Apple and mincemeat strudel

Using up the rest of the filo I used for this.  And some of the excess mincemeat jarred before Christmas - turns out it is still fine.

4 medium dessert apples
1 small (~250g) pot mincemeat
4 tbsp melted butter / marg
2 tbsp warm honey
~1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup breadcrumbs
4 sheets #7 filo

Preheat oven to 350F.

Peel and finely slice the apples.  Mix with the mincemeat.

Melt ~ 2 tbsp 'butter' in a small frying pan, add breadcrumbs and stir til they are browned and fragrant without being burnt at all.

Lightly oil a large cookie sheet.  Place the first filo sheet on it, smear with melted butter, then layer the other filo sheets in the same way (keep enough melted butter to put some on top of the roll at the end).

Spread the top sheet with warm honey, then sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of that.

Put the apple mix along the long side of the filo sheets.  Then wrap it up.  Cut slits in the top filo and put some butter on top.

Put in the oven at 350F for 30-40min, til the filo is golden brown.

Allow to cool for ~15 min before slicing and eating.

This is actually surprisingly good!  The filo is a good texture and not burnt at the bottom, the apples are well cooked, the filling is tasty and not too sweet.  The browned breadcrumbs were definitely worth adding - they elevate it to being a proper strudel and not just an apple pie.  The apple vs mincemeat ratio is perhaps a little out - might have used more apple and less mincemeat.

Barley, green stuff and marinated tofu

I was looking for things to do with the za'atar I bought at the Armenian store - found this:


ottolenghi pearl barley tabbouleh @ Guardian

Serves four.
40g pearl barley
100g feta (substituted firm tofu, well drained)
1½ tbsp olive oil
1 tsp za'atar
½ tsp coriander seeds, lightly toasted and crushed
¼ tsp ground cumin
80g parsley, leaves and stems (may have been a bit short, was still fine)
4 spring onions (about 40g in total), finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed (just used one - am nervous of too much raw garlic)
40g cashew nuts, lightly toasted and crushed roughly
1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into 1cm dice (used a poblano - no spice to it anyway)
½ tsp ground allspice
2 tbsp lemon juice
60ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Put the pearl barley in a small saucepan, cover with water and boil for 30-35 minutes, until tender but still with a bite. Drain into a fine sieve, shake to remove all the water and transfer to a large bowl.
Break the feta/tofu into rough pieces about 2cm in size, and mix in a small bowl with the olive oil, za'atar, coriander seeds and cumin. Gently mix together and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the salad.
Chop the parsley finely and place in a bowl with the spring onion, garlic, cashew nuts, green pepper, allspice, lemon juice, olive oil and cooked pearl barley. Mix well together and season to taste.
To serve, divide the salad between four plates and top with the marinated feta/tofu.

It was good - liked the green tastes and spices.  The marinade worked well on the tofu - texturally different than feta would have been but still good I think.  I like za'atar.

interesting cakes to try

1. http://harryeastwood.com/archives/416 

1. Take one eggplant, weighing around 400-450gm and poke it a few times with a knife. Steam for 5-10 minutes until starting to sag and look rather sorry for itself.
2. Allow the eggplant to cool down a little and then peel the skin off before blitzing it in a food processor to create a puree.
3. Put the eggplant in a small pan and reheat slightly.  Remove from the heat and then add 300gm of dark chocolate, broken in to chunks.  Mix and allow the heat of the eggplant and warm pan to melt the chocolate.
4. In a bowl mix together 50gm cocoa powder, 60gm ground hazelnuts, a pinch of salt, 2 tsp baking powder, 3 eggs and 200gm honey.
5. When the chocolate is completely melted in to the eggplant add the entire contents of the pan to your other ingredients.
6. Mix everything together then pour in to a 21cm spring form tin which has been greased and lined completely with baking paper.
7. Pop the cake in to an oven pre-heated to 180 degrees and cook for 30 to 35 minutes.
8. The cake will remain moist, so use your cake instincts to tell you when it is ready to come out of the oven.
9. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely in the tin.  This will take at least 3 hours – be patient!
10. Carefully remove the cake from the tin and place on a plate before dusting with extra cocoa powder.

