The Face of Vegetarianism!

Tomorrow marks the start of National Vegetarian Week (NVW) promoted by the Vegetarian Society (est. 1847 - wow!!) and hopefully your local food stores, cafes and restaurants with be highlighting this and providing ideas for tasty vegetarian meals. You can check this out at www.nationalvegetarianweek.org. This is now in its 24th year and literally going from strength to strength with more people choosing to be kinder to their own bodies, animals and, of course, the planet.

At the same time my home city, Leeds, is holding its own food and drink festival 12-30th May called Leeds Indie Food, supported by Leeds BID and Leeds City Council. This looks like being a fantastic event with street food markets, pop-up venues, beer, wine and coffee tasting and several vegan and vegetarian food events. Check it out at www.leedsindiefood.co.uk 

Last year I totally missed NVW and mentioned it belatedly in my blog dated 31/05/15 which included my old standby recipe of Naan Bread Pizzas. This gave ideas for toppings and design, one of which was to make a face using roasted peppers and onions. The photo below shows that it is possible to make a face without actually doing anything to the naan!

Sloe Sloe Quick Quick Sloe!

Hurrah! It feels like summer! Just been away with friends to Middleham in North Yorkshire for a dog walking weekend. Middleham is a lovely village overlooked by the ruins of the Castle with only the sound of horses hooves disturbing the tranquil setting. We did a circular walk starting and ending in the village one day and then walked from beautiful Jervaulx Abbey the next.

The key to making these walking weekends a success is having the right provisions. A good picnic or a decent pub en route are essential elements plus a quick sugar-boost when needed. Our go-to snack is a shot or two of Sloe Gin and a nice chunky slab of flapjack.

I have previously shared my flapjack recipe so here's my Sloe Gin Recipe:-

- In Autumn pick sloe berries (from the blackthorn trees). These should be picked after the first frost but can be gathered when you see them (and before someone else does) and then frozen to break down the tough skin. Some recipes say you have to prick the skin with a needle but I think life's too short and freezing works well.

- 1lb sloe berries

- 1 litre gin (use a fairly cheap one)

- 8oz caster sugar

- place berries, sugar and gin into a large sterilised jar, seal and shake well

- place jar in a cool dark cupboard and shake regularly - every day for a week

- after a week, shake once a week for at least the next month

- store for several months (the longer the better) shaking occasionally

- when you can wait no longer, strain the gin through a muslin cloth and pour into sterilised bottles

- enjoy it straight-up, add prosecco for a Sloe Royale or google a recipe for Sloe Gin Fizz

Mayday Mayday Mayday!

May Day is an ancient spring festival celebrated in the northern hemisphere with dancing around the maypole, singing and eating cake. For most of us it is a bank holiday, for which we are thankful!

Mayday Mayday Mayday is a verbal distress signal given in life-threatening emergencies and mainly used by pilots and seamen, 'though in some countries by police and firefighters. Most of us will never need to use it, for which we are thankful!

Today I cooked a meat lasagne-type meal (ode to Mezza Bezza) for the family and created a similar meal for myself which was very tasty:-

- Butternut squash cut into cubes and roasted in the oven with walnuts and chopped sage leaves

- Once cooked add tinned tomatoes, cumin, coriander and mango chutney

- Spread a tortilla wrap with mascarpone plus grated cheese on top & place in an ovenproof dish

- Spoon butternut squash mixture on top

- Do another layer of tortilla, mascarpone and cheese followed by butternut squash mixture

- Finish with a tortilla spread with mascarpone and cheese

- Place in oven 180 for approx 20 mins 

Voila! A delicious vegetarian meal made in half the time of a conventional lasagne.

Made on May Day and, 'though crisp at the edges, without having to put in a Mayday call to the fire services ... For which we are thankful!

Brit(ish) Spears!

Hurrah! The British Asparagus season is just about upon us, beginning 24th April and, sadly, ending by the 21st June. It's a short season so make the most of it.

Asparagus is a little madam of a vegetable. It requires certain conditions to grow well and then takes a couple of years to produce its first crop. Then, when the green shoots do emerge, they have to be individually hand cut and whizzed off to the shops (or onto your plate) ASAP before they deteriorate. 

Asparagus can be steamed, grilled, roasted and griddled. I enjoy them griddled and served with a poached egg, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a scattering of grated Parmesan (and in this case, chips!)

