Hello Autumn, we’ve been expecting you.

For the past few weeks the leaves on the trees have been turning golden and the temperatures have dropped significantly so you could be forgiven for thinking that Autumn had arrived. But no, it is the Autumnal Equinox, which is today, that heralds the arrival of the new season and as if purely to continue the confusion it came in the guise of a warm, sunny, summer day.

In our household though we were going for Autumn, no summer salads here, we had planned a day in front of the TV and although we drew a line at the log fire we stuck to easy, warming nourishing food. For brunch (after all, this is a Sunday) we made toast from the loaf I made yesterday which was topped with Scrambled Tofu and Roast Balsamic Tomatoes.

Sunday Brunch

The Tofu was made to my usual recipe (see earlier post: “And so I’m back from outta space” ) with Red Pepper and Black Olives.

The Tomatoes were quartered and roast in a baking dish with: seasoned salt, Black Pepper, Herbes de Provence, Basil Oil and Apple Balsamic Oil.

For a quick and easy brunch this one is my absolute favourite.

 

Whilst cooking brunch I also prepared dinner, a slow cooking and warming casserole

Mushroom & Chestnut Casserole

• 1 Large Onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed,
• 2 large carrots, sliced

Sautee in oil (whichever your oil of choice is) until the onion is softened. Add the following:

• 250g Chestnut Mushrooms, quartered
• 20g dried Porcini Mushrooms, reconstituted in 200ml boiling water
• 2 cups Red Wine
• 1/2 cup Soy Sauce or Liquid Aminos
• 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 2 tbsp Tomato Puree
• 1 tbsp Dried Thyme
• 1 Bay Leaves
• Bouquet Garni
• 1 Stock Cube (I used Kallo Mushroom)

Heat on top of stove until boiling then leave to cook in a warm oven (160 c) for about 2 hours until the carrots are soft (they take the longest to cook). Then add a 200g pack of cooked and peeled Chestnuts sliced in half. The dish can now sit until you are ready to serve at which point take 2 tbsp cornflour mixed with cold water which you add to the casserole and stir until boiling and it has thickened (if you want it even thicker just use more cornflour).

I served with Roast Potatoes that had been tossed in Herby Olive Oil and steamed Broccoli with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.

 

Delicious –  I’ve just remembered why Autumn is my absolute favourite season, lots of warming, rich spicy food ……… until Spring, of course ……. now, Spring food ……

Thank you for reading

Carol

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Moroccan Spice – Steenberg Style

Today I was feeling in a particularly “Moroccan” mood (see post “Simple Saturday”) and used two different spice mixes both originating from there.

I buy most of my spices from a company called Steenbergs which is a family run company based in Yorkshire who blend all their own herbs and spices and this post will refer to their variation of these two classics (Ras al Hanut and Chermoula).

Do go and look for yourself, the whole website is a treat:  www.steenbergs.co.uk

Ras al Hanut

I can not improve on Steenberg’s description of this “Top of the Shop” spice mix and here is their link to go and have a look  www.steenbergs.co.uk/product/961/search

As you can see, this is one of the greatest spice mixtures of the world and if you have never worked with it you are missing something rather wonderful.

 

The ingredients in this particular mix are:

paprika ( pimenton ) , cumin powder , ginger spice powder , coriander seed powder , cassia powder , turmeric ( haldi ) powder , ground nutmeg powder , orris root powder , ground fennel powder , ground allspice powder ( pimento ), ground green cardamom seeds , whole dill seeds , galangal spice ( laos powder ), ground caraway seed powder , ground black cardamom seeds , chili powder ( hot chilli powder ), ground cloves powder , ground mace powder , ground cubeb pepper powder , rose petals , bay leaf powder ( laurel ), saffron

I use it for soups (as today), pasta sauces, winter warming casseroles and Tagines.  It goes particularly well with tomatoes.

 

Chermoula 

Chermoula is generally used as a rub and I use it on Baked Tofu or Roast Potatoes, Parsnips or Carrots. It also makes a good addition to Chickpea Burgers.  It isn’t as spicy as Ras al Hanut and contains herbs which gives it a very pleasing sweetness.

 

organic ground cumin powder , organic paprika (pimenton), organic onion , organic turmeric , organic garlic , organic coriander herb (cilantro), sea salt (1%), organic cayenne pepper, organic ground black pepper powder

http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/product/254/chermoula-organic-spice-blend-moroccan//18

 

I would recommend both of these blends to you, they provide a different type of spiciness and flavour but show equally why Moroccan is one of the best cuisines in the world.

 

Thank you for reading

Carol

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Refreshing the Freezer

The subject title is a bit of a play on words (like most of my titles!) as this concerns a recipe in Ruth Tal’s excellent cookery book “Refresh”.