2 small whole aubergines/1 large weighing 400g
300g best dark chocolate you can find (minimum 70% cocoa solids) broken into pieces
50g good quality cocoa powder
60g ground almonds
3 medium eggs
200g clear honey (I used seggiano chestnut honey)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp brandy

1 x 23cm diameter x 7cm cake tin
A skewer
A microwave
A blender (I used a stick blender)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Line the tin with baking parchment and lightly grease the base and sides.
Cook the aubergine: prick all over with a skewer, place in a microwaveable bowl, cover with cling film and cook on a high heat in the microwave for 8 minutes until limp.
Leave until cool enough to handle then skin, discarding any water.
Purée in the blender and then add in the chocolate. Heat a little more in the microwave if the chocolate needs help melting.
Whisk all the other ingredients together in a large bowl.
Add the aubergine mixture. (this mix will be thick, don't worry)
Pour it into the tin, place in the bottom of the oven and cook for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven. let it cool in the tin and then invert it onto a rack to finish cooling.

UNBELIEVABLY rich. Oh my. I had to make it in a square tin as my round tins were not deep enough, but it worked well. Do not over cook it, really. It is like a super rich, squidgy, honey scented brownie.


 http://www.tresnalee.com/chocolate-eggplant-torte/

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jul/22/zoe-williams-vegetable-cakes


For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a 10-inch spring-form pan by lining it with baking parchment.

dry ingredients:
¼ cup ground almonds (I ground blanched almonds in the food processor)
1 ½ cups self-rising flour
5 Tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder

wet ingredients:
3 eggs
¾ cup sugar
4 oz. raw beet, peeled and finely grated
4 oz. low-fat buttermilk
2 Tablespoons strong coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


N.B. I don’t have any self-rising flour, so I mixed my own from all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt: 1 ½ teaspoons of aluminum-free baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt per cup of flour. I use aluminum-free baking powder because it does not have the potentially bitter, tinny taste of regular baking powder. I used Rumford.

Combine dry ingredients and stir well.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs with sugar until very light, almost to a ribbon but not quite (5-7 minutes on medium speed if you have an electric mixer). Add the beets and combine well. Add the buttermilk, coffee, and vanilla. Finally, add the dry ingredients, mixing well but not over-working the batter. Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes before unmolding.

for the chocolate glaze:

Melt in a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot (not boiling) water:
½ cup dark chocolate

Stir in vigorously:

2 Tablespoons strong coffee
2 tablespoons honey


http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2009/08/beet-season-birthday-cake.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Velvet-Chocolate-Heartache-feel-good/dp/0593062361


Banana and toffee sticky cake
Ingredients
For the cake
3 medium free-range eggs
160 g light Muscovado sugar
250 g peeled and finely grated butternut squash
1 tbsp vanilla extract
50 g white rice flour
100 g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
80 g Brazil nuts, roughly chopped (or use pecans or macadamia)
150 g banana, peeled and finely sliced
For the syrup
50g unsalted butter
100g golden syrup
3 tbsp boiling water
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the base of a 22 cm-square by 5-cm deep brownie tin with parchment paper. Grease parchment and sides of tin with butter.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and cappuccino coloured (roughly five minutes on full blast). Beat in the grated butternut squash and vanilla extract with a whisk until well combined.
Whisk in the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt until smooth. Finally, with the help of a spatula, mix in the Brazil nuts and banana (reserve a small handful of banana slices for the top).
Tip the mixture into the prepared tin. Dot the reserved banana slices over the top of the cake (flat, so that they look like circles) before placing the cake in the oven for 35 mintues.
Once cooked, remove the cake from the oven and let it stand in its tin to cool while you make the toffee syrup.
In a medium-sized saucepan melt the butter and the golden syrup with the water on a low heat until the butter has become liquid. Turn up the heat and, once boiling point has been reached (when the surface is covered in smallish bubbles), continue to boil hard for three minutes exactly.
Once the three minutes are up, take the pan off the heat immediately and beat the bubbles out of the mixture, which should take no longer than 30 seconds.
Drizzle the hot liquid over the cake quickly, which couldn't be happier for the warm, sticky syrup. I tend to tilt the cake in its tin left, right and back and forth whilst the toffee is still hot and runny to get it spread over the surface. If you go and answer the telephone even for 10 seconds, you will have missed the boat and the toffee will refuse to move, let alone run. If this happens, I'm afraid that the only thing to do is to start the toffee stage again and curse yourself for thinking that you could outwit the stuff.
Once the toffee has drenched the top of the cake, let it stand to sink in for 10 minutes before serving. This is heaven with vanilla or toffee ice cream.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/new-health/health-nutrition/nutrition-features/a-new-cookbook-subs-veggies-for-butter-and-sugar-in-sweet-treats/article1288926/page2/

