Peanut and vegetable stew

We're running low on veggies, which is fine, as we're going to be away this weekend (Nuit Blanche!  Toronto! Niagara Falls!).  I was super tired this afternoon and took myself home around six to make this stew - kind of a mishmash of the veggies we had left / storecupboard stuff, but also kind of exactly what I felt like making and eating.

1 tbsp light olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large, not very hot green chilli, chopped
~1 in piece of ginger, chopped
1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 bay leaf
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds
1 tiny green pepper that fell off my pepper plant, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
~5 large kale leaves, chopped
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tbsp sunflower seed butter
1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup chickpeas
~1 tsp soy sauce
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large frying pan and add onion.  Cook until light gold, ~5min.  Add the chilli, ginger and garlic and fry for a minute or so.  Add the spices and toss for a minute or so.  Add carrots and green pepper.  Stir, then add the tinned tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, some salt+pepper and half a cup of water.  Put the lid on and cook for about 15 min, until the carrots are just tender.  Meanwhile, take out approx 2 tbsp of liquid from the pan and mix in a small bowl with the peanut butter and sunflower seed butter.  Add in the frozen chickpeas and cook for another 5 min.  Add the frozen peas and cook another minute or so.  Add the kale and cook til wilted.  Add the parsley, turn off the heat, season with soy sauce and taste to check seasoning.  Let sit for five minutes before eating.  It's pretty filling, so fine to eat on its own.


That turned into a long ingredient list... belying its origins.  Was simple, hearty and comforting for an autumn evening.

Apple cinnamon cornmeal pancakes

This recipe is from How It All Vegan! vegan cookbook.

I made them as a Saturday morning breakfast, before we headed out to beach and punkinfiddle.

1/2 cup oats (used wheat flakes as ran out of oats)
3/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup apple sauce
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground linseed plus 6 tbsp hot water, mixed)
2 cups soy milk

Mix dry ingredients.  Mix wet ingredients separately, then add the wet to the dry and mix.  Put about 1 cup into a frying pan and cook til bubbly, solidifying in the middle and golden (~5min).  Turn over and cook on the other side.  Repeat until batter all gone.  Made 4 big pancakes.  Eat with maple syrup.


These were OK.  The cinnamony-ness saved them but they were pretty stodgy.  Won't make the same again.

Rocket and walnut pesto

Had to bring in most of the plants in pots from the balcony as our landlords suddenly proclaimed they were going to repaint the balconies (or something).  Nothing has yet happened on that front (another story), but the weather's getting cooler (though not right now), and I guess it's time to break the pots down in preparation for Winter soon anyway...  One of the things needing used is rocket.  Have been realising that you can make pesto out of just about anything - there are so many different kinds of leaves and veggies, nuts and seeds...

I also made the green sauce from here, as I had come by some green chillies and green tomatoes, and had some lettuce leaves in my pots waiting to be eaten.

1 cup rocket leaves, roughly chopped
small clove garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup walnut pieces
1/4 cup shelled edamame, defrosted
1 tsp nutritional yeast
salt and pepper
water to make a good consistency

Put all ingredients in the cup of a wand blender and blend til smooth.  Eat as a dip with bread or crudites, or as a pesto with pasta.

Carrot dips

I have been making lots of things with carrots - they seem like a kind of bridge between summery veggies and autumnal ones - am almost onto squash, but not quite.  Incorporating the kind of warm spices I used in the chickpea-carrot stew thing I made last week.  I made two different pesto-y dip things.

Spiced carrot and chickpea dip

1 cup cooked, defrosted chickpeas
1 cup carrots (approx 2 large carrots, peeled, chopped into big chunks and steamed for approx 15 min until tender)
1 tsp ras el hanout
1 tsp lemon juice
chickpea sized piece of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp honey
salt and pepper
water to make a good consistency

Put all ingredients into wand blender cup and blend until smooth.  Taste to check seasoning.


Spiced carrot and almond pesto

1 cup carrots (approx 2 large carrots, peeled, chopped into big chunks and steamed for approx 15 min until tender)
1/4 cup toasted, flaked almonds
1 x 1 x 2 in piece firm tofu, cut into chunks
1 tsp lemon juice
splash of red wine vinegar
chickpea sized piece of garlic
2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp cumin seed
3/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
water to make a good consistency

Toast the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant and then grind in spice grinder.  Put all ingredients into wand blender cup and blend until smooth.  Taste to check seasoning.


Both were good.  I think I liked the almond one best, but yes, other one good too.  Hard to go wrong with this kind of thing really.  S cooked some spaghetti right after I made them and I realised that the almond one especially might actually work as a pesto - it did - was very tasty and autumnal and orange and interesting.

