planet vegan scotland - posts tagged 'vegetarian'

cup of tea, anyone?

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 08:09:53 GMT

Tetley for Soya

I was most intrigued during the week to be offered the above product samples for review on the site. It didn’t seem likely that a major company was producing something so accommodating to vegans and non-dairy drinkers. I googled to make sure it was true… and it was: Tetley for Soya

I don’t usually drink black tea now – I’ve had two cups this year. Once when out with a friend in a cafe and then again when visiting another friend after a long day out. I sampled this however and it is rather pleasant – it looked a bit pale after brewing and soya milk poured into it and I expected it to be mild tasting, even bland. But it has a strong flavour without being bitter. Basically I think it’s rather a better quality tea than standard Tetley. Davie is a more regular tea drinker and declared it “affa fine” (English transaltion: very good/nice) Currently available in selected Tesco stores, all of them in England, going by the Tetley website!

no delicate floral teacups here

While on the subject of tea and dairy alternatives we were sent another great product a couple of weeks ago: Good Hemp Dairy Free Alternative to Milk (from the makers of Good Oil that we use all the time), which I imagine would be nice in the above tea too. I tried it in Nocaf, Dan on cereal and we both really liked it, more nutty than soya milk. According to the booklet sent with it, it’s in Waitrose and health food shops from Monday.

Good Hemp Milk

mmm

walnut cake and sheep

pressies

Vegan Carrot Cake

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:01:33 GMT

Carrot cake is not something I have ever enjoyed. I never see one and want a slice, so I surprised myself with this recipe.

I was over at Katiecakes when I fell in love with this cake. It was lust at first sight. Katie had iced her cake so beautifully and I think that was it for me. I had to have one.

I have made this cake twice now. This first one was none too elegant. I spread the frosting over the whole cake and it wasn't the vision that Katie's cake was. I definitely need some practice at the old icing lark. The second time I made the cake, I just frosted the top and if I do say so myself, it looked gorgeous.

Yes, I love this cake so much I have made it twice and I am planning to make it again soon. The texture is gorgeous and it is lovely and moist. You get a hint of the banana and you can really taste the spices. The carrot is just an added bonus.

Hi, my name is Jacqueline and I am a carrot cake addict!

Vegan Carrot Cake

2 ¼ cups self-raising flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
½ cup + 1 tbsp margarine
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 ¼ cups carrots, grated
1 medium banana mashed
1 orange, grated rind and juice

frosting

1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup vegan cream cheese
4 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

decoration

finely grated rind of 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/Gas 4.

Lightly grease or place a greaseproof cake liner into a 18cm round or 20cm square cake tin.

Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into a large bowl.

Melt the margarine in a pan, add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Make a well in the flour mixture, then add the margarine and sugar. Mix in the carrots, banana and orange zest and juice.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top with the back of a spoon.

Bake for around 40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from the tin.

For the frosting, cream the margarine and cream cheese together until well mixed.

Add the icing sugar half a cup at a time, blending in carefully until you have used all the icing sugar.

Mix in vanilla extract and spread generously over the cake.

Sprinkle orange rind over the frosting for a pretty finish.

Thank you so much for this cake Katie and thank you for giving me permission to publish the recipe. My friends, family and colleagues would all like to thank you too. I took the second cake into my work and it was demolished within 2 hours and not everyone got a piece. I think you can safely say it was greatly enjoyed.

I converted the cake into cup measures as I am too lazy to get my scales out, if I don't have to, but you can drool over Katie's cake and find the recipe in metric over at Katiecakes.

Little owl would like to remind you, you could win a veggie haggis by entering this giveaway, you could win a cute little badge for your blog by entering this month's No Croutons Required and you can catch up on lots of other food blog events, challenges and competitions here.

Quinoa, Lentil & Bean Salad

Wed, 19 May 2010 20:02:38 GMT

This was a quickly thrown together dish for dinner tonight, just using what I had to hand. It was a hearty salad with a lovely fresh dressing and lots of lush green coriander.

This is my entry for this month's No Croutons Required. The challenge this month was to make a mexican style salad or soup. My salad isn't particularly authentic, but it gives a nod to mexican cuisine and it is very yummy. If you want to join in, you have until tomorrow evening to submit an entry.

