Overnight seedy bread rolls

My friend A-L makes delicious no-nonsense overnight bread rolls (morgenboller). I have a theory that every Danish person does this...

One of my lockdown goals, I decided, was to figure out my own overnight bread recipe. I asked A-L for her recipe, and she gave it to me, but it turned out she didn’t really have a recipe, it was more like the bake off technical challenges (‘add flour to make a dough’)...

I didn’t believe in my skills enough to start from her recipe, so I googled a bit and decided to try this one. I’ve made them a few times now and we love them!

(makes 12 medium-small buns)

250 ml water (1 cup)
250 ml milk (1 cup)
15 g fresh yeast (1/2 oz) - approx. 1/3 of a 50 g pack
2 tsp sugar
100 ml wholemeal flour (2/5 cup)
100 ml oats (2/5 cup)
100 ml mixed seeds / grains (e.g. sunflower seeds, linseeds, pumpkin seeds, hulled hemp seeds, poppyseeds, sesame seeds) (2/5 cup)
500 g plain flour (1,1 lb)
1/2 tbsp salt

In a large bowl, dissolve the fresh yeast and sugar in the cold water and milk. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead everything into a smooth and nice dough. Cover the bowl loosely and place it in the fridge for 8-12 hours (i.e. overnight).

Dip two tablespoons in cold water and use them to set buns on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Try to make them a little pointy - when they raise, they will flatten out a little.

Let the bread raise for an extra hour at room temperature. Heat the oven to 200C.

After the final raising, brush the bread with some beaten egg and decorate them with different seeds or grains.

Bake for 20-25 min, until golden brown. Move to a cooling rack to cool.

Seedy crackers

We've bought seedy crackers a few times, was too lazy to make them. Then realized maybe it was easy. As I trawled Anna Jones recipes, I saw these ones, and decided to add them to the s-and-me morning baking session list.

50 g sunflower seeds
50 g pumpkin seeds
50 g sesame seeds
25 g poppy seeds
25 g chia seeds
100 g rolled oats
1 tsp psyllium seed husk
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 tbsp melted coconut oil
175 ml water

Optional:
1/2 heaped tsp fennel seeds and a little pinch of dried chilli or
1/2 tbsp raisins, roughly chopped, and a little pinch of cinnamon

Heat oven to 190 C/175 C fan/gas 5. Get all your ingredients together, and line a baking sheet with baking paper (and have a second sheet the same size on hand).

Combine all the dry ingredients, including one of the optional flavourings if you are using them, and stir well.

Mix the maple syrup, coconut oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and mix very well, until everything is completely soaked and the mixture becomes very thick.

Scrape out onto the lined tray and even out a bit, then put another piece of baking paper on top. Use a rolling pin to roll out the mixture until it is about 1⁄2cm thick. Take the top layer of paper off and use the tip of a sharp knife to score the mixture into rectangles.

Bake the crackers for 20 min. Remove from the oven and flip the sheet over, then peel off the paper to expose the underside of the crackers. Put back into the oven for another 20 min (check after 15). They are ready when they are firm and golden round the edges. Allow to cool, then break along the lines where they have been scored.


I did a half quantity of the original recipe - one baking sheet's worth - this is a good amount for us. I also threw in some psyllium husk to help with sticking together. 

I just made them for a second time, this time with raisins. They are good! You have to keep a careful eye on them though - I almost burnt this batch, while the last ones were a bit underdone. Perhaps the exact thickness makes a big difference? s didn't love them sooo much the first time but he seemed more into the raisin variant (despite them being a little bit over).

Kohlrabi sesame slaw

Our friends are having a Thanksgiving potluck tomorrow. I wasn't sure what to make, but C suggested a salad, and also said whatever we had in the fridge was fine... We had a gigantic kohlrabi in the fridge. Most of it has now become this slaw. I think I'll also take a tinned-peach cake.

2 lb kohlrabi
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes (recipe said 1 minced chilli)
1 small clove garlic, crushed and minced (recipe said 2 tbsp minced fresh garlic)
2 spring onions, finely chopped (recipe said 1/2 cup chopped spring onions)
handful chopped coriander (recipe said 1/4 cup chopped coriander)
toasted sesame seeds

Peel and shred the kohlrabi. Toss with the salt and set in a colander for 15 min. Rinse, drain and pat dry. Whisk together the tahini, oils, lime juice, chilli and garlic. Toss the dressing with the kohlrabi, spring onions and coriander. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over the top before eating.

