Bean and tomato stew

I am trying to use things up. I don't eat cheese, but S does, and I couldn't let him throw away a perfectly good parmesan rind. This also used up some beans and red wine that had been waiting for their moment for too long. And it's a good combination: beans and tomato and herbs and lush, rich sauce.

~2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tin tomatoes
~2 tbsp tomato puree
1 parmesan cheese rind
1 tin lima beans
~1 1/2 cups white beans (cooked and frozen)
~1/2 cup red wine
1-2 tsp dried oregano
1-2 tsp dried basil
1-2 tsp dried thyme
pinch of dried red chilli flakes
2 bay leaves
1-2 tsp dark soy sauce
salt+pepper

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, add onion and garlic, cover and cook until softened. Add the remaining ingredients (except salt, pepper and soy sauce), cover and cook for at least 45 min, before turning off the heat, tasting for seasoning (salt, pepper and soy sauce) and letting sit for another half an hour. Remove the cheese rind and bay leaves and reheat to serve. Good with bread or pasta or polenta.

Liquorice ketchup

S brought loads of liquorice back from Denmark, and also a little tub of liquorice powder. I have never had a particular love for liquorice, although I have grown to like it. So I was quite stumped what to do with it. Luckily the liquorice powder brand has some suggestions. I decided to try a liquorice ketchup. We'd liked the idea of making fancy ketchups before but I'd never got round to it.

1 red bell pepper
olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 apple, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tin of tomatoes (or 1/2 tin plus 2 large tomatoes, seeds and skin removed)
7 tsp liquorice powder
1 tbsp liquorice syrup (used maple syrup)
25g brown sugar
pinch of black pepper
fresh red chilli (optional), deseeded (used dried)

Grill the pepper in the oven until skin blisters and peppers softens, and remove skin (I used roasted red pepper from a jar instead). Let cool a little then chop roughly.

Heat ~2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook for a few min. Add the pepper, apple and the fresh tomatoes if using and cook until soft. Add the liquorice powder and the tinned tomatoes and stir. Add the remaining ingredients: liquorice (or maple) syrup, sugar, black pepper, and chilli (optional). Simmer slowly for at least 15-20min.

Finally, blend the ketchup to a purée and put in the fridge to cool. When it’s cold, it’s ready.


Ohhhh this is really liquorice-y and there's loads of it. Not sure if my liking for liquorice has graduated to this level of liquoriceyness yet.

Shaved asparagus salad

Well, it is raining, and due to rain for another two days solid. And still not warm enough for almost-April. But the first asparagus of the year makes it feel like Spring (even if it has come all the way from California). Half the bunch we sauteed with garlic, the rest I made into this salad - thought it might be fun to try something different, and I've never really eaten it raw before (apart from nibbling on trimmings).

1/2 big bunch of asparagus (~8 good-sized spears)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp white miso
salt and pepper
handful of toasted flaked almonds

Shave the asparagus along its long direction using a peeler. Put the shavings in a shallow serving dish. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil and miso with a fork, adding salt and pepper to taste. Pour the lemon juice mixture over the asparagus shavings and toss. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and serve.

Ginger molasses cookies / biscuits

I had finished making dinner for S+I and he still wasn't home, so I decided to make cookies for journal club tomorrow. I was tired so wanted something quick and easy and foolproof, also in the mood for using things up and had an inverted jar of molasses in front of me waiting for that last tbsp or so to get eaten... So I looked for a molasses cookie recipe, and this was the one I used.

(makes about 25)

2 cups plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
2½ tsp ground ginger
½ cup marg
¾ cup sugar, plus extra for rolling
½ cup molasses (used mixture of normal, carob and date molasses)
1 tsp water (reduced from 1 tbsp as date molasses is runnier than normal molasses)

Heat the oven to 350F. Line two baking trays with baking paper. In a medium bowl, mix flour, bicarb, baking powder and ginger together with a fork. In a separate, medium bowl, cream marg, sugar, molasses and water with a wooden spoon. Beat in the flour mixture gradually. Take around one tbsp of dough at a time, roll and flatten between your hands, then invert and dunk the rounded side in sugar. Put on the baking trays, sugar side up. Bake for 10-12 min. Let cool on the baking tray.


Successfully used up two jars of molasses (normal and carob) and a tub of margarine. Cookies not bad either, S had two last night and two for breakfast this morning. Nice chewy texture, look pretty with the sugar on top. Perhaps a bit sweet.

