Author Archives: fincafood

Mushroom Burritos

02 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by in Food for One, Main Courses, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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Where to start to describe the joys of a good burrito? My first, and still the best, was in a no frills eatery on Mission Street in San Francisco. It’s simply a meal in a flour flatbread………and so much more. The original recipe is refried black beans, good grilled beef, salad and a spicy sauce, all wrapped in a light flour tortilla, the result being a divine mixture of flavours and textures.
Now that I no longer eat meat I thought I would have a try at using marinated mushrooms in place of the meat, and it worked rather well. It may seem a lot of work to make burritos at home, but if you cook the beans in advance you don’t have so much to do at once.
This is the first time that I have made flour tortillas, and they were so good and light that I will be making them regularly.

BLACK BEANS – use the chilli recipe in the previous post.

Rewarm the beans.

FLOUR TORTILLAS – this amount makes four tortillas of about 25 cm diameter

200 grams strong white flour

50 ml olive oil

good pinch of salt

125 ml hot water

Put the flour in a mixing bowl with the salt. Add the oil and mix thoroughly until the oil is evenly distributed in the flour.

Add the water bit by bit mixing throughly as you go along, adding it even more slowly as the mix starts to come together. You are aiming for a firm but pliable dough.

Knead the dough on a floured board for five minutes or so to get a smooth textured dough.

Divide the dough into four equal pieces then put it to rest covered in its mixing bowl for half an hour or so.

To cook the tortillas heat a flat iron griddle or a thick based frying pan.

Roll the tortillas into thin rounds and then cook dry until slightly golden on each side.

Wrap in a clean tea towel as each are cooked to keep them warm.

MARINATED MUSHROOMS – per person

65 grams strongly flavoured mushrooms – I used shiitake

pinch ground cumin

pinch ground coriander

pinch smoked paprika/pimenton

pinch salt

olive oil

Slice the mushrooms and put in a small bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well to coat the mushrooms evenly.

To cook, fry in olive oil until nicely browned.

THE SALAD

Tomato

cucumber

avocado – all cut into small cubes

teaspoon of finely chopped spring onion

shredded lettuce

fresh lime juice

Mix salad adding lime juice to taste.

SAUCE – if you want spicy use your favourite chilli sauce. If you are after mild to balance the spiciness of the beans in this case, the either sour cream or I made a cashew nut cream. There are many recipes for this on the Internet.

THE BURRITO

Lay out your warm tortilla on a piece of aluminium foil, put in the centre a line of the beans, then a line of the mushrooms, then the salad and finally a line of your chosen sauce. Using the foil to protect your fingers from the heat of the ingredients, roll up the burrito. The foil will keep the burrito warm while you make the rest.

Serve with pickled Jalapeño peppers and more sauce on the side.

Black Bean & Sweetcorn Chilli

01 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by in Food for One, Main Courses, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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While you can make this chilli with jar or tinned beans, the flavour and texture will not be anywhere near as good as starting from scratch. Also as with any stewed dish, if you can manage not to eat the chilli as soon as it’s cooked, but leave it to cool and reheat it the next day, the flavours are always richer and more rounded.

This recipe makes two servings, one of which I saved to go into vegan burritos. I’ll post the recipe for those tomorrow.

150 grams dried black beans

sea salt

3 cloves garlic

olive oil

1 small onion – finely chopped

1 medium sized red chilli – very finely chopped

1 horn shaped green pepper – cut into small cubes

1 horn shaped red pepper – cut into small cubes

150 grams sweetcorn – either fresh, tinned or frozen

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

cube of dark chocolate

salt and freshly ground black pepper

fresh coriander

1/2 a lime

Soak the beans either overnight or for eight hours.

Put the beans in a small saucepan with 2 of the garlic cloves and 1/2 teaspoons of salt and enough hot to just cover.

Bring to the boil and then turn down to simmer until the beans are soft and cooked, about 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile finely chop the remaining clove of garlic and put into a frying pan with some of the oil and the chopped onion. Cook until transparent.

Add the peppers and chilli to the onions and stir in to mix. Fry gently for ten minutes.

Add the sweetcorn and spices. Stir in to mix.

Once the beans are cooked, drain them but keep the cooking liquid. Add the beans to the frying pan with a little of their cooking liquor.

Stir in the cube of chocolate. Cover and leave to cook slowly for ten minutes.

