Cook & Learn about the World: Algeria: Spicy Chickpea Soup (Hu mmus b´il Kammun

Gradually starting to ease back into blogging and have brought back Cook and Learn about the World, which was inspired by the blog Global Table Adventure and to try to get my fussy eaters to try new things and also learn a little about the different countries.

So, I have arrived at Algeria and thought I´d kick off with this soup as I thought it might be something that my OH and children would possibly enjoy as we´ve never eaten Algerian food before. I´m not a big fan of pulses and we hardly ever eat them so it sounded like a good way to get some pulses down us too. This soup is simple to make and is perfect for a cold winter´s day or night and it has a lovely blend of spices that whisk you off to another country.Plus the majority of the ingredients are easy to find in your local supermarket...the only thing I found a little difficult to encounter was harissa.I actually got mine from an English supermarket but if you don´t come across it, you could make your own using Global Table´s recipe for harissa. Again if you can´t find the specific chilli peppers, you could just use what you can find. The smell while it´s cooking is tantalizing and it´s ideal for mopping up with some crusty bread.

I pretty much followed Global Table Adventure´s recipe although I think I used slightly less chickpeas, which were already cooked and as I didn´t cook the chickpeas instead of cooking water I just used tap water. As I´d never tried harissa before I only used a teaspoon of it as the recipe states but next time I might add a little more. Also, as the chickpeas are already cooked, I didn´t cook it as long as the recipe says so instead of simmering for an hour, I probably only simmered it for a further 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I couldn´t persuade either of my children to try it which is a pity as I think they would´ve enjoyed it as it is quite similar to some Spanish food.

In order to learn a little about Algeria, which I have to admit I don´t know much about myself, we looked at my daughter´s The Usbourne Children´s Picture Atlas and found Algeria and saw that the capital is Algiers and that the Sahara dessert and Atlas mountains can be found in Algeria and that the people of Algeria use camels.We will hopefully learn a lot more about Algeria as we cook a couple more dishes from this country.

Cook & Learn about the World: Albania: Leek Pie & Leek & Rice Bake

Things as usual have been very hectic and I haven´t got round to blogging these delicious Albanian dishes, depite making them months ago. The first is Leek Pie, which is a tasty and usual vegetarian leek pie. I say unusual because the filling is very different, kind of like a custard. I  have actually made this pie twice now because it´s so good. The first time I made it the filling leaked out of the pie.The second time the filling also leaked out a little....I don´t know if this is because I put an airhole in the pie even though the recipe doesn´t tell you to do this or just because the pie was overfull. Although all the grown ups enjoyed it, I couldn´t persuade my kids to even try it but I know it is a recipe that I will repeat. I followed the following recipe from Global Table Adventure and hardly altered it although I
think I halved the amounts or put 4 eggs instead of 6....I can´t remember very well now!!!                   

I also made Leek and Rice Bake following the recipe from the blog,My Albanian Food. The only changes I made to the recipe was to use cubed leg of lamb as it´s difficult to buy lamb mince here and instead of using lamb stock, I used chicken or beef stock. Unfortunately this dish wasn´t a hit with either my husband or my children although I thought it was tasty. My husband blames the type of lamb here in Spain and that it isn´t good for cooking in this way. We didn´t learn much more about Albania unfortunately as I couldn´t find much.

Eat More Variety Alphabet Challenge E: Eggplant: Eggplant Parmigiana

 Why when you can´t sleep at night, words come easily for a new blog post but when you actually sit down to write it, you can´t even remember what you were going to put or even think of anything to write. Zero,nada, zilch! A big fat nothing!

I had an aubergine lurking in my fridge, about to go bad, waiting to be used and I came across a recipe for Eggplant Parmigiana...or aubergine as it´s known as to us Brits, in my trusty American Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Every recipe that I cook from that book turns out delicious and it is one of my most used and well-thumbed, tatty,falling apart and spattered cookbooks. I decided to make it for me and my other half´s dinner as I wasn´t sure if the kids would even try it,despite the fact that one of my aims in doing this Eat More Variety Challenge is to get us all eating more variety. This dish was definitely a winner and I think the kids might even like it,if I can manage to get past the first stumbling block of getting them to at least try it, as it´s reminiscent of pizza. However, my daughter can even be fussy with pizza as she doesn´t like it with cheese...who doesn´t like cheese on pizza?...so she might not like the cheesey aspect of this dish.So with out further ado, on to the recipe.

Ingredients (Serves 2)
 1 small eggplant
  1 beaten egg
1/4 cup plain flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup meatless spaghetti sauce or bolognese sauce
3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Method:
1.Wash and peel the aubergine and cut into thin slices.
2.Combine egg and 1 tbsp water,then dip aubergine slices in egg, then flour to coat
3.Fry aubergine in hot oil  for 4 to 6 mins until golden on both sides, drain on kitchen roll.
4.Place aubergine in a single layer in a baking dish about 30x 19x 4.5cm,then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, then add the spaghetti sauce and finally sprinkle the Mozzarella over the top.
5.Bake for 10-12 mins in a 200ºC oven until cheese has melted.

