In my previous post, I shared the recipe for a mushroom wellington, which what the main of my Veggie Xmas menu, you can find the recipe for that and a roasted tomato soup by readingPart One here.
Vegetarian Christmas Menu
Starter: Roasted tomato soup (vegan)
Main: Mushroom Wellington (vegetarian/vegan)
Dessert: Orange Spice Cake (vegetarian)
Sides: Butternut gratin (vegetarian), roast potatoes and root vegetables, sweet potato and ginger mash (vegan)
Butternut Squash Gratin
(from Rachel Allen: Home Cooking)
1 large butternut squash (500g needed)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed, or finely grated
175ml double or regular cream
75g Parmesan or Gruyere cheese, finely grated
1 litre (1 3/4 pint) pie dish
1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
2. Using a sharp knife, peel the skin of the butternut squash. Remove all seeds, and cut into fine slices about 5mm (a quarter of an inch) thick.
3. Layer the slices of squash into the pie dish and season with salt and pepper.
4. Place the garlic and cream in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and then pour over the squash in the dish. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.
5. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes to one hour, removing the foil after 30 minutes of cooking time. When cooked, the butternut squash should be soft and the top golden and bubbly.
Mary Berry's Orange Spice Cake
A fresh, spiced orange cake. If liked, you can ice the cake as well as fill it. Use just under half the orange filling to sandwich the cakes together and spread the rest on top
1 small thin-skinned orange
275g self-raising flour
3 level tsp baking powder
275g caster sugar
225g butter, softened
4 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
For the orange filling
50g butter, softened
175g icing sugar, sifted, plus a little extra for dusting
2 level tblsp orange pulp, reserved from the cake
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Line two deep 20cm tins with greased greaseproof paper. Place the whole orange in a small saucepan, cover with boiling water and simmer until soft, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. When the orange is soft and cold, cut in half and remove any pips. Process the whole orange, including the skin, until medium chunky. Reserve 2 level tablespoons of the orange pulp for the icing, and leave the rest in the processor. Add the remaining cake ingredients and blend until smooth. Avoid overmixing. Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Leave to cool in the tins for a few moments, then turn out, peel off the paper and finish cooling on a wire rack.
4. To make the orange filling, cream the soft butter, then add the sieved icing sugar and reserved orange pulp. Sandwich the cakes together with the icing, and sieve icing sugar over the top of the cake.
TIP - Thin-skinned oranges are usually smaller – avoid using Jaffa oranges as they have a very thick pith.
Best eaten fresh, but it will store in an airtight container for 2-3 days. You could also freeze the filled cake for up to 2 months. Thaw for 2-3 hours at room temperature.
Vegetarian Christmas Menu
Starter: Roasted tomato soup (vegan)
Main: Mushroom Wellington (vegetarian/vegan)
Dessert: Orange Spice Cake (vegetarian)
Sides: Butternut gratin, roast potatoes and root vegetables, sweet potato and ginger mash
Last Christmas, as it happens, I didn't give someone my heart, but I did make a superb Sweet potato, hazelnut and spinach en croûte from the Cornucopia cookbook. I wanted to try something different this year, to add to my repertoire, for when I am in a position to throw candlelit dinners.
(FYI: I prepared all my vegetables, par-boiled the potatoes for roasting as well as making the soup and gravy the day before, to save on stress on Christmas day.)
Roast Tomato Soup
(from Rachel Allen: Home Cooking)
900g ripe tomatoes (about 8), halved
1 red onion, peeled and thickly sliced
6 large cloves of garlic, peeled
Leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
1 tsp caster sugar
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
600ml vegetable stock
50ml double or regular cream (I used Provamel soy cream)
Basil leaves, to serve
1. Preheat your oven to 200C. Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange the halves, cut side up, in a single layer on a baking tray and scatter over the onion, garlic, thyme and sugar. Drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
2. Roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until softened. Once cooked, tip the entire contents of the baking tray, including any juices, into a blender. Add the stock and blend until smooth, then pour into a large saucepan. Alternatively, place the cooked tomatoes in the saucepan, pur in the stock and puree using a hand held blender.
3. Bring the soup to the boil, add the cream, reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes to heat through. Serve topped with basil leaves.
I can't take credit for this, as my 17 year old brother made this! We had it with toasted spelt bread from Mayo's Cherry Blossom Bakery, spread with Pure dairy free margarine.