A good risotto is probably my favourite meal and the best is made with Spring vegetables; Asparagus, peas and beans. They are also good in vegetarian tarts (egg and cheese based) and pastas or can be eaten raw in salads.

There was a story on social media recently of a husband being sent out for asparagus. He came back from the shops bearing a bunch of daffodils which he claimed looked like asparagus! Funnily enough, I have heard that the best way of storing asparagus is to place it in a vase of water rather than store in the fridge. Imagine the guy coming home to cook his fresh asparagus only to find it covered in yellow trumpets!

Enjoy this British seasonal vegetable. Yes, you can buy imported versions all year round but eating seasonally is important and, without a doubt, British is Best! 

... 5 potatoes, 6 potatoes, 7 potatoes, More!

On April afternoons the birds are telling their own little story through song and there is promise in the air. It always reminds me of a period when I would finish middle school and sit in my mother's lean-to greenhouse planning things to grow. I liked the earthy fragrance but kept away once she grew tomatoes and geraniums as I didn't like the smell.

Since having a garden of my own I have always had, at the very least, a well stocked herb garden and sometimes pots of tomatoes, strawberries and chillis on the go. A few years ago I developed a proper garden and grew potatoes, onions, beans, garlic, courgettes, beetroot, radishes and salad leaves. That garden is now buried under a lovely patio but I have missed tripping out into the garden and snipping or digging up bits for tea.

Suburban gardening really took off during the war when needs must and even in the 1950s when there was still rationing. In the 1960s people had more leisure time and gardening became a hobby. Greenhouses were a popular addition to the garden and therefore more tomatoes were home grown. In the 1970s the repertoire included hot peppers which were essential for the food of the moment; chilli con carne! During the 1980s this became courgettes for ratatouille and in the nineties butternut squash. More recently rocket and spinach have been popular to grow for spicy salads and the cute baby veg is up there too.

This year I have decided to claim back a little piece of land and for the first year will grow potatoes as this helps to improve the soil. They are currently standing to attention in old egg boxes whilst they sprout (known as chitting) and soon I shall be able to plant them out, water and earth-up regularly before harvesting in the summer. When cooked they will be delicious with melted butter and chopped mint. Not counted as one of my five-a-day but a nutritious and tasty accompaniment.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness!

The Food Standards Agency launched the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme 5 years ago. This is a green and black sign which is displayed in the windows of food businesses for all to see and rates their hygiene on a scale of 1 - 5; 1 needing improvement and 5 being the top rating. This is useful when going into any eatery.

Not that I'm paranoid ... Or am I? I've just boarded the homeward train at Kings Cross and the first thing I did was to get the hand gel out as if to wash the smog of the Big Smoke off my hands! A few years ago I might have used a baby wipe but what happened in the years prior to babies? A quick visit to the washroom presumably.

When our children were tiny a friend of mine used to spoonfeed her son whilst wearing rubber gloves! She couldn't bear the mess. He then grew up wanting his hands washing and wiping regularly. No bad thing - I could never bear grubby boy fingers! When asked to bake for primary school fairs I would provide my famous flapjack but then buy it back as you never knew who'd made what! I have observed, first hand, children dipping their hands into school cookery. They are made to wash their hands initially but the temptation to pick and scratch ears, noses and butts proves too much for some children.

When I was young my grandma used to let me make concoctions which were basically any store cupboard basics mixed together in her old sugar bowl. In would go the Ready brek, sugar, flour, drinking chocolate ...whatever! I would pretend to cook it before offering it to poor old grandad! The other food memory of my grandparents is regularly going for Sunday tea and always eating tinned strawberries with Carnation cream. These would be stirred together and declared pink whilst grandma sagely nodded her head and wondered if I could stir them back to their original red and cream.

She really was a wise old owl. Her motto was "a little speck of dirt never hurt anyone." I'd like to think she was right but, just in case, I'll keep the hand gel handy!

Spiralling out of control!

In January I sneered at spiralisers for being a gadget fad. Now comes confession time. As of Mothers Day I have been the proud owner of my very own giant pencil sharpener (at least that's what it looks like!) Actually mine is quite a small version so whilst it handles a courgette quite well, I'm not sure how it would fare against a potato or squash.

I used the recipe given in my blog Pasta Zucchini dated 17/5/15 but used more courgette and no pasta. It was a little aquatic but nothing that a good draining wouldn't sort and it did taste delicious. Whilst I'm definitely not planning a trip to Marbella, it did cut out the carbohydrates from that meal!