Massaman curry (from tinned paste)

Sascha bought this little tin of curry paste when he stayed with us (and S demanded he make us dinner when we got home from work / before going to basketball). The remainder of the tin had been in the fridge ever since - I wasn't sure how long it'd last but guessed it needed using up before too much longer. Last night I got home before S and decided it was time for curry. I filled it with a pretty random selection of stuff from the corners of fridge, freezer and cupboards. Which actually worked out really well.

The paste is good, and tinning means it has no unidentifiable ingredients. In case I want to try and recreate it / find it again, it is labelled Massaman curry paste, and the ingredients list is: garlic, sugar, soybean oil, dried red chillies, tamarind juice, shallot, salt, lemongrass, spices (coriander seeds, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, lesser galanga, cloves), kaffir lime, galangal, citric acid (E330).

1/2 tin Massaman curry paste (see above)
1 tin coconut milk
1/4 butternut squash, deseeded and chopped into ~2 cm chunks
2 medium potatoes, washed and chopped into ~1 cm chunks
~1/4 cup okara (optional - chucked it in because it needed eating)
~1/2 cup frozen chickpeas
1/2 block super firm tofu
~1/2 cup frozen peas
~2 tbsp crushed toasted peanuts
~2 tbsp chopped coriander

Heat a deep frying pan with a lid. Put the curry paste and half the coconut milk in and stir-fry for ~ 3 min. Add the potato and squash. Cover and simmer for ~15-20 min, until the potato is almost cooked, adding the okara after about 5 min if using. Add the chickpeas and tofu and heat for another 5 min or so, then add the frozen peas and heat for 2-3 min, until they are cooked. Take off the heat and stir in the toasted peanuts. Serve with rice, and with coriander sprinkled on top.

Glass noodle salad (peanuts, sweetcorn and sprouts)

I was making tofu salad from my last batch of homemade tofu, we needed something else, this was quick and complementary. I have made versions of this many times and always get frustrated with how the dressing fails to coat the noodles and the other vegetables etc get all clumped down the bottom of the bowl. I was actually quite pleased with this one, so here it is. Think key things are: slightly undercook the noodles and drain them well; don't skimp on the sauce; make veg / additions small and/or clingy so they stay in among the noodles as much as poss.

4 bundles of glass noodles
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh lemongrass
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp light miso
2 tbsp rice vinegar (or lime juice)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp mirin
2 tbsp peanuts
1/2 cup assorted little beansprouts (used lentils and alfalfa)
3/4 cup frozen sweetcorn, defrosted
1/4 cup coriander, chopped (or a mixture of coriander and mint)

Put the noodles in a pan of boiling water and simmer for about 5 min, until the bundles loosen and the noodles become bendy but not soft - make sure they are al dente. Drain and run under cold water to stop cooking quickly.

While the noodles are cooking you can start preparing the other ingredients: toast and crush the peanuts, defrost sweetcorn, wash and chop coriander, ginger, lemongrass. Put ginger and lemongrass in a small bowl with the peanut butter, miso, rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and mirin and whisk together with a fork. Check for consistency (should be runny but thick) and taste for sweet-sour-saltiness and modify.

Put the noodles in a serving bowl, add the peanut butter mixture and toss well with a spoon and fork so the noodles are all coated. Add the toasted crushed peanuts, sweetcorn, beansprouts and coriander (and/or mint), toss again and serve immediately.

Chocolate, banana and okara muffins

So many possibilities with okara... Pondered making cornbread again. Decided to go the sweet route this time - would be nice to have a pudding option ready for S when he returned as well as salad...

Unusually had some almost overripe bananas (prob due to not modifying banana purchase quantity while S was away), so decided to follow this muffin recipe (note that site has lots of other interesting okara ideas).

(makes approx 10 muffins)

1 large banana 
1 cup okara
1/4 cup fake milk
1/4 cup veg oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp baking powder 
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350F. Prepare a muffin tin with liners or grease. Mash the banana in a medium bowl, then add the okara, veg oil, sugar and vanilla and beat with a fork. In a separate mixing bowl, mix the baking powder, bicarb, flours, salt and cocoa together with a fork. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined, adding in the chocolate chips in the final few strokes. Transfer mixture to prepared muffin cups (fill each ~ 2/3 full). Bake for 20-25 min, until a skewer comes out clean.


