Brown Bread with Pumpkin Seeds (vegan)

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This week, I’m in a mad mood for baking. Over indulging in watching cookery competitions has its effect. Vegan Samosas, Cinammon Apple Pie and bread – lots of bread.

Since seeing The Hairy Bikers make Kartoffelbrot, I couldn’t wait to try the recipe. It was so worth the effort with the Teen asking if I could make it every week!

I now have lots of flour and a box of yeast. Too much temptation for this girl to resist! More baking to be done and this time, I set about devising a recipe for a wholemeal vegan loaf.

It turned out very well. I have to admit I missed the tang of buttermilk but the Teen said she preferred it. High praise indeed!

Compared to the amount of kneading for the Kartoffelbrot, this bread is a joy! It needs no kneading at all (my biceps heaved a massive sigh of relief)!

Ingredients
2 tsp sugar
1 sachet fast acting yeast
1lb brown wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
3 oz, pumpkin seeds
16 fluid ounces, luke warm water
1 tbsp, sunflower oil and some extra for greasing
Plain flour for dusting

Method
1. Take 5 tablespoons of the water, add the yeast and one teaspoon of sugar. Stir and leave somewhere warm for 10 minutes to activate
2. Combine the flour, remaining sugar, salt and pumpkin seeds in a bowl
3. Add the sunflower oil to the water
4. Prepare the loaf tin by greasing it with sunflower oil and then dusting with flour
5. Add the now activated yeast to the dry ingredients and also the rest of the water. Mix until totally combined (the mix will be wet and no kneading is required)
6. Place in the prepared loaf tin and cover loosely with oiled cling film
7. Put into a warm place to prove for about 30 minutes
8. Heat the oven to 200C degrees (fan oven)/220C (without fan)
9. When proved, place in the centre of the heated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes
10. Check if it is done by tapping the back for a hollow sound
11. Wrap in a clean, damp, towel and leave to cool on a wire rack

Vegan, Vegetarian

Corn Chowder

soup

I’ve been making this chowder for over thirty years. In many flats I lived in, I often had a pot of this on the stove once a week. While it can be served immediately, I prefer to cook it the day before and let the flavour seep into the beans.

And it’s more than a soup – it’s a full meal. This recipe makes four main course servings. It also has curative properties – I often found the pot empty after flatmates arrived home after the witching hour!

I’ve made this recipe vegan but for vegetarians, I highly recommend a handful of grated cheddar on the top when serving. It is so hearty, it doesn’t need any other accompaniment.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 head of broccoli, florets and some of stalk
1 tin butter beans, drained (or the equivalent of dried butter beans, soaked and pre-cooked)
1 bag frozen corn*
1 tablespoon, parsley (dried)
1 heaped teaspoon, mixed herbs (dried)
1½ pints good quality vegetable stock
Sea salt and ground black pepper to season

Method
1. Heat the oil
2. Fry onion until soft for about 8-10 minutes
3. Add garlic and continue cooking for 2 more minutes
4. Add in the carrots and potatoes and mix in thoroughly
5. Add stock, broccoli and butter beans, parsley and mixed herbs
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper
7. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes
8. Add corn and simmer for another 5 minutes
9. Serve

* Tinned corn doesn’t suit this recipe

Vegan, Vegetarian

Walnut Roast

When I ate only vegetarian food, a good nut roast was always welcome. And I had exacting standards! My pal, Nóirín, was the first to introduce me to this fare and she set the bar mighty high. A brazil nut roast served with vegetarian gravy, roast potatoes and vegetables, it was the food of kings! Over the years, I have made many, many, nut roasts – sometimes at midnight with the gentle persuasion of alcohol and my former flatmate (ahem, Susan!)

I often cooked nut roasts for my mother. Unfortunately, while she found them tasty, she also found them very confusing. Instead of having them as a main course with vegetables, I often found her eating a slice with a good spread of fruit jam on top…

This is the first vegan nut roast I made. I usually use melted butter to bind it all together. I changed things around and this turned out as a very tasty alternative. I served it with some ratatouille and new potatoes steamed in their skins.