...and there you have it!Easy peasy! Enjoy on it´s own or with a salad and some crusty bread.

Cook & Learn about the world: Afghanistan:

 So welcome to a new regular post I´m going to be blogging about frequently: Cook and Learn about the World. Inspired by the Global Table Adventure blog, I decided that I wanted to also cook the world so my family could try new cuisines and dishes from different countries, eat more variety and hopefully encourage my daughter to be less of a fussy eater while at the same time learn about these countries and cultures and become more tolerant and open-minded. And after the recent attack in London, it couldn´t come at a better time.

The first country on the list is Afghanistan and I was excited to try this cuisine as I´ve never eaten Afghan food before. I turned to Global Table Adventure´s Afghan recipes and decided to make the following recipes:Burani Bonjon (or Spicy Braised Aubergine with Seer Moss(Garlic Mint Sauce);Kabeli Palau(Twice-cooked Basmati Rice with Chicken & Carrots)and Firnee (Cardamom & Rose Water Custard). I chose these particular dishes as they were the ones that I liked the sound of the most but also because I thought that my children might like/eat these better than the others.Although I used Global Table Adventure´s recipes for Afghanistan, for other countries I might use other recipes I find in addition to those of Global Table Adventure.

The first dish I made was the Kabeli Palau(Basmati Rice with Chicken & Carrots). I made the slightly quicker version using chicken breasts and chicken stock(yes, with an Oxo cube!) and even though I made the "quick" version, this recipe did take quite a lot of work but in the end it was so worth it.The rice with tender chunks of chicken lightly spiced is reminiscent of Indian cuisine(one of my favourites!) and the crunchy yet sweet carrot and nutty garnish just finishes off the dish perfectly. I´d definitely reccommend trying this dish.It was a real hit with everyone except my daughter who only ate the rice(and that was with loads of ketchup!!)


The second dish I made was Burani Bonjon(Spicy Braised Aubergine)& Seer Moss(Garlic Mint Sauce) I made this as a side dish. Unfortunately I didn´t make all these Afghan dishes on the same day as it would have made an ideal side dish for the Basmati Rice with Chicken & Carrots. I knew my daughter probably wouldn´t try this dish with it being a vegetable dish but you can live in hopes....I think my 18mth old had a little bit although I think he spat the aubergine out. This was tasty without being too spicy and the garlic mint yoghurt sauce was a great accompaniment to it...very garlicy. I had to use dried mint as didn´t have any fresh so I think the mint flavour was lost a little. Again, I´d definitely reccommend trying this dish.

 Finally, I made Firmee(Cardamom & Rose Water Custard). Both of these flavours were pretty new to me,especially the rose water...which I managed to find in a Morrocan food shop. The recipe itself is pretty easy to make(just make sure you add warm milk to the cornflour not cold otherwise it won´t thicken..I realised this later on but corrected the problem and managed to thicken it up!!)I couldn´t find peeled pistachios so peeling the pistachios was probably one of the things that took up most of the time in this recipe and then grinding it and the cardamom...luckily I had my trusty Thermomix! Unfortunately, we weren´t very keen on this dessert as it has a very strong, perfumed taste despite me only making half the recipe and using half the amount of the rose water.Neither of my children tried this dessert either.


My view:I really enjoyed the food from Afghanistan and would love to try more dishes now including the other recipes featured in Global Table Adventure. However, dessert was a little disappointing.I´ll definitely be making both the rice and the aubergine dishes again in the future.Delicious!!

My children´s view: Not such a success with the kids. The rice was the most successful especially with my 18 mth old and we mananged to encourage my daughter to eat it with copious amounts of ketchup and by saying that it was a special "paella".

Now for the learning part, you can find educational activities about Afghanistan on both Activity Village & Enchanted Learning,however you have to pay to become a member to obtain these activities.I found the following page with various educational activities about Afghanistan and printed out the Afghanistan flag for my daughter to colour.However, we haven´t done anything else so I was a little disappointed that she hasn´t learnt more about this country. I´d love to know of any books aimed at children about Afghanistan or any other activities....please feel free to share them with us. I´d also love to hear if you make any of the dishes too!

Just adding on this quick. I´ve found a book about Afghanistan at my local library(and even better it´s in English!) which looks like a great way to teach my daughter a bit about Afghanistan. It´s called The Sky of Afghanistan by Ana A.de Eulate and illustrated by Sonja Wimmer. I´ve only just borrowed it from the library so we haven´t read it yet but it appears to be a lovely story about an Afghan girl, a dream and a song for peace and it is also beautifully illustrated.