Boiled peanuts

We ate a lot of dumplings in honour of Chinese New Year. I was thinking about potential side dishes, in case only dumplings wouldn't be a proper meal, and suddenly remembered super tasty boiled peanuts we'd eaten with dumplings from a food stall at Vippa (food stall place in shipping building by the ferry port) in Oslo. I couldn't quite remember how they'd been, other than that they were brown and tasted like soy sauce... We had some peanuts, so I followed this recipe. We also ate some miso aubergine with our dumplings.

1 cup raw shelled peanuts with skins (only had roasted salted ones so rinsed them and used them)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin (or white wine)
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup (used maple syrup)
1 cup water 
1/4 tsp sesame seeds

Put the peanuts in a small pan with 2 cups water, bring to the boil, and boil for about 5 min. Drain. Put the peanuts back in the pan with the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, syrup and water. Bring to the boil. Simmer over a medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated, approx 20-25 min, stirring occasionally (I found it took a little longer, but then also thought maybe I went too far - they were a little bit too sticky). Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and maybe some chopped coriander, and serve.

Christmas food 2015

We got a veg share from the coop we just joined, and based our Christmas Day food around that. We ate:

Maple-roasted parsnips and celeriac (similar to this)

Roasted brussels sprouts with pomegranate molasses (a simplified version of this)
Red cabbage and sesame salad (similar to this, with coriander instead of chives and no carrot or radish)
Potato, mint and edamame salad
Tahini-lemon sauce

Zimtsterne (these take ages to make but keep very well)

S was in charge of Christmas Eve since that is the special day in Germany. We ate cheese fondue (which is apparently traditional) with broccoli, cauliflower, gnocchi, bread pieces.

Roasted carrots, chickpeas and cauliflower with yoghurt-tahini sauce

More cauliflower. I fancied roasting some chickpeas, and roasting carrots with coriander and spices. They all got roasted together and it was very very good.

Roast:
5 large carrots, scrubbed and top-and-tailed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tbsp paprika
1-2 tsp sumac
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne
1-2 tsp nigella seeds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
salt+pepper
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cauliflower, broken into florets
about 1 cup cooked chickpeas

Sauce:
4 tbsp yoghurt
1 tbsp tahini
1 tsp lemon juice

Heat the oven to 230C. Put the carrots in a large baking tin along with all of the spices and seeds, salt and pepper and the olive oil (be generous with these - remember the cauliflower and chickpeas will be added partway through and they want to be coated with goodness too). Mix well and put in the oven for 10-15 min. Take out and mix in the cauliflower and the chickpeas. Put back in the oven and roast for another 20-30 min, until everything is tender and starting to crisp. While it's roasting make the sauce just by mixing together the yoghurt, tahini and lemon. Serve together.


Both roast and sauce are definite make-agains. S particularly loved the roasted chickpeas.

Oat buns

We have eaten so much good Danish bread. There is endless variety: traditional rye made with sourdough; versions with chia, carrot, potato for moistness. Various focaccia and baguette type things. And everything in between (lots of nuts and seeds!). Last weekend we went to Relæ with Y+M, and fell in love hard with the sourdough bread they serve there - it's from Manfred's, their other place over the road (also had the best beer I have ever had). S especially became a little obsessed. So yesterday we returned to Jægersborggade to try and track down that bread (after a very successful mission to a secret secondhand store). It turned out to be pretty easy: they were selling the bread as wholes and halves for quite a reasonable price, right from the restaurant. So we went home happy, with a bag full of tasty, stretchy, crunchy, wonderful sourdough (not to mention the radio, DVD/CD player, three jackets, one shirt and waterproof trousers we'd picked up earlier...).

