Tag Archives: vegetarian

Green lentil soup

6 Jan

green lentil soup

After a couple of weeks of indulging myself with cocktails and Christmas baking, I find myself craving things like this green lentil soup for supper.

Like many young girls, I converted to vegetarianism in my teens. This wasn’t a straightforward thing to do in northern Canada in those days. The supermarkets had only recently started selling yogurt – tofu, hummus, and soy mince had yet to arrive. There were no veggie burgers, sausages or nut cutlets in the freezer section, and Quorn hadn’t been invented.

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Savoury porridge

4 Jan

Apparently, savoury porridge is having a moment. I’m hailing myself as a breakfast pioneer for topping my porridge with hot sauce, butter, salt and pepper rather than sugar since childhood.

After twenty-five years of scoffing at me rather than with me, Adam tried his first bowl of savoury porridge a couple of days ago. “This is delicious!” he said. “Where have you been all my life?”

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The Blue Christmas

1 Jan

The Blue Christmas

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#12: The Blue Christmas

All things must pass – the holiday season, our friends’ visit, the twelve cocktails of Christmas – and it seems fitting to wrap it all up with a Blue Christmas cocktail. Continue reading →

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A Cocktail of Two Cities

31 Dec

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#11: A Cocktail of Two Cities

This Christmas, our great friends Margo and Aaron travelled from Canada to spend holidays with us. They are both cocktail lovers, and their visit was a big part of my idea to do the twelve cocktails of Christmas.

One of our gifts to Margo was a copy of Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails With a Literary Twist. She thanked us by mixing up a round of A Cocktail of Two Cities. Continue reading →

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The Sazerac

30 Dec

Sazerac

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#10: The Sazerac

I’ve enjoyed listening to my Christmas in New Orleans CD throughout the holidays, which is enough of a reason to make the sazerac my tenth cocktail of Christmas.

The ones we make aren’t as authentic as you’d be served in the Big Easy – we coated the glasses with Pernod instead of absinthe and use Canadian rye whisky, although I have recently got my hands on some Peychauds bitters. Continue reading →

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Sloe gin negroni

29 Dec

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#9: Sloe gin negroni

Sloe gin is delicious, and sipping a little glass of it neat while watching Alastair Sim’s Scrooge discover the spirit of Christmas makes a perfect holiday afternoon.

But a shot of sloe gin isn’t a cocktail. This led to the idea of using sloe gin in a negroni – where it cosied right up with the red vermouth, and stood its ground against the bitterness of the Cinzano.

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Hot buttered rum

28 Dec

Hot buttered rum

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#8: Hot buttered rum

This delicious, hot buttered rum certainly hit the spot after a cold, wet evening at the football. It’s beyond my photography skills to make this drink  beautiful, but I promise it tastes far better than it looks.

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The Harvey Wallbanger

27 Dec

Harvey Wallbanger

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#7: The Harvey Wallbanger

Essentially a screwdriver gussied up with an indulgent splash of Galliano, the Harvey Wallbanger is definitely the cocktail of Christmases past for me.

My parents always made Harvey Wallbangers during the holiday season. They probably made them year-round – the Harvey Wallbanger was a happening drink in the 1970s – but in my memory they are associated with our annual Christmas carol singing party. Continue reading →

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Cola de mono

26 Dec

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#6: Cola de mono

Cola de mono (or “tail of the monkey”) is a Christmas drink from Chile. It’s pretty similar to a white Russian (or Kahlua and milk), but tastes cleaner and less cloying than my memory of that drink. Continue reading →

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The Scarlett O’Hara

24 Dec

Scarlett O'Hara

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#5: The Scarlett O’Hara

Cranberry juice is the reason the Scarlett O’Hara makes my Christmas cocktail list – plus it’s very tasty. It’s also a good way to use up any Southern Comfort you may have lurking at the back of your drinks cabinet.

