What a way to pasta time

Looking for something to do in lockdown? Many of us have taken to cooking up a storm in the kitchen and baking to a bake-off standard (or at least having fun in the process).

Last week my daughter decided to make pasta from scratch. Not having a pasta maker it was a long and laborious process resulting in aching wrists from all the rolling! She made butternut squash filled ravioli which was absolutely delicious.

Find a basic pasta recipe and away you go.

The filling was butternut squash roasted with sage leaves in olive oil. Keep half for stuffing inside the ravioli and mash and add the other half to a bechamel sauce made using butter, flour, milk with a grating of nutmeg and a pinch of mustard powder. Add grated cheese of your choice.

Fill the ravioli with the squash and cook in boiling salted water for a few minutes.

Drain and place in an open ovenproof dish and pour over the sauce, adding torn mozzarella, grated hard vegan cheese, sage leaves and a drizzle of truffle oil.

Bake in the oven for 30 mins on gas 7, 200C fan, 220C.

Easy peasy pizza

This week I tried to buy flour. Luckily I have plain and self raising but wanted extra strong for pizza dough. There wasn't a bag to be seen on the shelves. I'm guessing, with more time to spare, people are baking, cooking, pasta, pizza and bread making.

We could have ordered a Dominos but decided it was time to think outside the box (haha)! When the children were younger we used to make naan-bread pizzas, letting them add their own toppings. I managed to buy some naans at the supermarket and had plenty of topping ingredients at home so this is what I created:-

A Picasso Pizza! This was just a tomato base of choice (mine was Seeds of Change Tomato and Basil) plus grated cheese (or veggie alternative) and caramelised onions. So tasty served with salad and coleslaw. The world is your oyster when it comes to toppings - seriously anything goes so let your imagination go wild.

Next week I may try doing Edvard Munch's The Scream.

Vegan veracity

A few years ago I attended Veganfest in Leeds, Yorkshire. At the time I was a committed vegetarian and only mildly curious about being vegan. The festival opened my eyes to what vegans are all about but at the time it seemed quite radical. This year I plan to visit again and learn a bit more.

During the intervening years I have picked up information along the way. Supermarkets have got better at selling products, ingredients and ready meals, restaurants are catering for vegans and there is more about Veganism in the media.

Some foods you may think are vegan are actually not. Honey is actually a bee by-product and many bees are mass pollinated using a method called migratory beekeeping. This then affects many fruit and vegetables.

Many wines, beers and ciders use isinglass (from fish bladders) in the clarifying process. Gelatin can be used in some sherries and ports as well as in desserts, sweets and medication. Cochineal and shellac can also be found in sweets.

Bone char is sometimes used in the sugar making process and don't forget what bone china is made from!

Vegan bread may still have various E-numbers derived from animals.

What I probably hadn't realised was how hard it is to avoid animal products in everyday life. They seem to be in everything including shampoos, conditioners (both hair and fabric) and medication. Also LCD screens on phones, televisions, tablets and computers use animal cholesterol. I have no idea where you can buy vegan versions.

If you're interested in finding out more you can go along to a vegan festival near you. Leeds has two dates this year - Saturday June 6th and Saturday 29th November.

Do or Diet

Just attended a workshop concerning ketogenics, detoxing and fasting. Having had my all-inclusive (read greedy) holiday in January, I decided it might be time to do a bit of cleansing and shedding.

The talk was very informative, if a little scientific. A lot of it went over my head. What I did learn was that it was quite a difficult process when you're vegetarian. The ketogenics diet is high fat, medium protein and low carbohydrate. Being a non meat or fish eater, most of my protein intake has to come from eggs although some cheese and nuts could be eaten. I can't eat potatoes, rice, pasta, beans and pulses, currently a large part of my diet. Even vegetables were limited with no kale or spinach allowed. Fat could come in the form of avocado and cooking with coconut oil 'though I find this sometimes has an aftertaste. Ah, tricky.

Detoxing involved making sure I took in extra salt and used activated charcoal to bind various chemicals and filter them out of my system as waste. I questioned what happens to the medication I take on a daily basis. Is that filtered out of my system too? Ah, maybe.

Having mentally ruled out ketogenics and detoxing I thought maybe occasional fasting might do the trick. Slightly worried about my tendency towards migraines when I don't eat regularly, I asked if there were any tricks to prevent this. Ah no, don't fast if you suffer migraines because it messes with your blood sugar levels.

It all sounded quite complicated. I think without understanding a lot more and getting a nutritionist to give me a personal plan to follow, I'll give it a miss. I'm not overweight and actually probably just need to eat a little more healthily and do a bit more exercise. Everything in moderation.

Ah well, looks like I'll have to do it the hard way. Today I went for my first run of the year. Honestly it was more like a shuffle but it's a start. The diet starts tomorrow (or maybe the next day ...)