Ingredients
7 ounces Walnuts
7 ounces, wholemeal breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons, dried parsley
2 teaspoons, dried mixed herbs
5 ounces mushrooms, chopped roughly
1 medium onion, chopped roughly
3 tablespoons, olive oil
Sunflower oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Heat the oven to 180C degrees
2. Lightly grease a loaf tin with a little sunflower oil
3. Line the body of the tin with enough parchment that it can also fold over the top of the mixture
4. Place the walnuts on a baking tray and roast for about 8 minutes
5. Place the breadcrumbs and herbs in a bowl
6. Grind the roasted walnuts in a blender until they are broken up but not powder
7. Add to the breadcrumb mix
8. Using the blender again, mince the onions and mushrooms together until it is nearly paste-like
9. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan
10. Add the onion and mushroom mix and cook gently for about 5 minutes until the juices flow out
11. Add this to the dry ingredients
12. Season well with salt and pepper and combine thoroughly
13. Turn into the loaf tin and push the mix into the tin so it is evenly distributed
14. Fold the parchment over the top and seal with some tinfoil
15. Bake for 20-25 minutes
16. Remove the tinfoil and bake for another 10 minutes
17. Cut into slices and serve hot or cold

Soups, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tomato, Carrot and Black-Eyed Bean Soup

A need for a last minute supper and no interest in racing to the shops to buy stuff. A good ferret around the cupboard and fridge and this is what I came up with. I blitzed this in the liquidiser but only to blend the ingredients rather than to puree the mix. This gave the soup a nice texture when the beans were added.

Turned out to be very tasty indeed and nicely filling. Thumbs up from the teen who made off with the leftovers for lunch!

Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
3 carrots, grated
2 tablespoons, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon, dried parsley
1 heaped teaspoon, dried basil
¾ pint, vegetable stock
2 tins, chopped tomatoes
1 tin, black-eyed beans*
½ to 1 teaspoon, sugar**
Sea salt and ground black pepper to season

Method
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan
2. Add the onion, cover with the lid and allow to cook for about 5 minutes until soft
3. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes
4. Add the carrots and cook for 2 minutes
5. Add the herbs, tomatoes and stock
6. Cook for about 20 minutes
7. Add the sugar according to taste**
8. Season with salt and lots of black pepper
9. Blitz in the liquidiser until the ingredients are blended but not pureed
10. Return to the pan and add the black-eyed beans*
11. Heat through and serve

* With the amount of soup, more beans would be possible to turn this into a heartier soup or even a main meal. Next time, I will try adding a tin of borlotti beans
** I usually like tinned tomatoes cooked with sugar to season. This soup, however, was nicer with less sugar.

Main, Vegan, Vegetarian

Vegan Samosas

Ever since The Great British Bake Off, I’ve loved the food Nadiya Hussain prepares. On one cookery programme, she made a rather massive samosa pie for a picnic. A lightbulb moment! I’ll make small Samosa Pasties for the Teen the next time she’s home.

I set about devising a pastry and a filling that were both vegan. The idea was to make enough pastry for two pie lids, divide the pastry into 6 pieces, fill them and then crimp them like Cornish Pasties. The image in my head was glorious! The reality somewhat different.

The pastry I came up with was fine. I was a little timid in my treatment of it for fear I might overwork it. With a little patience, I was able to roll it out and curl it over a rolling pin. Making it into individual pasties was, however, a self-deluding pipe (pie?) dream!

Plan B. I took out a tart plate and opted to use that instead. I prepared the pastry and put the whole thing together. I followed Nadiya’s lead of adding turmeric in the pastry. I thought this was important to give it some colour as, being vegan, I wouldn’t be able to egg wash or milk wash the finished offering. I discovered alternatives of using water or almond milk to seal the edges and of using oil or almond milk to wash the lid. I opted for water to seal and oil to wash.

The result? It was lovely and the filling was delicious. The pastry was not the easiest to work with. If I was to opt for a ‘purist’ approach, I would make it again. If I was to opt for an easier approach, and one where the pastry could be shaped into the much desired pasty, I’d go for shop bought since I discovered that Jusrol’s shortcrust, puff and filo pastries are all vegan!

What did I serve it with? A mixed salad and tomato relish. The Teen approved. She liked the filling so much, she said she’d have it as a main or side dish as well.

Ingredients
Pastry
12 ounces, plain flour
8 tablespoons, sunflower oil
4-6 tablespoons, cold water (adjust according to how dry the pastry is)
1 teaspoon, salt
1-2 teaspoons, turmeric
Flour for rolling

Filling
2 tablespoons, sunflower oil
1 teaspoon, coriander seeds
½ teaspoon, fennel seeds
½ teaspoon, fenugreek seeds
¼ teaspoon, mustard seeds
1 tablespoon, freshly grated ginger
1 clove garlic, minced finely
1 green chilli, minced finely
1 small onion, minced finely
2 teaspoons, coriander powder
¾ teaspoon, turmeric
½ teaspoon, garam masala
6-7 curry leaves
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut in small cubes
3-4 fluid ounces, water
4 ounces, frozen peas
Sea salt
Sunflower oil to wash the pie lid