Quinoa, Lentil & Bean Salad

250g prepared black beluga lentils
250g prepared quinoa
240g prepared kidney beans
2 large ripe tomatoes, diced
2 large avocadoes, diced
1 large handful fresh coriander, chopped

dressing

juice of ½ lime
6 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
freshly ground black pepper

There's not much in the way of preparation. Toss the avocado in some lime juice before adding to the salad, to prevent it from browning. Apart from that is just one of those salads, where you throw everything in and then toss in the dressing.

Serves 6

Chapatis and Playing With Fire

Mon, 17 May 2010 09:36:49 GMT

I thought I would try my hand at making chapatis to serve with our Indian meal. I found a simple recipe by Gayatri Verma on a BBC news page from way back in 2003 and converted it into cup measures. It was easy and it was great fun. Especially when I got to hold the chapatis over gas flames to make them puff up.

The chapatis were just perfect for mopping up the curry sauce and with such an easy and reliable recipe, you can't go wrong. I do think the chapatis could have done with some seasoning, fresh herbs or a little spice. I know they don't include any of these as they are just there as an accompliment to spicy food, but I will be adding a little extra flavour next time.

Chapatis by Gayatri Verma

Ingredients

3 ¼ cups chapati flour
1 tbsp oil
1 cup water approx
flour for dusting

Method

Mix flour and oil in a bowl and rub lightly. Add water gradually and knead it at the same time until a soft dough is formed. Cover and leave it for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into 12 to 14 small portions. Dip one portion at a time in the plain flour and roll it with a rolling pin on the board, dipping it in the dry flour frequently to prevent sticking.

In the meantime heat a griddle/frying pan and put the rolled chapati in the pan. Cook one side for 20 to 30 seconds, turn it over and then cook the other side.

Now remove the pan and put the chapati on a high flame for few seconds and soon it will puff up.

Using a tong, turn the chapati over and wait for few seconds until brown spots appear this side.

Remove from flame and put it on a kitchen towel. Repeat the process with rest of the flour balls.

Serve these hot with any curry.

To keep the chapatis soft and warm, wrap in foil. They can also be warmed in a microwave for few seconds just before eating.

660 Curries

Fri, 14 May 2010 23:22:47 GMT

No, calm down. I haven't made 660 curries. It is the title of a wonderful book by Raghavan Iyer bought for me by my dear friend Lisa.

At first I was a bit overwhelmed by this tome of a cookbook, until I realised how it should be used. It's not one of those coffee table books that you flick through looking at the shiny pictures. Instead it is a treasure chest full of curries, biryanis, breads, pickles relishes and raitas, to name but a few and the best way to use this book is to choose the ingredients you want to use and then have a browse through the index. You won't be disappointed.

You will be surprised to hear that the first ingredient I looked up wasn't mushrooms. I decided I wanted a curry using spinach and so I came to Spicy Potatoes and Spinach with Blackened Chiles and Coconut Milk. I changed it a little, using chilli flakes, instead of dried red thai chiles, baby new potatoes instead of russet potatoes and I changed the spices a little. Here is my final recipe.

Spicy Spinach and Potato Curry

2 tbsp oil
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
16 baby new potatoes, quartered (approx 1 ½ cm pieces)
240g baby spinach
400ml coconut milk

Dry roast the seeds in a hot pan for a few minutes. Don't allow to burn. Grind the spices in a pestle and mortar.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan. Add the spices and allow to sizzle for a few minutes before adding the rinsed and chopped potatoes. The oil will sparks, so put the lid on until it settles, then stir occasionally for the next 5 minutes.

Stir in the salt, turmeric and chilli flakes. Then pour in the coconut milk and stir to deglaze the pan. Bring to the boil and simmer gently, with the lid on for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Rinse the spinach and then add to the pan. There is no need to chop it, it will wilt down as it cooks. Stir well before serving.

Serves 4-6

I served up this curry with our favouite Chickpea Curry, rice, chutney and chapatis. I will blog about the chapatis soon. They were great fun to make and I was very impressed when I realised there were flames involved. I managaed to make them without being burned, but I did smash a kilner jar reaching for my camera at the table. Ooops! Graham wasn't impressed as this is the third thing I have smashed this week, fourth if you include the teeny, tiny jam jar that fell out a cupboard as I opened it today.

I was ably assisted in the kitchen by my friend Andrew who had come for dinner and Graham, well he sat back and enjoyed the meal knowing he was in charge of clearing up afterwards. Cooper quietly supervised from the armchair in the corner, throwing in the occasional comment.

I am entering this dish into this month's SOS Kitchen Challenge, which is jointly hosted by my good friend Ricki over at Diet, Dessert & Dogs and Kim over at Affairs of Living, this month the challenge is to create a health conscious dish suitable for a vegan diet containing spinach.