So anyway, yesterday for some reason I was looking at the side of a packet of oats and became intrigued by the recipe there. Thought it was about time I tried to follow a recipe written in Danish. With the help of Google translate I figured it out. And realised we had pretty much all the ingredients. Including grahamsmel, which I hadn't been able to identify previously. So I made these oat buns, using up some slightly out of date fresh yeast, testing the grahamsmel, and with freshly made yoghurt. I think I could understand the recipe! One thing I noticed, that I remembered from some Swedish hagebutten soup stuff Anna had given me once upon a time, is that Scandinavians seem to measure volume in decilitres (1 dl = 100 ml) rather than millilitres.

(makes 10 rolls)

25 g yeast (gær)
200 ml (2 dl) lukewarm water (vand)
250 g plain flour (hvedemel) (used white spelt instead)
75 g graham flour (grahamsmel)
250 g oats (havregryn)
100 ml yoghurt
1 tbsp (spsk) sugar (sukker)
2 tbsp oil (olie)
1 tsp (tsk) salt
more yoghurt and some sesame seeds to finish

Dissolve (opløs) the yeast in lukewarm (lunkent) water, and add (tilsæt) the flours, oats, yogurt, sugar, oil and salt.

Knead (ælt) to a smooth (glat) and supple (smidig) dough (dej). The dough should be soft (blød). Form (form) the dough into a ball (kugle).

Let (lad) the dough rise (hæve), covered (tildækket), for about 45 min. Knock (slå) dough down (ned) and shape 10 buns (boller).

Set (sæt) buns (bollerne) on a baking sheet (bageplade) with baking paper (bagepapir) and let them prove (efterhæve) for about 30 min.

Brush with yogurt or water, then sprinkle (drys) with sesame seeds.

Bake at 200C / fan (varmluft) 180C for 12-15 min.


Came out tasty enough but not very well risen - perhaps the yeast was past it? Perhaps spelt flour was a bad substitution?

Dukkah

One of our best food finds in Copenhagen so far has been Sticks n Sushi. The name didn't sound that promising but there was one near work and I'd read that they had some good veggie stuff, so S and I decided to check it out one lunchtime, and call it research for the interviews he was hosting soon for people in his new lab (!).

It was empty that first time, but really really good once we got going. We ate a veggie selection (I think called the Greens Keeper), and it had a bit of creative veggie sushi, some unusual summer rolls, grilled corn on the cob and edamame in pods, and something really simple but delicious: sticks of sweet raw veg, with a miso dip and a sort of a dukkah of poppyseeds and something red - so you dunk the veggie stick in the miso stuff then the dukkah so the seeds etc stick. Really fresh and tasty...

(nb they had exactly my kind of puddings too: little tasty things. I tried a caramel covered in dark chocolate with sesame seeds on the outside and it was gooood)

So anyway, we went there again the other evening and ate that dip/dukkah thing again, and I started thinking about dukkah, and how M gave me some she'd made a while back and it was yummy and fennel seed-y and I put it on everythingggg. And then I made broccoli with miso sauce and seeds, and realised the world was telling me to make dukkah. So then I did. I thought Ottolenghi would probably have a good way of doing it, and I had hazelnuts left over from S's birthday cake, so I followed this recipe (subbing black pepper for green because I didn't have green and I think I like black better anyway).

70 g hazelnuts
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp dry green peppercorns (or white... used black)
3 tbsp coriander seeds
1½ tbsp sesame seeds
½ tsp nigella seeds
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp paprika

Heat the oven to 140C/285F/gas mark 1. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking tray and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Add the sunflower seeds to the tray halfway through, keeping them separate from the nuts. Remove from the oven and leave to cool while you toast the seeds.

Heat a small frying pan, then dry-roast the fennel seeds for 30 seconds. Add the cumin seeds and cook for another 30 seconds, or until they start to pop, then tip both into a little bowl. Put the pan back on the heat, toast the coriander seeds, and tip into the same bowl.

Toast the sesame and nigella seeds together until the sesame turns light brown, then tip into another small bowl.

Rub the hazelnuts to discard some of the skin. Crush coarsely with a pestle and mortar, then transfer to a medium bowl. Lightly crush the cumin and fennel seeds, and add to the hazelnuts. Repeat with the coriander seeds, then the sunflower seeds. Add these to the nut bowl, along with the ground black pepper, sesame and nigella seeds, add salt and paprika, and mix well.