Method
1. To make the pastry: place all ingredients in a large bowl
2. Mix together until combined (adjust water as needed)
3. Put onto a floured board and bring it into a pastry ball
4. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes
5. Crush the coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds and mustard seeds
6. Heat the oil, add the seeds and cook for about 1 minute to release the spices
7. Add the onion and cover with the spices
8. Put the lid on the pot and cook slowly until the onion is soft, shaking the pot ever now and again to ensure the mix doesn’t stick or the spices don’t burn
9. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for a couple more minutes
10. Add the ground coriander, turmeric, garam masala and curry leaves
11. Add the potatoes, cover with the spiced mix, add 2 fluid ounces of water and place the lid back on the pot (add more water if needed)
12. Cook for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft
13. Season with a little salt, add the peas and cook for a further 5 minutes
14. Put aside to cool
15. Back to the pastry: cut into two
16. Roll out piece for the bottom and then one for the lid
17. Fill with the samosa filling
18. Wet the edges with water and seal the edge using a fork
19. Wash the lid with oil
20. Bake at 180 C degrees for 25-30 minutes

Honey Comb Pudding, Nana's corner

Honeycomb Pudding

My mother wasn’t fond of desserts. She’d get into a flurry of baking and confectionary if preparing for guests or baking for charity.

Desserts for us were simple. Jelly with cream or ice cream. Ice cream with a crumbled Flake chocolate bar. Packet Apple Crumble which was actually quite delicious. And whipped jelly which was as weird and vile as it sounds.

She made Honeycomb Pudding a few times and I really loved it. When I would ask her to make it, she would say she had lost the recipe. Well, Mommy Dearest – you lied! There it is. In the book. In your own very distinct handwriting.

Method
1 pint, full fat milk
4 ounces, castor sugar
3 eggs
½ ounce, gelatine
1 teaspoon, Vanilla essence

Method
1. Dissolve gelatine in a little warm water
2. Separate the eggs
3. When the gelatine is dissolved, add the milk, sugar and beaten egg yolks
4. Place this mixture into a heavy saucepan and stir gently until the mixture thickens
5. Beat the egg whites until a stiff froth
6. Fold them into the other mixture
7. Place the combined mixture into a prepared mould
8. Leave until completely set
9. Serve in individual portions with whipped cream

Baking and stuff, Banana Bread

Banana Bread

banana bread

I have baked so many loaves of this Banana Bread that I’ve lost count. I never like dumping very ripe bananas so this is my fail safe recipe to use them all up. A popular treat for my teen, it was also a big hit with the two teens that once lived next door. Their mother remarked that it was the only way one of them would eat fruit!

Like all loaf cakes, it is meant to taste nicer the next day. I am unsure if this is indeed true as I have never known it to last that long!

Ingredients
1lb over ripe bananas, mashed
7 ounces, self-raising flour
¼ level teaspoon, bicarbonate of soda
Pinch salt
6 ounces, castor sugar
3 ounces, unsalted butter softened
2 medium eggs
Sunflower oil

Method
1. Heat the oven to 180 C degrees
2. Line a loaf tin with baking parchment and brush with sunflower oil
3. Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together
4. Mash the bananas
5. Cream the sugar and butter together until pale
6. Beat the eggs
7. Add the eggs to the sugar and butter mix in three stages, mixing well each time until combined
8. Add the bananas and combine thoroughly
9. Add the dry ingredients in three stages, combining well each time
10. Turn the mix into a loaf tin and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes
11. Cover in tinfoil and bake for a further 35-40 minutes
12. Test with a skewer to see that it is baked throughout
13. When done, turn onto a wire rack to cool

*There is a vegan version in the ‘Vegetarian and Vegan’ section.

Banana and Walnut Bread (vegan), Vegan

Banana and Walnut Bread (vegan)*

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I like baking. I have been baking for as long as I could climb up onto the blue kitchen stool and “supervise” my mother. I don’t know why then I was so nervous when baking this Banana and Walnut Bread. I suppose I was succumbing to engrained feelings that vegan must be tasteless. Ridiculous given how much vegan food I have eaten and not had that experience. But nervous I was.

I mixed together each stage. When I tasted the mix, it tasted exactly as it should do. I was surprised. When it began to rise in the oven, I was also surprised. And when it was baked, it tasted lovely. Another surprise. I really did fear the worst because years of conditioning said it couldn’t be so. My supremely-better-at-baking pal, Robert, assured me that all a cake needs to succeed is ‘fluids, fat and glue’ – all of which were in this mix. The fact it was tasty therefore shouldn’t have come as such a surprise!