Spiced carrot and chickpeas

Middle of last week I suddenly started craving some kind of Moroccan-type sweet and savoury spiced stew type thing.  I knew exactly what I wanted to taste.  I had some carrots left over from the carrot jam that seemed just right, and I trawled the internet for a recipe that sounded like what I wanted.  I decided that this one came closest.  And I happened to have almost all the ingredients...

1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp Ras el Hanout, or more to taste (optional; see below for recipe)
2 or 3 tbsp chopped parsley or coriander
4 or 5 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into ~1cm thick pieces
1 cup water
1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked chickpeas
2 to 3 tsp honey
1/4 cup golden raisins (optional)

(try also adding – 1-2 tbsp rosewater, 1 -2 tsp cumin seeds, currants instead of golden raisins)

In a large frying pan with a lid, heat the olive oil and then cook the onions and garlic over low heat for several minutes.

Add the spices, parsley or coriander, the carrots and the water. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until the carrots are cooked to desired tenderness. This will probably take 20-25 minutes.

When the carrots are cooked, add the honey, chickpeas and raisins. Continue cooking until the chickpeas are heated through and the sauce is reduced and thick. Taste, adjust seasoning if desired, and serve.


Ras el hanout 

2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp ground mace
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground anise seeds (wasn't sure if this meant fennel seed or star anise - used star anise)
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Grind and mix all the above spices.  I made a half quantity, which 1/4 filled a small spice jar.  I didn't have mace so added a little extra ginger, and also didn't have white pepper so added a little extra black pepper.


This was so good.  It ticks all the boxes of sweet, spicy and savoury that make for something I'm going to love, and was pretty much exactly what I had in mind.  Might want to reduce the pepper a little next time - a tiny bit less heat might let the other flavours shine through more.  I made more of the red lentil mush I made the other day at the same time, and realised they have similar flavour patterns going on - different spices and pulses and so forth, but lots in common too.  Both are really really good.   Might need to think of more things to use ras el hanout for now I have a jar of it.

Blueberry muffins (vegan and gluten-free)

Brunch garden meeting, experimenting with different GF flours... and the xanthan gum that AK gave me!

Based on a recipe from Babycakes bakery - that place is so amazing, it seemed like their work would be a good place to start...

2/3 cup oat flour (ground GF oats)
1/3 cup gram flour
1/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup glutinous rice flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
(ie 2 cups total of mixed pseudo flours)

2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp xanthan gum
½ cup vegetable oil (or coconut oil)
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup fake milk
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp lemon juice
2/3 cup frozen blueberries


Preheat the oven to 325F. Prepare 12-cup muffin tin.


Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl with a fork.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until the batter is smooth. Add the blueberries last, and stir in lightly.


Put batter into muffin cups.  Bake the muffins for 25-30 min, until a skewer comes out clean.  Allow to cool.


Came out OK - didn't rise very high but flopped over the edges of the muffin cups quite prettily.  Not convinced about using gram flour in sweet baking like this - in future a mix of the other flours I used here might be preferable.  Also had a slight soapy bicarb taste.  And not sure I noticed a difference from the xanthan gum...  More experiments required!

Moong Dal

I am in the mood for dal at the moment - it's the weather - it is becoming autumn, leaves are falling and it's getting chillier at night.  So warm, comforting, spicy bowls of slop are what I feel like cooking and eating.  Also, an hour or 2 of minimal-fuss cooking makes a pot of spicy legume to last a week.

I've been making quite a lot of red lentil and chana dal based ones recently, so fancied a (slight) change and remembered the packet of split, peeled mung beans S bought by accident from the Chinese supermarket (he had a list, it said mung beans - I meant for sprouting but he bought these ones).

I stumbled across this recipe and thought it would be a good place to start - seemed simple enough, and was a slightly different approach to the other dals I have been making (adding fried onions and whole spices at the end).

400g mung dal (skinned yellow split mung beans)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 in piece of root ginger, peeled and cut into 4
1 tsp turmeric
3 chillies, 2 finely chopped, 1 left whole
2 tbsp veg oil
1 small onion, finely sliced
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
Fresh coriander, chopped

Wash the mung, put in a pan and add 2 litres of cold water. Bring to the boil and skim. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric and chopped chillies to the pan with a pinch of salt, turn down the heat, cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar, and simmer for 1-1½ hours, stirring occasionally, until smooth and soft.

Add salt to taste (approx 1 tsp), then add the whole chilli and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat and add the onion. Stir until golden and beginning to crisp, then add the dried spices and cook for a couple of minutes until the mustard seeds are beginning to pop. Stir into the dal. Finally, add some chopped coriander and serve.


Nice and warm and yellow. I've reduced the cumin as it was a bit much. It is missing something - fenugreek?

