Warm Salad of Roasted Oca with Cashew Nut, Lime and Parsley Dressing

Look at those beauties!  Pink, glossy and oh so delicious and all from my allotment.  (I know too many 'ands' but I was excited). Here they are growing on my allotment. Great bushes of greeness and such wonderfully shaped leaves. This is a great crop and grows quite well in Britain.... these oca plants below are growing in a raised bed with plenty of compost.  The plant originates in South America but does not appear to be grown anywhere else commercially apart from New Zealand.  That is why I grow it... oh and because I love that citrus kick and nutty appeal.

Look so cute!

So I decided to riff on Dennis Cotter's great dish of roasted oca and pak choi with peanut, lime and coriander dressing (from Wild Garlic, Gooseberries and Me).... well I didn't have many of the ingredients. This was the result...

Roasted Oca with Cashew Nut, Lime and Parsley Dressing

Good handful of oca, washed and cut (if needed) into bite sized pieces
1 green chilli (diced small)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp cashew nuts (coarsely chopped)
Handful of parsley (chopped)

1 tbsp grated ginger
juice of 1 lime
large pinch of sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2. Place oca in oven tray and roast for about 15-20 minutes or until the oca are soft inside. Keep warm.
3. Whisk the ginger, lime and sugar together and add the soy sauce, and chilli.
4. Pour the dressing over the oca and mix through.
5. Sprinkle on the cashew nuts and parsley.

Roasted Tomatillo and Olive Salsa

Down at my local farmers market I came across these strange looking fruits... tomatillos. Little parcels of what looks like green tomatoes indeed in Mexico they are called 'tomate verde'.  You have to remove the husks and use the tomato like insides.  I thought I would turn mine into a different salsa to accompany my refried beans and tacos.

Tomatillo and Olive Salsa


500-600g tomatillos, husked
6 garlic cloves
2 jalapeno peppers/or mild chilli peppers
1 tablespoon olive oil
180 g green olives
25 g coriander
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
water

1.Heat oven to 220C degrees. Spread tomatillos, garlic cloves and chilli on baking sheet and coat evenly with oil. Roast for 15 minutes or until tomatillos are browned and blistered.
2.Remove from oven and cut the ends off the chilli peppers.Place in a food processor or blender with olives, coriander, lime and sugar. Pulse 5-7 times. If the mixture looks quite thick add water and pulse another 4-5 times to mix.
3. Place in bowl and serve as a dip.

Important to Show How People Live As Well As Die

Jeremy Bowen of the BBC illustrates in his tweets what food is being  traded just around the corner from conflict.  Olives being harvested by Palestinians, sweet dough balls being sold on the streets of Syria. He is showing how people survive during times of war and conflict. Check out Jeremy Bowen (@BowenBBC): https://twitter.com/BowenBBC?s=09

Vegan Phở

Phở.... you know that Vietnamese noodle dish that keeps cropping up on the best cookery programmes.... Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations... Luke Nguyen's Vietnam... Usually made from chicken or beef bones to make a stunning rich meaty broth, topped with fresh coriander, chilli and lime and served with flat rice noodles. Being vegan I had to find a meat free recipe. My vegan phở was inspired by the excellent recipe from thekitchn.com.... with some of the techniques from Luke Nguyen's television programme.

Luke Nguyen preparing Pho with a street vendor

Vegan Phở (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)

Serves 2

Broth
1 large onion, peeled and halved
2-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and halved lengthwise
3-inch cinnamon stick, preferably Vietnamese cassia-cinnamon
1 star anise
2 cloves (I tend to leave these out as it is just too pungent with)
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
4 cups unsalted vegetable stock
2 teaspoons soy sauce
4 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped. I use this wonderful variety called purple haze that turn the broth a wonderful deep purple colour.