Eat More Variety Alphabet Challenge: D: D for Dates: Wild Rice with Dates & Walnuts

Hello strangers! Finally back again to bring you this month´s Eat More Variety Alphabet Challenge and we´ve reached letter D. I decided to choose dates for the letter D as it´s something that although I like we hardly eat but now after reading the nutritional and health benefits of eating dates....I think it´s something we´re definitely going to be consuming more often. Plus I have discovered lots of yummy recipes to try!!

First a quick look at some of the nutritional benefits of dates. Dates contain a wide range of essential nutrients and are a fantastic source of potassium.They are rich in dietary fibre, so therefore helps protect the colon mucous membrame from cancer-causing chemicals. They contain tannins which possess anti-infective,anti-inflammatory and anti-hemorrhagic properties.They are also an excellent source of iron. They also have many other health & nutritional benefits which you can read more about here .

The first recipe using dates I decided to try out was this Wild Rice, Dates & Walnuts despite the fact that it isn´t very toddler friendly because of the nuts and even though I suspected that my daughter would not so much as touch it!I thought at first that I´d overcooked the rice as it looked quite clumpy/ mushy but however the end result was delicious and I´m glad I tried it. It is quite reminiscent of couscous and the sweetness of the dates and the crunch of the walnuts gives it added texture and flavour.As predicted though my daughter wouldn´t try it.I adapted the recipe from my New Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book.

Ingredients:(for2-3people)
1/2 chopped onion
1 tbsp butter
1/2-3/4 cup of wild rice,rinsed and drained
1 cup of chopped celery
200ml chicken stock(I used Oxo chicken stock cube)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup pitted dates,chopped
1/8 cup chopped walnuts(toasted if time)

Method:
1. Cook onion in hot butter for 10 minutes until tender.
2. Add wild rice and cook for 3 minutes while stirring.
3. Add celery ,chicken stock and water and bring to boiling, then reduce heat and simmer covered for about 20 minutes(the original recipe said 40 minutes but mine was ready between 15-20 minutes) until rice is tender and most of the liquid has absorbed(much like a risotto).
4.Stir in dates and walnuts and cook uncovered for 3-4 minutes.
5. Serve as a side dish with chicken or fish.

Eat More Variety Alphabet Challenge C for Cabbage: Bubble & Squeak

Hello,it´s been awhile and I won´t kid you, what with a teething, clingy baby turned toddler and two night owls by the time I get them off to sleep, I´m usually pretty exhausted myself and barely have time during theday to cook and bake,never mind blog!!

So here is the long overdue monthly Eat More Variety Alphabet Challenge...this time it´s the letter C´s turn and I chose cabbage. I neither love nor hate cabbage..I can take it or leave it but it´s something we don´t eat a lot of as it´s not my favourite. Plus it smells like farts when you cook it so the whole house stinks and it makes you fart-hehehe!

Cabbage is a good source of Vitamin K, Vitamin C and dietary fibre and in fact contains more than 20% of the daily value for each of these nutrients per serving. It is also a good source of Vitamin B6 and folate.Studies suggest that cabbage and other similar leafy vegetables may have protective effects against colon cancer. Red cabbage may also contain potential anti-carcinogenic properties.

I decided to make the British classic,Bubble & Squeak, despite never having facied trying it before and was pleasantly surprised at how tasty it actually it. It is a great dish to use up leftovers, particularly leftover cabbage and is also vegetarian. Sorry about the photo...it tastes a lot nicer than it looks...but like I said as everything is done in a rush and I didn´t want my Bubble & Squeak to go cold, didn´t have much time to spend taking a better photo! Apparently, Bubble & Squeak was a popular dish during World War 2 because it´s an easy way to use up leftovers during a time when food was subject to rationing. I used the following Delia Smith recipe and the only alterations I made were that I didn´t use a whole cabbage and instead of using beef dripping for frying, I used either olive oil or sunflower oil. I´d definitely make these again as it´s a tasty way to use up leftovers and eat cabbage. Unfortunately I couldn´t persuade my daughter to try it though!

Eat More Variety Alphabet Challenge B: Barley: Butternut squash, mushroom, sage & pearl barley risotto

A new month is here and it brings with it a new letter, the letter B, for the Eat More Variety Alphabet Challenge. And what ingredient have I chosen for this month´s challenge, I hear you asking...well, I decided to go for a grain which I´ve never tried before and is also very economical...barley. Barley....what do I do with barley you might be wondering. I didn´t know myself until deciding to cook with it but barley can be used in many dishes, particularly soups and stews or even as a main grain to replace rice for example, such as in the following recipe.