I ate it with celeriac puree made like this, and it was truly delicious, either on bread, with pasta, or just the dukkah and the puree. After making this I remembered making dukkah once before, that time slightly different (I really wanted the fennel seeds this time), and eaten with baked squash.

Red cabbage, radish, sesame and wasabi

We had a red cabbage in the fridge, and three tubes of wasabi to use up before we leave (not going to happen)... I'd stumbled across these coleslaw recipes a couple of times, and this time thought I'd borrow the wasabi dressing idea for a red cabbage salad.

~1/2 a smallish red cabbage
2 medium-large purple radishes, peeled and grated
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated
~ 1 tbsp chopped chives

~1 tbsp peeled, finely chopped ginger
~1 tbsp wasabi paste
~ 2 tsp honey
juice of ~ 1/3 lime
~1 tsp umeboshi plum vinegar (optional)
~1 tbsp cider vinegar
~1 tsp sesame oil
~ 1 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp white sesame seeds and 1 tbsp black sesame seeds, toasted

Finely shred the cabbage and put in a medium bowl with the grated radishes and carrots. Add the chives. In a small bowl, whisk together the ginger, wasabi, honey, lime juice, vinegars and oils. Pour the dressing over the vegetables, add the toasted seeds, toss and serve. Best eaten immediately but keeps OK for a couple of days in the fridge.


Another fresh+tasty Winter salad.

Beetroot and orange salad

A said she found beetroot inspiration (beetspiration?) on here the other day, which in turn inspired me to make something with the candycane beetroots festering in my fridge.

Of course they keep pretty much forever so no rush (same with the oranges), but I've been on a bit of a using-up kick so it felt good to eat them up.

I have been down on candycane beetroot of late - you just cannot cook them as they lose their pattern and colour and their flavour isn't as intense as the fully-pink ones either. But if you keep them raw they are lovely, so if you have candycane (Chioggia) beetroot this salad is the right sort of thing to do.

juice and zest of 1 orange (ended up with zest of normal orange and juice of Seville orange)
1/4 clove garlic, crushed with salt
1 tsp pomegranate molasses (or honey - if using honey and normal orange juice add a squeeze of lemon as well)
1 tsp white miso
2 tbsp olive oil
4 small beetroot (mine were candycane and very pretty but normal would be fine too), peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
handful of chopped coriander
Put the orange juice and zest in a small bowl and mix in the crushed garlic. Add pomegranate molasses, miso and olive oil and whisk together to make the dressing. Set aside. 

Prepare the beetroot and carrot and put the matchsticks in a serving bowl. Add the sesame seeds and coriander, then tip the dressing in and mix well. Good immediately or after being in the fridge overnight (perhaps keep the sesame seeds and coriander separately if overnight is the plan).


This was nice. The Seville oranges contain masses of juice so it ended up quite juicy and sharp - think this would be softened if normal orange was used, probably no bad thing. Very pretty - striped beetroot, orange, green and seeds; just enough crunch.

Kong ja ban

 I bought soybeans for miso making, this recipe was on the back of the packet. It is Korean, I liked the sound of it, so why not give it a try - I have lots of soybeans. That's all I know.

1 cup dried soybeans
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1/6 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp golden syrup (corn syrup in original recipe)
1/2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Soak soybeans in water for four hours. Drain and transfer to a pan. Add water, soy sauce and sugar and simmer for ~45 min, until the liquid is much reduced. The soybeans should retain a bit of bite. Finally, add the sesame oil, golden syrup and sesame seeds. Let cool before eating.


Hmm, wasn't sure about this at first - thought perhaps the instructions had lost something in translation: wondered if the beans were undercooked, and it was rather salty. But eating cold, with plenty of rice, the saltiness is mediated, the bite in the beans becomes nuttiness, and it ends up as a superior kind of baked beans.

Cabbage, watermelon radish and bitter orange salad

I couldn't resist marmalade orange season. But since I still have several jars of last year's marmalade in my preserve stash, I am trying to resist actually making marmalade. Instead, I thought I'd see what else I could come up with using bitter / Seville / marmalade oranges. We are out of lemons, so the idea of using bitter orange in salad instead seemed an interesting one. I was just reading about some Japanese citrus the other day - there's so many other kinds of citrus out there beyond lemon, lime, orange and even grapefruit. I knew yuzu, but there are all these other ones I'd never even heard of too. Anyway, I'd never used marmalade oranges for anything other than marmalade, so here's a starter foray into the world of alternative citrus.