3/4 mushrooms halfed

Noodles
1/2 lb/227g dried flat rice noodles 

Toppings (optional)
Protein such as fried or baked tofu, bean curd skin

Mushrooms

Vegetables such as bok choy, napa cabbage, or broccoli

Garnishes
1/2 onion, very thinly sliced
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 chile pepper (Thai bird, serrano, or jalapeño), sliced
1 lime, cut into wedges
1/2 cup bean sprouts
Large handful of herbs: cilantro, Thai basil

For the broth
1. Char onion and ginger over an open flame.... I use a gas stove so this is an easy but time consuming process. I char the cinnamon and star anise as well but you can just dry roast the spices in a pan along with the cloves and coriander seeds over a medium heat.

2. In a large saucepan add the onion, ginger, and spices.  Add the vegetable stock, soy sauce, mushrooms and carrots.

3. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the broth and keep hot.

For the noodles

1. While the broth is simmering, place noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Let stand for 20-30 minutes or until tender but still chewy. Then drain. (If soaking does not soften the noodles enough, blanch them in a pot of boiling water for a few seconds.)

For the toppings (optional)
1. I usually prepare tofu to go with my pho.  I cut into cubes and dust with a mixture of polenta and freshly ground black pepper.  Then I fry the tofu cubes and set aside on some kitchen paper when golden.

2. I might lightly steam some broccoli... sometimes I use kale.

To serve

1. Divide the noodles between two bowls ladle about 2 cups of broth into each bowl.  Now I tend to add the tofu and vegetables at this point and then add the garnish there and then.... some beansprouts, thinly sliced chilli, coriander and some lime ready to squeeze over the broth.   Alternatively just lay out the toppings and garnish for the diner to pick and choose and add to their broth.

Terre à Terre

I like to eat out.... in becoming a vegan this year it has cut down the number of dining experiences.... not many vegan fine dining restaurants around.  So I just had take up the opportunity of some fine dining when I visited Brighton by going to Terre à Terre. If you ever visit try this restaurant out... even if you are a carnivore - you will be surprised. Terre à Terre is actually a vegetarian restaurant but they are very vegan friendly.  So good to have more than one vegan dish on the menu! The wine list is made up of vegetarian and some vegan wines which makes a change from other restaurants.  I didn't need to resort to drinking cider....

The menu was pleasantly eclectic .... stretching around the world for it's influences.  Just up my street for the type of cuisine I am looking for. Starters took in Greek and Columbian, a nod to Yemen and Japan for the main course and a glorious modern on desserts.  My only quibble being the slightly annoying cliched descriptions of dishes.

My starter of arepas chilli candy was a delightful taster but they were not arepas.... or at least the arepas I have had and made in the past.  The description of 'deep fried sweetcorn cakes rolled in chermoula seasoned spice dust served with chilli chelly jelly (???), avocado coriander chilli garlic hash, zesty oregano and lime mojo and candied chilli crackle' was more explanatory of the final dish.

My main course of aubergine baked with sake and tahini was less successful.  The aubergine was a little bland but the vegetable salad dressed in a beautiful sesame and ginger sauce more than made up for the aubergine.

Now to the star dish... the dessert.  A moist orange polenta cake with the most unusual fennel and lemon sorbet.  Candied fennel with a apricot gel, and a beautiful pinenut polenta biscuit all finished off with crunchy fennel seeds. Devine!

Why become a vegan?

This year (2014) has seen a great change in my cooking.... last year I was a vegetarian who occasionally ate fish. I ate far too much cheese and was addicted to butter.  This year I decided that I needed a drastic change to my diet; something that would re-invigorate my love of cooking and appreciate some much maligned ingredients.  Starting from New Years Day I became a vegan - you probably noticed all my posts about vegan things so it is nothing new.

I think I had better explain myself..... well people do keep on asking me. 'Why become a vegan?' .  My answers are many and varied.  I seem to have a new answer every single time.  Now, this is not due to indecisiveness or waywardness. It just is complicated. Like a super complex knot of knitting that you have to unpick.

Here are just some of the reasons I have given:

1. Eating too much cheese!
2. Dairy product not good for my respiratory health....  whenever I got a cold I just had to avoid dairy or I would feel even more blocked up. What would it be like with no dairy?
3. Adventure - I wanted to explore a whole new culinary experience.
4. Dairy product potentially giving higher risks to breast cancer (Japanese and Chinese diets showing significantly lower rates of breast cancer).
5. I had been flirting with veganism for some years and thought I had better just go for it.
6. Experimentation - I wanted to see if I could make this work in a relatively busy life.
7. Challenge.
8. Environmental - the increasing proof that a vegan diet was lighter on the planet.
9. I was going off fish through all the bad experiences I had with fish during 2013 and I really should not eat so much dairy.... now I am an all or nothing kind of gal so that meant no dairy!
10. Just all of these reasons mixed all together.