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The Dandy Shandy

23 Dec

Dandy Shandy

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#4: The Dandy Shandy

Sometimes, a beer-based cocktail hits the spot. Especially, after we’d popped into the pub for a pint after ice skating. And were having sausages and mash for dinner.

Plus the dark colour of the Dandy Shandy goes perfectly with the long, dark nights of December.

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The Sidecar

22 Dec

sidecar

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#3: The Sidecar

Now that you can buy anything year round, it seems strange to recall that when I was growing up in northern Canada, satsumas were available only during the holiday season. Getting our annual 5lb crate of mandarin oranges, as we called them, was an eagerly awaited Christmas treat.

Each orange was individually wrapped in green tissue paper, like a little present. I imagine there would have been about thirty oranges in the box – or six each – and we were allowed one a day to make them last. Sometimes I’d remove the tough skin from each segment and eat it cell by juicy little cell.

So the citrusy sidecar in its festive, sugar-frosted glass is an easy choice for my Christmas cocktail list. Continue reading →

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The whisky mac

21 Dec

whisky mac

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#2: The whisky mac

The whisky mac is a is a wonderfully warming mix of whisky and green ginger wine. Named after a Colonel Macdonald who invented it while serving in India, the whisky mac is a great antidote to the cold, damp British weather.

I make it with a 1:1 ratio, but some recipes call for up to three times the amount of whisky to wine.

  • a decent blended whisky, such as Famous Grouse
  • green ginger wine (Crabbie’s or Stone’s)
  1. Add equal amounts of whisky and ginger wine to a highball glass and stir to combine.
  2. Ice and shortbread optional.

 

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The Santa-secco

20 Dec

The Santa-secco

The twelve cocktails of Christmas
#1: The Santa-secco

A ruby-bright, festive mix of prosecco, pomegranate juice and fresh pomegranate seeds. I love the way the bubbles cause the seeds to float to the top instead of languishing at the bottom of the glass, the way fruit usually does in a mixed drink. Continue reading →

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Winter tomato soup

13 Dec

Winter tomato soup

There’s something very Christmassy about a deep red bowl of tomato soup, especially when it has a dollop of creme fraiche and a scattering of fresh green herbs. (Actually, the girls wouldn’t agree with that – Christmas is all about chocolate and baked goods (preferably involving chocolate) for them. Continue reading →

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Gin and It

9 Dec

Gin and It

Well, I finally solved the mystery of gin and It this weekend… In my teens, I read a lot of British crime novels – Agatha Christie mainly. It was all quite exotic to a thirteen-year-old Canadian who’d never set foot in the UK.

Country houses where retired military men were forever being poisoned, village fetes and cricket greens, debutantes and domestic servants. And the food – tisanes, gin and It, barley water, beef tea, crumpets, violet creams. I had no idea what any of them were… Continue reading →

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Cherry slice

5 Dec

Cherry slice

This tray of cherry slice officially opens the Christmas baking season in our house. Each year, I bake a number of the treats my mum and my sister-in-law always made. Cherry slice, butterscotch fudge, date squares, Nanaimo bars, shortbread and fruit cake are the definites – Christmas wouldn’t feel the same without them.

But that pair didn’t stop there… Continue reading →

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Easy chocolate brownies

1 Dec

chocolate-brownie2

I’ve tried a lot of brownie recipes over the years — cakey brownies,  gooey brownies, fudgy brownies, “ultimate” brownies — but the one I make most often is this family standby.

These brownies tick all the right boxes for me. The cocoa powder and flour give them some cakeiness, and adding chopped chocolate to the mixture ups the goo factor. The tops are nicely dry and crackly, and the insides moist and melty.