 Barley can be bought in various forms, among which are hulled barley, pearl barley and barley flakes. My first problem was that I wanted pearl barley and I wasn´t sure if I´d bought hulled barley or pearl barley!!! If you want to join in with the Eat More Variety Alphabet Challenge, you can use barley in any of it´s forms! Barley is a very healthy grain to eat as it contains many essential nutrients, such as protein,dietary fibre,B vitamins and minerals. If  3 grams of barley is consumed daily it can lower blood cholesterol and help regulate blood sugar. You can find out more about the health benefits of barley here.Plus it is a very economical and affordable grain.

 I had intended to make Irish stew in time for St. Patrick´s Day but unfortunately couldn´t find the cut of lamb I was looking for so went for plan B...a risotto using pearl barley instead of rice.It was perfect as I had some butternut squash that needed using up and I could use my home grown sage, which is starting to look a bit like a jungle I have that much of it! I based the recipe on the following BBC Food recipe but modified it a little. We really enjoyed the end result, a rich tasty nutty risotto...the barley tasted a little nutty, if slightly chewy....it maybe could have done with slightly longer but I enjoyed the texture and taste on the whole.

 Ingredients (2 people)
37g butter roughly(I didn´t bother weighing it, just eyeballed it most of the time!)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
110g butternut squash(peeled and diced)...it was all I had left!!
1 sprig of fresh sage,(leaves only, chopped)
1/2 litre of vegetable stock
125g pearl barley, rinsed
3-4 mushrooms, sliced(the mushrooms gave the risotto a lovely earthy flavour as well as padding out the risotto as I didn´t have enough butternut squash)
                                                      salt & pepper
Method:
1. Heat around 15g butter( I didn´t weigh just guessed so might have been slightly more or slightly less!)in a saucepan till it melts and then add onion and butternut squash with a pinch of salt.
2. Fry for 10 mins until onion is translucent , then add garlic and mushrooms and cook for a further two minutes.
3.Heat vegetable stock and half the sage in a different pan.
4.Add some more butter (15g) to the onion and squash and mushrooms and then add the pearl barley, turn up heat and cook for 2-3 mins
5.Lower the heat so risotto is on a medium heat and add a ladle of stock to risotto...cook stirring occasionally until liquid has absorbed.
6. Keep adding ladles of stock and cooking until the liquid has absorbed and all the stock has been used up and barley is tender...it should take 30 minutes. If the barley is still chewy or hard, just add more water and cook longer until barley is tender.
7.Season with salt & pepper and add a little more butter(7g?) and stir, then serve and garnish with remaining sage.

Unfortunately I couldn´t get my daughter to try this dish with it being vegetarian but it is a very tasty dish and I really enjoyed the barley.I´m looking forward to the next dish I´m going to make with barley and I hope it´s inspired you to try it too. I´d love you to share your barley recipes!

Cheese & Herb Sausages

First of all Happy New Year to you...it´s been awhile but haven´t been able to find much time to make the recipes I want to blog, let alone blog about them, with one thing and another. So with the New Year, comes the new resolutions. Have you got any? Would love you to share them with me. I have a couple of resolutions, one of which is to eat a healthier and more varied diet and the other is to try not to waste food so hopefully you´ll see some of this reflected in my blog.

While waiting to get around to making my next British county, Great British Bake Off technical challenge or dish from Asturias, thought I´d leave you with this quick recipe for Cheese & Herb sausages. It may not be the healthiest of dishes but it is tasty, vegetarian and is British into the bargain!This is a recipe taken from Delia Smith´s Complete Cookery Course and is based on the recipe for the famous Welsh dish, Glamorgan sausages so without further ado, I´ll leave you with the recipe. This is so simple that you could even try making them with kids and I think most children would enjoy these, however we couldn´t get my daughter to so much as try them!!! BTW, I know the photo is horrendous but when there´s no natural light, you don´t have a lot of time, you are hungry and you don´t want your dinner to go cold....there´s no choice but to rush the photos!!!

Ingredients(for 2-3 people):
150g white/wholemeal breadcrumbs
1 medium onion, grated
110g extra mature Cheddar cheese,grated(this is personal preference,you could use a milder cheese if you prefer)
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
3/4 tsp English mustard powder
1 egg yolk
salt & black pepper to taste

Coating & frying:
10g breadcrumbs
10g grated Parmesan
1 egg white, lightly beaten
oil

Method:
1.Place breadcrumbs, Cheddar cheese, onion and mixed herbs in a bowl and add mustard powder and season with salt & pepper.
2.Add egg yolk and stir ingredients together until they bind.
3. Divide into 12 small portions and shape into a sausage form using your hands.
4.Mix breadcrumbs and Parmesan, then dip each sausage first into egg white and then in breadcrumbs and Parmesan to coat.
5. Heat oil and fry sausages until crisp and golden on all sides and drain on kitchen paper.

Almond Rissoles

It´s feeling hot, hot,hot! Yes, the temperatures have risen, holidays are almost here and cooking lunch seems so much more of a chore as turning the oven or even the hob on in this heat,just makes you swelter even more!

