Rhubarb Crumble

It’s still rhubarb season, so I’m trying out all sorts of recipes with it. My guinea pig M doesn’t seem to mind!

Ingredients:
400 g rhubarb
1 clementine (or half an orange)
¼ cup sugar
an additional ¼ cup sugar
¾ cup oats
¼ cup flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp butter
1 egg
cream or ice cream, to serve with it

Instructions:
1. Chop the rhubarb and spread it in a pan. Juice the clementine or orange over it and sprinkle with the first ¼ cup sugar. Bake at 190 C for about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, mix the other ¼ cup sugar with the oats, flour, cinnamon, and baking powder. Crumble the butter in and beat the egg and then add it as well. The mixture should be a bit crumbly.
3. Top the rhubarb with the oat mixture.
4. Bake at 190 C for 30-40 minutes. Serve with cream or ice cream, as desired.

Break

I’ll be taking a short break from posting for the next week, so in the meantime, happy cooking and happy eating!

Quotes on Vegetarianism

We all love animals. Why do we call some "pets" and others "dinner?"

--k.d. lang

(This quote nicely combines the veggie and the dyke!)

Chickpea Dumplings

This is another one that was inspired by a recipe in Vegetarian Living. It was simple and healthy, but I think next time it needs even more oomph.

Ingredients:
2 onions
oil
1 tbsp coriander
2 tsp mint
2 tins or packages chickpeas
1¼ cups oats
1 egg
1 package tomato passata
50 g soy beans
1 tsp horseradish

Instructions:
1. Dice the onions and fry them in oil with the herbs.
2. Mix them in a food processor with the chickpeas, then mix in the oats and egg.
3. Shape the chickpea mixture into balls and fry in oil.
4. Meanwhile, warm the passata, soy beans, and horseradish together.
5. After frying the dumplings for a few minutes on each side, bake them in the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes at 200 C.
6. Serve the dumplings topped with the tomato sauce.

Tofu Cutlets with Potatoes and Vegetables

This recipe is so simple that it’s almost silly to write it, but I jokingly referred to it as the vegetarian’s meat and potatoes. Try serving it to dedicated carnivores and see if you convince them that going meat-free doesn’t mean going hungry or having to skip flavourful meals.

Ingredients:
1 courgette
tofu cutlets
oil
yogurt
new potatoes
water
garlic baguette
butter

Instructions:
1. Slice the courgette. Fry the cutlets and courgette pieces in oil, then add yogurt.
2. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in water and toast/bake the garlic baguette.
3. Serve the cutlets, vegetables, and potatoes along with slices of baguette.

Red Vegetable Curry

M pronounced this “very, very lovely”, which I think means it’s a winner of a dish. It’s simple and healthy and it’s really easy to vary according to your tastes and what’s in season.

Ingredients:
oil
red curry paste
1 tin coconut milk
vegetables (I used purple sprouting broccoli and asparagus, because they were in season)
tofu or other protein
lime leaves
Thai sticky rice
water

Instructions:
1. Warm the oil and add 1 tbsp each of curry paste and coconut milk. Warm so the paste releases its fragrance.
2. Add the vegetables, a few lime leaves, and the tofu, and stir fry.
3. Meanwhile, boil the sticky rice according to directions in the water. I use half the amount of water and half coconut milk.
4. Add more curry paste according to taste (I usually use 3-4 tbsp, as M doesn’t like it too spicy) and the rest of the coconut milk to the vegetables. Cook for a few more minutes.
5. Serve the vegetables over the sticky rice.

Dark Chocolate Mousse

Lush, creamy chocolate mousse, covering juicy strawberries – this is such a delicious treat. Okay, so it’s unhealthy. So what? Sometimes you need something special, and this is it.

I like it for dessert after a light lunch or dinner. Or, even better, I could lick it off my beautiful and wonderful partner. Yum indeed!

Ingredients:
180 g dark chocolate
2 tbsp hot coffee or water
1½ tsp vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
300 ml double cream
1-4 tbsp sugar (depends on how sweet you like it)

Instructions:
1. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it over low hit with the coffee or water and vanilla, stirring often.
2. Let the chocolate cool, then mix the egg yolks in (note that there are raw egg yolks in this recipe, so use caution and common sense when eating or serving the mousse).
3. Whip the cream with the sugar.
4. Gently fold the chocolate into the cream. Chill for 30 or more minutes, then serve with fruit or biscuits, cream or ice cream, or a beautiful woman, or just on its own.