1/3 of a small white cabbage, shredded
2 small watermelon radishes, peeled and finely sliced (or cut into matchsticks)
1/4 cup golden raisins
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
juice (and a little bit of zest) of half a bitter / Seville orange
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp white miso
pepper and salt

Put the prepared cabbage, watermelon radish, raisins, sesame seeds and coriander in a bowl. Put the orange juice and zest in a separate, small bowl, add the olive oil, miso and seasoning and check it tastes good. Just before serving tip the dressing over the salad and toss.

Brown rice, kale, tempeh, sesame and ponzu

I wanted to try ponzu sauce - citrussy, sweet, salty, sounded like something we would like. But they all seemed to contain either HFCS or fish (maybe I should just make my own?). Then I found the Kikkoman Lime one is all clear, and brought some home.

This combination is nothing fancy, but it is really, really good.

1 cup Japanese brown rice cooked in 1 1/2 cups water
~6-8 big leaves kale, washed and shredded
olive oil
1/2 a packet of tempeh, crumbled or ~1 cm dice
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
salt+pepper
ponzu sauce
~2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
sliced avocado (optional)

Put the rice on first. Then blanch the kale in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan, add the tempeh and fry until golden brown. Add the garlic and fry til lightly coloured. Add the blanched kale and stir-fry til warmed through. Season with a little salt and pepper (ponzu is salty - don't add too much salt). Put some rice in a bowl, add kale-garlic-tempeh mixture, ponzu, sesame seeds, avocado if you want, and eat.

Japanese chestnut rice (kurigohan)

We had one bag of chestnuts already. I cut crosses in them and roasted them. They were good, but also injurious. Bravely / foolishly S bought a second bag of chestnuts, and I prepared them.

I was at D+K's place right before prepping the first bag, and they also had some chestnuts. K was soaking them, which I'd never seen before. She's Japanese, so I wondered if it might have to do with some Japanese preparation... I stumbled across Kurigohan (Japanese chestnut rice) - basically just Japanese rice cooked with chestnuts - and figured since it was so simple it had to be amazing. Also, the soaking might help alleviate injury risk since the shells would be softened and perhaps easier to cut into? I used this recipe.

~20 medium chestnuts*
2 1/4 cups sushi rice
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sake (a gift from KC after my aerial performance - s+i drank the rest and it was truly delicious)
1 tsp salt
1 piece konbu (used half a sheet of sushi seaweed as that's what we had)
2 2/3 cups water

black sesame seeds
chopped spring onion greens

Soak the whole chestnuts in boiling water for about 30 min.

Meanwhile, rinse the rice and then soak it (separately) in cold water for 30 min.

When the chestnuts have soaked, remove them from the hot water one by one, score the shells and remove them. Take care to remove the whole of the inner shell layer even though it is tricky - it is bitter. If it doesn't come off easily put the chestnut (minus outer shell) back in the hot water for a few more minutes. When they are peeled put back in the hot water for a few minutes. Don't expect to complete this step quickly - it is slow and fiddly.

When the chestnuts are all peeled, rinse them and rinse the soaked rice and put the rice in a large saucepan. Add the water, soy sauce, mirin, sake and salt and mix. Put the chestnuts on top, then lay the seaweed on top of them, cover and simmer gently for 20-30 min, until the liquid is all absorbed and the rice is tender. Turn off the heat and leave, covered, to steam for ~10 min. To serve, sprinkle individual servings with black sesame seeds and chopped spring onion greens (if you want).

Note: We have figured out a more weeknight-ready version. For this, roast the chestnuts whenever you have the oven on, peel and keep in the fridge til you want to make the rice. Dispense with all the soaking. When ready to make, put rice, soy, mirin, sake (or more mirin), salt and water in a pan and mix; crumble chestnuts on top and lay seaweed on top of that. Cook as above (perhaps a little longer).