Breakfast quinoa

An alternative to muesli...

3/4 cup cooked white quinoa
 2 tbsp frozen or fresh blueberries
1/2 a banana, sliced
1/2 an apple, grated
1 tsp flax seeds
handful of dried fruit / nuts / seeds (raisins, sunflower seeds, flaked almonds etc)
1 cup almond milk
2 tsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix all together in a bowl, modifying quantities and adding different fresh or dried fruit, nuts / using different milk etc according to taste.

The quinoa gives it some added bite and texture compared to regular grain muesli.  I like them both.  I tried doing quinoa as a substitute for oats in porridge too, but I preferred it cold.

Green and white bowl

Another quick weeknight supper.

1 cup white quinoa (this makes about twice as much as needed for leftovers)
alfalfa sprouts
1/2 an avocado, diced
~50g firm tofu, diced
1 spring onion, finely chopped
handful of sugarsnap peas
1/2 tbsp coriander, chopped
1/2 tbsp mint, chopped
1/2 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted

1 quantity of tahini lime sauce

Boil the quinoa in 2 cups of water for about 12 min / til cooked / with a little bite left / water absorbed.

Steam the peas for 3 minutes, until green colour intensified but still with some crunch.  Refresh with cold water.  Chop into pieces of desired size.

Toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan, and prepare the sauce.

Mix the quinoa, sprouts, spring onion, herbs, peas, avocado and tofu together in a bowl and then add sauce and sesame seeds to taste.

Tattie scones

I looked these up because of it being St Patrick's Day last week - they are one of my favourite Irish / Scottish foods.  I made about twice as much mashed potato as I needed for the chard package, so the scones were a very quick and easy thing to make...

500g mashed potato (mashed with some salt and pepper, fake milk and olive oil)
100g plain flour

Mix flour and mashed potato thoroughly into a dough.  Divide into four and roll the first piece into an approximate circle 3-5mm thick (I found it easiest to just kinda squash the dough between my hands - was a bit sticky for rolling).  Heat a nonstick frying pan and then put the flattened potato scone on it.  Flip with a fish slice after about 3 minutes, and then cook for approx another 3 minutes on the other side.  Repeat for the other three pieces of dough.  Cut into pieces if desired, and eat em while they're hot!  Or keep til wanted and then heat up in the toaster.


These were really easy and tasted good / like the real thing.  Dough was a bit sticky - maybe I didn't put in enough flour?  Could make a batch and freeze / keep in the fridge to reheat in toaster later.  A good reason to make extra mashed potato!

Big Filo Packages of Chard and Potato

We bought a big bunch of chard and a package of filo from the Armenian grocers in Watertown - this suggested itself.

This makes 2 fat rolls.

~4 medium potatoes, peeled
1 large bunch (~1 lb) chard, stems chopped and leaves torn into pieces (separately)
1-2 onions, chopped
7 cloves garlic, finely chopped
~10 mushrooms, sliced
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
12 sheets thicker (#7) filo
a few olives, finely chopped (optional)
splash of white wine

olive oil
fake milk
salt and pepper

Peel and boil potatoes 15-20 min.  Mash (doesn't matter if they are not perfectly smooth) with fake milk, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  Put into large bowl and set aside.

Fry the onions and garlic for ~5 min.  Add the chard stems and mushrooms and fry another ~5min.  Add salt and pepper and a splash of white wine to taste, and fry til combined and evaporated.  Add the parsley and chard leaves and stir and fry until the chard is wilted.