Check the seasoning adding salt and black pepper as needed.

Serve with fresh chopped coriander sprinkled over and lime wedges to squeeze over.

Fideua de Verduras

18 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by in Main Courses, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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It’s a cool drizzly day today and I have been busy sowing peas and planting lettuce so that they can benefit from the dampness. So after that, a warm hearty lunch is required. My first thought was to make a vegetable paella, and I found that I’d forgotten to buy rice but while looking in the cupboard I saw that I had fideuá. These are small pasta, usually, but not always, rice shaped, that are cooked in place of rice in a paella pan with similar ingredients to a paella. As with paella Spanish cooks vary the ingredients depending on what vegetables are in season, and of course if you are a meat or fish eater, then small pieces of these can be added to your ingredient list.

Today’s fideuá – this makes two portions

70 grams fideua

olive oil

1 large spring onion – sliced

1 large spring garlic -sliced

2 shiitake mushrooms – halved and sliced thinly

150 grams fresh broad beans

half a picante green pepper – cut into small cubes

200 grams courgette – cut into bite sizedcubes

150 grams fresh globe artichokes – prepared, sliced and fried

1 large tomato

few sprigs of thyme

pinch of saffron threads

pinch of smoked pimienton/paprika

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

vegetable stock

Prepare your artichokes first. I had some left from a previous dish. Clean the artichokes down to the tender leaves. Top and tail them. Cut into thin slices and fry immediately in olive oil until about half cooked. Remove from pan.

Add more oil and fry the onion, garlic and green pepper. Cook until the onion is translucent.

Add the mushroom and stir in. Cook for a couple of minutes

Add the courgette, stir in and let fry for five minutes.

Cut the tomato in half and grate the flesh up to the skin into a bowl. Discard the skins.

To the pan add the tomatoes, pasta and broad beans. Stir to mix.

Add the seasonings and then enough stock to come just to the top of the pan contents. Turn the heat down low, cover the pan and let cook slowly for five minutes.

Add the artichokes and more stock as needed.

Check the liquid level in the pan every few minutes until the pasta is cooked. If you are using the rice shaped pasta this will only be another five to ten minutes, other thicker pastas will need longer. The dish does not want to be as dry as a paella.

Once the pasta is cooked, turn off the heat and leave to sit for 5 minutes before serving with wedges of lemon to squeeze over.

Iceplant Salad & Soy Sesame Dressing

17 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by in Foraging, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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We had a reasonable, for here, amount of rain before the shortest day of the year, and now we have warm sunny days and cool damp nights, the result of which is that the countryside is blooming with Spring plants and flowers. Many of these are edible and begging to be foraged. There is wild garlic and asparagus on the hillsides, and by the sea, samphire and ice plants.

Part of the mesembryanthemum family, these succulent faintly salty leaves are delicious in salads. It’s easy to see why they have the name iceplant as they seem to be covered in tiny glistening ice droplets.

These plants like the Sandy soil near to the sea and are frequently found next to Samphire. Pick the tender shoots that are sprouting at this time of the year. You may have to part the sturdier tough stems at the top of the plants to find the more tender leaves underneath.

Give them a good wash in two or three changes of water, and then they are ready to use.

This salad has a particularly delicious dressing which perfectly complements the iceplant leaves.

Iceplant Salad & Soy Sesame Dressing

150 grams ice plant leaves

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon agave syrup or honey

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sesame seeds to garnish

I had garlic cloves which I had roasted with vegetables the day before, but if you are starting with raw garlic, fry them very slowly in a little oil until they are soft.

Mash the garlics in a small bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the sesame seeds and mix well.

Slice up the iceplant leaves and put into a salad bowl. Add the dressing and mix well.

Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and serve.

Salt & Sweet Lime Pickle

11 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by in Preserves

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Before my lime crop finishes I thought I ought to make a batch of lime pickle. Over the years I’ve tried various recipes but this one is my, and all my friends, favourite. It’s salt, sweet, citrusy tangy and packs a picante punch, a fabulous accompaniment to any curry.

This makes 10 jars of 270ml

2 kilos limes – small ones if you can get them

100 grams fresh ginger

240 grams sea salt

500 grams white sugar

2 heaped teaspoons fenugreek seeds

1 tablespoon star anise

2 tablespoons mustard seeds

3 large green chillis

Wash the limes, cut them into quarters and remove any seeds. Put them into a large bowl.