This is amazing. The rice acts as a vehicle to extend the wonderful sweet/nutty chestnut flavour, and the textures of the two together are really comforting and more-ish. The recipe made quite a lot but S loved it so that is not a problem... Note, the chestnuts tended to break up when I mixed it all together in the end, which I think is good as means better distribution of chestnut pieces - so it really doesn't matter if they break when peeling.

*I suspect the original uses Asian chestnuts, due to its origin... Apparently there are Asian, European and American chestnut varieties, and although all quite similar they are different. And the American chestnut is almost extinct due to a disease it caught from the Asian one (in Brookline?!). So these were probably 0European, possibly Asian. I need to corroborate all of this!

Quick fried tofu with spring onions and sesame

This is like a speeded-up version of this delicious beast. Taking advantage of TJ's super firm tofu (no need to drain, doesn't fall apart easily so can be stir fried), simplifying and using a bit less heat.

2 tbsp veg oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 pack super firm tofu (shrink wrapped), chopped into large chunks
~5 spring onions, chopped
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
generous grinding of black pepper and salt

Heat oils and then add the tofu. Stir fry, tossing regularly, for a few minutes, then add spring onions. Stir fry a little longer then add sesame seeds, chilli, pepper and salt. Keep frying until the tofu is lightly browned and the spring onions are wilted and crispy in places. We ate this with soba noodles and a quick peanut-tamarind sauce (peanut butter, tamarind paste, lime juice, soy sauce, mirin).

Brown rice with sweet potato, spinach and miso-tahini sauce

This is yet another variation on something I make really often - some grain, some steamed veg (most often something green (e.g. broccoli, spinach, leeks, edamame) and something orange (e.g. carrots)), some tofu, some sauce, some herb and some seeds. It really hits the spot; I especially crave it after an aerial evening; it's quick, super simple, flexible and good.

Lindsey's photo

I have discovered ornamental sweet potatoes (thanks to M from LUrC). They were planted all around where I work and now the frost has killed the plants and they have been removed, but some tubers are still there (+some are crazy spiral shapes). I tried a few and they are tender and sweet. But I am not sure whether I should eat more - perhaps they use bad pesticides on them. Anyway, interesting - I'd never noticed them before but they are everywhere.

1 cup brown rice (used TJs brown rice, black barley and radish seed mix)
2 medium sweet potatoes, trimmed and chopped into chunks
1/8 of a large kabocha squash, chopped into chunks
generous handful of spinach, washed and torn into pieces if leaves are large
2 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 clove garlic, crushed to paste
2 in piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1-2 tbsp mirin
1-2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1/3 block firm tofu, diced fairly small
fresh coriander, chopped
sesame seeds (black or white)

Put the rice on to cook with 2 cups of water - should take 20-30 min. Meanwhile, prep the sweet potatoes and squash and put on to steam - should take 10-15 min. When the squash is done take it out of the steamer and put the spinach in - will steam in 2-3 min - take out and refresh in cold water to stop cooking before squeezing all liquid out. While you're waiting for stuff to cook you can make the sauce: mix miso, tahini, garlic, ginger, mirin and vinegar in a small bowl, taste for balance. Also prep the tofu and coriander and toast the seeds (if you like). To eat, dump your chosen proportions of everything in a bowl, mix and enjoy.


Everything I love at the moment seems to involve some combination of miso, sesame and ginger. This is no exception.

Pumpkin soda bread

This is an adaptation of classic Delia. I first made the original a long time ago, in an effort to use up a whole pumpkin lantern - after souping most of it, why not make some quick and easy bread to go with the soup? That recipe contained cheese and eggs; this is an up-to-date, animal-free version.

8 oz plain flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz raw pumpkin or squash (peeled weight), grated
~2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
~3 tbsp white miso paste, broken up into small (~1/2 tsp) pieces
1 oz pumpkin seeds (and some extra for the top)
1/2 oz sesame seeds
2 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 6 tbsp boiling water
1 tbsp fake milk (plus a little more, if needed)

Heat oven to 375F. Grease a baking sheet fairly liberally with olive oil. Put flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix with a fork. Add grated pumpkin, thyme leaves and miso (in small pieces) and toss together, then mix in the pumpkin and sesame seeds. Beat the milk into the linseed mixture, then add this to the pumpkin-flour mixture. Mix until it comes together into a sticky dough, using your hands towards the end (add a little more milk if needed).