Add the chard mix and the chopped olives (and any juice or oil with the olives) to the potato and mix.  Set aside (it is good to let filling cool before putting it into the filo).

On a dry clean surface, lay out one sheet of filo.  Spread thinly with olive oil.  Put the next sheet of filo on top and spread with olive oil again, and this time add a sprinkling of sesame seeds.  Continue layering until there are 6 sheets (don't put anything on top of the last sheet).  Spread half the chard/potato mix evenly along one short end of the filo layers.  Then roll it up into a big fat roll, gathering and tucking the short ends as you go.  Cut diagonal lines through the filo on top, then brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Cutting lines in the top

Repeat with the other 6 filo sheets and remaining filling / seeds.

Heat oven to 375F.  Put rolls on baking trays into oven for 30-40min until golden brown (this may be quicker- keep an eye on them).  Remove and allow to cool a little before eating (filling will be very hot).

Finished result

The filling was really good.  Best to roll from the short end, as if you go along the long side you get loads of filo and little filling in the end pieces.  Best to bake on a ceramic or pyrex oven tray, not metal (bottom burned of metal one a little).  Sesame seeds on top all fell off when cutting - perhaps only put them inside?  Could try different fillings (think I will use the rest of the packet to do a little apple one), and also could try different shapes - individual sized packages, or a big layered pie.  The pastry split and flaked as it cooled, and then softened in the cooled version, but it was still good as a cold thing for lunch.

Cardamom bread

I found this recipe @ vegetarian times, and thought it looked exciting - I love cardamom, and it sounded like a pretty straightforward recipe...  Only thing was, required some forward-thinking and time as it has to be started the night before and has some wait times.

The recipe makes 2 large loaves - I just did enough for 1.

2 cups almond milk, plus more for brushing loaf top
2 Tbs. ground flax seed
1/3 cup agave nectar / brown rice syrup / sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 Tbs. active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. whole cardamom seeds, coarsely ground
5 1/4 cups unbleached white flour (used a mixture of bread flour and plain flour)
2 Tbs. demerara sugar, for sprinkling (didn't have demerara so used crumbled soft brown sugar)

1. Stir together almond milk, ground flax seed, sugar, oil, yeast, salt, and cardamom in large nonreactive bowl with lid. Add flour, and mix thoroughly with wooden spoon. Cover with lid or plastic wrap, and let stand 2 1/2 hours at room temperature. Transfer to refrigerator, and let rest overnight.
2. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper. Remove half of dough from refrigerator; reserve remaining dough for second loaf. (Dough will keep in refrigerator up to 5 days.) Divide dough into 3 equal pieces, and gently roll each piece into 18-inch-long rope on floured work surface. Place dough ropes side by side spaced 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Pinch ends together on one side, and tuck under. Loosely braid dough ropes, then pinch tail ends together. Cover braided loaf loosely with kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let rest 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375°F. Brush top of braided loaf with almond milk, and sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake 30 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

It was really good - the cardamom was lovely, and the braid looked really pretty (should really have taken a photo, but Seb was right in there nearly burning his fingers he was so keen to scoff it).  Excellent for a weekend brunch bread, eaten just as it is or with tahini.  Considering trying with cinnamon instead of cardamom, with seeds not so well ground, or a savoury version.  Quite inspired with regard to trying more bread recipes in general.

Quick Vietnamese-inspired salad

Wanted to do something fresh and tasty with mint and coriander; always like Vietnamese sweet and crunchy tofu salads - tried something inspired by those, based on the contents of the fridge.

8oz silken tofu
half an avocado
1 tomato
1 small crispy Lebanese cucumber
1 carrot, grated
1 tbsp mint
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
2cm cube of root ginger, finely chopped

Chop the cucumber and tomato into matchsticks, and the avocado and tofu into nice-sized chunks.  Also chop the herbs.  Mix the peanut butter, lime juice, ginger and sweet chili in a medium bowl until well combined.  Then add all the other ingredients and toss together.  That's it - a quick and crunchy weeknight salad.

Lentils with herbs and garlic

Stumbled across this, fancied something simple with lentils and mint.

1 cup green lentils, rinsed
6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
12 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1 tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp. minced fresh mint
salt and pepper

1. Bring lentils and 3 cups water to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until lentils are tender, about 35 minutes. Drain lentils and set aside.

2. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in an 8'' skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until soft, 7–8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in remaining oil, lemon juice, cumin, and allspice. Pour the garlic mixture over lentils. Add parsley and mint and season the lentils with salt and pepper; toss to combine. Serve lentils at room temperature.

Pretty much followed the recipe, though I didn't use that much olive oil I think.

Steamed veg with tahini sauce / stock / curry / hummus

Friday evening for a quick dinner made steamed veg with tahini sauce - steamed some broccoli and leeks (mmm steamed leeks), then made a sauce like this:

4 tbsp tahini
juice of 1 lime
2cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 lemongrass stalk, soft parts finely chopped (optional)
1 spring onion, finely chopped (optional)
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp tamarind paste

Mix all of the above together until smooth-ish, then add water to desired consistency.  For a really quick / clean hands version mix tahini, tamarind, sweet chili, soy and a little rice vinegar.

Serve the sauce on the side with the steamed veg.  I did this once before with soft tofu chopped and mixed with the steamed veg, and toasted sesame seeds on top.  I really like this sauce, and it goes really well with the steamed veg.  And the whole thing is really quick to make.  A variation on this.


Sunday was time for a clear out of the fridge.  Found some tired veg in there, so made veg stock out of sprouting onions, kale stems, floppy celery, old fennel, slightly yellowing parsley, dried-out thyme and a few carrots.  Also soaked and cooked some chickpeas and then used them and the remaining kale stems to make chickpea potato kale curry, with purple potatoes this time, which looked really colourful and fancy.  Froze stock and remaining chickpeas.

Lastly, I used some of the chickpeas to make hummus:

1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
3 tbsp tahini
juice of 1/4 lemon
1.5 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
piece of garlic the size of a chickpea
liquid from chickpea cooking (enough for a good consistency)

Put all the ingredients into blender cup and whizz until smooth.  Add more cooking liquid until your favourite consistency is reached.

The ingredients listed above give a good, basic hummus.  I like adding in other bits and pieces to make it more interesting and more unique.  For example, using lime juice or tamarind instead of lemon juice; adding coriander or basil or parsley; adding pesto; adding pitted olives; holding back some whole chickpeas to sprinkle on top; adding ground spices such as cayenne, paprika, coriander seed, cumin; adding sundried tomatoes or caramelised onions...  One variation example is: carrot and cumin hummus.

Afternoon tea

My friend Katy works at the Boston Athenaeum, which is a very old, private library at 10 1/2 Beacon Street in Boston town centre.  She is a pastry chef, and it is her job to organise and create literary themed afternoon teas.  Ever since I met her I have been fascinated by the notion of these teas, and it has been one of my Boston ambitions to go to one of her teas.  As the library is private the teas are members-only, and quite exclusive - we were only able to go as Katy got us in.

Their current exhibition is works by the illustrator Edward Gorey.  I've come across him in passing before and found his work very appealing.  And he was at Harvard / lived on Cape Cod so of local interest too I think - strange, slightly Gothic / Victorian-style, detailed drawings - quite curious and wonderful.  Illustrations for books by Edward Lear and Hilaire Belloc; miniature books; beautifully illustrated envelopes from letters he wrote to his mother while he was at uni...

The tea was served in the Long Room.  The menu was all based around things mentioned in, inspired by, or related to Gorey's work:

Savoury:

Squid ink sandwiches

Cucumber sandwiches

Jam sandwiches

Stilton and honey tartine

Tiny cheeses that looked a bit like earplugs

Sweet:

Tart cherry scones with creme fraiche and blood orange curd

Chocolate cupcakes with raspberry mint frosting (and crumbs - Gashleycrumbs? - on top)

Cinnamon toast (Gorey often served cinnamon toast to his guests)

Blackberry and sesame ice cream

Teas: Earl Grey or Hu-Kwa

It was all beautiful, and very exciting.  Katy had personalised our table with a cupcake on a special plate and a letter 'a' in fruit puree.  The crockery was beautiful in a kitsch, old fashioned kind of way, the cutlery was silver, there were guests in bow ties, it was all lovely.  I think my personal favourite was the ice cream - the sesame was really good.  Although the blood orange curd was also excellent... and everything was very tasty.