Peel the ginger and cut into tiny cubes. Add to the limes.

Add the salt to the limes and ginger and mix well. Leave to marinate for 24 hours.

The next day drain the liquid from the limes into a saucepan and add the sugar. Heat slowly to dissolve the sugar stirring from time to time.

Grind the fenugreek and star anise in a coffee grinder or pound in a pestle and mortar. You are not aiming for a powder, more just to break the spices into smaller pieces. Add to the drained limes.

In a thick based frying pan heat the mustard seeds until they begin to pop. Add to the limes.

Chop the chillis small, either in a processor or by hand. Add to the limes.

Mix the limes and spices very well.

Pack the limes into clean jars and then fill up with the hot salt and sugar syrup.

Seal and leave in a cool dark place for 4 weeks for the pickle to mature.

Spicy Buckwheat Pancakes with Cool Tomato Relish

08 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by in Starters, Vegetable Dishes

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I love plain buckwheat pancakes for breakfast with a fresh fruit salad, but sometimes it’s nice to have a more spicy start to the day so these spiced up pancakes with a fresh tomato relish fit perfectly.

This amount makes enough pancakes for 6 servings

225 grams buckwheat flour

1 level teaspoon baking powder

1 heaped tablespoon garam masala spice

1 fresh red chilli – finely chopped

1 spring onion – cut in thin slices

pinch of salt

1 egg

275 ml vegetable stock

Olive oil for frying

Mix all the dry ingredients together with the spring onion and chillis.

Break the egg into the stock and mix well.

Gradually add the liquid to the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter.

The batter can be used straight away but improves if kept in the fridge for a day or two, so if you don’t use it all at once the rest can be kept very well for another day.

Heat oil in a small frying pan and when hot pour in a small cupful of batter. Fry until golden before turning over and frying the other side.

For the tomato relish simply cut a well flavour tomato into dice and season with salt a finely chopped fresh coriander leaves.

Strozzapreti with Tomato Sauce

07 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by in Food for One, Main Courses, Starters, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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Strozzapreti, meaning ‘priest strangler’ as it is reputed to be enjoyed so much and in such quantities by the holy fathers that it chokes them, is a rolled pasta that goes very well with this tomato sauce. You can of course use other pastas if you can’t get hold of Strozzapreti.

For 2

120 grams pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large clove of garlic – finely chopped

1 small onion – finely chopped

1/4 red bell pepper – cut into short slices

2 tablespoons chopped Florence fennel

125 grams button mushrooms – halved and then sliced

200 grams chopped plum tomatoes

2 heaped teaspoons tomato purée

fresh oregano finely chopped plus a few sprigs for garnishing

4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese if you are making the vegetarian but not vegan version of this dish

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Orange zest

Put salted water with a splash of olive oil on to boil for the pasta, and then cook the pasta according to the timings on the packet.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and onion. Fry until translucent.

Add the red peppers and cook for á couple of minutes before adding the fennel and mushrooms. Stir well and leave to cook for five minutes.

Add the chopped tomato, purée and oregano. Cook slowly for 15-20 minutes until the sauce looks thick and richly red.

Season with salt and pepper.

If using the Parmesan cheese, add most of it now leaving a little to sprinkle on top of the pasta and stir into the sauce letting it melt.

Once the pasta is cooked but still with a little bite, drain from the water and add it to the sauce. Stir to mix.

Serve in shallow bowls with a grating of orange zest and a few sprigs of oregano to garnish. Of course if you are including Parmesan in your dish then add a garnish of grated cheese as well.

The Glass Strawberry

29 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in Main Courses, Snacks and Tapas, Starters, Sweet Things, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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To start with – what a fab name for a restaurant! This cafe in Doncaster is one of my must do stops when I visit the town. The food is freshly cooked and super tasty, the service friendly and efficient, and the decor bright and cosy at the same time. You can eat lunch at a dining table or lounge on a comfy sofa with your coffee and cake.

I have my favourite dish that I like to order, The Naked Vegan Burger. Two burgers made from quinoa, beetroot and edename beans, served with yummy sweet potato fries, mixed salad and a pot each of hummus and sweet chutney.