This dish is time-consuming, but you can prepare it up to the baking stage and freeze it weeks in advance. Before serving, remove the wellington from the freezer and, after thawing, glaze the pastry with beaten egg (or without if vegan) and put it in a hot oven to bake for 45 minutes at 220C/425F/gas mark 7 until puffed and golden.
Mushroom Wellington
Makes 2
600g puff pastry (I used read-rolled pastry, Jus Rol is suitable for vegans)
50ml flavourless vegetable oil
675g chopped onions
450g whole chestnut mushrooms
2 tbsp fresh or dried tarragon
4 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbsp soya sauce or tamari, or replace one with marsala or sherry
320g broken cashew pieces
320g ground almonds
175g fine freshly made breadcrumbs, white or wholemeal
1 egg, beaten for glazing (omit for vegans)
salt and pepper to taste
1. Roll out the pastry into two rectangles, 23x30.5cm each, cover and place in the fridge, if you're using ready made, no need to do this as its all been done for you! To make the filling, heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion with half the crushed garlic for at least 20 minutes or until it turns a deep golden colour.
2. Remove onions from the pan and set aside, then add the mushrooms to the same pan with the rest of the garlic and half the tarragon and cook on a fairly high heat. Halfway through cooking, add the soya sauce or tamari and the alcohol, if you are using it. Continue until the mushrooms are cooked through; there should be no white centre left when you cut one open.
I cut mine in two halfway through cooking to ensure they were cooked throughly.
3. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside, reserving all the mushroom liquor (the intensely flavoured liquid given out by the mushrooms). If you have too little liquid, add some water to the pan and swirl around until it combines with the mushroom liquid. In a food processor or blender, blend the cashews with the reserved mushroom liquor to a fine, smooth purée, adding a little water or even more of whichever alcohol you are using, until you have a smooth, sweet paste or pate.
4. Remove mixture from the blender and blend first the onions, then mushrooms – you can mix them up if you wish – until they are perfectly smooth. Mix all the blended ingredients together in a bowl, adding the breadcrumbs, ground almonds and the remaining tarragon. The mixture should gently hold its shape when formed with the hands. Heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Remove the pastry from the fridge.
5. Divide the mixture in two and place one lot on a sheet of pastry, shaping with your hands as you go to make a long rectangular shape about 28cm long, 7cm wide and about 5cm high. With the thin point of a sharp knife, make diagonal cuts at a 45-degree angle, starting from the left hand corner of the pastry towards the pate mixture. Repeat on the other side, this time starting at the top right hand corner and cutting down towards the centre.
6. The strips should now be about 2cm apart. Fold in the end pieces first. Then draw a strip over from the left, then one from the right, crossing them over so the mix is snugly wrapped up. Repeat for the second wellington.
Either freeze at this stage or glaze generously with beaten egg. Place upon a floured tray, using two fish slices or the loose base of a tart tin to help you.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes until golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes before attempting to lift onto a serving dish. Allow 2 slices per person, cut with a very sharp serrated knife.
To serve
Place the wellington on your large platter, surrounded by roasted vegetables. I made a red wine and juniper gravy, from the Cornucopia cookbook, you can find the recipe here.
This recipe was originally conceived by Nadine Abensur.
Behold, a totally uncurated picture of my decadent Christmas dinner, piled high with butternut gratin, mushroom wellington, roasted veg & potatoes, sweet potato & ginger mash and red wine & juniper gravy
Seasons Greetings everyone!
I never promised that Meat Free Monday would happen every Monday, but sporadically. Anyhow, I heartily enjoyed this kale and chickpea curry I made last week. My friend Jenny who has been rockin' veganism for the past few months recommended it to me. I adapted the original Vegan Society recipe.
Kale is currently is season at the moment, so buy Irish (or local to wherever you are)! You could always throw in some forgotten vegetables you have in the fridge, end of season courgettes would work well as they can be quite bland and would really benefit from the rich flavours of this curry (I'm so in love with the cardamon in this). As always this is a very economical dish to make.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
2 medium onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 red pepper, diced
2 tins plum tomatoes
2 tins chickpeas
150ml vegetable stock
Pinch sea salt
200g kale
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
6-8 cardamon seeds
Method:
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the sliced onion until golden. Add the garlic, pepper (optional) and spices (except for the cardamon) and stir every now and again while cooking for about 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes, drained chickpeas, kale and cardamon seeds. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 10-20 minutes until the kale has softened to your liking.
- Season to taste. Serve with rice, or naan bread.