Afterwards Katy gave us a quick tour of the library.  The stacks were hidden at the back, on many levels with frosted glass floors - you could squint up and down between them.  So many beautiful old books.  The building was full of quiet library spaces, curious nooks and antique furniture.  Rescued colonial books from the King's Chapel (after the revolution).  Washington's library.  A book made of human skin you have to make an appointment to see.  A portrait of an artist smoking weed hidden in the members' lounge.  A huge, tucked-away window with a wonderful view over the old graveyard next door.  It would be nice to have time to use a place like that - to go and sit and read or research, take afternoon tea...

We left and walked across the common to take the T back to work as the light began to fade (around 5).  There was a lit-up cuboid and runners shooing people (incl paparazzi) around - apparently Sarah-Jessica Parker was there filming a mayonnaise commercial.

Pancake Day! Dosa and normal pancakes

I love pancake day - one of my favourite annual foodfests...  I had eggless pancakes in India so was pretty confident they'd work out...  And seem to be in the mood for Indian food at the moment (perhaps compensating since Jilly is there now). Both these recipes are the result of some Googling: dosa.

Rava dosa

1 cup semolina / rava
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup plain flour
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp coriander leaves
few curry leaves (optional)
1/2-1 finely chopped green chilli
salt to taste
water - 3 cups (approx)
veg oil as required

Whisk together all the ingredients (except oil) and leave the batter to stand for half an hour to an hour.  It should thicken up a bit as the rava swells.

When ready it should be a good pouring consistency.  Heat a frying pan on high until it sizzles when water splashed.  Reduce to medium heat.  Pour a ladle of well-mixed batter around the outside and then fill in the middle.  Pour 1-2 tsp oil in drops around the edge of the dosa.  Increase heat to a medium flame and cook for 3min.  Increase flame to high and cook for ~2min.  Flip and cook another 30sec.  Dosa done.

We ate these with dry yellow potatoes.  It was super tasty and really tasted like dosa we've eaten out / in India - soooo good!

Pancakes (British style)

(makes about 20)

225ml fake milk
225ml water
6oz / 175ml plain flour
2 tbsp chickpea flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp veg oil
pinch of salt
additional oil for frying

Whisk all the ingredients except the oil for frying together.  Heat a little oil in a frying pan and then pour in a ladle of batter, tipping the pan to spread it out thin.  Cook for about 3 min on the first side, flip and cook a minute or so on the other side.

They were really good too!  We couldn't figure out the point of animal products in pancakes at all...  We ate them variously with maple syrup and fresh blueberries, lemon and sugar (classic - can't go a pancake day without one of those), and blueberry jam.

Happy pancake day!

Muhamarra (pepper-walnut-pomegranate molasses paste)

Came across this after buying some pomegranate molasses a while ago, when searching for interesting things to do with it...  Basically used this recipe. Also this one.

5 red peppers (or a mixture of peppers and chillies) - used 2 red peppers and 3 poblanos
1 good handful fresh breadcrumbs
120g walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
1 medium onion, diced
About 125ml olive oil
1 tsp chilli flakes - left these out as I thought it'd be spicy enough with the poblanos
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
Juice of 1 lime
½ teaspoon cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Place the whole red peppers on a greased baking sheet and roast until blackened. Put in a sealed plastic bag to steam for 10 minutes, then peel, core and deseed. In the meantime, put the breadcrumbs in a food processor with the walnuts and pulse until quite fine.
In a small pan, sauté the onion until lightly golden. Add to the breadcrumb and walnut mixture with the peppers and the rest of the ingredients, apart from the oil; pulse to a thick paste. Add olive oil until it's a consistency you like. Taste, add more lime juice, pomegranate molasses, cumin and salt and pepper, if you like, and serve with crudités or toasted pitta wedges.

v.2.
3 red peppers
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1 clove garlic
1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
juice of 1/2 lime (or lemon)
1 tsp ground cumin
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Char red peppers whole on flat cast iron ovenproof pan over stovetop burner. Put in a bowl, cover and allow to cool, then remove peel and seeds and put flesh in blender with the red of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.