Avgolemono Soup with Tofu

I already posted my recipe for avgolemono soup, but when I had the flu one night after work, I wanted that soup, just a bit heartier. So I added tofu. Thus, here is my version of avgolemono soup with tofu.

Ingredients:
75 g rice (I used brown basmati)
water
2 onions
olive oil
200 g tofu
1 vegetable stock cube
1 lemon
3 eggs

Instructions:
1. Cook the rice in the water in a soup pot, according to directions.
2. Chop the onions and then fry them lightly in the oil in a frying pan. Dice the tofu and fry it too.
3. When the rice is almost ready, add the onions and tofu, along with the stock cube. Add another ½ l of water.
4. Squeeze the lemon juice into the pot.
5. In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Then pour them into the soup, stirring the whole time. Do not let them boil.
6. Serve.

Broccoli, Courgette, and Tofu Tart

This was inspired by a recipe in Vegetarian Living. I made the pastry gluten-free and I added a bit of heat with curry paste.

Ingredients:
75 g butter
¾ cup flour (I used gluten-free)
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 dash salt
1 egg
1 onion
oil
1 courgette
½ package tofu
broccoli (I used tender-stem)
1 tbsp red curry paste (or chilli flakes)
½ cup yogurt
2 eggs
75 g blue cheese

Instructions:
1. Cube the butter and blend it with the flour until crumbly. Add the pumpkin seeds and salt and egg.
2. Chill the pastry for about 10 minutes then place it in an oven-safe dish (I just use my fingers to smooth it into all the corners and up the walls – it looks homey, which isn’t a bad thing). Bake it for about 7 minutes at 160 C.
3. Meanwhile, dice the onion and brown it in some oil. Slice the courgette into rounds and add it. Dice the tofu and chop the broccoli and add them as well.
4. Continue stir-frying, then add the curry paste and the yogurt and mix everything together.
5. In a bowl, beat the eggs and add some of the cheese.
6. Put the filling into the pastry and top with the rest of the cheese. Pour the eggs on top.
7. Bake for 20 minutes at 190 C.

Quotes on Vegetarianism

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.
--Paul McCartney

Stuffed Aubergine

I’ve never been a great fan of peppers (perhaps because I remember the green peppers my mother used to stuff with rice and ground meat, and which she used to leave for me and my father when she was going out of town for work), but I am trying to use them in recipes more these days. I think it’s important to challenge yourself and expand your tastes, so I frequently try new ingredients or new recipes. In this case, I used a red pepper as part of the stuffing for an aubergine and I was quite pleased with the results.

Ingredients:
1 aubergine
oil
1 red pepper
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp parsley
2 tsp sugar
balsamic vinegar
pumpkin seeds
nigella (onion seeds)
black pepper
2 tbsp yogurt

Instructions:
1. Wash and halve the aubergine, then rub it in oil. Wrap it in aluminium foil and roast it for 30 minutes at 200 C.
2. Meanwhile, slice the pepper, onion, and garlic and fry the pieces in a little oil with the parsley and sugar. After 10 minutes, season with the vinegar, seeds, pepper, and yogurt.
3. Take the aubergine out of the oven and scoop the flesh out, leaving the shell intact. Chop the flesh and add it to the pepper mixture. Stir and cook for a few more minutes.
4. Fill the aubergine skins with the stuffing and bake for another 5-10 minutes, then serve.

Gender Roles

Sometimes I joke that M and I are the stereotypical butch and femme. I do the cooking and she does all the DIY and anything that requires tools (other than kitchen tools, that is, and I won’t say a word about tools that can be used in bed). I wear skirts and dresses and high-heeled shoes to work fairly often, while she’s more likely to be in cargo trousers and sensible shoes. I have long hair and she has short hair. Etc.

