Monday 28 November 2011

Caribbian Style Black Eyed Beans Curry

(This has been on the blog for a while but without photos, finally made it again so updating it with photos)

200 gm Lentils
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1 onion
Garlic ( to taste, as much or as little as you like!)
1 teaspoon Cumin,
1 teaspoon Coriander
Caribbean spices or any spice blend you like
500 g of cooked Black eyed bean - tinned are fine

Wash the lentils under running cold water and place in a pan with boiling water, enough to cover them with  least an inch of water 

 
Stir fry  the chopped onion, as much garlic as you like, heaped teaspoons each of Cumin, coriander, madras curry powder (or fresh or dried chili to taste, Black pepper if you want & a pinch of turmeric.
Chop 2 green  (or one green and one yellow) & 1 red peppers finely, in a food processor is easiest and stir fry for a few minutes

Stir occasionally, once cooked blend some of the mixture and then add 2 tins of washed black eyed beans. 


Add the black eye beans, peppers and onions to the cooked lentils and simmer on a low heat for 45 min. It will look like a thick chunky soup! 
Serve with plain rice 

This is my interpretation of the dish, I had it at a function once and liked it, I think this version is pretty close to what I eat!  
 

Sunday 20 November 2011

Bubble and Squeek Pie



For the topping: 
4 medium potatoes - peeled, chopped, cooked and mashed
half a very small cabbage - chopped and steamed

For the filling:
Stir fry:
200 g of Quorn
1 small onion chopped finely
2 grated carrots
100 g of peas
Once cooked add:
1 liter of gravey

place the filling in an oven proof dish and cover with the potato and cabbage topping

Bake in a hot oven for 45 min

Fruit Scones








8 oz flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 oz sunflower spread
4 oz raisens
140 ml of milk or 180 ml of yogurt


Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar, then rub in the sunflower spread until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Mix in the raisns then add the milk or yogurt and fold the mixture together gently to form a dough. 

Cut out and bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes



Tomato and Basil Scones


 8 oz flour
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 oz sunflower spread
 2 tbs tomato paste
2 tsp pesto ( you can use vegan pseto)
 a handful of chopped fresh basil
4 pieces of sundried tomatoes chopped  
 100 ml milk ( I used soya)

Rub the flour and fat together until they resemble fine bread crumbs

 add the remaining ingredients : tomoato paste, pesto, sundried tomoatoes, basil and milk and mix together to form a dough.,



 Using a round cutter, cut out 6 scones and bake in hot oven (180 C with fan, or 200 without fan) for 15 minutes

Sunday 13 November 2011

Poppy seed loaf

Weigh out: 
8 oz Flour
2 oz Sunflower spread
1 tsp Cream of tartar
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
2 tbs of Blue poppy seeds
140 ml Milk ( I used soya)

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and rub in the fat until the mixture resembles bread crumbs
  Add the milk and mix in gently.
Place the dough in an oblong cake tin bake in a hot oven for around 20-25  minutes.









Beetroot Scones




Weigh out: 
8 oz Flour
2 oz Sunflower spread
1 tsp Cream of tartar
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
  2oz  of fresh grated beetroot 
80 ml of milk ( I used soya)

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and rub in the fat until the mixture resembles bread crumbs
Add the grated beetroot and milk and mix into a dough
Cut out and place onto a tray and bake in a hot oven for around 15 minutes.










Spinach Scones


Weigh out: 
8 oz Flour
2 oz Sunflower spread
1 tsp Cream of tartar
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
3 oz  of cooked spinach (Fresh or frozen) chopped finely

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and rub in the fat until the mixture resembles bread crumbs
Add the cooked chopped spinach and mix, there should be enough juice from the spinach to enable the creation of a dough, if not add a little milk - don't worry if you add too much you'll just need to make them in a muffin tray or spoon dollops of the mixture straight onto the tray. 

Cut out and place onto a tray and bake in a hot oven for around 15 minutes.







Thursday 10 November 2011

Spinach & Yogurt Salad


200 g Fresh spinach
200 ml plain yogurt (cows milk or soya if you can find one that doesn't taste of vanilla!)
1 garlic clove crushed or grated
1 tsp ground cumin
salt to taste
paprika to garnish

Wilt the spinach leaves by stir frying them dry in a wok for a few min, or microwave for 1 minute
Chop the spinach up
Mix the spinach, yogurt, garlic, cumin and salt and garnish with the paprika. 

