Tag: courgette

‘Bami,’ noodles easy vegan style

A quick simple wok dish
Ready in no time
A clean and easy recipe if you like you can use any bits of any suitable vegetables you have left over

Of course it’s vegan!

You will need Mie.. Mie is a kind of noodle made from wheat, one rose or swirl of mie per person is enough.
You can use noodles if you wish.
Don’t overdo it, too many noodles or mie spoil it.
With this recipe you want to really taste the veggies

This makes enough for 4

Ingredients

Mie 4 nests

prepare all the vegetables in advance.

One large onion cut in half and then thinly sliced.
Garlic 3 large cloves halved lengthwise and sliced thinly
A chunk of ginger the same size as the garlic altogether, sliced to the same size as the garlic
juice of 1 lemon
sugar 1 tbsp. (or a little more to taste if the lemon is very strong)
4 tbsp Ketjap benteng manis (sweet soy sauce)
2 tbsp ketjap asin (salt soy sauce)
One paprika finely sliced, any colour
Green french beans blanched and cut in half.
Courgette, 1/3 of an average sized one. sliced lengthwise into strips
A little sunflower oil or peanut oil to start the cooking off in the wok.
salt to taste

technique

Chop all the vegetables as instructed above in advance
Blanch cool and cut the beans in advance.
Put a pan of water on to boil and cook the mie according to the instructions on the packet.

Add a little oil to the wok and quickly heat the ginger and garlic without burning them, turn them out onto a dish

Then sear the beans to get a little colour and flavour into them and turn them out onto a dish

Add the onion, paprika, mushrooms and courgette to the pan and toss turning the heat low
just as they are starting to soften.
Then add the beans, ginger and garlic back into the pan.

Add the lemon juice, the ketjap benteng manis, the ketjap asin and the sugar and stir through.

Add in the cooked and drained mie
for four people I add four mie ‘nests’
Turn it all over in the pan and mix well turning the heat right down to avoid burning.

Taste the cooking liquid,
it is important that you taste the liquid in the pan for balance

Add more sugar and/or ketjap asin to balance the lemon juice and ketjap benteng manis as needed,
taste it all again till you are satisfied with the flavour balance, adding salt only if you must.

Serve immediately

Any leftovers can be frozen and are delicious if reheated in the wok.

 

 

Focaccia, the easy recipe

It is actually incredibly easy to make focaccia.
Give it a try, it is the easiest type of bread to make, anyone can do it.

Before you put it in the oven you can cover it with any topping you like.
This one has tiny tomatoes, chopped black olives and oregano.

Try garlic, onions, rosemary, herbes de provence, chopped courgette or aubergine, paprika, chilli or even kapers.
Dare to experiment. Mix it up for a different eating experience every time.

Here is the recipe.

500g white flour
400ml (warm) water
1 sachet instant yeast
8 tbsp olive oil (and some extra)
1 tsp salt

topping
Tomatoes sliced
oregano
black olives, chopped
olive oil

technique.

First dust a work surface with flour ready for the kneading.

Oil and flour a large flat baking sheet, (16 by 12 inches).

In a large bowl mix the flour, yeast and salt and add the water slowly while you mix to get a soft liquid dough. Use your hands as this is such fun. However a wooden spoon also works.

Pour all the dough out onto the floured surface and knead for about five minutes. It should become smooth and stretchy.

Oil the bowl liberally and put the dough back in it, cover with a cloth and leave to rise for about an hour.

Pour the almost liquid bubbling dough into the baking tin and spread it out evenly with the fingertips,
Don’t worry if it deflates a bit as you push it into the corners.

Cover and leave it to rise for 45 minutes.

Heat the oven at 240c or 465f or gas mark 9 to be ready for the focaccia.

Make holes in the top by poking with the fingertips for the authentic focaccia look and cover with some more oil, add your toppings last, in this case olives, tomatoes and oregano.

Bake for 30 minutes.
When you take it out of the oven add some sea salt and more olive oil.

Eat this warm!

Don’t be afraid of yeast, this recipe always works.

a few tips.
Massage some oil into your hands before kneading, this usually helps to stop the dough sticking.
Do not leave the rising dough in a draft, yeast hates that, as well as the cold. a warm dark spot is best.
Always cover with a clean tea towel.
To avoid the tea towel sticking during the second rise, oil the surface of the dough first.
Make sure tho oven is already hot when you are ready to bake the focaccia.

Let me know how you get on.

Secrets of perfect Couscous

There is a trick to getting perfect couscous, not porridge, which happens if you are not careful, or sawdust, which is also no fun to eat. Getting it right it’s part of the three bears philosophy, not to much, not too little, but just enough.

There are always instructions on the packet, usually this involves using way too much liquid, so be sparing. I find the ratio option works best for me.
Two to one, no more, no less.

So if you measure in cups it’s one cup to half a cup or 200ml. to 100ml.
hot water to couscous.
and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to smooth it out helps enormously to make a tasty meal, plus salt to taste of course.

Here’s how you do it. Boil the water, turn it off, pour in the couscous, leave it a few seconds and then start fluffing it up with a fork, add a little olive oil as you go, let if fluff it will grow quite a bit. Never add more water. Trust the process.

To turn it into this lovely meal, pictured above.

finely chop a 5cm chunk of courgette into 5mm cubes.
finely chop a handful of parsley
Chop a spring onion into slim rings, also using all the green
chop half a paprika into 5mm cubes

Finely chop a chilli, leaving out the pith and seeds for a milder flavour. I prefer cayenne chillies myself. Leave out the chilli if you don’t like the heat.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

This can be eaten as a salad, or the staple with any meal, served just warm or cold.

There are many variations, try different vegetables, whichever you prefer, do not be afraid to experiment.

Enjoy another great vegan dish!

 

Out to lunch

One of the greatest pleasures we have is eating out.

One of the few things we can only do here while on earth in the physical is eat. No angels harps or hellfire here, here we have food.

So, of course we have turned food into an artform, or at least some of us have, the chefs. I wish I was one of them, except for the hours they keep.

Dishes of fresh tomatoes with burrata and basil, searingly hot peppers tossed in a wok with prawns and garlic. The delicacy of a peach fresh from the tree, gently marinated and served with vanilla ice cream, warm and juicy, sweet and succulent.

Lunch out.
It must be my favourite occupation to sit at a little table outside somewhere, town or city, village or countryside and watch the world go by. I can think of nothing more deeply satisfying or relaxing.

We pick a likely looking table at a fairly busy restaurant. The instant waiter helps us efficiently order drinks and menus appear in our hands.

Today I put my book and pen away for lunch and just absorb. The waiter materialises to serve me a chilled wine. I know next to nothing about wines so I have let him choose whatever he thinks is best. Thankfully I am not disappointed. Crisp and fresh as the sparking fountains in the square.

The gentle hubbub of the lunchtime crowd around me comes into focus. I even slide my travel guide surreptitiously off the table and into my bag. Olives, nuts and bread with dab of butter arrive as we peruse the menu. As usual we cannot decide, salads, soups, sandwiches, fried fish or stuffed courgette flowers?

I love Europe, specially France I believe they invented lunch. An hour of two to while away between morning and afternoon. Time to savour a glass of good wine, to eat a new dish, to make pointless conversation.

It is a glorious moment to enjoy all the good things about the art of food, the glint of cutlery, white napkins, a charming waiter. And somewhere behind all this the hellish madness of a kitchen run by an enraged chef which we thankfully have nothing to do with at all.

We smile at each other across our little table, knowing we have picked a good one this time.