Transfer the dough to the greased baking sheet and press into a 6 inch, flattened round. Make a cross on top using a blunt knife, then sprinkle with flour and pumpkin seeds. Put in the oven and bake for 45-50 min, until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the oven and let cool for ~ 30 min. Best eaten warm, although perfectly fine at room temperature or toasted.

Green leaves and beans, pomegranate molasses, sesame

half a bag of salad leaves (mostly baby kale and spinach)
~1 cup green beans, topped and tailed and chopped into pieces
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tsp white miso
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp olive oil
water

Boil the green beans for ~4-6 min, until just tender. Refresh under cold water and then drain. Put leaves and beans in a salad bowl. Add the toasted sesame seeds. In a small bowl beat the tahini, pomegranate molasses, miso, mirin and olive oil together with a fork, then beat in water until it is thinned to a good dressing consistency. When ready to serve, pour the dressing over the greens and mix well together.

Miso, membrillo and toasted sesame seeds

I cut the membrillo into pieces last night - half for me, half for L; a bit extra for her to give back to M... Then half of our bit into pieces to store in the freezer for future use and the other half to eat right away / to keep in the fridge. I think it should keep quite a long time in the fridge, but just in case that doesn't work out the frozen stuff is back-up. We managed to make quite a big dent in it last night alone - S is a big fan. He was eating it on lightly toasted bread slices with manchego. I decided that the membrillo was amazing on the aforementioned toasted bread, over a smear of white miso and below a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds - sweetness, tang, crunch, saltiness and toastiness.

Gluten-free bread

I went to the woods today with A, D and K. We planned to have a picnic in the woods. I wanted to take something straightforward to eat, considered making these cookies again since everyone liked them and I wanted K to try them. But fancied something savoury. I realised I had never made a yeasted GF bread - I have made some excellent accidentally GF breads, but never one that was intended to take the place of a regular bread, to be sliced and toasted and so forth. I decided to try this recipe as a first pass (note, I had eggs from A's CSA needing used so the egginess was fine this time).

(makes one loaf in large loaf tin)

2 tsp dried yeast
pinch of raw sugar
1/2 cup (125ml) fake milk
3/4 cup (185ml) water
2/3 cup (115g) brown rice flour (subbed TJ's GF flour mix for brown rice flour and potato starch)
1/2 cup (85g) potato starch (subbed TJ's GF flour mix for brown rice flour and potato starch)
1/3 cup (60g) cornmeal
1/2 cup (62g) millet flour (ground millet seeds in spice grinder)
1/2 cup (56g) ground almonds
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp fine desert salt
2 eggs, beaten lightly
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
sesame seeds to sprinkle on top

In a small bowl combine yeast and sugar. Add warm water to the fake milk so that it reaches body temperature. Pour the milk mixture over the yeast/sugar and mix to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes to ferment.

Place all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well with a fork. When the yeast starts to bubble, add it to the dry ingredients along with the remaining ingredients and mix to form a smooth batter. It will not become kneadable (more like cornbread batter), but will thicken slightly after you have mixed it for a few minutes. Pour into a greased loaf tin with a lined base, scatter the top with sesame seeds and set aside to prove.

Once the dough has nearly risen to the top of the pan (around an hour) turn your oven to 220C/425F. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown, then turn the oven down to 180C/350F and cook for a further 20-25 minutes or until done (should sound hollow when turned out and tapped). Cool on a wire rack. Slice when cold and store in the fridge.


I had trouble turning it out of the pan - would recommend lining the base. It bakes up well, with a nice crust. Slightly sweet - I might leave out or reduce the honey as the cornmeal is sweet on its own. Quite moist - perhaps it was slightly under (could also explain difficulty turning it out?). Pretty satisfactory though, and I always enjoy mucking around with different flours. I sliced it and took it to the woods along with some lentil dip and muesli muffins. Also ate some with this amazing Speculoos-cocoa vegan (but not GF) spread I found on a foray to TJs - too pretty to eat for about 5 sec (above), then too good to leave alone.