These were good. The okara does a lovely job of adding texture and moistness without doing much in the way of taste.

Spiced okara and red lentil dip

I made more tofu, partly because I wanted to see if I could do a better job / get a more stand-up texture, partly because I kind of wanted more okara to play with - the cornbread I made with the last lot was so, surprisingly delicious...

I used part of the okara for this dip - it's a variation on the red lentil dip I've made many times.

1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup okara
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 clove garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp ground ginger
~ 1 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper

Put lentils, okara and water in a small pan, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for ~ 10 min, then turn off the heat and leave pan covered for ~15 min. Add the remaining ingredients and blend to a paste.

Squash and quinoa salad

We've had a butternut squash in the pantry for months. I love how long those last. S came home last night and I wanted something good to feed him, decided to sacrifice the squash. I made this salad: another variation on a squash salad theme similar to this one and this one.

~1 kg pumpkin / squash (about 2/3 of a large butternut squash)
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
2 tsp chilli flakes
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp maple syrup
handful of finely chopped coriander roots and stems
salt and pepper
1 cup (185g) quinoa, cooked in 1 1/2 cups (375ml) water
juice of one large lime
a good handful each of fresh mint and coriander leaves
toasted pumpkin seeds

Heat oven to 200C / 400F. Cut squash into chunks ~2-3cm wide. Combine squash with ginger, chilli, garlic, olive oil, maple, coriander roots/stems, salt and pepper. Put into a large oven tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the squash is cooked. Remove and set aside.

When the pumpkin and quinoa are cooked, combine in a large bowl, along with all the bits from the roasting tin. Add the lime and herbs, season to taste, and scatter over the pumpkin seeds just before eating. Eat warm or at room temperature.

Okara cornbread (gluten free)

After my tofu making escapade, I had about two cups of okara going begging. Last time I had okara I scramble-fried it but I didn't love it like that. I think its vocation is as a filler - it has a pleasant texture and mild taste - would be good in burgers and that kind of thing. This time I tried baking, veganising this cornbread recipe.

1 1/3 cups cornmeal
1 1/3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2/3 tsp salt
1 1/3 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 3 1/2 tbsp boiling water
1 1/3 cups fake milk (used dried soymilk)
1 1/3 tbsp molasses
2/3 tbsp veg oil
2 cups okara

Heat the oven to 425F. Grease a loaf tin and line the base. Mix the cornmeal, bicarb and salt in a bowl with a fork. In a separate bowl beat together the linseed mixture, fake milk, molasses and oil. Add the okara to the wet mixture and mix well. Transfer the wet to the dry and mix til just combined (use your hands if you like). Put the mixture in the tin and bake for ~45 min, til firm in the middle.


This remains kind of squishy, but is surprisingly savoury and moreish. Good with green tofu spread and mashed chickpeas. Think the same mixture would have worked quite well shaped into patties and baked on a greased tray.

Green tofu spread

I made this spread / dip with the rest of my fresh tofu, recipe from the same page (adjusted a little).

8 oz fresh tofu (or silken)
1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted
~2 tbsp lime juice
1/4 clove garlic
1 spring onion, roughly chopped
~3 tbsp chopped coriander
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt+pepper

Put all ingredients in a blender cup and blend until smooth. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if needed.


I put two spring onions in and thought it a bit much, although the onioniness wears off gradually, perhaps tomorrow it will be perfect. It is lovely and creamy and delicately green, kind of a minty green (might be nice with mint instead of coriander, incidentally).

Making tofu (or soymilk)

I eat loads of the stuff, and I reckon our fridge always contains at least five different kinds (right now: silken soft, silken firm, firm, extra firm, dry 5-spiced). But I'd never really even thought about making my own. I bought a bag of dried soybeans the other day (for miso attempt), and with lots left over it seemed like time to give tofu making a try. It is a bit more straightforward and much quicker than miso, thought it might be fun. Basically followed this recipe (and this one a little bit).

(makes approx 1 lb of fresh, silken-style tofu)

1 1/2 cups dried soybeans
4 1/2 cups water (and more later)
coagulant: 3 tbsp cider vinegar, 4 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) or 2 tsp nigari (I used vinegar)

Put the beans and water in a large pan or bowl, cover and leave to soak for 8 hours or overnight.

Grind the soaked beans together with their water until as fine as possible in a blender or food processor.

Boil five cups of water in a large pan. Add the ground beans. Reduce heat to medium and keep just below the boil for 8 minutes. A layer of foam will form on top.