If you would like to enter a dish, here are some of the guidelines:

* Simply cook up a recipe–whether yours or someone else’s with credit to them – using spinach
* In general, please use only whole foods ingredients (minimally processed with no artificial flavors, colors, prepackaged sauces, etc.)
* Use whole grains and whole grain flours only; no refined white flours or sugar (but either glutenous OR gluten-free flours are fine)
* Please ensure that recipes are vegan (no animal products whatsoever, including meat, fish, chicken, milk, yogurt, eggs, honey), or include vegan options
* Include only natural sweeteners (no white sugar, nothing that requires a laboratory to create–such as splenda, aspartame, xylitol, etc.). Rather, use maple syrup, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, coconut sugar, dates, yacon syrup, stevia, etc.

You have until the 20th of May. Email your submission to soskitchenchallenge@gmail.com

NCR - Onions etc Round-up

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:23:16 GMT

For this month's edition of No Croutons Required, I asked you to create a soup or salad suitable for vegetarians which features the allium family.

You could choose one or feature several. Onions, shallots, leeks, spring onions, garlic or chives.

This is what you came up with:

1. Spinach with Fried Garlic and Caramelized Onions
Soma (eCurry)

Soma came up with a vision for the eyes and the senses with this salad. Onions slowly caramelised with sesame seeds, garlic and dry red chili, then add to this some wilted spinach and add a squeeze of lemon and you have a dish that Soma describes as "simple, comfort food from home", but I would call it a delicacy.

Plano, Texas, USA

2. Potato Salad with Shallots and Chives
Lucie (Cooking at Marystow)

There is almost nothing I love more in the summer than a good potato salad. It just conjures up picnics and barbecues in my mind and makes me think of long, hot summer days (this is the optimistic part of my brain).

There is no mayonnaise to be seen in Lucie's potato salad, which is good news for our hips. Just new potatoes, shallots and chives in a lovely vinegary, mustard dressing. Mmmmmmmm!

Midlands, UK

3. Roast Onion & Lemon Thyme Soup
Me (Tinned Tomatoes)
(not in vote)

For my entry, I decided to make an onion soup. It's been ages since I enjoyed a good onion soup and with my dad coming for a visit and his love of onion soup, it seemed like the perfect choice. I decided I would roast my onions to give the soup a more intense flavour. I roasted red and white onions, garlic and lemon thyme, before whizzing up and adding vegetable stock, dried thyme and seasoning. I served my soup topped with cream and chives. Much slurping and contented sighs followed. An exceptional soup for little cost or effort.

Dundee, Scotland

4. Bean & Barley Soup
Usha (Veg Inspirations)

Like all good soups, Usha's Bean & Barley Soup is started off and flavoured with onion, followed by a host of lovely ingredients, including, ginger, barley, tomatoes, carrots and pinto beans.

A really hearty and nutritious meal in a bowl. Gorgeous!

North Carolina, USA

5. Roast Onion Soup
Lucy (Nourish Me)

Another Roast Onion Soup, but very different from my soup. Although Lucy started her soup of the same way by roasting the onions for maximum flavour, she went off in a alternative direction with her flavourings. This is a creamy onion soup, spiced with kaffir lime leaves, garlic, ginger, chilli and tamari paste, smoothed out with coconut and rice milk and finished off with a squeeze of lime. Doesn't that sound amazing? It puts my simple onions soup in the shade!

Melbourne, Australia

6. Very Garlicky Vegetable Soup
Johanna (Green Gourmet Giraffe)

Let's get the question of "how garlicky?" over with first. 16 cloves of garlic yes, you heard me right, I said 16 cloves of garlic! But do not fear, these cloves are thrice blanched which mellows the flavour. Along with all that garlic there are leeks, carrots, celery, swede, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes and cannellini beans. All cooked into deliciousness and topped of with a lip-smacking amount of parmesan and parsley. Nom, nom!

Melbourne, Australia

7. Creamy Potato Leek Soup
Inji (My Cookbook Notes)

Inji made her own vegetable boullion for this soothing soup and it sounds just as tasty as the soup itself.

This is another simple, but comforting soup of few ingredients. Potatoes, leeks, thyme, milk, salt and pepper. Just what you need on a wet day, here in Scotland.