But really that doesn’t say much about who we are, individually or as a couple. And I get annoyed when people wonder which of us “is the man” or when someone says that if we ever got married, clearly I’d wear a dress and she’d wear a suit. It just seems silly to me. Who decided what it means to be masculine/butch or feminine/femme anyway? Why does using a hammer make someone manly while boiling some pasta makes someone womanly?

I don’t like the idea that gay couples have one butch and one femme. Yes, I know some lesbians say they like their boys to be girls, or their girls to be boys, but that’s not how I am. I don’t want to imitate heterosexual relationships and I don’t want to feel like my behaviour has to challenge the hetero norm either (but if it does happen to challenge hets, that’s good). I am just attracted to a particular woman and I’m happy to play a variety of roles in our relationship. (Although I must admit that my beloved is in some ways a soft butch and ever since I met her, I’ve had found myself admiring other soft butch women. But that doesn’t mean I feel like I need to be with one or that I have to mould myself accordingly!)

But then we get to the issue of cooking. I’m told that cooking is very femme and thus I must “be the woman” if I do most of the cooking. I can point out, incidentally, that many well-known chefs are male, so I guess in our society, we feel like men can be professionals, but it’s women who have to do the cooking at home.

So am I the woman, because I cook most of our meals? Am I the femme who needs a big butch woman to protect her? Do I feel pressured to cook because of the gender roles in our society?

No, I don’t think so. I’m just someone who likes to cook and to feed her sweetheart. Luckily, my sweetheart doesn’t enjoy cooking, so we’re able to divide our labour at home fairly evenly. She has other skills and other hobbies. So I’ll happily stand at the stove and stir. That I do that doesn’t say anything much about my gender identity or about my role in our relationship.

Rhubarb Muffins

For the last week of the semester, I wanted to bake something for my students. Rhubarb is in season, so I decided to make simple rhubarb muffins. They went over well in class.

Ingredients:
75 g butter
½ cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch salt
2½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp yogurt
2 eggs
rhubarb compote (about ¾ of it)

Instructions:
1. Cream the butter and sugar together. Mix in the cinnamon, salt, flour, and baking soda.
2. Add the yogurt. Beat the eggs and add them too.
3. Finally, add in the rhubarb compote. Put the batter into muffin tins or cups (filling each tin about halfway up).
4. Bake 180 C for 15 minutes.

Spring Pasta

Now that the clocks have changed, the days are getting longer and brighter. People want to eat lighter, greener food. I love the look of a bunch of greens on top of rice or pasta; its very appearance feels fresh. For this recipe, I used lots of frozen veg, but in the next few weeks, I’ll able to replace the items with fresh veg (either using the same vegetables but in their fresh variants, or else using whatever the store has in stock, such as asparagus or sprouting broccoli). It’s an easy recipe to vary depending on what you have on hand. I used lime and parsley to give the pasta a little zest and the herbs, too, can be varied.

Ingredients:
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
oil
50 g soy beans
50 g peas
50 g broad beans
pasta (about 50-70 g per person)
water
1 tbsp parsley
a few lime leaves for a gentle kick
¼ cup cream (single is fine, but go for double if you’re in the mood for extra richness)

Instructions:
1. Chop the onions and garlic cloves and brown them lightly in oil.
2. Add the veg and stir. Cook for another 7 or so minutes, until the peas and beans are defrosted and warm. Meanwhile, starting boiling the pasta in the water.
3. Season the vegetables with parsley and lime and add the cream.
4. Cook another few minutes, then serve the vegetables over the pasta.

Queer Lit

In this, the second post on queer lit, I want to refer to a classic of the field, Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness. It was published in 1928 and was one of the first unapologetically out novels that was read by both queers and straights. For its historical importance, we must salute it.

It’s an easy read, because it’s well-written and it’s easy to sympathise with Stephen Gordon, the main character. She (yes, despite the name, Stephen is female) has a privileged upbringing, pampered by her loving father although she can’t quite form a connection with her chilly mother, and as she enters adulthood, Stephen gradually realises that she is an “invert” (which is how people used to refer to homosexuals).

