) Dust hands and board with flour to shape mixture into burgers, then chill them in't fridge for 30 mins (on my boat, just leave em out in the kitchen!). Fry in a little oil for 8-10 minutes. Scoff.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
a badly written post about gluten
One of the things I keep in mind about being vegan is that it is a choice rather than a requirement, health or otherwise. So whilst I obviously appreciate efforts made to feed me nice food, I'm happy just to choice from what's available, I don't expect anyone to make anything specially for me (and hey, sometimes they don't).
Health requirements, though, are different; perhaps I'm just glad I'm not limited in that way, but I do try to make an effort. Two different friends are made ill by gluten in food, so I bought some gluten-free flour. The first attempt to use it was in a vegetable crumble topping; fairly disastrous, I didn't put nearly enough fat in as it seemed to need, even though there was plenty in there, and it stayed drty, and white, and fairly inedible.
Next attempt was a birthday cake, to accommodate the celebrant's flatmate; vegan, of course, so I could have some too. I think this is wherte the gluten was really missed, as we were without eggs, too. Despite baking powder (which of course had wheat in anyway), what should have been a fairly light carrot cake with walnuts & apple completely failed to rise, and indeed 'set' rather than cooked. On the grounds that it's the thought that counts, I covered it in Green & Blacks Maya Gold, and presented it anyway, and got away with it.
No pictures of either to illustrate this post - probably a good thing. ;-)
Obviously I suspect with a little more practise I'd find better ways of using the flour, but I think in future I'll just avoid flour-based foods when they're around - easier with main meals rather than cake; in some ways I wanted to make something they wouldn't normally get to eat, but I'd rather be more successful otherwise, I think. I'm also used to using wholemeal flour, and the gluten-free type is very 'white', with no real fibre to it.
Health requirements, though, are different; perhaps I'm just glad I'm not limited in that way, but I do try to make an effort. Two different friends are made ill by gluten in food, so I bought some gluten-free flour. The first attempt to use it was in a vegetable crumble topping; fairly disastrous, I didn't put nearly enough fat in as it seemed to need, even though there was plenty in there, and it stayed drty, and white, and fairly inedible.
Next attempt was a birthday cake, to accommodate the celebrant's flatmate; vegan, of course, so I could have some too. I think this is wherte the gluten was really missed, as we were without eggs, too. Despite baking powder (which of course had wheat in anyway), what should have been a fairly light carrot cake with walnuts & apple completely failed to rise, and indeed 'set' rather than cooked. On the grounds that it's the thought that counts, I covered it in Green & Blacks Maya Gold, and presented it anyway, and got away with it.
No pictures of either to illustrate this post - probably a good thing. ;-)
Obviously I suspect with a little more practise I'd find better ways of using the flour, but I think in future I'll just avoid flour-based foods when they're around - easier with main meals rather than cake; in some ways I wanted to make something they wouldn't normally get to eat, but I'd rather be more successful otherwise, I think. I'm also used to using wholemeal flour, and the gluten-free type is very 'white', with no real fibre to it.
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Pulses
I need to know about pulses.
Can I eat chickpeas that are in a tin (rather than dried) raw?
What do I do with lentils from a packet (not in a tin)?
Can I eat lentils from a tin raw?
I cant go another week without knowing.
Can I eat chickpeas that are in a tin (rather than dried) raw?
What do I do with lentils from a packet (not in a tin)?
Can I eat lentils from a tin raw?
I cant go another week without knowing.
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Vital Stand-by Ingredients from Happyhome
I can't be without -
CHILLI DIPPING SAUCE - I buy large bottles of it from the lovely Oriental Supermarket in Leamington, it is cheap and seems to work wonders wherever I splash it around.
Spicy Squash and Tomato Soup
======================
In the same medium oven slowly roast chunks of squash and halved tomatoes until the squash is soft and a bit caramelised and the tomatoes are semi-dried. Finely dice and soften some onions and garlic, add the squash and tomato and enough boiling water to cover, simmer for 10 minutes and mash away with a potato masher, the tomatoes break down surprisingly well. Add a tablespoon or two (as your taste requires) of sweet chilli dipping sauce towards the end - this is all there is to it, though a handful of fresh coriander and finely sliced spring onions at the point of serving would lift this from warm and comforting, to zingy and interesting.
CHILLI DIPPING SAUCE - I buy large bottles of it from the lovely Oriental Supermarket in Leamington, it is cheap and seems to work wonders wherever I splash it around.
Spicy Squash and Tomato Soup
======================
In the same medium oven slowly roast chunks of squash and halved tomatoes until the squash is soft and a bit caramelised and the tomatoes are semi-dried. Finely dice and soften some onions and garlic, add the squash and tomato and enough boiling water to cover, simmer for 10 minutes and mash away with a potato masher, the tomatoes break down surprisingly well. Add a tablespoon or two (as your taste requires) of sweet chilli dipping sauce towards the end - this is all there is to it, though a handful of fresh coriander and finely sliced spring onions at the point of serving would lift this from warm and comforting, to zingy and interesting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)