Well I am now the majority way through my experiment and it has been tough. You have to look at every label! I now know intimately the various methods of filtration for wine.... whether it be through fish finings, casein (milk product) or gelatin.  I know which bread is safe generally (pitta and ciabatta), which supermarkets are on your side (Marks and Spencer, Co-op) and which are tragically appalling.  I know the best vegan cheeses (Vegusto's no-moo piquant), and some great alternatives to eggs (flax seed is so good).  Cakes are tough for vegans but then I was never to fond of them anyway.  I have been addicted to kale and I have never had so much hummus in life than this year.  (If someone was to come up with a great alternative to hummus that could easily be made/bought by cafes I am sure it would be a money-spinner. I love hummus but every time you go out to a cafe?)
It has been a revelation!
Vegetables have taken on a new lustre.... Kale is the must go vegetable.  Just kale and garlic and I have a meal (well, almost).  Cauliflower has become invaluable; just roasted or left raw as 'rice'.  Carrots (in particular a variety called purple haze) have elevated my stock making. When you have to rely on the great vegetables you just look out for some different flavour.  This purple haze carrot has transformed my pho to this luscious purple broth..... ahhh! Spring onions griddled in a pan with the roots on are devine.
Shall I continue?  I will let you know 1st January 2015!

World Cup Special - Brazil

No Brazilian feast would be complete without the national dish of feijoada.... unfortunately that is a rather meat heavy mix with pork and beef and black beans, the key element being that hint of smoked meat as well.... so how to re-create that in the vegan dish?  Luckily we found a great recipe from www.veggiebelly.com which used smoked tofu as a fine replacement for the meat. 

Vegan Feijoada

Vegan Feijoada (serves two)

Pack of smoked tofu cut into cubes

1 small onion finely chopped

1 carrot finely chopped

1 red pepper finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika (to give that umpf of smokiness)

1 tsp of oregano (I used fresh from the garden)

1 tin of black beans

500ml of water

1. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and stir fry the tofu cubes until it is brown and crispy then remove from the pan and set aside.

2. In the same pan heat some more olive oil and add the onion, carrot and pepper and saute for about 5-8 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and stir in for 30 seconds.  Then add the cumin, paprika and oregano and fry for about 20 seconds.

4. Add the black beans, the water and the salt and bring the stew to the boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Mash some of the black beans using a wooden spoon. The liquid should almost evaporate.. if you find the mixture is catching just add a little more water.

5. Add the tofu and heat through for about 5 minutes.

6. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with any of these: chopped tomatoes, red onion, parsley, coriander, orange zest. We just topped with coriander but served with this great salsa below.

Molho de limeo

Molho de Limeo

1 red onion finely chopped
1 large tomato skinned and deseeded finely chopped
2 limes juiced
1 garlic clove crushed
1 tbsp chopped coriander or flat leaved parsley
chilli sauce
seasoning

1. Combine all the ingredients and transfer to a serving dish ... that is it!

Vagem Com Minas e Castanha do Para - Green Beans with Mihas Cheese and Brazil Nuts (without the cheese)

Vagem Com Minas e Castanha do Para - Green Beans with Mihas Cheese and Brazil Nuts (without the cheese)

680 g green beans

seasoning

2 tbsp lime juice

1 garlic clove finely chopped

125 ml of extra virgin olive oil

70g of Minas or feta cheese crumbled (obviously I left this out in order to adhere to the vegan ethos)

30g red onion thinly sliced

40 g shelled brazil nuts.

1. Steam the green beans until tender... about 5 minutes. 

2. Immediately drain and transfer to a ice water bath for about 5 minutes to stop the cooking process.  This keeps the beans nice and green; which looks fantastic on the plate. 