I won’t spoil the book by telling you what happens next. However, I can point out that many early queer texts (and even some queer books today) tend to end in one of the following ways: the invert dies (by suicide or an accident), the invert goes straight (and generally has a better sex life and a brighter future because of it), the invert is put into a mental hospital, or the invert relinquishes (or is forced to relinquish) the love of his/her life in order to release the beloved from the pain of being queer. Alas, Hall’s novel falls into the unhappy camp. We can’t forget that that reflects the time period, though.

Despite that, I’d recommend it. It has influenced generations of gays (especially lesbians) and generations of queer writers. Hall was brave to write about a lesbian during a time when that wasn’t generally an acceptable topic for serious literature.

Sweet, Gluten-Free Crepes, or Swedish Pancakes

It had been a rough day at work and I was not in a good mood. The only thing that would cheer me up would be a tasty dinner that also didn’t require too much effort. Pancakes it was, but not savoury pancakes. No, only sweet pancakes would do.

So I made a batch of gluten-free crepes, basing my recipe on the standard sort of thin pancakes often referred to as Swedish. M went to the store and got fresh strawberries and cream. I whipped the cream with a touch of vanilla and sugar and we topped the pancakes with layers of that delicious Dalfour strawberry jam (which has no added sugar, so it’s much healthier than other jams), fresh strawberries, and whipped cream. It was delightful and soothing and made me think of summer. It certainly helped my day end on a high note.

Ingredients:
1 cup gluten-free flour
half a teaspoon salt
2 ¼ cups milk or cream, or some combination of the two
3 eggs
vanilla to taste
sugar to taste
2 tbsp butter
butter or oil to fry in
jam, cream, and/or fruit to serve with it

Instructions:
1. Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Add half the milk/cream and blend/whip until smooth. Add the rest of the milk/cream. Then whip in the eggs.
2. Add vanilla and sugar to taste.
3. Melt the butter and add it. Blend everything one last time.
4. Then, in the frying pan, melt a bit more butter or warm the oil to fry the pancakes in.
5. Pour in ¼ or so cup batter into the frying pan and spread it out.
6. Then make pancakes as usual, turning when they are firm and brown on the bottom side, etc.
7. Serve with jam, cream, and/or fruit.

Spelt Pasta with Vegetable Sauce

After giving a talk in a nearby town, I stopped at a nearby posh grocery store. There, I found lots of miniature vegetables, which I guess people think are cuter and perhaps taste sweeter. A package of baby leeks was on sale, so I grabbed it. At home, I made a light, spring-like pasta sauce with the leeks and I included a bunch of asparagus M got at a local farm stand the other day. The dinner was very healthy (except for the fatty cheddar cheese, I guess) and M pronounced it “lovely”.

Ingredients:
5 baby leeks or 1 large one
olive oil
1 tsp sugar
5-8 cherry tomatoes
150 g spelt pasta
water
1 handful black olives
2 containers crushed tomatoes
1 bunch asparagus
cheddar cheese

Instructions:
1. Wash and chop the leek/s. Fry them lightly in olive oil and add the sugar.
2. Wash and halve the cherry tomatoes and add them to the leek/s.
3. Set the pasta to boil in the water.
4. Meanwhile, halve the olives and add them and the tomatoes to the leek/s.
5. When the pasta is almost done, add the asparagus to the pot. Boil for two more minutes. Drain the pasta and asparagus together.
6. Add the sauce to the pasta. Grate cheddar cheese over and serve.

Gluten-Free Broccoli and Cauliflower Cheese

On a recent night, comfort food was what was on order. So I went for a simple vegetable and cheese dish, gluten-free in an attempt to help our health, and with a hint of mustard for extra kick.

Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower
½ half broccoli
50 g butter
1/3 cup gluten-free flour
3 tsp mustard
½ cup cream
2 cups milk
120 g cheddar cheese, or other mature cheese, grated or chopped
1 tsp parsley
black pepper

Instructions:
1. Wash the cauliflower and broccoli, and break them into florets. Then boil them for about 10 minutes.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Stir until mixed.
3. Add the mustard, milk, and cream. Stir.
4. Add about 80 g of the cheese and stir until it is a thick sauce.
5. Season with parsley and pepper.
6. Place the cauliflower and broccoli in one layer at the bottom of an oven-safe dish. Pour the sauce over it.
7. Top with the rest of the cheese.
8. Bake for 30 minutes at 200.