Note - I accidentally-on-purpose tried this same recipe using yellow split peas (chana dal) instead of mung, and it was better i think - their rich butteriness gives depth that the mung lacked.  Although I may also have added more salt and did a better job of cooking the onions (til almost burnt and crispy but not quite).  Although the cooking time was longer - was over 2 hours not 1.5 hours.

Carrot Jam (and Mrs. Beeton)

I have been reading Kathryn Hughes' biography of Mrs. Beeton.  I'm enjoying it: finding it quite thought-provoking.  Mrs. Beeton died at age 29 (my age now), after compiling the 'Book of Household Management...' by collecting recipes from all different sources.  I guess it is something I can relate to, with the kitchen viewpoint on Victorian England at once fascinating and sobering.

Flicking through the Guardian website last weekend, I came across HFW's recipes for vegetable jams, referencing Mrs. Beeton.  I was intrigued by the jam recipes - I made a tomato chilli jam not long ago and really liked it - and the reference coincidence made me think I should really try (at least) one.


Carrot jam 

(Makes about three 450g jars).

1kg carrots, peeled and grated
Finely grated rind and strained juice of 2 lemons
Finely grated rind and strained juice of 1 orange
900g granulated sugar
2-3 cinnamon sticks
6 cloves
1 tsp grated nutmeg

Put the carrots, juices, zest and sugar into a preserving pan, and stir. Tie the cinnamon and cloves into a small circle of muslin, tie with kitchen string and place in the middle of the carrots. Leave overnight to macerate.

Pour over about 900ml water, add the nutmeg, warm and stir until any sugar crystals have dissolved. Bring to the boil. Boil until it reaches its setting point, about 30-40 minutes; test to see if it's ready using a chilled saucer.

Carefully fish out the spice bag. Cool for 10 minutes, then pour into warm, sterilised jars and cover with lids or waxed paper discs and cellophane covers while still hot. Store in a cool, dry place and use within one year.

Notes:
It took a long time to reach set point - at least an hour - basically boiled it dry.  Perhaps more like crystallised grated carrot.  Smelled good while cooking, will have to see how it tastes...  Got my eye on the courgette one next.

The taste is good but the texture is off: should have stopped cooking it earlier. Have seen recipes since with addition of bitter almonds rather than the spices used here, I think that would work well (and would contribute to the faux-apricot effect - apparently carrot jam was conceived as a cheapo pretend apricot jam).

Little chocolate-berry birthday cakes (gluten-free and vegan)

Little chocolate cake with blackberry jam centre and chocolate icing

It was Alvin's birthday on Monday.  Coincidentally, I had asked him when it was about a week before the day.  We had an abortive attempt to organize something for his actual birthday (turned out he already had plans), but ended up putting plans on hold til the next workday... which was today.  All pretty vague, but I decided to make some gluten-free cakes (he eats GF).

Chocolate cake:

Dry:
1/2 cup GF oat flour
1/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup glutinous rice flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp custard powder
2 tbsp ground chia seed
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Wet:
1/2 cup fake milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Heat oven to 350F.  Mix dry ingredients well together with a fork.  Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add wet to dry and mix til combined.  Prepare a muffin tin and put the mixture into muffin cups (this makes 12).  Put in oven and bake 25-30min / til a skewer comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before icing.


Chocolate icing:
(recipe from here)

(makes 2 cups - a half quantity is plenty for icing 12 little cakes).

1 pack (12.3oz box eg Mori-Nu) firm silken tofu
1 tbsp canola oil
1/3 tsp salt
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz chocolate, melted
1-3 tbsp fake milk, for thinning, if required

Put tofu, oil and salt in blender and puree til smooth.  Add sugar, cocoa and vanilla and blend til smooth.  Add melted chocolate and blend til smooth.  Refrigerate until needed (1 hour to a day).  If it is too thick to spread easily add some fake milk until you get a good consistency.



Decoration:
~1/4 cup blackberry jam
6 glace cherries

Once the cakes are cooled and the icing chilled, assemble as follows:  cut a small piece out of the middle of each cake and put in ~ 1tsp blackberry jam.  Replace the cut-out piece as a lid.  Take 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp of frosting and spread out on top, trying to keep it neat and cover the whole surface.  Cut glace cherries in half and put half a cherry on top in the middle of each cake.


When I took the cakes out of the oven I thought it was a bit of a disaster - they really sank, and seemed to be undercooked although they'd been in for about 45min.  The batter was too wet I think (this is what happens when I make it up as I go along) - I've edited the quantities above a little to try and address this, although I might also consider taking out the applesauce and using 3/4 cup fake milk to make a simpler recipe.  But the recipe is definitely a work in progress.  I made the oat flour in my spice grinder, and that worked well.  The icing was good - you can't go wrong with melted chocolate - could simplify it a bit I think: maybe just chocolate, tofu, vanilla and sugar would be worth trying.