It's good! The walnut - spicy pepper taste comes out really nicely, with sour notes from the lime / molasses.  Very more-ish. Version 2 is the simplified version, it is quicker and less faffy, and I think just as good.

Banana pudding

Still dealing with the mass of bananas - have dehydrated a bunch quite successfully, and frozen pieces for smoothies.


2 mashed ripe bananas
1 cup silken tofu
~2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp lemon juice

Put it all in a blender and whizz til smooth.  Chill and serve.


This kind of worked - didn't really set, and when it was sitting in the fridge got kind of a brown skin on the top where the banana was in the air.  Was still tasty though - just lots of ripe pureed banana...

Banana bread / muffins (incl gluten-free)

More muffins to take for garden brunch - gluten-free as Hannah doesn't eat wheat.  And more, as we have an epic amount of bananas due to some large-scale freeganing on my part...  Variations on this recipe (the how it all vegan banana bread).


Variation 1:  Gluten free tropical muffins

3 mashed ripe bananas
1 tbsp lime juice (+1/4 tsp white vinegar as I got worried the lime wouldn't be acid enough)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Handful of dates, chopped

Prepare muffin tins (make 12 small) with squares of baking parchment.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Mash bananas then mix with wet ingredients.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Mix wet into dry, then add to muffin cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.


Variation 2:  Banana walnut muffins

3 mashed ripe bananas
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Handful of walnuts, chopped


Prepare muffin tins (make 12 small) with squares of baking parchment.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Mash bananas then mix with wet ingredients.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Mix wet into dry, then add to muffin cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.


The G-F ones came out pretty well - think the banana did a good job of sticking them together.  Al specifically said he liked them @ brunch even though noone knew they were vegan and G-F.  I preferred the other ones though I think - bit more of a hearty taste.

Curries: cauliflower chickpea tomato / dry yellow potatoes

Saw this in the Guardian and got in the mood for making lots of curry.

Cauliflower chickpea curry

1 whole cauliflower
3 medium onions
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
½ a green chili, finely chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp cayenne
½ tsp turmeric
2 tsp garam masala (used lebanese seven spice)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes (or fresh)
1 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Remove the stalks from the cauliflower and cut into large florets. In a pan of boiling water, add the cauliflower and cook for five minutes. When ready, drain from the water and place back in the pan. Cover so it stays warm.
While the cauliflower is cooking, cut the onions into small pieces. Chop the garlic until nice and fine.
In a pan, add a little olive oil, plus the onion, garlic and ginger, and sauté until golden brown.
In the same pan, add the dried spices and cook for a further five minutes.
Add the tin of tomatoes and chickpeas and stir well. Then add the cooked cauliflower. Top up with 100ml of cold water and bring to a simmer for five to 10 minutes until the cauliflower is cooked.
Finish by adding the chopped coriander, salt and lemon juice to taste. Serve on a warm plate.


'Dry' yellow potatoes

This is a recipe I copied from a book of Shireen's long ago but don't think I tried til now.

1lb 6oz potatoes
fresh ginger ~2 x 1 x 1in, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tbsp water
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
5 tbsp veg oil
1 tsp whole fennel seed (optional)

Boil potatoes in their jackets (15-20min).  Drain and cool completely.  Peel and cut into 3/4-1in dice.

Put ginger, garlic, water, turmeric, salt, cayenne in blender and blend to a paste.

Heat oil.  Add fennel seeds.  Sizzle for a few seconds, then add the paste.  Stir and fry for 2 min.

Add potatoes.  Stir and fry for 5-7 min over a medium-high flame til they have a golden-brown crust.


I also made this aubergine curry, and served them with basmati rice boiled 1 cup rice and 2 cups water with a few cloves and whole cardamom pods in it.

The cauli-chickpea was OK but a bit wet and not so special.  I have another recipe with a spice paste and frying the cauliflower first which looks a bit more complicated but I think it is more like what I am looking for in my gobi.

The dry potatoes were a huge hit with S - he said they were the best potatoes he'd ever had.  And I liked the recipe - pretty simple so long as you have cold potatoes in the fridge.

All in all, a well-fulfilled curry craving.