Also, while I’m all for using good quality ingredients, I’m a bit skeptical about recipes that call for 400g of top quality chocolate and six eggs to produce a pan of brownies… Continue reading →

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Uncooked cookies

25 Nov

Unbaked cookies

I adored these cookies when I was a child. We didn’t have them often – I imagine my mum considered them too sugary to make them regularly. I even remember her telling me she’d lost the recipe, and making her usual granola cookies instead. Continue reading →

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Hijiki no ni mono

23 Nov

Hijiki no ni mono

“It smells like Japan!” Lyra said when she walked into the kitchen. And so it did, that inimitable simmering dashi smell. We ate hijiki no ni mono pretty regularly when we lived in Japan. It was one of the only dishes Adam cooked and his main contribution to house meals.

Hijiki has a slightly liquorice flavour that works well with the carrots, and the chewiness of the fried tofu provides a contrast to the softness of the vegetables. It looks so pretty too… Continue reading →

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Dorset apple cake

17 Nov

Dorset apple cake

There are lots of recipes for Dorset apple cake around. Having tried a few, I’ve settled on this one.

This lovely cake is surprisingly light, fresh and lemony. I always make it with Bramley apples, liking their tartness and they way they become so fluffy when cooked. Plus we have a tree in the garden… Continue reading →

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Polish vegetable soup

15 Nov

Polish vegetable soup

When I worked in central London, it was necessary to employ various nurseries, childminders and nannies to look after the girls. Through trial and error, we learned that live-out nannies suited us best – and with two children, they worked out cheaper than a nursery.

Our nanny would arrive as I left for work, to spend the day with the girls, taking them to playgroups and parks, supervising playdates, and preparing their meals. So long as they cooked from scratch, I gave them free rein in the kitchen.

One Polish nanny in particular was an excellent cook. She would make the most wonderful soups for the girls, which she always served with stacks of thin pancakes. When she left us to start her own family, she kindly copied out those recipes the girls had become so fond of. This vegetable soup in particular has become a family favourite. It’s also a great way to clear out the vegetable tray before the week’s grocery shop.  Continue reading →

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Tahini cookies

11 Nov

tahini cookies

Like most schools these days, ours is a “nut-free zone”. While peanuts are their main concern, they have banned all nuts to be on the safe side. This has led to considerable confusion about what counts as a nut – are coconuts allowed? Pine nuts? Sunflower seeds?

Strictly speaking they are all seeds – peanuts, almonds, coconuts, sesame seeds, the lot… And which seeds are considered nuts depends on whether you ask a cook or a botanist.

It’s very different to my school days, when half the class brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches daily, and peanut butter cookies were standard lunchbox fare. Continue reading →

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Oatmeal butterscotch chip cookies

10 Nov

Butterscotch oaties

I only recently learned the difference between caramel and butterscotch. Caramel is white sugar that has been boiled until it darkens, while butterscotch is made with brown sugar and butter. I’m a great fan of both, which is why I love these oatmeal butterscotch chip cookies. An oatmeal chocolate chip cookie is a fine thing, but to my mind these are even better. Continue reading →

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Stacked enchiladas

9 Nov

stacked enchiladas

While traditional enchiladas are rolled, in New Mexico they do things differently. Lightly fried corn tortillas are spread with sauce and cheese and stacked together, and often served topped with a fried egg.

This is my take on stacked enchiladas. I don’t bother frying the tortillas, opting to bake the assembled stacks in the oven instead. While they are very nice with just the traditional sauce and cheese, I often add toppings to each layer – mushrooms and olives, usually – to give the dish more substance. It’s important to slice toppings thinly so they cook quickly and the stack melds together in the oven. Continue reading →

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Sautéed potatoes

7 Nov

sautéed potatoes

I used to make sautéed potatoes quite regularly, but until recently I’d fallen out of the habit.

When one of the girls has a friend round after school, the accepted thing is to feed the child some dinner before they are collected at 6pm. Our family normally eats quite late, so for playdates I’ll usually cook a separate kids’ meal.