- Should serve 4 people, generously, with enough leftover for lunch the next day!
The addition of cardamon really makes this dish special, and would keep for up to 3 days in the fridge for leftovers, I wouldn't recommend freezing as the kale would loose its texture.
You can view my other meat free monday recipes here.
Get involved in the #meatfreemonday campaign!
This is from a Nigella Lawson recipe, I spend too much time watching daytime tv these days (someone hire me ... soon!) and I saw this on a repeat of Nigella Kitchen on the Food Network UK.
This recipe is useful for when you pick up reduced vegetables in your supermarket, it makes for a good shared meal. I omitted some of the ingredients, as I didn't have them and they were expensive to purchase, or I just plain forgot! I used frozen cauliflower as it was cheaper, and it was just fine.
I have put into brackets what I omitted, and I just doubled the quantities of the mange tout and baby corn, according to what I had at the time.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
Pinch sea salt
1 green chili seeded and finely chopped
3/4-inch chunk fresh ginger, peeled and cut into fine strips
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 can coconut milk
600ml vegetable stock
1 teaspoon sugar
(1 tablespoon tamarind paste)
(300g broccoli, broken into florets)
300g Cauliflower, separated into florets
125g Baby Corn, halved
150g Mange Tout (or sugar snap peas)
Method:
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the sliced onion and garlic, sprinkled with the salt flakes until it softens. Add the green chili and ginger strips and stir every now and again while cooking for about 1 minute.
- Add the chili flakes, turmeric, ground cumin, and ginger. Stir well and cook for another minute or so, before adding the coconut milk, stock, sugar and tamarind paste (if you have it). Stir to combine.
- Bring the sauce to the boil. Add the cauliflower (and broccoli) florets and cook for about 10 minutes. Then add the baby corn and cook for a further 3 minutes. Cook until vegetables are tender (about 5-10 min), then add the mange tout, and ground coriander, and cook for a further 3-5 minutes.
- Season to taste, sprinkle with the fresh coriander. Serve with rice, or naan bread.
- Should serve 4 people, generously.
I believe this freezes well, keeps for 3 days in the fridge for leftovers!
Get involved in the #meatfreemonday campaign!
Already a pattern is beginning to become apparent with my meat free meals, I prefer easy to prepare, economical and comforting dishes (which coincidently are the same three words I'd probably use to describe my lifestyle, but anyway). Dishes that you enjoy making and sharing. This week it is the ultimate comfort food dish, and my favourite macaroni cheese recipe.
I adapted this from a Jamie Oliver recipe I cut out from the Sunday Times Style magazine yonks ago. I left out the bacon, and to be honest, for a culchie like me the only 'posh' element of this dish was the addition of the white wine and the fresh herbs. It was delicious nonetheless, though I don't think the wine made much of a difference.
& A tip - if you're not a white wine drinker and probably won't finish the bottle after using it for this recipe, freeze the remainder of the wine in an ice cube bag or tray. You can then use this leftover wine straight from the freezer in any future recipes that require the addition of white wine, such as a risotto.
I have put into brackets the elements I left out, I've never had breadcrumbs in a macaroni cheese and I think its fruitless to convince me otherwise. We only eat soda bread in my house (#culchieproblems), and the healthy five grain bread my mum gets probably wasn't what Jamie had in mind for this carbfest. I like mine with a crunchy golden crust on top, with piles of carby, creamy goodness nestled comfortably underneath.
Ingredients:
50g butter
1 leek, or 3 stalks celery (or BOTH), cleaned & finely sliced
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
4 tbsp flour
100ml dry white wine
400ml milk
(250ml double cream)
100g cheddar
50g vegetarian parmesan
A good pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
(2-3 handfuls breadcrumbs)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180C. Cook macaroni pasta in boiling salted water according to time on packet, usually 10-12 minutes. Drain and set to one side.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the leeks/celery and thyme leaves. Turn down the heat, put a lid on and leave to soften for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so they don't stick.
- Add flour and cook over a gentle heat, stirring constantly for a couple of minutes, until it forms a roux. Then gradually add the wine, beating with a whisk, to form a thick paste. Cook for a further 2 minutes, then beat in the milk (and cream), and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Mix in the cheeses and cayenne, season to taste and stir until everything has melted and the sauce is smooth.
- Combine the sauce and cooked pasta. Then tip into an ovenproof dish. (Sprinkle with breadcrumbs). Grate cheese over the top. Put in the oven for 25 minutes, or until top is golden and the dish is bubbling at the edges.
- Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with a salad, or greens (see below).
- Should serve 6 people, but usually 4-5 if you like second helpings as much as I do. Mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food, and is highly addictive!
As this is such a wickedly stodgy dish I served it with some green veg on the side. I wilted some spinach with garlic, olive oil and nutmeg in the pan, some lightly stir-fried mangetout peas and some sliced bell peppers. Any green vegetables you have knocking about in the fridge should be fine.
Get involved in the #meatfreemonday campaign!
I have a few blog posts lined up ... in my mind, so I'll get around to typing them out shortly. Now for my semi-regular Meat Free Monday post. This week its a recipe I've been making regularly for the past 3 years. It's Donal Skeehan's Hearty Minestrone Soup. Its very simple to make, nothing fancy, just honest, warming goodness. It's great for using up odd-shaped pasta shells that seem to accumlate in my cupboard.
This is also a great family recipe, especially if yours don't like spicy or exotic dishes. I have my own bottle of tobasco in the cupboard and will likely turn into one of those people who carry it in the handbags. It's simple and full of vegetables that can be purchased cheaply from any supermarket.
Ingredients: (Serves 4)
1 courgette, chopped into small chunks
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 x 410g tins cannellini beans
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped into small chunks
2 litres/4 pints homemade or shop bought veg stock
75g/3oz wholewheat spaghetti, broken into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons of olive oil
A good pinch of paprika
A good pinch of sea salt
Method:
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic cloves and onion for a couple of minutes or until they become soft.
- Add the celery, carrots and courgette and cook for five minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and stock, and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the wholewheat pasta, paprika and cannellini beans. Give the soup a good stir and cover. Cook gently for a further 10 minutes or until the pasta is cooked.
- Season with a little sea salt and serve straightaway. I add a few glugs of tobasco to my bowl for some heat.
&
This is brilliant for bringing in a soup thermos to work, and is very economical to make. It pleases everyone really!
Get involved in the #meatfreemonday campaign!
For reasons I set out before, I'll be posting a meat-free monday recipe, tried and tasted by recovered fussy eater, and vegetarian (of 9 years) on ... Mondays! Very good. Ready? Ok, here we go.
I adapted this from a BBC Good Food recipe (they've some excellent recipes posted online). The sweet potato mash and the addition of red wine really transform this dish from a bog standard shepherd's pie to something you'll want to make again and again.
I had tins upon tins of red kidney beans. I seem to acquire them, probably because they're only about 20c a can, and the cheapest tinned beans I can buy in my local supermarket. So I substituted the green lentils for kidney beans, but will certainly be doing this again, with lentils, to see what the texture is like. So feel free to try either. I didn't add cheese or butter - I used olive oil to keep this dish vegan, and the mash was awesome anyway, so there.
A wee tip - I rarely buy fresh herbs because they're expensive, but when I'm making a special recipe, I chop up the remainder, put them in a mini plastic tub or sandwich bag and freeze them, where they keep well for the next couple of months. I did this with the thyme in this recipe.
Ingredients:
Filling
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced
2 large carrots (500g/1lb 2oz in total), cut into sugar-cube size pieces
2 tablespoons thyme, chopped
150ml water
200ml red wine (vegetarian friendly)
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 vegetable stock cubes
2 cans of kidney beans (drained), or 410g green lentils
Sweet potato topping
950g sweet potatoes , peeled and cut into chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
Method:
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, then fry the onion until golden. Add the carrots and all but a sprinkling of thyme. Pour in the wine, 150ml water and the tomatoes, then sprinkle in the stock cubes and simmer for 10 mins.
- Add the kidney beans, then cover and simmer for another 10 mins until the carrots still have a bit of bite.
- Meanwhile, boil the sweet potatoes for 15 mins until tender, drain well, then mash with the olive oil and season to taste. Pile the bean and veg mixture into a lasagne dish, spoon the mash on top, then sprinkle over the remaining thyme. (The pie can now be covered and chilled for 2 days, or frozen for up to a month.)
- Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cook for 20-30 mins if cooking straight away, or for 40-50 mins from chilled, until golden and hot all the way through. Serve with green veg (I served it with grilled asparagus) or a salad on the side.