Today was my daughter´s last day at nursery as she will start school in September and I have a bittersweet feeling about it. I can´t believe how fast the past two years have flown by...she´s growing up way too fast!

Anyway, on to the recipe,this is the second time that I´ve made this recipe and we really enjoy it so thought  I´d share it with you. It´s great as it´s vegetarian so it´s ideal for non-meat eaters and as my daughter is a bit fussy with vegetables, this is an excellent way to eat a vegetarian meal(even if it doesn´t really get any more veggies into her!) plus she likes it,which is also a bonus.YES, it DOES have nuts in it and it is advised not to give nuts to under-fives but as there are no allergies in my family and my daughter hasn´t shown any sign of any food, or more importantly nut, allergies, I don´t see any problem in giving her these rissoles.It´s also a great summer recipe even though you do have to fry the rissoles on the hob, and it´s quite a light dish, especially accompanied with a salad. Here, I accompanied it with an apple & rice salad.The recipe is taken from "The Dairy Book of Home Cookery".

Ingredients(serves 4)
100g ground almonds
175g white breadcrumbs (I made this with less the other day, around 145-150g and they still turned out well!)
1 small onion,grated
3 tbsp frozen or fresh parsley
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
1 egg, beaten
25g butter,melted
pinch of salt & pepper
about 1-2 tbsp milk

Coating
1 egg,beaten
prepared breadcrumbs
1-2 tbsps (roughly) olive oil
50g butter(I didn´t bother weighing,just put a knob of butter in the pan)

Method:
1. Place ground almonds & breadcrumbs in a bowl and add grated onion,parsley and herbs.
2.Add egg and melted butterand mix until combined.Season with salt & pepper.
3. Add milk till mixture comes together and starts to stick,then form into 8 rissoles or little hamburgers.
4. Dip in beaten egg and breadcrumbs till well coated.
5. Place oil and some butter in frying pan and when hot, fry for about 4-5 minutes on both sides or until golden brown on both sides.
6. Drain on kitchen towels and serve.

I think these rissoles are tasty just as they are but adding garlic or some cheese(particularly Cheddar) would maybe just give them an extra dimension! Next time I make them I´ll try it and let you know what I think!

Cheesy Mushroom Slice & weaning differences

I have noticed that there are a few differences in weaning in Spain and the UK. While Baby Led Weaning seems all the rage in the UK, I´m not so sure it´s very popular in Spain. I was given a rough guide from the doctor about weaning, however on this guide it says not to introduce veg till 6 1/2 months whereas in the UK, it is reccommended to start with veg before fruit, due to fruit being naturally sweeter and therefore babies liking it more.Chloe turned 6 months recently and we went along to the doctor´s for her injections and 6 mnth check-up. The nurse was asking what we had given her and when I mentioned that I´d already given her veg such as carrot & sweet potato, one of the nurses asked me why I didn´t give her something more normal! I immediately got annoyed and replied that it was normal to give sweet potato to babies in my country, which it is. In fact, many of the baby food jars have sweet potato & carrot combos! One of the nurses then replied but you´re not in your country, you´re here! I was fuming! Ok, I know the doctor´s have their reasons but if there aren´t any problems for babies in the UK, why would there be any problem for Spanish babies?Especially as I have read that sweet potato doesn´t cause much allergy! I just want her to have a healthy, varied diet so that she doesn´t grow up fussy, like me!!

Anyway, rant over! I made this dish at least a month ago but haven´t got round to blogging it! I´m getting quite a backlog of things I want to blog but haven´t had time to yet! This is another vegetarian recipe from my school days when we did a project about vegetarianism in Home Economics and is one of my favs!

Ingredients (for 2 people)

25g butter or margarine

3 spring onions, sliced

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

167g mushrooms, sliced

3-6 slices of bread

62g Cheddar cheese

3 eggs

1/2 pint milk

1/2 tsp mustard (I used Dijon but you can use English or whichever mustard you like)

1/2 tsp Worcester sauce

Method

1. Fry chopped vegetables in butter or margarine till tender.

2. Cut crusts off bread and cut into rectangles. Place a layer in a greased casserole dish:

3.Spoon fried vegetables on top of bread:

4. Top with another layer of remaining bread.

5. Grate the cheese and sprinkle on top:

6.Whisk eggs, milk, mustard and Worcester sauce together and pour over the bread and mushroom mixture.

7. Bake in a preheated oven for 40 -60 mins at 180ºC or till cheese has melted and the top is a nice golden colour:

Simple Rainbow Quiche

Yet another baking post but this time with a difference: a savoury bake!! As I mentioned in a previous post, I´m trying to eat more vegetarian dishes as I feel like I eat too much meat and as I had some shortcrust pastry in the freezer, which is a great timesaver, I thought I´d make this recipe.