Serve chilled 


Saturday 5 November 2011

Lime and Coconut Scoffins


Put the oven on at 180 C (with fan) 

Measure out the following: 

8 oz plain flour
2 oz sunflower spread
2 oz of chopped pitted black olives
100 ml yogurt
100 ml milk
20g of chopped fresh basil
1 tbs Pesto 
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
 1 tsp cream of tartar


Rub the sunflower spread into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then mix in the bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar
Add the olives, pesto and basil and mix 
Pour the milk and yogurt in and stir gently
Fill muffin cases to the top, and bake for 16 minutes (depends on oven)









Black olive and Basil Scoffins


Put the oven on at 180 C (with fan) 

Measure out the following: 

8 oz plain flour
2 oz sunflower spread
2 oz of chopped pitted black olives
100 ml yogurt
100 ml milk
20g of chopped fresh basil
1 tbs Pesto 
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
 1 tsp cream of tartar


Rub the sunflower spread into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then mix in the bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar
Add the olives, pesto and basil and mix 
Pour the milk and yogurt in and stir gently
Fill muffin cases to the top, and bake for 16 minutes (depends on oven)


Bulgar wheat tray bake ( Kibba bil-sinya)

250 g Bulgar wheat
half a red pepper
half a green pepper
half a medium onion
half a medium courgetter
200 g Quorn mince ( or 100 g sulatnas and 50 g pine nuts for a vegan alternative)
2 tbs tomoato paste
2 eggs (2 oz of soft tofu)
1 tsp mild curry powder
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste


250 g medium crushed Bulgar wheat washed and soaked in cold water until soft (or hot water for 20 min) then drained and excess water squeezed out.

half a red, half a green pepper and half a courgette chopped finely and stir fried with half a medium onion also chopped finely.


Mix all the ingredients: Bulgar wheat, fried veg, spices and seasoning, eggs and tomaotoe paste and place the mixture in an oiled oven proof dish, bake in the middle of a hot oven for 20-25 min.

Serve with soup and salad.



Baba Ghanouj



Bake one large aubergine (make long cuts in the aubergine skin to avoid it exploding in the oven)  in a hot oven for 30 min. 

Remove the skin, and blend the flesh with a garlic clove, juice of half a lemon, a pinch of salt and 2-3 tbs of tahini


Cool in before serving.


Maqlouba

(Oops! I burnt it a bit, not all the black is burnt onion, most of it is the aubergine skins)

A layered veg & rice dish all cooked in one pot.
You will need: 

1 aubergine sliced in 0.5 cm slices
1 small cauliflower cut into large florets
2 medium carrots cut lengthways into 0.5 cm thick slices
2 large tomatoes cut into 1 cm thick slices (or a handful of cherry tomatoes)
4 garlic cloves

2 onions sliced

2 potatoes peeled and sliced thinly
200 g risotto or paella rice washed and drained
For the liquid:
500 ml veg stock (cube is fine!) heat it to boiling before using
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste

The preparation:  



Prepare the veg and then fry in small quantities in deep pan with 1 cm of hot oil 
This is best done in a wide pan with a heavy base, oil the pan and line grease proof paper ( like you would for a cake) layer the veg in this order:
Onions, Aubergine, carrot's, potatoes, tomatoes & cauliflower
sprinkle the garlic
Cover with rice
Mix the stock with the spices and gently pour the liquid so as not to disturb the layers
Try and make sure the rice is covered, but if it's not wait before adding more water, as the veg cooks you can squash it down!
Bring the pan to the boil but not too vigorously (so you don't disturb the layers), then turn down, cover and simmer for 45-60 min, then turn off and leave with a clean tea towel over the top and put the lid back on for 15 min.
Place a large serving plate over the top of the pan and carefully turn the pan and plate over, with any luck the whole thing is now upside down with the layers of veg intact!
Goes well with homous and/or sweet chili sauce! 

Preparation time 30 min

Cooking time 60 min

Serves 4