Atlanta, USA

8. Italian Onion & Bean Soup with Parmesan Toast
Lisa (Lisa's Kitchen)
(not in vote)

Doesn't that look amazingly good? And look at that crusty toast smothered with parmesan. I am drooling here! Cannellini (white kidney) beans, are cooked with a bay leaf vegetable stock and a whole red chilli, before joining the rest of the soupy goodness. Sweet onions, garlic, arugula (rocket) leaves and lots of lovely wine, red and white. This soup just gets better and better!

London, Ontario, Canada

9. Creamy Onion Soup
Sweatha (Tasty Curry Leaf)

This is the simplest soup you could imagine, a great soup for a beginner to try out. Easy, but full of flavour and creamy, but not full of cream, instead Sweatha has been kind to our waistlines and finished her soup off with milk.

Bangalore, India

10. Roasted Shallots and Apricot Salad with Goat's Cheese
Mangocheeks (Allotment 2 Kitchen)

I was bowled over when I saw this salad. I don't know what it is with Mangocheeks, but sometimes I think she is in my head. She always makes just what I want to eat. It's spooky, I am telling you!

Long Echalion shallots roasted in balsamic vinegar, add these to baby beetroot and marinated goats cheese. The goat's cheese was marinated overnight with, orange juice, apricots and walnuts. Oh good golly!

West of Scotland

11. Potato, Corn & Leek Chowder
Sarah (The Ordinary Vegetarian)

You probably won't believe this but I have never tried chowder. I have never eaten it or cooked it, but this recipe is making me see the error of my ways. It is lighter than what I thought a chowder would be, but I do like it for that. Leeks are the star of the show and celery, potatoes and corn are his backing singers. Flavoured with thyme, sage, mustard, parsley and a bay leaf and made creamy with rice milk. Last, but certainly not least!

Chicago, USA

Another successful round-up and a plethora of delectable recipes for you to try. Do take the time to vote for your favourite, using the poll on the right or by emailing me at tinnedtomatoes@googlemail.com. The winner will be announced on Friday 30th April 2010.

swan lake

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:44:43 GMT

There were swans on the loch yesterday

Had a lovely day with friends morphing into a very balletic afternoon which was great fun. It’s been wonderful rediscovering ballet being for enjoyment, rather than an eternal striving (not to mention starving) for perfection. Looked out the old class music etc. I have but it’s all on cassettes – technology moved on a bit fast for me there

Watched Fast Food Nation (quite good trailer there on amazon), fictional film based on the non-fiction book – strong stuff, a round of exploitation to go with the fries… good cast, making it very watchable though gradually more horrifying.

Easy as Pie (Pasties)

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:25:09 GMT

You can always tell that Burn's Night is on the horizon when the supermarkets start stockpiling haggis on groaningly full shelves. They are everywhere you turn! I really don't mind though, I quite like haggis, well veggie haggis, obviously (I wouldn't eat the timorous wee beastie), but I tend to forget about it during the year, until this not-so-gentle reminder appears.

This year I wasn't stuck for ideas as I threw a couple of vegetarian haggis in my trolley. Back in December Mangocheeks made some truly inspirational Clapshot Vegetarian Haggis Tikkia, which is on my make-soon list and Johanna went haggis-crazy and made nachos, pasties and crepes with her veggie haggis.

I just wanted something quick and easy to make, so I bought some ready made shortcrust pastry and some nachos, salsa, guacamole and sour cream. I didn't really enjoy the haggis with nachos, but I am not a great lover of nachos at the best of times. Graham enjoyed them, so that was the main thing. However, the pasties were fabulous! So tasty, very filling and so quick and easy to make.

Here is my how-to-guide for quick veggie haggis pasties:

Easy Vegetarian Haggis Pasties

Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/gas mark 6. Roll your shortcrust pastry fairly thinly and cut into discs. I cut mine using a small glass bowl measuring 13 cm/5 inches, but you can make your pasties any size you want depending on your whim.

Spread mustard across half of your pastry disc. I used wholegrain mustard, a favourite of mine. The mustard is optional, but it works so well with the haggis and potato.

Spoon some haggis onto the pastry, being careful not to add too much or you will have problems later when you come to seal the pasty.

Add a few cubes of boiled potato to your filling, then season with pepper. Brush the edge of your pastry disc with milk to seal.

Fold the pastry over the filling to make a half moon shape and seal by crimping the edge with your thumb and forefinger. Cut slits into the pastry to let out the steam and them brush the pasty with milk or an egg wash for a lovely golden finish.

Bake the pasties in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden.