Posh Pancakes

As a child I enjoyed all the desserts and cakes that were on offer. Except, that is, Crepes Suzette. That was a dessert just for the grown ups. We called them posh pancakes. It wasn't until I got older and received a Marks and Spencer French cookery book that I understood why. They're laced in alcohol! Take your pick; Cointreau, Curaçao or Grand Marnier. 

Armed with the knowledge concerning the alcohol and a bona fide recipe to boot, you would think I might have made this boozy dessert by now, mais non! 

I am now looking forward to Pancake Tuesday this week and will let you know the outcome. If you want to give it a try here's how -

Pancakes cooked the way you enjoy (Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free ...)
3tbsp caster sugar
250ml freshly squeezed orange juice
Zest of one orange
1tsp lemon juice
1tbsp your chosen alcohol (see above)
50g unsalted butter

- fold pancakes into quarters
- melt sugar in non stick pan over a low heat without stirring until caramelised
- take pan off heat + add orange juice, zest, lemon juice + alcohol
- let them combine
- add small pieces of butter bringing to the boil and simmering gently until glossy
- add pancakes back into the pan and warm through
- serve immediately 

The Vegetarian Valentine

What to do on Valentine's Day? Restaurants are fully booked unless you're organised and booked in good time, otherwise it's a 5pm or 10pm booking! Dinner for two at home? Many supermarkets offer dine-in deals and we did succumb to a Waitrose offer. I had what would have been the starter (a pea and spinach risotto) whilst my other half enjoyed the salmon. We shared one side of cauliflower cheese and I cooked him roast potatoes. Obviously we ate the dessert and drank the prosecco! The other side dish was roast veggies which I have had for tea tonight. The other salmon en croute is in the freezer. Good value at £20.00

I did make a bit of effort on Saturday night by cooking my heart shaped pasta from Italy. I made a puttanesca sauce to go with it - black olives, capers and tomatoes with plenty of garlic and a kick of chilli. Good job we both ate it! 

Raw dried pasta hearts

Cooked pasta hearts

The cross vegetarian 😡

Just a bit of a rant this week. How hard is it for a restaurant to give more than one vegetarian choice on the menu? More and more of us are turning vegetarian and vegan and yet some restaurants are still lagging behind in the variety stakes.

This week a local Italian restaurant had a lunch menu with only one veggie choice - mushroom gratin. Watery and tasteless was my verdict. Then on a celebratory weekend away our evening menu had only a mushroom starter and mushroom stroganoff main. Ridiculous!

I have nothing against the fun guys (sorry funghis) but am not a massive fan and certainly don't want two courses of the slippery little fellas. Come on restaurants. Most of us can do better in our own homes with the wide and varied choice of veggie ingredients and prepared meals. It's hardly giving us an incentive to dine out.

Yorkshire Pudding Day

Today is Yorkshire Pudding day in the UK. Being a Yorkshire lass I know a thing or two about Yorkshire puddings. Traditionally these were cooked with the dripping from the meat but this can be replaced with vegetable oil. Other than that, it's basically a batter mix of flour, eggs and milk. It was served as a starter with gravy and was intended to fill you up when meat was scarce. It is traditionally eaten with a Sunday roast of meat (or nut roast), roast potatoes and vegetables.

A Yorkshire Pudding can also be used as an edible vessel for a delicious stew, curry, chilli or casserole.

As I am once again trying to eat a more vegan diet, it's good to know I don't have to give up my Yorkies:-

225g SR flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
300ml soya milk
100ml warm water
8 tsp vegetable oil

- Blitz the first 4 ingredients in a processor with a pinch of salt
- Cover and rest in the fridge for 1 hour
- Heat oven 220C/200C fan/gas 7
- Spoon oil into 8 moulds in a Yorkshire pudding tin & place in oven for 5 mins until very hot
- Remove tin from oven & carefully pour some batter into the hot oil
- Return to oven & bake for 25-30 mins until risen & golden

I've definitely written about Yorkshire Puddings in the past. It may be Yorkshire Pudding Day in the UK but in the USA it's Groundhog Day so here we go again!

Maldivian Menu

Apologies for being AWOL. I was lucky enough to enjoy a ten day stint in the beautiful Maldives. Even luckier, I was on an all inclusive package in a beautiful resort with a fantastic chef and have returned a bigger person ... literally!

The food was AMAZING! There was so much choice with an abundance of colourful salads, fruits and vegetables. For the vegetarian the main food sources are:-

- Coconuts - grown on every island and declared the national tree. It is grated and shredded into dishes, eaten raw or turned into coconut milk to add creaminess to curries and beverages.