My love of cooking came about due to helping my Gran bake and then at high school, I chose Food Technology as my Technology subject because I didn´t like metalwork or woodwork or any of the other options. One of the projects we had to do was about Vegetarianism and before that I really hadn´t tried much vegetarian food (and wasn´t really keen to try it either!!). I still have most of the recipes we used today and here is one of my favourites: Rainbow Quiche.

Ingredients (for 2 people)

1 packet of shortcrust pastry
1/2 red or white medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 - 1/2 red/green or yellow pepper, finely chopped
1 tomato, deseeded and chopped
1/2 courgette, finely chopped
2 eggs
1/4 pint milk
a knob of margarine/butter (about 12g)
50g Cheddar cheese (or other if you prefer)

Method

1. Line flan dish with pastry.
2. Beat eggs and milk together.
3. Grate cheese.
4.Fry vegetables in margarine or butter for 5 minutes until tender.
5. Place in flan dish, add grated cheese and egg & milk mixture (season if preferred although I don´t think it´s necessary)
6.Bake for around 30 mins at 190ºC/Reg 5 until all or the majority of the liquid has set.

Vegetarian Paella -style rice

Now that I´m no longer pregnant and need to eat as much protein as possible, I´ve started cooking some vegetarian dishes again as I was eating far too much meat!! This dish is tasty, quick to cook and low in fat and is quite similar to a paella!The recipe has been slightly adapted from Cocina Vegetariana rápida by Anne Wilson.

Ingredients (for 2)
1 cup long grain rice (I used Basmati)
pinch of saffron
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion or 1/2 large onion, chopped
3 mushrooms, sliced
handful of frozen green beans
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tbsp sweet paprika
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 litre vegetable stock (you might need to add a little more)-I used veggie Oxo cube
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp salt

Method
1.Place vegetable stock in a pan and add saffron strands.When it reaches boiling point, remove from heat.
2. Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion, garlic, tumeric, paprika, cinnamon and rice until rice is infused with spices.
3. Add vegetable stock, red pepper,mushrooms, green beans and salt.
4. Once boiling point has been reached, lower the heat and cook slowly for 20 minutes until rice is tender.

Easy Spinach & Cottage Cheese Pasties

This is fast turning into a baking blog! However, this time I´ve been baking something savoury and also vegetarian! I´m finally on maternity leave so have more time to make the evening dinner (which is usually a lighter meal, more like lunch for Brits like me!) I had some frozen spinach in the freezer and had bought some cottage cheese so I fancied making these pasties, based on a recipe in Delia Smith´s Complete Cookery Course.

Ingredients (to serve 2)

roughly 112g (4oz)fresh or frozen shortcrust or puff pastry (I used frozen shortcrust pastry to save time)
1 beaten egg

Filling
112g (4oz) frozen spinach
12g (1/2 oz butter
25g (1oz) cottage cheese
20g Parmesan cheese
a small clove of garlic, crushed
splash of lemon juice
1/8 tsp dill
pinch of ground nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Cook frozen spinach in an uncovered pan until all the moisture has evaporated.
2.Add cheeses, butter and the remaining filling ingredients and cook until butter has melted, leave to cool.

3. Roll out pastry thinly and using a small saucer/saucepan lid (about 15cm in diameter) cut 2 rounds of pastry.
4. Fill one half of the pastry circle with filling, then brush egg around the edge and seal well.


5. Make a small cross in the centre of the pasty and using a fork, press down with the prongs along the sealed edge to decorate.
6. Brush with beaten egg, place on greased baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 220ºC (425ºF) for 15 mins.

Vegetables with Polenta

I didn´t take many photos as I was making this dish as I wasn´t thinking of blogging it but it looked so tasty(and was) that I´ve ended up posting it. As I eat a lot of meat, I sometimes like to eat a healthier, vegetarian option but find it really difficult to find different vegetarian recipes that I don´t find too bland or boring. I was flicking through my Weight Watchers Made to Measure Cookbook by Ann Page Wood when I came across this recipe and as I had some polenta lurking at the back of my cupboards waiting to be used up, I thought this was recipe was ideal.