I am a very busy working Mum who loves to cook but often doesn’t have the time or energy in the week to start producing meals from scratch, therefore the freezer can be a godsend. Not being a huge fan of processed foods (I’m not sniffy about them I just prefer my own cooking) I look for recipes that taste good on the day they are cooked and don’t deteriorate from a sojourn in the freezer – true happiness is when a dish improves for the keeping.

On my first flick through “Refresh” I was struck by a recipe for Red Bean and Lager Chilli, having 18 ingredients usually puts me off a recipe but looking through there was nothing too challenging, although I made a mental note to reduce the 2 tbsp. Chilli Powder (not forget Chilli Powder is different in the States) but I certainly wasn’t going to cut back on the lager (it called for “micro brewed” which was way beyond my pantry’s means).

The dish begins with the standard base of chopped onions, celery and LOTS of garlic that is sautéed until soft but add 1 chilli (I didn’t because I am a wuzz when it comes to heat) and 1 chopped Green Pepper (I used Red as I don’t like Green peppers and it was my dinner!)

Stir in 1 tbsp of ground cumin that you have previously toasted in a pan and chilli powder to your taste, a cinnamon stick and 2 tbsp of Cocoa powder that give the finished dish an amazing dark and rich colour (who says Vegan food is pale and bland!)

Add a couple of tins of chopped tomatoes and kidney beans (I added sweetcorn because there was some in the fridge needed using up and I would do so next time too as they added a lovely sweetness)  followed by chopped carrot and red pepper (I had already added these at stage one) and the lager.

When it is cooked (you will know because all the vegetables will be tender to the bite) remove the cinnamon stick and add chopped coriander (I didn’t have any but the overall dish was none the worse for that).

Serve with boiled rice and Tofu Sour Cream (also in the book – page 107 if you have it)

Which is tofu, oil, lemon juice, sugar, salt and water blitzed in the food processor – could not be simpler and well worth the effort

Red Bean & Lager Chilli

What happens when the dish comes out of the freezer?

Chilli dogs – with home made rolls, sausage and fried onions – SO delicious

Chilli Dogs

Which meal did I enjoy the most?

Too close to call, couldn’t possibly divide them and I would happily eat either/both again – many times 🙂

Thanks Ruth for your delicious recipes that translate so well from restaurant to home cooking and you all for reading the post.

Carol

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When Vegan and Gluten Free is the best pasta

People would have you believe that pasta has to be made with Durum Wheat and free range eggs to be anywhere near a decent pasta and I think, in the past, that was true but not any more.

The eggs went when I began following a Vegan diet and I am now trying to keep my intake of gluten to a minimum but, in this particular area it doesn’t really matter (in others it is more challenging!) because Ocado (where I do all my shopping) offer a range of gluten free pastas and now I have tried them all I can say that not only do the following two brands offer a perfectly acceptable alternative but they are actually better than the traditional.

 

Gluten & Egg free pasta

Le Veneziane, as the name would suggest, is Italian, it is made from corn and there is a range of shapes and sizes, I mainly use tagliatelle because it is so easy to get the portion sizes right and is easier to eat and stay clean than spaghetti.

Having said that La BuonaVita (made by Pasta Lensi) makes a delicious corn and rice spaghetti but they also offer a range of grains and shapes.

 

I used to find that gluten free pasta could disintegrate if you were not precise with the boiling times but these two brands have always behaved perfectly – you will, most likely, still get sauce all down your shirt though.

http://www.leveneziane.it/en/gluten-free-pasta

http://www.pastalensi.it/index.php?s=6&c=24

 

Alternatively research them both on the Ocado website, if they deliver to your area I can thoroughly recommend Ocado as it’s made my life so much easier since I have been using them.

http://www.ocado.com/webshop/startWebshop.do

 

A quick post this one but well worth it.

 

Thanks for reading

Carol

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Move over Ruth, it’s my turn …

Now I know that I am in the middle of blogging about Ruth Tal and her amazing cookbooks, Refesh and Fresh at Home but my son and I cooked such a lovely tea tonight that I wanted to share with you before I forgot.

The plan was to make something simple as we are enjoying a cold autumn day in front of a log fire and didn’t want to be away from it and the TV for too long.

We went for Champagne, Tomato and Red Lentil Sauce with Spaghetti and delicious it was too.

Your first question is going to be “Champagne”? what gives in your house for a simple Sunday supper?

The answer is also simple but relatively boring, it was my son’s birthday earlier this week and there was some champagne left in the fridge that was extremely flat, so not drinkable but a definite good addition for a sauce.