Ingredients
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated finely
3-4 very ripe bananas
6 tablespoons, Rapeseed Oil
3½ ounces, castor sugar
7 ounces, self-raising flour
2 teaspoons, baking powder
3 teaspoons, ground cinnamon
4 ounces walnuts, broken into small pieces
Pinch of salt
Sunflower oil

Method
1. Heat the oven to 180 C degrees
2. Line a loaf tin with baking parchment and brush with sunflower oil
3. Sieve the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt together
4. Mash the bananas
5. Add the sugar and oil to the bananas and combine well
6. Add the dry ingredients in three stages, combining well each time
7. Add the walnuts and grated apple
8. Turn the mix into a loaf tin and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes
9. Cover in tinfoil and bake for a further 35-40 minutes
10. Turn onto a wire rack to cool

*There is a non-vegan version in the ‘Baking’ section

Vegan

Kedgeree

rice

From initial fear to absolute delight, I am so enjoying cooking for the Vegan in the Attic. For Sunday dinner, I decided to try another new dish. During the week, I saw a cookery programme which featured vegetarian Kedgeree. Always associating it with flaked fish and hard boiled eggs, I didn’t know that the original was, in fact, a vegetarian version.

I ploughed through recipes but didn’t find any I really liked. They were either too bland or a pilau rice with some vegetables and nuts. Based on what I’d read, I decided to wing it! I used spicing similar to the fish and egg variety as it seemed more distinct. I created my own spice mix to give it a curry flavour rather than opting for the more traditional use of generic curry powder. The spicing is subtle, aromatic rather than hot.

Being a vegan version, I upped the level of vegetables. I cooked it in a heavy, wide lipped, saucepan which has a great lid to seal in the steam. I would have put a sheet of greaseproof paper in between lid and pot if the seal wasn’t as good.

As a hot dish, it got the thumbs up from my attic dweller. As a cold dish, it is in the fridge awaiting lunch tomorrow.

Ingredients
1½ cups, Basmati rice
1 cup, green lentils
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1½ teaspoons cumin seeds
1½ teaspoons ground coriander
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 cardamom pods, bruised
1 stick cinnamon
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated*
1 large white onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely diced
1 red pepper, finely chopped
250g baby spinach, washed
150g frozen peas
2 pints good quality stock
30g flaked almonds, toasted
Sea salt and ground black pepper to season

Method
1. Put the rice and lentils into a sieve and rinse with clean, cold, water until the water runs clear and there is no starch left
2. Heat the oil in the pot
3. Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods and stir for 1-2 minutes
4. Add the onions, garlic, ginger, ground coriander, cayenne pepper and stir until all ingredients are combined
5. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes until the onion is soft
6. Add the carrots and pepper and combine with the rest of the ingredients
7. Cook for 2 minutes
8. Add the rice and lentils and combine with the rest of the ingredients
9. Cook for 2 minutes
10. Add 1 pint stock and season with salt and pepper
11. Cover with lid and cook for 10-15 minutes
12. Check after 10 minutes and add more stock if required
13. After 15 minutes, add spinach and peas and combine with the rest of the ingredients
14. When the rice and lentils are nearly cooked, cover the saucepan and switch off the heat allowing the meal to cook for the last few minutes in its own steam
15. Serve immediately with a sprinkling of toasted almonds on the top

Chef tip: A television chef suggested keeping fresh ginger in the freezer and grate from frozen, skin and all. It sounded odd but I decided to try it. Works like a dream and far easier to grate. I’m converted!

Nana's corner

Nana’s ‘Handy Measures’

At the back of the notebook is a section entitled ‘Handy Measures’. How can I resist not including such a piece with that title!

Here they are

Slow oven	300 degrees
Very moderate oven	350
1 ounce	1 well heaped tablespoon of flour, rice, etc.
½ ounce	1 well heaped dessertspoon of flour, rice, etc. or a level tablespoon
¼ ounce	1 level dessertspoon of flour, rice, etc.
1/8 ounce	I level teaspoon
3 ounces	A teacup which holds ¼ pint of water holds 3 ounces of flour
6 ounces	A cup which holds ½ pint of water holds 6 ounces of flour
Pound	2 cups of butter is equal to 1 pound in weight
1 egg (medium)	2 ounces (when weighed in shell)

The Teen in the Attic

Enticing the Teen to the table and other matters