Dairy-Free Hollandaise Sauce

This is great with poached eggs and spinach or watercress.

 

Ingredients:

100 g Pure spread or other margarine

2 egg yolks

1 tbsp water

1-2 tsp salt

lemon juice, to taste (1-3 tbsp)

black pepper, to taste

Tabasco, to taste

 

Instructions:

1. Melt the spread.

2. Over low heat, warm the egg yolks with the water, salt, and lemon juice, whisking the whole time.

3. Slowly add a little of the spread at a time, always whisking.

4. Season with black pepper and Tabasco and more lemon juice to taste.

Faux Tortillas

I found this in a book called 30-Minute Vegetarian Mexican Cookbook by Sarah Beattie. She serves the “gorditas,” as she calls them, with cheese, chilli, and lettuce. I served them with beetroot soup and they were good for dipping although I think next time I’d add some herbs as they were quite plain.

 

Ingredients:

150 g cornmeal

500 ml water

1-2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp margarine

 

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a pan and cook over low heat until it thickens.

2. Roll the cornmeal mixture into small balls, then flatten them out as thin as you can.

3. Cook in a dry frying pan over medium to high heat, until both sides are lightly browned.

Chocolate Cinnamon Pudding

I saw a recipe from Nigella Lawson for chilli-cinnamon chocolate pudding with rum and I thought it sounded intriguing, not least because it is what is known as “self-saucing”. I didn’t think M would like the chilli or rum so I left those out, along with the butter for greasing, and I used more white sugar and less brown sugar than Nigella. Still, the result was good, especially served with cream or Oatly.

 

I think this could easily be adapted so that other flavours are used instead of cinnamon (orange, nuts, etc), so that will be what I do next.

 

Ingredients:

150 g flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

200 g caster sugar

50 g cocoa powder

185 ml milk (I used rice milk)

4 tbsp rapeseed or corn oil plus extra to grease the pan

100 g sugar (I used about half dark brown soft sugar and half caster, but any combination would be fine)

175 ml boiling water

 

Instructions:

1. Grease the pan.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, vanilla, caster sugar, and 25 g of cocoa together.

3. Mix the milk and oil together and blend with the dry ingredients.

4. Pour into the pan.

5. Mix the other 25 g of cocoa and the sugar and spoon over the ingredients in the pan.

6. Pour the boiling water on top.

7. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 180 C.

Vegan Pot Pie

I’ve posted a pot pie recipe before, but this time I made it completely vegan and in filo dough.

 

I also had leftover chestnuts, so I added them in for extra texture and flavour.

 

Ingredients:

2-3 carrots and/or parsnips, chopped into pieces

water or rice milk

1 celery stalk, chopped

1-2 cups frozen veggies (peas and corn are great)

2-3 garlic cloves, optional (for some extra flavour, I used black garlic)

1-2 stalks spring onion

1/3 cup flour

2/3 cup rice milk

1 vegetable stock cube

salt

black pepper

1 package filo dough (about 270 g)

 

Instructions:

1. Peel and dice the carrots and/or parsnips, then cook the pieces over medium heat until slightly soft in water or milk to cover (about 10 minutes).

2. Wash and chop the celery. Add it and the other veggies. Cook briefly, until defrosted.

3. Chop the garlic and onion and add it to the pan..

4. Add the flour, milk, stock cube, salt, and pepper. Cook a bit more over medium heat, stirring.

5. Put some filo on the bottom of a pan (if you want, you can bake it for 2-3 minutes first). Top it with the filling.

6. Add the rest of the filo on top.

7. Bake for 30 min at 220 C, until golden.

Pumpkin Pancakes

A nearby fancy grocery store started selling American pumpkin puree, so I snatched a couple of tins. With one of them, I made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin puree

1½ cups milk

1 egg

2-3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp sugar

2 cups flour

3 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp allspice

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp salt

agave or maple syrup to serve with it

 

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together well.

2. Fry by spoonfuls on a frying pan.

3. Serve with agave or maple syrup.

Naan

The traditional Indian flatbread isn’t that hard to make at home. We put garlic, chives, and rosemary in the middle but you could really go wild with flavour combinations (almond and coconut, like a Peshwari naan, or potatoes, or cheese and herbs, or cheese and jam, etc).

 

Ingredients:

6 g fast-action dry yeast

225 g warm water (or about 1 cup)

1 tsp sugar

4½ cups strong white bread flour

3 tsp salt

4 tbsp milk (I used rice milk)

1 egg

2 tbsp oil (toasted sesame oil adds a nice flavour)

 

Instructions:

1. Mix the yeast with the water and sugar and leave to get frothy for about 10 minutes.

2. Mix all the other ingredients together, then add the yeast.

3. Knead or mix well (about 5-10 minutes). Leave to rise for an hour or so in an oiled bowl in a warm place.

4. Roll out the dough. Divide into 10-12 pieces.

5. If using filling, put it in the middle of each piece and then fold the pieces together and roll out again.

6. Heat a frying pan over high heat. Dry-fry one or two pieces at a time, about 3-4 minutes per side, until golden.