We began by putting chopped onions and celery with LOTS of garlic and sautéed with a little oil until soft. Until fairly recently I have always waited until this stage was complete before putting the remaining ingredients together but then it struck me that you could put all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and add them all together – easy, uh? – so why did it take me years to figure it out!

In the bowl is:

1/4 bottle flat champagne

2 tinned tomatoes, chopped (I always chop them myself so you don’t get any horrible bits)

3/4 cup Red Lentils

2 tbsp dried Oregano

2 tbsp Agave Syrup (I always use a sweetener in a tomato based sauce)

2 tbsp Tamari Soy Sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

In parallel to the sauce cooking I boiled Gluten Free spaghetti and refreshed it in cold water when it was cooked so I could add it to the sauce just before serving.

Much to my son’s horror I steamed some broccoli to accompany (evidently he is highly allergic to green vegetables!) but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I love a topping of chopped walnuts mixed with nutritional yeast and as there was a pot left in the fridge I felt it only right to continue the fridge de-cluttering.

It was simple and delicious and there is a few portions left for the freezer – happy days

Thank you for reading, I will return to my Ruth posts now …..

Carol

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And so I’m back – from outta space

You just logged on to find me here with that sad look upon my face 😦

Sorry – I love that classic Gloria Gaynor song and it was all that kept going through my mind when I saw that my last post was in January – January – at least it was this year!

I have been gone because life has been crazy and in truth still is, but I miss chatting about stuff other than work and family and I jumped at the chance when Liz (of “Cooking the Vegan Books” fame) invited me to blog about Ruth Tal’s “Refresh” or “Fresh at Home” cook books.

This was well over a month ago and I immediately leapt into action, cooked a number of recipes from Refresh, ordered the other book as, surprisingly, I didn’t already own it but peaked before I got to write the post. Not a good effort at all.

So here I am – late – but better late than never.

I love the Refresh book, I have found a number of recipes that now I have cooked will enter my repertoire and encourage me to alter the way I approach some of my own “classics”. Savoury Scrambled Tofu is one such recipe, I have only begun to cook scrambled tofu over the past year because I always felt it was tasteless but having been introduced to Black Salt my opinion changed and I enjoyed it as did every member of my family, Vegan or not. The general opinion was that the salt made it very “eggy” which made me stop and think because one reason for moving to a Vegan based diet was that I didn’t like eggs. The recipe in Refresh doesn’t call for Black Salt at all which immediately made me sceptical (having now concluded that it was essential) but my scepticism was totally unfounded because it was (is) delicious.

Before we go further I would like to consider something that has had me thinking in the six weeks since I first cooked this recipe. On the first attempt I, more or less, followed the recipe and since then have made alterations and developments to suit the specific tastes of me and the family, so when does this take it away from being Ruth Tal’s recipe and become mine that was inspired by the original? I ask this not because I am desperate to “own” recipes but I read so much about people “passing off” recipes as their own when they are blatantly copied from a book or a blog and on occasions have even taken the spelling mistakes with them.

First attempt at Ruth Tal’s recipe.

6 weeks and many versions later

The original recipe calls for you to put the flavouring together (Dill, Nutritional Yeast, Turmeric and seasoning) and mix with water to form a paste before you add it to the tofu in the pan, the logic of adding a liquid when I had just spent ages squeezing it out of the Tofu defied me so I kept everything dry before it went in. Maybe tofu is much drier in the States and in which case this may be a perfectly reasonable way to go.  The other change I made immediately was to not include 2tsp of garlic powder as there was already 3 cloves of fresh. The original recipe is widely available on the internet but it is very simple:

Saute 1 onion and 3 cloves of garlic until translucent, crumble 3 1/2 cups of tofu and cook for 2 minutes.

Combine 3 tbsp. nutritional yeast, 2 tsp dill weed, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 pinch turmeric, 1 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp black pepper with 1/2 cup water and whisk to remove lumps.

Here I used 4 tbsp yeast, a good 2 tsp dried dill weed, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper which I combined and added dry.

Cook until all liquid evaporated.

On occasion I have added red pepper or courgette with the onions also chopped olives or peas towards the end of cooking.

Using Dill and Nutritional Yeast is inspired and they will stay no matter what other changes I make  (although I once tried dried Thyme which was nice) but the addition of red peppers and diced Olives this morning earned a “that was the best breakfast ever” from my son and such praise doesn’t come easy. The two photographs above show the changes, it is not a competition but my way is definitely more colourful!

I have cooked a number of other recipes that I want to talk about but I will leave that for another post (earlier than 8 months time, I promise!)

Thanks for reading – it feels good to be back.

Carol

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