Tag: Vegetarian (Page 6 of 7)

American Breakfast Pancakes

20/11/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

The Full English might be the best breakfast in the world but the Americans come a very close second with their gut-busting assemblies of good things. These are superb for a weekend brunch. These quantities will be enough to feed four to six.

1 cup plain flour
2tsp baking powder
2 tbs caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs melted butter
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
oil for frying

These are traditional griddle cakes, aka Scotch Pancakes but don’t tell them. First mix the dry ingredients. Them mix the wet ingredients and stir into the flour mixture until you have a thick cream. You may need to adjust the milk quantity. Lightly oil a heavy saucepan or griddle plate and heat – not too hot or your pancakes will burn before they cook through. Place blobs of pancake mix on the pan – I use a 1/4 cup measure as a scoop.

Wait until bubbles appear on the surface and the top starts to lose it’s wet look, then flip over.

Cook a bit longer.

Keep them warm while you make the rest.

Serve with bacon, fruit, whipped butter or creme fraiche and of course maple syrup.

Sweetcorn and Broccoli Fritters

14/11/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

Ingredients (For two) – easily halved except for the egg!.

140gms broccoli florets ( about one small head, cut off florets and throw the stems away)
150gms tin of sweet corn, drained
140gms flour (about 140 ml or half a US cup rounded()
75gms Cheddar cheese grated
1 beaten egg
75ml milk, more or less
2 tbs sweet chilli sauce
2 tbs chopped basil leaves
2 tbs chopped spring onion
sunflower oil for frying

Boil, microwave or steam the broccoli until soft, and chop up into small pieces. Mush the sweet corn in a bowl with the bottom of a jar. Mix everything else together except the oil. It needs to be splodgy, not too runny. You can adjust with more flour (makes it less runny) or more milk (makes it more runny). Season with salt and pepper. If you don’t have the basil or chilli sauce it still works but is more bland. A condition easily corrected later with tomato ketchup! Heat a glug of oil on a frying pan to medium hot (shimmering but not smoking). Dollop big spoonfuls of your batter onto the hot oil and press out to a flat shape if they look like a lump. You are aiming for something like small burgers in shape and size. You will need two pans or do this in two batches. After a minute or so turn them over. The bottom should look brown, if not you turned too soon. Each minute turn again, cooking time will vary according to thickness of dollop and heat of pan but when they look brown (not black!) on each side they are probably done. You are aiming for crispy on the outside and set in the middle (a subtle mini autopsy on one of them will show if they are done.) Keep cooked ones warm while you finish the batches. Serve with grilled bacon, a couple of sausages or something like that. Vegetarians could just make a meal of these, with maybe a yogurt dip on the side.

Simple Cornbread

10/11/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

Really good with chilli. Best eaten while still warm from the oven, it doesn’t keep well.

Heat the oven to 200C and grease and line an eight inch square cake tin.If your tin is too large, the cornbread will be thinner like in the photo above. I made a half quantity but the tin must have been bigger than half.

There are two parts to this recipe:

Mix the following dry ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal (maize flour, fine polenta – same stuff)
3/4 cup plain flour
1 tbs caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt.

In another bowl mix:

1 1/2 cups buttermilk (at a pinch use half plain yogurt half milk)
2 large eggs beaten
6 tbs melted butter

Combine the two bowls to make a batter. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Test by sticking a knife blade in the top, if no goo sticks to the knife it is ready. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes then turn it out and cut into squares. Great for sponging up chilli juices.

Alternative version without buttermilk:

1 cup plain flour
1 cup cornmeal
3.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1-3 tbs sugar
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 beaten egg

Mix the lot into a batter and fill a 9″ greased skillet. Cook at 200C for 25 minutes.

Josh’s Dhal

06/11/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

Son Josh has decided to be vegan. Apparently he has halved his grocery bill! I find vegan food often lacks a bit of substance, but not this recipe. I call it Josh’s Dhal because it is always a hit when he comes home and it is great alongside a curry. So easy.

1 cup yellow split peas
4 cups water

Boil for 40 minutes

1/2 cup red lentils

Add to your split peas and boil another 20 minutes more. Keep an eye on it, because it will probably dry out and catch. Just add some more water if it getting too thick too soon. While that is boiling, take the following:

1 chilli, copped
1 inch of root ginger, grated
1 tsp cumin seed
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 tsp turmeric
Ghee or oil

Gently fry all these to create a browned topping to put on your dhal to serve. Finally:

250g spinach

Add the spinach and cook until it wilts. Add

1 tsp salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon

When the spinach has wilted and the dhal cooked to a gloopy consistency, put it in a serving bowl and top with the spicy garlicky mix. Serve as a side for a curry or a main course with rice or Indian bread and chutney. For a vegetarian rather than vegan meal you could top with quartered hard boiled egg.