Ingredients (serves 2) (adapted from Weight Watchers Made to Measure Cookbook)

1/2 pint (300ml) water
2 oz (60g) polenta (I used quick cooking polenta)
15g Parmesan cheese & 30g grated Cheddar cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
4 oz (120g ) leeks, sliced
45 g fennel, thinly sliced
1/2 -1/4 red pepper, cut into squares
2 oz (60g) canned sweetcorn, drained
2 oz (135 g) drained canned chickpeas & 2 tbsp of chickpea liquid
1/2 tin of tinned tomatoes
1/4 tsp dried mixed herbs
salt & pepper to taste

Method
1. Boil the water and add polenta (add salt to taste) and cook for about 15 minutes till polenta thickens and absorbs all the water (keep stirring so polenta doesn´t stick to the saucepan).
2. Take pan off the heat and add all of the Parmesan and some of the Cheddar and mix.
3. Wet a chopping board and spread the polenta on board till about 2cm thick and leave to set.
4. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and add garlic, leeks, pepper and fennel. Cover and cook on a low heat for 5-6 minutes.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients and season with salt & pepper.
6.Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.
7. Place vegetables in a casserole dish and place polenta, cut into triangles, on top and sprinkle remaining Cheddar cheese over everything.
8.Place under a preheated grill until golden brown and bubbling.

* I´m not sure how English this dish is but seeing as it´s in a British recipe book, it´s now British!

Cranberry sauce, Red onion and Mozzarella Pizza

I have the people on the BBC Food Messageboard to thank for the idea of this recipe. I had almost 1/2 jar of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce left over from Christmas and didn´t have any ideas what to do with it. One of the suggestions was pizza with cranberry sauce instead of tomato sauce, red onions and Brie or goats cheese. As I am pregnant and didn´t want to risk eating Brie or goat´s cheese, I decided to use Mozzarella cheese, which I had lurking in my fridge waiting to be used.

The resulting pizza was absolutely delicious...in fact probably one of the nicest I´ve ever made. I only wish I had taken a photo of it for the blog.

Ingredients (for 2)

1 ready made pizza base (I used Carrefour´s)
a couple of spoonfuls of leftover cranberry sauce
1/2 red onion
5-6 mushrooms,sliced
1/2 courgette, sliced
Mozzarella cheese
olive oil

Method
1.Prick pizza base with fork and spoon over cranberry sauce, not too much otherwise it will be too sweet.
2. Fry onion, mushroom and courgette in olive oil till semi-tender, then place on top of pizza base.
3. Finally slice Mozzarella and place on top of the vegetables.
4.Cook in pre-heated oven at about 200-220ºC for about 15-20 mins (cook according to packaging instructions)

Aubergines in Chinese Style-Sauce

I always find it difficult to find new vegetarian recipes and usually end up cooking the same recipes over and over but when I tried this, I discovered that it was a keeper. It´s based on a recipe in my Cocinar con Wok book by Anne Wilson, which I´ve adapted, mainly as I can´t get some of the ingredients and although it would probably taste more authentic with those ingredients, I think you can still end up with a tasty Chinese style dish without them!

Ingredients (for 2 people)

1 large(ish) aubergine, chopped into small squares of 2cm
1 tbsp of peanut/groundnut oil (if you haven´t buy this, you could just use vegetable or olive oil)
3 spring(green) onions, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
about 1 inch of ginger, peeled and diced
60 ml of vegetable stock (I used 1 vegetable Bisto cube made up with water)
30ml white wine (use rice wine if available)
20 ml white wine vinegar (use rice vinegar if available)
1/2 tbsp tomato puree
5g sugar (white or brown)
20ml soy sauce
1/4 tsp chilli flakes/powder
1/2 tsp cornflour

Method
1. Heat oil in frying pan or wok and when hot, fry spring onions, ginger and garlic.
2.Add aubergine and fry till tender or golden.
3. Add wine, vinegar, sugar, tomato paste, vegetable stock, soy sauce and chilli flakes and cook for a minute.
4. Mix cornflour with 1 teaspoon of water to make a paste and add to pan.
5. Heat till it starts to boil then lower the heat and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes till sauce has thickened. Add more water if necessary.
6. Serve with boiled rice.

Mixed Mushrooms in a Thai Red Curry Sauce

I´ve made this dish a couple of times and always mean to blog it but have never got round to it or taken a picture of it. I really wish I had though!! It´s a simplified version of a recipe from a recipe book called Cocina Asiática Vegetariana by Anne Wilson, as there are many ingredients which I simply can´t get hold of where I live. However, I think this adaped, simplified version is probably just as good as the original version. It´s also a very easy and quick dish to prepare.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

A packet of mixed Asian mushrooms (around 200g) (shiitake, enoki and beech mushrooms for example)
an inch of ginger, finely chopped
1-2 tsp red curry paste (depending on your spice threshold level!)
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) vegetable stock (I used Oxo veggie stock cube)
1/2 cup of coconut milk/cream (this time I used coconut powder, about 65g powder mixed with around 125ml hot water to make a thicker milk)
1/2 tbsp lime or lemon juice (whatever you have in the fridge!)

Method:

1. Fry curry paste and ginger together for 3-4 mins till it becomes aromatic.
2. Add vegetable stock, sugar, soy sauce, coconut cream or milk and lime/lemon juice and lower heat (to around 4 on an induction electric hob) and simmer for 3-4 mins until the sugar dissolves.
3.Add the mushrooms and cook 3-5 mins until mushrooms are cooked.
4. Boil some Basmati rice in the meantime to serve with the mushrooms.