I play it safe on these occasions, ever since I made a little girl cry by serving her a bowl of chickpea pasta soup. Schnitzel, meatballs, pesto pasta, fish fingers and chips, sausages and mash are all good bets. Continue reading →

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Apple crumble

5 Nov

apple crumble

Apple crumble is one of the first things that my mum taught me to cook, as I imagine her mother must have taught her. Crumble always on the menu at my grandparent’s house: apple, plum, peach are the ones I remember best. She would serve it with tinned milk,  cheaper and more readily available than cream. While Britain excels in the realm of cream – the range on offer in Canada is far more limited even now.

I was surprised to learn that crumble originated in World War II Britain, when food rationing meant pies were off the menu. Women made crumbles instead to eke out their supplies of butter and sugar. Which leaves me wondering why my English-born grandmother was such a crumble queen – given that she emigrated to Canada in 1927. Continue reading →

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Broccoli soup

3 Nov

Broccoli soup

Since becoming a mum, I’ve cooked daily for my own children – and pretty regularly for their friends. It’s been a surprise to me how many of these kids like broccoli. I serve cooked vegetables with pretty much every dinner, and given a choice, most kids pick broccoli over carrots, peas or green beans. Even over corn – unless it’s on the cob. Continue reading →

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Bloodsucking jellies

1 Nov

bloodsucking-jellies

It’s taken a while, but the UK has finally embraced Halloween. For years, ours was the lone jack-o-lantern in the neighbourhood, and four or five kids might knock on the door all evening. Last night, we had more than 150.

These days our neighbourhood association publishes a “trick-or-treat trail” of participating houses, and crowds of little witches and ghouls traipse round the route. The high street shops get in on it too, decorating their windows and handing out sweets.

This year the local dentist erected some scaffolding outside their premises to create a raised platform, and grinned maniacally at the kids as they passed below, complete with smoke machine adding to the atmosphere. Halloween is firmly on the calendar now, it would seem. Continue reading →

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Kale chips

30 Oct

Kale chips

I am genuinely amazed at how much both my girls love kale chips – it’s like child catnip. I cannot leave a bowl unattended for five minutes and expect a single crumb to remain. It must be a super food indeed to get children squabbling over who has eaten more than their fair share of the kale.  Continue reading →

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Applesauce

28 Oct

Applesauce

I love applesauce – such bright, cheerful stuff, and a great way to reduce a trug of apples from our trees down to size. Every autumn, I make several batches to freeze for the winter. Our apples are pretty tart, so I generally add some sugar, but it’s not necessary.

I always make applesauce in a pot on the hob. My mum used to make it in the pressure cooker. I’m not sure why, as it’s so quick to make, but she did. In one of my earliest memories, I was sitting at the kitchen table while Mum was making applesauce. There was a problem with the pressure cooker lid, and she called for my dad to help. Continue reading →

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Chickpea green bean salad

26 Oct

Chickpea green bean salad

This chickpea green bean salad completely transformed my previously poor opinion of bean salads. It’s nothing like the mixed bean salads –  tough kidney beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, and mushy tinned green beans swimming in oily vinegar – that I always avoided at potlucks and salad bars.

The recipe calls for two separate dressings  – a garlicky one for the chickpeas, and a gingery one for the green beans. If time allows, it’s worth making the chickpea part of the salad a few hours ahead so they can marinate, then doing the green beans when it’s almost time to eat.

While it’s not much extra work to make both dressings, sometimes I just make the green bean dressing, and toss it all together at the same time. Another Madhur Jaffrey recipe from my trusty World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking. Continue reading →

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Rosemary loaf cake

24 Oct

Rosemary loaf cake

As much as I love the flavour of rosemary, and as happily as it thrives year-round in our garden, I don’t actually cook many dishes that call for it. Roast lamb, beef stroganoff, maybe a couple of stalks in a tray of roast potatoes – that’s about it.

