Reciplace

Vegan Vegetable Pitta Parcels

We made these yummy pitta parcels the other day as a starter when our vegan friends came around for dinner.  They're quick, easy, and taste great to everyone!  (And don't involve tofu or lentils like 90% of vegan recipes!)

First, chop a small aubergine (eggplant) and bake it in the oven with some olive oil for 15 minutes.  Pour some boiling water on 125g of couscous and set aside for 5 minutes. 

Combine the couscous with the chopped aubergine, 4 chopped tomatoes (seeds removed), a handful of raisins, a handful of sliced toasted almonds, a few spoonfuls of chopped coriander (cilantro), and the zest and juice of a lemon. 

Stir a spoonful of olive oil into the mixture, and divide into wholewheat pitta breads.  Bake in the oven for 5 minutes so the bread crisps up. 

Chinese Peppered Beef and Shiitake with Udon

More Chinese food was the order of the day while we watched the Closing Olympic Ceremonies in Beijing!  I was particularly looking forward to this one.... I haven't been eating meat lately, so we bought the most expensive cut of meat money can buy in Marks and Spencers. Those cows sure do taste better when they've been allowed to freely rome around the farm!

Also exciting was the use of our new Bamix hand blender to grind down black and white pepper for the seasoning.  I'm so used to using bland spices that have been sitting in the cupboard for a while that I added way too much fresh ground pepper at first!  We had to add some more noodles and pak choi to tone it down a bit!  But it's so worth getting the authentic ingredients for this dish, and using good quality meat - it was stunning. 

This dish almost made up for having to watch the excruitiatingly cringly handover to London at the ceremonies.  Can someone please get Boris Johnson to a tailor?  He shouldn't have to wear his dad's trousers now that he's mayor of London!!

Dry-fry 1/2 a teaspoon each of black and white peppercorns.  Let them cool, then use your hand blender or a mortar and pestle to grind them into a rough powder.

Combine 3 tablespoons of chicken or vegetable stock, 2 tablespoons of Shao Xing rice wine, 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of caster sugar in a bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves. 

Heat a wok over high heat and add peanut or sunflower oil.  When the oil is very hot, add 2 cloves of garlic, a spoonful of grated fresh ginger, and half the peppercorn mixture.  After a few seconds, (you are just flavouring the oil here), add 200g of very thinly sliced beef fillet, and stir fry for 1 minute.  Pour in the sauce and fry for another minute.  Add 6 sliced shiitake mushrooms, and 2 chopped pak chois.  Throw in 500g of fresh udon noodles, and stir to coat.  Serve with the remaining peppercorn mixture on top.

Chinese Vegetable Egg Rolls

Does anyone else crave Chinese food while watching the Olympic ceremonies in Beijing? We made these lovely little egg rolls to eat while watching the Opening Ceremonies. They tasted really good - I missed a few minutes' worth of fireworks while I stuffed these in my mouth!

You can buy ready-made pancakes (the same ones you use for duck pancakes) from Asian supermarkets, but we made our own for this.  The pancakes are really delicate when you make them yourself, and a little fragile when you roll them.  But it's worth the extra effort not to succumb to store bought, I think.

To make the pancakes, put 90g of plain flour in a food processor with a pinch of salt, 2 lightly beaten eggs, and 250mL water.  Pour the batter (1/4th of it at a time) in to a hot, lightly oiled skillet over high heat.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until it is almost set.  Slide carefully (usually while swearing) onto a plate, and repeat to make 3 more.

For the filling, slice up a carrot very thinly into little strips, and boil in a small saucepan full of water for 1 minute with a handful of beansprouts.  Drain, cool, and mix with a large handful of chopped coriander (cilantro) and 2 chopped spring onions.  Place a small mound of filling in the middle of each pancake and roll.  Use a little extra wet batter to seal the edges if it starts to fall apart.

Add some oil to the pan you used to make the pancakes, and fry the rolls 2-3 minutes on each side to crisp them up. 

To make the dip, mix 185mL chicken or vegetable stock in a saucepan over high heat with a spoonful each of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and flour.  Stir and let it boil until it starts to thicken and go smooth.  Stick the sauce in a dipping bowl and enjoy! 

A Foodie-ish Weekend in Bristol

Mmmm, had a lovely weekend in Bristol with my best foodie friend. We could talk about food for hours (and do!) I've been off the meat lately, as it's been giving me some stomach problems... but I made a big exception for the West Country, and ate an incredible amount of lovely farm organic pork, in many different forms. 

My friend is quite into the BBC Good Food site at the moment... one I've looked at quite a bit, but never actually used.  On Sunday afternoon, after our walk through the forest, we came back to put on a gorgeous roast of Pork loin with apricot, sage and pine nut stuffing from the BBC site.  (Mouth watering just thinking about it...)   We really could have sat there and just ate the stuffing with a spoon and forgotten about the roast - it was amazing...  but we perservered and carried on with the rest of the meal. 

Red wine gravy, roast potatoes, peas, parsnips (bit burnt but still yummy!).   We also did some really quick apple sauce for the pork.  I normally cook apples on a very low heat for an hour or more to make apple sauce, but we just cooked these ones for about ten minutes, and then blitzed them in the food processor.

My lovely friend also impressed me with her own Mascapone and Apple Bagels for breakfast, which she has now posted on the BBC Good Food site.  It's very simple and very delicious.  Just cinnamon and raisin bagels, with sliced apple, mascapone cheese, honey and walnuts. 

Linguini with spinach and smoked tofu

We've got some new friends who have just moved to town, and are vegan.  I've been trying out the vegetarian thing lately. Well, I've still been eating fish... what's that called? Pescetarian?  Sounds too much like a church!

I think going vegan is going a bit too far for me.  I love animals and am strongly against animal cruelty... but if we all stopped eating eggs and dairy, what would happen to all the cows and chickens?  They'd have nowhere to live, and they'd all have to go get a job at McDonalds.  It hardly seems fair! 

But I thought I'd give it a try.  For one night only!  Here is a vegan recipe I found at work, Linguini with spinach and smoked tofu.  (Can I reiterate how great it is to work on a recipe site all day?)

I made a couple of changes to it... I added tomatoes, and used fresh oregano instead of basil.  But it was not bad!  It needed cheese, so I broke down and grated lots of parmesan on top of it.  (Parmesan isn't even vegetarian, let alone vegan, so that was a real cheat!) 

Here's Charlotte Jost's Linguini with Spinach and Smoked Tofu:

Ingredients
4 tbsp Olive oil
1 packet fresh smoked Tofu, sliced
1 large white onion, diced
2 garlic clove, crushed
1 packet baby spinach leaves
150g frozen peas
1 carton soya cream
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves
1 pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper
400g Linguine

Method

1. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan and fry the tofu until crisp. Remove from the pan.

2. Add the remaining oil to the pan and fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the spinach and cook until the excess liquid has evaporated. Stir in the peas.

3. Add half a carton of cream along with tofu to pan. Stir well, but do not allow the mixture to boil. Add the basil and season to taste.

4. In the meantime, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and toss with the tofu mixture. Serve with Parmesan cheese or the dairy free equivalent.