There are several variations you could take for making dhal (even the spelling, daal, dahl!) . Try a simple and quick version with two cups of red lentils and five cups of water, cooked for 25 minutes with the lid off, stirring occasionally. Add salt and lemon juise to taste. You can also fry up onion, garlic, chilli, cumin seeds and mix in before serving to add a bit more interest to the dhal base.

Try dhal served with wedges of aubergine and wedges of shallot or red onion, which have been tossed in a mixture of oil, lemon juice, garlic puree, salt, ground cumin and ground coriander and oven baked for 20 minutes at 200C.

Pumpkin and Sweetcorn Soup

31/10/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

This is made once a year in our house, using the remains of Mr Pumpkinhead above.

750g to 1kg pumpkin, seeds and skin removed (and grit and candle wax) and cut into chunks.
1 onion, chopped
500g sweetcorn, frozen is fine
750ml vegetable (vegan) or chicken stock
250ml milk (or vegan equivilent)
oil or butter for frying

Method: sweat the onion in a heavy based saucepan for 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, sweat 5 minutes more. Add stock and milk, and 300g of the sweetcorn. Simmer very gently for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, fry the rest of the sweetcorn on a hot pan in butter or oil or under a grill until it looks a bit tinged brown. When the soup is done, zap with a blender or stick. Adjust the seasoning, pour into bowls and top with the toasted sweetcorn.

Parsnip Soup

30/10/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

Another easy one.

250gm parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 potato, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon curry paste
800ml vegetable stock
120ml cream
Butter/oil

You know what is coming – all soups are made more or less the same way. First sweat the veg in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the curry paste and sweat another minute or two. Add the stock and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft. Blitz in a blender or with a stick. Stir in the cream, reheat and serve. You can also make this with parsnip and potato leftovers (now there’s a Christmas idea…)

Anyveg Soup

28/10/2016 / Neville / 1 Comment

Like it says. You can make soup out of almost anything veggie, but a mixture is safest. For example, roots: carrot, onion, potato, parsnip, swede.

1Kg mixed veg, cleaned and chopped roughly
1 litre vegetable stock from a cube or powder
Oil or butter
salt and pepper to adjust seasonings (depends on your stock)

Method:

Heat oil gently in a large saucepan.

Sweat root vegetable for 5-10 minutes, other veg 2-5 minutes. Pour in the hot stock and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Zap with a blender or stick, then adjust the seasoning. Some stock cubes can be quite salty. You can also swirl in some cream and sprinkle on chopped fresh parsley for a posh touch.

Sour cream dip

28/10/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

As approved by a real American.

2 cups sour cream or creme fraiche
1/4 cup mayo
2 tbs chopped fresh dill
1 tbs chopped fresh chive
1 tbs chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Mix
Dip!

Hummus

28/10/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

You need:

1 can of chickpeas, drained
2tbs olive oil
1 garlic clove or equivalent (or more)
Lemon juice – 1/2 to 1 lemon
Salt
Optional – 1tbs tahini paste

Stick it all in a jar and blitz with a stick blender. That is all there is to it. Adjust the ratio of ingredients to find the combo you like.

Ottolenghi version:

250g dried chickpeas

Wash and put in a bowl. Cover with at least twice the volume of cold water and leave overnight. Next day, drain the chickpeas and add to a pan with

1.5 litres water
1tsp bicarbonate of soda

cook for 40 minutes ( or Instant Pot 15 minutes). Drain, then process until you have a thick paste. Add

270g tahini paste
4tbs lemon juice
1tsp salt
4 garlic cloves crushed

Process until smooth. Drizzle in iced water (up to 100ml) to loosen and keep mixing until you get a smooth creamy paste. Refrigerate until needed, but it is best served at room temperature.

Japanese pancake (Okonomiyaki)

26/10/2016 / Neville / 0 Comments

Japanese street food, and so many variations exist that whatever you do to this it is probably not wrong. Great for using up stray bits and pieces and is super quick to make. The cabbage and batter ingredients are essential, the others you can mix and match. For one person you need:

One egg beaten
50g plain flour
50ml stock (or hot water with a pinch of stock powder added)
4 cabbage leaves preferably Sweetheart or Chinese Leaves, shredded
Quarter of an onion, chopped
Small potato, grated
Half tsp grated fresh ginger
Salt and pepper
Other things: chopped bacon, ham, prawns or thinly sliced cooked meat

Stir fry the onion, potato and cabbage. Add in that order so the onion is well cooked. You could add bacon at the same time if that is your thing. Add the ginger. Add whatever other things are going in. Meanwhile make a batter with the egg, flour, stock and season. Pour the batter over the veg and meat in the pan and leave for five minutes. Turn it over and cook another five. You should now have a rather solid-looking pancake. Tip it onto a plate and garnish with chilli sauce, mayo, tuna flakes, dried seaweed. As you can see from the photo above, I only had chilli sauce to hand but it was still good. Find out more here