Break open and enjoy while they are still hot, then enjoy the leftover pasties, if there are any, the next day cold for lunch.

These pasties are great made this quick and easy way, but do make your own pastry and haggis, if you have the time. I use Delia Smith's recipe for shortcrust pastry, which is always successful and if I was going to make my own haggis, I would definitely use Johanna's recipe.

Here are a few other recipes to help your Burn's Night go off with a bang:

1 Clapshot and Vegetarian Haggis - Allotment to Kitchen

2 Clapshot Vegetarian Haggis Tikkia - Allotment to Kitchen

3 Haggis with Warm Butter Bean and Spinach Salad - The World Famous Burns Supper

4 Vegetarian Haggis Pakoras - Food Lovers Britain

5 Vegetarian Haggis Nachos - Green Gourmet Giraffe

6 Haggis, Neeps & Tatties Pasties - Green Gourmet Giraffe

7 Haggis, Neeps & Tatties Crepe Stack - Green Gourmet Giraffe

8 Vegetarian Haggis and Winter Tzatziki Wraps - Mostly Eating

9 Baked Onions with Vegetarian Haggis - The Foody

10 Vegan Haggis - Veg World

Curried Parsnip & Sweet Potato Soup

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:22:26 GMT

Here is my entry for the No Croutons Required, March challenge, to make a spicy soup that will tingle on the tongue.

Curried Parsnip & Sweet Potato Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped,
1 red chilli, finely chopped
2cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
6 parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 heaped tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp hot mango chutney
6 cups water
juice of 1 lime
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat a small pan and dry roast the cumin and coriander seeds then roughly crush in a mortar and pestle.

Heat the oil in pan and when hot add the spices and allow to sizzle for 1 minute. Add the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger and cook for 5 minutes, on a medium heat until softened.

Add the parsnips and sweet potatoes and cook for another few minutes. Add a splash of water before adding the turmeric to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Stir well and then add the mango chutney and the water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes until the parsnips and potatoes are tender. Stir in the lime juice.

Spoon out a few of the vegetable to decorate the soup with and then whizz the rest of the soup until fairly smooth.

Serves 4-6 (I think, but I wasn't counting!)

If you want to enter a soup into the March Challenge, post it and send it to me at nocroutonsrequired@googlemail.com by the 20th March. Please include your name, the name of your blog, your location and the name of your dish. Remember to link here and mention No Croutons Required in your post.

Happy Soup Making!

Spicy Aubgergine & Tomato Soup

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:34:06 GMT

This is my entry for No Croutons Required, the new monthly soup and salad challenge, which is going to be jointly hosted by myself and Lisa at Lisa's Kitchen. When I say entry, I mean that I don't want to miss out on all the fun! Lisa and I's entries are not up for voting.

I want to say a big thank to Lisa for all her hard work in starting the event and thank you all for contributing. We have been absolutely blown away by the enthusiasm everyone has shown!

So without further ado, here is my soup.

Spicy Aubergine & Tomato Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped,
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 heaped tsp toasted, crushed cumin seeds
3 aubergines, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2/ ½ pints vegetable stock
juice ½ lemon
handful fresh coriander, chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper

Sizzle the cumin seeds in hot olive oil and then add the onion, garlic and chilli and cook for a few minutes. Add the aubergines and tomatoes. Next add the stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the lemon juice and coriander before whizzing the soup in a blender. I personally don’t like it too smooth.

Taste and season.

Serves 4 – 6

The challenge is now closed for the month. Lisa is kindly letting me submit my soup a day late, I know, I know, not a good example to set!

Make sure to visit Lisa's blog to see all the entries and vote for your favourite in the comments box!

Love
Holler

Charred Tomato Soup

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:28:39 GMT

Charred Tomato Soup

1 red onion, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 chilli pepper, finely chopped
900g/2lb ripe tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 pint/300ml vegetable stock
pinch of sugar
handful basil
salt & freshly ground pepper
a splash of yogurt or cream or soya milk (optional)

Heat the grill to medium high.

Meanwhile, mix together the tomatoes, onion, garlic, chilli,a pinch of sugar and olive oil in a large bowl.

Scatter the tomato mixture onto a baking tray and grill until the tomatoes are starting to brown.

Whizz up the tomatoes, add the basil at this point.

Pour the smooth mixture into a pan, add the stock, mix well and season. You can strain the mixture, but I like there to be a little texture, even in quite a smooth soup. Reheat gently.