3. Remove the beans from the cooling water and dry on some kitchen towels or tea towel.  Let it air dry for about 5 minutes and place in a serving bowl.

4. In a mixing bowl whisk the lime juice, soy sauce, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Slowly add the olive oil until it is well blended.

5. Pour the dressing over the beans then add the grated cheese if you are using, the onion and grate the Brazil nuts over the green beans.

6. Give it a taste and adjust he seasoning if you wish.

(Taken from Rio de Janeiro - The Cookbook - Leticia Moreinos Schwartz)

The final meal.... a fresh, zingy meal with a useful re-invention of Brazil's national dish. I will definitely be replicating this very soon!


Game: 2 Food: 4 (So disappointing to see Brazil go out like this.... we just had to take consolation in the cooking... ( and the music - well I had to reach for the Gilles Peterson compliation Back in Brazil from 2006).

Adventures in Tofu Making

The final product

I am a big fan of tofu... always have been since I discovered it in my teens so it seems strange that I never tried making it until now (many years later).  I suppose it must be just because I have never knew how to do it. Unless you knew someone who knew how to make it or found it in some obscure book then you would never know. So this is where the internet becomes very useful... and really we have only had that in the last 5 or 10 years. But obscure culinary knowledge is gradually getting broadcast far and wide thanks to the world wide web. (sorry to China and Japan - I know it is not obscure there but believe me in deepest darkest Somerset it is.)

My aim is to someday make tofu from growing to finished product (yes I am going to try and grow soy beans in this country). It can be done but probably not at the moment on any type of commercial standing.  We still do not have the correct climate for that quite yet. But who knows.  It puts me in mind of Geoff Ryman's science fiction novel The Child Garden where rice paddys grow around London and everyone has been cured of cancer by intaking viruses.... we don't know where quite where our world will lead us.

Anyway back to tofu!

So I am indebted to Just Hungry for posting such great posts on Japanese food (not just tofu making).  So thankyou Makiko Itoh for posting such great instructions on making tofu and for the great blog posts about the food life as an ex-pat, the local cuisine and occasional foodie travel logs.

The first step is to make soy milk.  Just go to Just Hungry for all the information....http://www.justhungry.com/2006/03/milking_the_soy.html....

This is my show and tell. I will just be giving the highlights....

What you start with is of course the soy beans...  I followed Maki's instructions here about how many to use... I would advise that you do that as you will be surprised about the amount of soy milk you can produce. Remember to have 2 large saucepans ready, some muslin cloth and a blender.









Next soak the beans for at least 8 hours.... (I soaked the beans overnight). Place in a blender (please follow Maki's instructions because they do genuinely work!) and whizz up.
















It should turn into a foamy consitency that you can cook up in 2 large pans. Cook for about 20 minutes until it turns granular.

Drain it through muslin into a container... this is what you should get.... some granular material and your wonderful soy milk.  

If you dry the above you get this....okara.... apparently can you use it to cook with but I had so much I decided to give it to the chickens (it was supposed to be highly nutritious) ... they didn't touch it!

So I now have my soya milk ready to produce my tofu. This is where we add the magic ingredient....  nigari, magnesium chloride or calcium sulfate (gypsum).... this acts as a coagulant. You add this to the warm soy milk until it starts to congeal....

Now you need to drain all that liquid off.  You can start by scooping out the liquid with a ladle like below....

When you have got all the liquid out via this method just drain it into some muslin in a tofu strainer.  Now my tofu strainer is homemade.... just an baking tin with holes drilled in the bottom and sides. Check out this link on how to make your own homemade tofu press.... http://ieatfood.net/2009/05/09/how-to-make-a-heavy-duty-steel-tofu-press/.

Wrap the muslin around the tofu curds and then put another baking tin on top and weigh down with some tins on your draining board.

When you think your tofu has been pressed enough rinse the tofu in water like below...

It is now ready to use....

