Vegetarian

October 12, 2014 Baking

Doughnuts, the Justin Gellatly way…

Amazingly, I’ve made doughnuts several times before and the results were very disappointing, and certainly not worth repeating. I knew I’d followed the instructions properly, so something else was going wrong. Hmmn. Maybe doughnuts weren’t for me.

I became aware of Justin Gellatly on twitter (of course) – famous for his doughnuts at the St John’s Bakery, he left after a decade to set up his own Bread Ahead in Borough Market. Soon the twittersphere was flooded with instagram pics of his ridiculously good combinations, and though not a huge doughnut fan, I became quietly obsessed with checking out the pics. When he released his book earlier this year, it quickly made its way to the top of my pile. But still – no doughnuts.

…

November 4, 2013 Recipe

Sweetcorn Fritters

It must be autumn, I’m craving all manner of autumnal veg, from pumpkin to sweetcorn, and every variety of squash and mushroom I can find. I genuinely think we eat too much meat in our diets, and there is no reason not to have a delicious warm lunch, where the star is the vegetable.

One of my favourites is sweetcorn fritters – but I tend to mix an additional ingredient in, just to add a little variety. Today’s variation was raw orange pepper. I love raw peppers, but some people find it indigestible, so you could add anything else you fancy. Crab perhaps? Always delicious. Spring onions? Grated courgettes?

The ingredients for the batter are a bit of a work in progress – I usually eyeball the batter depending on how many people I’m cooking for, and how wet the ingredients are.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
1 egg
About 40ml of buttermilk (or milk)
100g sweetcorn
1 small orange pepper, finely chopped

Method:

Chop the pepper finely if using, and remove the sweetcorn from the cob (or tin :0)
Pop the dry ingredients into one bowl, and mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl or jug
Gradually add enough of the liquid to form a thick batter – do not overwork it
Incorporate enough of the batter into the vegetables to just thickly coat it
Cook the fritters on a moderate heat, in a little rapeseed oil
Like pancakes and drop scones, when the bubbles start to pop through, turn the fritter over
Serve with the sauce of your choice – sometimes I have tzatziki, but today it was chill jelly!

March 2, 2013 Chickpea

Moroccan chickpea soup…

My favourite Saturday lunch, always made by Hubby, is this incredibly simple but very aromatic soup. The lemon zest clears your jaded palate and sets you up for the weekend…

As chickpeas are an excellent source of fibre and protein, it’s the perfect dish for vegetarians and vegans, without compromising at all on flavour.

This particular recipe comes from the Good Food magazine, but there are a number of variations out there…

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion , chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
600ml hot vegetable stock
400g can chopped plum tomatoes with garlic
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
100g frozen broad beans
zest and juice ½ lemon
large handful coriander or parsley and flatbread, to serve

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then fry the onion and celery gently for 10 mins until softened, stirring frequently. Tip in the cumin and fry for another min.
Turn up the heat, then add the stock, tomatoes and chickpeas, plus a good grind of black pepper. Simmer for 8 mins. Throw in broad beans and lemon juice, cook for a further 2 mins. Season to taste, then top with a sprinkling of lemon zest and chopped herbs. Serve with flatbread.