Serves 4

I reserved a little of the soup, before the basil was added and spooned it on top before serving, with a little chiffonade of basil. Boy, did I have too much time on my hands at the weekend! I swirled some cream I had left in the fridge, through the soup for Graham and he loved it! It is definitely a new favourite and so quick to make!

It's Snowing, it's Soup Time!

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:54:05 GMT

Butternut & Spinach Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
5cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped,
2 tsp turmeric
1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
3 handfuls spinach, chopped
1 handful fresh coriander, chopped
2 - 3 pints vegetable stock

Saute the onion, garlic and ginger in the olive oil until the onion becomes translucent. Add the turmeric and a little water to prevent from sticking. Add the other vegetables and cook for a few minutes, mixing well. Add the vegetable stock and spinach. Bring to the boil, them simmer for 30 minutes. Add the coriander and whizz the soup until smooth. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Serves 6

I made this yummy soup for a small dinner party last night. It was simple fare.

For starters, we had soup with some crusty brown bread, then we had Penne with a tomato & chilli sauce (I made way too much pasta as usual, I never learn!) and we finished with chocolate cheesecake. No booing and hissing please, it was a shop bought cheesecake! I arranged the dinner party at the last minute, so out of the freezer it came, just waiting for such an occasion.

I bet the soup will taste even better today! I am going to have some for lunch.

I am having a lazy, indulgent day today, snuggled up warm in the house with the cats, looking out at the snow as it drifts down. Back to work tomorrow! Sigh!

Middle Eastern Stew

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 12:07:49 GMT

This Middle Eastern Stew of Chickpeas, Potatoes and Carrots is from World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey.

A good friend of mine, very kindly, gave me a copy as a gift. It has been great bedtime reading so far, but it was time to try out some of the recipes and time to stop drooling over them.

Middle Eastern Stew

3/4 cup dried chickpeas, picked over, washed and drained (I used 1 can of chickpeas)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp finely chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 lb potatoes, cut into chunks (I used 3 medium potatoes)
1 medium carrot, cut into slices (I used 2 medium carrots)
4 canned plum tomatoes + 1 cup liquid from the can
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp finely chopped parsley (I used coriander for more flavour)

Soak the chickpeas overnight in cold water to cover by about 3 inches.

In a medium pot, bring the chickpeas and 2 1/2 cups of water to the boil. Cover, lower the heat and simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until the chickpeas are very tender.

Heat the oil in a medium pan over a medium-high heat. Add the onions and stir and fry until the onions are brown around the edges. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Put in the potatoes, carrot, chickpeas with their cooking liquid, tomatoes, tomato liquid, salt, thyme and 1/2 cup of water. If the tomatoes are very tart, add the sugar to taste. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, cover and cook gently for 45 minutes. Sprinkle parsley over the top before serving. Serve hot.

Serves 4 - 6

I left it to the last minute to decide I was going to make this recipe. I didn't have time to soak the chickpeas, so I used a can of chickpeas instead. Therefor, I didn't have cooking liquid, so I just added a little extra water. It worked fine.

This was a lovely stew, I liked the fact that the carrots and potatoes were in large chunks and the chickpeas held their shape. I only cooked the stew for about 50 minutes and this worked because I used canned chickpeas. I think I would like to add a little turmeric and chilli powder next time, to spice it up a little, but I will definitely make it again!

Weston's Premium Organic Cider

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 22:23:53 GMT

Well, drinking cider really takes me back to my student days, although the cider we drank back then, was nothing like this nectar! You could probably strip paint with the cider we used to drink! Price was the main concern, It was cheap!

I am usually a wine drinker, but something made me stop in my tracks at the cider shelf. So I have had this little gem cooling, for a few days in the fridge. I came home from a lovely lunch with Graham and my parents (in honour of Father's Day, unfortunately we couldn't take Graham's mum and dad as they have moved somewhere hot!)and the sun was actually making an appearance, so I was straight out in the garden with a glass of cider and my book! We won't mention the change of glass to make the photos look better and the time spent trying to get a photo of the cat, while he viewed the cider in complete mystery and disgust!

Anyway, the cider was really soft, with a lovely appley bite and no catching in the back of the throat. It smelled gorgeous too! I would definitely recommend this one! It is made by Westons, in Herefordshire, in a village called Much Marcle (great name!). It is organic, suitable for vegetarians, vegans, coeliacs and has won a few Organic Food Awards. It is endorsed by the Soil Asscoiation , that was enough to persuade me to try it!