- Starches - yams, sweet potatoes, breadfruit and screw pine and, of course, rice.

- Curries - often containing the above ingredients as well as aubergines, pumpkins and bitter gourds as well as green bananas. The curries are served with rice and/or roshi, an unleavened flatbread.

               Snake gourd curry above and bitter gourd curry below served with rice and roshi

The influence of nearby India and Sri Lanka manifests itself in the food providing tasty, exotic flavours.

Visiting a nearby island where maldivians live, we saw banana trees, star fruit trees and local nuts left out in the sun to dry.

                                  Star fruits growing on a tree and nuts left out in the sun to dry

The main food source is fish, in particular tuna, so if you are pescatarian rather than vegetarian or vegan, the world is your oyster.

Happy New Year!

Twelfth night may fall on the 5th or 6th January, depending on your beliefs, but the weekend has seen most of us put away our Christmas decorations for another year. I just love to walk or drive around the streets admiring the twinkly lights and, tonight, they are few and far between. It seems a shame that all the light festivals are over when we still have two months of winter to plough through.

With that in mind I have been looking to see what other festivals are on the horizon and, hey presto, the celebration of wassailing is actually today, 5th January. This is a ceremony to bless the fruit trees, particularly apple. Drinking and loud singing to the health of the trees takes place with a Wassail King and Queen leading the procession through the orchards, offering a piece of wassail-soaked toast to the biggest and best tree. This is an offering for a bountiful harvest come the autumn. It is a noisy procession in order to wake the tree spirits and frighten away the evil demons.

This tradition goes back in history but is still carried out in the south of England where orchards are plentiful for Apple and cider production. In these days of trying to cut down on air miles and imports and becoming more environmentally sustainable we should all hope for a bountiful British harvest.

"Wassail" comes from the Old Norse "ves heill" which means "be healthy." That's a good toast for anyone at the start of 2020.

Wish upon a star

A few weeks ago, well before the main event, I wrote about Stir up Sunday for Christmas puddings and cakes. I used a new recipe this year, published in the Waitrose magazine. Well, my wish was actually for the cake to turn out well and be moist, tasty and attractive. If I do say so myself, the cake has been a great success. I chose to make it starry rather than their suggestion of decorating with a wreath of fondant balls but otherwise followed the recipe to a tee. 

If you want to plan ahead for next year you may find a copy of the November Waitrose magazine or google Waitrose fig, sherry and almond Christmas cake.

Christmas Candy

Candy is the North American word for sweets or confectionery. We tend to think that candy canes come from America with the first recorded Candy sticks dating from 1837. They were white to begin with and later the red stripes were added as well as peppermint flavouring and were referred to as candy canes in 1866.

In 1874 they were connected to Christmas and since then have been given different interpretations, ie the "J" shape stands for Jesus with the white representing his purity and the red his blood.

Another story connects the canes to Germany in 1670 when a choirmaster gave them to the children attending a nativity service. The shape was meant to symbolise the shepherds crooks.

Whatever the truth is, they make good Christmas decorations, stocking fillers and sweet treats. Whilst okay for vegetarians, they are not recommended by dentists!

Most chocolates are suitable for vegetarians but you need to check sweets as marshmallows and anything gummy contain gelatin.

Check these out. If you shop around there are plenty of non-gelatin sweets out there - just as tasty without being nasty.

Short Cuts

 Such a busy time of year - shopping, cooking, baking, wrapping, decorating and, of course, socialising - sometimes there is no time for the simple things.

This is when a short-cut meal comes into its own. Something warm, comforting and quick. Here is one of my easy-peasy cheats teas.

A vegetable and bean chunky chilli soup strained
+
A packet of quick-cook rice
+
A tub of plain yogurt or sour cream
+
A few tortilla chips

Warm through, cook, dollop & place on the side.

Not the healthiest but definitely convenient and okay just occasionally.

Now, time to write those Christmas cards.

Causing a stir

Today is the last Sunday before Advent, aka Stir Up Sunday. It's time to make Christmas pudding and  so, let's kick off with a prayer;

 Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord,
The wills of thy faithful people,
That they plenteously bringing forth
The fruits of good works, may
be of thee plenteously rewarded

This is the prayer for the 25th Sunday after Trinity and was synonymous with the cry to rally the troops into getting on and stirring up the pudding in advance of Christmas. Very much a case of sowing now (and allowing the fruit to mature in the alcohol) to reap your reward.

Traditionally the pudding had 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his 12 disciples. One should gather the whole family into the kitchen and get each person to give the mixture a stir and make a wish, stirring from east to west to represent the journey of the 3 wise men. Trinkets might then be added to the mixture; a silver coin for wealth, a thimble for the spinster and a ring for a forthcoming wedding. These should be thoroughly cleaned before adding to the mixture and everyone should be given a warning so there are no poisoning nor choking incidents!