Columbia - World Cup Special

The Columbian Feast

For our Columbian feast we turned to Erica from http://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/ . Thank you Erica and to your Mamita - your grandmother for inspiring you.  To accompany the cooking we listened to the rather marvellous Colombia! the Golden Age of Discos Fuentes. the Powerhouse of Colombian Music 1960-76 

Arepas

A Columbian meal would not be complete without arepas.... so here is the excellent recipe from Erica to make 4 filling arepas - http://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/cheese-cornmeal-patties-arepas-de-queso. Now to make it vegan I bought some sheese (that is vegan cheese)... a rather odd texture mozzarella type vegan cheese that tasted ok but really had the texture of polyfilla (I know I am not selling it well).  It made a passable alternative to mozzarella but if you are not vegan I would not advise it!

Chuyaco (Colombian Orange Salad)

We served the arepas and beans (see below - http://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/frijoles-rojos-colombianos-colombian-style-red-beans) with this zingy chuyaco salad again from Erica's blog.  http://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/chuyaco-colombian-orange-salad

Frijoles Rojos Colombiano

Aji Picante (Colombian Hot Sauce)

We finished off the feast with the fiery aji picante or Colombian Hot Sauce with plenty of chilli, parsley, and coriander.


Game: 4 Food: 5 (Columbia... our new favourite team of the world cup... we had already experienced them in the Greece game but they just excelled themselves against Uraguay.... good football, good music ( check out Soundways record label for some hot beats).

Courgette Polpette

Courgette Polpette

In the process of finishing some of the posts that I had started... but had not got round to writing up.  With that glut of courgettes that you get at around this time of year (August) I just had to find a great recipe to really showcase this wonderful summer ingredient.  Do try this recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.... hopefully I will get the opportunity to veganize it! I will keep you posted.

World Cup Special - Algeria

Algeria is our next stop on our World Cup tour.... and we didn't want to produce the obligatory cous cous. We thought we would do something completely different.  And we found some fantastic recipes online... felfel(stuffed chilli peppers), and garantita (a great chickpea dish like no other).  Accompany that with some seasonal green vegetables in a tarragon vinaigrette (a nod to Algeria's French colonial past) and  one of my own recipes for broad bean falafels and we had a perfect non-dairy Algerian feast.

Garantita

A real revelation to me... I thought I knew most chickpea dishes but little did I know of the sheer versatility of this humble pulse.  

Essentially this is a baked chickpea flour flan that gets used to smear hot over fresh baguettes.... My garantita was less of flan and more of a solid affair (think I cooked it too long) but it was very delicious.  The recipe is here on the Teal Tadjine blog ... and if you want a vegan version just scroll to the end of recipe for a replacement to egg (a flax 'egg'). I put plenty of cumin and smoked paprika in mine which I think really lifted the flavours.

Felfel

Now to the stand out dish felfel or stuff chilli peppers.

I found these wonderful mild chilli peppers from the local farmers market and mixed them up with some longer green peppers for contrast... I think traditionally it is made solely with larger chilli peppers but using other pepper types did not detract from magical dish.

The inspiration for this dish was dandelion vegan blog.  We couldn't access the recipe so just looked at the instructions on the blog and made it up.

Ingredients

6 mild chilli green peppers (you can use red or green long peppers)

100g walnuts and pine nuts combined - more walnuts than pine nuts

1 clove of garlic

lots of chives (you make it up... if you like the chive have lots, if you don't, just put a few stalks in)

salt

olive oil

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1) Gently blend the walnuts, pine nuts, garlic, chives and a little olive oil.

2) Take your chilli peppers and cut off the end.  Scoop out the seeds with a spoon.

3) Take the nut mix and spoon into the peppers and gently press into the pepper.

4) Heat the rest of the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the peppers on gentle heat.

5) When the peppers are gently browned take out of the pan and onto a serving plate.  Sprinkle over the peppers some freshly squeezed lemon juice. Ready and perfect! 

Cook this dish! It is so delicious and I am addicted.

Broad Bean Falafel

Now I have published a recipe for broad bean falafel before but I thought i would create a more subtle falafel... which is only broad bean and is pretty plain and simple.

It is astounding ... it is a wondrous vibrant green and taste amazing... if you want to zing it up a little serve with harissa or any local chilli sauce.

300g broad beans shelled and skinned (after podding just blanch the beans for about 3-5 minutes)

1 small onion finely chopped. 