Which is why rosemary loaf cake was one of the first recipes I cooked from  Nigella Lawson’s How To Be a Domestic Goddess. Continue reading →

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Finnish rye bread (ruisreikäleipä)

18 Oct

Finnish rye bread

Baking the ultimate loaf of bread is an ongoing quest – and something I am a long way from attaining. Mostly, I make sourdough loaves, with varying degrees of success, depending on how long I’ve neglected my starter for. When I opt for the (relatively) instant gratification of a yeasted loaf, this Finnish rye bread (or ruisreikäleipä) is one I often go for. Continue reading →

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Chargrilled broccoli with chilli and garlic

12 Oct

Chargrilled broccoli with garlic and chilli

I’ve looked at this Ottolenghi recipe for chargrilled broccoli with garlic and chilli a number of times, but have never summoned up the enthusiasm to grill individual broccoli florets before today. Blanching, chilling, drying, grilling – it seemed a lot of trouble for a bowl of broccoli.

I don’t know what tipped the balance, but I’m really pleased I finally gave this dish a try. It turns out that chargrilled broccoli is delicious, especially tossed with sautéed garlic, chilli and slivers of lemon. And because I halved the quantities, it wasn’t as time consuming as anticipated. The original recipe comes from Ottolenghi, The Cookbook. Continue reading →

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Baked spiced plums

8 Oct

Roast plums with Barbados cream

These baked spiced plums are wonderfully easy to make – plus they make the house smell of mulled wine. Good hot or cold, they keep for a week in the fridge, and freeze well too.

Another recipe from Nigella Lawson’s How to Cook, I cut back on the amount of honey after making it the first time, as I found the sweetness masked the flavour of the plums. They are delicious served with a spoonful of Barbados cream.

Baked spiced plums

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Barbados cream

6 Oct

Barbados cream

Much as I’d love to add another country to my country list, there is no evidence whatsoever that the delicious concoction known as Barbados cream originates from Barbados. I’ve now learned that Barbados sugar is another name for muscavado sugar – the lovely, molasses-rich, dark brown sugar used in this recipe. However, the name applies only to muscavado sugar that originates from Barbados, while mine is from Mauritius.

The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s How to Eat. I doubt she’d approve of my use of fat-free Greek yogurt, but the end result is plenty rich and delicious enough for me. Its tangy, creamy sweetness goes beautifully with cooked fruit and crumbles – I use it anywhere I would dollop a spoonful of creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream. Continue reading →

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Leek and potato soup

2 Oct

Leek and potato soup

I ate a lot of soup as a university student – particularly onion potato soup. This was mostly because it cost about $1 to make an enormous pot that I could live off for days. This leek and potato soup is pretty much the same soup, all grown up – just like me…

Butter instead of oil, leeks instead of yellow onions, and a splash of cream for the silky finish it brings. I sometimes add chunks of Polish sausage after puréeing the soup, which makes it more of a meal and adds a appealing smoky element to the flavour. But it’s not necessary – it’s delicious just the way it is. Continue reading →

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Spaghetti squash bake

30 Sep

Spaghetti squash bake

Tucked into the corner of my birthday veggie bag was something heavy, oval-shaped, and pale yellow. I lifted it out and laughed in happy disbelief – a spaghetti squash!

I adore spaghetti squash, and cooked with it all the time when I lived in Vancouver. But since moving to the UK, I’ve had it exactly once. When I arrived almost twenty years ago, it was very difficult to get any type of squash in the supermarkets. Over time butternut, acorn and kabocha squash have found a regular place in the produce section. but there have been less sightings of spaghetti squash than the Beast of Bodmin Moor. Continue reading →

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Lime meringue pie

26 Sep

Key lime pie

I seriously over-estimated the quantity of limes needed to make 30 litres of sayonara baby for my birthday bash. As a result, limes have been featuring pretty large in our meals recently. Vietnamese chicken salad, salmon phyllo parcels, caipirinhas of course, and still a towering heap of limes dominates the fruit bowl…

…which inspired me to make a lime meringue pie. After reviewing a number of lime pie recipes, I opted to include some lemon juice to ensure the filling was tart enough to balance the sweetness of the meringue and biscuity base. Four more limes down, fourteen to go… Continue reading →

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