3 Bean Chilli (5th February, 2008)

I was a bit dubious about this recipe as beans have never played a vital part of my diet. In fact, apart from baked beans I´ve never really experimented with beans until recently. However, as they are part of a healthy diet and also to make my diet more varied, I decided to try this slightly adapted recipe from Carnegie Cooks and found it to be a tasty alternative to a meat chilli although it was a bit on the mild side. I have made this recently and have improved the recipe so this is the updated version.

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 red & 1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 14oz can chopped tomatoes
1 170g (6oz) can tomato paste
1/2 439g (15 1/2 oz) can black beans
1/2 439g (15 1/2 oz) can of chickpeas
1/2 439g (15 1/2 oz) can of red kidney beans
1 1/2 -2 tsp of chilli powder-put more if you like it very hot! ( I used just under 1tsp and found it too mild)
salt & pepper
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves (I reduced the amount of cloves as my boyfriend doesn´t like the taste of them)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp of olive oil

Method
1. Drain beans, saving liquid to thin chilli if necessary.
2. Fry onions,garlic and peppers in olive oil until soft.
3.Add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, chilli powder, cinnamon, cumin & cloves. Cook slowly about 15 mins.
4. Add beans and cook another 15 mins on low heat. Add salt & pepper to season. Thin with bean juice or water, if necessary.
5. Serve hot with rice.

And there you have it! A tasty, filling and healthy meal for everyone to enjoy.

Squash curry ( Dec 10, 2008)

I really fancied pumpkin curry the other day...even though I've never tried it. I didn't know, however, that pumpkins were no longer in season so ended up buying acorn squash, which I was told, is very similar. This recipe is a mish-mash of a recipe from VegWeb and my own invention. It's not a bad curry but maybe it's a bit bland and is very mild, due to the fact that I had a little accident when adding the coconut milk and the whole can plopped into the pan and over the hob- what a mess!! I kept adding more chilli powder and some of the other spices to make it tastier but it was very mild and as I said before a bit plain. It tastes a bit like squash Korma only a bit blander. I'm going to work on this recipe and when I have an improved version, I'll give you the new improved version. I also discovered that acorn squash is very difficult to peel so if I find a better way to prepare it or anyone has any advice, let me know. Scoop out the pumpkin/squash seeds, maybe you could toast them and add them to the curry. Sorry for not having the metric measurements.

Squash curry (serves 2-3 people)

Ingredients:
1/2 acorn squash/pumpkin, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2cm fresh ginger root, grated
1/2 cup of mangetout/peas
1 small to medium sized potato
1/2 can of coconut milk
1/4 of 15oz can chickpeas
1/2 small courgette
pinch salt
1 cup of basmati rice
1/4 - 1/2 tsp chilli powder( If you like a really spicy curry, add more. 1/4 tsp wasn't enough I found and I prefer a mild curry!)
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1-2 tbsp olive oil
Method:
Boil the potato in salted water till just slightly underdone.
Heat olive oil in frying pan and add garlic, ginger and all the spices and cook for a few minutes.
Add onions and fry till soft and transparent.
Meanwhile, boil basmati rice in water with salt.
Add courgette and mangetout and cook for a few minutes. Add squash, potato and chickpeas and cook until everything is covered in curry spices. Add a pinch of salt.
Add coconut milk and cook at a low temperature until squash and potato are tender, taking care that the curry doesn't become too dry. Serve with basmati rice and Naan bread.

Carrot & Coriander Soup (Nov 20th)

I had some coriander left over from a curry and as I've always wanted to make carrot and coriander soup (and TRY it!) that's what I did! So, here's my first recipe...it's based on one of the recipes on the BBC Food website but adapted for 2 people and I added my own little twist...... mainly as I also wanted to use up the half of lime. Unfortunately, my boyfriend didn't enjoy it as said he doesn't like the taste of coriander but I thought it was pretty damn tasty even if I do say so myself, so don't let that put you off!

Carrot & Coriander Soup (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

5 big carrots, peeled and sliced (sorry I don't know the exact weight...am really missing my scales!)

2/3 oz (55g) fresh coriander, chopped

1/2 lime, juice only

400ml (14 oz) hot chicken stock (vegetarians can use vegetable stock)

100ml (3 0z) cream

salt and black pepper

Method:

Fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil when oil is hot, until onions and garlic are softened(2-3mins).

Add the carrots and coriander and lime juice and cook for five minutes.

Add the stock and simmer for five minutes.

Add salt and pepper to season, then blend in a blender or with a hand blender till smooth.

Add the cream and reheat but do not boil.

Easy peasy! Serve with slice of crusty bread and enjoy a perfect winter meal, great for warming you up on those cold nights!