If this is not for you, worry not, the menu has plenty to tempt all tastes – from breakfasts to sizzling pizzas. You can see the full menu on their website – http://www.theglassstrawberry.co.uk

Tofu Scramble with Spinach & Mushrooms

26 Sunday Jan 2020

Posted by in Starters, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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This delicious breakfast dish was adapted and cooked for me by Richard from Doctor Rupy Aujla’s recipe for Tofu Scramble. I will now be experimenting with swapping tofu for eggs in all my favourite scramble recipes.

For two servings –

300 grams firm or silken tofu

70 grams mushrooms

3 spring onions

70 grams baby spinach

salt and freshly ground black pepper

A good pinch of mixed herbs

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

olive oil / coconut oil

Slice the mushrooms. Any type of mushroom will work in this recipe, shiitake are particularly good.

Drain the tofu and dry well with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper.

Put in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the turmeric and seasonings.

Put the mushrooms into a frying pan with enough water to come up to just about half way up the mushrooms.

Cook on a medium heat until the water has been absorbed and the mushrooms are cooked to a softness.

Add half a tablespoon each of olive oil and coconut oil and then the sliced spring onions. Fry for two or three minutes to soften the onions.

Add the tofu and gently mix as it heats through.

Once the tofu is warm, add the spinach and continue gently mixing as the spinach wilts.

Serve on whole meal toast drizzled with a little olive oil.

Aubergine Salad & Exquisite Hummus

16 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by in Food for One, Snacks and Tapas, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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The aubergine pate that I served for supper last night was this salad whizzed up in the food processor, and the bean hummus was this hummus recipe, just substituting ready cooked butter beans for the chickpeas, so thought it was worth reposting these recipes.

 

I have been making this salad for so long that I now don’t recall the origin of the recipe. It is equally good as a salad, or puréed in the food processor as a vegetarian pate.

IMG_0618

The herbs can be changed to vary the flavour depending on taste and what you have available fresh. In the master recipe I have specified Oregano, I also like Coriander or Mint.

AUBERGINE SALAD

2 largish aubergines

Half teaspoon cumin seeds

1 large or 2 small cloves garlic – finely chopped

2 table spoons extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

Pinch of salt

Fresh oregano – finely chopped

Fresh chilli – finely chopped

Chives finely – chopped

I have found that the best way to cook the Aubergine for this is in the microwave, although you can roast them if you prefer.

Prick the Aubergine all over with a fork to prevent any explosions and put on a plate  in the microwave. Cook at full power for two minutes.

Turn over and cook for another two minutes.

Depending on the size of the vegetables and the power of you microwave they may now be cooked . They want to feel soft all the way through.

If they need a bit more cooking, turn them on their side and cook for another minute.

They can be turned to the other side and given another minute of cooking if you think that they need it.

Let cool until only warm and handleable.

Meanwhile toast the cumin seeds in a shallow thick based pan until they are slightly coloured and you can smell their aroma. Grind them and the salt with a pestle and mortar.

Once the aubergines are cool cut them into small cubes. I grow on the farm a variety of Aubergine called Gandia which has very thin soft skin, so I leave it on, but if the skin is tough remove it before cutting up the flesh.

Put in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

If you are making pate, put all the ingredients in the food processor instead and process to a purée.

Leave for an hour at room temperature for the flavours to develop with one another before serving.

HUMMUS.

A classic revisited.

hummus

Mass production has turned this dish into a bland cream, let’s get back to the super tasty dish that it started life as. The deep nutty flavour of the toasted sesame seeds blended with that of the chick peas should be the first to hit the taste buds, then the pungency of the garlic closely followed by the citrus sharpness of the lemon. If you like you can also add some finely chopped fresh coriander to add yet another flavour.

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 jar or tin chick peas

2 cloves garlic – chopped

Grated rind and juice of a lemon – unwaxed if possible

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Picante paprika or pimenton

Put the sesame seeds in a shallow thick based pan and toast on a low heat shaking from time to time until light brown and giving off their distinctive aroma.

Grind to a paste with a pestle and mortar adding the olive oil to moisten as you go along.

Drain the chick peas from their liquid and rinse well to wash off the starchy residue.

Put in the food processor with the sesame paste, garlic, lemon rind and juice. Process to a paste – but not a smooth puree – leave some texture in the chick peas. Add more oil if it seems too dry.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Put in a small bowl with the paprika sprinkled over.

Serve with warm pitta bread.

Try hummus rissoles – add egg, then egg and breadcrumb or flour and fry