Line a colander with cheesecloth  and put it over a bowl. Strain the mixture, reserving the liquid (soymilk). Squeeze the cloth bundle to extract as much milk as possible. Undo the bundle and set aside the contents - this is okara. Rinse out the cheesecloth.

Mix the coagulant with 1 cup of water in a small bowl.

Rinse out the pan, then add the strained soymilk and heat gently, stirring continuously, until it reaches 65-68C (150-155F) - I judged this as cool enough to put a finger in but too hot to be comfortable. Take off the heat.

Add half the coagulant mixture to the pan and stir like a whirlpool six times. Hold the spoon in the middle and wait until the swirling stops. Add the remaining coagulant and stir in a figure of eight six times. It should start to coagulate. Cover and leave for 15 min.

Line a colander with cheesecloth and put it over a bowl. Transfer the soymilk with a ladle into the colander. Fold the cloth on top, then put a plate and a weight (large tin or jar) on top. Let stand for 15 min to press out excess water. Put it in the fridge to chill and firm up slightly for one hour. Discard flowthrough. Fill a large bowl with cold water then transfer the cloth-wrapped package to it and remove the cloth. Let water run gently for 10 min or so.

Eat immediately (I had some for lunch as this salad) or store covered in cold water for up to three days.


This was good. Very soft and creamy, quite lovely. Worked really well in the salad. I kept about half for something else tbd. It didn't keep shape well when cut - more creamy than shapely or crumbly - so perhaps best for dips, puddings etc. Most comparable with silken tofu.

Notes: If I ever get into doing this frequently I might try drying and grinding the okara so it can be stored for later use. I baked cornbread with the (undried) okara produced from this batch (2 cups). I think the creamy rather than choppable consistency was probably due to guessing temperature before adding coagulant - was probably not hot enough. I might finally invest in a thermometer one day soon.

Panisse

I like chickpeas. Chickpea flour I find interesting: it is kind of enigmatic, doesn't taste that much like actual chickpeas to me (much more pungent), has a hit of butteriness and a hint of egginess. I do like it, but not as decisively as the whole pulse. Chickpea flour redeems itself with diverse uses - pancakes, pizza base, gluten-free baking, a touch of eggy colour and flavour in vegan foods... I hadn't eaten it like this before though - basically prepared like polenta - but I came across the idea here, it seemed nice and straightforward so I gave it a try.

oil for greasing
2 cups water
good pinch of coarse salt
1 tsp olive oil
generous 1 cup chickpea flour

Grease a loaf tin. Put the water, salt and olive oil together in a small saucepan and bring to just below boiling. Sift the chickpea flour then add it to the pan, gradually, while whisking. When it is all in stir a bit longer until it is super thick. Pour into the greased tin and spread out. Let cool and refrigerate until needed.

When ready to eat, you can fry or bake. To bake, heat the oven to 375F. Grease a baking tray with olive oil, cut the panisse into pieces about 1 cm thick, then arrange them on the baking tray, drier (former top) side down. Bake for 10-15 min on one side, then flip and bake for 10-15 min on the other side.

Eat warm, dipped in salt and pepper and/or some kind of sauce - I did harissa dressing. Basically if you like chickpea flour you will like these - it's a smooth middle of intense chickpea flour flavour with crunchy crispy bits on the outside.

Popcorn muffins

I made a lot of popcorn and started daydreaming about baking with it. I was running short of snack muffins so muffins were the obvious choice (referred to this recipe). These are fun!

(makes ~9 muffins)

5 cups popped corn (2 1/4 cups after homogenising)
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (use less if the popcorn was salted)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup fake milk
1 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 2 1/2 tbsp boiling water
2 tbsp veg oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Version 1 = dark chocolate, sour cherry and thyme - add 1 tsp dried thyme, handfuls of sour cherries and of dark chocolate chips/chunks in with the dry ingredients.
Version 2 = mango, coconut and cardamom - add 1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom, 2 tbsp dried shredded coconut and ~4 tbsp diced mango (from frozen) to the dry ingredients.

Heat oven to 400F. Prepare a muffin tin. Grind popcorn (I used the blender) until it is mostly pulverised (don't worry about a few remaining unground kernels - they will be fine+fun). Put ground popcorn in a medium bowl with flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and any additional dry ingredients (see Versions) and mix with a fork. In a separate bowl, beat together the fake milk, linseed mixture, veg oil and vanilla essence. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Dollop into prepared muffin cups and bake for 25-30 min, until lightly browned and a skewer comes out clean.


