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.
Sunday, 9 February 2020
Sunday, 2 February 2020
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!
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!
Sunday, 26 January 2020
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.
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.
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.
The main food source is fish, in particular tuna, so if you are pescatarian rather than vegetarian or vegan, the world is your oyster.
Sunday, 5 January 2020
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.
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.
Sunday, 29 December 2019
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.
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.
Sunday, 15 December 2019
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.
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.
Sunday, 8 December 2019
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.
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.
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