&
I can't begin to tell you how good this was! It was deliciously rich, with the addition of the red wine. My meat eating family literally licked their plates clean. Job done. My only struggle was trying to take a decent picture of this that didn't look like pie slopped on a plate - besides making adorable mini shepherd's pies for each person, I think its very difficult for an amateur to make a shepherd's pie look as good as this one tasted.
Get involved in the #meatfreemonday campaign!
My Dad was in hospital recently and it really shook me up, we're very close. While he is fit and healthy, I do wish he would eat less red meat and animal fats. He's more receptive to vegetarian dishes now, because I do cook a lot, I enjoy cooking family meals at least once a week. After the recent scare, I've been cooking some healthy meals for him, and this evening as I made dinner, I realised that I was cooking a meat-free meal, on a Monday, and I thought of the "meat free Monday" movement, promoted by the McCartney family. So in the spirit of things, I hope on every other Monday to post a meat-free dish, to inspire anyone who does stop by, and to give me some motivation, while I convince my family to make Mondays meat free.
While watching daytime telly recently, I flicked over to Rick Stein's Spain, he was about to cook a delicious looking lentil dish, where the meat element could easily be left out. It's a lentil stew I suppose.
I adapted this recipe, on the cheap. I left out the Serrano ham, and the white wine, I don't have pimentón (smoked sweet Spanish paprika) so I used regular paprika.
Ingredients
300g green lentils
6 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, finely chopped/diced
200g/7oz carrot, finely chopped/diced
1 tbsp paprika (or to taste)
A couple of glugs of tobasco
I tin chopped tomatoes
rock salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
- Check the lentils for stones, then rinse in cold water. Add to saucepan, adding enough cold water to cover them and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce heat and leave to simmer for about 30 minutes or until just tender but still a little al dente (or follow packet instructions). Drain, and keep back the cooking liquid, setting to one side.
- In a deep frying pan, heat the oil, adding the garlic and onion, sweating it off for a few minutes, then add the carrot and cook gently for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and just beginning to colour.
- Stir in the paprika and tomatoes, and simmer for 5-6 minutes or until the mixture cooks down into a thick sauce. I chucked in some tobasco at this point, because I like some heat.
- Stir the lentils into the sauce with 150ml of the lentil cooking liquid, as needed, with a pinch of salt and some pepper. Simmer for a further 5-6 minutes. Serve!
I served this with potatoes fried in olive oil and paprika, 'patatas bravas' style.
You can watch Rick himself whip up this dish via youtube, what a charming man!
Join the movement and tag your tweets/instagram pictures with #meatfreemonday
I had a particularly stressful day today, it hit me like a bus how much work I have to do, right in the stomach. I went for chocolate cake and ice cream with my flatmate and it was a relief to eat something comforting in a setting that wasn't the library or my room!
Sometimes I enjoy cooking to take my mind off things, I find it a productive form of procrastination. Recently I came by this recipe and it will be my go-to bolognese recipe for the future. There's a lot of prepping of vegetables, but it's worth it. It's perfect for serving to friends, but I like to make a large quantity for myself and refrigerate it to have for my lunch the next day in my recently acquired Thermos flask.
Lentil Bolognese
Serves 4, preparation 20m, cook, 45m
Vegetarian and vegan.
75g Puy Lentils (follow cooking instructions on packet)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 carrots, cut into small pieces
2 courgettes, cut into small pieces
2 sticks celery, cut into small pieces
4/5 closed cup mushrooms, sliced
1 (400g) can chopped tomatoes
1/4 pint/150ml vegetable stock
2 tablespoons tomato purée
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
200g pasta
salt and pepper, to season
1. Cook lentils for 20m, drain and set to one side.
2. Heat oil in saucepan, add onion, garlic, carrots and celery and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until browned.
3. Then add mushrooms and courgettes, cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, stock, marjoram, purée and salt and pepper.
4. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in lentils, cook for another 2 minutes, turn off heat and cover.
5. Cook pasta according to packet instructions. Drain, return to pan and toss with bolognese. Serve in bowls with some cheese on top. My latest culinary discovery is mature davidstow cheddar! Obviously leave the cheese out if vegan.
[Ok so my food photography will never resemble those on the pages of a Nigella cookbook but you get the picture (har)]
PS. I used the cheapest brand of canned tomatoes in store as well, so it's great for those of us on a budget.
Also, puy lentils can be expensive (this recipe doesn't call for much so a 500g box lasts a while) but I'm sure you could use ordinary lentils too.
If you've got any simple and delicious no-fail vegetarian recipes please let me know!