Gosh, there's a lot of traditions and superstitions to remember.

I have also taken the opportunity to get cracking with my Christmas cake today and the jewel-like fruit soaking in sherry and orange juice has certainly put me in a festive mood. If only photos of food could be scratched and sniffed! Maybe that should be my wish ...

Sunday Girl

Who doesn't love a Sunday Roast? Originating in England it was traditionally eaten after church on Sunday. Served with beef in the 15th Century it has gone on to be a popular meal with other meats and, for we vegetarians, nut roast. Accompaniments include roast potatoes, vegetables, gravy and a Yorkshire pudding.

A Yorkshire Pudding was originally known as a dripping pudding and was a simple meal or starter made with flour, eggs and milk and served with gravy. The intention was to fill up on this basic meal when meat was not abundant. In America a similar dish is called a popover.

Fire-cracker-bang-bang

Whilst writing this I can hear the screams and screeches of fireworks followed by pops and bangs as our skies are fleetingly alight. Crowds will gather around bonfires eating pies, chillis and jacket potatoes followed by parkin and toffee apples. A seasonal variation could be this delicious meal I ate recently - jackfruit and peanut bang-bang salad.

This vegetarian dish consists of chayote (Mexican pear squash) Chinese leaf (Chinese cabbage), mooli (long white radish), crispy wonton, peanuts and coriander and was served at The Ivy, Leeds. It was absolutely delicious.

You can probably add the bang-bang effect (firecracker sauce) to almost any plant/plant based food. It can be used as a dipping sauce or, more frequently, to coat the food. There are numerous recipes online but if you want a quick and easy sauce which gives that same creamy, sweet and spicy flavour, the recipe below is a sure-fire winner.

Easy Firecracker (Bang-Bang) Sauce

Sriracha sauce
Sweet chilli sauce
Greek yogurt or mayonnaise

Mix the ingredients above to taste and add to ie stir-fried cauliflower, red onion and spring onions. Garnish with finely sliced fresh ginger and coriander.

The bang come from the explosion on your tastebuds.

Pumpkin patch work

If you have read this blog for any length of time you will know I am a real fan of pumpkin spice, favourites being a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte and a special edition pumpkin spice Baileys.

Pumpkin has also landed on top of my pizzas, appeared in flans, tarts and risottos and even made it to the breakfast table and dessert.

One of the nicest things I've done this week was to visit a pumpkin farm near Harrogate in Yorkshire. Grab yourself a wheelbarrow and head into a pumpkin patch to literally pick your own. Unlike strawberries or raspberries, it doesn't take long, although it's exciting trying to find the perfect specimen. Give it a wash, pay for it and, if you wish, take it to the carving barn.

After this autumnal exercise it was time for lunch - pumpkin soup naturally!

Gourd Morning

Back on the pumpkin trail I have found a way of incorporating them with another seasonal beauty; the eating apple.

Roasted cubes of pumpkin or squash and apple, cooled and blended with coconut water and cinnamon make a delicious, sugar-free breakfast. Layer up this autumnal mousse with Greek yogurt and sprinkle on your choice of topping (nuts, muesli, granola, desiccated coconut, dried fruit, swirl of honey etc). If you're vegan, cook the squash and apple in coconut oil instead of butter and use a dairy-free coconut milk yogurt.

Try it for yourselves - it's really gourd!

Bish bash bosh squash

It's cooler weather and time to hunker down with some comfort food. This is where the seasonal pumpkin or squash comes into its own as variety really is the spice of life. There are many to choose from and they can be used in a myriad of ways.

The first recipe I'm going to share is for a savoury dish.

Squash and Spinach Orzo

1 Butternut squash
250g Cherry or baby plum tomatoes
Large pinch of dried thyme
200ml Vegetable stock
360g Orzo
Splash of white wine vinegar
Large pinch of chilli flakes
Bag of baby spinach leaves
150g Creme fraiche
Parmesan (or vegetarian hard cheese)
Chives

Put the chopped squash and tomatoes in a shallow tin and roast in the oven with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, dried thyme and oil and roast for 20 mins.
Cook the orzo in the stock as per the packet instructions. Drain, reserving the cooking water.
Heat the white wine vinegar, chilli flakes and drained orzo gently for a minute then add the reserved stock and spinach until wilted.
Stir in the creme fraiche and keep stirring for 2-3 mins and gently heat through.
Either fold in the roasted vegetables, snipped chives and grated cheese or serve separately. Season to taste.
Serve in warmed bowls and garnish with more chives, cheese and chilli flakes if desired.

Pimping your pumpkins

Watch out for seasonal pumpkin, gourd and squash recipes coming your way this month. Sweet, savoury and stylish!