2 garlic cloves 

2 tsp ground cumin

 1-3 tbsp of gram flour

Oil for frying.

Add the onion, garlic, cumin, and salt to the beans. Puree and add a little water and pulse until the mixture is gritty but fine and green. Scrape the paste into a bowl. Add the gram flour and mix.

In a small heavy pot or wok heat 6cm of oil to 180C. Scoop the mixture into the palm of your hand and fashion into little flying saucers. Spoon into the hot oil and fry for about 2 minutes in small batches until crisp and brown, then drain on paper towels.

Seasonal Greens with Tarragon Vinaigrette

Gather a selection of seasonal green vegetables like spinach, asparagus and peas depending on what time of year.

Prepare the vegetables and blanch for about 3 minutes.

So the vinaigrette:

1 tbsp tarragon or white wine vinegar

 1 tbsp of chopped tarragon

1/2 shallot very finely chopped

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp maple or date or agave syrup

3 tbsp olive oil

Mix all the ingredients and season well... it is up to you.. if you like the tarragon then add a little more.  I tend to whisk all the ingredients together and add a little more of what I like....just taste.

Serve it all with a couple of baguettes... 

Score:

Game: 4 Food: 5 (Algeria were fantastic to watch and were unlucky not to win against Russia... I was rooting for Algeria all the way through.... and this little sample of Algerian food has had me craving for more.  Felfel - to new favourite dish.... I am loving that the world cup is introducing me to so many new recipes).

World Cup Special - Nigeria

In our culinary tour of the globe courtesy of the football world cup our next stop is Nigeria...  I was a little worried that I would not be able to find a suitable vegan dish that would please omnivore and vegan alike but when I found Tomi Makanjuola's www.vegannigerian.com I knew I was on to a winner.  So to accompany the Super Eagles game with Bosnia-Hercegovina we decided to have a jollof rice, pineapple and peanut stir-fry and a super hot salad with Nigerian dressing...

Jollof Rice

Ok... so the jollof rice was a combination of Tomi's http://www.vegannigerian.com/2013/02/jollof-rice.html and a word of mouth of recipe from a colleague of my friend...

Ingredients

(serves 4)

- 2 cups basmati rice

- 1 large red bell pepper

- 1-2 scotch bonnet peppers (depending on how hot you want it!)

- tin of tomatoes

- couple of chopped tomatoes

- 2 cloves garlic

- Fresh ginger grated

- 1 small onion roughly chopped (it is going in the blender!)

- 2 vegetable stock cubes

- 2 tbsp fresh thyme

- Salt to taste

- 4 tbsp of vegetable oil

Blend the bell pepper, scotch bonnet peppers, tin of tomatoes, onion, ginger and garlic with some water to form a smooth mixture.

Heat the oil in a pot and add the mixture, along with the stock cubes and seasoning.  Dependent on how much rice you are cooking up... I put in another 3 smallish mugs of water to mix and gently bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and let it cook for about 10 to 15 minutes to let the rawness of the tomatoes and onion abate.

Add the rice to the mixture and stir well. Cook for about 30 minutes periodically coming back and giving the mixture a stir to ensure that the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan. You may have to add a little more water if the mixture becomes too dry.  After 30 minutes the rice should have absorbed all the water and be softly imbued with the tomatoey, chilli flavours. 

Pineapple, Peppers and Peanut Stir Fry

This recipe came straight from the Vegan Nigerian site.... fantastic. The red peppers, fresh pineapple and peanuts were an amazing combination of zingy flavours... definitely something I will cooking again.

Salad With Nigerian Salad Dressing

Again from the Vegan Nigerian site... http://www.vegannigerian.com/2013/04/nigerian-salad-dressing.html. This was a delicious melange of mango, chilli, lime and ginger... if you want to pep up your salad with some really hot flavours then you cannot go wrong with this recipe!


So a real big thanks to Tomi Makanjuola and her wonderful blog that made vegan Nigerian food a reality for us.


Score:
Game: 3 Food: 4 (the one goal was good but the game did not keep my attention....  luckily the food pepped me up... ).