Despite the initial mini-cake-disaster, once the cakes were filled and iced they looked pretty good (somewhat less so by the time I'd biked across town with them, but they more-or-less survived).  And they went down very well!  I took candles, and we had cake and candles and a spontaneous singing of 'Happy Birthday' at the garden.  I made some black bean brownies as back-up, and all of both kinds of cake disappeared, which is usually a good sign.  Non-vegan / GF people didn't guess the cakes were lacking (the tofu in the icing was a particular success), and at least one GF girl was happily surprised that she could eat cake!  There was a good turn-out today - even Seb came along - and it was a good day.

Sweet and sour red lentils

 

It has been raining since Monday.  Now it's Thursday, and it's wetter than ever.  It felt like weather for comfort food.  I decided that = dal.  I was looking for a red lentil dal, with the thought at the back of my mind that I'd like to use some of the fenugreek I bought the other day.  I came across this recipe by Madhur Jaffrey on the BBC, and it caught my eye - it includes a few of my current favourite things (tamarind, fenugreek, nigella, fennel seed...).

250g/9oz/1¼ cups red lentils
¼tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp mustard or any other vegetable oil (used regular veg oil)
½ tsp brown mustard seeds
½ tsp panch phoran (= mixture of fennel seed, nigella, cumin seed, fenugreek and celery seed or black mustard seed - I didn't have celery seed so used a mixture of the first four)
4 hot dried red chillies (used 2 as thought they might be super hot)
1 bay leaf
1¼-1½ tsp salt
2 tbsp thick tamarind paste or to taste
1 tbsp sugar or to taste

Wash the lentils in several changes of water until the water runs clear. Put them in a medium-sized pan with the turmeric and mix. Cover with 1l/1¾pt/4½ cups water. Bring the lentils to the boil over a medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially and simmer for 40 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Stir now and then during the last 10 minutes. When the lentils are cooked, mash with a spoon to a pulp-like consistency.

Heat the oil in a large, wide, preferably non-stick pan or wok over a medium-high heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds. As soon as they pop, a matter of seconds, add the panch phoran, chillies and a bay leaf. Stir and fry for 5-6 seconds or until the chillies darken in colour. Add the cooked lentils, 150ml/5fl oz water and the salt. Stir to mix. Add the tamarind paste, a little at a time to get the sourness you desire. Add just enough sugar to balance the sourness. Bring to the boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 8-10 minutes. The finished dal should have the consistency of a thick purée.


This is sooo good.  The red lentils become this thick, lumpy, earthy paste, and the sweet and sour and spicy flavours mingle into that and just make it all incredible.  Didn't really mash / puree it that hard - quite liked it with still-discernible lentils in it, and red lentils turn to mush with little encouragement anyway.  Could have been more brave with the chilis.  Love how much tamarind it has in it.

Chocolate banana pudding

 Very quick, very easy pudding (using up banana and tofu that needed eating).  A mash-up of this and this.

1 ripe banana
1/2 box extra firm silken tofu
2 tsp dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Put all the ingredients in a blender and process til smooth.  Remove and eat.

Chole chana bhature masala... chickpea curry

Inspired by ppk (again), in combination with the fact that I just prepped a huge amount of chickpeas - freezer is bursting with them.
Couldn't decide between ppk recipe and covent garden one, went for ppk in the end - thought I should try something new.

(note - I made a half quantity, using 1 tin of tomatoes, and it was plenty enough for 2)

Spice blend:
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne (optional, to taste)

For everything else:
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 large onion, medium sliced
2 medium-hot chillis, deseeded and thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 heaped tablespoon ginger, chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh coriander
3 lbs tomatoes, diced (or 2 tins)
pepper+salt
3 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (note: 2 cups dried will give you the right amount)
1 teaspoon sugar
Juice of one lime, or 1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate


Mix together the spice blend in a small bowl.

When the pan is hot, saute the onion in the coconut oil for about 10 minutes, until nicely browned. While it’s sauteeing you can prep the rest of the veggies. Add the chilli, garlic and ginger, and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the coriander and saute until wilted.

Add the spice blend and toss to coat the onions, letting the spices toast a bit (about a minute or so). Add the tomatoes and mix well, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Add salt and pepper, chickpeas and sugar. Cover the pan, bring heat up a bit, and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid, and cook for about 20 more minutes on low heat, so that the flavors meld and the sauce thickens.

Add lime juice or tamarind concentrate. Taste for seasoning. Let sit for 10 minutes or so off the heat before serving. Serve with basmati rice, garnished with extra coriander.


Came out very tasty.  I liked the coconut oil.  Wasn't sure about adding fresh coriander so early - will put it later another time.  Also will add more fennel seeds, some unground cumin seed, try adding fenugreek to the spice mix.  Also consider making a spice blend with pureed onion, ginger etc instead of adding them chopped?