They are tasty but with so many additional flavours the popcorn is lost. I plan to tweak this to get a version that actually tastes like popcorn!

Popcorn with maple syrup, thyme and salt

We got popping corn in the CSA a while back, but when I tried popping it: nothing but burned bits. I had thought popcorn foolproof... evidently not.

This time I think I discovered my mistake: I'd heated the oil before adding the popcorn - do not do this!

~2 tbsp sunflower oil (or other high heat oil... coconut might be nice)
~1/2 cup popping corn
pinch of salt

flavouring to add when popped (optional): dried thyme, maple syrup, salt, all to taste

Use a tall, heavy-bottomed pan with a lid. Put the oil in, then add the corn and a pinch of salt. Put the lid on and shoogle around to coat the corn with oil. Turn on a high heat and, keeping the pan covered, heat it, shaking occasionally, until the corn starts to pop. Keep shaking occasionally until it stops popping. Take off the heat, shake and listen for the last few pops, then uncover. Perhaps best to add additional seasonings on an individual serving basis.

Creamy mushroom sauce (pancake day fail)

This is a basic white sauce made with vegan ingredients and intensified with mushroom powder. Then mixed with sauteed mushrooms, walnuts (and optional artichokes). The sauce comes out nice and thick and creamy, and the mushroom powder makes up for any flavour lost due to not using real milk or butter. My intention was to wrap pancakes around it (we attempted pancake day yesterday, one day late as I had no time on the day), but my pancakes completely failed and I don't understand why - they just kept sticking to the pan. I've used both pans and batter recipe many times before, am stumped. So anyway, we gave up and ate the sauce with noodles instead, which worked just as well - I guess pancake day this year was not meant to be.

For the sauce:
5/8 cup fake milk (used almond, soy might be better), heated
1 tbsp fake butter
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp mushroom powder
salt and pepper

For mushroom fry:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
~5 medium-large mushrooms
1-2 tbsp chopped walnuts
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Heat the milk. In a separate, small pan melt the butter. Add the flour to the butter and stir / let bubble for a few minutes (do not colour). Add the hot milk and mix well for a few minutes, until smooth and starting to thicken. Keep stirring and heating gently for a minute or two more, then add mushroom powder, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

In a medium frying pan, heat the olive oil, then add the garlic and sizzle for a minute or so before adding the mushrooms and walnuts. Cook for a few more minutes, until the mushrooms are lightly browned. Finally add the parsley, stir for a minute or so more, add salt and pepper to taste and turn off heat.

Mix the mushroom fry into the sauce, toss and then serve, either as a pancake filling or mixed through pasta.

Açaí

S's friend Sascha has been staying with us this last week. He has been to Brazil a couple of times so was excited to find a couple of Brazilian grocery stores while roaming around the city (we had to work a bit). He came home with several forms of guarana, cashew and guava juices, and frozen açaí berry. S+I had eaten açaí once before, in Hawaii, so knew it was good and were familiar with the general format of it. But had never thought to look for it at our neighbourhood Brazilian store. It's Sascha's last day here today and at last we got around to whizzing up our açaí bowls.

(makes enough for three)

1 large packet of frozen açaí pulp
maple syrup (1-2 tbsp)
almond milk (1-2 tbsp)
~2 bananas
granola
roughly chopped strawberries (optional)
guarana powder (optional)
cacao nibs (optional)
flaked almonds (optional)
raisins (optional)

Put açaí in a blender with some maple syrup, some almond milk and one banana broken into big pieces. Blend until thick and smooth (add just enough milk to make it thick but smooth, and just enough sweetener to bring out the taste).

Scoop the açaí mixture into bowls and then add the other banana (chopped), granola, strawberries, guarana, cacao, almonds and raisins to taste. Mix up and eat.


I didn't know before that açaí is the fruit from a palm tree that is also cultivated for hearts of palm. It has a wonderfully deep, dark purple colour - almost brownish. It tastes berryish and exciting, and looks beautiful with granola and fruit scattered on top. The from-frozen preparation makes it this into a kind of intense, awesomely thick smoothie that you then pimp with fruit, nuts, granola and whatever else you fancy. The guarana and cacao will help get you going in the morning if that is what you are looking for. A delicious start to today / this week.